‘At Daggers Drawn’: History, Political Science and the ‘Soul’ of International Relations Discourse in Nigeria

Abstract

The emergence of International Relations (IR) after the First World War as a distinct field, separate from diplomatic history was primarily conditioned by the need to build a special body of knowledge aimed at unravelling the causes of war as well as the prescriptions for peace. In order to arrive at something close to a systematic knowledge of the varied relationships among states, a positivist methodology was found for IR. At the same time, the scholars and practitioners of International Relations (IR) continued to rely on history for bulk of their information. This explains why the IR is denoted as a multi-disciplinary field. In Nigerian scholarship, the growth and popularity of IR have been brought about by the crisis that bedeviled the discipline of History from the 1980s. In the ensuing crisis of relevance, most departments of history began to rechristen to Departments of History and International Studies or Relations. Consequently, a struggle arises between historians and political scientists for the ‘soul’ of International Relations discourse in Nigeria. While claims and counter-claims are rife, the main issue appears to bother on the methodological approach of the two disciplines. This study undertakes to examine this matter and as well, attempts to reconcile the differing position of the historian and the political scientist – for, in fact, they are not mutually exclusive. Information for the study came from primary and secondary sources.

Keywords: History, Political Science, International Relations, Methodology and Scholarship