Rawia Tawfik

The main objective of this course is to provide political science students with a basic knowledge and understanding of African political systems. This is to be achieved through covering topics including the political history of the continent, its major ethnic groups and religions, its post-colonial political ideologies, the experience of democratic transition and other issues that cut across the African continent.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Break existing stereotypes on Africa and African problems
• Feel an affinity with African issues and crises as African students.
• Develop the awareness and understanding of the history, economy and politics of the continent.
• Analyse African crises in a comprehensive way, taking into account the geo- strategic, social, economic and political dimensions, and the role of external factors.
• Develop a critical point of view about political developments in Africa.
• Learn lessons from successful (and failed) experiences of African transitions and think of their relevance to transition in Egypt.