national security

Nigeria and the African Union in Light of the Arab Revolts

Upphovsperson:	Okereke, C. Nna-Emeka
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation |
År:	2013
Ämnesord:	African Union, Afrocentrism, Foreign policy, National Interest, national security, Pax-Nigeriana

This paper analyses Nigeria’s role in the African Union (AU) and con-cludes that the latter is a strategic platform for the conduct of Nigeria’s foreign policy objectives in Africa. The study finds that the country has a ‘manifest destiny’ to play leadership roles in Africa and debunks the perception that Nigeria’s role in the AU is in decline. The paper further explores Nigeria’s AU priorities since the Arab revolts and concludes that the country’s ability to steer a clear course at the AU holds out pro-spects for peace, stability and security in Africa.

Rebels and robbers : violence in post-colonial Angola

Upphovsperson:	Malaquias, Assis
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2007
Ämnesord:	violence, Social structure, Obstacles to development, Political aspects, Political power, Civil war, peace, Nation Building, national security, Post-conflict reconstruction, Angola, Political science, Statsvetenskap

Rebels and Robbers is about the political economy of violence in post-colonial Angola. This book provides the first comprehensive attempt at analyzing how the military and non-military dynamics of more than four decades of conflict created the structural violence that stubbornly defines Angolan society even in the absence of war. The book clearly demonstrates that the end of the civil war has not ushered in positive peace. The focus on structural violence enables the author to explore the continuities since colonial times, especially in the ways race, class, ethnicity, and power have been used by governing elites as mechanisms to oppress the powerless. Thus, although corruption as structural violence manifesting itself so ubiquitously in Angola today may have been taken to new levels after independence, its origin is unmistakably colonial. Similarly, the zero-sum character of political interactions that defined colonial Angola is yet to be fully exorcized. But there are also important discontinuities. The unabashed propensity to capture public resources for personal aggrandizement is purely post-colonial. So is the tendency toward personal, unaccountable rule. Given its rich endowments, the end of the civil war provides Angola with an opportunity to finally realize its developmental potential. This will depend on whether the wealth resulting from the exploration of natural resources is directed toward creating the conditions for the citizens' realization of their aspirations for the good life thus ensuring sustainable peace.