PROXY DIPLOMACY: THE STRATEGIC INTERPLAY OF WESTERN INTERESTS AND HUMANITARIAN AID IN THE NIGERIA-BIAFRA CONFLICT, 1967-1970

Abstract

This study, "Proxy Diplomacy: The Strategic Interplay of Western Interests and Humanitarian Aid in the Nigeria-Biafra Conflict," investigates the complex motivations behind Western interventions during the war. Using historical methodology, it argues that humanitarian aid was not merely a philanthropic response to the world‟s first televised famine, but a strategic instrument used by Western powers to navigate the constraints of Cold War geopolitics and post-colonial interests. Through a multi-archival analysis of the policies of the United Kingdom, France, and the United States, the study demonstrates how aid served as a "diplomatic proxy." While the British government maintained a policy of "One Nigeria" to protect oil investments and Commonwealth stability, it was forced to facilitate relief to appease a domestic public horrified by images of the Biafran famine. Conversely, France utilized humanitarian rhetoric to clandestinely support the secessionist state, viewing a fragmented Nigeria as a means to diminish Anglophone influence in West Africa. The United States, caught between its "Special Relationship" with Britain and rising domestic pressure, adopted a "neutrality" that prioritized relief over political recognition. The research highlights the birth of the "Biafran Airlift" and the subsequent rise of independent NGOs, such as Médecins Sans Frontières, which challenged the traditional primacy of state sovereignty. Ultimately, the paper concludes that the Nigeria-Biafra conflict transformed the nature of modern diplomacy by blurring the lines between military support and humanitarian assistance. It reveals that the "politics of pity" often masked a deeper "politics of power," where the survival of the Biafran people became inextricably linked to the strategic calculations of distant Western capitals.