Browsing by Author "Phaahla, Elias"

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    An enquiry into Argentina's foreign policy towards Southern Africa since 2003 with specific reference to Angola and Mozambique
    (2019) Manini, Hector Leandro Manini; Phaahla, Elias
    This study investigates the deepening relations between Argentina and Southern Africa with specific reference to Angola and Mozambique. The enquiry notes the early years of the 2000s as the turning point that saw a sea change in Argentina‟s foreign policy towards these two countries. From nearly non-existent bilateral relations to concerted efforts to strengthen economic ties with the two Southern African countries by Argentina, these changes in Argentina‟s foreign policy are compelling for consideration as subjects of academic enquiry. The study seeks to understand the key motivations behind this new approach in Argentina‟s foreign policy, and using a case study approach, the study delves into the historical developments and other politically significant sequences of events in each of the two African countries in question to account for said foreign policy changes. As a theory of international relations, realism serves as a key anchor of this study, providing a magnifying lens that allows us to uncover economic considerations to be the key motivating factors behind Argentina‟s foreign policy. Despite Angola and Mozambique being endowed with natural resources, which provides a natural allure for countries such as Argentina to want to exploit, trade remains the key pillar of bilateral economic relations between Argentina and the two Southern African countries. These have been blossoming and reaching new heights. All this was facilitated by political stability in the two countries following a long period of civil wars that left the economies of Mozambique and Angola in deprived and crippled economic conditions.
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    Assessing the efficacy of Kenya's international and national obligations in enhancing the effective political participation of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Kenya
    (2025) Muasya Kasema, Roy Michael; Phaahla, Elias; Seegers, Annette
    The overall objective of this research is to examine the effectiveness of Kenya's legal frameworks (including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), Constitution of Kenya (CoK) and Persons with Disabilities Act (PDA)) that condition the political participation of persons with disabilities (PWDs)1, and to explore the extent to which, consequently, PWDs do and can exercise their participatory rights2. Based on a desktop-study, using primarily secondary literature and qualitative evidence, this study observed that, despite Kenya's broad legal framework in support of the full inclusion of PWDs in political activities, the same has not been effectively realized. It also assesses why, despite the adoption of these seemingly progressive laws, PWDs have struggle to fully actualize their political rights. It is evidenced that, in some areas, there are gaps and shortfalls in the statutes thereby derogating PWDs' rights and submitting them to, as opposed to protecting them from, exclusion and marginalization in Kenya. Furthermore, there is a shortage in reasonable accommodations and measures to foster an environment conducive to PWDs effectively engaging in politics in Kenya. This, coupled with the underrepresentation of PWDs in decision-making, militates against, instead of promoting the exercise of their political rights in Kenya. Therefore, a lot more needs to be done to ensure that PWDs can fully and effectively participate in political affairs in Kenya.
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    Brazil's Foreign Policy from the context of South-South Development Cooperation initiatives: the case of Brazil and Mozambique after Lula
    (2020) Correa, Julia; Phaahla, Elias
    South-South Development Cooperation is a longstanding practice that has undergone many unprecedented changes since the dawn of the twenty-first century. However, following the first decade of the century, some key players in development cooperation seem to have reduced their efforts to promote South-South Development Cooperation, notably Brazil. Under president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil's ambitious strategy of international prominence was most eminent within the framework of development cooperation, wherein the African continent occupied a central place. Such efforts, however, lost impetus under the subsequent presidencies of Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016) and Michel Temer (2016-2018). This thesis reflects upon the changes in Brazil's foreign policy dispositions after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2011-2018) and how it affected the country's South-South Development Cooperation initiatives. By looking at the case of Mozambique, it seeks to understand such changes vis-à-vis the shifting nature of both the international system and, most importantly, the domestic setting of Brazil. While the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva laid the foundations of Brazil's South-South Development Cooperation agenda (i.e. an instrument for the pursuit of the country's global ambitions and a reflection of the national approach to development), these foundations were undermined during the subsequent governments, led by constraining international circumstances and the dismantling of the state-led developmental model advanced by the Workers' Party. The undermining of South- South Development Cooperation's foundations occurred through two major mechanisms. Firstly, foreign policy goals were re-defined in economic terms, and so was South-South Development Cooperation. The political goals that underpinned Brazil's reformist ambitions lost space once the latter were gradually abandoned under Dilma Rousseff and completely discarded under Michel Temer. Secondly, South-South Development Cooperation both reflected and fed the model of state-led development adopted by the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Once this model was delegitimised and eventually dismantled, the South-South Development Cooperation agenda lost its impetus.
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    Right-wing populism in the European Union and the rise of Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and Hungary's Jobbik
    (2019) Bleher, Saskia; Phaahla, Elias
    The purpose of this thesis is it to investigate the socio-political conditions that gave rise to right-wing populism (RWP) in Germany and Hungary. It ascertains reasons for increasing right-wing populist attitudes in these two countries by tracing the emergence of the German Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and the Hungarian Movement for a better Hungary (Jobbik). The choice to compare these parties was influenced by considerations relating to their roles as main opposition parties in their respective countries’ parliaments as well as the fact that they were catapulted to political prominence as right-wing populist parties in the aftermath of the refugee crisis of 2015. Examining the causes for the increase of RWP across Europe is indispensable for purposes of understanding the everchanging political landscape of the European Union (EU) and the continued threat RWP poses to liberal democratic values in that region. Furthermore, it is necessary to comprehend the undercurrents besetting the two societies’ social fabrics and political nomenclatures as well as their roles in precipitating rightwing populist movements that have gone on dominate their respective polities. To unearth the circumstances behind the rise of RWP as a political phenomenon, the Most Different Systems Design will be utilized to identify factors which account for the success of the AfD and Jobbik in their respective countries. To carry out this task both the Cultural Backlash Thesis (CBT) and the Economic Insecurity Perspective (EIP) are employed as theoretical nodal points to ascertain each of the two countries’ unique set of socio-political and socioeconomic circumstances that propelled right-wing parties to political prominence. This thesis argues that both the CBT and EIP have been at the centre of why right-wing populism has been on the rise in the EU in recent times. Accounting for the exponential rise of Jobbik and the AfD is the exploitation of growing nationalist sentiments by both parties fuelled by fear of the loss of traditional norms and values since the refugee crisis. By focusing on traditional values and their countries’ cultural identities, the two right-wing populist parties inadvertently exclude minority groups on a continued basis. Furthermore, this study claims that while cultural discontents account for the rise of both parties, economic grievances are only applicable in Jobbik’s case alone. This is due to the fact that Germany suffers from less economic difficulties as EU’s strongest economy, whereas Hungary’s own has been performing below par, which has been aggravated by high levels of corruption in the public sector. Hence, Jobbik’s rise has been aided by economic and cultural frustrations as a result of the so-called foreign infiltration whereas the AfD’s is attributed to growing cultural and nationalist grievances gaining a foothold in Germany.
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    The Impact of Private Capital Flows on South Africa's Developmental State Agenda in the Post-Apartheid Era
    (2020) Mokoena, Itumeleng; Phaahla, Elias
    This dissertation explores the impact of private capital flows on South Africa's developmental state agenda in the post-apartheid era. South Africa is one country that has set, beforehand, the objective to become a developmental state. However, the role of private capital flows as a factor that can determine the success, or the failure of that objective is largely missing from the debate about constructing the developmental state in South Africa. By exploring the impact of private capital flows, the study seeks to inform the reader about the nature and composition of private capital flows in South Africa as well as investigate whether these flows hinder or accelerate South Africa's developmental state objective. The study has utilized qualitative methods. It also made use of quantitative data as a secondary supplement to ensure a greater understanding of the research problem. In addition, the study has used the theory of financialization from Marxist Political Economy which posits that private capital flows are unproductive and merely interested in surplus accumulation without producing anything substantive in the long term. The research findings indicate that financial liberalization as a step that was taken by the democratic government to attract private capital flows has not been beneficial for South Africa's long term development as it allows capital flight and illicit financial flows. While South Africa did manage to attract private capital flows after liberalizing its capital account, these flows have been made up mainly of portfolio investments that do not contribute significantly to the productive sectors. Instead, portfolio investments drive excessive household debt, consumption and financial speculation. Moreover, private capital flows reinforce a non-developmental agenda by exacerbating the problem of unemployment, inequality, and poverty which are key developmental goals that South Africa seek to overcome through the developmental state. More importantly, South Africa's reliance on private capital flows constrain its economic policy choices and this, in turn, hinders an emergence of a developmental state.