The Myth of the African Balkanization: Between Self-Determination, Secession, and Respect for Post-Colonial Borders

One of the biggest challenges to Pan-Africanism was the terrible risk of Balkanization, which is the process of breaking apart a territory or state unit into smaller regions and nations, potentially leading to political instability and violence. Balkanization never happened, and Africa never experienced the instability that separatist movements would cause. Very few were the cases of secession. This essay aims to challenge the conventional reading of the term Balkanization, which has been used for different ends in changing juridical, ideological, historical, and political contexts. Studying the term helps debunking some myths, stressing how Balkanization was often instrumentalized in many ways by different political actors, but its analysis is also a chance to reflect on the forgotten complexity of African politics over time.