De- or Neo-colonisation? Postcolonial Security in Cold War West Africa
During the late 1950s, decolonisation and the Cold War were eventually gaining momentum in Africa, and by the turn of the decade, the two major colonial powers – Britain and France – saw themselves forced to begin with the actual transfer of power in their colonies. Both London and Paris, however, wanted to secure their interests in their former colonies, notably in Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire respectively. This also applied to the realm of security, including defence relations and military assistance. In this undertaking, despite Whitehall’s head start in planning and formalising its postcolonial security relationship with Lagos, the Elysée was ultimately more successful in securing its security interests with Abidjan. Whereas the British were increasingly forced out of the Nigerian security sector, the French were able to establish a neo-colonial security relationship with the Ivorian regime. This was not, as this paper will argue, solely the result of France’s neo-colonial, as opposed to Britain’s Cold War mindset. Instead, postcolonial security relations in Africa were ultimately determined by the newly independent countries and their leaders, who were in turn heavily influenced by their respective local and regional conditions. The Cold War was, ultimately, not the predominant factor.
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This page was last updated on 14 March 2025
