Suchergebnisse

The impact of the concept(s) of armed struggle for the notion(s) of democracy in South(ern) Africa is the focus of this paper. Originally submitted to a conference on '(Re-) Conceptualising Democracy and Liberation in Southern Africa', held in Windhoek/Namibia during July 2002, it argues from the point of departure of the personal involvement of the author in the issues raised. The author was part of a group which criticised the strategy of armed struggle in the ANC. For the articulation of this dissenting view they were suspended from the movement in 1979 and finally expelled in 1985. With this paper he inspires a debate, which can claim relevance for current issues of democracy in South Africa and the Southern African region more generally. Given the degree of personal involvement of its author, this analysis is contemporary history based on personal insights, and provides arguments for a necessary discussion. ; CONTENTS -- PART I: A Strategy of Rural Guerrillaism? 1961–75 -- PART II: What Strategy for the Armed Struggle? 1976–87

This contribution studies the influence of poor politico-economic factors, unfavorable demographic conditions, state failure, modernization, secularization, globalization and the perceived dependency of the Islamic world from the West on the onset of armed Islamist activity for 155 countries between 1968 and 2007. Its empirical findings show that the onset of militant Islamism is robustly associated with the discrimination of Islamic minorities, state weakness, the presence of large (secular and possibly predatory) governments, military dependence from the U.S., external cultural influences and the availability of a large pool of potential recruits (as indicated by a large, Muslim population). Poor economic conditions, modernization and authoritarianism share no association with the onset of Islamist militancy. The latter findings imply that democratic reforms and economic development while often advocated countering Islamist violence appear to be rather ineffective tools of conflict prevention.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 354-369). ; This study explores the experiences of the rank-and-file soldiers of Umkhonto we Sizwe and the Azanian People's Liberation Anny. Extensive interviews by the author and other researchers reveal the voices of the soldiers themselves. The African National Congress and Pan African Congress archives at the University of the Western Cape and the University of Fort Hare supplement and verify these oral testimonies, as do some published sources. Most previously published materials about the armed struggle against apartheid have already focused on diplomacy, strategy and tactics, operations, leadership, and human rights abuses to the neglect of the soldiers' actual experiences. This study complements these with significant new oral history materials from the Soweto generation of soldiers and their successors. When dealing with MK, many authors have documented issues of the camp structure in Angola, and operations inside South Africa, so much of this detail is only addressed briefly, leaving space to explore the soldiers' experiences. In the case of APLA, very little has been written on its history, and more detail is provided on these subjects. This study therefore deals with the soldiers' politicisation and motivation for joining the armed struggle, their experiences in leaving South Africa and training in exile, the crises in exile which limited their effectiveness for a time, their return to fight in South Africa, and their difficulties in the "new" South Africa. These materials reveal that vast problems remain facing these veterans of the struggle against apartheid, and that they have the potential, if properly supported and employed, to contribute substantially to the development of present day South Africa. Conversely, if their neglect continues, they also have the potential to bring vast harm to the country. Further use of the investigative tools of oral history, especially if extended to the former soldiers' vernacular languages, is necessary to augment the history of South Africa, and these soldiers' contributions.

"This is the first book to comprehensively examine the shifts that have informed republican tradition and transformation from the beginning of the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland until the final stages of the peace process. Using a combination of empirical research and literature, the book addresses Northern Irish republican identity through the influences of imagination, history and Catholicism before it charts the processes of decision-making and management that shaped the transition from militarism to politics. Drawing from interview material from a wide range of actors and key players the book considers the challenges that political republicanism has worked to overcome and concludes that ongoing political development will require a less acute, more ambiguous communication of values based on pragmatism and compromise, rather than the continued articulation of principles and convictions that sustained the armed struggle.A unique work, From Armed Struggle to Political Struggle is essential for students and researchers in Irish politics, conflict resolution, and security studies"--