Zimbabwe S Military Examining Its Veto Power In The Transition To Democracy 2008 2013

Political transition and democratisation challenges have been noted in African countries including Angola, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, resulting in the African Union (AU) intervening on behalf of citizens, using tried-and-tested mechanisms of imposing a power-sharing agreement to preside over a transitional period, during which there are key changes to the constitution and the political conduct of the incumbency, and partisan institutions are weaned from seeking to perpetuate the status quo. This book focuses on Zimbabwe's military and its perceived veto power in the transition to democratisation from 2008 until 2013. The objective was to analyse, monitor and comment on the unique democratic transformational challenges faced by Zimbabwe's Government of National Unity. One of the book's key findings is that every time partisan forces carry out an operation in the name of a political party, there is a direct correlation in which the same loses its national character. This is the context of the challenge facing Zimbabwean forces when used for partisan gain and why the Southern African Development Community (SADC), in its last communique in Maputo on 15 June 2013, sought to compel a written undertaking from the generals that they would desist from playing a direct role in the politics of the country. The AU had earlier expressed its deep regret when faced with the results of serious human rights abuses that were committed with impunity.

In 1973, Yashev Raval wrote The Power of Wisdom, correctly pointing out that collusion between East and West had kept not only the balance of terror but provided the glue that kept geographic spheres of influence stable. Africa was part of that arena for global rivalry. With the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1991, the stifling grip the superpowers had exercised throughout the world was fundamentally altered. The transformation of the international security system, coupled with political democratization, allowed the partial reorganisation of the security establishments on the African continent to embark upon the New African Civil Military Relations (ACMR). In the last decade and half, the implosion of African states exposed to forces of democratization has escalated, manifest in Algeria, Egypt, Mali, Madagascar, Somalia, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Lesotho. At the heart of the states implosion has been weak, fragile and partisan defence and security institutions a phenomenon that requires urgent research intervention to guide the much-needed reforms. In 2014, the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted the bi-annual African Studies Conference, with the lead author accorded the responsibility of organizing a Session on ACMR. From amongst some of the exciting Abstracts presented, authors submitted these as full chapters for this book which captures International African Studies Perspectives, managed by the African Public Policy and Research Institute (APPRI). This process was further facilitated by one of the presenters and now co-editor, Maj Henrik Laugesen from the Royal Danish Defence College, who agreed to lead on the fundraising succeeding in securing support from the Royal Danish Defence College. The result is this book.

This book is a critical comparative reflection of the post-colonial conflict Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa. It offers an up-to-date comparative analysis of how specific analytical elements that transcend state boundaries shaped DDR in the three southern African countries. The author explores structural and organizational frameworks, target groups, state leadership in DDR, linkages between DDR and SSR in nation and state building, and types of post-conflict violence. The volume draws on fieldwork including interviews with policy makers and government officials as well as ex-combatants and experts to provide valuable insights into how post-colonial conflict DDR can provide knowledge crucial to understanding and addressing the problems of post-conflict peace building in Africa. The book is aimed at academics, researchers and students working on Southern Africa; African and Western policymakers concerned with problematic post-conflict situations on the continent, where improvising DDR processes will be vital to success; as well as the general reader interested in political, security and other developments in the region. It will be of use in postgraduate courses in the inter-related fields of international relations, comparative government, conflict resolution and peacebuilding.

What is distinctive about this book is its interdisciplinary approach towards deciphering the complex meanings of President Gabriel Mugabe of Zimbabwe making it possible to evaluate Mugabe from a historical, political, philosophical, gender, literal and decolonial perspectives. It is concerned with capturing various meanings of Mugabeism.

An essential biographical record of General Solomon Mujuru, one of the most controversial figures within the history of African liberation politics.

In the Russia-Ukraine war, attention has been focused on the "Special Military Operation" This book argues that there are many other special operations, in various other arenas in the world, that deserve equal and urgent attention. Connecting special military operations to what it calls special economic operations, special cultural operations, special technological operations, special sexual operations and special political operations, the book argues that special operations are not exclusive. AIso drawing on topical debates about technoscience, the book critically examines invasive technologies in relation to bodily autonomy, integrity and privacy, and it urges scholars and thinkers to compare these invasive technological operations to invasive special military operations. The book grapples with the future of humanity in a world where the human is decentred even as the world is witnessing the proliferation of resource wars. The book is relevant for scholars in anthropology, sociology, politics, government studies, international relations, history, media studies, science and technology studies and disaster management.

Based on a detailed study of 35 cases in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and post-communist Eurasia, this book explores the fate of competitive authoritarian regimes between 1990 and 2008. It finds that where social, economic, and technocratic ties to the West were extensive, as in Eastern Europe and the Americas, the external cost of abuse led incumbents to cede power rather than crack down, which led to democratization. Where ties to the West were limited, external democratizing pressure was weaker and countries rarely democratized. In these cases, regime outcomes hinged on the character of state and ruling party organizations. Where incumbents possessed developed and cohesive coercive party structures, they could thwart opposition challenges, and competitive authoritarian regimes survived; where incumbents lacked such organizational tools, regimes were unstable but rarely democratized.

Publisher Description