Ignatius Sancho’s correspondents spanned the British Empire, from India to the Caribbean and North America. One of the earliest reviewers of the posthumous publication of Sancho’s Letters in 1782 remarked that “Sancho may be styled—what is very uncommon for men of his complexion, A man of letters. His commerce with the Muses was supported amid the trivial and momentary interruptions of a shop.” The publication of Sancho’s correspondence revealed him to also be a lettered man. The contents and style of his writings demonstrate that he was truly a man of letters in every sense of the phrase. The demographic, geographic, and social diversity of Sancho’s correspondents ultimately substantiates the observation he made to Margaret Cocksedge on July 31, 1775: “I have lived with the great—and been favoured by beauty.”

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has always been inextricably linked to the global stage and has long played an important, often-vital, role in international politics despite the, at times, prevalent myth of the continent's marginality and irrelevance. In order to understand Africa's place in the international system, it is absolutely vital to grasp the state-society complexes that are evident across many parts of SSA. The exercise of personalised exchange, clientelism and corruption is internalised and constitutes an 'essential operating codes for politics' in Africa. Many state elites in Africa use the mantle of sovereignty not to promote the collective good but to bolster their own patronage networks and to weaken those of potential challengers. The African Union (AU) was launched in July 2002, effectively replacing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which had been the premier continental organisation in Africa.

The chapter discusses how the Gulf republics, namely Iran and Iraq, have distinct political cultures shaped by historical factors. In contrast, the monarchies, often underestimated by rentier theory, have exhibited resilience and adaptability. The analysis encompasses the Gulf states’ political institutions, examining the role of constitutions, electoral chambers, and guarantees of political and civil liberties. It highlights the political diversity within the Gulf subregion, showcasing various political systems beyond simplistic labels of ‘republic’ or ‘monarchy’. Despite these apparent structures, the chapter underscores the limitations on political and civil activities, judicial independence and press freedom in the Gulf. The discussion delves into the nuanced nature of political activism, from platforms in Iraq and Iran to the emergence of political tendencies in Bahrain and Kuwait. The text further explores the use of force to suppress dissent in various Gulf states, leading to a lack of transparency and the absence of the rule of law. Finally, the chapter assesses the IDEA ratings, revealing the subregion’s generally low scores on the ‘democratic index’. Despite the challenges and limitations, the Gulf states remain dynamic entities with diverse political organisations, and in the absence of shocks or geopolitical disruptions, the author anticipates an evolutionary rather than revolutionary change in these countries’ political systems.

The Framers’ design provided for a separation of the legislative, executive, and judicial functions to be performed in each case by different public officials. The design also provided for some overlap in functions as a means for allowing each branch to protect itself against the other two. The overlap of powers has proved effective, but a combination of overreach and willing yielding of powers on the part of Congress and the expected aggrandizement by the executive and undue deference on the part of the judiciary have created numerous opportunities for political factions to exercise influence.

Sancho’s Letters begins with an extensive list of “Subscribers Names,” crediting 1,181 individuals who financed the book as a source of funds for Sancho’s widow and children. This chapter examines that list and the process of publishing “by subscription,” highlighting Sancho’s differences from other 1782 subscription publications and the later Black British authors Olaudah Equiano and Ottobah Cugoano. In Sancho’s list, the variety of honorifics associated with each name reveal that the book’s supporters came from a broad spectrum of social ranks – and that a strikingly high percentage of them were women. Several specific individuals are discussed to illustrate the motives of Sancho’s subscribers: patronage and clout; friendship and philanthropy; and abolitionist politics. Despite the later embrace of Sancho’s book by abolitionists, this chapter contends that its subscriber list is more strongly shaped by a sentimental literary milieu and the social ties of the book’s editor.

This chapter deals with Nuer Protestant hymnody and explains how and why various Nuer Christian groups came to adopt different musical styles and aesthetics. The chapter sketches the history of Nuer hymnody, starting from the colonial period and the work of missionaries, through the development of a large corpus of hymns by Nuer Protestants, to the Pentecostalisation of Nuer church music in recent decades. It then discusses the ways in which Adventists and Messianics responded to the latter process with their own sonic practices and compositions. The chapter shows how different musical styles were grounded in different understandings of the ways in which the divine is made present and different views of the sensibilities and dispositions a born-again must cultivate. It also argues, however, that these styles and aesthetics constantly evolved and were the subject of ongoing conversations and debates that, like Bible Study and Christian literacy, were central to the endless project of born-again subjectivation.

From the founding of the Constitution, there has been a steady expansion of national power and an erosion of state powers. Notwithstanding the enumeration of its powers, Congress has enacted legislation impacting almost every aspect of American life. The Supreme Court has, with rare exceptions, accommodated the Congress’ intrusions on the powers of the state governments.

World War I revealed a German imperialist project of eastern expansion, whose dizzying success and equally sudden failure lastingly destabilized international politics. Resulting patterns of nationalist grievance and assertiveness, matching greater-national revanchism to national-minority predicaments, proved impossible to manage or contain. In registering the collapse of the prewar multinational empires (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Ottoman Turkey), the Treaty of Versailles and its supplements redistributed territorial-political sovereignty among freshly constituted republican nation-states (“successor states”), in an international system to be guaranteed by the League of Nations. Launched by Lenin and coopted by Woodrow Wilson, the discourse of “national self-determination” only imperfectly described this European state-making conjuncture. At the same time, it inspired newly emergent anti-colonial nationalisms in the extra-European imperial world. Each effect seeded problems for the future.

This chapter suggests significant variation in the way the European Union (EU) can be seen, as a unified actor in its relationship with Africa, even if there are also some intriguing similarities across various policy fields. It compares three specific policy areas: trade, aid and security. These policy areas are particularly interesting because of the varied historical, political, legal and institutional configurations within the EU. Many scholars agree that the EU is a strong and recognised economic actor. The most crucial issue in the debate about the EU's external trading regime concerning the role and the interplay of the EU member states in the Council and the European Commission. Internal coherence of the Commission increases and enables it to play a dominant role vis-a-vis the EU member states and the Council.

Ignatius Sancho is largely known for a collection of his letters that were published by his friend after his death. Less well known is the fact that he holds the distinction of being the first published Black composer in Britain known to historians. In contrast to most of his letters, Sancho chose to write and publish at least one book of vocal music and four books of instrumental music over a period of thirteen years. In exploring the meanings of music in Sancho’s life through both production and consumption, this chapter argues that no one aspect of Sancho’s identity can be understood apart from his work in music. Music for Sancho was many things, including a personal avocation, a means of profit, and a vehicle for communicating his political opinions and honoring his friends and family. First and foremost, however, it was a sociable practice and a communal experience.