This thesis addresses the determinants of militia decision-making. Focussing on the Lebanese Forces (LF), the major Christian militia in Lebanon's Civil War, it analyses the motives which drove the LF to accept the Ta'if Accord--an acceptance that stands in stark contrast to its rejection of two earlier settlement blueprints, the Lausanne talks and the Tripartite Agreement. Steering away from the literature's focus on ideology as the prime mover of militias, the research explores other dimensions of militia decision-making, notably the impact of inter-communal power struggles, of the extra-communal balance of power, and of the international setting. Particular attention is given to the impact of the process of institutionalization. By rendering decisions more sensitive to cost-benefit and other prasmatic considerations, institutionalization is insruumental in bringing the more hawkish of militias to the negotiation table and in opening a window of opportunity for lasting conflict resolution.

Western Sahara has been granted the dubious distinction of Africa's last colony. Long a victim of imperial enterprise, the territory was annexed by Morocco in 1975 Just as Spain withdrew. Despite international protest affirming the Saharawi people's right to a referendum of self-determination, still the question of Western Sahara lingers, frozen in time. This paper will demonstrate that a referendum no longer offers a way forward for three reasons: it is unlikely a referendum will be held due to Morocco's unwillingness to cooperate; if a referendum went forward, it is improbable that it would prove free and fair given Moroccan attempts to undermine the process; and if a successful referendum took place, it is unlikely the international community would be prepared to enforce Saharawi sovereignty. As such, alternatives must be sought. An examination of possible scenarios suggests limited autonomy, as a result of an Algero-Moroccan rapprochement, is Western Sahara's most likely trajectory.

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Africa is currently experiencing a movement toward more democratic systems of government. The causes of such changes are numerous, but the literature on African democratization, like that on similar changes elsewhere in the world, places emphasis on the role of internal or domestic factors. The role of international pressures toward democratization is almost completely ignored. The case of Mozambique illustrates the dangers of such an omission. During the past decade Mozambique has undergone considerable political change. The single-party, Marxist-Leninist oriented state has been replaced by a multi-party system, devoid of explicit references to any guiding ideology. The government has also expanded its contacts with the West, particularly by means of its assuming membership of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. These changes in Mozambique's political orientation have been accompanied by economic reforms, designed to arrest the precipitous decline in the Mozambican economy. In this dissertation I argue that the causes of both the economic and political reforms lie in this decline and in the government's need to secure capital and debt relief internationally. In order to do this, the Mozambican government had to change the aspects of its political system which were seen as being unacceptable by the West, in particular the lack of multi-party competition and its overtly Marxist orientation and close ties to socialist countries. Because the reforms had their primary genesis in Mozambique's need for international acceptance and not in the growth of popularly based democratic organisations, the reforms are fragile and their meaningfulness questionable.

This dissertation examines the following research question: Which types of electoral rules chosen in post-conflict states best promote peace? And are those effects conditional upon other factors? I argue that the effects are conditional upon the types of political parties that exist in the post-conflict environment. Although this explanation is contrary to scholars that speak of political parties as products of the electoral system, political parties often predate the choice of electoral system. Especially in post-conflict states, political parties play an important role in the negotiation process and hence in the design of the electoral rules. I argue that the effects of electoral rules on peace duration are mitigated by the degree to which a party system is broad (nonexclusive) or narrow (exclusive). I develop a theoretical model that led to three hypotheses focusing on the independent role that political parties play in mitigating the effects of electoral rules on peace duration. To test these hypotheses, I use the Cox proportional hazard model on 57 post-conflict states from 1990 to 2009 and had competitive elections. The empirical results show support for the main argument of this study. First, the findings show that electoral rules alone do not increase or decrease the risk of civil war outbreak, yet when interacting with the degree to which political parties are broad or narrow, there is a significant effect on the outbreak of civil war. Second, the results show that post-conflict states with party centered electoral systems (closed list PR system) are less likely to have an outbreak of civil war when more seats in the parliament are controlled by broad-based parties. In addition, I conduct a comparative case study analysis of two post-conflict states, Angola (1975-1992) and Mozambique (1975-1994), using the most similar systems (MSS) research design.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the degree of Master of Arts, November 1998. / The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional organisation that emerged from a situation of inter-regional and ethnic discord, into a largely unified body. In effect, the organisation underwent a transformation from confrontation to co-operation. This dissertation charts the historical regional situation, covering the period from ASEAN's formation in 1967 up to 1981. The dissertation further analyses the rationale for the evolution of this collaborative association, providing the basis for the key argument of the hypothesis, which states that threats to regional security and stability during this period served as the primary catalyst for greater co-operation between member states. This thesis therefore opposes the generally held view that economic imperatives were the principal drivers of increased regional co-operation in the South East Asian region. / MT2017

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts / This study is an analysis of the social integration of demobilised soldiers in Mozambique, in the context of post-war social reconstruction. De-constructing the concept of "reintegration" that informed the top-down programmes designed for the social integration of ex-combatants, that dichotomize society into the military sphere and the civilian one, so that the process into which ex-combatants are involved after leaving the Army is one of "returning home", as society remaining the same or in a moving equilibrium, one saw society- marked by social differentiations, even amongst the demobilised ex-combatants. The ideal of "sameness" between "civilians" and ex-combatants involved in the concept of reintegration seems more an utopia. This research used previous studies of my colleagues. In criticizing them, I do not wish to create the impression that these works are of little value. Their analysis stand from very different disciplinary approaches, and with others aims. The major weakness I often saw was the indefinition of the terms they use and the mix of concepts like social integration and reintegration as having the same meaning. Other documentary research was carried out, and as the study included the understanding of meanings, values, individual actions and social interactions, in order to capture the meaningfulness of such life other qualitative methods were employed as the informal interviews, the use of key informants, participation in and observation of events in the setting. Looking society in a dynamic change, social integration is regarded as the process of negotiation of a common social order between actors in interaction (demobilised soldiers, other social groupings, and institutions like the state). It is better approached using the concept of integration. As an interactive process it is marked by a tension between the affirmation of the individuality of actors and the will to the sense of community. In its course different actors mobilise and use different identities according to the situations. avoiding or erasing specificities of previous socializations and identities and highlighting others. This study is an analysis of the social integration of demobilised soldiers in Mozambique, in the context of post-war social reconstruction. De-constructing the concept of "reintegration" that informed the top-down programmes designed for the social integration of ex-combatants, that dichotomize society into the military sphere and the civil one, so that the process into which ex-combatants is one of "returning home", as society remaining the same or in a moving equilibrium, one saw society full of differentiations, even within the groups social defined as "demobilised soldiers". The ideal of "sameness" involved in the concept of reintegration seems more an utopia. Society is full of social differentiation, and the group of demobiIised soldiers also inmarked by differences of gender, age, marital status, previous military affiliation and rank, control of resources and social status in the living/working place, marital status. This study used previous studies of my colleagues. In criticizing them, I do not wish to create the impression that these works are of little value. Their analysis stand from very different disciplinary approaches, and with others aims. The major weakness I often saw was the indefinition of the terms they use and the mix of concepts like social integration and reintegration as having the same meaning. Other documentary research was carried out, and as the study included the understanding of meanings, values, individual actions and social interactions, to capture the meaningfulness of such life other qualitative methods were employed: informal interviews, the use of key informants, participation in and observation of events in the setting. Looking society in a dynamic change, the process of negotiation of a social order between actors in interaction (demobilised soldiers, other social groupings, and institutions like the state) is better approached using the concept of social integration. As an interactive process, in its course different actors mobilise and use different identities, the most convenient for each occasion, in a way that sometimes involves the attempt to erase specificities of previous socializations and identities. / Andrew Chakane 2019