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| 1 |
ID:
131794
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Between 1952 and 2012, there were a total of 88 successful military coups in Africa. Of those, 63 occurred prior to 1990, and 10 cases since the adoption, by the defunct Organization of African Unity (OAU), of the Lomé Declaration in July 2000, banning military coups and adopting sanctions against regimes born out of this. The article shows that the African Union (AU) has followed in the footsteps of the OAU in this regard. Assisted by some African regional organisations and international partners, the combined effect of this policy of the AU - assisted by other factors - has been a significant reduction in the occurrence of this phenomenon. While not constituting a funeral arrangement for military coups in the immediate future, these developments - if they were to continue - may indeed make this eventuality achievable in the long run. But the article also reveals some challenges the AU is facing in ensuring this.
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| 2 |
ID:
130221
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Uganda has a population problem. The United Nations forecasts that the number of people living there will surpass the combined populations of Germany, Italy, and Japan by the end of this century-growing to 205 million in an area about the size of Oregon. It is hard to imagine how this will help with Uganda's
current poverty problem. The nation ranks 161st in the world in the UN's Human Development Index. Having deployed troops in Somalia and South Sudan and suffered terrorist attacks in the capital city, Kampala, Uganda also has a security problem. This partly explains the harassment and repression of the press and civil society groups by a government that is increasingly intolerant of any dissent.
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| 3 |
ID:
132326
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Aid for Trade (AfT) has gained prominence as an innovative form of donor support in the 'post'-Washington Consensus. AfT mechanisms have been praised as a means of aligning trade liberalisation deals (whether in the Doha Round or within bilaterals) to poverty reduction objectives. This article, through critical analysis of AfT discourse within the 'moral economies' of multilateral World Trade Organization and bilateral European Union-African, Caribbean and Pacific negotiations, points to the strategic purposes of donor language in rationalising asymmetric North-South trade systems. Moreover, it questions the 'development' credentials of AfT assistance by examining some of the ensuing private sector activities and the impact on the supposed beneficiaries, and the tying of AfT disbursements to the implementation of inappropriate policies.
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| 4 |
ID:
134082
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article proposes a model for assessment of peacekeeping operations. Peacekeeping operations began in 1948, under the authority of the United Nations in order to provide and sustain a peaceful environment throughout the world. International organizations such as the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the African Union undertake peacekeeping operations in different geographical regions of the world. However, they lack some aspects of the assessment process. There were studies conducted previously in order to determine the principles of the assessment process of peacekeeping operations but none of them presented a comprehensive solution. Therefore, in this study, a clear, comprehensive and detailed assessment model was proposed, which may be applied in future peace operations and shed more light on the subject for future researches.
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| 5 |
ID:
132017
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The encounters between Soviet citizens and African students studying in the Soviet Union in the sixties inevitably generated problems of acclimation, social and political conflict, and racial strife. The article illuminates the ways the cultural clash affirmed Russians' and Africans' sense of cultural superiority. The African presence in Russia confirmed Soviet altruism in rearing Africans into cultured and scientifically endowed people. Similarly, African encounters with Soviet daily life reaffirmed their identity as culturally superior to Russians by emphasizing aspects of the individual that directly conflicted with Soviet notions of collectivism. The conflict over culturedness had direct ramifications on the Cold War as it strengthened Africans' pragmatic stance toward Soviet patronage and their reluctance to embrace Soviet ideology and values.
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| 6 |
ID:
124578
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2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The debate around humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect generally concerns a collective action problem on the international level: motivating states to participate in a multilateral coalition to stop a mass atrocity. This debate presupposes that states enjoy a domestic consensus about their rights and responsibilities to intervene. This article reconsiders this assumption and examines the sources of domestic political will for intervention, particularly the role of partisanship, ideology, and public opinion on Congressional members' willingness to support US intervention for humanitarian purposes. We analyze several Congressional votes relevant to four episodes of US humanitarian intervention: Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo. We find that public support for humanitarian intervention increases Congressional support and that other political demands, primarily partisanship and ideological distance from the president, often trump the normative exigencies of intervention. Our findings shed light on the domestic political dynamics behind humanitarian intervention and can help explain why some recent humanitarian missions have proceeded without seeking Congressional approval.
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| 7 |
ID:
130219
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
When Meles Zenawi, the national and ruling party leader for 21 years, died in August 2012, most observers predicted that Ethiopia would be thrown into an uncertain transition and put in great danger by
destructive internal power struggles and external pressure. As the months went by, none of these things happened. Instead, the world witnessed a peaceful succession, and a calm status quo has been maintained under the new prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn.
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| 8 |
ID:
131632
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The French intervention in Mali in early 2013 emphasizes that the decision-makers in Paris, Brussels, and Washington considered the establishment of the radical Islamist regime in Northern Mali a threat to their security interests. The widespread instability including the rise of radical Islamist groups in Somalia was perceived as a threat to western interests. It is the core argument of the paper if western powers decide to provide security in Africa, they will be inclined to use proxy instead of deploying own troops. Security provision by proxy in African means that African troops are doing the actual fighting and peacekeeping on the ground while western powers basically pay the costs, the logistics, and the training of local African troops. The paper concludes that the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in Somalia and The African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA) in Mali are proxies for the USA and the European Union.
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| 9 |
ID:
133619
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The actual and perceived conflicts between customary law and human rights law, especially in issues dealing with gender equality, have remained a major challenge in Africa. Some of these conflicts are further complicated by the varying and contradictory interpretation of some customary laws by the courts. Different approaches have been adopted at different times and in different places to deal with some of these conflicts. One of the most controversial areas of customary law has been the traditional exclusion of women from property inheritance. This paper takes a critical look at how the courts in Botswana have dealt with the issue of the right to inherit the homestead or family home. It examines this issue in the specific context of the recent case of Ramantele v Mmusi in which the Court of Appeal had to consider the customary law rule of male ultimogeniture - which permits only the last-born son to inherit the homestead intestate to the exclusion of other siblings, especially females. It argues that courts need to be more proactive and progressive in their approach to dealing with such issues than they have been in the past in order to recognise the nature and extent of changes that are taking place today. The main lesson that can be drawn from the Botswana case is that if customary law is to survive and develop, more needs to be done to promote research and scholarship in this area and judges also need to take advantage of this research and deal with these customary law disputes with knowledge, understanding and sensitivity.
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| 10 |
ID:
129038
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Hybridity is the new term for multidimensional, modular, and multiactor peace operations. Hybrid peace operations bring together several institutions that to an extent cooperate in a joint endeavor. This article aims at unpacking the concept of hybridity by looking at its rationale and challenges. It first examines the typology of peace operations and analyzes the meaning of hybridity. It then looks at why international organizations have hybridized their conflict management policies and contends that further integration is the way forward for legitimacy and efficacy reasons, despite the difficulties encountered by existing hybrid missions. Finally, the article looks at some of the challenges of an increasing integration of institutional actors within peace operations. While integration is a response to the evolution of conflict management needs, it also carries risks ranging from interinstitutional competition to issues of accountability and ownership as well as impacts on the coherence of the global maintenance of international peace and security.
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| 11 |
ID:
124599
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2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
is article asks whether there are lessons that can be drawn from the democratization of Iraq for the possible democratization of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in the wake of the 2010-2011 Arab uprisings. The paper draws on the democratization program in Iraq in 2003 and 2004 to demonstrate that focusing on the promotion of a liberal democratic model in Iraq translated into a lack of operational flexibility, which let democracy assistance unable to cope with socio-economic demands, local realities and reactions to democratization. Taking into account a variation in the intensity of interventionism between Iraq and MENA, the article argues that there is sufficient similarities between both cases to point Western democracy promoters in the direction of models of democracy that offer a more comprehensive response to the current political transition in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya than the traditional focus on the promotion of liberal democracy does.
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| 12 |
ID:
132546
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| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Nigeria's importance to global security hinges on the fact she is not only the most populous country in Africa, but also strategically located in a region (Gulf of Guinea) that is a major source of the world's oil. From the 1960 Congo crisis when Nigeria began contributing troops for international peacekeeping, the country has maintained consistency as a key player in both the United Nations and regional peacekeeping missions, thus contributing to world peace. However, Nigeria is currently facing serious internal security challenges, the most serious ones being the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa; and the Niger Delta militancy and piracy in the south-south geopolitical zone, comprising Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers. Additionally, there are security challenges posed by violent crimes, ethno-religious conflicts, resource-based conflicts, trans-border criminal activities, and election-induced violence. All these security challenges undoubtedly pose some threats to the social, economic and political stability of not only Nigeria, but also of the African continent, especially the West African sub-region, where more than half the population comes from Nigeria. While several factors could have contributed to Nigeria's security situation today, there is no doubt that poor governance and lack of effective leadership at all levels of governance are central in attempting to explain the problem. About fourteen years after the return of democracy in 1999, Nigeria's democratic transition does not appear to be consolidating due to lack of transparency, accountability, rule of law, and the genuine demonstration of leadership capacity to protect fundamental human rights. It is also evident that most of the key government institutions are weak, enabling corruption to thrive with impunity. This article examines the current security situation in Nigeria; the several factors contributing to it; and suggests that through effective leadership and good governance the situation could be remedied in order to arrest the apparent slide into state fragility and failure.
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| 13 |
ID:
124887
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2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Ambassador Prabhakar Menon served as advisor on foreign affairs to Prime Minister Shri P. V. Narasimha Rao when he was privy, on numerous occasions, to high-level interaction between our Prime Minister and his counterparts around the world. He had also served earlier as Director of the Foreign Secretary's office where again he was an eyewitness to some significant developments. In this conversation with the Journal, he recounts some of the events that shaped India's Foreign Policy postures - as he saw from close quarters (as the proverbial 'fly on the wall') during those two tenures.
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| 14 |
ID:
133525
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| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This paper discusses two norms that the United Nations led humanitarian interventions have been practicing since the 1990s: the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and the Protection of Civilians. Both are very important agenda setters for future humanitarian interventions. The objective of this paper is to provide critical insights about how these two norms are applied on a limited scale during humanitarian interventions. The paper begins by reflecting on the failures of the United Nations in stopping and providing timely response during the genocide in Rwanda in 1993. It is argued that the causes of the Rwanda failure are the United Nations (UN), the United States (US), and the international community's inaction and unwillingness to spend resources to stop or prevent violent conflicts and/or gross violations of human rights in an impoverished region like Africa. These regions are of little value and pose little threat to the United States and other great powers. A human catastrophe in Rwanda or any other economically poor countries of the world seems distant to them, and would require long term engagement that the great powers think as would be a burden on them. They judge international prohibitions and take pivotal decisions of humanitarian interventions on a case by case basis when they think it is appropriate and necessary. Most often the great powers and/or the permanent members of the Security Council reflect their domestic decision makers' positions instead of the interests of justice, and often only uphold their national interests and other criteria. The paper then discusses the central challenges to operationalise the doctrine of Protection of Civilians - the very reason the concept of R2P was coined. Here the paper argues that the principle of R2P suffers from several important limitations when it aims at implementing the doctrine of Protection of Civilians. In the final section, the 2001 report on R2P of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS), which was independently launched by the Canadian government, and the Outcome Document of the 2005 World Summit is analysed. It is suggested in the paper that many important recommendations of the ICISS were sidelined in the Outcome Document and this imposed limitations on the effectiveness of R2P's implementation. It is also argued that the primary causes of Rwanda failure were not reflected in these initiatives.
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| 15 |
ID:
133250
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| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The relationship between the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) has at times been characterized by considerable conflict, mistrust, and tension, often hindering the predictability and conduct of effective peace operations. This article analyses the challenges facing UN-AU cooperation on peace and security issues and examines their partnerships in various peace operations. Specific attention is paid to the crucial cases of Somalia and Mali, which exemplify some of the positive and negative aspects of this relationship. We argue that while great power politics and the international normative context have played important roles in structuring debates about peace operations in contemporary Africa, so too have two more bottom-up factors: the specific operational and financial challenges generated by the AU's big missions in Darfur, Somalia, and Mali, and the organizational cultures and bureaucratic constraints within which both institutions have had to work. Greater focus on these bottom-up factors could bring significant improvements to the decision-making processes in Addis Ababa and New York, to operational responses, and to the conduct of peace operations.
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| 16 |
ID:
130281
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Over the last few years, Sino-African relations have become a hot topic both in the general media and for scholars worldwide. Large parts of the global mass media are still engaged in painting the big picture of the relationship between China and Africa by conflating the multiple stakeholders and actors on both sides and generalizing about China's "neocolonialist" strategies vis-Ã -vis weak African states: its exploitation of African raw materials and populations, its support for non-democratic regimes and its undermining of all Western efforts for reforms across the continent. Where media reports transcend
this stereotyping and homogenizing on the macro-level and portray Chinese-African encounters on the ground, it is power differentials, competition, tension and conflict between disempowered African locals and (at least economically) powerful Chinese - the latter as exoticized as alien "others" - that are often the focus of attention.
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| 17 |
ID:
130218
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The political situation in the Maghreb in the first decade of the twenty-first century presented a vivid image of enforced stability under authoritarian regimes that gave hardly any hint of changing in the short to medium term. The Moroccan monarchy had successfully engineered a fragmented and ineffective political system that was not posing any concrete challenge to its rule. The military-backed Algerian regime had restored the effectiveness of its institutional apparatus through a combination of repression, diversion of oil rents, and divide-and-rule political tactics. The regime of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia had effectively turned into a police state that did not let any kind of organized opposition challenge the established authoritarian "pact." (In Tunisia, this implicit understanding amounted to stability, provision of state services, and opportunities for personal advancement in exchange for political quiescence.)
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| 18 |
ID:
130282
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
China's renewed engagement with Africa is often framed as a form of imperialism, with the growing number of Chinese migrants on the continent seen as an exploitative presence. Such claims have generally been based on little evidence, and where more detailed empirical studies have emerged, they tend to emphasise the tensions and conflicts that have arisen. Our research on Chinese migrants in Ghana and Nigeria suggests that while there are concerns about Chinese competition in the informal retail sector and the treatment of local labour in Chinese enterprises, narratives of apparent tension and conflict are often much more nuanced than is generally recognised. Furthermore, more convivial and cooperative relations have also emerged and these have facilitated important opportunities for Africans to benefit from the Chinese presence. However, while the presence of Chinese migrants in African socio-economic life can be more integrated and mutually beneficial than is often assumed, the ability of African actors to benefit from this presence is highly uneven, placing the politics of class at the centre of any understanding of Sino-African encounters.
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| 19 |
ID:
133413
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2012.
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The onset of pirate attacks on merchant vessels off the Horn of Africa in recent years has put Africa's maritime security increasingly in the international spotlight. Recent times have also seen the advent of the African Union and with it a commitment to "African solutions to African problems." Despite this, African
states have made little active contribution to securing Africa's maritime domains. Yet, as the scholar and analyst Augustus Vogel, of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, D.C., points out, doing so
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| 20 |
ID:
130934
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
January 14. January 25. February 17. Historic days that marked President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali's flight from Tunis, the start of the 18-day revolution in Egypt, and the Day of Rage in Libya. President Ben Ali's hands shook as he pleaded for more time to address the public's grievances. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak played the stern pater familias until he was unceremoniously ushered offstage by senior military officers. Muammar al-Qadhafi threatened to kill the drug-fueled "germs, rats and scumbags"1 who opposed him, but he met a bloody end months later. The overthrow of these powerful autocrats after 23 (Ben Ali), 30 (Mubarak) and 42 (Qadhafi) years of rule cracked sclerotic governing systems and brutal security structures. The uprisings opened up the possibility of futures free from oppression and corruption, futures the people would create themselves. Yet, it is hardly surprising that the transitions remain troubled in all three countries and have failed to meet the expectations of most citizens.
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