How can one draw from traditional African values and the continent’s past political experiences in order to lead a new reflection on ways to rethink governance in this region of the world? Can tradition and modernity, legitimacy and legality, be reconciled and reinforce each other? In order to discuss these issues, a group of scholars, politicians, and religious and traditional leaders were invited for a groundbreaking conference, held in Bamako in January 2007.

This meeting initiated the International Meeting Process for Debate and Proposals on Governance, which questions the legitimacy of political power and its sources first on the African continent and then in the world’s other sub-regions.