Herbst provides a comparative analysis in authority and territorial control in the state system. By comparing the European and African experience in the state-building process, he aims to highlight the misconceptions that have emerged when understanding African states’ failures. His comparative historical model of state building shows how political leaders and the international community had largely ignored the pre-colonial conditions in Africa when designing analysis and polices in states that have emerged after the European colonization project. The trajectory of African states must be analyzed from the perspective of its own history, geographic and demographic nature and, of course, from the legacy of colonial forces that undoubtedly shaped current African politics; Contrary to simplistic universal assumptions in which international relations and the disciplines of comparative politics have framed the discussion taking into account only the role of national and international institutions.