Nigeria’s Military Involvement In Liberia 1990-1997: A Realist Assessment
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Date
2016-03
Authors
Eugene, Obiora Eugene
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
The Liberian nation was plunged into civil war between 1990 and 1997. The Nigerian military government at the time, in its perceived attempt to stop the war, initiated and led a military intervention in the country predominantly using the Nigerian Army. In realist terms, Nigeria‘s military involvement was to defend her national interest by restoring peace to Liberia through a consensual multilateral mechanism. Indications from extant literature, so far, have not shown any convincing evidence of this expectation in the Nigerian involvement. This is a knowledge gap that needs to be filled. The objectives of this study, therefore, are first, to ascertain if the Nigerian military involvement in Liberia was in her national interest; and second, to clarify if the Nigerian-led intervention was a commendable, multilateral, consensual international initiative as assumed, or if it was a dangerous precedent in international relations. The study utilises oral responses from in-depth interviews with Nigerian policy makers and executors during the intervention, in conjunction with secondary data. The theory of realism is applied in analysing the Nigerian military involvement. The findings of the study are that first, the Nigerian military involvement in Liberia, in the period under study, was not in Nigeria‘s national interest; and second, it was not multilaterally consensual. The study suggests the need for rational and cautious use of the mechanism of military intervention by nation-states in their international behaviour; and recommends further research in the study area possibly from other theoretical perspectives in order to fill any perceived gaps in knowledge in the existing literature on Nigeria‘s military involvement in Liberia.
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Keywords
Multilateral