Introduction THIs BOOK examines state creation and consolidation in Africa over the last several hundred years.It docs so by examining the fundamental problem confronting leaders of almost all African states:how to broad- cast power over sparsely settled lands.The topic is casy to justify.As James Fessler wrote,"Distribution of governmental authority is onc of the oldest and most abiding problems of society.By our solutions of this distributive problem we determine whether the government will be stable or unstable;whether it will be a dictatorship...whether we shall have the rule of law,the rule of men,or the rule of men under law."The African experience is particularly important to developing a truly compar- ative perspective on state consolidation because a plurality of the world's states are in Africa.However,African states have been omitted from the developing scholarly literature on state creation and consolidation.In- stead,this literature is dominated by writing concerned with the small number of states on the European landmass.The failure to account for the African experience is unfortunate because state creation and consol- idation in Africa,and in many other parts of the world,proceeded in a radically different manner than it did in Europe.In particular,as chapter one makes clear,African political geography poses a completely different set of political challenges to state-builders compared to the problems Eu- ropean leaders faced. At the same time,the consolidation of states in Africa remains a central political issue.The fundamental assumption undergirding this study is that states are only viable if they are able to control the territory defined by their borders.Control is assured by developing an infrastructure to broadcast power and by gaining the loyalty of citizens.The failure of many African states to consolidate their authority has resulted in civil wars in some countries,the presence of millions of refugees throughout the continent,and the adoption of highly dysfunctional policies by many leaders.Yet international society,by dint of the granting of sovereignty, still assumes that all African countries are able to control all of the terri- tory within their boundaries.The gap between how power is exercised in Africa and international assumptions about how states operate is signifi- cant and,in some cases,growing.State consolidation in Africa is not merely an academic issue but is,instead,critical to the future of tens of James Fessler,Area and Administration (Birmingham:University of Alabama Press, 1949),p.1.Introduction THIS BOOK examines state creation and consolidation in Africa over the last several hundred years. It does so by examining the fundamental problem confronting leaders of almost all African states: how to broad￾cast power over sparsely settled lands. The topic is easy to justify. As James Fessler wrote, “Distribution of governmental authority is one of the oldest and most abiding problems of society. By our solutions of this distributive problem we determine whether the government will be stable or unstable; whether it will be a dictatorship . . . whether we shall have the rule of law, the rule of men, or the rule of men under law.”1 The African experience is particularly important to developing a truly compar￾ative perspective on state consolidation because a plurality of the world’s states are in Africa. However, African states have been omitted from the developing scholarly literature on state creation and consolidation. In￾stead, this literature is dominated by writing concerned with the small number of states on the European landmass. The failure to account for the African experience is unfortunate because state creation and consol￾idation in Africa, and in many other parts of the world, proceeded in a radically different manner than it did in Europe. In particular, as chapter one makes clear, African political geography poses a completely different set of political challenges to state-builders compared to the problems Eu￾ropean leaders faced. At the same time, the consolidation of states in Africa remains a central political issue. The fundamental assumption undergirding this study is that states are only viable if they are able to control the territory defined by their borders. Control is assured by developing an infrastructure to broadcast power and by gaining the loyalty of citizens. The failure of many African states to consolidate their authority has resulted in civil wars in some countries, the presence of millions of refugees throughout the continent, and the adoption of highly dysfunctional policies by many leaders. Yet international society, by dint of the granting of sovereignty, still assumes that all African countries are able to control all of the terri￾tory within their boundaries. The gap between how power is exercised in Africa and international assumptions about how states operate is signifi- cant and, in some cases, growing. State consolidation in Africa is not merely an academic issue but is, instead, critical to the future of tens of 1 James Fessler, Area and Administration (Birmingham: University of Alabama Press, 1949), p. 1