Diplomacy and Nation-Building in Africa

Cameroon stands as a remarkable example of nation-building in the aftermath of European domination. Split between the French and British empires after World War I, it experienced a unique drive for self-determination at the turn of the 1960s, culminating in both independence from European power and the re-unification of two of its divided territories. This book investigates the influence of foreign policy on nation-building in West Africa in the context of both the Cold War and European integration. Shedding fresh light on the challenges of bridging the political, economic and linguistic divide that France and Britain had left, Melanie Torrent explores the evolution of a nation, charting both Cameroon's importance in Franco-British relations and Cameroon's use of bilateral and multilateral diplomacy in asserting its independence. This work should be essential reading for students of African studies, International Relations and the post-colonial world.

Melanie Torrent is senior lecturer in British history and civilisation at the Institut Charles V, Universite Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cite. She holds an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge and completed her PhD in English Studies at the Universite Paris-Sorbonne.

Introduction
Commonwealth membership at independence: threatening, irrelevant, impossible
Chapter 1. Cameroon's official politics: reunification and diplomatic balance
The assets and challenges of reunification in Cameroon
The national and international politics of bilingualism
Chapter 2. Cameroon's diplomatic bias towards the Francophone world
Francophone identity and Cameroon's position in Africa
An undesirable Commonwealth link: perceptions of Britain, Nigeria and Ghana
Chapter 3. The Southern Cameroons and the Commonwealth: star-crossed partners?
Independence within the Commonwealth: a very fleeting offer
Reunification outside the Commonwealth and international pressure
Development politics: the Commonwealth's continuing presence in Cameroon
Chapter 1. France and Cameroon's international options for development
France's heavyweight presence in Cameroon
Towards the diversification of partners
Chapter 2. Imperial preference in West Cameroon
West Cameroon and British interests
Europe, the Commonwealth and Cameroon
Chapter 3. The Commonwealth as a valuable partner
The influence of the Canadian mirror
The Commonwealth, a champion for African development in times of crisis
The Commonwealth's renewed appeal and the imperative of national unity
Chapter 1. Cameroon's continuing Francophone bias
The reality of reunification: from federation to centralisation
Cameroon's complex relations with L'Agence de coopération culturelle et technique (ACCT)
Chapter 2. The Commonwealth and the necessity of Anglophone diplomacy
Safeguarding national unity
A way into official membership of the Francophonie
Chapter 3. The democratic imperative in a multilateral context
The changing face of Cameroonian politics
The national and international instrumentalisation of diplomacy
Conclusion
Appendices
Chronology of Cameroon - Commonwealth relations
Bibliography
Index