North-South Rivalry and Offshore Balancing in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa constitutes a distinct security region and hosts a high proportion of fragile and failed states presiding over territories with abundant resources – but no indigenous great powers! Following offensive neorealist logic, the absence of local great powers explains the continued benign neglect of the US. External influence from European powers is nonetheless significant, albeit several BRIC countries are challenging the position of the former colonial masters. In response France and the United Kingdom (UK) have turned to European foreign and security policy integration to pool resources and promote burden sharing with other EU partners, in order to maintain power in the region. This European mobilization has kept rivals at bay but has also instigated balancing behaviour as revisionist suitors boost their conventional power projection capabilities.