Christopher Clapham (Africanist)

Christopher Clapham is a British academic known for his work on African politics, particularly the Horn of Africa. His research interests include state formation, political transitions, international relations, and the challenges of development and governance in the region.

Clapham has held positions at Lancaster University and Cambridge University, among others. He is the author of several influential books on African politics, including Transformation and Continuity in Revolutionary Ethiopia (1988), Africa and the International System: The Politics of State Survival (1996), and The Political Economy of Development in Ethiopia (2019). His work is characterized by a nuanced understanding of historical and social contexts, and a critical engagement with theoretical frameworks applied to the study of Africa. He is considered a leading scholar in the field of African studies. Clapham's contributions extend to understanding the dynamics of political institutions, conflict resolution, and the interplay between internal and external factors shaping African states.