Abstract
The sheer velocity of global trends outpaces developments in many areas of study. This statement rings no truer than in the practice and discipline of International Relations in Ghana. The early study of the discipline in Ghana was subsumed under the study of Political Science, restricted largely to the areas of foreign relations, economic integration and international law and heavily influenced by the writings of practitioners from the immediate post-independence period. However, dynamic changes in world politics have necessitated and indeed provided the impetus for a movement towards re-engineering conventional thinking on International Relations in Ghana. In particular, the dynamics of the pre and post-Cold War eras, intractable armed conflicts within the sub-region and the twin processes of globalization and integration have necessitated the acquisition of additional expertise and skill sets by international relations practitioners. Consequently, it has become imperative to provide educational instruction which would equip practitioners with the needed tools. Using a mix of primary and secondary materials, the chapter reviews the evolution of the didactics of international affairs in Ghana, highlighting the epochal transformations and offering recommendations on ways of enhancing the utility of the discipline through the content and methodology of teaching.
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Notes
- 1.
For a fuller discussion of the influence of the English School on the development of international relations, see (Buzan 2001).
- 2.
Crawford (2001).
- 3.
Waever (1998).
- 4.
Smith (2000).
- 5.
Porter (2001).
- 6.
Africa was not present during the development of the Westphalia State system and as a result, neither formed part of the content that influenced theory development nor the subjects considered for the analysis of the developed theories. It was not until the end of the Second World War and the struggle for independence that Africa became a subject of concern to the State system.
- 7.
Mgonja and Makombe (2009).
- 8.
Jones (2005).
- 9.
Information obtained from conversation with Ambassador D.K.Osei, a member of the 1979 batch trained at the University of Ghana and currently serving as a Diplomat-in-Residence at the Legon Centre for International Affairs.
- 10.
Excerpt from Council Minutes 5(13)/88–89.
- 11.
Ibid.
- 12.
LECIA, A Brief. On file.
- 13.
Some of the 1989–1990 topics for the lecture series included “The Significance of the African commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” “The Functions of Diplomatic Missions: The Reporting Function,” Negotiating with Transnationals,” International Protection of Human Rights: The Role of NGOs,” Nigerian Foreign Policy: Aims, Methods, Prospects,” “Problems in Relations between West African States,” “The Effectiveness of UN Peacekeeping,” “The International Civil Servant,” “UNDP:Policies, Procedures, Effectiveness,” “The International politics of Southern Africa,” “International Commodity Agreements: Cocoa,” US Policies in Africa,” “Current Affairs in Eastern Europe: the East German Experience,” “The Making of Ghanaian Foreign Policy,” “Multinationals in the Oil Industry: The Royal Dutch Group,” “International Dimensions of Science,” “Population: International Issues,” “Crisis and Change in US Foreign Policy Toward Africa, 1958–1989,” “The Principles and Practice of Japanese Foreign Aid,” “China’s Independent Foreign Policy of Peace,” “The Third World and International Trade.”
- 14.
The Centre also has other courses of study which are currently not on offer because of the unavailability of resources. These include: Applied Field Methods, Topics in International Relations Theory, Comparative Politics, Political Development, Comparative Public Policy, Area Politics, International Institutions, History, Theory and Practice, Global competitiveness and Development, Politics of Structural Adjustment, and Globalization.
- 15.
In the 1993/1994 academic year, was a dissertation titled, “Regional peacekeeping: A Case Study of ECOMOG Operations in Liberia 1990–1994.” In the 1996/1997 academic year, dissertations submitted included “The United Nations High Commission for Refugees and Refugee Management: The Case Study of the Liberian Refugees in Ghana,” “Regional Efforts towards Peacekeeping in Africa: The Case of ECOMOG in Liberia” and “International Concern for Conflict in Africa: A Case Study of the US Response to the Liberian Conflicts.
- 16.
Some of the dissertations include “An Appraisal of the OAU’s Approach to Conflict Management and Resolution (1990–2000),” “The OAU in Retrospect: Lessons for the African Union,” “African Unity: Political and Economic Challenges for the Future,” “The Principle of Non-Interference in Inter-State Relations: Contemporary Trends and Challenges for the African Union.”
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Darkwa, L., Attuquayefio, P. (2014). Changing Perspectives in the Didactics of International Affairs in Ghana. In: Agyei-Mensah, S., Ayee, J., Oduro, A. (eds) Changing Perspectives on the Social Sciences in Ghana. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8715-4_10
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