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The first scramble for Africa (1876-1912) was characterised by the quest for territories and natural resources. The second scramble in the context of the Cold War era (1947-1989) was marked by a competitive tussle for ideological supremacy between the superpowers on the continent. This volume fills the gap in the search for a methodological, empirical, and theoretically informed investigative piece on the current scramble for natural resources in Africa. The rise of China and India, hyper-globalization, explosive population dynamics and rapid economic growth, and the "global war on terror" have combined to usher in a new era of scramble for Africa´s natural resources and geostrategic convenience. Some of the core questions of this research are how and to what extent external actor´s resolute quest for energy security and engagement with Africa´s "petrolcrats" compromise the value formations that have taken place since the end of the Cold War? How do increasingly assertive oil-producing African countries adhere to the home-grown values that have been set out within the framework of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM); African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance?

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Dr.phil. F.N.K. Olympio is a political scientist and currently teaches Anthropology at the University of Trier, Germany. He has written on the transformation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to the African Union (AU), and the conflict that engulfed Liberia and Sierra Leone.

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