353pp., paperback, MISTRA, Johannesburg, 2026

ISBN: 9781991274052

In this collection of essays experts from different fields argue that, in a time of global chaos, with the USA and China competing for trade, influence, minerals, and technology, African countries can avoid picking sides and assert their own strategic independence.

Contributions include:

"The Trump II foreign policy as a response to great power transition: From alliance-building to predatory cooperation?" by Laurence Caromba

"The EU-China competition in Africa amid the changing world order" by Mengshu Zhan

"Geopolitical rivalries, critical minerals, and climate actions: Rethinking US-China cooperation through Africa's strategic role" Claude Kabemba and Nqobile Xaba

"A second balancing act? Africa and BRICS+ diplomacy in the age of the the Thucydides Trap" by Marcel Nagar

"Reimagining the order of things: The Global South and global order" by Yu-Shan Wu

"South Africa's path to the Gaza case at the ICJ: Global solidarity, internationalism, and big power rivalry" by Yacoob Abba Omar

Laurence Caromba is a researcher in the Humanity Faculty at MISTRA and a research associate in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Johannesburg.

Bhaso Ndzendze is Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Johannesburg, where he is also Vice-Dean in the Faculty of Humanities.

Scarlett Cornelissen is Professor in the Department of Political Science and Director of the Japan Centre, Stellenbosch University.

AFRICA AND THE THUCYDIDES TRAP, strategies for a world in transition

: Caromba (L.), Ndzendze (B.) & Cornelissen (S.) eds.

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