Ex-President of Botswana Ian Khama: Ascents and Reversals in the Political Career of a Former Pilot

2021 ◽  
pp. 71-87
Author(s):  
Liubov Prokopenko
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Vice President ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Leader ◽  
Political Career ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
The Government

The article shows the development of the political career of the ex-president of Botswana Ian Khama, a son of the country’s first president Seretse Khama. The article analyzes domestic and foreign policy of the government of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) headed by Mr. Ian Khama, whose first term in office coincided with difficulties of the global economic crisis that began in 2008. It is noted that during Mr. Khama’s presidency the West-oriented foreign policy of Botswana was well-balanced, pragmatic and aimed at attracting investments. It was rather bold and independent, which was largely due to the independence of Botswana, a major exporter of diamonds to the world market, as regards donors’ assistance. At the African level Mr. Khama’s image has been that of a consistent critic of authoritarian and despotic regimes, he also adhered to a consistent firm position regarding the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe, calling on Robert Mugabe to transfer power. Mr. Khama is an extraordinary political leader. The style and methods of his leadership (harsh bureaucratic methods, frequent decision-making without coordination with the government, disdain of opposition’s criticism and of public opinion) led to accusations of authoritarianism. The author makes an attempt to define its nature which was somewhat different from the authoritarianism of other African leaders. The issue of corruption and nepotism in Botswana is also discussed. During the ten-year period of Mr. Khama’s rule (2008–2018), the problem of nepotism was especially often the focus of the criticism by the local opposition and media. This had a negative effect for the president’s political image and for that of the authorities in general. At the same time, Mr. Khama’s government managed to maintain stability of the economics and of the internal political situation. The properties of the situation in the Botswana Democratic Party, which has ruled the country for almost 55 years and still holds a central position in the country’s political landscape, are shown. Despite a number of mistakes in governing the country, President Ian Khama managed to preserve and strengthen the authority of Botswana in the eyes of the international community for its commitment to the international law, its respect for human rights, good governance and active foreign policy. It is pointed out that Mr. Khama, respecting the Constitution, peacefully transferred power to the country’s vice-president Mokgweetsi Masisi whom he chose as his successor. However, a conflict arose between them very soon, and their confrontation led the ex-president to supporting the opposition at the general elections in October 2019. The events of recent years in Botswana serve an important evidence of the problematic issue – insecurity of democracy in the context of a long dominance of one political party. The unexpected emergence of Khama-Masisi confrontation questioned to a certain extent the tradition of early power transfer from the head of state to the vice-president which established in the country in recent decades. However, this confrontation did not go beyond the framework of the electoral struggle and did not lead to serious tension in the internal political situation.

scholarly journals Argentinien nach dem Zusammenbruch des neoliberalen Modells

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (138) ◽  
pp. 131-148
Author(s):  
Dieter Boris ◽  
Ingo Malcher
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
High Growth ◽  
The Political ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
Reconstruction Process ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Government

Starting from the deep financial and economic crisis, which took place in Argentina towards the end of 2001, the political, economical and societal reconstruction phases up to early 2005 are briefly summarized. Especially the government of Kirchner - in office since May 2003 - set new priorities in several fields of politics, e.g. human rights, the attitude towards the IMF and the foreign creditors, as well as foreign policy. Many structural elements and legacies of the neoliberal era, however, are still very present even three years after the collapse. In spite of the high growth rates in the last two years the reconstruction process has to be qualified as fragile and reversible. Compared to 2002 the social movements appear mainly weakened today. Whether the Kirchner government will succeed in establishing a more social and law abiding type of capitalism, remains to be seen, since a durable change of power relations in favour of progressive forces has not been realized.

Afghanistan'S Foreign Policy: Patterns And Problems

1988 ◽  
Vol 44 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 226-239
Author(s):  
R. Gopalakrishnan
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Political Instability ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Government

Soviet intervention in Afghanistan clearly indicates the strategic implications of its location. The political instability in the region (rise of fundamentalism in Iran, Iran-Iraq War and so on) has added to this significance. Be that as it may, Afghanistan's situation can be expressed in terms of its susceptibility to external pressures and intense factionalism within the land-locked state's dynamic populations. This latter aspect had divided the country several times over. Afghan foreign policy, therefore, has been viewed in this perspective. The present article reviews the stated facts to highlight the geographical significance of the location and its impact on the foreign policy. Introduction of the armed forces in national politics (this formed an important element in the country's politics right from the beginning) has been the most conspicuous development; it determined the who's and what's of the government. Traditional pressure groups, despite retaining some of their old hold on the society, had given way to radical groups or factions, armed forces and insurgent elements. These penetrated various strata of the Afghan society. Since 1963, when political liberalisation and participation was introduced, disruptive tendencies gradually impinged on the state's activities. Generally, this was evident between 1963–73 and was particularly so after the 1973 coup, when the Monarchy was replaced by a republican regime under Daud. Both, the Armed Forces and the Communist Party were involved but were sidelined once power was secured. This change did not bring the expected transformations in the patterns of administration. The change was only in name and power was still concentrated with Daud who began to implement his own policies that emerged between 1953–63. The period of his first stint in power coincided wiih an aggravation of problems, political and economic, caused by a closure of transit facilities. However, this pause was fully exploited by the radical parties who gradually brought the dominant elements of the Armed Forces under their influence, so that, they were able to deliver a coup d'etat under the leadership of Tarakki in April 1978. The new regime was not able to maintain effective control over the political situation that for the next twenty months brought internal political instability to its height and compelled the Soviet Union to move (this was perhaps to protect its vulnerable southern underbelly). The period from April 1978 onwards, saw active non-cooperation, large scale desertions from the Armed Forces and a deterioration of the economy. In addition, open opposition by the religious groups and insurgent elements presented a political picture that has been so vividly illustrated by Afghan political history. Intense factionalism and infighting within the regime saw Amin replacing the moderate Tarakki in September 1979. This led to a worsening of the political situation with the state at war with itself. This compelled the Soviet Union to move into Afghanistan. In a short but bloody war, Amin was disposed and a government under Karmal was established with Soviet support1. These developments then, clearly suggest the need to review the background of the patterns and problems of the foreign policy of Afghanistan as determined and identified by its locational characteristics.

scholarly journals Turkey’s “Zero Problems with the Neighbors” Policy: Was It Realistic?

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Askerov
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
The Political ◽  
Special Importance ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
National Interests ◽  
New Approach ◽  
The Government ◽  
Economic Developments

With the advancement of power in 2002, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has introduced revolutionary policies in Turkey in various realms, including foreign affairs. The new trend in the foreign policy focused on not having problems with neighbors. This could be possible or nearly possible theoretically but eliminating century-long and deep-rooted conflicts with some of the neighbors would not be easy in practice. The new idealistic/moralistic approach necessitated new ways of policy formulation based on mutual gains and unthinkable concessions on the part of Turkey. Ankara’s new approach had given a special importance to building bridges of trust with the neighbors, which also seemed attractive to the political leaders of the neighboring states. This idealistic/moralistic approach was vulnerable to the dynamic political and economic developments in the region and the world in general. The policy did not have a power of sustainability due to the various old, new, and emerging problems around Turkey and hence, the government had to give it up gradually and take a new course of foreign policy based on realistic approaches to defend its national interests.

scholarly journals The Russian Political Elite in the Context of Modern Political Development

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 85-91
Author(s):  
M.Yu. Martynova ◽  
◽  
D.M. Feoktistova ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Decision ◽  
Public Discussion ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
The Government ◽  
Political Decision Making

the author analyzes the problems of the activity and development of the political elite. The current political situation in Russia puts forward new requirements for the functioning of the management system of state institutions and determines the need for professionally trained, highly moral personnel of the modern political elite. The paper considers the possibility of introducing modern and progressive mechanisms of interaction between the government and society – crowdsourcing, which involves the wide involvement of citizens with an active civic position and public associations in the process of public discussion and political decision-making.

LANGUAGE MEANS OF CREATING POLICIAN’S IMAGE (ON GERMANY MEDIA MATERIALS)

2021 ◽  
pp. 124-130
Author(s):  
О.В. Мифтахова ◽  
К.Г. Мокрова
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
The Political ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Mass Consciousness ◽  
Subjective Opinion ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Government ◽  
Political Figure

Данная статья освещает специфику языковых средств, используемых в немецких СМИ для создания образа политического деятеля. Поскольку средства массовой информации обладают мощнейшим манипулятивным действием, они играют ведущую роль в формировании массового сознания и социального мнения. В СМИ специально создаются политические образы не только отдельных представителей власти, но и государств в целом. Политический имидж лидеров стран влияет на развитие международных отношений: от положительной или негативной окраски того или иного государственного деятеля напрямую зависит успешность проведения внешней политики страны. Цель статьи - рассмотреть на примере двух немецких политиков, Сары Вагенкнехт и Аннегрет Крамп-Карренбауэр, языковые средства создания имиджа, формирующие у аудитории данных деятелей субъективное мнение о них. СМИ выступает мощнейшим оружием в данном вопросе, придавая особую значимость тем или иным высказываниям политиков. Выражая собственную оценку, средства массовой информации незаметно влияют на сознание и суждения людей. Предмет исследования - средства выразительности, которые оказывают воздействие на создание положительных или негативных медиаобразов политиков Германии. Актуальность темы проявляется в необходимости правильно трактовать тонкости речи и письма, которые могут формировать оценочные мнения о том или ином политическом деятеле. This article considers the issues of language means of creating the image of a politician used in the German media. Since the media have a powerful manipulative effect, they play a leading role in creating mass consciousness and social opinion. In the media, political images are specially formed not only of individual representatives of the government, but also of the state as a whole. The political image of the leaders of states have the influence the development of international relations: the success of the country's foreign policy directly depends on the positive or negative coloring of a statesman. The purpose of the article is to examine, using the example of two German politicians, Sarah Wagenknecht and Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, as language means for creating an image, forming a subjective opinion of them among the audience. The media act as a powerful weapon in this matter, attaching particular importance to certain statements of politicians. Expressing their own assessment, the media imperceptibly affect the consciousness and judgments of people. The subject of the research is the means of expression that influence the creation of positive or negative media images of German politicians. The relevance of the topic is manifested in the need to understand the intricacies of speech and writing, which can form evaluative opinions about a concrete political figure.

ENTREPRENEURS OF THE CENTRAL BLACK EARTH REGION IN 1917 - EARLY 1918

2021 ◽  
pp. 82-88
Author(s):  
Mikhail E. Razinkov
Keyword(s):  
Balance Of Power ◽  
The Self ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
The Political ◽  
Mutual Benefit ◽  
Soviet Government ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
The Government ◽  
Soviet Historiography

On the basis of published and previously unexplored archival materials from Voronezh, Orel, Kursk, Tambov, Bryansk, the self-organization and relationship with the government of entrepreneurs of the Central Black Earth Region in the period from spring 1917 to summer 1918 is studied. Studying this social group is important for understanding the balance of power in the region. The author comes to the conclusion that entrepreneurs, despite their active participation in political life in the spring and summer of 1917, due to the preservation of traditional ideas about power and the desire to protect and enhance their rights, could not have a significant impact on the development of the political situation in the region. Entrepreneurs did not enjoy exclusive support from government bodies, including government, which refutes the concept that existed in Soviet historiography about the bourgeois nature of the February regime. Moreover, in resolving conflicts, the authorities in 1917 tried to take into account, first of all, the interests of workers. This situation worsened even more for the bourgeoisie with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, who not only supported workers' demands, but also openly robbed entrepreneurs with the help of indemnities. Nevertheless, in order to maintain peace, the Soviet government (especially by the summer of 1918) tried to resolve relations between workers and employers for mutual benefit. At the same time, during the period under study, conflicts between workers and employers reached a high intensity relatively rarely, leaving room for agreements and dialogue, which, however, narrowed.

Anti-Indian factions in Bangladeshi Politics (1971 – 2014): A Brief Survey

Ensemble ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-122
Author(s):  
Soham DasGupta ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Active Role ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Military Rule ◽  
Coup D'etat ◽  
Water Sharing ◽  
Popular Support ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Military

India played an active role in the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971. The relation between the two countries remained cordial in the initial years but it soon soured with the coup d’etat of 1975. This also marked the rise of the anti-Indian elements in the Bangladeshi politics. This article makes a brief survey of anti- Indian elements that has remained a part and parcel of the political fabric of Bangladesh since 1971. It also looks into the ways in which the anti-India stance has been instrumental in garnering popular support to hold on to political power. The article begins with the background of the creation of Bangladesh and India’s active role in it which was followed by the friendship treaty signed between the two countries. Then it moves to the changing scenario following the coup d’état of 1975 which marked the visible changes within the polity of Bangladesh. The nature of nationalism underwent change moving from secularism to a religious character which found expression in the policies of the state. The military rule most often found it convenient to use the anti-Indian stance in order to please the fundamentalist elements of the country in its bid to garner popular support. The issues of water sharing, refugees and issues of fomenting possible insurgency with active support of India were highlighted. Even after the restoration of democracy, the anti-Indian factions remained active in opposing the government of Sheikh Hasina’s foreign policy with regard to India. Radical religious factions, who had throughout opposed the liberation war, still play a major role in fanning the anti-Indian sentiments in Bangladeshi politics.

Epilogue

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Sopranzetti
Keyword(s):  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
The Political ◽  
Taxi Drivers ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
The Government ◽  
Motorcycle Taxi

This epilogue follows the life of the motorcycle taxi drivers and the political situation in Thailand since the 2014 military coup. In particular, it explores how the government of Prayth Cha-o-cha is attempting to cement the cracks that the Red Shirts mobilization revealed in 2010. Once again, the chapter argues, these plans will not be completely successful and will create unintended consequences that will expose new fragility in the power of state forces.

Slovenia

2019 ◽  
pp. 475-521
Author(s):  
Alenka Krašovec ◽  
Tomaž Krpič
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Coalition Formation ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Dropping Out ◽  
The Political ◽  
Coalition Governments ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
The Government

Under the proportional representation (PR) electoral system in Slovenia, after elections, coalition governments have formed. However, the coalition partners have also adopted a ‘dropping out from government’ strategy between elections, which in some cases has led to minority governments. This has occurred despite a frequent use of several conflict-prevention and conflict-resolution mechanisms. One such mechanism, coalition agreements, are mostly understood in terms of policy agreements. After each election in the period 1992–2000, the leading party, the LDS, signed a coalition agreement with each coalition partner. Since 2013, such coalition agreements include a mechanism of explicitly stating in coalition agreements that certain issues are to be avoided. Regardless, governments termination in majority cases happened due to different (policy or personal) conflicts within the government. Early in the period, government coalitions were ideologically mixed. This was characteristic for governments under LDS leadership from 1992 to 2004, while after the 2004 elections, the governmental coalitions were much more ideologically homogenous. Alternation between like-minded ideological coalitions (centre-left or centre-right) took place. Simultaneously, the main lines of conflict changed. In the 1990s, initially a mostly ideological cleavage between ‘transformed’ and ‘newly established’ political parties was present, while after the 2004 elections, the economic cleavage became more salient. All parliamentary parties, except the Slovenian National Party, have at least briefly participated in governments, while the Democratic Party of Retired Persons have been since the mid-1990s the party with the biggest coalition potential. Since 2011, small parties have received pivotal roles in coalition formation. Generally speaking, participation in the government has not been electorally rewarding for the political parties.

Environmental Policy and the Economic Crisis

2018 ◽  
pp. 111-132
Author(s):  
Jakob Skovgaard ◽  
Roger Hildingsson ◽  
Bengt Johansson
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Climate Policy ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Path Dependence ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Ecological Modernization ◽  
The Political ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
International Pressure ◽  
The Government

This chapter employs qualitative analysis to apply the Index of Policy Activity (IPA) to climate policy in Sweden and Demark—two countries often identified as environmental leaders. It finds that the economic crisis that started in 2007–8 had substantial impacts in both states. However, Denmark, which was hit harder and for a much longer period of time than Sweden, witnessed more dismantling of its environmental policy. The analysis suggests that in both countries the political orientation of the government and changes of government proved to be key factors shaping policy ambition. Path dependence, manifested in an entrenched commitment to ecological modernization, helped to maintain support for progressive environmental policy. International pressure was also central in pushing Sweden in particular to express leadership and to promote ambitious climate policy.

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