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Situated at the heart of Africa, the DRC has been transformed into a battlefield where several African states and national armed movements are simultaneously fighting various wars. In order to achieve peace, security, and stability in the DRC, SADC intervened with the international collaboration of the UN and AU. The aim of this dissertation is to investigate SADC’s role in the DRC conflict resolution process from 1998 to 2003. A qualitative research method has been chosen and two theories, namely New Institutionalism theories and Rupesinghe’s model of conflict transformation were adopted. The research concludes that SADC military and diplomatic efforts to end the war have been positive. It is true that violence continues and peace remained fragile, but the conflict had ended. The weakness of the DRC government has allowed continued violence. As an organisation of states, SADC has not been able to do anything about this fragility. / Political Sciences / M.A. (International Politics)

Thesis (MPhil (Political Science))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / For a long time, conflict studies have focussed on the grand national projects of negotiating peace, concluded by the major actors in the country, like political parties, as well as international mediating actors like the UN. This view on solving conflict as a set top-down process were in recent years challenged by new theories on how to solve conflict. The conflict settlement theory had to make ideological and practical space for others like conflict resolution and conflict transformation, in the broader arena of conflict management. In the last 3 decades, conflict transformation has grown into a formidable tool in explaining conflict and moves toward peace-building. The fact that so many countries had collapsed back into civil war after their settlements, surely has something to say about the lack of longevity of some countries’ conflict settlement or conflict resolution approaches. This is why conflict transformation is such an attractive approach, especially in the case of South Africa. The political settlement of the early 1990s, that lead to an official peace, were also backed up by policies and programs to deal with the underlying causes and grievances that caused the conflict. The TRC was one aspect on post-1994 peace-building and enduring conflict transformation. The importance of the TRC as a transformative vehicle has been highlighted by the fact that so many institutions and individuals have made work of it to study the impact of the TRC on social transformation in the post-war era. Although many surveys indicate that South Africans have come to deal with the past to varying degrees and are seeing the various groups in the country as intertwined with the future of the country, there are still many worrying aspects that have to be addressed: interracial understanding and trust, and tolerance for one’s former enemies. The TRC has done much to build bridges between the formerly segregated groups of South Africa and the aim of this paper is to shed some light on these changes in attitudes.

Situated at the heart of Africa, the DRC has been transformed into a battlefield where several African states and national armed movements are simultaneously fighting various wars. In order to achieve peace, security, and stability in the DRC, SADC intervened with the international collaboration of the UN and AU. The aim of this dissertation is to investigate SADC’s role in the DRC conflict resolution process from 1998 to 2003. A qualitative research method has been chosen and two theories, namely New Institutionalism theories and Rupesinghe’s model of conflict transformation were adopted. The research concludes that SADC military and diplomatic efforts to end the war have been positive. It is true that violence continues and peace remained fragile, but the conflict had ended. The weakness of the DRC government has allowed continued violence. As an organisation of states, SADC has not been able to do anything about this fragility. / Political Sciences / M.A. (International Politics)

This study has the ambition to examine and compare Angolas failed peace process with Bosnia-Herzegovina’s successful peace process through Kumar Rupesinghes theory in conflict transformation. By comparing the two peace processes through Rupesinghes theory we can get an answer why Angola’s peace failed while Bosnia-Herzegovina’s lasted.   This study has two purposes.   Based on a comparison of Angolas and Bosnia-Herzegovina’s peace processes, how well is it possible to explain the outcome of the two countries peace process?   How useful is Rupesinghes theory?   The study showed that Bosnia-Herzegovina employed factors from Rupesinghes theory, in a much higher sense than Angola. They were especially more successful in employing the economic factors from Rupesinghes theory. This therefore can be a reason why Angola’s peace failed while Bosnia’s lasted. In testing the theory’s usefulness the study showed that the theory is useful in many factors and can be used to give a qualified answer to why a peace lasts or fails. But the theory also has its flaws, some of the steps in the theory need a better explanation and some of the steps are more important depending on which country the theory is applied upon.     Key words: Angola, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kumar Rupesinghe, conflict transformation, civil-war, peace, peace processes, Bicesse, Dayton

This study aims to analyze the application of twentieth century sociologist George Mead's role theory to Henry VIII and Mary I, of Britain's Tudor Dynasty, regarding their treatment of their families during the early to mid-sixteenth century. Contemporary role theory can offer a useful lens to study sixteenth century royal family functionality through an analysis of Henry VIII and Mary I's lives as monarchs of England. Role theory can illuminate the role conflict that led to a separation between Henry and Mary as people and as sovereigns. Their roles, derived from traditional authority, set them apart as people and led them to behave in a way that would not have been true to their characters if they were not monarchs. The roles will therefore be given particular attention pertaining to family issues within a sixteenth century social, religious and political context. The findings of this study include an explanation of conflict with identity as well as a conflict with roles using transformation as the catalyst in the case of both of these monarchs. This study includes a qualitative content analysis, while also employing methods from the humanities to create a unique blend of methodology from both the social sciences and the field of history. This blend of methodology aids in creating a model to ensure further understanding of conflict analysis from a historical perspective.

Since the 1990s the Great Lakes Region has continued to be mired in intractable conflict, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) being at the center of it. The aim of this study is therefore an attempt to understand how the InternationalConference of the Great Lakes Region has fared in the transformation of conflict in the region, through its attempts in the DRC. For the purpose of the study, conflict transformation as presented by John Paul Lederachwas used as a theory of analyzing the selected peace efforts by the ICGLR. Furthermore, the data used in the study were secondary data which consists of archival records and documentation. The study revealed two key issues in the ICGLR’s approach to peace attempts in DRC; it showed that there are gaps in the conflict transformation approach of the earlier attempts by the ICGL, which favored more political solutions. Secondly, a rethink of the approach revealed a much more robust approach, which seeks to address not only the political conflicts but also seeks to address the historical and structural conflicts in the region. However, with the positive change in the approach, there are still high levels of conflict in the DRC.

<p>It is an unfortunate and cruel reality that both government and armed groups used child soldiers during armed conflict. Child soldiers have become an integral part of government forces as well as insurgent groups in Africa and elsewhere. Most of them are being exploited as combatants, while others perform functions, such as porters, spies who are able to enter small spaces, cooks, messengers, lookouts, and even suicide bombers. Some of the most disturbing aspects of child soldiering are that some of them are being forced to kill or are themselves killed, sexually abused and are exposed to drugs. The use of child soldiers in conflicts is not a recent phenomenon and has indeed become a common practice that characterises modern conflicts. Recruitment is usually carried out forcefully or voluntarily by both government and rebel forces. The difference between these two types of recruitment is not always clear since their decision to join is always influenced by external factors. Examples of such reasons for voluntary recruitment include the desire to revenge, adventure, peer pressure, and need for belonging and survival. Concerning the reason for survival, some argue that, the children do not actually choose freely to become combatants, but are rather forced by circumstances. There are numerous reasons for the continuous targeting of children by armed forces and armed groups. These include shortage of combatants, the fact that children are easy to train physically and psychologically, and also that children are obedient and are readily available. The recruited children are compelled to take part in brutal induction ceremonies, where they are threatened and forced to kill or witness the killing of someone they know.</p>

<p>It is an unfortunate and cruel reality that both government and armed groups used child soldiers during armed conflict. Child soldiers have become an integral part of government forces as well as insurgent groups in Africa and elsewhere. Most of them are being exploited as combatants, while others perform functions, such as porters, spies who are able to enter small spaces, cooks, messengers, lookouts, and even suicide bombers. Some of the most disturbing aspects of child soldiering are that some of them are being forced to kill or are themselves killed, sexually abused and are exposed to drugs. The use of child soldiers in conflicts is not a recent phenomenon and has indeed become a common practice that characterises modern conflicts. Recruitment is usually carried out forcefully or voluntarily by both government and rebel forces. The difference between these two types of recruitment is not always clear since their decision to join is always influenced by external factors. Examples of such reasons for voluntary recruitment include the desire to revenge, adventure, peer pressure, and need for belonging and survival. Concerning the reason for survival, some argue that, the children do not actually choose freely to become combatants, but are rather forced by circumstances. There are numerous reasons for the continuous targeting of children by armed forces and armed groups. These include shortage of combatants, the fact that children are easy to train physically and psychologically, and also that children are obedient and are readily available. The recruited children are compelled to take part in brutal induction ceremonies, where they are threatened and forced to kill or witness the killing of someone they know.</p>

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