The 1985 Beijing declaration to which Nigeria is a signatory provides that 30% of all positions in government should be given to women. This policy is yet to be implemented in Nigeria because there is a continuing trend of male domination of political and other public positions (Oloyede, 2004; Adelekan,2010).The marginal involvement of African women in the political process resultsfrom the lingering inhibitive cultural and patriarchal forces against women’sengagement in politics that characterized African traditional societies Kwara sate was created in Man 27, 1967 as one of the twelve states cravedout from the existing four regions like; Northern, Western, Eastern and Mid-West.The state was first named Western Central state before it was later metamorphosedto kwara state. On 13 February 1976, the Idah/Dekina part of the state was checkedout and merged with a part of the then Benue/Plateau State to form a Benue state.Again, On 27 August 1991, five local government areas, namely Oyi, Yagba,Okene, Okehi and Kogi were also excised to form part of the new Kogi State whilea sixth, Borgu Local Government Area, was merged with Niger State (Kwara StateGovernment, 2014: 20). Presently Kwara state consists of sixteen local governmentareas. They are: Asa, Baruten, Edu, Ekiti, Ifelodun, Ilorin East, Ilorin West, IlorinSouth, Irepodun, Isin, Kaima, Moro, Offa, Oke Ero, Oyun and Pateg. Therefore,this paper will center on Ilorin West Local Government. According to 2006 census,Kwara State’s population stood at 2,365,353 and ranked 30th of 36 states (NPC,2006). Cited by Mrs. Adedoyin Jolaade, Omede (2017).The city of Ilorin lies in the 300kilometers North of Ilorin on latitudes North80 30 and longitude East 4035 near the Southern fringe of derived savannah andforest Zone 8 in the past, the city was surrounded by a wall of about 10 mile incircumference and as much as 20 feet high in some places. Later development wasto transform it into emirate and with the colonial rule into province. Ilorin provincetherefore consisted of an extension of a strip of territory situated on the right bank of the River Niger from Jebba to a point opposite Idah, comprising about 14, 430square mile. Ilorin province thus incorporated people with different origin, tribe,language, culture and beliefs. It embraces the Ibolos, Ekiti, Igbomina and kabba.Speaking people, including the Kaiama , Bussa and Patigi. Ilorin is bounded by theRiver Niger in the North and by kabba Province in the West and South. It sharescommon boundaries with southern Nigeria provinces of Oyo and Ondo. Themainstays of the people’s economy were weaving (a staple industry engaged in by both men and women); bead making, dyeing pottery, molding and farming. Thesewere to be ageists of various industries and trading activities in the 19th and 20thcentury. This earned it appellate of “one of the most entrepot of central Africa.Substantially, a large part of the province is located on the grass plains withundulating land

1. MODULE NINE: Case Studies: The
Foreign Policy of Great Powers - United
States, China, and Russia
Global Powers and Foreign Policy
• In the contemporary world, the
geopolitical and geostrategic agenda
are being shaped principally by
ongoing US-China hegemonic
competition, and also by a US-Russia
strategic rivalry.

2. • The three rival powers are all
nuclear nations, and also veto-
wielding members of the UN
Security Council. Among the three,
the US is the dominant power in
international institutions, leader of
NATO, the most powerful military
alliance in the world, and the
leader of the “free world” of rich
Western liberal democracies.

3. • Whereas the US and Russia are the world’s
two nuclear superpowers, China and the US
are the undisputed superpowers in the
major dimensions of strategic power —
military, economic, technological, and
diplomatic.
• Globally, there are other powerful power
centres like the United Nations, the
European Union, India, Japan, and the
United Kingdom, but the centre of the
global strategic universe at the moment
runs directly from Washington DC to Beijing.

4. • Despite the fierce and,
sometimes, adversarial
relationships between and
among the three big powers,
they still cooperate to
advance some very thorny
issues on the global policy
agenda

5. The United States of
America
• The United States is
arguably the world’s only
superpower, which means
its foreign policy is of
global scope.

6. • US foreign policy is
concerned not only with
maintaining US global
hegemony but also the
stability of the international
system, particularly the US-
led liberal, rule-based
international order.

7. The Content of Foreign Policy
• For the US, the enduring geostrategic
and geopolitical objectives are the
preservation of US dominance in the
Western Hemisphere; preservation of
the post-World War 11 international
system; preventing a hostile power from
establishing hegemony over critical
parts of the Eurasian (European)
landmass, and maintaining freedom of
navigation.

8. The US decisively won the Cold War
against Russia, but the new strategic
competition is between the US and China.
Between the US and China, the strategic
battlefields are spread across the Indo-
Pacific, South East Asia, and South and
East China Seas. On the other hand, the
US and Russia are locked in a supremacy
battle across much of Eastern Europe and
the Middle East.

9. Strategically, the US is trying
hard to prolong the “Unipolar
Moment” and deter China’s
seemingly inevitable rise as a
great power, even as China’s is
trying to establish itself as the
hegemon in the Eastern
Hemisphere.

10. The clashing interests of the two
powers have triggered low-
intensity military confrontations in
the South China Seas, “trade
wars” and significant disputes
over technology transfer and
intellectual property rights, raising
fears of an unintended “hot war”
or a new Cold War.

11. To curb China’s growing
influence and ensure the
continuing strategic superiority
of the US and its Western
allies, the US has increased its
naval patrols in both the South
and East China Seas.

12. The US is also trying to restrict FDI
into China in sensitive technology like
5G and Artificial Intelligence (AI), as
well as coerce its allies to not
participate in China’s “Belt and Road
Initiative” (BRI), an ambitious
infrastructural project designed to
secure China’s strategic access to
Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa,
and Europe.

13. Additionally, the US is pursuing
a cynical propaganda campaign
to demonize China as a
predatory power intent on using
its growing economic power to
“enslave” indebted poor
countries.

14. The Foreign Policy Process
• The US Constitution divides
responsibility for FPM between the
executive and legislative branches of
government. The President and the
Executive branch have responsibility
for the operations formulation and
execution of foreign policy, but this is
subject to significant control by
Congress (Parliament).

15. • For example, the President
has power to sign treaties,
but only on the “advise and
consent” of the Congress. The
same division of responsibility
also apply in war powers
regarding declaration of war
and deployment of US troops.

16. • The foreign policy process is
also characterized by intense
penetration by bureaucratic
politics. Because of the global
scope of US foreign policy as
a superpower, the FPM
process is vast, involving
dozens of agencies.

17. • Within the vast US foreign policy
making machine are specialized
organizations, including think
tanks, promoting specific areas
of policy and acting as lobbies
for particular interests. The net
result has produced vast
diffusion of foreign policy
making.

18. Russia
The Foreign Policy Process
• The leading institution of FPM in
Russia is the Office of the
President. The President has direct
control over foreign policy and
security-related ministries and
departments (Foreign Affairs;
Defense, intelligence, and Boarder
services etc.).

19. • Outside the President’s
Office, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs has formal
responsibility for
coordination and
implementation of foreign
policy.

20. Content of Foreign Policy
• The overriding strategic foreign
policy priorities of Russia are to
maintain its great power status;
weaken transatlantic ties (EU and
NATO); dominate the former Soviet
space; and challenge/undermine the
Western liberal order, political
economy, and norms of democracy.

21. • Other priorities relate to Russia’s
desire to maintain a sphere of
influence among former Soviet
republics now independent
states in its neighborhood.
Russia continues to frame these
Soviet successor states as
constituting a zone of Russia’s
vital national security interest.

22. • Russia’s annexation of the Crimea,
and ongoing war against Ukraine is
a practical manifestation of this
foreign policy doctrine. The
Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS) is Russia’s formal
platform for its relations with the
former states of the Soviet Union
who remain allies of Russia.

23. • Russia’s foreign policy orientation has
oscillated from integration with the
West, defense of Russia’s national
interest, delineation of “zones of vital
interest’’ and building a strong Russia.
Until Russia’s annexation of the
Crimea and war against Ukraine,
aspects of cooperation with the West
have been significant.

24. • Russia under President Putin has
adopted a more bellicose and
assertive foreign policy that
reflects a strong impulse to
reclaim a global role for the
country, reminiscent of the
superpower role enjoyed by the
defunct Soviet Union.

25. China
• China’s strategic goals, according
to the country’s National Security
Strategy, are to maintain world
peace; preserve China’s
independence and sovereignty, as
well as its economic and cultural
integrity – the so-called “socialism
with Chinese characteristics.”

26. The Foreign Policy Process
• There are two parallel government
structures in China: the Party and
the State. It is the Party that holds
real power. The two main state
bodies that influence the direction
of China’s foreign policy are the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the
People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

27. • In practice, Party and
State structures are
interlocked, with leaders
at the highest level being
members of both.

28. • China’s foreign policy apparatus
exhibits elements of both the
unitary actor and bureaucratic
models of foreign policy
decision making.
• The bureaucratic model is
manifest in the competition
between the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and the PLA.

29. • The pivotal role of the
President in which the
office holder directs the
formulation and
implementation of policy
reflects the unitary model
of foreign policy decision
making.

30. Content of Foreign Policy
• To manage China’s rise as an
emerging great power
peacefully
• To reclaim ‘lost’ territories
like Taiwan, Hong Kong, as
well as sovereignty over the
South China Sea

31. • To manage economic
integration with the
Western world on its
own terms
• To counter US
influence in Southeast
Asia.