Nigeria and the Nation-State


Book Description

Nigeria, despite being the African country of greatest strategic importance to the U.S., remains poorly understood. John Campbell explains why Nigeria is so important to understand in a world of jihadi extremism, corruption, oil conflict, and communal violence. The revised edition provides updates through the recent presidential election.




Gulliver's Troubles


Book Description

"Gulliver's Troubles offers the first comprehensive assessment of the post-Cold War foreign policy of Nigeria - one of Africa's most important states. Expert contributors, comprising academics and scholar-diplomats, analyse Nigeria's most vital domestic challenges and critical regional issues from historical and contemporary perspectives. Nigeria's relations with its neighbours and other significant states and regional and international bodies also come under scrutiny. The debates here, while multi-faceted, share the premise that an effective foreign policy must be built on a sound domestic base and democratic stability."--BOOK JACKET.




Nigerian Foreign Policy


Book Description




Nigerian Politics


Book Description

This volume engages in an in-depth discussion of Nigerian politics. Written by an expert group of Nigerian researchers, the chapters provide an overarching, Afrocentric view of politics in Nigeria, from pre-colonial history to the current federal system. The book begins with a series of historical chapters analyzing the development of Nigeria from its traditional political institutions through the First Republic. After establishing the necessary historical context, the next few chapters shift the focus to specific political institutions and phenomena, including the National Assembly, local government and governance, party politics, and federalism. The remaining chapters discuss issues that continue to affect Nigerian politics: the debt crisis, oil politics in the Niger Delta, military intervention and civil-military relations, as well as nationalism and inter-group relations. Providing an overview of Nigerian politics that encompasses history, economics, and public administration, this volume will be useful to students and researchers interested in African politics, African studies, democracy, development, history, and legislative studies.




Nigeria


Book Description

Nigeria, the United States’ most important strategic partner in West Africa, is in grave trouble. While Nigerians often claim they are masters of dancing on the brink without falling off, the disastrous administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, the radical Islamic insurrection Boko Haram, and escalating violence in the delta and the north may finally provide the impetus that pushes it into the abyss of state failure. In this thoroughly updated edition, John Campbellexplores Nigeria’s post-colonial history and presents a nuanced explanation of the events and conditions that have carried this complex, dynamic, and very troubled giant to the edge. Central to his analysis are the oil wealth, endemic corruption, and elite competition that have undermined Nigeria’s nascent democratic institutions and alienated an increasingly impoverished population. However, state failure is not inevitable, nor is it in the interest of the United States. Campbell provides concrete new policy options that would not only allow the United States to help Nigeria avoid state failure but also to play a positive role in Nigeria’s political, social, and economic development.




Governance and Politics in Post-Military Nigeria


Book Description

This edited collection is the product of a National Research Working Group (NRWG) established by Said Adejumobi and supported by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA). It analyzes the progress made in Nigeria since the return to democratic rule in 1999 and the prospects of democratic consolidation in the country.




Think Tanks, Foreign Policy and the Emerging Powers


Book Description

This book examines changing international dynamics through the lens of some of the leading think tanks from the emerging powers in the world. Through twelve case studies, the authors explore how security and international affairs think tanks in emerging powers collaborate with their policy makers to meet current and anticipate future foreign policy and security challenges. Overall, the book illustrates and analyzes how think tanks in a variety of political and economic contexts are able to contribute to their respective policy-making processes. Included in the discussions are the problems or successes that each respective nation’s think tanks face, where they feel the emerging nation will be positioned, and where they are failing to meet the policy challenges they face. The book provides a comprehensive look at successful foreign policy formulation to serve as examples for other think tanks in similar political and economic conditions.







Africa's Soft Power


Book Description

This book investigates the ways in which soft power is used by African countries to help drive global influence. Selecting four of the countries most associated with soft power across the continent, this book delves into the currencies of soft power across the region: from South Africa’s progressive constitution and expanding multinational corporations, to Nigeria’s Nollywood film industry and Technical Aid Corps (TAC) scheme, Kenya’s sport diplomacy, fashion and tourism industries, and finally Egypt’s Pan-Arabism and its reputation as the cradle of civilisation. The book asks how soft power is wielded by these countries and what constraints and contradictions they encounter. Understandings of soft power have typically been driven by Western scholars, but throughout this book, Oluwaseun Tella aims to Africanise our understanding of soft power, drawing on prominent African philosophies, including Nigeria’s Omolúwàbí, South Africa’s Ubuntu, Kenya’s Harambee, and Egypt’s Pharaonism. This book will be of interest to researchers from across political science, international relations, cultural studies, foreign policy and African Studies. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/ 9781003176022, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license




A Sleeping Giant?


Book Description

This edited volume explores Nigeria’s domestic and international politics and its implications for the country’s national development and international status. Coinciding with the twenty year anniversary of Nigeria’s return to democratic rule, this volume considers the state of democracy in Nigeria and examines its successes and challenges with a view towards offering possible solutions for the country’s future development. The first half of the volume addresses domestic politics, focusing on current issues such as the 2019 elections, Nigerian federalism, media, state-civil society relations, and Boko Haram terrorism. The second half looks at Nigeria’s relations with its African neighbors, discussing the relationships between Nigeria and South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, and Cameroon, among others. Engaging the full spectrum of the politics of a rising African power, this volume will be of interest to students and researchers of comparative politics, international relations, foreign policy, African studies, regional politics, peace, security, conflict, and development studies, as well as African policymakers.