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Statsvetenskap

Who needs to reconcile with whom? : the conflict’s complexity in northern Mali calls for tailored solutions

Upphovsperson: Gaasholt, Ole Martin
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation |
År: 2015
Ämnesord: Mali, Tuaregs, conflicts, political development, Political islam, Regional security, Political science, Statsvetenskap, Peace and conflict research, Freds- och konfliktforskning
While negotiations are taking place in Algiers, some observers insist on the need for reconciliation between Northern Mali and the rest of the country and particularly between Tuareg and other Malians. But the Tuareg are a minority in Northern Mali and most of them did not support the rebels. So who needs to be reconciled with whom? And what economic solutions will counteract conflict? This Policy Note argues that not only exclusion underlies the conflict, but also a lack of economic opportunities.

Denmark and national liberation in Southern Africa : a flexible response

Upphovsperson: Morgenstierne, Christopher Munthe
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2003
Ämnesord: Foreign relations, national liberation movements, apartheid, Denmark, Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Political science, Statsvetenskap
This book describes and documents the development of Danish support to national liberation in Southern Africa and the two-sided humanitarian and political character of this support. It is based on previously restricted Danish ministry records and on NGO archives and interviews.The Nordic countries were unique in the Western world in their support to individuals, organisations and refugees, struggling to end institutionalised colonialism and racism and alleviate their humanitarian consequences. Nordic support was humanitarian and civilian, and to a large extent was given to refugees and to education. Increasingly, it came to involve national liberation movements and financial support to their civilian activities, at a time when these movements were politically and militarily struggling against the regimes in their countries-including the government of Portugal, a NATO military partner of Norway and Denmark.Danish support developed differently from that of the other Nordic countries. Official support was never given directly to liberation movements. Rather, Danish NGOs were employed to advise on Danish allocations and to distribute these allocations and carry out activities, using their own capacity or through their international networks. In the field of sanctions, Denmark shifted from a policy of awaiting a UN Security Council decision to imposing unilateral trade sanctions as the first Western country to do so, and the book analyses the political developments behind this.The study seeks to determine the events, rationales, arguments and decisions that led to the various forms of Danish support. Key questions are how Danish support was established as a purely humanitarian facility that later developed into supporting also the liberation movements, and how boycott was first considered to be an issue for the individual but eventually became national, official policy. The study seeks to describe why support and sanctions developed in the way and at the pace they did. Major factors involved were Danish public awareness of developments in Southern Africa, domestic political debates and mobilisation through NGOs.This focus on processes of change has been necessary in a field of Danish foreign relations that during the course of the research was recognised as being a very wide as well as a very interesting one. As a new field of research, and with the majority of the sources never having been studied before, this study has an aim to provide a platform for other researchers, journalists and students. Hopefully it will inspire others to investigate the whole issue further-or to consider it in a different perspective.

China and India, "rising powers" and African development : challenges and opportunities

Upphovsperson: Roy, Sumit
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, African International Links | Uppsala, Sweden
År: 2014
Ämnesord: Africa, China, India, Globalization, economic development, international trade, investment, international economic relations, International relations, development, Sustainable development, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, Angola, Southern Africa, Eastern Africa, case studies, Political science, Statsvetenskap, economics, Nationalekonomi
In this report, the challenges and opportunities arising from the growing ties between two key “Rising Powers,” China and India, and Africa are more fully explored. This trend has given rise to speculative, exaggerated and ideological responses and a mixture of anxiety and hope. What is needed is an interdisciplinary political economy study to investigate the ways in which global, regional and national linkages in the relationship impact on the prospects of sustainable development in Africa. The necessity for this is underscored by the growing influence of the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in reshaping the world.In this frame, the focus is on the nature of the shift in China’s and India’s strategic vision of Africa in terms of politics, ideology and economic development. This shift impinges on trade and investment and, in turn, the scope for inducing structural economic change in the context of colonial and postcolonial tensions. Comparative observation of countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, particularly Ethiopia in the former, illustrates their capacity to cope with the new powers. This is a critical aspect of the continent’s complex interplay with states and institutions within and beyond its borders. Ultimately, African nations have to individually and collectively confront the challenges and opportunities stemming from their evolving relationships with these Rising Powers.

Scrambling for the promised land : land acquisitions and the politics of representation in post-war Acholi, northern Uganda

Upphovsperson: Sjögren, Anders
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet |
År: 2013
Ämnesord: land tenure regimes, land acquisitions, political representation, state-scoiety relations, Uganda, Acholi, Political science, Statsvetenskap
In the wake of return to relative peace in Acholi region, northern Uganda, from 2006, land matters have taken centre stage. After having been displaced into camps for many years, people have started to go back home. Their return is complicated by many factors, including above all, land disputes. While the Ugandan constitution and land legislation protects customary tenure, the social and economic institutions that uphold this tenure regime have been severely weakened as a result of war and displacement. The combination of demographic changes following large-scale displacement and gradual return; social and economic conflicts emanating from biting poverty for most and accumulation by a few; uncertain territorial demarcations by way of changing and contested statutory and communal boundaries in the context of weak and subverted regulatory institutions, together deepen conflicts over resources. This article analyses these issues by examining a case of land acquisition in Amuru: a bid by the Madhvani business group to access huge tracts of land in western Acholi for purposes of growing sugar cane, and the heated debates and protests this case has generated, as played out by political representation in different arenas such as the media, courts and representative assemblies.

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