Return Migrants Reintegration Projects in West Africa: Critical Notes on the Sahel

Migration issue is more than ever on the agenda of global concerns, particularly with regard to Africa, even though human mobility remains essentially internal on the African continent and rooted in centuries-old circulatory traditions. While a large literature emphasizes the criminalization of migration from the South to the North, but also the policies of outsourcing borders and the control of flows, the links between migration and development are still poorly studied, particularly with regard to the returnees, expelled and other categories (re) integration. However, return migrants are often at the heart of different logics and realities in tension, especially in the context of various reintegration projects, with mixed results. This paper contributes to rethink critically the public policies of reintegration of return migrants in Sub-Saharan Africa as a component of the European Union governance of migration, and in a context of regional free movement promotion. It is based on a combined analysis of some projects implemented as part of the transfer of European migration governance policies and measuring the scope, but also their inconsistencies.

South Africa-US Contest over Africa Policy Dominance: A Study with Emphasis on AFRICOM, BRICS and Libyan Issues

Foreign policy is embodied in the pursuit of national interests by States in their interaction with other countries. The attainment of Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) led majority rule statehood and its relationship with the midwife, the United States, provides us with one of the most complex case study examined between the late 1980s until the present. At the end of the Cold War, a period which coincided with the decolonisation of several countries in Southern Africa including Namibia and South Africa, following mediation by the US, Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Affairs, Chester Crocker United States, predicted on its new found relationship with the then United Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and its presence in Angola, informed the decolonization of the sub-regional in which the US targeted South Africa’s apartheid regime towards abandoning its military destabilisation activities and providing security guarantees to the white minority community under the new African majority regime.The result was the withdrawal of Cuban forces in Angola, Namibia independence and finally, the ANC led by the long imprisoned Nelson Mandela at the head of the first coalition government. Consequently, this immediate post-independence arrangement constrained the freedom of action of the ANC during its first term in power. In the subsequent era, the evidence reveals tension and clashes of interests between Washington and Pretoria manifest in at least three areas: creating an African coalition during 2006 against US policy preferences such as the deployment of Africa Command (AFRICOM) on the continent; the 2010 entering into an international political economy of BRICS against Washington’s global dominance and finally, the 2011 coalition attempts under the auspices of the African Union (AU) challenge towards Western intervention in Libya and the deposition of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi on 23 October 2011.Based on secondary sources, newspaper, academic thesis and other official reports this article examines the tensions that developed between Washington and Tshwane/Pretoria over their intentions over Africa. This assesses three areas of foreign policy relationships depicting: contestation, belligerence and finally belated confrontation.These phases begin with the 2006 US intention to locate AFRICOM in Africa, a development openly opposed by President Thabo Mbeki through the AU. This is followed by South Africa joining the global economic competitors made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) at the invitation by China. This competitive relationship not only challenged the existing World Bank and IMF dominance but created an entry point for China in Africa. Finally, the article examines the US policy on Libya of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 after adopting UN Resolution 1973 in a subsequent development that went against the AU and South Africa, culminating in the capture and assassination of Gaddaffi on 23 October 2011. Conclusively, the US-South Africa relationship over Africa has been characterised by phases of belligerence, collegial neutrality and uncooperative behaviour.

The US-backed Moroccan- Israeli Normalization Agreement: Implications on the Future of the Maghreb Union

After the signing of the Abraham Accords between the Zionist entity and the countries of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain under the auspices of US President Trump, Morocco joined the normalization process and became the latest country in the Arab League which agreed to normalize its relations with Israel through US mediation. As part of the agreement, the US agreed to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region, and to release $ 1 billion in military aid to Morocco. This Moroccan step added fuel to the flame and worsened its relations with the Palestinian Authority, on the one hand, and the countries of the Maghreb union, on the other hand. Morocco’s normalization of its relations with the Zionist entity does not only deteriorate its relations with Algeria, which supports the POLISARIO, but also affects the future of the Maghreb union. This paper discusses the implications of Morocco’s normalization of its relations with the Zionist entity on the Arab Maghreb integration project. It takes into account the Moroccan normalization process as a part of the overall Arab approach. In addition, it highlights the Israeli relations with the Maghreb countries of Morocco, Mauritania, and Tunisia, and how Moroccan normalization will affect the future of integration of Maghreb union.

US Policy towards the Maghreb: An Arduous Combination of Strategic Interests and Economic Stakes

The relations of the United States of America (USA) with the Maghreb States are ancient, though intermittent and not very substantial. Globally, the Maghreb does not constitute a vital region for US strategic concerns. It is included broadly in what the American policy makers depict as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) configuration and thus does not represent a specific or a peculiar zone for American involvement or responsibility.However, the Maghreb presents a relative importance in the US designs whether in terms of strategic concerns or economic assets, particularly with the worldwide emergence of terrorism. This care remains only provisory.Strategic alignments (Morocco and Tunisia) and energy resources (Algeria and Libya) have relatively attracted US attention to the Maghreb, but security matters, linked to the widespread of terrorism, have strengthened the relations between the two parties, without, however, upgrading their partnership to the level of vitally crucial dynamics, interdependent needs, and promising prospects.

External Interventions and Consequences in the Horn of Africa

This paper examines external interventions, subsequent configurations of alliances and consequences in the Horn of Africa (HOA). The HOA, major part of its political history is shaped and reshaped by external interventions and constant shifts of alliances and political configurations. Colonialism, Cold War, war on terror, piracy and scramble for resources have all shaped the politics of the region. Superpower rivalry during Cold War left its interminable print in the region. The GCC crisis and the Yemen war induced greater involvement of those states in the region. Its crucial strategic location makes the region highly coveted by external actors making it an easy prey for external power struggle. This renders the region the most conflicted in the African continent. Recently, the region has witnessed convergence of military forces of major global powers. This in turn sparks reactions of radicalism, fundamentalism and extremism. The paper argues the conflated interventions and constant shifts of alliances generate convolute pathologies that plague the HOA.