Masters Degrees (Political Studies and Governance)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Political Studies and Governance) by Subject "African Union"

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    Burden-­sharing and hybrid peacekeeping operations in Somalia and Sudan: a critical analysis
    (University of the Free State, 2015-10-20) Mohale, Barbara; Neethling, T. G.; Coetzee, Eben
    English: This study explores whether hybrid peacekeeping operations, or recent forms of UN-­ AU co-­operation, offer new prospects or opportunities to the challenges relating to international peacekeeping in Africa. It further analyses whether the international community is moving towards more effective and legitimate peacekeeping operations when it follows an approach of hybrid peacekeeping operations in Africa. Through historical-­critical examinations of case studies of peacekeeping operations in Liberia, Burundi, Darfur, and Somalia, the study interrogates the evolution and practicality of key concepts such as R2P, mandates and legal underpinning, and the UN and AU architectures for peacekeeping operations. The study found that peacekeeping has shifted to include the three components (civilian, police, and military), making peacekeeping operations multidimensional in scope and approach. The cooperative security partnership between the UN and AU and sub-­regional organisations, such as ECOWAS in Liberia and AU in Burundi, have demonstrated the significance of a cooperative venture towards lasting peace. The relationship between these two organisations -­ the UN and AU -­ is of paramount importance, and must be based on coherent and strategically structured relations which are systematically integrated. The implementation of hybrid peacekeeping operations offers new prospects or opportunities if the UN and AU use the advantages these possess to bring about peace, despite the challenges being faced. The study has shown how limited traditional interventions led to the innovative hybridisation but also made the case for the need to refine the response. The ultimate conclusion is that the resource and political constraints faced by the AU would benefit from the solid shared international responsibility provided by the comparative advantage of hybridisation. The study concluded that the UN and AU relationship and cooperation over the past two decades presents significant steps toward operations that would contribute to lasting peace in Africa. The lessons provided by the Liberia, Burundi, Darfur, and Somalia cases offer an instructive foundation for both the UN and AU to improve on an evolving approach. Lessons can be learned from the conflicts analysed in the study, and the international community has the advantage of working towards better and more refined hybrid peacekeeping operations than those conducted in Darfur and Somalia.
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    Environmental conflicts: the case of the Nile River basin
    (University of the Free State, 2015-07) Mahlakeng, Mahlakeng Khosi; Schoeman, P. A.; Solomon, H.
    By the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, the realm of IR was characterised by resource geopolitics (i.e. the potential of conflict as a result of the scarcity of vital resources that cross political boundaries). There is a growing significant threat posed by environmental conflicts. Disputes and tensions over shared renewable resources such as water have become prominent in the realm of IR. Shared water resources (i.e. basins, rivers and lakes) have become hotspots for conflict. The fact that basins and rivers move across rather than along borders have made conflict inevitable and solutions to water sharing complex. The idea laid by early scholars in explaining the link between the environment and conflict was speculative and imprecise, hence the need for a theory that addresses this linkage. The study borrows extensively from Homer-Dixon’s environmental scarcities theory to address the inevitability of conflict over the Nile waters. The hypothesis behind the environmental scarcity theory is that “resource scarcity, through the three causal forms of scarcity (i.e. demand-induced, supply-induced, and structural-induced scarcity), have the potential to cause conflict.” The study argues that, given the reduced outputs due to population growth, degradation and depletion of the Nile and its uneven distribution, the fierce competition over the already finite water resources increases the potential for an inter-riparian conflict in the Nile basin. Recommendations include the need for institutional support structures for the possible management, sustainability and use of the Nile. The study places emphasis on the AU and the NBI as possible mechanisms to address these issues. Alongside pursuing a sustainable inter-riparian solution to resolve the Nile water dispute, both the AU and the NBI should consider addressing the Nile water agreements in conjunction with rising population growth and the degradation and depletion of the Nile.
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    Financing infrastructure in Africa: an assessment of the role of the African Union
    (University of the Free State, 2016-06) Mhunduru, Freemann Kwashirai; Van Wyk, Jo-Ansie
    No abstract available