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Rising powers are evolving centres for varieties of conflict as well as development. With a focus on the complexities of the Horn of Africa, we juxtapose Jan Nederveen Pieterse1 on what is rising - States? Inter-regionalisms? Diasporas? Economies? Companies? New technologies? - with the late Jim Hentz2 on non-traditional security (NTS) challenges on the continent. NTS factors include fragile states/ungoverned spaces, migrations and viruses, which continue to undermine contemporary state and governance structures inside and around Africa. In turn, NTS challenges demand alternative and creative ways to address them. We show how the Horn of Africa illustrates all these and other emergent factors in differing proportions over time, including the diversity of diasporas, both intra- and extra-regional. Further, we argue that rising powers internal and regional transnational tensions could impact human security for the foreseeable future. Thus, affecting the prospects for meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa and the European Union (EU) have a longstanding relationship. Their interaction has evolved through various phases, characterised simultaneously by ambitious partnerships coupled with a degree of wariness. As international dynamics change and Africa becomes an increasingly crucial player in global politics, the relationship between the EU and South Africa exerts a host of influences on how Africa and Europe relate to each other. This article discusses the evolution of EU–South Africa relations and highlights direct and indirect influences that this relationship has on the inter-regional partnership between Africa and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Journalists, academics and politicians portray the European Union and China as unitary actors that follow coherent strategies towards ‘Africa’. These perceptions help in turn to sustain a discourse of geopolitical competition: the EU and China are presented as bitter rivals of a new ‘Cold War’. This ‘new scramble for Africa’ narrative is an illusion. Despite official declarations, Brussels’ ties with ‘Africa’ are only a small part of a complex web of relationships. Moreover, China’s presence in Africa is far less monolithic than outside observers assume. However, these flawed perceptions are quite persistent because they serve the ambitions and interests of governing elites. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]