Conflict, Mediation, and the African State: How Foreign Support and Democracy Lead to Strong Political Order

Anarchy and war reigning throughout Africa threaten to bring about a “failed” continent. This article, on the contrary, argues that to understand the evolution of African state systems, political order should be defined as a conflict mediation institution and process. Through a quantitative analysis, this paper challenges Charles Tilly's notion that interstate war helps build states and challenges the idea that foreign support retards state building. Democracy, and a complex three-dimensional relationship between intrastate war, political order, and foreign support, on the other hand, can have a positive impact on state strength.