Profile
Michael Bakare

Michael Bakare

PhD Candidate in International History and Politics
Spoken languages
English, Yoruba, French
Geographical Area
  • Africa, Western

PHD THESIS
 

Title: Financing of Humanitarian Aid in Cold War Africa: The British Commonwealth and United States’ Response to Biafra, 1967-1970

PhD Supervisor: Aidan Russell

Expected completion date: September 2027

This PhD project investigates how Cold War politics shaped the financing of humanitarian relief during the Nigerian Civil War. Focusing on the roles of the British Commonwealth and the United States, it explores the interplay of diplomacy, decision-making, and transnational funding strategies behind one of Africa’s most internationalized humanitarian crises.
 

Profile
 

Michael was educated in African History at the University of Ibadan where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in history. His master’s dissertation examined the colonial history of Nigeria and presented the impact amalgamation had on its post-1914 socio-economic and political developments. In 2021, Michael proceeded to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in the State of Israel where he completed an MA in African Studies.
 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

 

  • Cold War Diplomacy
  • Humanitarian Financing
  • Strategic Aid and Military Economics
  • Financial Mechanics of Relief
  • African International History
     

PUBLICATIONS AND WORKS
 

  • Bakare, M.  “The Cold War and Expenditures in West Africa: The Western Bloc and the USSR’s Diplomatic Manoeuvres in Nigeria, 1946-1970” (forthcoming)
     

CONFERENCE
 

  • Bakare, M. The Cold War and Expenditures in West Africa: The Western Bloc and the USSR’s Diplomatic Manoeuvres in Nigeria, 1946-1970. Pierre du Bois Annual Conference 2025; The Cold War in the Middle East and North Africa, Geneva, Switzerland, Jan. 20-21, 2025

  • Bakare, M. A Historical Reconstruction of the Financing of the Campaign to End the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in Southern Nigeria, 1885-1950. African Studies Association (ASA) Annual Meeting, Georgia, United States, Nov. 20-22, 2025 (forthcoming)
     

Fellowships, Grants and Awards
 

  • Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Full PhD Scholarship, 2023-2027
  • Tamar Golan Africa Centre, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Full Funding Scholarship for Master Program and Research Grant, 2021-2023
     

AFFILIATIONS
 

  • African Studies Association (ASA)
  • Lagos Studies Association (LSA)