Even sovereignist rulers need foreign friends: how political leaders in Africa design external engagement for domestic legitimacy

All political regimes, even autocracies, require some degree of legiti- macy to rule. To this end, political leaders employ various legitimation mechanisms. Although most such mechanisms are domestic, scholars increasingly acknowledge external processes can also play a role. Yet this external dimension remains under-researched due to data con- straints. After outlining how leaders’ international engagement contrib- utes to domestic legitimacy and how the design of such engagement – particularly the choice of foreign partners – matters, we focus on how sovereignist leaders, who rhetorically emphasise self-(re)assertion and national autonomy, reconcile this stance with the need for external legitimation. We test our argument using original data on all interna- tional diplomatic visits made by African leaders in 1990–2022, which serves as a proxy for their external legitimation activities. Africa presents a highly relevant context due to its variation in sovereignist discourse and post-colonial foreign relations. Our findings reveal that as sovere- ignist claims intensify, rather than reducing external engagement, sovereignist leaders reconfigure their partnerships by increasingly distancing themselves from former colonial powers. However, this shift does not indicate a broader disengagement from other advanced economies or emerging powers. Instead, sovereignist leaders remain aware of the reputational advantages associated with maintaining pub- lic engagement with various global actors.