Suchergebnisse

During the Cold War, two camps used arms to expand their influence in the Third World. In the present study, I used the concept of modularity (Q), developed within network theory, to study communities within the global arms trade network from 1975 to 1988. Using data provided by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, I showed that communities within this network had political ties with South America, Asia and Southern Africa. As part of the study I sorted countries based on their arms trade transactions, and in the process I established that China was positioned with the West in the period under study. Not only did my study show that the arms trade network reflected political alliances during this period, but it also indicated that this network highlighted international relations and the alliances of political organisations. Based on the findings of my study I put forward suggestions for future research.

An exploration of South Africa's changing position in the World Trade Network 1948–1994. The World Trade Network (WTN) has been studied as a network in numerous studies. However, countries with smaller economies are usually neglected in discussions of the WTN, and hence this article investigates the changing position of a much smaller country, South Africa, under different leaders from 1948 to 1994. It is shown, in particular, how the widespread sanctions incurred under the leadership of P.W. Botha (1978–1989) had a profound effect on South Africa's position in the WTN. Using degree, closeness and betweenness centralities, as well as the country's rankings on these centrality measures, it is shown that South Africa started as a peripheral country while still a colony of Britain, moved closer to the core of the WTN under H.F. Verwoerd and B.J. Vorster, but then sanctions pushed South Africa to the periphery under P.W. Botha, before South Africa again moved closer to the core during F.W. de Klerk's presidency.Die Wêreldhandelnetwerk is in verskeie studies as 'n netwerk bestudeer, maar lande met kleiner ekonomieë word gewoonlik in die besprekings van die Wêreldhandelnetwerk verwaarloos. Daarom ondersoek hierdie artikel die veranderende posisie van 'n veel kleiner land, Suid-Afrika, onder verskillende leiers van 1948 tot 1994. Daar word veral gewys hoe die wydverspreide sanksies wat ingestel is tydens die bewind van P.W. Botha (1978–1989) 'n groot invloed op Suid-Afrika se posisie in die WTN gehad het. Deur middel van graad-, nabyheid- en tussenliggingsentraliteit, sowel as die land se ranglys ten opsigte van hierdie sentraliteitaanduiders, word aangetoon dat Suid-Afrika as 'n randland begin het, terwyl dit nog 'n kolonie van Brittanje was, nader aan die kern van die Wêreldhandelnetwerk onder H.F. Verwoerd en B.J. Vorster beweeg het, maar toe het sanksies Suid-Afrika onder P.W. Botha na die periferie gedruk, voordat Suid-Afrika weer tydens die F.W. de Klerk se presidentskap nader aan die kern beweeg het.

The use of Social Network Analysis (SNA) to map dark, i.e. illegal, networks gained momentum after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, and numerous studies have been conducted that map Islamic extremist organisations. This article follows international studies and contemporary practices in military intelligence in using SNA to map the ties of the members of the Southern right wing group plot to blow up the Vaal Dam, who were arrested in 2002 and subsequently convicted of sabotage. It is shown how the leader of the plot consistently scores highest on betweenness, degree, and closeness centrality, and that he played an important role as broker between the Southern and the Northern groups (better known as the Boeremag). Ties between the two right wing groups are also discussed, along with the important structural roles that their meeting places played.

"Doomsday prepping" has become a highly visible phenomenon in recent years following extensive media coverage on National Geographic Channel and Discovery Channel. Although "preppers" currently inhabit South Africa, the run up to the 1994 election saw the white South African public "prepping" on an unprecedented scale. This article examines the origins of preparations made for this historic event, as well as measures taken by the white public to prepare themselves for every eventuality. While the rightwing in particular advocated preparing for what they believed would be a civil war, preparing was not limited to supporters of the rightwing, and a large number of white South Africans prepared for some kind of catastrophe. These possible eventualities range from possible power outages, water shortages and the disruption of food supply networks, to fears that whites would be exterminated as happened in the Belgian Congo, Mozambique and Angola and that the rightwing would start a civil war. In essence, however, prepping perhaps served a psychological function by establishing assurances in what was South Africa's most volatile period.

Since 1652, South Africa has played a prominent role in the Private Military Industry. Following the end of the Cold War, companies such as Executive Outcomes have continued to exert influence in the global security arena, and since 9/11 and the so-called Global War on Terror (GWOT), South Africans have remained part of the private security environment. Particularly through Erinys, although not limited to this company, South Africans have contributed to this rising phenomenon in Iraq and elsewhere, and this article attempts to document the history and operations of this company in Iraq against the global background – both synchronically and diachronically – from a South African point of view.

Amidst arguments that the nature of war has changed, notably by Kaldor (2006), Keegan (2004), Münkler (2005), and Van Creveld (2008), Private Military Companies (PMCs) have received increasing media and scholarly attention over the past decade. South Africa is no stranger to the media storm evoked by Blackwater USA during the recent conflict in Iraq Executive Outcomes (hereafter referred to as EO) caused a comparable controversy during the 1990s, first through their involvement in Angola after the withdrawal of the SADF, and later through their contract in Sierra Leone. At the time, PMCs were still a relatively new phenomenon, and thus research was scarce and it was difficult to discuss EO properly in the context of PMCs rather than as mercenaries. In the wake of the war in Iraq, the rapid growth of research into the PMC phenomenon has however provided a wealth of information that facilitates a better understanding of EO's role in the post-Cold War conflict environment. This article aims to discuss EO in this global debate by using recent research into the phenomenon, arguing that Executive Outcomes was part of a global trend in warfare.

Hierdie boek is toegespits op navorsers en doen verslag oor navorsing wat oor die afgelope paar jaar onderneem is om vas te stel hoe inligtingstegnologie aangewend is en kan word vir navorsingsdoeleindes binne die geesteswetenskappe, sowel as watter implikasies die gebruik van inligtingstegnologie vir die geesteswetenskappe inhou in die inligtingsera. Die beginsels, implikasies, probleme en geleenthede van inligtingstegnologie en die digitale revolusie word teen die agtergrond van grootdata bespreek, en word veral in verband gebring met die geesteswetenskappe in Suid-Afrika.

There is a popular perception that the threat of Soviet expansionism during the time of South Africa's Border War (1966-1989) was a fabrication by the National Party government to motivate young men to fight to maintain Apartheid as the main political ideology. This perception is voiced by numerous authors of "grensliteratuur", as well as some historians, e.g. Baines and Drewett. The claim of the National Party was that the Soviet Union attempted to expand its political influence in South Africa in order to obtain control over South Africa's mineral resources and the country's strategically located shipping routes and harbours. This article uses declassified CIA intelligence reports to engage with both claims, and asks: Was Soviet/ Communist expansion in South Africa true or a fabrication? The finding is that the CIA shared Botha and Malan's views, and since CIA reports – unlike ministerial speeches – were not intended for wide circulation, they cannot be accused of serving propaganda purposes. The conclusion is therefore that the declassified documents indicate that the NP Goverments of Malan and his successors agreed with the CIA, and therefore the claim of a Soviet threat in Namibia and Angola cannot be labelled an NP fabrication.

Cover -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- Foreword -- About the authors -- Chapter 1: Perceiving AI through a humanistic lens -- Introduction -- Humanism and AI -- Ubuntu and AI -- Decolonial and post-colonial lenses -- Notes -- Chapter 2: Intricate intersections: AI's diversity and governance crises -- Introduction -- The portrayal of AI as white -- Women in (emerging) technology -- Algorithmic exploitation -- Ecology in two senses of the word -- Ethical AI and policymaking -- A humanistic view of ethical AI governance -- Chapter 3: AI ethics in and for Africa: Some preliminary thoughts -- Introduction -- Disconnects -- Ethical debates around AI -- A relational ethics of care -- Feminist and engaged commitments to AI -- Notes -- Chapter 4: (Mis)perceptions of AI in Africa: Metaphors, myths, and realities -- Introduction -- African perceptions of AI -- Techno-utopia versus techno-dystopia -- Making (non)sense of AI as a technical artefact -- Note -- Chapter 5: Digital citizenship in Africa: Contestations and innovations in the context of AI -- Introduction -- Responses to the curtailment of digital citizen engagement -- Responses to unequal digital access and (responsible) digital literacy -- Responses to digital citizenship through digital education and research -- Promoting digital citizenship in Africa in the context of AI: Moving beyond a symbolic term -- Notes -- Chapter 6: AI and the labour sector in Africa: Disruptive or transformative? -- Introduction -- Artificial intelligence and the disruption of the labour market -- Semi-skilled labour -- Unskilled labour -- Skilled labour -- A pessimistic view of the impact of automation on the labour market -- An optimistic view of the impact of automation on the labour market -- AI ethics in the workplace.

This book explores the big data evolution by interrogating the notion that big data is a disruptive innovation that appears to be challenging existing epistemologies in the humanities and social sciences. Exploring various (controversial) facets of big data such as ethics, data power, and data justice, the book attempts to clarify the trajectory of the epistemology of (big) data-driven science in the humanities and social sciences.