International Studies

This is a chapter from the book "Rethinking Risk and the Precautionary Principle." It seeks to outline a framework for thinking about the precautionary principle (PP), distinguishing broadly two versions of the PP, strong and weak. It us argued that the strong version if taken seriously would be inimical to modernity but is really just a posture used to justify the imposition of the preferences of certain individuals within well funded pressure groups. Meanwhile, the weak version is open to wide interpretation and is used as a justification for arbitrary bureaucratic intervention -- sometimes in line with ideological interest groups; other times in response to pressures from economic interests. Without being in any way cynical, the chapter shows that the precautionary principle has nothing to do with risk management and should be discarded.

Countries within the international political arena are more often than not likely to endure different instances of conflicts among them emanating from their foreign policy practices. Conflict situations were even more likely to happen during the period coming after the end of the Second World War and most importantly during the Cold War period. This is because the international political scene was more polarized during that time with states aligning themselves with either the US or the Soviet Union.

The study of international politics outlines the concept of diplomacy due to the goal of achieving national interest through a peaceful and cordial relationship. The world at large has experienced different stages of civilisation in international relations leading to war, aggressive foreign policies and peace treaties. A good example in these changes is the European region. International relations between states were not totally flawed before the Napoleonic war (1803-1815).

Nigeria as a country gained her independence on October 1st 1960 and after a temporary civilian government and a long reign of military power, which experienced a series of coup d’état it was restored to a democratic federation in 1999. A country with a population of over 168 million and rich in both human and natural resources faces some concerns such as corruption and security challenges. These challenges are on the increase because of lack of solutions to the issues and as such posed several threats to its inhabitants as well as create economic implications.
There are some contentions as to whether the current systems handling security issues are effective. This paper will provide an in-depth analysis at the level of insecurity in Nigeria using past and current events. It will also examine existing domestic and external policies channelled towards managing the security concerns. This dissertation addresses these questions: Firstly, what is the highest form of security concern in the country?  Secondly, what role do the leaders play in ensuring security? Thirdly, what can be done to counter the security challenges? And lastly, what are the possible causes of insecurity in Nigeria?
Following a careful review of existing literature, in spite of the growing security issues in Nigeria, there are limited academic works thus limiting in-depth insight into key areas of security concerns
This dissertation uses a mixed method approach which combines the collective use of qualitative and quantitative data methodology. From these findings, the study identifies evidence linking different group causes of the security issues and also loophole in the available policies. Such awareness can help the Nigerian Government, NGOs, International Organisations and other interested bodies improve policies for security challenges especially in developing diverse nationals.
Although, previous studies restrict findings to, identifying one cause of security challenges. This comprehensive study identifies both direct and indirect causes of the issues and as such allows for collective understanding. This bundling of the causes of security challenges in Nigeria will allow other researchers focus on providing possible solution to the issues.
KEYWORDS: Terrorism, Militancy, Corruption, Lawlessness, Unemployment, Illiteracy, Structure, Politics, Crude Oil, Ethnicity and Religion.