Politics without commerce? Explaining the discontinuity in Soviet-Nigerian relations, 1971-1979

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Periodical article

Title:	Politics without commerce? Explaining the discontinuity in Soviet-Nigerian relations, 1971-1979
Authors:	Ifidon, Ehimika A. Osarumwense, Charles O.
Year:	2015
Periodical:	African and Asian Studies (ISSN 1569-2094)
Volume:	14
Issue:	4
Pages:	289-314
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Nigeria Soviet Union
Subjects:	international relations foreign policy international trade arms trade 1970-1979
External link:	https://doi.org/10.1163/15692108-12341345
Abstract:	The paper set out to explain the discontinuity in Soviet-Nigerian relations between the periods 1967-1970 and 1971-1979. The explanation usually given for the poor relations between Nigeria and the Soviet Union between 1960 and 1966 is the anti-communism of the Nigerian political elite; and ideological incompatibility for the non-vibrant relations between 1971 and 1979. These explanations appear idealistic and hypothetical. A major source of the problem of explanation is the consideration of Soviet-Nigerian relations only within the context of the Soviet-American Cold War struggle, from a trilateral perspective. What if the Cold War did not exist, what would have been the nature of Soviet-Nigerian relations? Adopting a bilateral framework, the paper argues that it was the inchoate state of trade relations, which would have provided the basis for continuity across administrations, that retarded Soviet-Nigerian political relations between 1971 and 1979. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]