It gives me great pleasure to bring you the twentieth volume of the Journal of International Politics and Development (JIPAD). I am indeed delighted at the unflinching dedication of the editorial to maintaining the high quality for which the journal is known, while quickly adjusting to the dynamics of our new normal work environment. We remain true to our culture of publishing only original research papers that are at the cutting edge of the various disciplines of the authors. The current volume opens with the contribution of Professor Fonkem Achankeng I, of the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh, who is currently on Sabbatical at Department of Political Science and Public Administration, on understanding the world and its conflicts to papers on the Ukraine- Russia war, as well as papers on national politics, local government administration, party politics, democracy and democratic consolidation, political communication. On behalf of the Editorial Board, I humbly welcome to our Editorial Advisory board Professors Kelechi Kalu, of University of Carlifornia at Riverside, Professor Fonkem Achankeng I, of University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh, Professor Gift Uchechi Ntiwunka and Professor David Oladimeji Alao both of Babcock University, who are bringing their expertise in their various fields of endeavour to our Advisory board to ensure that we continue publishing articles that are of the highest quality possible, and that we remain competitive among the league of top rated journals globally. Our online presence @ https://journal.babcock.edu.ng/j/JIPAD ensures that our readers are able to access our publications easily globally. We are still publishing hard copies for authors and readers who would prefer to have hard copies of JIPAD.

Ngozi Nwogwugwu, PhD. Editor