Introduction: Theorizing Africa’s International Relations

Abstract

Africa's International Relations (AIR) literature is emerging beyond what mainstream International Relations (IR) studies as Africa in International Relations (IR). Africanists are questioning the 'internationalness' in IR and have also accused the IR discipline of studying the 'international' in Africa rather than understanding Africa's IR behavior. These accusations stem from studying Africa in relation to dominant Western and geopolitical agendas (Murithi, 2013;Tieku, 2022). A reaction to presumed understandings of AIR has propelled a critique of the field (Abrahamsen, 2017; Death, 2015; Odoom and Andrews, 2017;Tieku, 2013). The bulk of the field has exposed the implications of studying Africa through a Western gaze, yet it has been slow in moving beyond the agenda to practice theory-building based on African realities.1 Tieku (2022) has also admonished AIR scholars for being defensive, oppositional, or reactive by spending their energies defending the legitimacy of focusing on Africa. He urges them instead to engage in offensive scholarship, which entails AIR