African Summitry: Representation of “External Other” in the “Power Transit” Era

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a renaissance in the foreign policy activity of the great powers in Africa, which is expressed in the intensification of summit diplomacy or “summit fever”, concerning both traditional and emerging powers. Meanwhile, the COVID pandemic and the Ukrainian crisis have intensified global transformational processes that are seriously affecting the African continent as well. In fact, a period of ongoing transformation began. At the global level, it is due to the transit of power from Western to non-Western countries, which has a serious impact on the dynamics of instability in Africa. It is caused by the onset of “security decoupling”—i.e., the formation of blocs (in the spirit of “new bipolarity”) and the development of a non-Western structural force in the sphere of security on the continent. This is confirmed by the growing role of non-Western actors as security providers, humanitarian aid providers, and international mediators. This is a harbinger of more serious structural changes, including in the economic sphere. The countries of the continent have hope for alternative development options with a simultaneous strengthening of African agency. In addition, during the period of power transit there is a sharp increase in the activities of the “middle powers” on the continent, especially Turkey, the Arab countries, Iran, offering their own model of the “external other.”