This book challenges socio-historical analyses that posit a relationship between modernity and the nation-state. It questions whether the nation-state is a distinctively European phenomenon that emerged as a result of some combination of the development of capitalism and the legacy of citizenship derived from the French Revolution. The book defines the state, differentiates it from the nation, and in so doing, defines the nation-state. 252pp, USA. EDWIN MELLEN PRESS.

Since 9/11, there has been a growing recognition of the role of collapsed states in the African region in undermining regional and international peace and security. Writers from multinational and interdiscipli-nary backgrounds comment on concerns currently facing Africa and Africans, paying particular attention to the extent to which globalisation permits African participation in its processes. BNS, 254pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS.

By examining eight states from across the continent, the authors analyse the concepts of leadership and administration in widely differing societies. The result is a comparative study of African political realities and their influence in transforming the continent. The countries studied are Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Libya, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa and Sudan. Index, bib, notes, x, 286pp, USA. HEINEMANN INC.

One of the least challenged assumptions in the political analysis of the viability of states is that bigger is better. Throughout the academic literature, across the policy debates, and in almost all public debate, large states are assumed to have a better chance for development and small states are assumed to be problematic. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, large states have performed poorly this collection of essays argues/ 306pp, SOUTH AFRICA. WITWATERSRAND UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Tackling a fundamental question in the study of contemporary African politics, this book examines the impact of colonial borders on the intertwined trajectories of ethnic conflict and state development. The authors combine case studies (Congo, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, and Sudan) with thematic chapters to provide a vivid story of state weakness and conflict on the continent. BNS, 360pp, USA. LYNNE RIENNER.

An in depth analysis of state weakness in Africa, poverty and the opportunities offered by the latter for the breeding of terrorism. The author also looks at the part played by radical Islam in transnational terrorism in Africa. BNS, 369pp, UK. ASHGATE PUBLISHERS, 0754642003

The book highlights mayor aspects of the legitimacy of local power as presented by modern self-government structures as well as traditional communal authorities. Although the main focus is placed on Southern Africa (Namibia, South Africa, Botswana), examples from other regions (Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo) are also put into perspective. 256pp, GERMANY. LIT VERLAG.

It was a widely dominant perception until the early 1990s that African rulers do not vacate their office alive. But even in the brutal reality of African politics, transition takes place and different former presidents have dealt with how to maintain power and privilege very differently. With new case studies examining the post-presidential years of the iconic Mandela in South Africa, Daniel arap Moi in Kenya, Nyerere in Tanzania, Rawlings in Ghana, Charles Taylor in Liberia, as well as the experience of Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Malawi, and Nigeria, this volume examines the dilemmas which demands for presidential transitions impose upon incumbent rulers and analyses the relationships which are evolving between new regimes and their predecessors. 352pp, SWEDEN. NORDIC AFRICA INSTITUTE.

Who belongs to the nation? How is citizenship defined? And why have such identities become so politically explosive in recent years? This book explores the instrumental manipulation of citizenship and narrowing definitions of national-belonging which refract recent political struggles in Zimbabwe, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Somalia, Tanzania, and South Africa. Conflicts which have arisen over the resources of the post-colonial state are increasingly legitimated through recourse to claims of nationhood and citizenship. The contributors address the historical roots of national and ethnic identities, the material and symbolic resources which are contested within states, and the relative importance of elite manipulation and subaltern agency. 282pp, NETHERLANDS. EJ BRILL.

A critical analysis of economic and political models imposed on African systems. The author looks at the sources of order and the roots of conflict to understand how institutional outcomes are the result of historical, cultural and geographic determinants. Index, refs, notes, xiii, 405pp, UK. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 0521532647

This book places the African state-building process in a truly comparative perspective, examining the problem of state consolidation from the precolonial period, through the short but intense interlude of European colonialism, to the modern era of independent states. Herbst contends that the conditions now facing African state-builders existed long before European penetration of the continent. Figs, maps, tables, x, 280pp. USA. PRINCETON UP.

Many of the existing juridical states in the Third World remain fragile and prone to collapse. Yet, these conditions have not always given way to anarchy. In some cases, the breakdown of weak and often arbitrary states has given way to more coherent and viable, though not necessarily benevolent, political entities.. this study examines the extent to which these sub units represent alternatives that the international community could look to in a long term effort to bring stability, security and development to peoples in the Third World. Essays include Providing Humanitarian Assistance behind Enemy Lines: UNICEF's Eastern Zaire Operation, 1996 1998 and A State Within a Failed State: Is Somaliland Headed for Recognition or Reunification? BNS, 272pp, UK. PALGRAVE/MACMILLAN, 1403963851

Exploration of state failure in Africa. In so doing, he not only plumbs the depths of the conti-nent's late-century tragedy, but also the logic of political order and the foundations of the state. This book covers a wide range of territory by drawing on materials from Rwanda, Sudan, Liberia, and Congo. Index, bib, tables, 191pp, UK. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

An incisive exploration of the interventions of the World Bank in severely indebted African states. Understanding sovereignty as a frontier rather than a boundary, this key study develops a vision of a powerful international organization reconciling a global political economy with its own designs and a specific set of challenges posed by the African region. This analysis details the nature of the World Bank intervention in the sovereign frontier, investigating institutional development, discursive intervention, and political stabilization. It tackles the methods by which the World Bank has led a project to re-shape certain African states according to a governance template, leading to the presentation of 'success stories' in a continent associated with reform failure. Index, bib, notes, 162pp, UK. ROUTLEDGE.