Browsing by Author "Stephan, Harry"
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- ItemOpen AccessChoices, challenges and the power of integration: regionalism and confederation in the East African community - a hypothesis generating study(2014) Schollij, Rochella; Stephan, HarryThe focus of this hypothesis generating study is to open new areas of research within the study of regions and regionalization in the East African Community and beyond. By using a null hypothesis that encapsulates the reigning attitudes within models of economic integration, this paper exposes many of the issues that are left unaddressed in models of regionalization driven by economics. In order to accurately assess the relevant issues, the paper is divided into three statements that underpin the null hypothesis;; each statement focuses on an aspect of economic integration and explores the effect that it has on member states in the regionalization process. Through this evaluation the three statements and their respective effects are linked to each other and to the null hypothesis to form a web that supports the alternative hypothesis. As a result, it offers paths for future research to improve on regional theory. The aim of this paper is to uncover the failings of an "economics-first" approach. As a result it includes many of the prevalent debates within regional theory, including the issues of Eurocentrism and the false dichotomy between politics and economics within integration. In addition, it includes ideas around nationalism, identity and the role of the state and citizenry within regions. It also introduces the idea of a confederation as a possible alternative to a federation with a monetary union. Through assessing the work of David Mitrany and Ernst B. Haas, this paper tracks the failings within the foundations of regional integration theory through to New Regionalism and the work of Bela Balassa. This forms the basis for attacking the null hypothesis. The issues raised are pulled through the paper, attaching the theoretical flaws to their practical consequences. By applying these findings to the case study of the East African Community, this paper paints a compelling argument as to why regions in Africa should reassess their methods and goals within the regionalization process. Developing states in particular must be cognizant of the effect of neglecting their domestic responsibilities. In addition, due to the nature of this study the findings can be transposed to the European context. This is particularly pertinent given the political, economic and social issues the EU currently faces in the wake of the 2008 recession. The results suggest that regional integration programmes need to incorporate a political approach within integration models. Economic integration can only be sustainable and beneficial where agreements are underpinned by political will and where the state is an active and empowered participant in the integration process. By alienating the state the regionalization process sabotages itself. The solution must therefore include a reassessment of the intentions of regional theory with the aim of re-linking the goals of member states to the methods and outcomes they choose. This empowers the participants in a regionalization programme and enhances the long-term commitment of states to a regional cause.
- ItemOpen AccessCompetition and cooperation on the Nile River: a contemporary analysis of Ethiopian - Egyptian relations(2016) Kazickas, Annalina; Stephan, HarryIn the past decade, Ethiopia has seen unprecedented economic growth as a result of its efforts to eradicate poverty through sustainable development. Ethiopia's recent construction of the 6,000 MW Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam along the Blue Nile, a major tributary to the transboundary Nile River, supports these efforts. Despite objections from Ethiopia's downstream riparian, Egypt, construction has continued, indicating that as Ethiopia establishes itself as a rising power in the Horn of Africa, Egyptian hegemony will be increasingly challenged. Ethiopia's quest for energy sufficiency to support its development is disrupting the region's historic balance of power as well as relations among the Nile Basin countries. In particular, relations between Ethiopia and Egypt have become increasingly complex. This thesis will argue that the shifting balance of power has provided for the development of a gesellschaft society that will continue to support regional stability.
- ItemOpen AccessForeign policy between the Russian Federation and European Union in the 21st century(2004) Barton, Justin; Schrire, Robert; Stephan, HarryThis thesis examines the growing partnership between Russia and the ED. Although suspicious of each other's intentions at times, both sides have realized the necessity for close cooperation. In many respects, the ED is an economic empire in search of a security structure, while Russia is a military power without an economic base. The crime, corruption, and slowly developing democracy in Russia are of supreme security concern for the EU, because they create instability and uncertainty in the region.
- ItemOpen AccessThe foreign policy of the People's Republic of China : towards global integration or a tactical quest for super-power status?(2004) Sladen, Olivia; Stephan, HarryThis paper assesses the foreign policy of the People's Republic of China, determining whether it is pursuing an agenda to fully integrate into the international political order, or whether its policy comprises of a tactical quest for super-power status; it concludes by making a tentative prediction as to the trajectory of China's foreign policy in the coming decades. Optimists maintain that China's formation of complex economic and political ties with regional and international countries will bring both prosperity and security in the region, claiming that China's foreign affairs will focus on the maintenance and protection of these relations, upholding the political status quo. Pessimists, conversely, assert that Beijing's policy of integration is part of a wider strategy designed to build national power to a system-contending level. To establish the nature of China's foreign policy, this paper looks at two opposing theories of international relations which describe both interpretations: Complex Interdependence (supporting the optimists' interpretation) and Realism (supporting the pessimists' interpretation). In Part One, it reviews the key theorists of the twentieth century; it concludes that the Realist principles of Robert Gilpin, and the Complex Interdependence principles of Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye, represent the most reliable tenets of each theory. Thus the theoretical framework of the paper rests on the principles of these two interpretations of the Realist and Complex Interdependence theories. In Part Two of the paper, four indicators of China's foreign policy are assessed: 1. China in the World Economy; 2. China's International and Regional Relations; 3. China's National Defence; 4. China's Domestic Policy and Internal Characteristics. Each indicator is then analysed by applying the theories of Complex Interdependence and Realism to the data. The paper concludes by amalgamating the analyses of each indicator, making an overall assessment as to whether the theory of Realism or Complex Interdependence.
- ItemOpen AccessGlobalization and regionalism : liabilities and possibilities for Africa(2000) Chikuhwa, Tonderai W; Stephan, HarryThis research explores the liabilities and possibilities of African regionalism in an emerging international system characterized by economic globalization. The paper concerns itself with understanding the ways in which scholars are conceiving the concept of globalization, determining the ways in which the phenomenon is impacting the international system, and discerning globalization's impact on political and economic outcomes in Africa. The paper argues that globalization is driving the establishment of a global free market capitalist economic system based on competition, efficiency and productivity. This emerging international political economic order increasingly favours economies of scale and collective capacity. That is, its organizational logic is such that only those competitors who can rapidly mobilize and deploy vast resources across a range of domains will be able to compete effectively in the system. Accordingly, the wealthy areas of the globe are organizing themselves into increasingly cohesive economic and political regional groupings. Furthermore, globalization is speeding the inclusion of poorer countries into this fiercely competitive market. However, the terms of inclusion are dictated by and in favor of the wealthiest and most powerful members of the international society. Based on this reading of international life the paper argues that more pervasive cooperation and integration is ultimately Africa's only viable development strategy. African regionalism is examined in historical perspective an assessment of past initiatives, which it is now clear have largely faltered, yields the conclusion that a fundamental strategic re-orientation is required. The constitutional, 'grand-strategy' approach to integration must give way to an orientation that emphasizes more functional economic connections below the level of the state. Thus, this paper advocates the gradual and incremental enlargement of the area of cooperation across political and economic domains within and across regions on a functional basis. The establishment of an African Free Trade Area is viewed as the most effective framework for animating a functional orientation.
- ItemOpen Access
- ItemOpen AccessLand Acquisitions in Africa: A Return to Franz Fanon?(Minda Masagi Press, 2010) Stephan, Harry; Lobban, Ryan; Benjamin, JessicaIn order to understand the predicament facing Africa today, one has to return to a previous era when Africa faced its fight against colonalization. One hundred and twenty-five years after the Berlin Conference, a vast majority of African states remain in a position of social and political stagnation. Decolonization, which was supposedly based on the positive-sum incorporation of the newly-independent states into the international political arena, led to the dissolution of the rhetoric of “civilizing the barbaric masses”; and a new global endeavor emerged to “develop” the post-colonial state via its access to the absolute gains of the global political economy. For the majority of populaces of the Third World, however, the promises of social security, economic advancement, equal terms of trade, and the abandonment of force and racism did not shadow the decolonization process. In this context, Franz Fanon said that there is nothing save a minimum of re-adaptation, a few reforms at the top, a flag waving, and down at the bottom an undivided mass still living in the middle ages, endlessly marking time.
- ItemOpen AccessThe locus of power in the European Union: determining whether judicial power will remain at the nation state level or if the European Union will merge into a federal institution(2014) Wesley, Tiffani; Stephan, HarryLarry Backer opines that 'Most of the academic work regarding the "lessons" offered by American federalism for the European Union ("EU") and other supra-national systems has predominantly focused on an understanding of post-Civil War American federalism. It remains, on that account, extremely superficial.' Backer notes that there are important lessons to learn from Calhoun's marginalized understanding of federalism that provide emerging supra-national unions like the European Union with a powerful conceptual foundation for the construction of non-national federal systems of government. The research question seeks to test this debate, first by following the theoretical arguments that took place within the United States on the issue surrounding states' rights versus federalism, and second through the various court cases that have occurred within the European national courts and the European Court of Justice. In essence, the research question seeks to determine where the locus of power currently resides, or will tend to reside, between to the European Union and its member nations.
- ItemOpen AccessA marriage of convenience : Pax Americana, the African renaissance and the policing of Post-Cold War Africa(2000) Wilkin, Jeremy; Stephan, HarryBibliography: leaves 101-118.
- ItemRestrictedNew regionalism in southern Africa: Functional developmentalism and the Southern African Power Pool(UNISA Press, 2008) Stephan, Harry; Hervey, Angus FaneThis article is a treatment on how southern Africa might best develop a regional response to mitigate the vagaries of globalisation. It opens with a review of the literature set on regionalism. The authors then explain that in southern Africa regional interaction is at present best characterised by what is known as market-driven or open regionalism. Although this form of regionalism has resulted in both external and internal increases in trade and investment, it is not sustainable. As a consequence, the authors argue that the South African government is leading a new thrust within the region in the form of developmental regionalism that marries the state to the market. After tracking the theoretical developments of this new departure, they demonstrate clearly how change is taking place in practice, by looking at the case of regional electricity generation.
- ItemOpen AccessRegionalisation in Southern Africa : the problem of malign South African hegemony(2003) Boughey, Paul; Stephan, HarryIncludes bibliography.
- ItemOpen AccessSino-African relations : post-positivist epistemology and the new Enlightenment in politics(2007) Murray, Richard Thomas Congreve; Stephan, Harry; Schrire, RobertIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 84-91).