W. Alade Fawole is professor in the Department of International Relations, Obafemi Awolowo University.

• Preface: Is Africa Post-Colonial, Neo-colonial, or Post-Colonized?Part I: Colonial Rule, Disengagement and the Post-Colonial StateIntroduction and Conceptual DiscourseChapter 1: Colonial Rule and the Political Architecture of the Post-Colonial StateChapter 2: The Grant of Independence: Imperialist Conspiracy and the Subversion of the Post-Colonial StateChapter 3: Britain and the Orchestration of Pseudo-DecolonizationChapter 4: The Role of France in the Subversion of the Post-Colonial StateChapter 5: Portugal: Forced Decolonization and its ConsequencesChapter 6: The United States and the Political and Economic Destabilization of AfricaPart II: Regional Examples of Illusive Post-Colonial StatesChapter 7: Nigeria: The Illusive Post-ColonyChapter 8: Mali: From Instability to Insurgency and Near ObliterationChapter 9: Somalia: From State Collapse to Rogue StateChapter 10: Algeria: Descent into DictatorshipChapter 11: Democratic Republic of Congo: The Colony that Never Became a StateChapter 12: Mozambique: From Revolutionary Possibilities to Contrived Instability and State FailureChapter 13: Contemporary Nation-Building, Governance, and Security Challenges in AfricaConclusion: The Illusive Post-Colonial State: What Hope for Survival?

In The Illusion of the Post-Colonial State, William Fawole artfully and intelligently rewrites the political science rulebook on the African postcolonial state. Taking a distinctive multi-disciplinary and multi-country approach, Fawole takes the reader on an illuminating tour of the discursive milestones in the evolution of a much-contested institution. The result is a bracing and historically grounded analysis that will appeal equally to students of Africa’s international relations, postcolonial history, state-society relations, foreign policy, and democratization.