Dr. Olukayode Bakare specializes in international relations and sub-Saharan African politics. He earned his Ph.D. in international relations from the University of Aberdeen, UK, and has held teaching and research positions at various universities in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. Dr. Bakare has played pivotal roles in scholarly forums within his field and has presented at numerous international conferences. He’s currently a researcher in International Relations at the School of International Global and International Studies, State University of New York, OSWEGO, New York, USA. He is also a Visiting Fellow in Security and Statecraft at the London School of Economics and Political Science’s Department of International Relations, United Kingdom. He has also served as a Teaching Assistant and Visiting Fellow in the field of international affairs, Durham University's School of Government and International Affairs in Durham, United Kingdom. Dr. Bakare’s academic interests focus on foreign policy, democratization, security, development, international organizations, sub-Saharan African politics, and geopolitical issues. He is dedicated to educating others about the complexities and nuances of the African region, striving to enhance understanding of contemporary African challenges.

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Where do you see the most exciting research/debates happening in your field?

I can see the most exciting research and debates in my field on the current geopolitical shift and political landscape in sub-Saharan Africa. Issues such as security, economy, hybrid regimes, coups, and immigration, have been the central focus of interest that have attracted scholarly debates and research with regards to the ongoing scramble for regional dominance and clash of ideologies between the Western and Eastern blocs in the region. This has prompted researchers and scholars to revisit the Cold War era (1945-1990). For example, the resurgence of military coups in West Africa in recent times underscored a shift in global order and a clash of ideologies between France, the U.S.A. and Russia. While Moscow’s intervention and involvement in Africa since its defeat in the Cold War lags behind other world powers, it is increasingly tapping into anti-Western sentiment or ideologies to bolster its influence on the continent. These debates on the changing Global Order research, particularly in Africa, reveals that the growing geopolitical contest between the Kremlin and the White House in Africa, France’s Niger debacle that led to the withdrawal of 1,500 troops from Niger, and the persistent military coups in Burkina Faso, Chad, Gabon, Guinea, and Mali, leaves a gaping hole in Western efforts to fully democratise Africa and counter a decade-long Islamist insurgency and could increase Moscow’s influence and entrenchment of authoritarianism across the vast, ungovernable borders of West Africa, which thus poses threats to international security order and democracy in the region and thus underscores a new Cold War era in the region. The challenge confronted by the U.S. and France in maintaining and sustaining their strategic interests in sub-Saharan Africa underscores an interesting moment and a new discourse on geopolitical rivalries in the region suffering from democratic backsliding and insecurity. Interestingly, the erosion of both American and French strategic influence in the region calls for a recalibration and rejigging of their foreign policy approaches in the face of shifting alliances in the Sahel with the Kremlin.

How has the way you understand the world changed over time, and what (or who) prompted the most significant shifts in your thinking?

The world has certainly changed over time due to the geopolitical tensions and uncertainties that have accompanied the Cold War era (1945-1990). I would say that within the mainstream conceptualisation of global order, hierarchical structures, and anarchical system in world politics today, the most compelling understanding of my view about the way the world has changed over time. This change cannot be isolated from the view that the entire world is currently undergoing instability since the creation of the United Nations in 1945. In the face of a global expansion of deadly conflicts, the United Nations has failed to maintain global peace and order. Following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, and rising incidences of deadly conflict in the Middle East (Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Afghanistan, the Caucasus, the Horn of Africa and Sudan), Ukraine, Sub-Saharan Africa (Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia), and Asia (Ecuador, Colombia, India, Indonesia and Thailand), I conclude that the world is sitting on a powderkeg, edging towards perpetual instability and anarchy, while the UN continues to remain weakened due to the actions of veto-wielding permanent members, such as the US, France, China, UK, and Russia.

How do you envision the African Union’s role in the emerging multipolar geopolitical order?

The role of the African Union (AU) in the emerging multipolar geopolitical landscape cannot be separated from the bipolar (1945-1990), unipolar, and multipolar geopolitical order. The end of the Cold War between the US and USSR ended the bipolar, geopolitical rivalries, and tensions from 1945-1990. Meanwhile, the continent of Africa was not spared from the naïve optimism and uncertainties that accompanied this era. In response to the ideological rivalries between the two blocs, in 1955, the representatives and leaders of African and Asian countries assembled in Bandung, Indonesia, to discuss the role of the Third World nations in economic development and decolonization during the Cold War. The Bandung conference was a historic step for the attainment of decolonization and economic transformation of both the African and Asian continents – it gave birth to the principle of the Non-aligned Movement (NAM), and led to the formation of the Organisation of the Africa Unity (OAU) in May........

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