Research
Social Conflict, Security and Peace Building in the Information Communication Age
The paper was burdened by the need to evolve a proactive use of the media and information communication technology (ICT) as instruments for peace building, security and conflict management system (CMS) and how these can be realised. Looking at ICT and how it affect security and security soft and hard wares. It also considered ICT as a driver of social conflict and security. The paper saw peace building as a product of ICT and how Information system management (ISM) can either increase or decrease conflict eruption.
The Age of Security and Democracy, Nigerian example: The way forward
This paper deals with the travails of national security in the context of democracy and urbanism. It argues that the securitization of democracy has undermined democratic freedoms. Central to the arguments is that the constrain of democracy in Africa has been the reduction of its principles to serve sentiment of the developing community. It further argues that democracy should be seen as an essentially contested concept, not in ways that denies its core values but that recognize its pluralism. It is this pluralism of democracy that creates the lacuna that in many cases contravene some basic security values such as force and precision particularly in city centers. Democracy in Nigeria attempt compromising security into face saving agenda. This constitutes threat to its essence and commitment to order and obedience. This unfortunately caught most African police napping helplessly. The paper concludes with some ways forward.
Perception of Violence in International Relations, African Example
This paper offers a broad retrospective on the experience of violence in international relations in Africa. It advances several evidences to explain why the history of international relations had such a chequered history of international violence Increasing rate of violence within and among nation states have led to the widening of inequality gap between the poor and the rich countries of the world such that the campaign for liberal democracy by developed societies is now used as a tool to give human face to their imperial exploitation and domination. This condition that places moral burden on the acclaimed relevance of international relations. The international conditions which confirm the difficulty of this project also underscore its necessity. The breakdown of European colonial empires and the increasing importance of the great powers to mould international affairs have resulted in an unruly world which contains a large number of small, youthful nations with little experience in self-government and less in international affairs. These nations, often poor and frequently squabbling are the scene of enormous human suffering resulting from natural causes, human incompetence, or old-fashioned greed and viciousness. The great powers themselves contribute in various ways to human anguish, not least by maintaining the threat of nuclear war. Their enormous power and wide ranging interests seem to have dulled their moral sensibility rather than the reverse. Immense resources have allowed them to ignore the thinking of others and the genuine condition of the world, as well as the real limitation of their own power- luxuries which other nations cannot afford. Any effort such as this, to explore resolution through critical content analysis and proffering the way forward underscores the necessity of this paper.
