Looking beyond the Middle East, Africa provides the best evidence for a geopolitics based as much on regional powers and institutions as on traditional great powers. While Annan has been trying his diplomatic best to resolve Syria’s crisis, upheavals in Senegal, Mali, Malawi, and Guinea-Bissau have been swiftly addressed by other regional powers.
放眼中东之外，非洲提供了一个很好的既基于传统大国又基于地区势力的地缘政治例证。在安南正在竭尽全力用其外交技巧解决叙利亚危机时，塞内加尔、马里、马拉维和几内亚比绍等国的动荡被该地区的其他力量快刀斩乱麻地解决了。特别是，非盟以捍卫非洲民主、选举和治理宪章（African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance）的名义多次出手。