ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the trajectory traced by Africa from crisis to tragedy has historical antecedents and cannot be explained fully by either 'internalist' or 'externalist' analytical stopping points. Africa's journey towards underdevelopment and state terrorism therefore dates from the eighteenth century. Terrorists and terrorism can never engender values of a liberal democracy, pluralism or human rights. Such values are the realm of democratic mainstream politics. Historically, the installation of capitalism in Africa from the colonial era required the creation of certain socio-political structures to ensure the reorganization of indigenous economies for European accumulation of wealth. Africa's tragic situation is evident in all areas of interaction with its external environment. Trade had existed between African communities and Europeans before colonization. The thunderstorms of Africa's economic crisis had its roots deeply sunk into the ground during the colonial era and cemented by those who inherited power from retreating colonialists.
