Editing Foreign relations of Senegal (section)

== Pre-colonial foreign policy ==
Senegal was regarded as Senegambia before the arrival of Europeans (Jaiteh),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~msj42/Senegambia.htm|title=Senegambia|last=Malanding|first=Jaiteh J.|date=16 December 2008|website=The Atlas of the Gambia|access-date=1 October 2019}}</ref> where a number of independent kingdoms settled. By the 15th century, when the first Europeans arrived, Senegambia was linked to intra and inter-regional (Decourse, 8)<ref>{{Cite book|title=West Africa during the Atlantic Slave Trade Archaeological Perspectives|last=DeCorse|first=Christopher R.|publisher=Leicester University Press|year=2001|location=London|page=8}}</ref> trade networks that extended throughout the coast. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the African slave trade took advantage of autonomous kingdoms such as, the Wolof and Jolof kingdoms (Tang, 3).<ref>{{Cite book|title=Masters of the Sabar: Wolof Griot Percussionists of Senegal|last=Tang|first=Patricia|publisher=Temple University Press|year=2007|location=Philadelphia|page=3}}</ref> The establishment of French colonies coupled with the competing hegemonic power between local ethnic groups within the Wolof kingdom led to a power void after traditional rulers could not prevent the French from impeding the establishments already in place by politicians and elites (Venema, 4) . The change from slave trade to the trade of cash crops set the precedent for the collapse of states within both empires (Gray, 3).<ref name=":2">{{Cite thesis |degree=PhD |title=The Groundnut Market in Senegal: Examination of Price and Policy Changes |publisher=Virginia Tech |last=Gray|first=James K.|s2cid=157599763|date=10 June 2002 |hdl=10919/28143 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> The French used Senegal's advantageous geographic location, on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, to safeguard their interest in the trade of groundnuts (Schraeder and Gaye, 488).<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Schraeder |first=Peter J. |others=Nefertiti Gaye |date=1997 |title=Senegal's Foreign Policy: Challenges of Democratization and Marginalization |journal=African Affairs |volume=96 |issue=385 |pages=485–508 |jstor=723816 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a007881}}</ref> The foreign policy of Senegal is also characterized by the religious values and beliefs of Islam. The spiritual traditions and foundations of Senegal represent another facet of foreign policy in and outside of the region. Political and diplomatic actors are ultimately determined by marabouts that intercede on behalf of the people to Allah (Schraeder and Gaye, 489).<ref name=":0" /> Some marabouts establish loyalist relationships of patron with political leaders. Marabouts do not make policy, but their support is essential to the stability of government (Behrman Creevey, 262).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Behrman|first=Lucy Creevey|date=1977|title=Muslim Politics and Development in Senegal: The Journal of Modern African Studies|journal=The Journal of Modern African Studies |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=261–277 |jstor=159921 |doi=10.1017/S0022278X00053933 |s2cid=154501016}}</ref>