MAGIC IN
FOREIGN POLICY
Every sane country existing on the globe fails not to
marry its foreign policy and domestic policy. There is an overlap in
foreign policy and domestic policy. There is a strong bond and
connexion between the two policies. The interconnectedness is such
that one can be problematic for another if not properly articulated
and coordinated. Foreign policy is domestic policy extended. Domestic
policy is foreign policy localised. The two add up to give nations
unique bearings. The most common error in Africa is the neglect of
foreign policy over the years. It has made her nothing but a puppet
in both the domestic scene and international arena.
Foreign foreign according Charles Adenrele Alade is a
coordinated strategy with which institutionally designated decision
makers seek to manipulate the international environment in order to
achieve certain national objectives. Foreign policy is an
international translation of domestic. Siamese twins. The long
neglect of these two conjoined children in Africa has continued to
make the continent a beggar of ideas.
The US from inception weaves her international rapport
with all countries around the promotion of democracy. Though she has many waiver especially during the Cold War and among countries
who support Israel. In all these cases, she has cause(s) to back
autocrats. Despite this, she continues to emphasize on democratic exportation
as her foreign policy objective. From isolationism to
internationalism and now interventionism, foreign policy is a
constant in all her elections and domestic analysis. Russia is no
exception. She transcends from Communism International (Comintern) to
Communism in one nation and sphere of influence during the Soviet
days. In all her elections, her rapport with the West is a recurrence
which usually indicates what her foreign policy will look like. How
about China? The principle of pure economic contacts with no
political pressure underlays her international commitment and she
never jettisons such.
Major and lesser powers like India, Japan, South Korea,
Venezuela, Brasil, Canada, Singapore, Thailand among others all have
domestic ideologies which they import to the foreign scene. The
hidden treasure in foreign policy is that it gives domestic policy a
plausible direction. If a nation really stands for a particular
ideology on the foreign scene, hardly will she neglect the domestic
path to greatness and viability. The lack of coherent foreign
policies by African states is the bane of their clumsy and floppy
domestic policies. They simply have almost nothing worth standing for and
defending. Foreign policy comes with a kind of R2P (Responsibility to
Protect). Foreign policy comes with commitment and integrity. With
foreign policy, a country knows what and when to act in situations
affecting it and not just follow others in a gullible fashion.
African nations have been gullible followers.
The founding fathers of Africa all had foreign policy
acts as part of their daily domestic policy analysis. The need to
relate with the outside world and prove that the states they
led are not proteges to anybody or nation. This was dominant and
crucial to them, hence, foreign policy was a constant. Through their
domestic policies, the club in which they belong on the foreign scene
can easily be known especially during the Cold War. Julius Nyerere's
Ujamaa in Tanzania reinforced the socialist ideology of Africa as
well as Kwame Nkrumah's African Socialism. The organisation of their
contries then was in line with the professed ideologies. They chose
friends and foes on the basis of this. Jomo Kenyatta's Kenya was more
of an African Socialist state too. Gamel Abdel Nasser led Egypt as an
Arab Giant. The foreign policy of Egypt as at then was to be the
foremost Islamic and Arab voice. A model for the Middle East.
Ironically, Egypt lost track. Kemal Attarturk of Turkey took Turkey
through the tumultous road and sojourn with a secular domestic policy
which gave and continues to give Turkey a direction in foreign
policy.
Foreign policy protects domestic policy. It is of note
that foreign policy gives life to domestic policy. The case of Turkey
proves how foreign policy serves as the custodian of a coherent
domestic policy. Each time Turkey takes a step against secularism,
she is being reminded by many on the foreign scene of her
international clout as a model for the Arab World. The focused
foreign policy led her to NATO. This is so because foreign policy
ensures a nation chooses priorities and aligns with those nations who
can make her achieve her aspirations. Most African nations chose
non-alignment immediately after independence and this served as the
platform with which they relate with the world. Foreign policy is a
prism. Nigeria in her early years stood on the platform of Africa as
the centre-piece of her foreign policy, hence everything that
concerned Africa was her exclusive interest. As inconsistent as she
was in implementing this, she at least had a focus. It was only
Murtala Mohammed that gave life to the policy.
Today, African states are almost no longer holding any
force on the foreign scene because they are directionless. Both the
West and East manipulate and controls the continent at will. They
give Africa crumbs and use one country against another as well as
leaders against their people. The African continent has become so
brittle and extremely powerless. Africa is the only continent that
has not planned her way out of the Cold war. The lack of foreign
policy posture by African states is the major rationale why Africa
became the hotbed of war in the Post-Cold war era. Africa simply did
not get herself. Conformity seems to be the only watchword Africa
knows. If China is the wave today, Africa will follow. If it is
Brasil tomorrow, Africa will yield to her demands. If it is Iran that
comes later, Africa is always ready to put her hands at the back and
trail.
Africa is the only continent where foreign troops dock
with little or no regard for possible rejections. Other nations come
to Africa when they feel like without anyone talking. In fact, there
will not be any debate as to the consequences of any nefarious action
taken in Africa by other nations across the atlantic. From Congo to
Somalia, to Ivory Coast down to Libya and back to Congo, Africa has
always been the playground of Western nations. The lack of foreign
policy makes African countries the only countries on the globe that
rush to respect international law. This is in no way a campaign for
international anarchy but a clarion call for African nations to be
weary of laws that entrench the principle of 'might is right'. Africa
is the continent that cannot separate the designs of Western
countries in making her succumb to their whims and caprices from acts
of real of international obligations. Africa must marry foreign
policy with domestic aspirations if truly she wants to be relevant on
the globe.
