scholarly journals Politoligwistyka dyplomatyczna

Politeja ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (6(69)) ◽  
pp. 197-226
Author(s):  
Błażej Popławski

Diplomatic Politolinguistics. The Analysis of the Perception of Sub-Saharan Africa in the Exposé of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Second and Third Polish Republics The aim of the article is to present the image of sub-Saharan Africa in the exposé of the ministers of foreign affairs of the Second andThird Republics of Poland, in the context of changes in the ideological imaginary of the Polish diplomacy. The introduction describes a political linguistic perspective which was adopted in the work, treating the discourse of political actors as one of the main determinants of the political universe. Then the “parliamentary custom” of delivering an exposé was characterised. The next part discusses the perception of the colonial and imperial idea in the Second Polish Republic. Research on the information provided by the chiefs of the diplomacy after 1989 was focused on the description of the transfer of democracy to the South, the clash of civilizations, and securitization in the international relations.

Author(s):  
Paul Chaisty ◽  
Nic Cheeseman ◽  
Timothy J. Power

This chapter introduces the three regions—sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Former Soviet Union—and the nine countries—Armenia, Benin, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Kenya, Malawi, Russia, and Ukraine—that provide the empirical material for the book. It introduces the two criteria used for case selection: 1) democratic competitiveness; 2) de jure and de facto constitutional provisions that empower presidents to be coalitional formateurs. It also introduces a variable that measures the salience of cross-party cooperation: the Index of Coalitional Necessity. Finally, it sketches the political landscape that has shaped the dynamics of coalitional presidentialism within each region, and it draws attention to important contextual differences between the nine country cases.


BMC Medicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo Trentini ◽  
Giorgio Guzzetta ◽  
Margherita Galli ◽  
Agnese Zardini ◽  
Fabio Manenti ◽  
...  

Abstract Background COVID-19 spread may have a dramatic impact in countries with vulnerable economies and limited availability of, and access to, healthcare resources and infrastructures. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, a low prevalence and mortality have been observed so far. Methods We collected data on individuals’ social contacts in the South West Shewa Zone (SWSZ) of Ethiopia across geographical contexts characterized by heterogeneous population density, work and travel opportunities, and access to primary care. We assessed how socio-demographic factors and observed mixing patterns can influence the COVID-19 disease burden, by simulating SARS-CoV-2 transmission in remote settlements, rural villages, and urban neighborhoods, under school closure mandate. Results From national surveillance data, we estimated a net reproduction number of 1.62 (95% CI 1.55–1.70). We found that, at the end of an epidemic mitigated by school closure alone, 10–15% of the population residing in the SWSZ would have been symptomatic and 0.3–0.4% of the population would require mechanical ventilation and/or possibly result in a fatal outcome. Higher infection attack rates are expected in more urbanized areas, but the highest incidence of critical disease is expected in remote subsistence farming settlements. School closure contributed to reduce the reproduction number by 49% and the attack rate of infections by 28–34%. Conclusions Our results suggest that the relatively low burden of COVID-19 in Ethiopia observed so far may depend on social mixing patterns, underlying demography, and the enacted school closures. Our findings highlight that socio-demographic factors can also determine marked heterogeneities across different geographical contexts within the same region, and they contribute to understand why sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a relatively lower attack rate of severe cases compared to high-income countries.


2018 ◽  
pp. 203-260
Author(s):  
Vineet Thakur

This chapter traces the post-apartheid transformation of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in South Africa. It argues that in the first decade of transition, the Department remained preoccupied with the process of internal restructuring, which was successfully achieved. This caused structural pains as many of the old white diplomats left the service, robbing the Department of crucial expertise. In these years, the political leadership played a stronger role in the South African foreign policymaking. While Mandela’s foreign policy formulation was ad-hocist, Mbeki relied on institutional structures. However, rather than emphasizing on strengthening the DFA, he created new institutional structures under his integrated governance scheme which, ironically, further centralised foreign policymaking. Consequently, the DFA was further marginalized.


2009 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Somerville

In Pensée 1, “Africa on My Mind,” Mervat Hatem questions the perceived wisdom of creating the African Studies Association (focused on sub-Saharan Africa) and the Middle East Studies Association a decade later, which “institutionalized the political bifurcation of the African continent into two academic fields.” The cleaving of Africa into separate and distinct parts—a North Africa/Middle East and a sub-Saharan Africa—rendered a great disservice to all Africans: it has fractured dialogue, research, and policy while preventing students and scholars of Africa from articulating a coherent understanding of the continent.


Author(s):  
Marcel Lajeunesse

The International Organization of the Francophonie (Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, OIF) which developed over the last decades of the twentieth century brings together, as of 2008, 53 State and government full members and 13 observer members, spread out over five continents. The Répertoire des bibliothèques nationales de la Francophonie, which is in its third edition (2008), presents index cards on every national library, or library fulfilling such a role, of each member or observer country. After presenting an overview of the International Organization of the Francophonie, this article looks at the creation of the national library in each country, legal deposit and national bibliography. Then, communication (websites) and international relations (membership of IFLA) are addressed. Of the 63 countries surveyed, only 9 countries do not have a national library, although the majority of these nine countries have another institution – a national documentation centre, public or parliamentary library or national archives – that normally fulfils the functions of a national library. It must be recognized that there is a large disparity between the national libraries of developed countries in Europe and North America and those in developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Antilles. In some sub-Saharan African countries, the national library has only a nominal existence.


Author(s):  
Sebastian Elischer

Niger, Mali, Mauritania, and Chad are some of least researched countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Since independence from France in 1960 these four countries have experienced two distinct yet interrelated struggles: the struggle for statehood and the struggle for democracy. Each country has experienced violent conflict between the central authorities in the capitals and security challengers on the peripheries. Prominent examples are the Tuareg uprisings in Niger and Mali, the various rebel insurgencies in Chad, and the conflict between black Africans and Arabs in Mauritania. The emergence of jihadi-Salafi groups in the West African sub-region affects all four countries and poses a particularly strong security challenge to Mali. All these conflicts are unresolved. The liberalization of the political sphere in the late 1980s and early 1990s has led to considerable political diversity across the Sahel. In Niger and Mali meaningful multiparty competition and basic civil liberties have taken root despite many setbacks. Civil society is strong and in the past has successfully mobilized against autocratic tendencies. In Mauritania and Chad, democratic institutions exist on paper as autocratic rulers have managed to stay in office. The national armed forces remain the preeminent political actors. Civil society is not strong enough to achieve political change for the better. Stagnant living conditions, social immobility, the ongoing war against Islamic terrorism, and weak accountability mechanisms remain the most important political challenges for the Sahel.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Pontarollo ◽  
Roberto Ricciuti

AbstractIn this note we use dyadic data to address the issue of the spread of political regimes in Sub-Saharan Africa from 1977 to 2014. Dyadic data are binary relationship between countries and provide a data-rich environment for the study of international relations. We address the issue of correlation between these dyadic observations, which generates a cluster of dependent observations associated with that country. We find that borders matter, since often the effect of home- and foreign-grown variables have differentiated effects on democracy in one country.


Politikon ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-417
Author(s):  
Thomas S. Wilkins

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