Nigeria's Rising Hegemony is Essential to Peace and Stability in West-Africa

Abstract

The deteriorating security in most West African states as a result of conflicts associated with poverty, hunger, and disease has been a source of concern not only to the leaders within the sub-region, but also to the international community. However, the United Nations (UN) and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) lack funds to intervene in all the conflicts occurring throughout the world. The new thinking of the developed world, who contribute substantially to UN activities, is to encourage sub-regional organizations (particularly in Africa) to take responsibility for sub-regional security while they play a supportive role in the areas of training, logistics, and finance. It is the opinion of this author that the best way the international community can support this is to engage and encourage the sub-regional hegemons that have the military and economic capacity to project power beyond their boundaries. The poor economic conditions of most West African States make it more essential to engage and support Nigeria, the sub-regional hegemon, in mobilizing other States to provide for their common security. The United States finds itself today as the only remaining super power; it therefore has the moral obligation to assist in the maintenance of World peace. Some regional hegemons like Japan and China are doing the same thing in Asia. Germany and the United Kingdom, under the leadership of the United States, also are engaged in shaping the security of Europe. In southern Africa, South Africa has found itself in the position of leadership and has mobilized other countries within the sub-region under the South African Development Cooperation (SADC). It is therefore imperative that Nigeria, which is the most populous and richly endowed nation in West Africa, with the largest and better-equipped military, should feel morally obligated to lead in the maintenance of peace in the sub-region. (3 tables, 1 figure,

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 18, 2002
Accession Number
ADA420533

Entities

People

  • Yushau A. Salisu

Organizations

  • Air University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Africa
  • Agreements
  • Agriculture
  • Air Force
  • Civil War
  • Cold War
  • Continents
  • Crime
  • Economic Development
  • Foreign Aid
  • Governments
  • National Security
  • Saharan Africa
  • Small Arms
  • Social Problems
  • United States
  • West Africa

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • International Relations, focusing on Korea-Africa and North Korea-South Korea relations, and Nigeria-Latin American Relations.