The Jacob Zuma government’s foreign policy : association or dissociation?
- Authors: Landsberg, Chris
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Zuma, Jacob , South Africa - Foreign policy
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6015 , ISSN 2238-6262 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9561
- Description: In an attempt to bring coherence and predictability to South African foreign policy, the government of Jacob Zuma has, since assuming office in May 2009, put emphasis on forging relations with countries and regions, and key international relations issues and concerns. According to policy, the pursuit of the national interest lay at the heart of the Republic’s international strategies, with ‘national interest’ being used as a cement to hold together the edifice of post-Mbeki government’s foreign policy. On paper, the government appears to have gone far in articulating this ambitious foreign policy, however a number of questions arise. Have these policies been put into practice and if so do they follow the stated agenda or are there serious deviations? Has there been association with Mbeki’s policies on paper and dissociation from such policies in practice? How do the various tenets of foreign policy relate to the epicentre of the national interest and to one another? Do they represent a marked shift from the previous Mbeki government’s African Agenda’ or are they a mere copy? This paper seeks to answer these questions, in particular investigating whether a gap has developed between articulated, or stated, policy and how it was pursued in practice, through implementation.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Landsberg, Chris
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Zuma, Jacob , South Africa - Foreign policy
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6015 , ISSN 2238-6262 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9561
- Description: In an attempt to bring coherence and predictability to South African foreign policy, the government of Jacob Zuma has, since assuming office in May 2009, put emphasis on forging relations with countries and regions, and key international relations issues and concerns. According to policy, the pursuit of the national interest lay at the heart of the Republic’s international strategies, with ‘national interest’ being used as a cement to hold together the edifice of post-Mbeki government’s foreign policy. On paper, the government appears to have gone far in articulating this ambitious foreign policy, however a number of questions arise. Have these policies been put into practice and if so do they follow the stated agenda or are there serious deviations? Has there been association with Mbeki’s policies on paper and dissociation from such policies in practice? How do the various tenets of foreign policy relate to the epicentre of the national interest and to one another? Do they represent a marked shift from the previous Mbeki government’s African Agenda’ or are they a mere copy? This paper seeks to answer these questions, in particular investigating whether a gap has developed between articulated, or stated, policy and how it was pursued in practice, through implementation.
- Full Text:
Nigeria-South Africa tensions leave African leadership gap
- Authors: Landsberg, Chris
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: South Africa - Foreign relations - Nigeria
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6016 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9562
- Description: Relations between South Africa and Nigeria have long resembled a rollercoaster without a safety bar. While Africa’s first- and third-largest economies, respectively, have shared a close relationship, it is one marked by volatility and tension. And during the past three years, this critical bilateral relationship has begun to wobble dangerously, finding itself today in need of urgent détente.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Landsberg, Chris
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: South Africa - Foreign relations - Nigeria
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6016 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9562
- Description: Relations between South Africa and Nigeria have long resembled a rollercoaster without a safety bar. While Africa’s first- and third-largest economies, respectively, have shared a close relationship, it is one marked by volatility and tension. And during the past three years, this critical bilateral relationship has begun to wobble dangerously, finding itself today in need of urgent détente.
- Full Text:
Continuity and change in the foreign policies of the Mbeki and Zuma governments
- Authors: Landsberg, Chris
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: South Africa - Foreign policy , Mbeki, Thabo , Zuma, Jacob , Mandela, Nelson
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6013 , ISSN 0256 2804 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9559
- Description: There is a commonly held view in foreign policy analysis circles that in the transition from the Mandela to the Mbeki government, continuity was the order of the day, while from Mbeki to Zuma it purportedly suggested change. Was this the case? We are interested in establishing whether Mbeki introduced important nuances, refinements and changes in foreign policy that might reveal some discontinuities, and whether the foreign policy directions and strategies of the Zuma presidency resembled a fundamental break from those pursued by Mbeki. In terms of the latter, the leadership tensions in the African National Congress (ANC) which brought about the Zuma presidency were said to be accompanied by changes in policy. Could it be that this rupture in the ruling ANC and the government was ironically characterised by policy continuities?
- Full Text:
- Authors: Landsberg, Chris
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: South Africa - Foreign policy , Mbeki, Thabo , Zuma, Jacob , Mandela, Nelson
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6013 , ISSN 0256 2804 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9559
- Description: There is a commonly held view in foreign policy analysis circles that in the transition from the Mandela to the Mbeki government, continuity was the order of the day, while from Mbeki to Zuma it purportedly suggested change. Was this the case? We are interested in establishing whether Mbeki introduced important nuances, refinements and changes in foreign policy that might reveal some discontinuities, and whether the foreign policy directions and strategies of the Zuma presidency resembled a fundamental break from those pursued by Mbeki. In terms of the latter, the leadership tensions in the African National Congress (ANC) which brought about the Zuma presidency were said to be accompanied by changes in policy. Could it be that this rupture in the ruling ANC and the government was ironically characterised by policy continuities?
- Full Text:
An overview of the EU-SA Strategic Partnership 10 years on : diverging world views, persisting interests
- Landsberg, Chris, Hierro, Lara
- Authors: Landsberg, Chris , Hierro, Lara
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: South Africa , EU , Strategic Partnership
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/254610 , uj:26658 , Citation: Landsberg, C. & Hierro, L. 2017. An overview of the EU-SA Strategic Partnership 10 years on : diverging world views, persisting interests.
- Description: Abstract: The EU-SA Strategic Partnership (SP) has entered its 10th year. It is a product of its time and particular regional and international circumstances. These having changed somewhat over the course of the last decade, it is not surprising that the dynamics of the relationship, expressed through the strategic partnership’s parameters, have undergone commensurate changes. Based on the recognition that the partnership is between a multilateral institution and a state, the difference in their respective strategic positions is inevitable. The challenge therefore, is for the EU-SA Strategic Partnership to maintain a flexibility that allows for continued contestation, development and relevance. This paper reviews the historical context of the partnership and the challenging dynamics that have evolved over the lifespan of partnership, providing the basis for the thematic discussion which follow in this issue. The analysis in this article demonstrates that in spite of acknowledged challenges, the functionality of the strategic partnership based on persisting interests remains intact.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Landsberg, Chris , Hierro, Lara
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: South Africa , EU , Strategic Partnership
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/254610 , uj:26658 , Citation: Landsberg, C. & Hierro, L. 2017. An overview of the EU-SA Strategic Partnership 10 years on : diverging world views, persisting interests.
- Description: Abstract: The EU-SA Strategic Partnership (SP) has entered its 10th year. It is a product of its time and particular regional and international circumstances. These having changed somewhat over the course of the last decade, it is not surprising that the dynamics of the relationship, expressed through the strategic partnership’s parameters, have undergone commensurate changes. Based on the recognition that the partnership is between a multilateral institution and a state, the difference in their respective strategic positions is inevitable. The challenge therefore, is for the EU-SA Strategic Partnership to maintain a flexibility that allows for continued contestation, development and relevance. This paper reviews the historical context of the partnership and the challenging dynamics that have evolved over the lifespan of partnership, providing the basis for the thematic discussion which follow in this issue. The analysis in this article demonstrates that in spite of acknowledged challenges, the functionality of the strategic partnership based on persisting interests remains intact.
- Full Text:
The African Union and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) : restoring a relationship challenged?
- Authors: Landsberg, Chris
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: NEPAD , African Union , New Partnership for Africa’s Development
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6011 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9557
- Description: Africa faces a dual challenge of governance and development, with institutional and implementation crises looming large. Whereas the continent has gone through an energetic period of diplomacy during the decade 1998–2008, in which institutions and programmes like the African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) have been established, we have also witnessed serious problems revealing themselves. One such problem has been institutional rivalries which served to undermine the continent’s political and development agendas, and one such enmity was the tension and rancour between the AU and NEPAD. The newly elected Chair of the AU Commission in Addis Ababa will have to address such serious institutional tensions and rivalries in the continent.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Landsberg, Chris
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: NEPAD , African Union , New Partnership for Africa’s Development
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6011 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9557
- Description: Africa faces a dual challenge of governance and development, with institutional and implementation crises looming large. Whereas the continent has gone through an energetic period of diplomacy during the decade 1998–2008, in which institutions and programmes like the African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) have been established, we have also witnessed serious problems revealing themselves. One such problem has been institutional rivalries which served to undermine the continent’s political and development agendas, and one such enmity was the tension and rancour between the AU and NEPAD. The newly elected Chair of the AU Commission in Addis Ababa will have to address such serious institutional tensions and rivalries in the continent.
- Full Text:
Southern Africa’s conflict & governance template
- Landsberg, Chris, Mackay, Shaun
- Authors: Landsberg, Chris , Mackay, Shaun
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Human security and governance - Southern Africa , Human security threats - Southern Africa
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6076 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/10729
- Description: On the one hand, southern Africa is one of the least violent regions in Africa from the standpoint of inter-state and intra-state war. On the other, southern Africa faces major human security and governance challenges that are eroding the region’s hard-won governance and stability gains. The region faces major human security threats; inequality and poverty are on the rise, and these factors make for prospects for serious social dislocation and conflict. Former OAU Secretary-General, Salim Ahmed Salim said about southern Africa ‘…the region has experienced large-scale insecurity…This insecurity persists because the region has not yet managed effectively, human security challenges such as threats to civilians’ livelihoods, pandemics such as HIV/AIDS, poverty, natural disasters, conflict in the DRC and Angola, trafficking of drugs and arms, and cross-border crime’1. Human security threats such as drug and arms, the flows of refugees and migrants, have indeed been regionalized in southern Africa. Southern Africa’s political, development and security realities remain at once intertwined, contradictory and in a state of flux; its politics is unstable and development is under severe stress. Democratization in the region is inconsistent and fragile. While more of the region’s states than ever before can be classified as formal democracies – in the sense that they adhere to the minimum requirement of democracy such as holding elections – the substance of democracy is far more unsteady. Typically, southern Africa states fair well on the minimum threshold of formal or procedural democracy – elections on time, distinction between three spheres of government, the separation of powers (between the legislature, judiciary and government), and opposition parties. But the region is fairing poorly when it comes to the strengthening of substantive democracy – the ability of states to be responsive to the needs of the citizenry, eradicate poverty, ensure the effective participation of the citizenry in decision-making and governance, tackling social injustice challenges such land dispossession and economic injustice’. The gender relations of power typically receive scant attention in southern Africa; yet it is a key governance question in the sub-continent. The sub-region has a long way to go in introducing genuine empowerment of women; this is typically a male-dominated environment. The vexed question of youth and youth participation in politics in the region needs to receive similar attention. Youth are increasingly being alienated and marginalized from mainstream African politics. The issues just do not speak to them. For example, the issues of activism and cross-border youth political organization would help to shed light on the challenges of democratization and political governance in southern Africa.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Landsberg, Chris , Mackay, Shaun
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Human security and governance - Southern Africa , Human security threats - Southern Africa
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6076 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/10729
- Description: On the one hand, southern Africa is one of the least violent regions in Africa from the standpoint of inter-state and intra-state war. On the other, southern Africa faces major human security and governance challenges that are eroding the region’s hard-won governance and stability gains. The region faces major human security threats; inequality and poverty are on the rise, and these factors make for prospects for serious social dislocation and conflict. Former OAU Secretary-General, Salim Ahmed Salim said about southern Africa ‘…the region has experienced large-scale insecurity…This insecurity persists because the region has not yet managed effectively, human security challenges such as threats to civilians’ livelihoods, pandemics such as HIV/AIDS, poverty, natural disasters, conflict in the DRC and Angola, trafficking of drugs and arms, and cross-border crime’1. Human security threats such as drug and arms, the flows of refugees and migrants, have indeed been regionalized in southern Africa. Southern Africa’s political, development and security realities remain at once intertwined, contradictory and in a state of flux; its politics is unstable and development is under severe stress. Democratization in the region is inconsistent and fragile. While more of the region’s states than ever before can be classified as formal democracies – in the sense that they adhere to the minimum requirement of democracy such as holding elections – the substance of democracy is far more unsteady. Typically, southern Africa states fair well on the minimum threshold of formal or procedural democracy – elections on time, distinction between three spheres of government, the separation of powers (between the legislature, judiciary and government), and opposition parties. But the region is fairing poorly when it comes to the strengthening of substantive democracy – the ability of states to be responsive to the needs of the citizenry, eradicate poverty, ensure the effective participation of the citizenry in decision-making and governance, tackling social injustice challenges such land dispossession and economic injustice’. The gender relations of power typically receive scant attention in southern Africa; yet it is a key governance question in the sub-continent. The sub-region has a long way to go in introducing genuine empowerment of women; this is typically a male-dominated environment. The vexed question of youth and youth participation in politics in the region needs to receive similar attention. Youth are increasingly being alienated and marginalized from mainstream African politics. The issues just do not speak to them. For example, the issues of activism and cross-border youth political organization would help to shed light on the challenges of democratization and political governance in southern Africa.
- Full Text:
Diskoers Desember 2008/Discourse December 2008
- Viviers, Tisa, Schlemmer, Lawrence, Friedman, Steven, Cloete, Fanie, Landsberg, Chris, Olivier, Gerrit
- Authors: Viviers, Tisa , Schlemmer, Lawrence , Friedman, Steven , Cloete, Fanie , Landsberg, Chris , Olivier, Gerrit
- Date: 2009-03-24T12:02:53Z
- Subjects: Diskoers Desember 2008 , Discourse December 2008
- Identifier: uj:5357 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/2304
- Description: The Discourse is a opinion journal of the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and contains articles by selected authors, whose opinions are not necessarily being underwritten by UJ.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Viviers, Tisa , Schlemmer, Lawrence , Friedman, Steven , Cloete, Fanie , Landsberg, Chris , Olivier, Gerrit
- Date: 2009-03-24T12:02:53Z
- Subjects: Diskoers Desember 2008 , Discourse December 2008
- Identifier: uj:5357 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/2304
- Description: The Discourse is a opinion journal of the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and contains articles by selected authors, whose opinions are not necessarily being underwritten by UJ.
- Full Text:
Reflections on the African Union after decade one : looking back in order to look forward
- Authors: Landsberg, Chris
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: African Union , Mbeki, Thabo , Organisation of African Unity
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6014 , ISSN 0256 2804 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9560
- Description: his special edition of Africa Insight focuses on the African Union (AU) after a decade since its inception. The idea is to cast a critical eye over the past 10 years of the AU, successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), who will itself in 2013 commemorate 50 years since its establishment in 1963. Writing in May 2012, one of the chief architects of the AU and of Africa’s post-Cold War Continental Order, former South African president Thabo Mbeki remarked in the form of two probing questions: As we celebrate the fi rst decade of both the AU and NEPAD, and prepare to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the OAU next year we must answer these questions honestly: ● What progress have we made towards the achievement of the objectives of the OAU, the AU and NEPAD? And, ● What shall we do in this regard?
- Full Text:
- Authors: Landsberg, Chris
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: African Union , Mbeki, Thabo , Organisation of African Unity
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6014 , ISSN 0256 2804 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9560
- Description: his special edition of Africa Insight focuses on the African Union (AU) after a decade since its inception. The idea is to cast a critical eye over the past 10 years of the AU, successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), who will itself in 2013 commemorate 50 years since its establishment in 1963. Writing in May 2012, one of the chief architects of the AU and of Africa’s post-Cold War Continental Order, former South African president Thabo Mbeki remarked in the form of two probing questions: As we celebrate the fi rst decade of both the AU and NEPAD, and prepare to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the OAU next year we must answer these questions honestly: ● What progress have we made towards the achievement of the objectives of the OAU, the AU and NEPAD? And, ● What shall we do in this regard?
- Full Text:
100 Years of ANC foreign policy
- Authors: Landsberg, Chris
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: African National Congress , South African Communist Party (SACP) , South African Congress of Trade Union (SACTU)
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6012 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9558
- Description: An African National Congress (ANC) foreign policy or international relations strategy is as old as the movement itself: a whopping 100 years! There are very many ANC, South African Communist Party (SACP) and South African Congress of Trade Union (SACTU) leaders and activists who played a critical role in defending and promoting the theory and practice of internationalism, international solidarity, world peace, African unity, African renaissance and an African agenda. Let us in the year of the centenary mention some of them. They are: John Langalibalele Dube, Pixley ka Seme, Z. K. Mathews, Inkhosi Albert Luthuli, Walter Sisulu, Yusuf Dadoo, Brian Bunting, Ray Simons, Joe Slovo, Johnny Makhatini, Alfred Nzo, Kader Asmal, M.P Naicker, Dennis Brutus, Alex La Guma, O.R Tambo, Mark Shope, Duma Nokwe, Gertrude Shope, Ruth Mompathi, Nelson Mandela, Reginald September, Thabo Mbeki, Jacob.G Zuma, and others like Pan-African Congress leaders Robert Sobukwe and Black Conscious leader Steve Biko. The white minority embarked on efforts to create their “white state” in a black land, which culminated in the elections in September 1910 to consolidate the Union of South Africa, with the South African Party (SAP) winning comfortably. The primary aim was to seek reconciliation within the white community between descendents of the English and Dutch who had engaged in the two Anglo-Boer Wars of 1880 to 1881 and 1899 to 1902.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Landsberg, Chris
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: African National Congress , South African Communist Party (SACP) , South African Congress of Trade Union (SACTU)
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6012 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9558
- Description: An African National Congress (ANC) foreign policy or international relations strategy is as old as the movement itself: a whopping 100 years! There are very many ANC, South African Communist Party (SACP) and South African Congress of Trade Union (SACTU) leaders and activists who played a critical role in defending and promoting the theory and practice of internationalism, international solidarity, world peace, African unity, African renaissance and an African agenda. Let us in the year of the centenary mention some of them. They are: John Langalibalele Dube, Pixley ka Seme, Z. K. Mathews, Inkhosi Albert Luthuli, Walter Sisulu, Yusuf Dadoo, Brian Bunting, Ray Simons, Joe Slovo, Johnny Makhatini, Alfred Nzo, Kader Asmal, M.P Naicker, Dennis Brutus, Alex La Guma, O.R Tambo, Mark Shope, Duma Nokwe, Gertrude Shope, Ruth Mompathi, Nelson Mandela, Reginald September, Thabo Mbeki, Jacob.G Zuma, and others like Pan-African Congress leaders Robert Sobukwe and Black Conscious leader Steve Biko. The white minority embarked on efforts to create their “white state” in a black land, which culminated in the elections in September 1910 to consolidate the Union of South Africa, with the South African Party (SAP) winning comfortably. The primary aim was to seek reconciliation within the white community between descendents of the English and Dutch who had engaged in the two Anglo-Boer Wars of 1880 to 1881 and 1899 to 1902.
- Full Text:
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