Abstract
Scholars argue that civil wars in Africa thrive with the influence of superpowers on the continent. Yet, Africa, today, is primarily a design of influential and powerful countries. The continent suffered long years of colonial rule until the 1950s, followed by agitations for independence by freedom fighters. These agitations created a spate of independent nations, but also bore the cross of navigating political and social relationships that had created fault lines in the system, leaving a legacy of civil wars across Africa. By establishing colonial powers as superpowers in Africa, this chapter examines the concept of superpowers through three major sources, colonialism, struggle for independence and the post-independence power struggle, and interrogates the ethical relations of superpowers in civil wars in Africa.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
This is a central argument in Mamdani’s book: Mahmood Mamdani, Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996).
- 2.
Mohamed Ahmed Ali Taisier and Robert O Matthews. Civil Wars in Africa: Roots and Resolution. (Montreal [Que.]: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1999): 3–4.
- 3.
“South Sudan Country Profile.” BBC News. Accessed September 21, 2018. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14069082
- 4.
Guy Arnold. Historical Dictionary of Civil Wars in Africa. (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1999): 36–48.
- 5.
Guy. Historical Dictionary of Civil Wars in Africa. 279–280.
- 6.
Ibid. 168–169.
- 7.
Joseph S. Nye. “Superpower Ethics: An Introduction”. Ethics & International Affairs Volume 1, Issue 1: (March 1987): 1–7. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7093.1987.tb00510.x
- 8.
Liberia and Ethiopia also suffered the fate of civil war though they were not colonized by other countries. They, however, suffered the effect of typical issues which led to an outbreak of war and resulted in the influences of foreign powers in their affairs.
- 9.
Benson. O. Igboin. “Colonialism and African Cultural Values” African Journal of History and Culture, Vol. 3(6), 2011: 121.
- 10.
Guy. Historical Dictionary of Civil Wars in Africa. 83.
- 11.
For more on the “Scramble for Africa” read Barbara Harlow, and Mia Carter. The Scramble for Africa. (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press 2003).
- 12.
Paul Eric, “The Amalgamation of Nigeria: Revisiting 1914 and the Centenary Celebrations” Canadian Social Science Vol. 12, No. 12, 2016, pp. 66–68, DOI:https://doi.org/10.3968/9079
- 13.
Fred Marte. Political Cycles in International Relations: The Cold War and Africa, 1945–1990. (Amsterdam, Netherlands: VU University Press, 1994).
- 14.
Roberto Suro. “Papal Encyclical Says Superpowers Hurt Third World” https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/20/world/papal-encyclical-says-superpowers-hurt-third-world.html
- 15.
Gavin Raymond. “Causes of Civil War in Africa.” Academia.edu – Share Research. Accessed October 22, 2018. https://www.academia.edu/3372289/Causes_of_Civil_War_in_Africa
- 16.
Guy. Historical Dictionary of Civil Wars in Africa. 82.
- 17.
John Deigh. “What is Ethics” An Introduction to Ethics. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) 7 https://www-cambridge-org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/core/books/an-introduction-to-ethics/BF9730043EBE96B6C9DE420748C9A990. Print 2010, Online Publication, June 2012.
- 18.
Elechi Amadi, Ethics in Nigerian Culture. (Ibadan: Heinemann Educational 1982): 30–41.
- 19.
Nye, “Superpower Ethics: An Introduction”, 2.
- 20.
Mazuri, Ali, “Superpower Ethics: A Third World Perspective” Ethics and International Affairs, vol. 1, 1987, pp. 9–21.
- 21.
Ibid. p. 11.
- 22.
Ibid. p. 17.
- 23.
De St. Jorre, John, The Nigerian Civil War. (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1972). 121.
- 24.
De St. Jorre, The Nigerian Civil War.
- 25.
Robert Benjamin Shepard, “Superpower and Regional Power: The United States and Nigeria, 1960–1979.” (PhD diss., John Hopkins University. 1984) 35. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
- 26.
Chibuike Uche. “Oil, British Interests and The Nigerian Civil War.” The Journal of African History 49, no. 1 (2008): 111–35. doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853708003393
- 27.
Griffin Christopher, “France and the Nigerian Civil War” in Postcolonial Conflict and the Question of Genocide: The Nigeria-Biafra War, 1967–1970, ed. Moses, A. Dirk, and Lasse Heerten. (New York: Routledge, 2018), 156–177.
- 28.
Shepard, “Superpower and Regional Power: The United States and Nigeria, 1960–1979.” 51–52.
- 29.
Shepard, “Superpower and Regional Power: The United States and Nigeria, 1960–1979.” 22, 24.
- 30.
Matusevich Maxim, “Strange Bedfellows: An Unlikely Alliance Between the Soviet Union and Nigeria During the Biafra War”, Postcolonial Conflict and the Question of Genocide: The Nigeria-Biafra War, 1967–1970. 156–177.
- 31.
Olajide Aluko. “Nigeria and the Superpowers.” Millennium 5, no. 2 (September 1976): 128. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/03058298760050020401
- 32.
Stanley Hoffmann. “The Rules of the Game.” Ethics & International Affairs 1 (1987): 37–51. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7093.1987.tb00513.x
- 33.
Nimi Wariboko. The Principle of Excellence: A Framework for Social Ethics. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, 2009., 182.
- 34.
Arnold, Guy. Historical Dictionary of Civil Wars in Africa. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1999.
Bibliography
Achebe, Chinua. 1994. Things Fall Apart. New York: First Anchor Books Edition.
Aluko, Olajide. 1976. Nigeria and the Superpowers. Millennium 5 (2): 128. https://doi.org/10.1177/03058298760050020401.
Amadi, Elechi. 1982. Ethics in Nigerian Culture. Ibadan: Heinemann Educational.
BBC News. South Sudan Country Profile. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14069082. Accessed 21 Sept 2018.
De St. Jorre, John. 1972. The Nigerian Civil War. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Eric, Paul. 2016. The Amalgamation of Nigeria: Revisiting 1914 and the Centenary Celebrations. Canadian Social Science 12 (12): 66–68. https://doi.org/10.3968/9079.
Griffin, Christopher. 2018. France and the Nigerian Civil War. In Postcolonial Conflict and the Question of Genocide: The Nigeria-Biafra War, 1967–1970, ed. A. Dirk Moses and Lasse Heerten, 156–177. New York: Routledge.
Guy, Arnold. 1999. Historical Dictionary of Civil Wars in Africa. Lanham: Scarecrow Press.
Harlow, Barbara, and Mia Carter. 2003. The Scramble for Africa. Durham: Duke University Press.
Hoffmann, Stanley. 1987. The Rules of the Game. Ethics & International Affairs 1: 37–51. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7093.1987.tb00513.x.
Igboin, O. Benson. 2011. Colonialism and African Cultural Values. African Journal of History and Culture 3 (6): 93–103. http://www.academicjournals.org/app/webroot/article/article1381858600_Igboin.pdf
John, Deigh. 2010. What is Ethics. In An Introduction to Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Print 2010, Online Publication, June 2012. https://www-cambridge-org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/core/books/an-introduction-to-ethics/BF9730043EBE96B6C9DE420748C9A990
Mamdani, Mahmood. 1996. Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Marte, Fred. 1994. Political Cycles in International Relations: The Cold War and Africa, 1945–1990. Amsterdam: VU University Press.
Matusevich, Maxim. 2018. Strange Bedfellows: An Unlikely Alliance Between the Soviet Union and Nigeria During the Biafra War. In Postcolonial Conflict and the Question of Genocide: The Nigeria-Biafra War, 1967–1970, ed. A. Dirk Moses and Lasse Heerten. New York: Routledge. e-book.
Mazuri, Ali. 1987. Superpower Ethics: A Third World Perspective. Ethics and International Affairs 1 (1): 10–21.
Nye, Joseph S. 1987. Superpower Ethics: An Introduction. Ethics & International Affairs 1 (1): 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7093.1987.tb00510.x.
Raymond, Gavin. Causes of Civil War in Africa. Academia.edu – Share Research. https://www.academia.edu/3372289/Causes_of_Civil_War_in_Africa. Accessed 22 Oct 2018.
Rowlandson, Mary. 2016. The Narrative of My Captivity. In The Making of the American Essay, ed. John D’Agata, 19–56. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press.
Shepard, Robert Benjamin. 1984. Superpower and Regional Power: The United States and Nigeria 1960–1979. PhD Dissertation, John Hopkins University, Baltimore. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Suro, Roberto. Papal Encyclical Says Superpowers Hurt Third World. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/20/world/papal-encyclical-says-superpowers-hurt-third-world.html
Taisier, Mohamed Ahmed Ali, and Robert O. Matthews. 1999. Civil Wars in Africa: Roots and Resolution. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Uche, Chibuike. 2008. Oil, British Interests and the Nigerian Civil War. The Journal of African History 49 (1): 111–135. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853708003393.
Wariboko, Nimi. 2009. The Principle of Excellence: A Framework for Social Ethics. Lanham: Lexington Books.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Consortia
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Comfort Olajumoke (Jumoke) Verissimo. (2020). Ethics of Superpowers and Civil Wars in Africa. In: Wariboko, N., Falola, T. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of African Social Ethics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36490-8_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36490-8_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-36489-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-36490-8
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)