This study aims to assess how Russia's relations with South Africa have changed since the end of the Cold War. The study draws on social constructivism as a theoretical framework to show that the ideals and beliefs of the Russian Federation as a great power have not disappeared with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The West seeks to set the terms of Russia's engagement in international relations, but Russia is certain about its belief in taking its rightful place in global affairs. The study argues that Africa provides a source of economic expansion for Russia. Moreover, South Africa, as a significant economic and political actor in the continent that subscribes to similar ideals, can help Russia to reassert its status as a major world power. The study traces voting patterns of Russia and South Africa within the UN Security Council, and discusses opportunities in the BRICS forum (spanning four continents) for bilateral economic engagement. Collaboration with South Africa in the Security Council and in BRICS, it is argued, helps Russia to assume a more global role, and also ascribes a level of international prestige to both Moscow and Pretoria. The dissertation concludes that economic and geopolitical necessity is the main reason for changing relations between Russia and South Africa since the Soviet era.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-98).

Word processed copy. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-76).

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-127). / In the wake of AI Qaeda's attack against the United States on September 11, 2001, Africa has gained strategic significance due to the belief that its weak states are a danger to American national security. US Africa policy is now centered on the logic that weak African governments unable to provide for the basic needs of their people and lacking full control of their borders provide both a breeding ground and safe-haven for terrorist organizations. Africa has thus gone from being a marginalized humanitarian concern in the 1990s, to a continent of strategic significance in the US War on Terror (USW01) in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center, as seen in the fact that American aid to the continent has more than tripled in the years following 9/11. The purpose of this thesis is to critically analyze the political process behind this shift in policy in order to address the question of who was responsible for this change in US Africa policy and how did they make the change happen. This study takes the form of a theoretical case study, using the Copenhagen School's Securitization Theory, designed to identify the means by which an issue is placed on the national security agenda, to address this change in post-9/11 US Africa policy. In accordance with this theoretical framework, primary sources from government and non-government agencies including policy statements, speeches and legislative testimonies are surveyed to identify instances of the claim being articulated that Africa represents a threat to American national security and its legitimation and reiteration by an audience. This study finds that the unified executive branch under the Bush administration and Washington think tanks made the unified claim that the condition of Africa is a threat to US national security and the legislative branch served as the singular audience, legitimating this claim and appropriating dramatically increased and enhanced aid to the continent. The factors of political agency and context are offered as additions to the Securitization Theory framework in this study, and their incorporation in this case determines that the high-level of the agency of the securitizing actors and audience facilitated the legitimation process, as did the use of the contextual factors of the trauma of9/11 and the American identity as promoters of democratic ideals. These additional factors underscore both the political power of the actors involved and the techniques they use to support their claims, thereby developing the political quality of the theory and providing a more complete representation of the securitization process.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-100).

Against the backdrop of South Africa's political transition from Apartheid to a democratic system of governance during the early 1990s, the South African military underwent a distinct transformation of its own. During the military's transition seven disparate forces that had previously been vying for power were integrated under one umbrella organization and re-branded as the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). Scholars and analysts generally consider this process to have been successful; it was a seminal achievement by both the negotiating parties and the Government of National Unity. Looking at the transformation process during two distinct periods, 1990 through the national elections of 1994, referred to as 'the planning phase,' and postelections through 1996, referred to as 'the implementation phase,' this study seeks a more robust and nuanced accounting of the factors that contributed to this outcome. Building upon an evaluation of the existing literature, this study also analyzes the impact that the strategies employed by the negotiating parties had upon outcomes. It offers the novel approach of analyzing the military's integration through the lens of negotiation theory rather than more conventional theoretical lenses. In doing so, this study aims not only to contribute to a common understanding of the means by which the SANDF was created and shaped, but also to broaden the scope and depth of military integration theory itself.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-84).

Includes bibliographical references.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-91).

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references. / This dissertation argues that the IFIs’ understanding of corruption, and thus their anticorruption and good governance policies and prescriptions, is based on the conceptualisation of corruption as a state centric phenomenon. As such, they are not concerned with corruption as a systematic problem. The IFIs’ definitions and views, although legitimate, prudent, and legal, are actually the road to ineffectiveness. But broader and more effective policies would require the IFIs to delve into domestic politics. Such political involvement would entail a great deal of risk on their part, and would be beyond their mandate and their appetite. In order to demonstrate this, this dissertation presents an overview of political corruption and the important role of the party in both the causes and consequences of systematic political corruption. The focus is on the relationship between the political party and the various systems of governance. The case of the ANC in South Africa is used to analyse whether an understanding of political corruption is necessary.