Globalization and International Security: A Case of Three- Selected Sub-Saharan African Countries

Abstract

The issues of globalization and Security have practically taken the center stage of discourse in both domestic and international arena in the current century, with their attendant of structural, institutional and socio-cultural variables. The current nature of globalization is not just simply linkages, and interdependence between and among sovereign nations, rather it intrusively attacks the very roots of the sovereignty of nation states by challenging their domestic structural, institutional, and cultural foundations with serious security implications. Globalization has created practical security complexities in terms of agents and scope of threats, from states to non-state actors and individuals, thus orchestrating the issues of identity and varied threats as credible sources of conflict. This paper uses the realist and liberal theoretical paradigms to analyze the structural, institutional, and cultural effects of globalization on international security with its attendant implications for nation states. The paper posits that, though nation states will continue to pursue their self-interest, they are forced to cooperate and compromise on important issues of concern in dealing with the forces of liberalization and the complexities created by globalization to ensure both domestic and international security.

Keywords: Globalization, Security, Institutional, Economic, Socio-Cultural and Political