Nigeria Biafra Civil War
| Realism, Power and the Nigerian Civil War | | 211540478 | Ntsika Nduli | 3/15/2013 |
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International Relations is a field of politics that takes a look at the interactions that occur in between states in the international arena. Its aim is to explain why certain events have unfolded in certain ways, as a result of how states use their power relatively to each other. Mostly the interactions that International Relations tries to examine or explain, is the conflicts that arise as a result of differing interests that states have. To provide a base for analysis, this essay is going to use the central theory of realism to explain the civil war that occurred in Nigeria in between 1967 to 1970. This essay will seek to explain the events and how Realism can elaborate on the outcomes and the causes of the war. It will do it by firstly providing a historical background of Nigeria/Biafra war; it will then give the history of the development of realism as a theory of international relations. It then will seek to explain how the central concept of power bore on the circumstances that surrounded the war, and how we could use it to critique the outcomes of the war. It will also try show which, if any, aspects of the conflict cannot be explained by the theory of Realism.
To understand the nature of the Nigeria/Biafra conflict, the essay will have to turn to a certain period of Nigerian political history so that in-depth understanding of the circumstances that surrounded the conflict may be attained. Post World War II, while Nigerian was still under colonial rule, the Richardson’s Constitution of 1950 was formulated which allowed for political party formation in Nigeria. This resulted in political parties being formed along regional and ethnical bases. In 1951, more autonomy and stronger legislatures where allowed in Nigeria. In 1953, the four regions of Nigeria, namely the North, East, West and The Mid-Belt had disagreements on the date of independence. The
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International Relations is a field of politics that takes a look at the interactions that occur in between states in the international arena. Its aim is to explain why certain events have unfolded in certain ways, as a result of how states use their power relatively to each other. Mostly the interactions that International Relations tries to examine or explain, is the conflicts that arise as a result of differing interests that states have. To provide a base for analysis, this essay is going to use the central theory of realism to explain the civil war that occurred in Nigeria in between 1967 to 1970. This essay will seek to explain the events and how Realism can elaborate on the outcomes and the causes of the war. It will do it by firstly providing a historical background of Nigeria/Biafra war; it will then give the history of the development of realism as a theory of international relations. It then will seek to explain how the central concept of power bore on the circumstances that surrounded the war, and how we could use it to critique the outcomes of the war. It will also try show which, if any, aspects of the conflict cannot be explained by the theory of Realism.
To understand the nature of the Nigeria/Biafra conflict, the essay will have to turn to a certain period of Nigerian political history so that in-depth understanding of the circumstances that surrounded the conflict may be attained. Post World War II, while Nigerian was still under colonial rule, the Richardson’s Constitution of 1950 was formulated which allowed for political party formation in Nigeria. This resulted in political parties being formed along regional and ethnical bases. In 1951, more autonomy and stronger legislatures where allowed in Nigeria. In 1953, the four regions of Nigeria, namely the North, East, West and The Mid-Belt had disagreements on the date of independence. The
References: 1) Atofarati, AA. 1992. The Nigerian Civil War, Causes, Strategies and lessons learnt. US Marine Command and Staff College. 2) Diamond, S. 2007. Who Killed Biafra? Dialectical Anthropology. 31 pp. 339-362 3) Ferguson, RJ. 2004. Political Realism, Ideology and Power: A discussion and critique via Machavelli, Morgenthau and Sun Tzu. Essays in History, Politics and Culture. www.international-relations.com/History/Machavelli.html <Accessed 6 March 2013> 4) Islam, MR. 1985. Seccessionist Self-Determination: Some lessons from Katanga, Biafra and Bangladesh. Journal of Peace Research. 22(3). pp. 211-221 5) Nixon, CR. 1972. Self-Determination: The Nigeria/Biafra case. World Politics. 24 (2) pp. 473-497 6) Obasanjo, O. 1981. My Command: An account of the Nigerian Civil War 1967-1970. Pretoria: Heinemann 7) Peterson, K. 2011. The concept of Power in International Relations. Harvard University. www.gradworks.umi.com/34/91/3491770.html <Accessed 6 March 2013>