CHRIS ALDEN is a reader in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. He has conducted extensive field research across the Southern African region and has published widely on the international politics and conflict in Southern Africa as well as work on Asia-Africa relations. WARD ANSEEUW is a research fellow at the Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), seconded to Post-Graduate School of Agriculture and Rural Development at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He has conducted research for the last 10 years in Southern Africa and the African continent, more particularly on the issues of agricultural restructuring, land conflicts, agrarian and land reforms. He has published extensively on these issues in scientific journals and with renowned publishers.