Achieving or Failing? An Interrogation of the Status of Africa within the International System

Abstract

There are contending opinions concerning the status of Africa within the international system. Given the existing reality of the complex security challenges that span economic, political, environmental, military and societal sectors, with which African states are grappling, the first narrative insists that the continent is ‘hopeless’. Instances of economic woes,  previous and ongoing implosion of states on the continent, destruction of the ecosystem, ecological destruction and collapse of societal values substantiate the opinion that Africa represents misery. Pointing at Africans’ attempts at reworking their societies and reports of some achievements on the continent, the opposing consideration argues that Africa cannot be regarded as a miserable continent. While not grappling with extant  narratives, the present study attempts to reconsider Africa’s standing in the international system, using critical theory and a post-structural approach. In doing this, it adopts both primary and secondary methods of data gathering.