L’initiative Belt and Road (BRI) a été lancée en 2013 par le président chinois Xi Jinping. En 2021, 46 pays africains avaient déjà signé des accords avec la Chine pour réaliser des travaux dans le cadre de l’Initiative. À contre-courant, la Tanzanie et la Sierra Leone ont suspendu deux projets signés dans le cadre de la BRI. Dans ce contexte, ce travail cherche à savoir pourquoi les pays africains, après avoir signé des accords de coopération avec la Chine, dans le cadre de la BRI, décident d’interrompre le projet. Pour répondre à cette question, nous ferons deux études de cas : l’interruption du projet de l’aéroport de Mamamah en Sierra Leone et celle du port de Bagamoyo en Tanzanie. L’argument développé dans cette recherche explore l’importance de l’agentivité africaine dans un contexte de coopération Sud-Sud, pour réduire les asymétries dans les négociations. Les cas analysés ont démontré qu’il existe un espace d’expression et d’opportunité pour les acteurs africains. De plus, la dynamique de la politique interne joue un rôle fondamental dans l’attitude des agents vis-à-vis des accords de coopération, ce qui contribue in fine à leur interruption ou à leur maintien. / The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was launched in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping. By 2021, 46 African countries had already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China under the initiative. Against this broad trend, Tanzania and Sierra Leone have suspended two projects signed under the BRI. In this context, this research seeks to explain why some African countries, after signing cooperation agreements with China, within the framework of the BRI, decide to stop the project. To answer this question, we will conduct two case studies: the interruption of the Mamamah airport project in Sierra Leone and that of the Bagamoyo port in Tanzania. The argument developed in this research explores the importance of African agency in a context of South-South cooperation, to reduce asymmetries in negotiations. The cases analyzed have shown that there is a space for expression and opportunity for African actors. In addition, the dynamics of domestic politics play a fundamental role in the attitude of agents vis-à-vis cooperation agreements, which ultimately contributes to their interruption or maintenance.

The underage marriage of girls (UMG) practice by some parents continues to occur in Bo Town, Sierra Leone, and it is a problem. Regardless of the negative consequences, parents continue to marry off their young girls who become wives of rebels and participate in the civil war. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of adult women between 18 and 24 who experienced child marriage, parents who married off their young girls, and community leaders to understand why the UMG persisted in Bo Town. The theoretical frameworks used in this study were the social cognitive theory and self-efficacy behavioral theory. Data were collected through semi structured interviews. Participants in this study consisted of 5 community leaders, 5 adult women between 18 and 24 who experienced UMG before 18 years old, and 5 parents who married off their underage girls in the Bo Town district. Interview transcripts were analyzed, coded, and 16 themes emerged. Some of the themes included poverty, lack of awareness, education, enforcement, monitoring, leadership, child marriage, domestic violence, accountability, responsibility, dowry payment, and female genital mutilation. The findings may influence social change by using practices such as educating, monitoring, enforcing the banning of the UMG policy relentlessly. Furthermore, implementation of mentorship programs, counseling, leadership, and awareness training to young girls and parents could reduce the UMG practice in Bo Town. Consequently, if young girls are educated and allowed access to resources, they could become empowered and productive members of society as a whole, and the UMG problem may diminish in the Bo community.

During most of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth numerous railroads were built throughout America. Some. grew into gigantic systems with names we recognize today; Southern Pacific, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, Chesapeake & Ohio. Others faded into oblivion. But all, successful or not, were built to fill transportation needs. In Tuolumne County, California, located along the Mother. Lode and stretching into the high Sierra Nevada, the first railroad reached the county in 1897. By World War I a number of rail lines had been built. Several, having served their purpose, had already been removed by that time. They played varying roles in the different industries of the county; mining and minerals, lumber, hydroelectric power and agriculture, as well as passenger service. After the war many things changed. Automobiles and trucks successfully competed for some traffic. Mining suffered as labor costs increased while gold held at a price fixed by the government. Dams built by public agencies dwarfed the earlier projects of private industry. And, outside capitalists acquired control of companies that had formerly been locally owned and managed. The transportation picture changed dramatically from what: it had been before the war. The purpose of this paper is to study those early years of the twentieth century in Tuolumne County. What were the needs for railroads in different: industries and enterprises in the county between 1897 and 1917; and what was their importance to those industries? And finally what was the impact of railroads on the economic development of Tuolumne County as a whole? By focusing on an area with a relatively self-contained railroad network it is hoped that influences in the economy will be more apparent. Trends identified here should find application in other areas. It is also hoped that topics for future research will be suggested and that methods and resources for that research will be suggested.

In here, the criminalization of sexual violence is a manifestation of increased recognition of feminism, and proof of international law reaching at liberal criteria for legitimization. Though, in making conclusions other necessary criteria for fully recognized legitimacy are acknowledged (such as other types of rights, types of security and other levels for analysis). Though, from a strict feminist critical approach the criminalization of sexual violence, and the extent of such criminalization can by itself prove legitimacy or illegitimacy.The criminalizing of sexual violence took place over 100 years ago, yet the systematic use of it in warfare was not publicly condemned until the ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda) and the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal of former Yugoslavia) (Buss, 2009, p. 356) took on the duty to prosecute and convict. Still today women’s security and sexual violence are research fields that awake a lot of hostile emotions.Findings show that there is few, if any, affects for those tribunals that fail to bring justice to rape victims; calling for an analysis of Walzer’s political fit. The international praxis of impunity supports feminism in an existing ‘male truth’ risking the security of women. The legitimacy of the institution of international law is, however, not dependent on one legal procedure.Liberalist and feminist different interpretations of adequate necessity to create peace frame after 15 224 words a utilitarian illusion which slows down the pace of the implementation of a feminist security agenda. However, the progress is still evidence of strife towards the Kantian society of states. An inconsistent moral consensus finally results in the conclusion that this thesis cannot confirm the institution of international law illegitimate, arguably validating legitimacy.

Depuis la fin du vingtième siècle, l’attention de la communauté internationale s’est portée sur l’utilisation de l’enfant soldat dans les conflits armés. La prolifération d’armes légères, la pauvreté et la multiplication des conflits armés non internationaux sont autant de facteurs à l’origine du phénomène. De nombreux instruments de protection des droits de l’enfant prévoient l’interdiction du recrutement et de l’utilisation d’enfants soldats dans les hostilités. Malgré les lacunes normatives qui s’en dégagent, notamment à propos de l’âge de recrutement de l’enfant soldat, d’importants efforts ont été fournis par la communauté internationale. Ces efforts vont être complétés grâce à la Cour pénale internationale, en particulier avec l’affaire Thomas Lubanga, première personne à être poursuivie devant la Cour, et sur le seul chef d’accusation de crime de guerre consistant à procéder à l’enrôlement ou la conscription d’enfants de moins de quinze ans, et à utiliser ces derniers en vue de les faire participer activement à des hostilités. Ce premier verdict historique institue une jurisprudence inédite et fondatrice en matière de crimes de guerre pour enrôlement et utilisation d’enfants soldats, dont l’héritage pourra faciliter d’autres poursuites sur le plan national. Si l’enfant soldat apparaît comme une victime, il est aussi acteur aux hostilités. Bien souvent, lorsque l’on parle du phénomène d’enfants soldats, un amalgame est opéré entre deux antonymes : victime et bourreau. Comment le droit international appréhende-t-il la responsabilité pénale de l’enfant soldat ? Assiste-t-on à la généralisation d’un statut ou à un « dénominateur commun » ? / Since the end of the 20th century, the eyes of the international community have been focused on the utilization of child soldier in armed conflicts. The proliferation of small arms and light weapons, of poverty, and especially of non international armed conflicts, are crucial factors underlying the phenomenon. Numerous rights of the child protection instruments plan the ban on recruiting and using children as soldiers in hostilities. Despite the normative gaps that emerge, regarding in particular the hiring age of the child soldier, important efforts have been provided by the whole international community. These efforts are going to be completed by the International Criminal Court, in particular with the Thomas Lubanga case, first person brought before the Court, under the unique charge of war crime, namely enlisting or conscripting children under the age of fifteen years, and using them to participate actively in hostilities. This first historical verdict sets up a novel and founding case law regarding war crimes of enlistment and use of child soldiers, which legacy may make other proceedings easier on a national level. If the child soldier appears as a victim, he is also a player in hostilities. When dealing with the child soldier phenomenon, a confusion is quite often made between two antonyms : victim and executioner. How does the international law treat the criminal liability of the child soldier ? Are we witnessing the generalization of a status or, at least, a common denominator ?

La reconnaissance du droit de participation et du droit à réparation des victimes est l’évolution la plus remarquable des dernières décennies dans le domaine des droits nationaux et dans le cadre de la justice pénale internationale. Les Juridictions Pénales Internationales construisent le statut des victimes. Confrontés à des concepts innovants, les juges doivent créer des précédents et organiser les modalités des droits des victimes. Ils doivent allier la coordination de la représentation légale de milliers de victimes avec les impératifs de la justice. Au vu des premières décisions, la place des victimes est acquise puisque les juges ont accepté leur participation. Cependant, leur interprétation des règles apporte de sérieuses restrictions aux droits des victimes dans la pratique. La participation des victimes n’est pas pleinement effective et leur réparation se révèle exceptionnelle. Ainsi, l’intérêt de l’étude de la jurisprudence réside dans la détermination du statut réel des victimes au sein des procès internationaux et l’importance des droits appliqués. Des évolutions positives sont possibles en faveur de la reconnaissance du statut de parties au procès et de l’effectivité des droits des victimes. / The recognition of the right to participate and the right to reparation to the victimes is the most remarkable evolution of these last decades in the national laws and in the International Criminal Justice. The International Criminal Jurisdictions built the victims’ status. Confronted to innovative concepts, the judges have to create precedents and organise the modalities of the victim’s rights. They have to combine the coordination of the legal representation of thousands of victims with the necessity of justice. In view of the first decisions, the place of the victimes is established since the judges grant them the right to participate. However, their interpretation of the rules brings serious limitations to the rights of the victims in the practice. The victims’ participation is not fully applied and their reparation turns out to be exceptionnal. So, the interest of the jurisprudence study resides in the determination of the real status of the victims in the international trial and the importance of the granted rights. Positive evolutions can be made in favor of the recognition of the status of parties in the trial and the effectiveness of the rigths of the victims.

Thesis (MMil (Military Sciences. School for Security and Africa Studies))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis explores the feasibility of the concept Developmental Peace Missions (DPMs). It seeks to answer the question whether DPMs is an ambitious construct or a feasible ideal and whether DPMs could be effectively applied during peace missions. The study takes the form of a descriptive analysis of the theoretical underpinnings of the concept of DPMs, and includes the analysis of various relevant case studies in terms of the application of the concept of DPMs. The study further explores the evolution that has taken place in terms of United Nations peace missions, in that most modern peace missions include both peacekeeping and peacebuilding initiatives. The study also illustrates the modern approach to peace missions, based on an integrated systems-thinking approach by means of which the activities of all relevant role-players are integrated and fused towards a common end state: that of sustained security and development. In order to analyse the concept of DPMs, the theoretical underpinnings of the concept human security, the security-development nexus and peacebuilding were researched in depth. These concepts were then coupled to the concept of DPMs in terms of their utility during current complex peace missions, both internationally and on the African continent. The concept of DPMs was studied in the context of contemporary peacekeeping in terms of three case studies, namely the peace missions in Kosovo, Sierra Leone and the DRC. The DPMs concept was applied to these case studies and analysed in terms of the extent to which the peace interventions in these countries were conducted in accordance with the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of DPMs. The study concludes that DPMs, in terms of its theoretical basis, is indeed a feasible ideal for peace missions, as it is based on and in line with the approved current UN- and AU-integrated planning processes. However, in terms of its practical utility in Africa, it currently remains an ambitious construct, given the limited capacity and resources of the AU and regional organisations. Therefore, DPMs should not be viewed as a short-term solution to, or panacea for, all intra-state wars. The study proposes that the UN, the AU, as well as relevant regional organisations will have to adjust and make changes in terms of their institutions, structures, funding and the provision of resources in order to operationalise the concept of DPMs successfully. This is especially true as far as the AU is concerned, as the AU currently experiences severe limitations in both material and human resources. However, the fact that both the UN and the AU have adopted the Integrated Mission Planning Process concept as planning tool for their respective missions is an indication that progress is being made towards the achievement of establishing a more holistic and integrated approach to finding sustainable solutions to global conflict. Ultimately, the success of DPMs will be determined by the will and commitment of all the relevant role-players involved in finding a lasting solution to intra-state conflicts. The concept itself cannot provide sustainable peace and development. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dié tesis verken die lewensvatbaarheid van die begrip Ontwikkelingsvredesendings. Daar sal gepoog word om ‘n antwoord te kry op die vraag of Ontwikkelingsvredesendings ‘n ambisieuse konstruk of ‘n haalbare ideal is. Verder sal gepoog word om te bepaal of dit effektief tydens vredesoperasies toegepas kan word. Die studie neem die vorm aan van ‘n beskrywende analise van die teoretiese grondbeginsels van die begrip Ontwikkelingsvredesendings en sluit die analise van verskeie relevante gevallestudies ten opsigte van die begrip in. Die studie ondersoek die evolusie wat plaasgevind het ten opsigte van vredesendings wat deur die Verenigde Nasies (VN) onderneem word, naamlik dat die meeste moderne vredesendings, vredesbewarings, sowel as vredesbou (nasiebou) inisiatiewe insluit. Die studie illustreer ook die moderne benadering wat ten opsigte van vredesendings toegepas word, naamlik dat die aktiwiteite van al die betrokke rolspelers geïntegreer word en op ‘n gedeelde einddoel gefokus word. Die teoretiese grondstelllings van die begrippe veiligheid en ontwikkeling, die veiligheid-ensekuriteit- neksus, sowel as die begrip van vredesbou (nasiebou) is in diepte ondersoek ten einde die begrip Ontwikkelingsvredesendings te analiseer. Hierdie begrippe is daarna in verband gebring met die begrip Ontwikkelingsvredesendings soos wat dit tans tydens moderne komplekse vredesendings toegepas word – beide internasionaal sowel as op die Afrika kontinent. Die begrip Ontwikkelingsvredesendings is bestudeer teen die agtergrond van eietydse vredesbewaring ten opsigte van drie gevallestudies, naamlik die intervensies in Kosovo, Sierra Leone en die Demokratiese Republiek van die Kongo. Hierdie drie gevallestudies is gekies aangesien dit die eerste sendings was waartydens die VN die nuwe geïntegreerde benadering tot vredesendings, soos in die Brahimi-verslag aanbeveel, toegepas is. Die studie het bevind dat Ontwikkelingsvredesendings, wat betref die teoretiese grondstellings inderdaad uitvoerbaar is, aangesien dit gebaseer is op en in ooreenstemming is met die huidige aanvaarde beplanninsprosesse van die VN en die AU. Maar, wat betref die praktiese bruikbaarheid van die begrip in Afrika, bly dit tans ‘n ambisieuse konstruk, gegewe die beperkte vermoë en hulpbronne van die AU en streeksorganisasies. Die begrip Ontwikkelingsvredesendings moet dus nie as ‘n korttermynoplossing vir alle interne oorloë beskou word nie. Die studie het bevind dat die VN, die AU, sowel as die betrokke streeksorganisasies, ingrypende veranderings sal moet ondergaan ten einde die begrip Ontwikkelingsvredesendings suksesvol te kan toepas, veral ten opsigte van strukture, befondsing en die voorsiening van hulpbronne. Dit is veral waar in die geval van die AU, aangesien die AU tans geweldige uitdagings in die gesig staar wat betref menslike sowel as materiële hulpbronne. Ten spyte van laasgenoemde uitdagings dui die aanvaarding van die Geïntegreerde Sendingbeplanningsproses as besluitnemings-meganisme deur beide die VN en die AU op die vordering wat gemaak word ten opsigte van die daarstelling van ‘n meer holistiese en geïntegreerde benadering vir volhoubare oplossings vir konflik. Die sukses van Ontwikkelingsvredesendings sal uiteindelik bepaal word deur die wil en toewyding van alle betrokkenes by die soeke na langdurige vrede – die begrip op sigself kan nie volhoubare vrede en ontwikkeling bewerkstellig nie.

This thesis critiques liberal peacebuilding in Africa, with a particular focus on Sierra Leone. In particular, it examines the interface between the liberal peace and the “local”, the forms of agency that various local actors are expressing in response to the liberal peace and the hybrid forms of peace that are emerging in Sierra Leone. The thesis is built from an emerging critical literature that has argued for the need to shift from merely criticising liberal peacebuilding to examining local and contextual responses to it. Such contextualisation is crucial mainly because it helps us to develop a better understanding of the complex dynamics on the ground. The aim of this thesis is not to provide a new theory but to attempt to use the emerging insights from the critical scholarship through adopting the concept of hybridity in order to gain an understanding of the forms of peace that are emerging in post-conflict zones in Africa. This has not been comprehensively addressed in the context of post-conflict societies in Africa. Yet, much contemporary peace support operations are taking place in these societies that are characterised by multiple sources of legitimacy, authority and sovereignty. The thesis shows that in Sierra Leone local actors – from state elites to chiefs to civil society to ordinary people on the “margins of the state” – are not passive recipients of the liberal peace. It sheds new light on how hybridity can be created “from below” as citizens do not engage in outright resistance, but express various forms of agency including partial acceptance and internalisation of some elements of the liberal peace that they find useful to them; and use them to make demands for reforms against state elites who they do not trust and often criticise for their pre-occupation with political survival and consolidation of power. Further, it notes that in Sierra Leone a “post-liberal peace” that is locally-oriented might emerge on the “margins of the state” where culture, custom and tradition are predominant, and where neo-traditional civil society organisations act as vehicles for both the liberal peace and customary peacebuilding while allowing locals to lead the peacebuilding process. In Sierra Leone, there are also peace processes that are based on custom that are operating in parallel to the liberal peace, particularly in remote parts of the country.

This project engages with the Kogi, an Amerindian indigenous people from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range in northern Colombia. Kogi leaders have been engaging in a consistent ecological-political activism to protect the Sierra Nevada from environmentally harmful developments. More specifically, they have attempted to raise awareness and understanding among the wider public about why and how these activities are destructive according to their knowledge and relation to the world. The foreign nature of these underlying ontological understandings, statements, and practices, has created difficulties in conveying them to mainstream, scientific society. Furthermore, the pre-determined cosmological foundations of Kogi society, continuously asserted by them, present a problem to anthropology in terms of suitable analytical categories. My work aims to clarify and understand Kogi environmental activism in their own terms, aided by anthropological concepts and “Western” forms of expression. I elucidate and explain how Kogi ecology and public politics are embedded in an old, integrated, and complex way of being, knowing, and perceiving on the Sierra Nevada. I argue that theoretically this task involves taking a realist approach that recognises the Kogi’s cause as intended truth claims of practical environmental relevance. By avoiding constructivist and interpretivist approaches, as well as the recent “ontological pluralism” in anthropology, I seek to do justice to the Kogi’s own essentialist and universalist ontological principles, which also implies following their epistemological rationale. For this purpose, I immersed myself for two years in Kogi life on the Sierra, and focused on structured learning sessions with three Mamas, Kogi spiritual leaders and knowledge specialists. I reflect on how this interaction was possible because my project was compatible with the Mamas’ own desire to clarify and contextualise the Kogi ecological cause. After presenting this experience, I analyse the material as a multifaceted, interrelated, and elaborate system to reflect the organic, structured composition of Kogi and Sierra, also consciously conveyed as such by the Mamas. I hereby intend to show how the Kogi reproduce, live, and sustain this system through daily practices and institutions, and according to cosmological principles that guide a knowledgeable, ecological relationality with things, called ‘the Law of Origin’. To describe this system, I develop a correspondingly holistic and necessary integration of the anthropological concepts of cosmology, ontology, epistemology, and ecology. Based on this, I argue that Kogi eco-politics are equally embedded in this system, and constitute a contemporary attempt to maintain their regulatory relations with the Sierra Nevada and complement their everyday care-taking practices and rituals. In Kogi terms, this continuity and coherence is a moral imperative and environmental necessity. Thus framing and clarifying Kogi eco-politics may enrich insights into the nature of indigenous ecological knowledge, and may help address environmental problems.

Le livre 1 décrit le socle pré-jurassique, la couverture, la structure "alpine" de la région étudiée résultant de la superposition de diverses phases tectoniques, l'évolution paléo-géographique et structurale au cours du cycle mexicain. Le livre 2 est consacré à la stratigraphie et structure d'ensemble de la Sierra Madre, tente un essai sur l'évolution du nord du Mexique durant le mésozoïque et le cénozoïque, et met en évidence une ouverture tethysienne jurassique dans la partie sud-est du continent nord-americain.