Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: After being sidelined for a number of years, South Africa finds itself readmitted to the international community. One of the many issues at stake now is the reform of the United Nations Security Council. This study looks at South Africa's aim to make substantial changes in the international system, with the Security Council being one of the target institutions. This is a mammoth task for South Africa and the study points out the challenges that go with engaging in this process. The study points out an element of ambiguity in South Africa's foreign policy and the challenges that go with making multilateralism a cornerstone of such a policy. While it is not yet clear as to whether South Africa will succeed in changing the behaviour of states and the practice of multilateral institutions, it is at the moment participating in debates that might lead to such changes. South Africa's participation in the Open Ended Working Committee on the reform of the United Nations Security Council constitutes one move among others to ensure a change in the practice of the Security Council. The limits of making multilateralism a cornerstone of foreign policy are outlined with the aim of making policy-makers aware of the implications of the broad scope of their ambiguous foreign policy. While it is necessary to avoid engaging in assignments that might be difficult to manage, the need for South Africa to focus only on what is achievable and not to try and punch above its weight is one aspect this paper emphasises. The paper ends by making recommendations, which include (among others) that South Africa should attempt to secure a seat in the reformed Security Council should such an opportunity arise, but only after a careful consideration of her abilities. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Na jare van politieke isolasie is Suid-Afrika weer 'n volwaardige lid van die internasionale gemeenskap. Die hervorming van die Verenigde Nasies (VN) se Veiligheidsraad, het binne die konteks van buitelandse beleid, een van die land se vernaamste uitdagings geword. Hierdie studie plaas Suid-Afrika se hervormingspogings van die internasionale stelselonder die soeklig, en fokus veralop die rol van die VN Veiligheidsraad. Die omvang van dié proses kan nie onderskat word nie, en die studie poog om die vernaamste uitdagings van hierdie hervormings te identifiseer. Die opdrag poog om te wys op 'n mate van teenstrydigheid wat in Suid- Afrika se buitelandse beleid te bespeur is, asook die uitdagings verbonde aan die vestiging van multilaterale betrekkinge as hoeksteen van sodanige beleid. Hoewel daar nog nie duidelikheid bestaan oor die mate van sukses wat die land behaal het met betrekking tot die gedrag van state en die praktyk van multilaterale betrekkinge nie, neem dit tans deel aan debate wat mag lei tot beleidsverandering in hierdie velde. Suid-Afrika se deelname aan die VN Veiligheidraad se Ope Werkskonunittees, rakende die hervorming van hierdie liggaam, is een voorbeeld van die land se verbintenis tot die verandering van Veiligheidsraad praktyke. Die beperkings rakende mulilaterale betrekkinge, 'n steunpilaar van internasionale beleid, word uitgelig ten einde beleidsmakers bewus te maak van die omvattende aard van 'n dikwels, onduidelike, buitelandse beleid. Die opdrag benadruk die feit dat Suid-Afrika sal moet poog om slegs betrokke te raak in internasionale aksies wat binne sy vermoëns val. Dit word afgesluit met 'n aantal aanbevelings. Een hiervan is 'n pleidooi dat Suid-Afrika permanente lidmaatskap van die 'n hervormde Veiligheidsraad verkry indien die geleentheid dit voordoen. Sodanige deelname kan egter eers geskied na deeglike oorweging van die land se vermoës binne hierdie sfeer.

This thesis explores the conditions under which the EU is an effective actor at the United Nations in the policy area of human security. Since the late 1990s, the United Nations has been increasingly active in addressing challenges posed by human security concerns. The concept of human security was introduced to emphasize the post-Cold War shift from a state-centred approach to security to an approach focused on the security of individuals. The EU is considered by some as a driving force in the UN policy process and has presented itself as a leader in the promotion of concrete initiatives to address human security challenges. This thesis seeks to examine whether the EU is truly an effective actor at the UN in human security negotiations and aims to identify conditions which influence the EU’s effectiveness. This thesis suggests that the analysis of conditions affecting the EU’s effectiveness at the UN requires the understanding of the ways in which a complex web of actors and institutions interact at three different levels: international, European Union and domestic. Using a multilevel game approach, this thesis examines the willingness of EU actors to work collectively at the UN (internal effectiveness) and the achievements of the EU’s objectives (external effectiveness). This thesis analyzes three cases of human security negotiations: 1) the ban on anti-personnel landmines, 2) the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons (SALW) and 3) the involvement of children in armed conflicts. Factors which have affected the EU’s internal and external effectiveness are identified in each of the case studies. The thesis uses qualitative methods such as expert interviews, documentary analysis and nonparticipant observation. This thesis demonstrates that, at the international level, the commitment of the EU to multilateralism can have an effect on the EU’s effectiveness in human security negotiations. The position of other key UN actors (such as the United States and the G-77) regarding a potential agreement also appears to directly influence EU Member States in achieving their objectives. The thesis argues that the use of consensus in the negotiations process can have a significant impact on the EU’s effectiveness. At the EU level, the analysis reveals that several key EU Member States channelled their efforts to convince their EU partners to act on all three issues. This thesis shows how the role of the EU presidency in coordinating the position of EU Member States can also affect the EU effectiveness in human security negotiations. The support of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, three dominant players in the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, seems also particularly influential in negotiations. Finally, the case studies suggest that domestic politics can directly shape the EU’s effectiveness. Internal negotiations in EU Member States and the involvement of NGOs at the domestic level are two other factors which influence the EU’s effectiveness.

The United Nations (UN), and its respective agencies, have developed global initiatives with the overall aim of bringing attention to the importance of educating about, through and for human rights in various professional sectors. However, UN member states have varied in their commitments to develop, implement, and report on national policies and initiatives that endorse the promotion of human rights education (HRE), explicitly in the areas of primary, secondary and higher education institutes (HEIs). At present, there is limited literature concerning HRE and its diffusion throughout HEIs. This qualitative enquiry was undertaken to gain a deeper understanding of the dissemination of HRE within HEIs. Furthermore, the research sought to provide a representation of experiences and perspectives shared by human rights scholars and practitioners regarding the placement of HRE in academia. The data from this study was gathered through individual, semi-structured interviews with ten participants from seven different countries. The findings provide affirmation of the ongoing commitment that is required by not only member states, but a diversity of actors at the local, national and global levels. It is hoped that the recommendations will provide incentive for further research, including informed action plans that will advance HRE at the tertiary levels. There is still a significant amount of work that needs to be done to make HRE commonplace within universities. Consideration ought to be given to HRE and its capacity to complement academic fields that extend beyond its assumed presence in traditional disciplines. / February 2017

The purpose of this study is to point out how, if in any way, the United Nations mission for observing a cease-fire between the indigenous Palestine Arab population and the growing number of Zionist immigrants in Palestine affected the conflict, or, more specifically, how the powers or limitations of this observation structure either favorably or adversely affected its performance.

The purpose of this investigation is to look at the international organization from the point of view of a small, non-military nation to discover if and how it may be useful to such a nation in carrying out its foreign policy objectives in a bi-polar, nuclear world.

The North-South divide is one of the central political characteristics of the UN climate change negotiations. But while the Group of 77 coalition has been the main negotiating group for the South, developing countries have often faced challenges to their unity, magnified by the recent establishment of smaller negotiating groups. How has 'the South' hung together? This thesis investigates how developing countries have formed negotiating groups over the two decades of the UN climate negotiating process. It explains the origins of the different negotiating groups that have formed over this time, as well as the timing of their emergence and the scope of their membership. In particular, while scholarly attention has focused on the G77, Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and most recently the Brazil-South Africa- India-China (BASIC) coalition, this thesis corrects the relative neglect in understanding the many other negotiating groups that have formed. While conventional explanations highlights the shared material interests that underpin group formation, this thesis advances a constructivist argument that emphasises instead the importance of collective identities in shaping norms of 'appropriate association' – the social bases of whose one's friends and allies are. It highlights the regional basis for many of these negotiating groups that cut across shared material circumstances, and draws upon historical institutionalist insights on critical junctures and path dependence to place this larger pattern of Southern coalition formation in the appropriate historical and institutional context of the UN system. It demonstrates the continuing persistence of countries identifying as the 'South', where despite changing material circumstances and disagreements among developing countries, the salience of the G77 as the constitutive institution of this identity remains. Above all, in investigating the processes of coalition formation among developing countries in the climate context, this thesis deepens scholarly understanding about the contemporary meaning of the 'South'.

ABSTRACT South-South cooperation has become one of the most powerful tools at the disposal of developing countries for integration into the global economy. South-South relations that gained momentum in the aftermath of the Cold War have demonstrated a radical departure from the now archaic modes of engagement characteristic of the Cold War era. A handful of developing countries have emerged as de facto leaders of the South. These are countries that have taken significant rhetorical as well as practical steps towards strengthening South-South cooperation, as a means to counter the global domination of the affluent states of the North. This research report investigates the Post-Cold war adaptation of South-South cooperation exemplified by China and South Africa, and how they cooperate in international fora, with focus on the United Nations and World Trade Organisation. These are two countries that are strong advocates of South-South solidarity, and are regarded as leading powers of the developing world. Although with varying political and economic formations, the two countries have much in common. The most salient commonality is their evolving foreign policies. It is their evolving foreign policies that have enabled China and South Africa to take particular positions in international forums. There is significant commitment to the South agenda and this is demonstrated in UN and WTO engagements. However, there is ample room for improvement. Though committed to South-South cooperation, China and South Africa are still more committed to national interests. For South-South cooperation to move beyond rhetoric and periodic instances of cooperation there is an urgent need to redefine South-South cooperation. A new definition should involve a significant shift from the current abstract characterisation, to one that focuses on specific issues whose progress can be monitored and measured.

Thesis advisor: Jennifer Erickson / What explains why international and regional organizations in some cases choose to cooperate during peacekeeping operations, while in other cases find themselves competing for resources and control? This thesis seeks to explain variation in coordination, competition, and cooperation between international and regional organizations in the area of peacekeeping. In the post-Cold War era, a number of factors—including the proliferation of increasingly capable organizational actors, expansion of mandated tasks, and increasing complexity of conflict—have led to the development of an international peacekeeping “regime complex.” This complex is characterized by multiple international institutions that exhibit overlapping membership, are actively involved in matters of peace and security, and are connected by normative and operative interaction, both official and ad hoc. In some cases, this complex functions smoothly, while in others, it does not. By examining materialist, dependency, and identity factors at work in the peacekeeping regime complex, this thesis explores institutional interaction and the drivers of both rivalry and collaboration in the context of four cases: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Mali, and Somalia. I hypothesize that organizations will cooperate when they hold complementary understandings of their roles within the peacekeeping regime complex, but will compete when these identities clash and overlap. Understanding these dynamics will not only lead to recommendations for more effective and efficient peacekeeping operations, but also contribute more generally to the growing theoretical field of regime complexity in international relations. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Scholar of the College. / Discipline: International Studies.

This paper discusses non-military options for confronting international terrorism. It investigates the non-military discourse contained in United Nations and United States policy documents. It then compares the principles in the discourse to the reality of the counter-terrorism policies of the last five years. Finally it looks at what alternative options are being presented in the academic and think-tank literature, to current counterterrorism practices.

MA, International Relations, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011 / The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a vast country in the Great Lakes region of Africa torn apart by repeated armed conflicts. As from September 1998, the conflict in the country attracted attention of the international community with the number of deaths estimated at around 3.3 million people. The 1998 armed conflict was the most complex in Africa, due to an intricate cluster of international and external factors, with up to nine states militarily involved inside the Congolese territory. These are grouped into two opposing sides, composed on the one side by the Kinshasa government with its Angolan, Namibian and Zimbabwean allies and on the other side a divided set of rebel groups composed of the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie (RCD) and the Mouvement pour la Libération du Congo (MLC) with their allies from Rwanda and Uganda. The United Nations (UN) Security Council is engaged in supporting international peace and security according to Chapters VI, VII and VIII of the UN Charter. The UN Organisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) is a special mission sanctioned by the UN as an effort to solving the political problems in the DRC in line with the adoption of resolutions 1355 (2001), 1376 (2001), 1417 (2002), 1445 (2002), 1493 (2003), 1565 (2004) and 1625 (2005) by the UN Security Council. It was established that MONUC confronted challenges of peace implementation, especially in the Eastern DRC. The aim of this research is to examine the role of MONUC with regard to the promotion of democracy and human rights in the DRC. Thus, from November 1999, MONUC started to operate in the Congolese peace process for the restoration of democracy, as well as the promotion of human rights in the country. This research report will demonstrate that MONUC contributed with strong political support towards the organisation of the 2006 national democratic elections. Meanwhile, the war was ended throughout the country, but human rights abuses continued to be committed in some Eastern areas up to date.