IR3111: Africa international Relations

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF AIMS AND CONTENT

The aim of this module is to provide an in-depth overview of both the historical and contemporary interstate relations in Africa and to situate Africa within world affairs. This module is designed to provide an analysis of the major themes and workings of international relations in Africa. It seeks to assess the relations between African states and their external environment. Foreign policy makers attempt to reconcile domestic interests with external circumstances, taking account of the available means, resources, and institutions for doing so. This module will provide a greater understanding of the environment within which African states conduct their international relations, with particular attention being paid to providing a good understanding of the actors, contexts and outcomes. Political independence by the various African states launched into international politics a group of the world’s poorest, weakest, and most artificial states. How have such states managed to survive and to effectively conduct foreign policy? To what extent is their survival now threatened? This module will attempt to comprehensively treat the interplay between domestic and international politics while also analyzing the efforts by African states to manage their external relations amid “seismic shifts” in the internal, regional, and global environments. Throughout this mode, we shall also identify patterns of change, examine constraints, and give careful attention to some of the processes that influence policy outcomes.

This module’s objectives are:

D.1.          To enable the student to understand the concept and theories of International Relations (IR);

D.2.          To enable the student to understand the role of IR in Africa’s politics and issues related to it;

D.3.          To develop in the students the ability to apply IR skills in the field particularly Africa’s field;