International records / OpenAlex research

Warlord Politics and African States

The dramatic reconfigurations of political authority taking place in Africa—what many term "warlordism" or "state failure"—call for an exploration of the origins of these changes, the likelihood of their durability, and their implications for the continent's regional system of states. Reno argues that the end of the Cold War as a particular configuration of the international state system changed by definition the nature of sovereignty in Africa. Rulers cut off from overseas largess are now vulnerable to threats from strongmen; enterprising strongmen join with marginalized groups to exploit reg…