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Ideology and the question of agency in Africa’s international relations: the case of Ghana

Emmanuel Siaw Orcid Logo

Third World Quarterly, Volume: 46, Issue: 6, Pages: 665 - 685

Swansea University Author: Emmanuel Siaw Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/01436597.2025.2500570

Abstract

This article reconceptualises the role of ideology in shaping African agency in international relations, offering a nuanced perspective on how African governments navigate global in(ter)dependence. Responding to calls for more substantive engagement with African agency, it decisively moves beyond es...

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Published in: Third World Quarterly
ISSN: 0143-6597 1360-2241
Published: Informa UK Limited 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69514
first_indexed 2025-05-14T14:24:52Z
last_indexed 2025-06-13T13:32:13Z
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spelling 2025-06-12T15:36:12.2350392 v2 69514 2025-05-14 Ideology and the question of agency in Africa’s international relations: the case of Ghana fad1eccfad754fd92bacd45f9576521c 0000-0003-4516-3754 Emmanuel Siaw Emmanuel Siaw true false 2025-05-14 SOSS This article reconceptualises the role of ideology in shaping African agency in international relations, offering a nuanced perspective on how African governments navigate global in(ter)dependence. Responding to calls for more substantive engagement with African agency, it decisively moves beyond established narratives of resistance to highlight a more complex and dynamic understanding of agency. By theorising the interlinkages between ideology and foreign policy, the article demonstrates that African states are not passive actors but strategic agents who contest conventional African ideas, resist external pressures, and selectively embrace external policies aligned with the distinctive ideological orientations of successive governments. Through an analysis of Ghana’s foreign policy under the Nkrumah, Rawlings, and Kufuor administrations  –  ­focusing on regional integration and economic diplomacy – the article generates conceptual bases for understanding small-state behavior in the international system. These insights not only reshape scholarly debates on Africa’s global engagement but also have broader implications for rethinking Global South agency and the accountability of African governments in foreign policymaking. The article thus advances intellectual agendas both within African international relations and the larger discipline, with the potential to influence future research and policy analysis well beyond the Ghanaian case. Journal Article Third World Quarterly 46 6 665 685 Informa UK Limited 0143-6597 1360-2241 African agency; ideology; Ghana’s foreign policy; Africa’s international relations; economic diplomacy; regional integration; Pan-Africanism 13 4 2025 2025-04-13 10.1080/01436597.2025.2500570 COLLEGE NANME Social Sciences School COLLEGE CODE SOSS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Swansea University 2025-06-12T15:36:12.2350392 2025-05-14T15:23:23.5327889 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations Emmanuel Siaw 0000-0003-4516-3754 1 69514__34383__60f5dee92bf847529bb196f03e03a87e.pdf 69514.VoR.pdf 2025-06-02T14:40:42.0728949 Output 1707365 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Ideology and the question of agency in Africa’s international relations: the case of Ghana
spellingShingle Ideology and the question of agency in Africa’s international relations: the case of Ghana
Emmanuel Siaw
title_short Ideology and the question of agency in Africa’s international relations: the case of Ghana
title_full Ideology and the question of agency in Africa’s international relations: the case of Ghana
title_fullStr Ideology and the question of agency in Africa’s international relations: the case of Ghana
title_full_unstemmed Ideology and the question of agency in Africa’s international relations: the case of Ghana
title_sort Ideology and the question of agency in Africa’s international relations: the case of Ghana
author_id_str_mv fad1eccfad754fd92bacd45f9576521c
author_id_fullname_str_mv fad1eccfad754fd92bacd45f9576521c_***_Emmanuel Siaw
author Emmanuel Siaw
author2 Emmanuel Siaw
format Journal article
container_title Third World Quarterly
container_volume 46
container_issue 6
container_start_page 665
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 0143-6597
1360-2241
doi_str_mv 10.1080/01436597.2025.2500570
publisher Informa UK Limited
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description This article reconceptualises the role of ideology in shaping African agency in international relations, offering a nuanced perspective on how African governments navigate global in(ter)dependence. Responding to calls for more substantive engagement with African agency, it decisively moves beyond established narratives of resistance to highlight a more complex and dynamic understanding of agency. By theorising the interlinkages between ideology and foreign policy, the article demonstrates that African states are not passive actors but strategic agents who contest conventional African ideas, resist external pressures, and selectively embrace external policies aligned with the distinctive ideological orientations of successive governments. Through an analysis of Ghana’s foreign policy under the Nkrumah, Rawlings, and Kufuor administrations  –  ­focusing on regional integration and economic diplomacy – the article generates conceptual bases for understanding small-state behavior in the international system. These insights not only reshape scholarly debates on Africa’s global engagement but also have broader implications for rethinking Global South agency and the accountability of African governments in foreign policymaking. The article thus advances intellectual agendas both within African international relations and the larger discipline, with the potential to influence future research and policy analysis well beyond the Ghanaian case.
published_date 2025-04-13T17:56:49Z
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score 11.08899

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