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Dynamics of post-conflict reconstruction and peace building in West Africa : between change and stability

Upphovsperson: Ismail, Olawale
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2009
Ämnesord: conflicts, Peacebuilding, Peacekeeping, Post-conflict reconstruction, Peace agreements, Regional organizations, Economic Community of West African States ECOMOG, West Africa, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Peace and conflict research, Freds- och konfliktforskning
This NAI Discussion Paper critically explores the concepts, norms and practices of reconstruction and peace building in post-conflict West Africa, drawing largely on the case of Liberia and Sierra Leone. It provides an up-to-date analysis and critique of the impact of the UN-led praxis and practice of peace building in the post-conflict states in the region. The material in this study covers the context of post-conflict reconstruction and peace building in West Africa; the evolution and analysis of the global peace building regime; the architecture of peace building in West Africa; the ‘un-making’ of peace building in Sierra Leone. It also interrogates the basic assumtions that underpin international peace building in Africa, noting that at best, it is designed to promote stability and security rather than a deeper and more sustainable popular and socially rooted peace.

The World Cup 2010 and the urban poor : ‘World class cities’ for all?

Upphovspersoner: Lindell, Ilda | Hedman, Maria | Nathan-Verboomen, Kyle
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Urban Dynamics | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2010
Ämnesord: Street vendors, Marketplaces, Informal sector, Urban population, Livelihood, Disadvantaged groups, Soccer, South Africa, Human geography, economic geography, Kulturgeografi, ekonomisk geografi
South Africa was expecting to benefit by hosting the World Cup 2010. For urban disadvantaged groups, however, the reality proved very different. Street vendors and marketers were among the excluded. Evictions caused many of them to lose their livelihoods, and strict regulations made it difficult for them to derive economic benefit from the mega-event. This Policy Note explores their predicament, as well as the responses of grassroots organizations. Finally, lessons are drawn for cities aspiring to host similar events in the future.

A new scramble for Africa? Imperialism, investment and development

Medarbetare: Southall, Roger | Melber, Henning
Utgivare: Scottsville, South Africa : Published by the UKZN Press with support from the Nordic Africa Institute
År: 2009
Ämnesord: international economic relations, Foreign investment, natural resources, resources exploitation, Geopolitics, Imperialism, Economic dependence, Business and economics, Ekonomi
Dramatically escalating prices of raw materials, driven by rapid industrialisation in China and other countries of the global South as well as by looming world shortages, had for the few years preceding the financial meltdown and global recession of 2009 promoted a new scramble for Africa’s natural resources. It signalled a brisk turnaround in prospects for what The Economist had dubbed the ‘hopeless continent’ as recently as 1999. However, while average growth rates across the continent have increased, the implications for Africa’s development were and remain at best dubious. In this important volume, the new scramble for Africa is placed in the historical context of imperialism and the contributors show important continuities with the original nineteenth-century scramble. However, while the previous scramble was between major European powers, today the continent provides a battleground for competition between the US, the European Union, China and other emerging players such as India and South Africa. This book raises significant general questions relating to the nature of emerging global competition between the US and China; the centrality of the struggle for oil and minerals and resulting militarisation; the international battle to capture Africa’s markets; the marginalisation of African capitalism; and the ambiguous benefits that investment and production by multinational companies bring to African communities. Arguing that exploitation of the continent by comprador African elites remains central, the book concludes by raising important questions about the prospects for development in Africa.

China, India, Russia and the United States : The Scramble for African Oil and the Militarization of the Continent

Upphovsperson: Volman, Daniel
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Globalization, Trade and Regional Integration | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2009
Ämnesord: petroleum resources, Natural resources, Geopolitics, Economic and social development, International relations, Foreign policy, Militarism, Africa, India, China, Russian federation, United states, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
Since the end of the Cold War, Africa’s status in the internationalgeopolitical order has risen dramatically. The continent was once treated as a convenient battlefield in the global rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. Now, the continent’s increasing importance as a source of energy supplies and other raw materials, has radically altered the picture. This has led to the growing economic and military involvement of China, India, and other emerging industrial powers in Africa and to the re-emergence of Russia as an economic and military power on the continent. In response the United States has dramatically increased its military presence in Africa and created a new military command – the Africa Command or Africom – to protect what it has defined as its “strategic national interests” in Africa. This has ignited what has come to be known as the “new scramble for Africa” and is transforming the security architecture of Africa.

Soil erosion and reservoir sedimentation in Lesotho

Upphovsperson: Chakela, Qalabane K.
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 1981
Ämnesord: Tanzania, East Africa, Soil erosion, Sedimentation, Environment, Ecology, Population, Land use, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
Soil erosion and water deficiency are some of the most serious problems in many developing countries including Lesotho. In Lesotho the problem of soil erosion by water and to a less degree by wind has become so serious that large parts of the country are rapidly loosing productivity due to loss of soil fertility by sheet erosion on cultivated lands; loss of arable and range lands through gully erosion and overgrazing; loss of water supply sources through gullies and runoff following erosion, lowering of groundwater levels through gullies and pipes, and sedimentation in rivers and reservoirs. In these studies the rates, types and extent of the different erosions processes are investigated in eleven small watersheds within the lowlands and foothills regions of Lesotho.

Persuasive prevention : Towards a Principle for Implementing Article 4(h) and R2P by the African Union

Upphovsperson: Kuwali, Dan
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2009
Ämnesord: African Union, United Nations, African organizations, Regional cooperation, International relations, Foreign intervention, Dispute settlement, Peacekeeping, Defence policy, Crime prevention, Human rights, Regional security, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
While the legality of intervention without Security Council authorisation is still debatablein international law, over-reliance on military intervention increases the risk of too much focus on reactive rather than proactive strategies. If the thresholds for Article 4(h) intervention – like those of the responsibility to protect – are serious international crimes subject to universal jurisdiction, it follows that measures to ensure the observance of the law in prospect, rather than intervention and penalisation of violations in retrospect,are important in preventing violations. Therefore, in order to in a timely manner and effectively implement Article 4(h) and R2P, the missing link is borderless ‘persuasive prevention’ which aims at enforcing fundamental human rights obligations to prevent mass atrocity crimes stipulated in Article 4(h). To this end, as a minimum, the AU should discharge its responsibility to prevent human rights violations through the ‘force of law’. Where atrocities are likely to take place, the African Standby Force (ASF) should be deployedin a timely way, not to defeat a State, but to pursue perpetrators of mass atrocity crimes. To achieve this, the ASF should have the ‘capability to protect’ to ensure the ‘obligationto prosecute or extradite’. Although the AU has taken an interventionist stance, what is needed most is early action to prevent mass atrocity crimes. The AU may need to establish a body to monitor the implementation of obligations whose breach may lead to the heinous crimes in Article 4(h). In addition, the AU needs a legally binding instrument to ensure accountability and end impunity for crimes in Article 4(h). The idea is to influencethe calculus of potential authors of atrocities and ensure compliance with human rights and humanitarian law obligations.

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