ABSTRACT
Colonial heritage is the necessary point of departure for analysis of African international relations. The colonial system totally transformed historical political geography Africa in a few years' time, and the depth and intensity of alien penetration of subordinated societies continues to cast its shadow. In Latin America, although colonial administrative subdivisions shaped the state system, Spain and Portugal swiftly ceased to be major regional players after Creole elites won independence in the nineteenth century. Since sovereignty gave life to colonial territories as independent nations, the African state system has proven to be singularly refractory to broader movements of unification. The colonial occupation of Africa, which occurred relatively late in the global history of imperial expansion, was comparatively dense and thorough. The compulsion for demarcation from the colonial past was driven by psychological as well as political and economic factors. Thus, in various ways the colonial heritage intrudes into postindependence African international relations.
