UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF IDENTITY POLITICS IN THE MAKING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF NIGERIA'S FOREIGN POLICY IN THE FOURTH REPUBLIC.

This article explores the domestic forms of identity politics that shape and influence foreign policy making and implementation in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. The authors argue that though the external environment matters in foreign policy making and implementation, the experience of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic demonstrates that a combination of both religion and ethnicity has somewhat impacted and cannot be undermined. The paper utilized domestic-level theories such as Linkage and pluralism to analyze primary and secondary sourced data. The primary data are mainly interviews conducted in Abuja and Jos with interviews that are adjudged to be knowledgeable in the subject under consideration. The secondary data includes peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and newspapers/magazines.