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13 Some Problems of International Relations thatAffect Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA):Factors that Affect Development in the ContinentWhen assessing the foreign policy of Sub-Saharan Africa, oneencounters several problems. The basic ones include:1) Question of power of the African states: Under currentlyexisting pattern of international relations, as the realist and the neorealistschools could as well confirm, power is the main instrument used torealize foreign policy. One would thus ask, could it be possible forpowerless African states to exercise a foreign policy that can effectivelyreflect their interests?2) Length of existence of the African state: Since African stateshave existed, as independent states, relatively for short period of timenow, their capacity of shaping their foreign policy, by their own, remainsin question. This issue of shaping ones own foreign policy, with outexternal domination, to defend ones national interest makes the base offoreign policy of every state, strong and weak alike.3) Historical conditions: These are conditions that determinepolitical and economic position of the African states and their behaviorin contemporary international system.One of the approaches that have been used to treat these basic problemsis the classical method, which classifies foreign policy from view points of:radicals, moderates, conservatives or other creeds.In this material, however, we will focus mainly on the development levelof the international relations of SSA states between World War II, and end ofCold War (1945 - 1990). This was a period in which the bipolar internationalsystem had dominated world politics and international relations.For Africa, as researches show, it would mean a period of complexpostcolonial African diplomacy and foreign policy. Like all nation states, states178