Religion and Global Politics: Soft Power in Nigeria and Beyond examines the deployment of religious soft power in African states and the potential this has for transforming perceptions of the continent. The contributors refocus the attention on religion away from the 'misery' discourse of conflict and violence towards the domain of international relations, diplomacy, and foreign policy in Africa. Through this shift, the chapters analyze the ways in which religion has impacted the external relations of African states. Religion and Global Politics introduces the theme of religion to the discourse of African international relations and politics to provide a thorough examination of religion's influence on politics in the daily lives of African people.
Sheriff Folarin is founding editor of Covenant University Journal of Politics and International Relations and current head of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Covenant University in Nigeria. Olusola Ogunnubi is research fellow at the Centre for Gender and African Studies at the University of the Free State, South Africa and visiting researcher at Carleton University, Ottawa.
Foreword Jeffrey Haynes Acknowledgments Chapter One: Religion and Global Politics: Soft Power in Nigeria and Beyond Olusola Ogunnubi and Sheriff Folarin Part One: Africa and the World Chapter Two: Integrating religion as a tool for public diplomacy in the 21st Century Africa Toyin Cotties Adetiba Chapter Three: Post-Colonial Relations in Africa and the Emergence of Religion as an Instrument for Inter-State Diplomacy Victor H. Mlambo and Olusola Ogunnubi Chapter Four: Faith-based Organizations as Soft Power for Social Development in Africa Michael Ihuoma OGU Chapter Five: Forty years and still counting: Shia exportation and the character of the Nigeria-Iran relations, 1979-2019 Charles E. Ekpo and Ekwutosi E. Offiong Part Two: Other Countries within Africa Chapter Six: How Many Divisions? Soft Power, Personal Diplomacy, and the Holy See Hendrik W. Ohnesorge Chapter Seven: Religion and soft power in African foreign policy: Morocco's new religious diplomacy towards Nigeria Mathieu Rowsell Chapter Eight: Nye, Soft Power, and Conflict Resolution: Centring Trado-Religious Soft Power in Conflict Processes in Africa Surulola Eke Part Three: Perspectives from Nigeria Chapter Nine: Determinants of Nigeria's Foreign Policy: Making a Case for Religion Oladotun E. Awosusi and Charles E. Ekpo Chapter Ten: Nigeria's Religious Soft Power: Turning the Tide of a Declining Image Olusola Ogunnubi, Sheriff Folarin, and Confidence Ogbonna Chapter Eleven: Islam and Nigerian Foreign Policy: Processes, Procedures and Personalities Abubakar A. Usman, Elfatih A Abdelsalam, and Hakeem Onapajo Chapter Twelve: Anglicanism and Soft Power in Nigeria: Dimensions and Prospects Opeyemi Idowu Aluko Chapter Thirteen: Pentecostal Mega Churches and Religious Diplomacy in Nigeria Irene Pogoson and Maduabuchi Ogidi Chapter Fourteen: Music Diplomacy: The Soft Power of Nigerian Gospel Melody Olusola Ogunnubi and Dare Leke Idowu Chapter Fifteen: Gospel Music Cosmopolitanism in Lagos, Nigeria and the Soft Power Potential of its Iconic Practitioners Lanre Kunnuji Chapter Sixteen: Religious Soft Power influence of Nigeria's major Pentecostal leaders: Sources and implications for Nigeria and its Regional Power Status Dare Leke Idowu
