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In this article, the author reflects on how she and her students were able to draw on elements of popular culture to develop their understanding of Africa’s international relations. The article shows, in particular, how the use of popular... more
In this article, the author reflects on how she and her students were able to draw on elements of popular culture to develop their understanding of Africa’s international relations. The article shows, in particular, how the use of popular culture material has, as the relevant pedagogical literature suggests, strengthened student engagement and deepened their learning experience, notably by offering them greater freedom in their analysis and interpretation of the ideas and issues studied in class. Most importantly, the use of popular culture has helped them consider the very wide range of voices and views on Africa, its politics and international relations, but also apprehend popular culture as a political arena – one where political images and ideas are shaped that durably inform and influence international relations and politics.
ABSTRACT In the official discourse, “convergence” between the European Union and its African partners takes place through partnership and common goals. The concrete actions undertaken (or not) by both sets of actors to turn this apparent... more
ABSTRACT In the official discourse, “convergence” between the European Union and its African partners takes place through partnership and common goals. The concrete actions undertaken (or not) by both sets of actors to turn this apparent convergence into reality are, however, far more complex and uneven than the official discourse suggests. They are on some occasions dissonant, both in the actual objectives pursued on the ground and in their implementation by the two sides of the partnership. In trying to explain this convergence/dissonance gap, this contribution underlines the highly experimental nature of the EU-Africa relations and accounts for some of the contradictions and inefficiencies so often pointed out in previous studies.
The European Union (EU) is a significant political and security actor in the Great Lakes region, notably via the four Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the high amounts of... more
The European Union (EU) is a significant political and security actor in the Great Lakes region, notably via the four Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the high amounts of development aid contributed to the region’s four states. Yet the EU is struggling, alongside other international actors, to both prevent crises and impose itself as a key political and diplomatic actor in the region. The reason for this lies mainly in the nature of the EU as an inter-governmental organisation, a long-time aid donor, and a still young international and political actor. These constraints have made it difficult, so far, for the EU to respond effectively and coherently to the complex challenges of a region that is rapidly changing political faces.
This article focuses on the negotiations that the European Commission, with the formal support of France, Italy and Spain, opened with Senegal in 2008 for a mobility partnership agreement. Mobility partnerships, as defined by the... more
This article focuses on the negotiations that the European Commission, with the formal support of France, Italy and Spain, opened with Senegal in 2008 for a mobility partnership agreement. Mobility partnerships, as defined by the Commission in 2007, are a new EU (multilateral) instrument for managing migratory flows into the Union. The negotiations with Senegal were indefinitely suspended in 2009 and are now widely considered as having failed. This article sets out to identify the factors that contributed to the suspension of talks. It shows that failure can be attributed to a complex web of factors originating in the specific Senegalese, European and Senegal-EU political landscapes and jointly contributing to an unfavourable cost-benefit calculation by the French and Senegalese parties to the negotiation, to an unclear and awkward negotiating strategy on the part of the European Commission and to incoherent, EU and Senegalese, foreign policies. This, in turn, points to the complex ...
The contestation was a three-way struggle: between the government (including the new Kibaki government elected in 2002), parliament and the political parties, and the civil society bodies with politicians even of the opposition parties as... more
The contestation was a three-way struggle: between the government (including the new Kibaki government elected in 2002), parliament and the political parties, and the civil society bodies with politicians even of the opposition parties as likely to oppose the last as support their efforts. Indeed even after the Commission's draft had been submitted, efforts to undermine it persisted and were finally successful when Parliament decided that it was the sole body that should draw up and approve a constitution. So although there was a referendum which did limit their having the final say, the voting was on a new draft put together by the Government. It was referred to as the Wako draft, after the Attorney General (both in the Moi and Kibaki governments). As some commentators remarked 'the politicians highjacked the process'.
Extracted from text ... Blood from stones: The secret fi nancial network of terror* Douglas Farah * Broadway Books, New York, 2004, ISBN 0767915623, 240 pp, hardcover. The title of Farah's book is misleading. One would expect an... more
Extracted from text ... Blood from stones: The secret fi nancial network of terror* Douglas Farah * Broadway Books, New York, 2004, ISBN 0767915623, 240 pp, hardcover. The title of Farah's book is misleading. One would expect an in-depth and systematic analysis of the links between West Africa's blood diamonds and international terrorist networks. In fact, the title's 'blood stones' provided the fi rst lead in a worldwide investigation of terrorist fi nancial networks that took Farah from West Africa to the Middle East to the United States. Farah spent a little less than two years, from March 2000 to November 2001, in West ..
Senegal, along with Cape Verde, is first amongst West African states to engage in a mobility partnership with the European Union (EU). Begun in June 2008, the aim of the mobility partnership is to facilitate circular migration, which the... more
Senegal, along with Cape Verde, is first amongst West African states to engage in a mobility partnership with the European Union (EU). Begun in June 2008, the aim of the mobility partnership is to facilitate circular migration, which the European Commission has defined as 'a form ...