Africa and the New Globalization

Globalization is not a new phenomenon in the international system evidenced by the various efforts that have been made over the last several centuries to establish a so-called 'global village' with multiple spheres - cultural, economic, ecological, political, social - and so on. However, the various phases of globalization have had divergent scope, actors, dimensions and dynamics. That is, each of the phases of globalization can be differentiated using the aforementioned markers. Against this background, this book focuses on the 'new globalization' a phase that emerged when the Cold War ended. Among other things, the new globalization is the most expansive and technological advanced of all of the phases of globalization. For example, the new globalization has witnessed the integration of virtually all states of the world and non-state actors into the global capitalist system. The resultant consequences have differed from country to country and region to region. In this vein, this book identifies some of the frontier issues in Africa - debt, human rights, development, state sovereignty, the environment, democratization, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and communications - that are being impacted by the dynamics of this new globalization.