Explores ways for the African countries, the Soviet Union and the United States to co-operate in addressing critical problems besetting Africa. The book stems from a chain of convictions and insights, and from a US-USSR project called "Soviet-US Co-operation for Africa".

The final section addresses larger issues of multilateral co-operation in international relations. The book is an outgrowth of "Soviet-US Co-operation for Africa," a joint project of the Institute for African Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the University of California African Studies Center and Center for International and Strategic Affairs and the University of Southern California School of International Relations. Anatoly A.Gromyko and Michael D.Intriligator have served as organizers of the project.