The Handbook of African Defence and Armed Forces provides the first in-depth and multifaceted analysis of the evolution and current state of national defence policies, strategies, doctrines, capabilities, security challenges, and strategic responses of African states and their armed forces. Geographically, these aspects are investigated at the national, sub-regional, and regional levels. Chronologically, they are analysed against the backdrop of the 'superpower withdrawal' from the continent in the 1990s, and the so-called 'New Scramble for Africa', which has seen a crescendo of renewed great power interest in the continent's resources, as well as its strategic role, location, and relevance since the 2000s.