How can African countries escape from marginalization, deepening impoverishment and state disintegration in the new era of globalization? Fantu Cheru draws on his experience of many different countries to argue for a way beyond the simple state-led versus market-driven approaches to Africa's development. The international financial institutions must stop their heavy handed interventions and let countries decide their own development paths. African countries must work within the reality of globalization to renew democracy and improve governance; invest in education; revitalize agriculture, manage their cities, strengthen regional economic integration, and prevent yet more deadly conflicts. These require commonsense and non-dogmatic approaches, learning from local successes, entrepreneurship, and a new generation committed to a new kind of politics.