In the closing years of the 19th century, the Japanese decided they should modernize economically without culturally westernizing, and they succeeded. Following de-colonization, Africans also pursued the goal of achieving economic modernization without cultural westernization. To some extent, however, Africa became westernized culturally, but failed to attain economic modernization. How can we explain Africa's failure and Japan's success? The book addresses these issues from a variety of perspectives also in relation to economic interactions between Africa and Japan and Africa's place in...

Is there a new scramble for Africa involving China, Japan, and India in competition with each other and with the Western world? In the second half of the twentieth century, Mao's China and Jawaharlal Nehru's India were political players in Africa, while Japan limited itself to trade and investment in Africa. Africa and Asia have historically been allies against Western exploitation and have also been rivals as producers of raw materials. India and West Asia have led the way in the soft power of culture and religion in Africa while Japan and China have engaged in the harder disciplines of the...

In contemporary discourse on China-Africa relations, there are, on the one hand, the Sino-pessimists who see China as a giant vacuum-cleaner, sucking up Africa's resources in order to fuel its own rapid industrialization, and destroying Africa's development potential in the process. On the other hand, the Sino-optimists see China as the ultimate savior of Africa, capable of or willing to 'develop' the continent. Between the two divergent schools of thought are those sitting on the fence for the time being, the Sino-pragmatists, who are less sanguine for sure about what Africa would gain from...