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In recent decades, Africa is increasingly recognized as an important geopolitical player in the national and international arena. Therefore, the traditional and emerging powers pay a lot of attention to this continent. Many of them are revising their strategies in dealing with this continent. The importance of Africa in the third millennium is known to world powers. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate and analyze the role played by Africa in the geopolitical relations of the contemporary and future world. In order to achieve this goal, a descriptive-analytical method has been used. The findings of the research showed that Africa's relations with peripheral and core governments in the economic dimension include (agricultural institutions, digital economy, rapid economic growth, energy security, oil and gas resources, minerals) and in the political dimension including (immigration) South to North, drug trafficking, wildlife, great power competition, democracy and increasing violent extremism and Islamist terrorism. Finally, it should be stated that the growing global importance of Africa has been largely interpreted through geopolitical competition in the international arena.

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After the collapse of bipolar system in the world, different views and theories expressed by the scholars and thinkers about the future of the world and international system. One of them is the theory of “ The Clash of Civilizations” which was propounded in 1993 by the Samuel Huntington, the director of J.M.Olin Institute for Strategic Studies in Harvard Uni-versity. This theory caused some anxieties in the world. In reaction to this theory, Mohammad Khatami, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, proposed “Dialogue Among Civilizations” as a paradigm in the international relations which was accepted by the 53rd General Assembly of the United Nations on 3 September 1998 and approved a resolution for the purpose of promoting dialogue among cultures and civiliza-tions, and called the year 2001 as “the Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations”. This article based on both mentioned theories, refers to the role of dialogue approach in creation of peaceful relations between nations and states.