Effect of globalization on Nigeria’s foreign policy
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
Imperatively, this essay is geared at explicating on the impacts of globalization on the military aspect of Nigeria’s foreign policy tool. More specifically, it serves:
- To identify the meanings of foreign policy and globalization;
- To determine the multidimensional nature of globalization;
- To identify the distinct foreign policy tools as used by states; and
- To discover the effects and consequences of globalization for the nation-state system.
CHAPTER TWO
CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL ANALYSIS
Globalization
The concept of globalization is devoid of a generally accepted definition and as such, there exist numerous definitions of globalization which were more or less the number of authors on the subject. Among the definitions is that of Fawole, (2003:26) which takes globalization to mean the process of change towards greater international economic integration through trade, financial flows, exchange of technology, information and movement of people. This definition captured the central nature of globalization which is its dynamism.
Globalization is a non-static phenomenon. It is an everwidening wave of inter-connection. As globalization widens, the world shrinks. According to Sosa (n.d.),
Whether one regards it as an illusion or not, our modern world seems to be shrinking. It is amazing how the dimensions of our planet are being reduced by the rapid diffusion of information and cultural merging. News and reports of the most shocking incidents go around the globe in a matter of minutes. Traveling from one point of the earth to the most exotic resort is possible in just a few hours. Nowadays you can find yourself at a traditionally Chinese area eating McDonald’s or visiting the most famous European sites while you listen to Latin-American music everywhere. You can be in Kazakhstan watching MTV programs or in El Salvador eating Burger King’s hamburgers. People in Africa and Asia crave at the most, a “Western” way of living; communistic nations follow the economic features of democratic states. The examples are endless but they all are a result of the most influential and striking 20th century phenomenon known as globalization.
Globalization is also the increasing flow of goods, services, capital, technology, information, ideas and labour at the global level driven by universal policies and technological changes (Ayuba and Okafor, 2014). This definition is consistent with the examples of the manifestations of globalization in Sosa (n.d.) where McDonald’s could be found in China (flow of goods and services);and news and reports of shocking incidents reaches even the remotest part of the globe in a matter of minutes (flow of information), etc.
The confusion and controversy beclouding the true meaning of globalization might have informed James Rosenau’s decision that it is safer to say what globalization is not than what it is.
Globalization is not the same as globalism, which points to aspirations for an end state of affairs wherein values are shared by or pertinent to all the world’s five billion people, their environment, their roles as citizens, consumers or producers with an interest in collective action designed to solve common problems. Nor is it universalism—values which embrace all humanity, hypothetically or actually (Rosenau 1996).
Oman, (1996, p. 5) in Beerkens, (2006) evaded definition and took to description: ‘’Globalization is the growth, or more precisely the accelerated growth, of economic activity across national and regional political boundaries. It finds expression in the increased movement of tangible and intangible goods and services, including ownership rights, via trade and investment, and often people, via migration. It can and often is facilitated by a lowering of government impediments to that movement, and/or by technological progress, notably in transportation and communications. The action of individual economic actors, firms, banks, people, drive it, usually in the pursuit of profit, often spurred by the pressures of competition. Globalization is thus a centrifugal process, a process of economic outreach, and a microeconomic phenomenon.”
We take globalization in this study to mean the widening of the interconnections of the socio-cultural, economic and political sectors of the countries of the world due to the liberalization of trade, finance and investment and technological advancements.
CHAPTER THREE
BACKGROUND OF NIGERIAN FOREIGN POLICY
The formation and execution of Nigeria’s foreign policy from independence has been engineered by no fewer than fourteen different administrations through the external affairs ministry; from Tafawa Balewa’s administration in 1960 to President Obasanjo’s administration in 2003; from the administration of President Musa Yar’Adua to the immediate past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. These various administrations – including the different military regimes which took over administrative power in Nigeria for over a cumulative period of 35 years, of the entire over 50 years of the existence of Nigeria’s foreign policy- claimed to pursue the same national interest with regards to the nation’s foreign policy. They pursued the countries interests under the foreign policy themes such as: Dynamic foreign policy, Africa as the centre piece of Nigeria’s foreign policy, concentric circles, concert of medium powers, economic diplomacy, and citizen diplomacy among many others. However, since independence, Nigeria’s foreign policy has been guided by certain objective and principles namely:
- The protection of the sovereign and territorial integrity of the Nigerian State.
- The promotion of the economic and social well-being of Nigeria.
- The enhancement of Nigeria’s image and status in the world at large.
- The promotion of unity as well as the total political, economic, social and cultural liberation of Nigeria and Africa.
CHAPTER FOUR
IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION OF FOREIGN POLICY TOOLS
Giddens (1990) noted that globalizing actions and ties reach across space to shape social life. This causes some effects and Brown (1995) in this regard noted that globalization does not abolish difference or power but it does impact change or affect the context of (domestic and global) politics; how states relate, make and design tools to pursue their foreign policies and so on. In this view, since globalization has positive and negative sides, its impacts the foreign policy tools of nations positively and negatively too. Our focus will be on the impact of globalization on the military tool of Nigeria’s foreign policy.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION
This essay has attempted an explication of the phenomena at issue, globalization and foreign policy (tools) which have been
defined by scholars all influenced by their personal experiences and environments, hence the inability to arrive at a universally accepted definition. However, attempts were made to define the terms for the purpose of this work. Likewise, the multifaceted nature of globalization was treated: economic; cultural; and political aspects. These, it must be noted are theoretically distinct but in practice are all woven to aid apt analysis of globalization. The tools which are used to pursue foreign policy were discussed where attempts were made to analyze the military tools, in this vein, the main thesis of this work was treated i.e. identifying the impact of globalization on this tool. Globalization is seen to have impacted the military tools through the sporadic spread of terrorist ideals and rapid transportation to allow states intervene in other states activities. In this vein, states’ sovereignty is breached, thus, requiring an all-out national defense effort. Through giant media houses and transnational corporations (TNCs) like CNN, information is given which also shape states’ military tools e.g. the Northern Mali crisis, the Libyan crisis, AU and the West’s response. Likewise, globalization has created radical fundamentalism. It is this paper’s position that globalization has had profound impacts on foreign policy tools and owing to the dynamism of the world and it will continue to impact the world too.
However, it must be noted that the amount of globalization that enters a state is, as Legrain (2003) explained, government
controlled. In this vein, national governments must ensure that their borders are effectively manned to reduce the indiscriminate movement of people, drugs, and small and light weapons from country to country since those weapons only end up in the wrong hands and insecurity will of course be the concomitant backwash.
Globalization has brought profound changes in the foreign policy of Nigeria. It brought new actors, engendered a shift from the afrocentric past and opened a floodgate of new and thorny issues such as transnational terrorism, climate change, human rights and the proliferation of small arms and light weapons; in the milieu of Nigerian foreign policy. It killed the “foreign” in foreign policy with its whirling denationalization wave to such an extent that it is quite difficult if not impossible to distinguish between domestic and external issues.
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