APL (Ajiken Power Lunch)

APL (Ajiken Power Lunch) is a lunchtime workshop open to public, including IDE staffs, visiting research fellows, IDEAS students, outside researchers and graduate students. This workshop provides a platform for presentation of any work in progress where we can discuss in either English or Japanese.

Those who would attend a seminar are asked to announce yourself to receptionists on your arrival at the IDE and to obtain APL Organizers' signature on your admission card after the seminar.

September 4, 2015. (Friday) 12：30-14：00

Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization C23 Meeting Room 　

The Curse of Berlin: Africa after the Cold War

The Curse of Berlin refers to the Conference of Berlin in 1884 – 1885 at which the rules were effectively set by European states for the partition of Africa. This lecture argues that historical and structural events continue to affect and shape Africa’s contemporary international relations. I adopt a historical approach, even though my main focus is on contemporary issues. The first part of the talk focuses on Africa’s quest for security assessing Africa’s security institutions; the political, peacekeeping, and socio-economic roles of the United Nations (UN) in Africa; and Africa’s two UN Secretaries-General: Egypt’s Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Ghana’s Kofi Annan. The second part of the lecture focuses on Africa’s quest for leadership and briefly examines the hegemonic roles of South Africa, Nigeria, the United States, China and France on the continent. I will also make some brief observations on Japan’s role in Africa. The final section of the lecture analyses Africa’s quest for unity, and examines the roles and significance for Africa of six historical figures: Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Kwame Nkrumah, Cecil Rhodes, Barack Obama and Mahatma Gandhi; as well as assessing the African Union and the European Union in comparative perspective.

Dr. Adekeye Adebajo (Executive Director, Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR))

Kumiko MAKINO

English