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ISSN : 2056-564X E-ISSN: 2056-5658
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This issue of the African Journal of Foreign Affairs (JoAFA) is being published in a particularly turbulent geopolitical environment. Since the 2020s, the international order seems to be moving adrift: Brexit (2020); the United States’ (US) chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after the fall of Kaboul (2021); Russia’s war on Ukraine (2022); Gabon and Togo joining the Commonwealth (2022); surprise reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran (2023); annexation of Nagorno Karabakh by Azerbaijan (2023); return of Syria to the Arab League (2023); civil war in Sudan (2023); October 7, 2023 events in which Israeli civilians were killed and/or kidnapped by Hamas and other non-state armed groups, followed by a new Israeli-Palestinian war; a series of military coups d’etat in western Sahel; and US’ military gesticulations in the Middle East where local conflicts are merging into one regional war. How does one explain this runaway geopolitical upheaval? How does one comprehend the multiplication of tensions while strategies of soft power and the tools that go with them have reached a high level of sophistication and are readily available? How does one interpret the return of brutal forms of conventional wars? How are the new alliances formed, on which basis, and how solid are they? These are questions asked by “Manière de voir†in Le Monde Diplomatique (Décembre 2023, p. 2). How do African countries respond to this unpredictable environment? The authors of the articles in this issue of JoAFA offer an analysis of the complexity of African policy processes and decision-making in addressing the challenges they face and the opportunities they must seize.