This research study emanates from the inclusion of environmental risks on the global security agenda. Although dating back to the Rio Summit on Environment and Development (UNEP, 1992), this trend gained momentum following the publication of the Fourth Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in February 2007 (IPCC, 2007a). The report warned that the global climate system is changing mainly because of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, exposing, amongst others, Africa as a continent most vulnerable to the impact of climate variability and change. Subsequent to the report, the security implications of climate change were discussed by the United Nations Security Council in April 2007 (UN, 2007a). With these developments as a point of departure, the aim of this exploratory study is to investigate the securitisation of environmental risks, particularly the impact of climate change, in South Africa, with specific reference to official perceptions of (and where applicable, policy responses to) environmental security between 2007 and 2012. As a literature and documentary case study on South Africa, the research utilises a conceptual framework that broadens and deepens the concept of security to include the environment as a non-traditional (non-military) aspect. In this context, environmental risks are discussed as a challenge to security, considering their contemporary relevance. Environmental security is discussed as an emerging security issue in the context of its global and regional scope; its linkage to and impact on food, water and energy security; and its influence on the political, economic, and social sectors of security. Further, the study indicates that Southern Africa in general, and South Africa in particular, are highly vulnerable to the impact of environmental risks such as climate change; and that such risks indeed exacerbate existing security risks and threats. Against this backdrop, the South African government’s securitisation (or lack of securitisation) of the environment is described and explored with reference to official views on environmental security. The analysis indicates that the Government securitises environmental risks such as climate change to a limited degree only (in terms of securitising speech and act); and the issue thus does not fall within the ambit of security, but rather that of sustainable development. The Government base their unsecuritised stance on the impact of environmental risks, on the country’s basic natural resources (such as food, water and energy) being overwhelmed by existing growth pressures; and that the Administration’s current priority is inter alia social development issues, such as employment and poverty eradication. The study concludes with a summary of key findings in response to the stated research problem, and with recommendations concerning the South African government’s response to environmental security. / Dissertation (MSS)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Political Sciences / Unrestricted

The aim of this study is to analyse whether or not information has been securitised in South Africa. The degree of possible securitisation is assessed to determine the consequences of this securitised situation for the information-security nexus in South Africa. This premise is based primarily on the introduction of the Protection of State Information Bill, 2010 (hereinafter the Bill) which forms the case study. The Bill is posited by the state as a contribution to the country's information society and an enhancement of security-law to allow the State to combat threats in the Information Age. However, the Bill has received fierce criticism as a detractor to the democratic project of South Africa. The analysis of the paper is grounded in the framework of Securitisation Theory, derived from Critical Security Studies within the field of Security Studies. This theory explores the consideration of an issue or entity, as a security subject, ultimately removing the issue or entity from the public-political discourse. Accordingly, the study concludes that a partial securitisation of information has occurred in South Africa, but with justifiable defence and necessary cause. In spite of the often pejorative perspective of a securitised environment, this outcome is not necessarily detrimental to the democratic project. Not only does the proposed security law enhance the security of the country to facilitate the pursuit of national interests, it allows the state to compete more effectively and aggressively with its counterparts in the international milieu in the Information Age. / Mini Dissertation (M Security Studies)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Political Sciences / M Security Studies / Unrestricted

The paper studies the theoretical and practical application of public relations to the geopolitical nature of international energy projects in order to expand our understanding of the energy sector's domination of the current political and social environments. More specifically, the paper analyses how energy companies that exhibit close links to the state are able to create and cultivate beliefs in the legitimacy of their exploitation of society's resources in pursuit of their country's national political interests. The focus of the paper is a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the competition for legitimacy between Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH and Gazprom's South Stream Pipeline. The paper analyzes the discursive competition between the two pipelines over existence in, and legitimate domination of, the European discursive space. It then compares constructed narratives to quantitative factors that shape the European energy market and technical and financial specifications of each pipeline on the basis of its ability to adequately meet European energy demands and enhance European energy security. The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate how Nabucco and South Stream have been able to overcome discursively their technical and financial shortcomings to become perceived as geopolitical tools in a...

This thesis applies securitisation theory to the Israeli-Palestinian case with a particular focus on the potential for desecuritisation processes arising from Israeli-Palestinian cooperation/coexistence efforts in peace education and water management. It aims to apply securitisation theory in general and the under-employed concept of desecuritisation in particular, to explore the limits and prospects as a theoretical framework. Concepts, arguments and assumptions associated with the securitisation theory of the Copenhagen School are considered. In this regard, the thesis makes a contribution to Security Studies through its application of securitisation theory and sheds light on a complex conflict situation. Based on an analytical framework that integrates the concept of desecuritisation with the concepts of peace-building and peace-making, the thesis pays attention to desecuritisation moves involving Israeli and Palestinian civil societies through peace education and water management. The thesis contributes to debates over the problems and prospects of reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians, so making a significant empirical and theoretical contribution in the development of the concept of desecuritisation as a framework for analysing conflict resolution. The thesis develops an analytical framework that combines political level peace-making with civil society actors' peace-building efforts. These are seen as potential processes of desecuritisation; indeed, for desecuritisation to occur. The thesis argues that a combination of moves at both the political and societal levels is required. By contrast to securitisation processes which are mainly initiated by political andlor military elites with the moral consent of society (or 'audience' in Copenhagen School terms), processes of desecuritisation, especially in cases of protracted conflicts, go beyond the level of elites to involve society in cultural and structural peace-building programmes. Israeli-Palestinian peace education and water management cases are employed to illustrate this argument.

In 2015, Europe experienced the arrival of an unprecedented number of migrants and refugees. This sparked a crisis, as the European states struggled to cope with the influx. Moreover, tensions in the European Union arose due to the disproportionate burden faced by some states, therefore arguably leading to some countries securitising the issue. This thesis seeks to investigate how and to what degrees socio-political conditions and political leadership roles impacted the securitisation of the 2015 refugee crisis in Hungary and Sweden. The assessment of these questions was approached by this paper through the employment of a comparative study analysis and a qualitative content analysis of speeches held by the Hungarian and Swedish prime ministers. Additionally, this paper utilises a theoretical framework, based upon Finnemore and Sikkink’s social constructivism and the Copenhagen School’s securitisation theory. This paper argues that socio-political conditions and leadership roles, embodied by the prime ministers of Hungary and Sweden, significantly impacted the securitisation processes of the 2015 refugee crisis. Furthermore, political leadership roles are interconnected to socio-political conditions via the securitisation of political issues in the following way: socio-cultural aspects, paired with political interests, inform the political leaders that shape how and through which articulation securitisation occurs.

The Russian-Ukrainian relationship is inherently complex. Since the end of the Cold War, there have been several defining moments in this relationship, which have contributed to how Russia perceives any potential challenges to its security. Securitising discourse from Russian political leadership, namely the President, offers an insight into what aspects of this relationship are escalated so extensively that extreme courses of action may be deemed necessary (i.e., a full-scale invasion of Ukraine). Drawing on Buzan et al. (1998), this project identifies the key sectors that Russia politicises, and those that it securitises vis-à-vis Ukraine. In addition, this study highlights the key sub-themes within politicisation and securitisation that were found within these sectors. This is all within a timeframe where relations have moved from comparatively stable to a time of war (February 2019 – February 2023). There is some degree of overlap between the themes politicised and securitised, especially across the military, political, societal, and economic sectors of security. There were no cases of securitisation within the environmental sector. Overall, this study found a significant shift in Russia’s securitisation framing of Ukraine from mid-2021 onwards.

In February 1914, Sweden faced a time of constitutional crisis, dubbed the Courtyard Crisis, when King Gustaf V publicly distanced himself from Prime Minister Karl Staaff and the Liberal Government over differences of opinion regarding the Swedish defence. Behind this, however, was also a dispute between two different political systems. On the one hand, there was the current form of government based on monarchical rule, and on the other hand, the advancing form of government, a government based on parliamentarism. This thesis is concerned with explaining the tension that arises between, on the one hand, different forms of government, and, on the other hand, aspects of decision making in the process of securitisation. To do this, the thesis uses Buzan, Wæver, and de Wilde’s securitisation sectors, though limited to the military, political, and societal sectors, as entry points for the analysis and uses political discourse analysis to analyse the language used by the Left and the Right during parliamentary debates held between 6 and 18 February 1914. The thesis concludes that, though the results were not conclusive, the Courtyard Crisis can be used as an example to explain the tension between different forms of government by showing the difference in ideas between the two powers of state in Sweden and how these affect the decision making in the process of securitisation.