Challenges and Opportunities for Future Peace Missions - An ACCORD Research Project

Occasional Paper Series: Issue 2, 2007

1. The objective of this study is to provide an analysis of South Africa’s role in peacekeeping in Burundi and to identify the opportunities and challenges that confronted South Africa’s peacekeeping mission.
2. The peaceful resolution of Africa’s conflicts is one of the cornerstones of South Africa’s foreign policy. It is intended to create a better South Africa, Africa, and world.

Presidents, Patrons or Profiteers? - by Jo-Ansie van Wyk

Occasional Paper Series: Issue 1, 2007

It is easy to experience a sense of déjà vu when analysing political leadership in Africa. The perception is that African leaders rule failed states that have acquired tags such as “corruptocracies”, “chaosocracies” or “terrorocracies”. Perspectives on political leadership in Africa vary from the “criminalisation” of the state to political leadership as “dispensing patrimony”, the “recycling” of elites and the use of state power and resources to consolidate political and economic power. Whereas African states enjoy external sovereignty, internal sovereignty has taken on a new meaning as political leaders outside the so-called formal Westphalia arena compete for power, provide state-like services and have monopoly of and over organised violence. Against this background, some states that were once “wholesalers” of security are now mere “retailers” of security, authority, resources and power.

by Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni

Occasional Paper Series: Issue 4, 2006

The neo-liberal perspective wrongly reduces the crisis in Zimbabwe to a mere problem of governance and traces the genesis of that crisis to the year 2000, ignoring earlier antecedents that are equally significant. The fatal flaw in this neo-liberal definition of the Zimbabwe crisis is its focus on the symptoms of the problem, such as increased militarisation of domestic politics, party violence, shrinking democratic spaces, executive lawlessness, questionable electoral conduct and overall economic collapse. There is a need for a deeper analysis going beyond these symptoms of the Zimbabwean crisis. Indeed, the Zimbabwean crisis is a reflection of the risks involved in any African attempt to defy the ‘disciplining’ forces of globalisation and neo-liberalism and is located within the broader context of African responses to globalisation, neo-liberalism and cosmopolitanism.

Oil Politics, Environmental Apocalypse and Rising Tension in the Niger Delta - by Shola Omotola

Occasional Paper Series: Issue 3, 2006

The study is divided into five sections. The first substantive part of the paper attempts a theoretical exposition on the Nigerian state upon which the paper’s analyses are anchored. The second reflects on Nigeria’s political economy of oil, underscoring how oil has, since the 1970s, become the mainstay of the economy and led to the mishandling of its proceeds.

by Michelle Small

Occasional Paper Series: Issue 2, 2006

The world today is characterised by the increasing commodification and privatisation of public goods, a decline in law and order, a demise in state centrality, and more worryingly, the fracturing of state military and security apparatuses. The state has lost its monopoly of and over organised violence. Beset by a plethora of threats, processes, and actors, the state has found itself increasingly incapable of monopolising violence emanating from above, below, and across the state. At the same time, the state has surrendered its role as the sole legitimate provider and guarantor of security to private security and military providing agents.

Experience from the East and Horn of Africa - by Absalom Mutere

Occasional Paper Series: Issue 1, 2006

The media has for a long time been recognised as a catalyst in the many intra- and inter-state conflicts that have afflicted the African continent. This paper analyses the pre-testing results of a regional media conflict transformation project that was recently carried out in East Africa and the Horn of Africa regions. The paper premises the analysis on three media theories: gatekeeping, agenda setting and socialisation.

by Kemi Ogunsanya

Occasional Paper Series: Issue 2, 2004

In November 2004, Namibia conducted its third generation of elections at the presidential, parliamentary and regional levels, since it became independent from apartheid South Africa in 1990. After fourteen years of independence, Namibia has established tolerance for opposition politics. The South West African People’s Organisation (SWAPO) led by President Sam Nujoma remains the dominant party, although there exist political tensions between SWAPO and the main opposition party, Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA). The overwhelming victory of the ruling party in the presidential and parliamentary elections, amidst calls by opposition parties for a recount of votes cast, marked the end of Sam Nujoma’s 14 years Presidency since independence. Mr. Hifikepunye Pohamba, the former Minster of Land Affairs and Resettlement, succeeded President Sam Nujoma following his inauguration on March 21, 2005.

by Themba Michael Sokhulu

Occasional Paper Series: Issue 1, 2004

There is wide consensus among academics and political analysts that Botswana has been hailed as one of the “old democracies” in Africa, but that there have been reports of political wrangling in the country. Landsberg maintains that the southern African region, of which Botswana is part, is relatively more democratic when compared with the rest of the continent. It is exactly thirty-eight years into Botswana’s democracy and although Botswana has a relative enabling constitutional and legislative framework, there are signs of isolated infringements upon the constitution by the ruling party.