Paradigm of international geopolitics and

geostrategy
Mohamed Lamine KABA
Student in Ms.c in Governance and Regional Integration at
the Institute of Governance, Human and Social Sciences of
the Pan-African University-University of Yaoundé II.
SOA-Yaoundé, Republic of Cameroon, 0000, [email protected]

INTRODUCTION
The problem of the use of nuclear weapons as a force of deterrence is a problem with a planetary dimension which
needs a well-coordinated planetary response. To do this, the strength of the discourse is limiting. Concrete action
is needed in the direction of the disarmament of States and the systematic cessation of the production of weapons
of mass destruction and those of long range.

However, the strengthening of bilateral and multilateral diplomacy as well as strict respect for diplomatic humility
as enacted in the Vienna Convention of April 18, 19611 in the peaceful resolution of differences
ferends is the best option to build a peaceful and reconciled world in its States. But is the question of the use of
nuclear weapons posed to States or to other institutions and private structures or to individual initiatives?

To ask such a question is to address, in the background, the issue of nuclear weapons. It is also to grant an
extension to the concept of "nuclear weapon" by widening it to any military intervention, allowing a State the
possibilities of defending itself and defending its interests in a logic of deterrence: military superiority of dis-
constraint.

Within the framework of this article, we will initially try to approach the political aspects of the application/use
of the nuclear weapons in the international relations (I), in the second time, we will make a description of the
economic aspects of the use of these weapons (II), in a third time, we will release an outline on the social aspects
of the application of the aforesaid weapons in the international relations (III) 2 and, in a fourth time we will evoke
the threats with peace and security in Africa which could in the long term lead the black continent into a logic
open to the arms race (IV).

MAIN BODY
The arms race in world relations has always been a feature of the international scene. Something that is not
without effects on the international community and these effects are political, economic and social.

I. THE POLITICAL ASPECTS OF THE APPLICATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
At the political level, the use of nuclear weapons could nullify the progress made in the context of the
pacification of international relations. The world would then become more and more violent and the war of all
against all as theorized by Thomas Hobbes in "Leviathan" would end up tearing the world apart (Hobbes, 1951).
We will thus witness (humanity) the questioning of achievements such as:
1. The strengthening of diplomatic institutions as multilateral alliance mechanisms for common security;
2. Arbitration as a mechanism for resolving disputes and pacifying the world;

1International Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Privileges and Humility, April 1961 in Austria.
2Use of force in the game of international relations.
3. Ratification as an expression of the States' commitment to a common cause;
4. The generalization of the letter of credence as diplomatic humility;
5. The intensification of multilateral diplomacy with the organization of international conferences as a
mechanism for regulating disputes and conflicts;
6. The chancery capable of managing diplomatic relations on a continuous basis and the solidification of
diplomacy;
7. The theorization of the law of States as an alternation of war;
8. The substitution of the Lieutenant General by the Ambassador in the negotiation;
9. The adoption and respect of reasons of State as theorized by Cardinal Richelieu (Richelieu, 1816);
10. The codification of international diplomatic relations through the 1975 convention (Unies, 1975).
In short, the use of nuclear weapons would deal a severe blow to these achievements and would inevitably
lead humanity to multidimensional catastrophe.

II. DESCRIPTION OF THE ECONOMICS OF THE USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

At the economic level, the application of nuclear weapons in international relations would necessarily harm
the world economic circuit (Unies C. é., 1947-1948)established through international institutions, in particular the
United Nations system. The economic relations controlled and regulated by the International Trade Organization
will be doomed to failure, thus plunging humanity into a logic of de-globalisation, the precursor signs of which
have been given by the coronavirus pandemic which has not ceased to rage for almost four year. In one way or
another, the use of nuclear weapons would damage the economic substrates which are: production, distribution
and consumption.

III. OVERVIEW OF THE SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE APPLICATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
At the social level, following the use of nuclear weapons, we would witness the questioning of the need to
reinvent global citizenship. The efforts hitherto made within the framework of world pacification would be
doomed to failure with the direct consequences of the abrupt rupture of international relations and the upheaval
of the social substratum. The use of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan in 1945 and its political,
economic and social consequences constitute a painful lesson which one could draw from the use of nuclear
weapons. To better understand the consequences that the use of nuclear weapons could have on humanity, the
book entitled ''Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin'' by Timothy Snyder is illustrative: " Here is the
story of a mass political murder". It is with his words that Timothy Snyder begins the account of the catastrophe
during which, between 1933 and 1945, 14 million civilians, mainly women, children and the elderly, were killed
by Nazi Germany and the Stalinist Soviet Union. All of them were in the same territory, which the author calls the
"Bloodlands" and which extends from central Poland to Western Russia via the Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic
States.

More than half of them died of starvation. Two of the greatest massacres in history - Stalin's premeditated famines,
mainly in Ukraine, in the early 1930s, which left over 4 million dead, and Hitler's starvation of some 3.5 million
prisoners Soviet wars in the early 1940s - were perpetrated in this way. Both predated the Holocaust and,
according to Timothy Snyder, help to understand it.
The victims of both regimes have left many traces. Fallen after the war on the other side of the iron curtain, they
remained in oblivion for more than sixty years and only came back to light with the fall of communism. Timothy
Snyder offers for the first time a synthesis so powerful that a new chapter in the history of Europe seems to open
with him.
In doing so, he restores humanity and dignity to these millions of dead deprived of burials and erased from
the memory of the living.

By his innovative approach, centered on the territory, his global approach, the mass of languages mobilized, of
stripped sources, the very idea that the dead do not add up, Timothy Snyder offers here a great history book at
the same time than a meditation on the writing of history ".(Snyder, 2012)
IV. THREATS TO PEACE AND SECURITY IN AFRICA COULD IN THE LONG TERM LEAD THE
DARK CONTINENT INTO A LOGIC OPEN TO THE ARMS RACE
The subjective awareness of being African continues to cross the minds of all the sons and daughters of Africa,
from North to South, from East to West, passing through the Center without however forgetting the Radiant
African Diaspora around the world. That said, assuming the subjective consciousness of being African would
imply taking all the necessary measures to respond to the many threats that arise in terms of peace and security in
Africa. Indeed, the devices and approaches to fight against these threats in Africa are multiple and diverse and
remain subordinate to the creation of a military deterrent force. These threats have long harmed government
apparatuses and made them mediocre, thus limiting their ability to respond effectively to the real aspirations of
their respective peoples in terms of peace and security. These threats, it must be said without risk of falling into
the trap of generalization, are political, economic, social, military, geopolitical and geostrategic. So, in such a
global context of cruelty where relationships tend to become more and more impersonal, utilitarian and
instrumental as indicated in methodological individualism, (Weber, 1917 et 1919)will Africans stand idly by and
do nothing and remain inactive? a stowaway? the answer is of course no (Olson, 1965). Which context, moreover,
continues to pose multiple threats to African government apparatuses, of which, without being exhaustive, I would
cite:
1. Africa and the threats from foreign powers which requires an adaptation of peace and security, and even
military and strategic mechanisms;
2. Africa and maritime piracy which also requires an adaptation of intervention systems and approaches;
3. Africa and terrorism: the multiplication of hotbeds of tension on the continent through violent extremism
and transnational organized crime which urgently requires an adaptation of intervention systems and
approaches;
4. Africa and climate change which requires innovation in terms of structural and institutional reform;
5. Africa and the problem of youth employment which requires a reform in terms of public policy for the
socio-professional integration of the juvenile layer. Here, it will be necessary to think globally and act
locally.

CONCLUSION
The use of nuclear weapons as a deterrent in conflict situations is inadvisable and must be out of the question
for world peace and stability. It is a vital question of life and survival of human, animal and plant species.
Strengthening diplomacy as an alternative to war is the best way to build a peaceful and reconciled world in its
States.

However, the arms industry must be subject to strict compliance with the disarmament convention to ensure
the pacification of international relations. To achieve this, we strongly recommend a structural and institutional
reform of the United Nations in order to effectively resolve the issues of frustrations, discriminations and the
feeling of domination which could lead the actors of global geopolitics to the use of arms. nuclear. The irrefutable
proof of this is that the concern over the use of these weapons by Russia in Ukraine is so great that all of humanity
is losing breath and sleep.
What world will the application of nuclear weapons leave humanity confined to its ecological and ecosystemic
relationships?
I. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Weber , M. (1917 and 1919). The Scientist and The Politician. Munich: The Discovery/Pocket.
Olson, M. (1965). The Stowaway or The Logic of Collective Action. Cambridge: Harvard Economic Studies,
La Tribune.
Hobbes, T. (1951). The Leviathan. London: Editions Flammarion.
Richelieu, C. (1816). History in quotes.
United, N. (1975). Vienna Convention on the Representation of States in their Relations with International
Organizations of a Universal Character. The Vienna Convention of March 14, 1975 (p. 39). Vienna:
United Nations.
United, C. é. (1947-1948). International Trade Organization. International conference on trade and
employment. Havana: United Nations.
Snyder, T. (2012). Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin. Paris: Gallimard.