Ghana's Foreign Policy, 1957-1966: Diplomacy Ideology, and the New State
When Ghana attained independence in 1957, there was reason to expect that she would make considerable impact on world politics. She was relatively well endowed, had the advantage of being the first of the new sub-Saharan states, and was strongly committed to the development of a foreign policy that would include working forcefully for African liberation and unity. In the author's opinion, rather than having such impact, she experienced numerous foreign policy failures and had, by 1966, become "a model...underlining the limits of the influence of a small state." Dr. Thompson suggests that foreign policy failures were one of the major reasons for the coup that toppled Nkrumah, as they depleted the country's treasury and alienated potential donors of assistance. Thompson attempts to describe the planning and execution of these policies and then to pass judgement on both the quality of Ghanaian diplomacy and the realism of its policy goals.