Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy
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Item The African Diaspora and Women’s Struggles in Africa(The Palgrave Handbook of African Women's Studies, 2020) Coffie, A.Various scholars have documented the contribution of the African Diaspora toward the different struggles on the continent. However, the specific contributions of the African Diaspora toward women’s struggles have not received much attention. The chapter presents a brief overview of the African Diaspora's engagement with women’s struggles in Africa. It is important to note that the struggles of women in Africa are unique but also linked to the major continental struggles for independence, democratization, sustainable livelihood, and the continental struggles for women's empowerment. The chapter argues that the engagement of the Diaspora with specific reference to women’s struggles has been limited yet very dynamic and beneficial. The African Diaspora has implicitly and explicitly served as a relevant source of first-hand knowledge that supports the information politics of women's organizations and individual women in Africa. Through linkages with women's organizations and individuals in African countries, the African Diaspora has also engaged in the transfer of economic and social remittances toward economic development, political processes, and the dismantling of structures that constrain women's empowerment in Africa.Item Exploring Africa’s Agency in International Politics(Africa Spectrum, 2021) Coffie, A.; Tiky, L.A protracted conventional knowledge within mainstream International Relations (IR) has been that African agents (states, organizations, and diplomats) are consumers of international norms and practices designed in the affluent countries of the Global North. Papers in this special issue present a challenge to this view; they discuss the active role and the influence of African actors in international politics and renew a call for the development of IR theories, concepts, and methods that reflect Global Southern and African experiences, ideas, institutions, actors, and processes.Item New Dimensions Of Transnational Activism(University of Ghana, 2021-03) Folarin Ajayi, T.The historic phenomenon of transnational activism, defined as political mobilisation across borders, has long been characterised by the agentic primacy of Global North political actors and professional advocacy by formal civil society organisations and networks. Bring Back Our Girls, the movement by Nigerian women for the rescue of Nigerian schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in 2014, is one of several new activisms that breaks this mould, marking a shift toward spontaneous, mass-based protests initiated and led by eclectic Global South actors and grounded in Global South contexts. Some recent scholarship recognises the North-South shift of transnational activist agency, yet much of it remains focused on NGO advocacy and social movements that originate in the Global North. This means that vital insights are missing from knowledge of how transnational resistance is happening today and what this means for international politics. It also signals an imperative to revisit dominant models and theories of transnational activism in order to update them. Using interviews with 27 Bring Back Our Girls leaders and participants, digital ethnography and content analysis, this study asks: what does Bring Back Our Girls reveal about the changing structure, motives and function of contemporary transnational activism? The case of Bring Back Our Girls affords empirical insights from an African-led activism for the rights of girls in an epistemic field centred on Global North activists and malestream actors. I argue that Bring Back Our Girls signals a new direction of transnational activism which I theorise as multimodal transconnective activism. This framework rests on three pillars: a mix of formal and informal actors in which constellations of informal social networks are prominent; individuals' motives for activist engagement as important but understudied drivers v of transnational activism that stem from their personal and social identities, values, beliefs and positionalities; and a shift in the relationship between Global South and North activists from dependence to collaboration, signalling a reconfiguration of core-periphery dynamics in terms of who ‘owns’ political problems and who leads their resolutionItem New Dimensions Of Transnational Activism(University Of Ghana, 2021-03) Ajayi, T.F.The historic phenomenon of transnational activism, defined as political mobilisation across borders, has long been characterised by the agentic primacy of Global North political actors and professional advocacy by formal civil society organisations and networks. Bring Back Our Girls, the movement by Nigerian women for the rescue of Nigerian schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in 2014, is one of several new activisms that breaks this mould, marking a shift toward spontaneous, mass-based protests initiated and led by eclectic Global South actors and grounded in Global South contexts. Some recent scholarship recognises the North-South shift of transnational activist agency, yet much of it remains focused on NGO advocacy and social movements that originate in the Global North. This means that vital insights are missing from knowledge of how transnational resistance is happening today and what this means for international politics. It also signals an imperative to revisit dominant models and theories of transnational activism in order to update them. Using interviews with 27 Bring Back Our Girls leaders and participants, digital ethnography and content analysis, this study asks: what does Bring Back Our Girls reveal about the changing structure, motives and function of contemporary transnational activism? The case of Bring Back Our Girls affords empirical insights from an African-led activism for the rights of girls in an epistemic field centred on Global North activists and malestream actors. I argue that Bring Back Our Girls signals a new direction of transnational activism which I theorise as multimodal transconnective activism. This framework rests on three pillars: a mix of formal and informal actors in which constellations of informal social networks are prominent; individuals' motives for activist engagement as important but understudied drivers of transnational activism that stem from their personal and social identities, values, beliefs and positionalities; and a shift in the relationship between Global South and North activists from dependence to collaboration, signalling a reconfiguration of core-periphery dynamics in terms of who ‘owns’ political problems and who leads their resolution.Item Identity Construction In An Interdependent World: The Case Of The Arts In Ghana’s Diplomatic Relations(University Of Ghana, 2022-07) Cooper, B.A.The intensity of globalisation after the Cold War has led to a general concern about how national identities of states and societies are being constructed through the arts and utilized by states in their diplomatic engagements. Specifically, this study sought to unravel the extent to which the arts, broadly understood, have been utilized by the foreign missions of the United States of America, China, Egypt, Brazil and the United Kingdom. With the aid of the theoretical framework of constructivism and the qualitative methodology advanced through the use of primary (interviews and focus group discussions) and secondary data, the result of the study shows that all the foreign missions in Ghana prioritize the use of the arts as part of a deliberate strategy to construct national identities in ways which will enhance their standing in World Affairs. Unlike the foreign missions, Ghana does not seem to have realized the importance of its national identity building resources and thus having a strategic paradigm to derive any advantages that may result from such an initiative. Given the advantages that can be gained from such as strategy, as indicated by respondents, Ghana can begin a process of leveraging its cultural capital in the arts to construct a national identity which can serve as currency in its engagements with other governmentsItem The Ghana Armed Forces and the National Defence Policy: Meeting Contemporary Threats, Challenges and Prospects for National Development(University Of Ghana, 2019-07) Ba-Taa-Banah, T.T.The Public Sector space of sovereign states is governed by policies that direct various categories of stakeholders in the attainment of goals of governments. The Defence and Security Sectors of states fall within this category. In this respect, the Ghana Armed Forces, as the lead institution in the Defence Sector, has been assigned by all four Constitutions of post-independent Ghana, the role of protecting the territorial integrity of the state and by extension, the National Interest as well as the security and interests of the citizenry. The Fourth Republican Constitution of 1992, however, stands in sharp contrast to all previous ones in that it has a provision which stipulates that, the Ghana Armed Forces should contribute to national development. Given this historically unique constitutional mandate, the study examined the problem posed by the new mandate in the light of the fact that the assigned developmental duty was neither accompanied by specific operational directives nor an expatiation of what it entails. It is factual that the Ghana Armed Forces has always contributed to national development, albeit passively, whilst discharging its duties under the traditional role. This therefore raises questions about clarity between the tenets of the Ghana National Defence Policy, which is designed to take into consideration the country’s commitments to national, regional, continental, as well as global security, and the developmental mandate of the Ghana Armed Forces as required by the Constitution. The study thus pursued the objectives of ascertaining the viability of the National Defence Policy, how it relates to a fluid contemporary threat landscape, as well as prospects for national development. Guided by the theory of realism, a thematic network qualitative analysis was conducted on both primary and secondary data that were collected from the views of experts, academics and civil society including relevant literature. It was concluded that duty bearers require an in-depth knowledge of the tenets of Ghana’s National Defence Policy to better appreciate their role in a people-centred mandate and its full implications for the traditions, esprit de corps as well as the innovative strategies of the Ghana Armed Forces going into the future. This, by and large, raises questions about the general strategic capability of Ghana’s Defence Sector in the context of the rapidly evolving national and international security challenges. It was observed that, the National Defence Policy has been quite resilient and has satisfactorily met the needs of the state and the defence sector. This notwithstanding and as a living document, there is an urgent need for it to retain its viability, relevance, and dynamism. These findings call for several recommendations including the need to continuously review the National Defence Policy, not only to keep it abreast with the fluid threat, technological, and socio-political landscapes, but to also ascertain its relevance to the state in the discharge of her commitments both locally and internationally. To achieve this, a multi-sectorial and inter-ministerial approach to policymaking was recommended.Item The Role of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Preventing Electoral Violence in Africa: The Case of Ghana(University of Ghana, 2018-08) Badasu, I.Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have been called to action in instances where the state has either been deficient or ineffective in managing affairs. Undoubtedly, the process of democratization in Africa has produced mixed results due to several factors among which include poorly organized elections and its associated violence. Electoral violence prevention has become an integral part of international electoral assistance programs without the needed understanding of what works and in what specific contexts, leading to role duplication and waste of resources. Civil Society Organizations both local and international have assume prominent role in ensuring electoral violence prevention but with little success in the African context. While significant intellectual efforts have been made to respond to the phenomenon of electoral violence through understanding its causes and consequences, very little is known about the circumstances under which civil society organizations succeed in electoral violence prevention. This study, theoretically, grounded in institutionalism and elite consensus, used qualitative research tools such as unstructured in-depth interviews and focus group discussions to explore key questions such as how civil society organizations collaborate with other actors in the prevention of electoral violence in Ghana; how CSOs obtain the commitments of political elites towards electoral violence prevention; the nature of international cooperative strategies and alliances employed towards electoral violence prevention. The study focuses on Ghanaian civil society organizations such as Coalition of Domestic Election Observers, Institute of Democratic Governance, Institute of Economic Affairs, and West Africa Network for Peacebuilding that have a national coverage and a long history of engagement in the electoral processes. The data for the study was gathered with reference to the 2008, 2012 and the 2016 elections and analysed through the process of content analysis. The study has brought to the fore the following understudied phenomena: institutional rivalry that has the potential to undermine electoral violence prevention in Ghana and how CSOs mediate losers‘ consent and provide legitimacy for electoral processes and outcomes. The study finds that losers‘ consent in Ghana is mediated through two interrelated factors; the anticipation of winning future elections and the dilemma of opportunity cost associated with lack of consent. Finally, the study argues that, elite consensus must be characterized by the processes of elite congregation that will permit democratic norm diffusion thereby preventing strategic electoral violence and incidental electoral violence in Africa.Item Constructing To Destroy: A Critical Examination of the Role of Identity Construction in the Study of Terrorism in West Africa(University of Ghana, 2019-07) Atta, F.K.Terrorism is one of the greatest security threats to many West African states currently. For instance, in the Lake Chad Basin area, Nigeria and other states are aggressively fighting the Boko Haram and the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) militants. Westward toward the Sahara is another group of five states, the G5 Sahel Group, also fiercely fighting incessant violence by jihadist groups affiliated to al Qaeda and the Islamic State. However, rather than shrinking, terrorist groups appear to be swelling in the face of national, multinational and regional counterterrorism efforts. This study questions the basic philosophy driving the current counterterrorism strategies in West Africa. It seeks to understand the identity of the terrorist in West Africa through a critical lens and the implication for counterterrorism strategy. The study is framed within Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS) theory, keeping a skeptical attitude toward the dominant understanding of terrorism discourse. The methodology is heavily influenced by the choice of the CTS perspective employing multiple sources – interviews, media reports and speeches. Coded data were analysed thematically within the CTS framework. The study found that adopting a CTS approach in defining terrorism offers a more robust, more contextualized and clearer framework for defining terrorist acts unlike the existing conceptualization. It further found that terrorism in West Africa has assumed a patron-client structural dynamic. Consequently, the study identified, firstly, the “terrorist sponsor” as a complex elitist network of politicians, religious leaders, ethnic leaders and economic leaders who have diverse interests in the perpetuation of terrorism; and secondly, the “terrorist combatant” who, with the help of misinterpreted Islamic doctrine, is recruited, trained, armed and commissioned by the “terrorist sponsor” to carry out acts of violence. The relationship between the two is hinged on mutual benefits derived from the clientelist structure of society. This study, therefore, recommends a redefinition of terrorism in West Africa based on CTS conceptualisation and the sub-region’s unique structural, social and historical circumstances. CTS inspired and West African contextualized definition of terrorism will clearly identify what a terrorist incident is and what is not and will adopt appropriate preventive terrorism strategies at the structural level using political, religious, economic and communal or ethnic means to break the bond between sponsors and combatants. Again, strategy formulation and implementation should significantly involve all the three key levels – the ECOWAS Community level, national level and local community level.Item The Icc And Democracy In Africa: The Cases of Cote D’ivoire and Kenya(University of Ghana, 2014-08) Ovono, C.W.N; Attuquayefio,P; University of Ghana, College of Humanities, Legon Centre for International Affairs and DiplomacyFollowing post-electoral crisis in Kenya and Cote D’Ivoire, the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted some political leaders from the two countries. Those indicted included Laurent Gbagbo and Uhuru Kenyatta of Cote D’Ivoire and Kenya respectively. The ICC’s action was subsequently criticized as injurious to democracy in Africa, particularly in the case of Kenyatta who had been elected as president of Kenya. This study examined the role of the ICC with regard to democratic consolidation in Africa using Cote D’Ivoire and Kenya as case studies. The study hypothesized that the ICC through its indictment of the two leaders contributed to the stability of the two countries. This can be seen as a major step towards democratic consolidation. It was therefore concluded that the ICC is critical to democratic consolidation in Africa.Item The African Union and the Quest for Peace and Security in Africa: 2002 -2012(University of Ghana, 2014-06) Appiah, J. A.; ; Gebe, B. Y.; Antwi-Danso, V.; Ahorsu, K.; University of Ghana, College of Humanities, Legon Centre for International Affairs and DiplomacyA significant challenge that confronted the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) throughout its establishment was the successful management of intra-state conflicts in member states. The OAU was criticised for its lack of intervention in these conflicts due to its Charter provision of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states. The launch of the African Union in 2002 signalled a new era in the quest for peace and security in Africa. The AU initiated important steps towards the creation of an African Peace and Security Architecture for the management and maintenance of conflicts. The AU’s Constitutive Act further gives the right of intervention in the internal affairs of members to the Union. Since its establishment, the AU has lunched military and diplomatic operations in Burundi, Sudan, Somalia, Comoros, Togo, Ivory Coast, Niger, Madagascar, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Libya among others. The main objective of this study is to assess the African Union’s management of the military and diplomatic interventions in Africa since its inception in order to come to terms with the challenges that confront the AU in the quest for peace and security in Africa. The study hypothesised that although the African Union’s doctrine of non-indifference has galvanized its young institutions of peace and security into making significant strides in the conduct of peace operations on the continent, it has had very limited effect on the success of interventions. The research findings noted that, while the AU has demonstrated commitment to address conflicts in Africa it faces severe capacity constraints. This does not auger well for the Union’s future in peace and security.