Absence de la question de restitution des objets d’art dans les grands axes de la diplomatie camerounaise et intrusion d’acteurs paradiplomatiques et non étatiques dans le champ des relations internationales

Abstract

Due to the disinterest of Cameroonian leaders, the restitution of art objects is a field of foreign policy in which non-state and para-diplomatic actors are dominant. Cameroonian paradiplomacy, that which takes place outside the formal frameworks of consultation by sub-state actors, took precedence over the State. Combined with the actions of non-state diplomacy, they make the voice of Cameroonians heard by countries holding these art objects in the field of restitution. The objective of this article is to show that in the absence of diplomatic initiatives coming from the State, this other type of diplomacy has been exerting a certain pressure on the countries holding these works of art for their return to Cameroon for almost a quarter-century. However, a certain number of signals issued in 2022 suggest that faced with the acuteness of this issue, the Cameroonian government has decided to set in motion its diplomacy in the direction of reclaiming these works of art.

Keywords

• cameroonian diplomacy; paradiplomacy; non-state actors; art objects; restitution.