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Revision with unchanged content. What are the factors that enable weak states to withstand foreign policy pressure from strong states? This study examines how some African states held their own in the face of United States lobbying efforts against ratification of the International Criminal Court (ICC). They did so by taking advantage of internal and external institutional structures and mechanisms. The study argues that weak states are powerful in their own right and have avenues available to them when confronted by a stronger power. Institutions are the key to this power. They create an atmosphere of cooperation whereby common interests are realized and groups mobilize to promote their agendas. This enables weaker state to resist hegemonic pressure or gain leverage over stronger states. This study is useful for scholars and other individuals interested in U.S.-Africa foreign policy issues, the ICC, U.S. Article 98, the U.S. and international legal issues and institutions, the explanatory power of state behavior, and the resultant cooperation, facilitation, and discourse within institutional structures and mechanisms that provide the outlets through which states make foreign policy decisions and the maintenance of positive state power relations.

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PH.D Political Science program at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She received her M.A. in International Relations from GSU and her B.S. in Political Science from Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia. Her research interests are International Relations, Comparative Politics and African Politics with an emphasis on U.S. Foreign Policy.

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