The book offers rigorous critiques of the United States of America (or US)-led international order and its support of democracy in the Global South since the (post-)Cold War, though its argument is somewhat limited by a narrow regional focus that constrains generalizability across Africa. It contextualizes the Horn of Africa (HOA), particularly Ethiopia, Sudan, and South Sudan, and elucidates why US democracy promotion has pushed these countries to conform to Washington’s demands (100). From an analytical standpoint, the US-led liberal international order demonstrated limitations in addressing the challenges these countries faced in the post-Cold War period. Geopolitical imperatives, interwoven with double standards, were frequently employed in the dialectical implementation of US foreign policy, thereby compromising the sovereignty and territorial integrity of these countries. The Westphalian norms that facilitated the US’ ascent to political preeminence following its isolationist foreign policy in the pre-World War era were thus jeopardized.
The first and second chapters reveal how the US dominated the world system. After the United States emerged victoriously from its conflict with the Soviet Union during the Cold War, it positioned itself as the only indispensable nation with “legitimate power” to construct a world order known as the liberal international order (16). As Young illustrates, the liberal order promotes US dominance in shaping interpretations of individualism, capitalism, and human rights, while paradoxically weakening state sovereignty through its foreign policy. Theoretically, from a dependency perspective, Young approaches the US dominance of global international relations by situating the Horn of Africa within the global capitalist system as a peripheral zone exploited for its strategic and economic value.
It is this system of capitalist imperialism that shapes class relations, paradoxically becoming central to the decline of US democracy at home even as its engagement abroad grows. Due to its economic and political power, the US justified interventions and reinforced dependency in a neoliberal, expansionist fashion. Local political fragmentation exacerbates the situation, ultimately leading to various forms of conflict within the HOA. Given the US interventionist approach in the HOA, which weakens state sovereignty, the US emerges as a dominant power in the region, leveraging that power both politically and economically (20). As such, US policymakers view HOA as a strategic location near key maritime routes, with access to valuable natural resources, and as a site of involvement in counterterrorism efforts. However, such a perspective is not without challenges, as China and Russia compete for strategic dominance, leading to what Young called an “emerging cold war” (41).
In the third chapter, Young discussed the case study of Ethiopia. It contends that, after the tumultuous historical emergence of modern state formation in a country that was never colonized, government policies for development and democracy were influenced by the revolutionary (developmental) democratic ethos of society, the endorsement of national federalism as an alternative to centrism, and state-led development in contrast to neoliberalism (55). In this regard, civil society was enhanced and crucial in challenging authoritarian regimes and advancing political reforms. The struggle for civilian rule against the military dictatorship was characterized by a focus on development and commitment to a people-centered democracy. This approach emphasized land reform, gender inclusivity, and the role of a socialist party as essential to transforming power dynamics in a society that has historically engaged minimally with the liberal democratic principles advocated by the US-led democracy promotion. Government strategy complicates the distinction between liberal and communist principles, creating a hybrid system of state-driven economy with selective liberalization.
Chapter Four situates the role of US democratic-autocratic (or pragmatic) engagements in Sudan since independence in 1956. A typical theme is that, although US foreign policy openly advocates democratic governance, it often prefers alliances with autocrats rather than democrats for geostrategic reasons (100). As a result, successive US administrations prioritized security and trade over democracy in Sudan (108). Against this backdrop, in Chapter Five, as South Sudan intensified its struggle for independence during the Second Sudanese War, the contradictions of US-led peace and liberal initiatives, which favored elite bargaining, not only excluded popular participation but also marginalized other political parties, thereby bolstering kleptocratic leadership (140–49). As such, South Sudan’s trajectory illustrates the limits of imposed democratization.
Despite the book’s innovative approach and the author’s journalistic firsthand account of events, some readers might wish for a more sustained engagement with the local dynamics of each case study through a historical prism. Although the book mentions the structural constraints of the global liberal international order, it could have provided greater insight into the extent to which these constraints limit local dynamics, such as actors’ agency in the Horn. This is because several African leaders and scholars have argued that the current international order constrains them, shaping their political and economic trajectories. Additionally, overgeneralizing about US dominance in explaining political fragility in the HOA risks reducing complex political dynamics to external determinism. For example, the analysis glosses over how Ethiopia’s ethnic federalism and center–periphery tensions, Sudan’s Islamist-military institutional legacies, and South Sudan’s factional ethnic rivalries and wartime patronage networks reproduce instability. To buttress Young’s core arguments, readers can appreciate other scholarly diagnostic explanations of Africa’s challenges, such as Ghanaian economist George Ayittey’s “internalist” and “externalist” arguments, which will deepen understanding of what Young is trying to tell them.
