OpenUCT :: Browsing by Author "Lamb, Guy"

Browsing by Author "Lamb, Guy"

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Open Access
A critical assessment of the link between climate change and violent conflict in the context of sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Darfur
(2019) Roettinger, Julia; Lamb, Guy
Up until the beginning of this century climate change was mostly seen as an environmental issue, although, the issue of violent conflict has been linked to natural resources before. However, in the last decade the focus has increasingly shifted to connecting climate change with, in particular, human security. In contrast to previous debates, contemporary discussions put emphasis on the impacts that climate change has on human lives. Yet, it is not uncontroversial to what extent environmental degradation as well as carbon dioxide emission based economies play and have played an accelerating role. But even if 'climate change sceptics’ or 'climate change deniers’ question the credibility of climate change the reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) present a solid base for the international climate debate which is accepted and supported by the majority of academic experts. Nonetheless, there is significant ambiguity about what the negative consequences of climate change could pose on peaceful human co-existence. In 2007, specifically, it was brought to public attention that the effects of a warming climate, such as more intense storms, floods and droughts have severe impacts on the human-wellbeing, especially in more vulnerable areas of the globe. Experts even claimed that, in many parts of the world, climate change would cause dramatic impacts in the form of violent conflicts due to the decrease of drinking water, fertile soil as well as food. Entire states might be weakened and societies could collapse which might lead to severe consequences for conflict resolution institutions and mechanisms, human security as well as migration. However, findings regarding the impacts of climate change on violent conflict are highly controversial and sometimes even contradictory. One reason for that could be that the physical effects of climate change are limited to date. Furthermore, as studies from the 1990s on the consequences of environmental change have shown, it is difficult to disconnect the environmental factor from other societal and political influences that lead to conflict. This thesis explores the politically charged issue as well as academically controversial link between climate change, as one of the environmental changes, and violent conflict by providing a conceptual assessment of the two different bodies of literature, namely the literature on violent conflict and the climate change literature, before examining available literature on the connection of the two phenomena. Finally, the case study of Darfur is analysed with regards to the often misused term climate war in order to conclude that violent conflicts are caused by multiple factors which should not be oversimplified and therefore cannot be traced back to purely environmental reasons. Therefore, the central research questions addressed in this thesis are: what do scholars say about the connection between climate change and violent conflict? Can climate change and its repercussions be seen as a threat multiplier in unstable and therefore vulnerable societies? And can the Darfur conflict be described as one of the first climate wars?
Open Access
An analysis of local perceptions of the role of drought in exacerbating contemporary pastoral conflict in northern Kenya: a case study of Marsabit County
(2018) Mohamed, Bishar; Lamb, Guy; New, Mark
Pastoralists’ communities in Kenya have been co-existed since their migration and settlement in the region. However, frequent conflicts have been experienced among these communities due to scarcity of natural resources and drought. Pastoralists in Kenya are concern with raising their livestock, moving the herds in search of scarce resources such as water and pasture. The root cause of pastoralist conflict in Kenya is scarcity of natural resources and drought. This has often been suggested to trigger conflict flare-ups and that there was a recent flare up in the year 2016. Many descriptions of the conflict suggest that drought is an underlying driver, however other factors have also been suggested, i.e., politics, availability of arms, cultural values, population, governance, and lack of income (Adano et al., 201. Hence this research project explores the local perceptions of the main drivers of conflict. While studies have been conducted on the effects of droughts on pastoral communities and their coping strategies in the County, little is known of the perceptions of the locals on the role of drought in exacerbating inter-ethnic violence among three main pastoral communities in the region i.e. Borana, Gabra and Rendille. The main objective of this study was to establish the local perceptions of drought in exacerbating contemporary pastoral conflict in Marsabit County. Though there have been several studies on vulnerability to drought conducted in the area, all of them tend to neglect the conflict between the three main clans in Marsabit County. Moreover, the pastoralist communities in the region have experienced conflict flare-ups for many years despite availability of institutions that ought to have solved it. Therefore, the study specifically aims to analyze the different causes of conflict in Northern Kenya with an eye to determine the perceptions of Borana, Burji and Rendille clans and government and non-governmental on role of drought in increasing conflict in the Marsabit County. The study also examines different interventions used by government and non-governmental organizations in dealing with conflict in the area. The population of the study comprised 100 randomly selected community members from nine villages in Marsabit County and 15 government and non-governmental employees in Marsabit County. The study draws on data gathered through a questionnaire designed to meet the objectives of the study. The quantitative data was coded, processed and summarized into frequencies, percentages and graphs. The qualitative information from the interview is narrated as a report. In the questionnaire presented to participants, the extent to which each factor contributes to the conflict in the region is given in numerical categories i.e. (4-5) meaning agreed to a very high extent, (3) moderate extent or unsure and (1-2) agree to a very low extent or not at all. The study found that both locals and NGOs in the region perceive scarcity of resources which leads to drought as the main factor that influences the conflict in the region as compared to other factors i.e. cultural values, politics, population increase and cultural values. According to respondents, the drought caused a deficiency in natural resources i.e. water and pasture, which contributed to the conflict to a great extent. The study also found that locals in Marsabit County perceived different factors such as poverty, politics and cultural resources as influencing interethnic conflict in the region. The study recommends the following-: - There is need for the government and other non-governmental organizations to come up with more strategic ideas for climate change adaptation, ideas that could go hand in hand with the changing environment. - There is also a need to broaden and spread the livelihood and entrepreneurship projects to all the sub-counties where the climate change impact is harsh. - The county government needs to increase its budget allocation for pastoralist communities. This will promote sustainable development and create more jobs for the youths in the county. - County government, politicians and community elders should come up with a clear approach to tackle conflict in the region and prosecute the perpetrators of inter-ethnic conflict in the region.
Open Access
Civil supremacy of the military in Namibia : an evolutionary perspective
(1998) Lamb, Guy; Seegers, Annette
The aim of this dissertation is to analyse the phenomenon of civil supremacy, and in particular how it evolves and is sustained over time. A theoretical case study of Namibia will be undertaken to achieve this objective, with three traditions of civil supremacy, namely colonial, revolutionary/insurgent and democratic (as well as the relevant mechanisms and techniques), being the focus. This dissertation seeks to determine how these traditions emerge and develop over time. Basically, civil supremacy rests on a set of ideas, institutions and behaviours. Together these practices limit the possibility of excessive military intervention in political affairs and provide a system that endows civilian officials with the authority and the machinery to exercise supremacy in military affairs.
Open Access
Contemporary U.S. Counter-terrorism Strategy toward Somalia
(2018) Wood, Molly; Lamb, Guy
The United States is involved in strategies of counter-terrorism in many countries around the globe. Al-Shabaab in Somalia has been a United States designated foreign terrorist organisation since 2008. The objective of this dissertation is to determine the nature of contemporary counterterrorism strategy undertaken by the United States toward Somalia and to understand how it has been determined and sustained over time. In order to identify the specific type of counter-terrorism strategy applied to that country, a typology of four counter-terrorism strategies undertaken by the United States toward other countries has been developed. The secondary but closely related question this dissertation attempts to answer is which determinants, or factors, have caused a shift or change in the United States counter-terrorism strategy in Somalia. By identifying determinants that affect strategy, the justification for a change, shift, or stayed course in strategy is made clearer. The typology and key determinants were initially assessed beyond Somalia to include insights from United States involvement in countries such as Vietnam and Afghanistan. This dissertation contends that that the United States has been engaged in the same counter-terrorism strategy against al-Shabaab since the early days of its re-engagement in the Somali conflict. Applying the typology to situational analysis dating back to as early as 2002, it becomes clear that the United States employs and has maintained a complex/combined counterterrorism strategy toward Somalia. In fact, the research conducted for this dissertation supports the overall argument that complex/combined counter-terrorism strategy is especially broad, which enables the United States to prioritise a light military footprint and low costs of involvement in combating al-Shabaab without becoming heavily involved. The malleable nature of this strategy allows the United States to shift resources and tactics with relative ease.
Open Access
The fascination of the 'Islamic State': Perceived iInjustice and crises of identity - why German citizens join the extremist organization
(2017) Kreifels, Isabel; Lamb, Guy
Throughout the Syrian conflict, a new extremist organization became increasingly visible to the public due its use of extreme violence and continuous threats to the entire world living outside of it. The self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) attracted the highest number of foreign fighters in the history of Islamic social movements, and continues to recruit from foreign countries. While the majority of the foreign fighters come from neighbouring countries to the conflict region in Syria and Iraq, it is estimated that around one quarter of the recruits stems from Western countries. Although ISIS managed to attract both men and women to voluntarily join their extremist organization, the vast majority of foreign fighters are men. Due to the recent occurrence of this phenomenon, the motivations of foreign fighters to join ISIS remain greatly under-researched. Taking various attacks and threats towards Western countries into consideration, it might appear paradox that people leave their home countries to fight for ISIS abroad. However, the number of people leaving for this purpose has summed up to around 800 in Germany in 2016. Therefore, this thesis analyses the motifs and causes of German men to travel to the conflict region to become a member of the extremist network. Contrary to the widely-spread assumption that socio-economic circumstances lead young men into violent extremism, this thesis studies their paths to radicalization from a socio-psychological perspective.
Open Access
Jagged blue frontiers: The police and the policing of boundaries in South Africa
(2017) Lamb, Guy; Van der Spuy, Elrena; Shearing, Clifford D
Social and territorial boundaries have been fundamental to the approaches and practices of policing bodies in South Africa for centuries, from the mounted colonial paramilitary forces of the 1800s to the 21st century professional police. Boundaries have not only been a central mechanism that the police have consistently used to control and regulate the general population, but have also been catalysts for change in terms of operational policing strategies and tactics. This has typically been the case when a threat has been ascribed to a bounded area and/or populations that reside within the confines of the boundary, or on the other side of the boundary. The nature of the such a threat is considered to be even more severe when communities within the bounded space, or on the other side of the boundary, acquire significant quantities of firearms and ammunition, as this provides such populations with the lethal technology to defy and contest the police's coercive authority and ability to conserve boundaries relating to the maintenance of order and the enforcement of laws. South Africa is a distinctly relevant case study for an examination of the relationship between boundaries and the police as for the past three and a half centuries South Africa's diverse policing history has been profoundly framed by territorial, social and political boundaries. The police and the proto-police have been at the sharp edge of the application of authority by assorted forms of government, and have often acted to safeguard the interests of economic and political elites. That is, the police and formal policing bodies have been required to subdue and suppress groups and individuals that resisted or threatened the process of state building and resource extraction. The police were also regularly deployed to protect the territorial borders of South Africa from menacing others. By means of this historical analysis of South Africa, this thesis introduces a new concept, 'police frontierism', which illuminates the nature of the relationships between the police, policing and boundaries, and can potentially be used for future case study research. It is an alternative way of conceptualising policing, one in which police work is fundamentally framed by social and territorial boundaries. Such boundaries delineate perceived safe or 'civilised' spaces from dangerous or 'uncivilised' ones. The police tend to concentrate their resources in the frontier zone immediately adjacent to the boundary in order to preserve or extend the boundary of safety and 'civilisation', and restrict, subdue or eliminate those individuals, groups or circumstances from the 'uncivilised' spaces that a government authority or elites have deemed to be a threat to order and peace. An essential dynamic of this policing approach is that the boundary and the adjoining frontier zone strongly influence police practices and behaviour in this context. In particular, territorial and social delineations amplify and distort existing police prejudices against those communities on the other side of the boundary. The police often engage in othering, where the communities of interest are viewed negatively, and are predominantly seen as agents of disorder and law breaking. This othering may lead to an intensification of aggressive police behaviour towards the targeted communities.
Open Access
Local ownership and democratic governance in security sector reform
(2016) Nyamnjoh, Anye-Nkwenti; Lamb, Guy
Local ownership is a major component of what is considered best practice in contemporary peacebuilding. It seeks to reallocate authority between local and international actors in peacebuilding contexts. In its purest form, it requires that the design, implementation and evaluation of reform should be led by local actors. Therefore, under local ownership, external actors are circumscribed to a supporting role in post-conflict reconstruction. Local ownership is thus a critique of the tendency towards top-down internationally led peacebuilding reform. The primacy of local ownership is evident in its endorsement in both academic literature and policy documents. Underpinning the importance of local ownership is a set of normative claims. It is argued that local ownership produces reform that is more legitimate and sustainable, in addition to developing democratic governance as the foundation to a post-war regime. Subsequently, what scholarship on local ownership has sought to clarify is conceptual content, including the complex question of who is local. Furthermore, there have been different suggestions on how to operationalise local ownership, and more broadly how to bridge the prevailing gap between rhetoric and practice. What has not been sufficiently done is an empirical defence of these normative claims. For example, does the process of ownership actually result in the development of democratic governance? More importantly, are the outcomes of local ownership consistent with the broader liberal peacebuilding paradigm, especially the latter's democratic disposition? This gap in the literature, is the research problem driving this dissertation. This dissertation seeks to understand whether there is evidence of a positive relationship between local ownership and democratic governance within the broader liberal peacebuilding project. My guiding research question involves determining how essential local ownership is to the development of democratic governance. This relationship is explored though the lens of SSR as one of the pillars of peacebuilding. This is because the literature on local ownership has been developed most in this area. The relationship between democratic governance and SSR, specifically within the military, can be understood in terms of democratic control of the military. Democratic control is operationalised in this thesis as civilian control and oversight (executive, legislative and broader civil society). Taking this into consideration, there are two paths of investigation. Does the absence of ownership undermine democratic control of the military and does its presence develop it? Liberia and Sierra Leone are the case studies through which this question is explored. Comparatively, Liberia is meant to represent the absence of ownership while Sierra Leone demonstrates more substantive attempts at local ownership. Focusing on the reform of the military, I argue that the absence of local ownership undermined democratic governance in terms of civilian control and oversight in Liberia. The opposite is true in Sierra Leone. However, there is evidence that outcomes which develop democratic control and oversight of the military can result from activities were ownership is both present and absent. As such, local ownership of SSR is sufficient, but not necessary for the development of democratic governance within the military. That notwithstanding, local ownership is still of immense importance. Its importance resides in the production of reform that is more context specific and thus contextually relevant. Local ownership produces reform which the host country can understand and sustain, a claim that the existing literature attests to. In this way, local ownership is important in bridging the gap between the beneficiaries of security and the broader security architecture. While gains in democratic control of the military can be achieved where ownership is present or absent, the sustainability of these gains is intricately linked to local ownership. Local ownership may not be necessary for democratic governance in the military, but it is necessary for sustainable democratic governance, as well as reform rooted in contextual realities and the needs of the country undergoing reform.
Open Access
Long walk to press freedom: the media framing of the April 2015 xenophobic attacks in South Africa
(2019) Dahlback, Ida Titlestad; Lamb, Guy
This thesis enquires into the collective violence against foreigners in South Africa in April 2015. The aim of the study is to investigate the manner in which the media framed the attacks, and to analyse how both victims and perpetrators were presented in news articles. The research process utilised in this study is qualitative content analysis, and the study analyses 68 articles by six online news publications between the 13th and the 21st of April 2015. The thesis determines that the Daily Sun, News24, Independent Online (IOL News), Eyewitness News (EWN), Mail & Guardian, and the Daily Maverick presented both balanced and biased content between the 13th and 21st of April 2015. There was a great variety in how objectively the online news publications framed immigrants. Several online news publications included numerous sources and counter-arguments, while others did not. The Mail & Guardian and the Daily Maverick presented the most in-depth coverage of the violence, while the Daily Sun, News24, Independent Online (IOL News), and Eyewitness News (EWN) uncritically reproduced xenophobic language and statements during the attacks.
Open Access
Looking at the intractability of the Israeli/Palestine conflict with a focus on the construction of identity
(2016) Motala, Nargis; Lamb, Guy
Research on intractable conflicts is concerned primarily with investigating the causes and conditions of conflict that contribute to its intractable nature. Often, a key starting point in the examination of intractable conflicts is to explore the relationships between the different processes driving the conflict. Prominent authors investigating the nature of intractable conflicts seek to provide a theoretical understanding of conflict, with the aim of facilitating a deeper understanding of what allows these conflicts to flourish. This dissertation will look specifically at the intractability of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and evaluate the factors that have contributed to sustaining this conflict. This analysis, which will seek to present an understanding of how the construction of identity in relation to "the Other" has hindered viable options for sustainable peace in the region, draws on John Paul Lederach's work on conflict transformation. Transformation, Lederach argues, provides not only a lens through which to understand certain aspects of conflict but also an overarching framework to make sense of the conflict as a whole (Lederach, 2003). The central and interrelated themes of this dissertation are the competing identities claimed by Israel and Palestine in relation to the on-going conflict. Differing constructions of identity contribute to the intractability of the conflict and is echoed through the respective narratives. After presenting an analysis of the failed attempts at peace and the various negotiation phases that have taken place, the discussion will try to understand why these attempts have been unsuccessful. The main argument presented is that there is need for increased conflict awareness and understanding of the dynamics of the situation. Peace processes need to address the underlying causes and patterns of the conflict by taking into consideration the nature of the conflict, if they are to be effective. Once this is established, attention can then be turned to addressing other issues of concern, such as the status of Jerusalem, border disputes, the right of return, issues over sovereignty and security and so forth. Mechanisms to address these issues should be premised on an understanding that the conflict environment is constantly changing; consequently, approaches to peace need to be evaluated at all stages and, if necessary, adjusted to fit the shifting context.
Open Access
Organised crime and the South African State post 1994: a social network analysis of organised criminal networks in the Western Cape
(2019) De Freitas, Ruth; Lamb, Guy
Crime, and the criminals that enact it, are no new phenomenon; however, the way in which we conceptualise and understand organised crime requires revision. Orthodox approaches are no longer relevant to current manifestations of crime, nor is it sufficient to fully grasp its endurance. The difficulty in understanding modern day criminal activity is exacerbated by the fact that leaders of criminal organisations are no longer merely 'criminals' distinct from ‘ordinary citizens’. They can also assume identities of state personnel, politicians, policemen and powerful businessmen. In essence, the fight against crime, but more specifically organised crime, can no longer be solely conceptualised as a fight against criminals, as they have been traditionally conceived of, but rather a fight against criminal networks. Approaches to organised crime therefore require a methodological approach that highlights the complicated relationships and networks sustaining organised crime. This thesis will ground itself in the theoretical framework of networks and social network analysis. In order to adequately understand the nature and operations of organised crime we need to start understanding organised crime as outfits of criminal networks spread across communities, cities, and countries creating webs that link a dynamic range of people, businesses and organisations that work together to sustain and profit off organised criminal activity. One of these links that has previously been ignored is the link between criminals and the State. Research shows that the relationship between State and organised crime is not always one of conflict. In many cases it has been found that the State and organised criminal entities share alliances and mutual interests. In South Africa, there are various cases revealing corruption among state officials. Reputable media outlets have reported numerous stories of corruption, which highlight a crisis that may be systemic. The question relevant to this thesis, is what is the relationship between corruption and organised crime? It is for these reasons that this thesis will explore two case studies in which to assess the theory of network and social network analysis. Following a literature review and critical analysis of organised crime, the concept of criminal networks and a shifting from conceptualizing this phenomena as a hierarchy towards a network understanding, these case studies shall be explored. The intent is to conclude what these networks look like, who is involved, how they operate and what type of relations organised criminals share with the State. It is the hope that this thesis can contribute towards current debates on organised crime, specifically on how organised crime has shifted from an understanding of hierarchy to one of a network.

Browsing by Author "Lamb, Guy"

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