ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the background to the African predicament; discusses the specifics of the crisis in order to highlight the contemporary consequences of Africa's historical experience; and examines responses to the African crisis, paying particular attention to structural adjustment and political conditionality. It discusses Africa in the contemporary world system and makes projections for the future. The record of decline and the manifestations of the African predicament are so severe and graphic that they have generated a wave of cynicism and pessimism about the chances for recovery in the region. There have been several broad and specific responses from African international organizations, donors, Scandinavia, international financial institutions and so on, to the deepening crisis in Africa. The reality of the contemporary global order is that the apparent deideologization of global political relations has not eliminated the gulf between the North and the South.
