Abdul Malik Odeh: Pioneer of African Studies in Egypt and the Arab World

Abstract:
he name of Prof. «Abdul-Malik Odeh» (1927--2013) will always be remembered as a pioneer of African studies in Egypt and the Arab world. Odeh was able to establish an Arab school of thought based on the study of Africa; It relied on combining library and field studies together in an organized academic form, to the edification and education of successive generations from young scholars, who represent an accumulation of human knowledge and an investment of purposeful scientific energy. Proceeding from this philosophy, this was the Odeh intellectual project for the study of Africa, which we can point out its most prominent features through three major axes:
- The issue of state and governance in Africa at the national and continental levels.
- Following up the file of Arab-African relations and their development from an analytical and critical perspective.
- Studying Egyptian policies in Africa.
- He also made a practical contribution represented in his participation in the establishment of the magazine “International Politics”, in addition to the establishment of a branch of African Studies at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, and the Institute of African Research and Studies at Cairo University.