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The document analyzes South Africa's strategic shift from its role as a dominant power in southern Africa during and after the apartheid era to a leader of the 'Global South'. It examines how South Africa uses its influence in the UN and within non-aligned blocs to challenge Western diplomatic dominance and advocate for a more equitable global order. The author highlights specific diplomatic actions regarding Iran and Myanmar as evidence of this strategy to shift power away from the UN Security Council toward the General Assembly and other non-Western constellations.

The document examines the application of global anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes in Southern Africa. It argues that 'one-size-fits-all' international standards, designed for developed formal banking systems, are often inappropriate for the region's cash-based economies and can hinder financial inclusion. The author finds that evidence of actual terrorist financing in Southern Africa is scanty, suggesting that development should take priority over the costly implementation of these complex measures.

The report examines the 'spaghetti bowl' of overlapping regional economic communities (RECs) in southern and eastern Africa, focusing on the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the East African Community (EAC). It highlights the institutional tensions caused by multiple memberships and the pressure from EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations. The authors argue that SACU should be positioned as a core 'fast-tracking' anchor for regional integration, but emphasize that it must first 'get the basics right' by improving trade facilitation, statistics, and its internal institutional framework before expanding.

The report analyzes power-sharing as a tool to mitigate civil conflict by guaranteeing political roles to potential 'spoilers'. It argues that while power-sharing can promote peace when parties are evenly matched and conflict costs are high, it may increase conflict risks when groups are unevenly matched. The authors highlight significant trade-offs, noting that power-sharing prioritizes 'ex post fairness' over democratic 'ex ante uncertainty' and can lead to high transaction costs and agency losses, such as the selection of intransigent, group-based politicians.

The report analyzes the feminization of migration in the SADC region, noting that women represent approximately 47% of migrants. It highlights a significant reliance on informal remittance channels due to high costs and restrictive access to formal banking. While remittances are critical for meeting basic needs like food, health, and education, there is little evidence of their use for productive economic investment. The document also examines the intersection of migration with HIV/AIDS and the challenges posed by gender-blind national and regional policies.

The report examines China's development policy in Africa, highlighting its shift from political goals to economic priorities, specifically energy security and market expansion. It contrasts China's 'non-interference' approach with Western conditionality, noting that China's willingness to engage with 'rogue states' provides it a comparative advantage in securing resources. While critics argue this undermines governance and debt relief, the authors suggest that China's presence breaks the traditional 'aid cartel' and may encourage G8 donors to improve aid effectiveness. The report recommends that Western donors integrate China into a collaborative development strategy rather than demonising its approach.

The document examines the barriers to 'Mode 4' trade in services—the temporary movement of natural persons—within the SADC region. It highlights that while the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) provides a multilateral framework, it is often ineffective due to national security concerns and fears of permanent migration. The report details specific visa and work permit restrictions across SADC member states and discusses regional efforts to ease these barriers through various protocols, including the Protocol on the Facilitation of Movement of Persons and the Protocol on the Development of Tourism. It concludes that SADC should adopt a 'migration management' approach to harness skilled labour as a development resource rather than treating it as a threat.

The document details a UNHCR-led voluntary repatriation plan starting in August 2006, aiming to return approximately 4,000 of the 13,000 Angolan refugees in South Africa over 18 months. While the Angolan government has shifted budget priorities from defence to education and health since 1999, the country still faces over 50% unemployment and 70% poverty, leading many refugees to prefer staying in South Africa where they have integrated and have better access to services.

The report documents systemic corruption within the South African apartheid state from 1976 to 1994, arguing that the regime's secrecy and authoritarianism facilitated large-scale theft and fraud. It details the use of secret funds, sanctions-busting, and the role of the Broederbond in creating a network of patronage. Key cases include the 'Muldergate' information scandal, the illicit ivory trade by the SADF, and massive foreign exchange fraud. The document concludes that this legacy of corruption persisted beyond 1994 and recommends state-led investigations to recover stolen assets and achieve justice.

The report examines services trade in the SADC region, focusing on core infrastructure (transport, energy, telecommunications, and finance), tourism, and the movement of natural persons (Mode 4). It argues that inadequacies in these services constrain economic growth and international competitiveness. While regional cooperation exists through various protocols, the report finds that actual liberalisation is slow, often hampered by state monopolies, inadequate regulatory frameworks, and restrictive immigration policies. It recommends increasing private sector participation, harmonising regional policies, and ratifying the Protocol on the Facilitation of the Movement of Persons to enhance regional integration and economic development.

The document argues for a shift toward human security in Southern Africa, emphasizing the interdependence of democracy, development, and individual safety. It examines the role of SADC's security architecture, the need for civil-military relations institutionalization, and the challenges of democratic elections. Case studies on Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Malawi highlight persistent threats such as HIV/AIDS, food insecurity, and authoritarian governance, while calling for a more inclusive, gender-sensitive approach to security and peace-building.

This research paper investigates the impact of democracy measurement on the 'democratic peace' proposition, which posits that democracies rarely go to war with one another. The author compares the widely used Polity dataset with Vanhanen's Polyarchy dataset, which uses a simpler index based on electoral competition and participation. Through bivariate and multivariate analyses of conflict data from 1816 to 2002, the study finds that the choice of indicator does matter; specifically, electoral competition appears to be a stronger predictor of peace than the aggregated democracy scores. The author concludes that while different measures often correlate, they are not interchangeable and can lead to different inferences about the causes of international peace.

The document lists the signature, ratification, and deposit dates for 53 African entities regarding the AU Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism. As of 23 June 2006, 48 countries had signed the convention, while 36 had completed ratification or accession and deposited their instruments.

EU Commissioner Peter Mandelson outlines the trade relationship between the EU and South Africa, noting a 46% increase in South African exports since 2000. He calls for a 'big agenda' to expand trade into services, investment, and procurement, while urging South Africa to submit a services offer in the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) and lead other developing nations in reducing South-South trade barriers.

The document argues that current global trade rules are inequitable and often lock developing countries into a dependence on volatile primary commodities, which increases the risk of civil war. It highlights how rich-country agricultural subsidies and market access restrictions undermine economic diversification in the South. Regarding aid, the text warns that development assistance can inadvertently build the capacity of oppressive regimes or be diverted by the strategic interests of donor nations. The series also examines the 'resource curse,' where natural resource wealth leads to corruption and instability, and proposes a combination of mandatory legal regulations, transparency initiatives like the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), and conflict-sensitive business practices to break the link between resource extraction and violence.

The document examines the 'political architecture' of liberal peacebuilding, which seeks to establish liberal market democracies in post-conflict states. It argues that while this approach is dominant in international politics, it faces significant legitimacy challenges. Communitarians argue it imposes external Western values over local cultures; critical theorists contend it reinforces a hegemonic and unjust global order; and postmodernists critique its reliance on technocratic 'social engineering.' The author proposes alternative frameworks, such as 'building the capacity for peaceful self-governance' and 'dialogic peacebuilding,' to reconcile liberal ideals with local autonomy and global justice.

The research argues that EU-mandated reciprocity in EPAs risks splintering SADC by creating divergent trade policies among member states. Analysis shows that products the non-South African members of SACU (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and Swaziland) would likely wish to exclude from liberalisation are already being liberalised under the TDCA, potentially undermining their ability to set autonomous trade schedules. The authors suggest that expanding SACU, possibly to include Mozambique, could serve as a mechanism to neutralise the anti-regionalism bias of EPAs.

The document examines the transition from authoritarianism to liberal democracy in the SADC region, arguing that while multiparty elections are essential, they do not alone constitute democracy. It critiques the 2004 SADC Principles and Guidelines for being more focused on election observation than management and for lacking legal binding force. The author highlights the failure of SADC to effectively monitor pre-election conditions in Zimbabwe in 2005, attributing this to a combination of Zimbabwean government reluctance and SADC's 'quiet diplomacy'.

The document provides a military history of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), detailing its origins in the struggle against Portuguese colonialism and the subsequent civil war. It examines the integration of the military wings of the MPLA, FNLA, and UNITA, the role of foreign interventions from the Soviet Union, Cuba, the US, and South Africa, and the transition of the FAA into a peacetime state institution.

The document provides a situation report on the military integration and Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) processes in the DRC. It details the FARDC's three-stage strategic plan to establish a national defence force by 2010, starting with light infantry brigades. The report highlights significant obstacles, including a lack of political will, severe funding shortages for equipment and salaries, and the discovery that 30-40% of listed soldiers are 'ghosts'. While coordination between international donors (via the Contact Group and EUSEC) and national bodies has improved, the process remains fragile, evidenced by high desertion rates in brassage centres and threats of re-invasion in the east.