Role conflicts in foreign policy: Nigeria’s dilemma over Bakassi Peninsula*

ABSTRACT

Post independence President of Cameroon, Ahmadou Ahidjo, a Fulani, like his kith and kin in Northern Nigeria, was quite supportive of Nigeria in her war with the separatist Biafra. At the end of the war, he laboured to convince Nigeria to a boundary demarcation that would place Bakassi Peninsula firmly on the side of Cameroon. Nigeria as at 1975, ensured to remain grateful to an African country that helped her during the civil war. The show of gratitude from Nigeria triggered eventually, a bellicose relation with Cameroon. Though un-confessed, Nigeria was beset with several role conflicts in her border dispute with Cameroon, since the peninsula had been inhabited by Nigerians from the pre-colonial times. This paper examines the causes and manifestations of these conflicts. To do this, the role theory framework is used. It is revealed that Nigeria’s cognitive assertions were in conflict over her material interests on Bakassi Peninsula.     

Astuteness in Commitment: Rwanda and UN Peacekeeping 1994–2014

Abstract

This article traces Rwanda’s history under German and Belgian colonialism, through independence and genocide to international respectability and membership of the Commonwealth. It examines Rwanda’s impressive contributions to United Nations and African Union peacekeeping forces. There is no single explanation for the magnitude of Rwanda’s contribution. It owes something to Rwanda’s commitment to ‘African solutions for African problems’. Deployment is relatively cheap and allows Rwanda to use its participation for political leverage in international affairs, to attract donors and to benefit financially. Peacekeeping is a factor in the astute foreign policy of Paul Kagame’s government that enhances its authority and stability at home and its prestige abroad.     

The Structural Limits of Depoliticisation in Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT

Sri Lanka’s institutional reform project has gathered momentum with the enactment of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The Amendment restored the Constitutional Council, which is mandated to recommend and approve appointments to key ‘independent’ institutions and offices. This article asks what it means to be meaningfully ‘depoliticised’, and explores the dynamics and parameters of the current institutional reform project in Sri Lanka. It argues that the entrenchment of Sinhala-Buddhist majoritarianism within Sri Lanka’s institutional structures has led to ‘institutional decay’. Given such decay, the article points to serious limitations in legalistic approaches that are preoccupied with improving appointment procedures. Since institutions in Sri Lanka are structurally incentivized to appease a majoritarian agenda, relying on legal-textual and institutional reform alone is inadequate. Institutional reform is ultimately constrained by the structural limits of Sri Lanka’s current constitutional framework. The article concludes that meaningful constitutional transformation requires a long-term project that aims to transform the majoritarian socio-political and cultural norms that underpin Sri Lanka’s constitutional order.     

Fiji’s Foreign Relations: Retrospect and Prospect

Abstract

Of all the island states of the Southwest Pacific, Fiji’s foreign relations have been the most fraught since the advent of independence in the region, due largely to a succession of coups d'état. These have invariably precipitated adverse responses from major partners and aid donors, notably Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the European Union. The last coup in 2006 also unsettled relations in Fiji’s more immediate region, especially among some of its smaller Polynesian neighbours, contributing to Fiji’s unprecedented suspension from the Pacific Islands Forum. This article reviews Fiji’s foreign relations from the time of independence in 1970 through the period of successive coups to the 2014 elections. It also examines Bainimarama’s strategies in extending foreign relations in the broader international sphere as well as issues surrounding the ‘normalisation’ of relations with its traditional partners.     

State-building and patronage networks: how political parties embezzled the bureaucracy in post-war Kosovo

ABSTRACT

Why has the internationally promoted Weberian-style bureaucracy failed to replace patronage as the dominant principle of state organization in post-war Kosovo? This article explores how international actors’ rule-promotion activities and local actors’ strategies of resistance play out and interact to explain the failure. The empirical analysis focuses on rules of recruitment in the civil service system in the period 2000–2016. The analysis juxtaposes two consecutive stages of the state-building process, which are marked by different degrees and forms of international involvement: the pre-independence period, 1999–2008; and post-independence period, 2008–2016. Evidence from the case suggests that during the pre-independence period, legal inconsistencies embedded in the internationally promulgated legislation enabled local actors’ formal and informal strategies to recruit political cronies in the newly created civil service system. The transfer of authority from international administrators to elected local authorities, especially after Kosovo’s declaration of independence in 2008, did not solve the problem of legal inconsistencies, and instead, served to consolidate governing parties’ strategies of control over recruitment in the state bureaucracy. More often than not, patron–client relationships that thrive at the borderline between formality and informality of political behaviour, continued to undermine external rule transfers.     

The Executive and the Constitutional Reforms Process in Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT

The debate on whether the executive presidential system which was introduced to Sri Lanka in 1978 should be retained, reformed or abolished is not a new one. It is a topic which is central to constitutional reformation in Sri Lanka, but one which always carries the potential of either making or breaking any attempt made at reforming the Constitution. This article examines the character of the post of executive president in Sri Lanka and how the most recent constitutional reforms process (initiated in 2015–2016) has sought to engage with the topic of executive presidency. Departing from the more popular trend of unconditionally critiquing the executive presidency, this article calls for a more realistic and dispassionate assessment of not only the possibility of abolishing the executive presidency but also of the viability of a prime ministerial system in Sri Lanka.     

Le pouvoir royal et les barons des États de Languedoc

SUMMARY

In this article Juliusz Bardach examines how the federal principles of the Polish-Lithuanian Union were handled in the framing of the Polish Constitution of 3 May 1791. It is shown how the tension between the unitary aims of the king and the reformers and the federalist aims of the Lithuanian delegates was resolved. Although the constitutional draft that was voted on 3 May 1791 appeared to establish a unitary kingdom, it has to be supplemented under Lithuanian pressure. In October 1791 there was added the ‘Mutual Guarantee of the Two Nations’, which reaffirmed the federal character of the Polish-Lithuanian state.     

East Timor's Emerging National Security Agenda: Establishing “Real” Independence

Abstract

This article focuses on the steps East Timor has taken to bolster its defense sector following its attainment of independence in 2002. In International Relations, scholars have often argued that the ability to defend territory and population from external threat is an essential component of sovereign statehood. Literature on post-colonial sovereignty, however, suggests that the external sovereignty of “weak” post-colonial states is more likely to be protected through international legal recognition. In recent years, East Timor has sought to develop their defense capacities in line with conventional thinking about security and “real” independence. This influences the foreign relations of East Timor and also has broader implications for understanding security and independence in post-colonial states.     

Commission Newsletter: 1995

SUMMARY

In this article, M. Manolova examines the provisions in the Bulgarian Constitution of 1879 which concern the responsibility of government ministers. It is shown how these provisions were unusually explicit in establishing that ministers were both individually and collectively responsible for their actions in government and in insisting that the power to institute proceedings lay exclusively with the parliament. The article compares the Bulgarian provisions with those in similar liberal constitutions of the period and notes the several instances down to 1919 when the provisions were implemented, in order to suggest that the principal of ministerial responsibility had a special importance in Bulgarian constitutional theory and practice.     

From Missionary to Ministerial Adviser: Constance Duncan and Australia‐Japan Relations 1922‐1947

The contribution of A. Constance Duncan (1896‐1970) to Australia‐Japan relations has been overlooked in mainstream historiography. This article examines her role in the development of these relations from 1922 to 1947. She was one of the few women to be accepted into the elite inner‐circle of intellectuals influencing Australian foreign policy during this period. In 1922 she embarked on a career in Japan as a missionary, or “foreign secretary”, for the Young Women's Christian Association. She returned to Australia in 1933 and took up a position with the Bureau of Social and International Affairs. Her familiarity with Japanese culture and society, together with an abiding interest in promoting world peace, led naturally to her participation in the world of international relations at a time of heightened interest in the Asia‐Pacific region and Japan in particular. She was part of an intellectual movement that considered an educated Australian public to be of paramount importance in future Australia‐Japan relations and international relations generally. This article traces her activities and examines her influence in the educational field and on Australian foreign policy‐making.     

Swiss Environmental Foreign Policy and Sustainable Development

This paper provides a narrative account of the Swiss environmental foreign policymaking process by former Swiss government officials and links their observations to relevant foreign policy and international relations theories. It provides background information on the broader context for sustainable development contained in the new Swiss Federal Constitution and suggests how realigning government, economy and society on the new Federal Constitution can help to promote sustainable development domestically and through multi­lateral channels.     

Realising the Right to Health for Young People in South Africa—Some Reflections

Abstract

The right to health is enshrined in the South African Constitution as well as a range of international and regional human rights treaties which South Africa accepts. Yet empirical data reveals some of the challenges faced by South African youth—childhood diseases, HIV/AIDS and such like. There are evidently challenges realising the right to health in practice. Nevertheless, South African courts have led the international field in recognising the justiciability of economic and social rights such as the right to health. Having reviewed the applicable laws and jurisprudence, the paper will conclude that a more holistic human rights-based approach offers perhaps the best way forward.     

The emerging role of sovereign wealth fund as an economic growth avenue for Nigeria: lessons from the Singapore experience

In 2011, Nigeria legally established a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) with a view to find a lasting solution to the frequent short-fall of funds needed for key budgetary and infrastructural developments in the country. This is as a result of the volatility in the price of crude oil which is Nigeria’s major source of foreign exchange revenue. This article examines the role that Nigeria’s SWF could play in the economic growth of the country. Importantly, as Nigeria continues to struggle with its first economic recession in decades, the article suggests it needs to adopt lessons from Singapore’s SWF experience.     

The Constitution of Japan and Constitutional Reform

Although there have been movements to revise the Constitution of Japan, the original text has remained in effect for 70 years. This article examines the rules of constitutional revision, the basis on which the Constitution was drafted, and the ramifications of an unmodified constitution. Japan's Constitution is compared in terms of length and number of revisions with those of other industrialized countries. The article concludes with recommendations for making Japan's Constitution better able to function in a legal capacity.     

Peace and security concerns in the Niger Delta: a persisting struggle for autonomy and self-determination

This article argues that neither the amnesty granted the militants nor the election of Goodluck Jonathan as President of Nigeria will be sufficient to resolve the conflict in the Niger Delta as the crisis in the Niger Delta is an offshoot of some of the contradictions in the Nigerian federal structure, particularly the regional and power imbalance in the Constitution of 1960. Therefore, no matter how conceived, the Niger Delta crisis remains more fundamentally constitutional and political than socio-economic or environmental. Accordingly, what the paper attempts to address is the deliberate attempt by the Nigerian state to diminish the constitutional and political aspects of the crisis, while it creates the impression that the root of the problem of the Niger Delta is neglect and inequitable distribution of national resources by the federal government. The paper brings to the fore the constitutional and the political aspects which have underpinned the Niger Delta crisis since the 1950s and 1960s and concludes that any resolution of the crisis short of those imperatives will not endure.     

Moving towards EU membership and away from liberal democracy

ABSTRACT

The article concludes the Special Issue, Illiberal Politics in Southeast Europe, on the retreat of liberal democracy in the region. It focuses on the central themes that link all the papers together: free and fair elections, media freedom, judicial independence, privileged access to public resources and the role of civil society. It seeks to disentangle the causes and consequences of illiberal politics in the region and explores the similarities in the illiberal practices and strategies incumbents use with the aim of staying in power indefinitely. The main argument is that democratic backsliding in Southeast Europe is deeply rooted in the unfinished transitions of the 1990s, which gave rise to new political and economic elites and that blending those two into one resulted in the dominance of the executive over the judiciary and legislature. These new elites became entrenched during the wars and conflicts that affected the region. The enabling factors were of societal origin – clientelist practices, corruption, nepotism and mistrust in politics accompanied by external factors – as well as international pull and push factors (from the EU and Russia) along with a domino effect of democratic backsliding in the region.     

Discourse and Mediation in the Lebanese Crisis of 1958

The Lebanese constitutional crisis and civil war of 1958 were caused by a combination of domestic and international factors such as Arab nationalism, Cold War strategic thinking, and the Lebanese President Camille Chamoun's unpopular intention to amend the constitution to enable him to stand for re-election. This article argues that the crisis was resolved primarily thanks to the efforts of moderate Lebanese politicians and religious leaders. American mediators were involved in mediation attempts, but their contribution to the resolution of the conflict was made possible by the continuous efforts of the Lebanese themselves.     

How America mocked the ceasefire: Vietnam since the paris agreement

Abstract

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s human rights violations before and after 1949 have included torture, prison labor, repression of autonomous worker unions, suppression of ethnic collective rights, religious persecution, forced sterilization, and unethical medical violations of human organ transplants. These violations have been concretely documented by China scholars, Chinese dissident organizations, foreign governments, and international human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). While international attention often focuses on the violations of civil and political liberties (such as the unlawful detention of China's small, but increasingly vocal, dissident community), violations of economic, social, and cultural human rights have also been clearly documented. Such documentation explodes the myth, believed by Chinese and foreign observers alike, that China under communist rule has succeeded with economic and social rights while “lagging” behind in political and civil rights.     

Irrigating the famished fields: The impact of labour-led struggle on policy and action in Nigeria (1999–2007)

Between 1999 and 2007, a broad-based labour-led movement which focused most of its energies on its struggle against unpopular fuel price hikes in Nigeria was able to exert considerable, though limited, influence on an Obasanjo-led executive arm of government that was at best quasidemocratic in its orientation. This article argues that, despite the very important roles played by other factors (notably the presence of more democratic space in Nigeria post-1999), the movement's adoption of a mass social movement approach facilitated its ability to exert such influence.     

Le pouvoir et la guerre dans le discours parlementaire (1914–1918)

SUMMARY

In 1914 the political situation in Portugal was driven by feelings of insecurity, following the revolution of 1910 which had replaced the monarchy by a republic. In this article, Maria Ribeiro illustrates the state of public opinion and its reaction to the European war. The article uses the speeches of the party spokesmen in debates in parliament down to the final decision to enter the war on the side of the Entente powers in February 1916. It argues that public opinion was driven by three perceived sources of insecurity: fear that the great powers had designs for the taking over of Portugal's African colonies; the fear that since the establishment of the republic, the Spanish monarchy might be contemplating intervention in Portuguese internal affairs and sought to compromise her independence; and a general perception that the new republic needed to assert its international status. This last consideration, the desire to establish firm international recognition of the sovereignty of the Portuguese Republic, was probably the principal factor which moved the Portuguese political leaders to intervene in the war.