The Post Cold War External Environment and Nigeria Foreign Policy

Abstract

This paper examines some important post Cold War changes in the external environment that have contributed to changes in Nigeria’s foreign policy. The external environment of foreign policy is the totality of extraneous factors that influence and shape a country’s foreign policy. The international system was remarkably altered by the historic end of the Cold war. The post Cold War facilitated changes in the international system that have made international relations more complex and challenging. Globalisation, international pressures for democratisation and respect for human rights; changes in the international system and Nigeria’s commitments to bilateral and multilateral agreements were identified as some of the external sources of influence on the country’s foreign policy. These developments have challenged and tremendously altered the dynamics of Nigeria’s foreign policy. Neo-liberal theory was employed as the framework of analysis. Data were sourced from secondary sources: books, journals, newspapers, magazines and the Internet.