Final Remarks

International conflicts do not just occur in a vacuum. They emanate from divergent interests of a world divided into poor and rich zones, where the rich (the north of the globe), representing one-third of the total world population hold the majority of the wealth of the world while the poor suffering masses of the southern hemisphere ‘eat from the crumbs that fall from the masters’ table’. In a situation like this, there is not bound to be perpetual peace in the world, particularly when the concept of co-operation in Article 55 of the UN Charter is deliberately ignored by the developed nations because of permanent interests, growing nationalisms and suspicions still existent within the international community. In fact the developed world still appears to perpetuate, in a fox-like manner, classical diplomacy where the stronger took all to himself, including his own, and only made slight concessions to appease. Raw materials to the poor nations form the lifeline of their existence. For instance, the Cocoa Producers’ Alliance countries are responsible for about 80 per cent of world production of cocoa, which suffers from the vicissitudes of market fluctuations and which has been a subject for international diplomacy for the past twenty-five years. It is therefore a very important commodity to certain national economies like Ghana, who is a mono-producer, and the Camerouns who depend much on cocoa for her foreign-exchange earnings.