Briefing Paper

Africa and the World: Navigating Shifting Geopolitics

Geographically situated in the ‘Global South’ as the geological extension of the Afro-Eurasian land mass, Africa is centrally situated at the very intersection of global strategic dynamics. This raises a number of questions. Chiefly: How does Africa and its future, interlinked with the continent’s encircling geopolitical,
economic and security dynamics impinging on continental-maritime perimeters in proximity to Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the America’s relate to the broader west-to-east shifting of the global political economy’s center of gravity in a still evolving multipolar strategic landscape? This policy brief attempts to
address this predicament from a uniquely Africa-centered vantage-point, highlighting key recommendations for enhancing African agency and strategic autonomy. It is a perspective informed by the continent’s globally centered positioning relative to all other continents and continental-maritime interregional zones of political, security and geoeconomic intercourse. As such, the continent is configured in such a manner as to be suggestive of a mega-island or, if you will, ‘Island Africa.’