COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST - POLI 634: THE FOREIGN POLICY OF GHANA

                                DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE                                                   

                                                   UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

                                    SECOND SEMESTER, 2015/2016 ACADEMIC YEAR

                                                                   Instructor:  Dr Iddi Ziblim

                                                              Email: Ziddi48@hotmail.com

Course Title	The Foreign Policy of Ghana
Course Code	POLI 634
Purpose and Objectives	Course Description and Objectives: This course is designed to provide a graduate level overview of the development and current realities of Ghana’s foreign policy.  It seeks to i) examine the internal and external attributes of Ghana’s foreign policy environment, ii) discuss the policy tools and instruments of foreign policy formulation in Ghana, iii) explore the substance, dynamics, and nuances of foreign policy under various governments, and iv) critically analyze the phenomenon of continuity and change, as well as trends and prospects in Ghana’s foreign policy implementation.  Through academic and popular readings, we will discuss the global dimensions of foreign policy decisions and the domestic forces that sometimes influence foreign policymaking in Ghana.  The course begins with a look at the various attributes of Ghana’s foreign policy.  We then proceed to review the contending theoretical perspectives and analytical overviews of what constitutes Ghana’s ‘National Interest’.  Attention then switches to a discussion of the social structure, social forces and the foreign policy public in Ghana.  Through a review of the major foreign policy decisions of leaders since Independence, the class will discuss issues of continuity and change in Ghana’s foreign policy.        Course Expectations: The primary goal of offering this course is the intellectual development of your knowledge and analytical ability in the realm of Ghana’s external relations.  Students are expected to have a general knowledge of world affairs, theories of international relations, considerable reading comprehension skills and analytical skills.  The course has a lecture- discussion format.  That is, introductory lectures will outline the central issues to be addressed in the various weeks; these lectures will be followed by informed discussions. Students will be required to write a term paper of about 9-12 pages (typed on A4 paper, doubled spaced).  This paper is due on Oct. 15, 2015.  The term paper is in lieu of Mid-Term exams, and it will be worth 30% of the final grade.  Students will be penalized for late submission of the term papers.  A Power Point presentation would be adopted in the lectures.  Students will be required to write a final examination paper based on the topics covered during the semester.    Grading System:             Interim Assessment (IA) — 30%             Class Debate ─ 10%             Final Exam — 60%             Total Mark/Grade — 100% Final Exam Format:             Five (5) essay questions and you answer three (3). Students should note that academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in this class.  (See University Handbook for penalties).
Week No.	Date	Lecture Course	Tutorials	Venue	Assessment
1	3rd February, 2016	Course Overview Administrative elements of the course/Course structure		Office Room
2	10th February, 2016	Ghana’s National Interest: Understanding the Driving Force of Ghana’s Foreign Policy		Office Room
3	17th February, 2016	Attributes of Ghana’s Foreign Policy		Office Room
4	24TH February, 2016	Major Actors in Ghana’s Foreign Policy Formulation		Office Room
5	2nd March, 2016	Setting the Agenda for Ghana’s Foreign Policy: The Nkrumah Years		Office Room
6	9th March, 2016	Ghana at the Center of Continental Unity		Office Room
7	16th March, 2016	Class Scenario (Debate): That the admission of two GITMO detainees into the country is in accordance with Ghana’s foreign policy objective.		Office  Room
8	23rd March,  2016	Mid-Term Exams		Office Room	Interim Assessment (30%)
9	30th March, 2016	Co-opted Economic Diplomacy		Office Room
10	6th April, 2016	Realpolitik or National Illusion: The Policy of Debt Repudiation		Office Room
11	13th April, 2016	Statecraft under Rawlings		Office Room
12	20th April,  2016	Economic Diplomacy and Good Neighborliness under the NPP.		Office Room
13	27th April, 2016	Course Review and Evaluation	Revision	Office Room
MAY	Revision and Exams

                                                      

READINGS

Arhin, Kwame, The Life and Work of Nkrumah, (Accra: Sedco, 1991).

Armah, Kwesi, Peace without Power: Ghana’s Foreign Policy, 1957-66, (Accra: Ghana University Press, 2005).

Asamoah, Obed, The Political History of Ghana (1950-2013): The experience of a non-conformist, London, UK: AuthorHouse Publishers, 2014.

Asante, K. B., Foreign Policy Making in Ghana: Options for the 21^st Century, (Accra: Friedrich Ebert Foundation, 1997).

Asante, S. K. B., Setting Straight the Record of Ghana’s Recent Political Past, (Tema, Ghana: Digibooks Ghana Ltd., 2011).

Baffour Agyeman-Duah & C. K. Daddieh, “Ghana” in Timothy Shaw & J. E. Okolo ed.    The Political Economy of African Foreign Policy in “ECOWAS” New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press. 1994.

Boafo-Arthur, Kwame,  “Regime Change and Foreign Policy Orientation in Ghanaian Politics: The Post-Nkrumah Years in Perspective”,  Inaugural Lecture, University of Ghana, 2008.

Boafo-Arthur, Kwame, “Trends in Ghana’s Foreign Policy” in Hansen and Ninsin eds. The State, Development and Politics in Ghana.

Boafo-Arthur, Kwame, “Ghana’s External since 31^st December 1981” in Gyimah-Boadi ed. Ghana Under PNDC Rule.

Busia, K. A., “Ghana’s Policy for Foreign Affairs”, in Akyeampong, H. K., Ghana’s Struggle for Democracy and Freedom, Accra, Ghana: Ghana Publishing Corporation, 1979.

Danso-boafo, Kwaku, JJ Rawlings and the Democratic Transition in Ghana, Accra, GH: Ghana Universities Press, 2014.

Plischke, Elmer, Foreign Relations: Analysis of its anatomy, Wesport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1988.

Roland Libby, “External Co-optation of a Less Developed Country’s Policy Making: The Case of Ghana, 1969-1972”, World Politics, 1976.

Rooney, David, Kwame Nkrumah: Vision and Tragedy, (Accra: sub-Saharan Publishers, 1988).

Thompson, W. Scott, Ghana’s Foreign Policy: 1957-1966, (Princeton, U.S: Princeton University

Press, 1969). 

Tieku, Thomas K. and Isaac Odoom, “Re-orienting Ghana’s Foreign Policy Crowd” in Ohemeng, Frank L. K. The Public Policy Making Process in Ghana: how politicians and civil servants deal with public problems, Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2012.

Interviews and Speeches of General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong

1992 Constitution, Republic of Ghana.