The Importance of Africa to The World System After 9/11 Attacks: War on Terrorism or Integration for Sustainable Development

1.5 Methodology:

1.5.1 Theoretical and Empirical Design;

This study adopt a critique of the neo-realist approach of empirical analysis, in an IPE perspective, that is looking the world the way it is, but also the way it is suppose to be with future outcome, by looking at the relationship of the structural and relational process and origin of power in core areas of security, production, finance and knowledge structures. Examining issues, constraints and opportunities through the security lens both internally and externally inline with Cohen, Gilpin, Tooze and Morphy perception of Susan Strange IPE approach of questioning the separation of dominant model, by theorizing neo realism, neo realism assuming a world made up of states, motivated by self interests, with no overriding state authority to control them, concentrating on the agent and not the structure, she did this through thinking of ‘’international economy and IR; A Case of Mutual Neglect’’¹⁵ . looking for the weakness of both and used IPE as a means of overcoming their weakness. The structural and relational power and global view of power shift factors between the states and non actors, of power, and market mechanisms of control for efficiency, bringing out the implications of what this means locally that is how the state and non state actors influence stability or instability of rivalry within and between countries locally and internationally, how this power shift influence north south relation, especially rivalry among the great powers, by looking at the relationship of the structural and relational power of the impact of 9/11 attacks on the security realities (politics and economics )of the Gulf of Guinea.

To strange, neo realism focus on state power relationship ignores the processes of particular powerful agent structures such as multinational corporations and international organizations and their influential role in bringing about social change, that might challenge the power of particular state structures, she criticizes neo realism as displaying a limited view of power concentrating on the state as power religion, she argues IR registers the role of the growing importance of global institutions, international organisation and non states actors and their influence in the global economy for getting better social outcome, she identifies four areas as source of power in the world system; security, production, finance, knowledge as core areas of analysing IPE issues that goes beyond the power of the state. Strange argues the global market had gain significant power relatively to that of the state, against the Westphalia system that had the state as the only actor in IR (Strange 1994:24-26).

Strange criticize politics on account that economic and technology do not capture all the other areas of change. She criticize politics on the assumptions that the political reasons are the primary area for understanding the social world, identifying power with tangible resources of one or another; territory, population, armed forces, with the political nexus of the market and state authority in a balance of power, the structural power hegemony, and a gap between nation state and international governmental organisation in which a free market hand could be constructive or destructive. In economic matter, Strange perceptively argued, what matters was not physical endowment but rather structures and relationships, of who depends on whom, and for what, operating in two levels; structural and relational power. Relational power echoing the ‘’power of A to get B to do what they would not otherwise do’’, and structural power ’’the power to shape and determine the structures of the global political economy, how things will be done, to shape frameworks within which states relate with each other (Strange 1998a in Cohen 2008:49-63).

Inline with Timothy Sinclair, Bieler and Morton approach of Robert Cox neo granscian IPE approach of Marxist historical materialistic problematic of social transformation with emphasis on hegemony construction first within the state and is then projected to the world scale. With the origin situated in IR with the de-linking of the dollar, the end of the post war regime of embedded liberalism, and a world of sustained structural change, IR in difficulties in understanding this development, and the challenges posed by new critical theories of feminism, historical sociology, and post structuralism, rejecting the positivist assumption of the aim of social science of identifying causal relationship in an objective world. Rejecting the mainstream positive IR approaches assuming that it is neither possible to separate the object from the subject or distinguish between normative enquiry and empirical scientific research. This is where Robert Cox critique with respect for institutions, social and power relations, calls them the mainstream theories, in this case neo-realism, by concerning itself with their origins and if they bring about change of world order, dominant norms, institutions and practices ( hegemonic forces, and counter hegemonic structures of their social origins and the historical context perspective of private power, in their social interactions, comprising set of material capabilities, ideas and institutions into spheres or levels of production, forms of state, and world orders). He criticize economics as the primary reasons for understanding the social world, with the normative remark ‘’theory is always for someone for some purpose’’¹⁶. Cox sees production as the basis of social and political power in the society. The state is the embodiment in political term with authority of the class in control of the production structure in an anarchical world order. (ibid 1996:11)

Another way I would have like to realise the research investigation is the classical approach of Schumpeter through the development theory of economic growth and development as a structural transformation process, emphasizing industrialization, process in developing countries, assuming that the developed and industrialized countries were rich primarily because of their industrial development. With characteristics stressing productivity differences in various economic sectors and of a high degree of state intervention in economic development process, to bring about economic development and modernization. But the theory of modernization has the tendency to alienate African countries as it prunes Rowstow stages of economic development and believes Africa should copy from the west. What is more this theory has been by pass with the advent of technological innovations such as the internet, modern machineries, fast means of communication, globalization and the shift in focus of the unit of analysis from states to markets in IR to IPE.