In this engaging volume the editors and authors attempt to provide the reader with an African perspective on African problems. The book is written in part as a response to the report of the United Nations High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, but is also intended to demonstrate the ways in which Africa and the particular problems the continent faces have been consistently ignored by those with enough influence to make a difference. Compiling essays from authors renowned within the field and experts from non-academic backgrounds, the editors are bringing a new perspective to ongoing debates.

Organised into four sections, the book covers many of the key issues facing Africa today, with the emphasis on maintaining an African perspective on these problems and the provision of African solutions for them. All of the issues raised are relevant to contemporary debates and essential to Africa's continued development and participation in the international system.

The first section focuses predominantly on UN reform and the issues highlighted in the High Level Panel Report. In his chapter, Adekeye Adebajo outlines the need for the creation of a Pan-African response to Security Council reform to ensure that Africa's voice is heard. This need for an African voice is emphasised by James Jonah, who focuses on the continued lack of African control over the debate on the reform process. Moving on from UN reform, the following two sections examine new ideas and old problems which are having a marked impact on Africa today. These include the development of the concept of Sovereignty as Responsibility and its implications for countries within Africa. Francis Deng uses his contribution to examine the challenges posed by failed states, and the particular threats these present to Africa as a continent coupled with the development and human security problems which have been a continuous barrier to African progress. The final section goes on to look at how African actors should respond to these problems, and some alternative solutions. One key area for examination in this section is the potential positive impact that the UN peacebuilding commission could have in Africa, and how best this should be managed. The section also examines the relationship between the UN and the AU, and Tim Murithi provides suggestions on how African countries should work together to ensure that this relationship benefits them in the most appropriate ways.

Overall this compilation of essays provides an excellent combination of historical and current examples of the ways in which Africa has been marginalised by the international community. It provides a detailed examination of many of the seemingly intransigent problems facing the continent, and presents them from an African perspective. However, rather than focusing on the negatives, the authors outline potential solutions which could bring Africa back from the brink and give it a more competitive role in the future.