International Organizations and Foreign Policies of Sub-Saharan African States: Conceptualizing Roles and Interdependencies – JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE FOR AFRICAN STUDIES

Author:

Panin N.A.

Abstract:

The study of international organizations (IOs) has emerged as a sub-discipline in International Relations, with academic debate revolving around areas as different as decision-making, performance and service delivery, agency and reform, autonomy and bureaucracies, peacekeeping and access to leadership positions. Not as much focus has been placed on the complexity of roles that IOs could play in foreign policies of states in the Global South, resulting in interdependencies between national entities and institutions. The article attempts to contribute to this research field by placing the theoretical assumptions concerning the institutional interactions between countries and the UN system entities, “clubs” such as BRICS or G20, and specialized (such as WHO or FAO) and regional (the African Union or African regional economic communities) organizations into the African context. Through systematizing existing approaches to the analysis of interactions between countries and IOs, the paper identifies ten different modes of the interaction between African states and various IOs. While most nations will have an interest in IOs as amplifiers of diplomacy, signalling mechanisms, spaces for socialization or display of identities, as well as springboards to serve their development interest, the content core of such interactions will remain unique to each “state–IO” pair. This work also highlights political ambitions of certain countries in the region and their desire to consolidate their leadership status in the eyes of the international community and brings nuance to the understanding of practical policies of African states in IOs, formulating further research questions.

Keywords:

international organizations, multilateralism, Africa, UN, African Union, multilateral cooperation, development agenda, national interests, peacekeeping, integration, global governance

DOI:

10.31132/2412-5717-2025-73-4-45-64

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For citation:

Panin N.A. (2025). International Organizations and Foreign Policies of the Sub-Saharan African States: Conceptualizing Roles and Interdependencies. Journal of the Institute for African Studies. Vol. 11. № 4. Pp. 45–64. https://doi.org/10.31132/2412-5717-2025-73-4-45-64

Для цитирования:

Панин Н.А. Международные организации и внешняя политика государств Африки южнее Сахары: концептуализация ролей и взаимозависимостей. Ученые записки Института Африки РАН. 2025. Т. 11. № 4. С. 45–64. https://doi.org/10.31132/2412-5717-2025-73-4-45-64

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