GLOBALIZATION IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD ORDER AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON AFRICAN SECURITY AND ECONOMY

Abstract

Globalization, understood in terms of a perfectly integrated global market, a global society, global civilization, interdependence, internationalization, universalization or liberalization process has no single fixed or determinate historical context, in all the historical stages of globalization processes: the age of discovering or classical globalization (1450 1850); the second wave that evidenced a major expansion of European empires (1850 1945) ; the period of emergence of American dominance and ideology of liberalism (1945-1960), and the present system that marked the intensification and triumph of American led capitalist values liberalism and democracy (1960-present); the common feature inherent in them is that the South, particularly Africa has continued to be at the receiving end. This work attempts to examine the security threats of contemporary globalization to Africa. The study contends that, globalization, which is led by a new age of information technology, may rather pose much security threats to Africa than significant gains, considering the vulnerable institutional and socio economic systems of African societies or social formations.