WPS and the African Union

Author(s):  
Toni Haastrup

This chapter critically explores how the African Union (AU) understands and interprets the global norms around gender and security found in the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda. It shows how the WPS agenda is situated within the AU’s African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) while taking into account the local/regional gender regime including regional action plans (RAPs). To do so, the chapter maps out ways in which gender intersects with security when global and local norms interact within a regional security institution. Drawing on a selection of case studies, this chapter demonstrates that there is now a well-established network of frameworks that embed WPS on the continent. It concludes that this has been informed by a certain understanding of feminism and a new pan-Africanist push via the AU and women’s movements on the continent. Indeed, the chapter highlights the adoption of National Action Plans (NAPs) in seventeen member states as one of the primary achievements of the AU women’s movement. This chapter thus offers a unique perspective on the regional institutionalization process of the WPS agenda.

Author(s):  
Owino Jerusha Asin

This chapter describes the security regime of the African Union(AU) mandated to promote peace and stability under the AU: the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) established in 2003. The chapter charts the institutional development of the mechanisms under the APSA against a volatile threat matrix and the deployment of these mechanisms in situational exigencies. It also illustrates the nature of the APSA as a security regime complex by unpacking the dense network of partnerships that operate within it. The chapter next demonstrates the pillars on which the APSA rests by engaging with select interventions made under each pillar. While the chapter concludes that the APSA has been proven to be an indispensable mechanism in addressing some conflicts, it also partly mirrors the past, present, and potential future of the large and fragmented continent it was designed for. The APSA is therefore not the penultimate representation of a collective security apparatus, but an evolving work in progress.


2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 880-888 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Conci ◽  
Klaus Gramann ◽  
Hermann J. Müller ◽  
Mark A. Elliott

Illusory figure completion demonstrates the ability of the visual system to integrate information across gaps. Mechanisms that underlie figural emergence support the interpolation of contours and the filling-in of form information [Grossberg, S., & Mingolla, E. Neural dynamics of form perception: Boundary completion, illusory figures and neon colour spreading. Psychological Review, 92, 173–211, 1985]. Although both processes contribute to figure formation, visual search for an illusory target configuration has been shown to be susceptible to interfering form, but not contour, information [Conci, M., Müller, H. J., & Elliott, M. A. The contrasting impact of global and local object attributes on Kanizsa figure detection. Submitted]. Here, the physiological basis of form interference was investigated by recording event-related potentials elicited from contour- and surface-based distracter interactions with detection of a target Kanizsa figure. The results replicated the finding of form interference and revealed selection of the target and successful suppression of the irrelevant distracter to be reflected by amplitude differences in the N2pc component (240–340 msec). In conclusion, the observed component variations reflect processes of target selection on the basis of integrated form information resulting from figural completion processes.


Author(s):  
S. Vadde ◽  
J. K. Allen ◽  
F. Mistree

Abstract Catalog design is a procedure in which a system is assembled by selecting standard components from catalogs of available components. Selection in design involves making a choice among a number of alternatives taking into account several attributes. The information available to a designer to do so during the early stages of project initiation may be uncertain. The uncertainty in information may be imprecise or stochastic. Under these circumstances, a designer has to balance limited resources against the quality of solution obtained or decisions made by accounting for uncertainty in information available. This complex task becomes formidable when dealing with coupled selection problems, that is problems that should be solved simultaneously. Coupled selection problems share a number of coupling attributes among them. In an earlier paper we have shown how selection problems, both coupled and uncoupled can be reformulated as a single compromise Decision Support Problem (DSP) using a deterministic model. In this paper, we show how the traditional compromise DSP can be extended to represent a nondeterministic case. We use fuzzy set theory to model imprecision and Bayesian statistics to model stochastic information. Formulations that can be solved with the same solution scheme are presented to handle both fuzzy and stochastic information in the standard framework of a compromise DSP. The approaches are illustrated by an example involving the coupled selection of a heat exchanger concept and a cooling fluid for a specific application. The emphasis in this paper is placed on explaining the methods.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 673-696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Wilén ◽  
Paul D. Williams

AbstractIn December 2015, the African Union (AU) took the unprecedented step of threatening to use military force against the government of Burundi's wishes in order to protect civilians caught up in the country's intensifying domestic crisis. This article traces the background to this decision and analyses the effectiveness and credibility of the AU's use of coercive diplomacy as a tool of conflict management. After its usual range of conflict management tools failed to stem the Burundian crisis, the AU Commission and Peace and Security Council tried a new type of military compellence by invoking Article 4(h) of the Union's Constitutive Act. We argue that the threatened intervention never materialised because of (1) the Burundian government's astute diplomacy and (2) several African autocrats’ resistance to setting a precedent for future interventions where concerns about civilian protection might override state sovereignty.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Agung Citra Purnama

<p><strong>Abstrak</strong> – Kawasan Indo-Pasifik merupakan kawasan yang menjadi perhatian dunia saat ini, karena kekuatan di bidang politik, ekonomi dan militer dari negara-negara yang ada didalam kawasan tersebut. Permasalahan keamanan yang terjadi di kawasan tersebut menjadi perhatian dunia dan Indonesia merasa perlu berperan aktif dalam menciptakan perdamaian dan keamanan di kawasan. Oleh karena itu, melalui mantan Menteri Luar Negeri Marty Natalegawa, Indonesia mengajukan sebuah gagasan pembentukan Indo-Pacific Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation untuk menjaga keamanan kawasan. Artikel ini bermaksud mengetahui makna dan tujuan gagasan pembentukan traktat ini, serta prospek dan masalah dalam mewujudkannya. Di akhir penelitian ditemukan simpulan bahwa gagasan dan tujuan dari pembentukan Indo-Pacific Treaty ini adalah menciptakan mekanisme untuk mempromosikan cara damai dan saling percaya dengan tidak menggunakan cara pengerahan kekuatan militer dan tidak merugikan pihak-pihak lain di dalam kawasan. Walaupun untuk saat ini prospek mewujudkan gagasan ini masih kecil dikarenakan adanya sejumlah masalah yang menghadang, namun gagasan ini tetap dapat diwujudkan di masa depan dengan menggunakan strategi yang mendapat dukungan dari negara-negara lain di kawasan.</p><p><br /><strong>Kata Kunci</strong> : gagasan, indo-pacific treaty, prospek, masalah, keamanan kawasan, kerjasama keamanan</p><p><br /><em><strong>Abstract</strong></em> – Indo-Pacific region is an area of concern for the world today, because of the power in politics, economics and military of the countries that are in this region. Security problems that occur in this region become the attention of the world and Indonesia felt it necessary to play an active role in establishing peace and security in the region. Therefore, through the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Marty Natalegawa, Indonesia proposed the idea of establishment an Indo-Pacific Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation for maintaining regional security. This article intends to determine the meaning and purpose of the idea of this treaty, as well as the prospects and problems in realizing them. In conclusion, the idea and the purpose of the establishment of Indo-Pacific Treaty is to create mechanisms to promote peaceful means and mutual trust without deployment of military force and harming other parties in the region. Although for now the prospect of realizing this idea is still small due to a number of problems facing, but this idea can still be realized in the future by using a strategy that has the support of other countries in the region.</p><p><br /><em><strong>Keywords</strong></em>: idea, indo-pacific treaty, prospects, problems, regional security, security cooperation</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 179-194
Author(s):  
Bewuketu Dires Gardachew

This study critically explores the extent to which the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) (such as the African Standby Force (ASF), the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS), Panel of the Wise (PoW) and the Peace Fund (PF)) have been successful in achieving their institutional objectives, as well as the degree to which they are able to contribute to the work of the African Union Peace and Security Council (AU PSC). The AU PSC as a key pillar of the APSA is the main decision-making body regarding issues of peace and security. In order to achieve its responsibility, the AU PSC shall be supported by the African Standby Force, the Continental Early Warning System, Panel of the Wise and the Peace Fund. APSA is the umbrella term for the key African Union (AU) mechanisms for promoting peace, security and stability in the African continent. More specifically, it is an operational structure for the effective implementation of the decisions taken in the areas of conflict prevention, peace-making, peace support operations and intervention, as well as peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction. APSA is envisioned as a means by which Africa can take a greater role in managing peace and security on the continent, with the objective of offering “African solutions to African problems”.


Author(s):  
Stacy Moreland

This article asks the question: how do judges know what rape is and what it is not? The statutory definition contained in the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act1 (SORMA) guides courts in adjudicating rape cases, and as such the definition is theirs to interpret and implement. This article analyses a small selection of recent judgements of the Western Cape High Court2 (WCHC) for answers. The article begins by establishing why judgements are an important source for understanding what rape means in society at large; it then discusses the relationship between power, language, and the law. This is followed by specific analyses of cases that show how patriarchy still defines how judges express themselves about rape. It concludes by looking at the institutional factors that discourage judges from adopting new ways of talking about rape, and their constitutional mandate to do so.


2021 ◽  

This digital publication consists of a selection of 56 papers presented at the 16th International Conference of the International Society for the Study of European Ideas (ISSEI), held at the University of Zaragoza, 2-5 July 2019, the general theme of which was ‘Aftershocks: Globalism and the Future of Democracy’. Sponsored by The Aragonese Association of Sociology, the conference was well-attended – 170 participants from 28 countries met to discuss a wide variety of topics in 29 workshops. The feedback we received from participants confirmed that they had greatly enjoyed the venue of the conference, that they appreciated the warm welcome they had received and the congenial social atmosphere and opportunity to attend workshops on subjects that were not only in their own field of expertise. No one, of course, could have predicted that our world – our work and life as individuals, as communities and as nations – would change so suddenly and radically eighteen months after the conference, with the rapid and devastating spread of the Convid-19 pandemic. The current deepening global crisis along with the challenge of climate change and growing international tensions are a stark reminder of how vulnerable our societies, our civilization, and our species are. The shocks and aftershocks of these crises are felt today in every corner of the world and in every aspect of our global and local economies, and most obviously in the sociopolitical arena. As several of the conference workshops on the multiple crises Europe and the world face today – from the migrant crisis to the rise of populism and deepening inequality between rich and poor – showed – and as the Covid-19 pandemic has so cruelly brought home to us – we simply cannot take the achievements of human civilization for granted and must find ways to meet the fundamental social and political needs of human beings not only in our own neighborhoods, cities and countries, but ultimately in the world as a whole: their living conditions, livelihoods, social services, education and healthcare, human rights and political representation. Several of the workshops, as I mentioned, directly addressed these issues and emphasized the need for building social resilience based on tolerance, solidarity and equity. This too is why, as academics, we should continue to initiate and engage in collective reflection and debate on how to foster and strengthen human communities and human solidarity. Finally, I want to thank the participants and workshop chairs for their contribution to the success of the conference. It was a pleasure for me to work with the university organizing team and with ISSEI’s team in bringing this about, and I am particularly proud that my university and the city of Zaragoza hosted this conference.


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