1. Introduction: Inspirations and Hesitations in Africa’s Relations with External Actors

Mutasa provides a solid introduction to this intriguing book on Africa and the World: Bilateral and Multilateral International Diplomacy. In his snapshot, Mutasa trails the key contemporary scholarly debates made by 21 authors in this volume, which discusses Africa’s relationships with Western powers. These discussions probe issues on: bilateral relations with traditional powers—the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Russia, France, Portugal, and Italy; bilateral relations with non-traditional powers—Brazil, India, Japan, the Nordics, Latin America, Europe, the Islamic world, and the Middle East; and multilateral relations—with the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, the BRICS bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), the European Union, the World Trade Organisation, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, and how these relations have defined the continent.