The global rise of China occurs at a time when Africa undergoes an institutional effort to reshape its internal security dynamics. President Museveni of Uganda has utilised this context to centralise his position within an East African regional security environment which remains fluctuating and unstable, and offers an outstanding example of African agency. A continental overview of Africa using Buzan and Wæver’s Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT) shows China impacting on security dynamics by creating a structural context in which African leaders must operate, as well as contributing to low-level security issues. A case study analysis of the East African Community (EAC) uncovers nuances therein, by establishing China’s role in the ongoing security issues related to ‘Terrorism’ and the ‘Oil Sector.’ Detailed interrogation of Uganda and President Museveni’s role within this environment, shows that China’s role in Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) proliferation and global ivory trade; and it being a market for oil, involved in developing the sector, and a key partner in mega-infrastructure construction, has greatly aided Museveni. The EAC is stabilising into a pre-complex, where a set of bilateral security relations potentially seem able to bind into a Regional Security Complex (RSC), and shows clear signs of moving to proto-complex status, where sufficient manifest security interdependence delineates it as a region (although thinly and weakly). Museveni’s role in this becoming of an RSC is crucially important. He has utilised Chinese engagement to a great extent, in order to shape this process in a way beneficial to himself and Uganda. China’s attempted exploitation of East Africa’s various opportunities has ultimately seen it become an unwitting accomplice in aiding President Museveni’s machinations. Museveni has successfully incorporated and deflected Chinese interests so as to maintain his domestic position and regional aspirations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:762307 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Walsh, Barnaby Jessop |
| Contributors | Walsh, Barnaby Jessop |
| Publisher | King's College London (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/exploiter-or-unwitting-accomplice(9c2b98b9-d82f-47da-8535-03a9830470a1).html |
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