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NEW - The local considerations and international dimensions of the African Standby Force (A Geopolitical Solutions Comment - 22 March 2010)
The African Union (AU) is entering an important phase in terms of the definition it is giving to Africa’s collective security regime. Issues of human security at the most basic level of accessing sufficient nutrition, as well as bigger security headaches that hide in the battlefields of Somalia and other conflict zones on the continent, all point to the fact that the AU’s long-term evolution as an institutional framework has to address the multi-faceted problem of security in unique and innovative ways. [Read More...]
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How to deal with the asymmetries: questions on the AU’s horizon
27 January 2010
The following two weeks will be a busy time in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital. In an official press release (25 January) the AU announced that the Executive Council of the African Union (AU) will hold its Sixteenth Ordinary Session on 28 & 29 January. Short on the heels of the Executive Council meeting, the Fourteenth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State of the African Union will take place between the 31st of January and 2 February. The theme of the 14th AU summit is “Information and Communication Technologies in Africa: Challenges and Prospects for Development.” [Read More...]
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New Link to Geopolitical Monitor (Canada)
- US General: Iran 'certainly can be bombed'
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The Secret Life of Weapons
Events usually received as a news headline on a website or newspaper, is not only removed from the real event by thousands of miles, but, the words that construct the reality it speaks to are chosen with a purpose. The vast wash of news and information spilling through the virtual infrastructures of the global media threatens, at every click of the mouse or remote, to engulf the meaning, and forthright horror, that are reported on by armies of reporters and phalanx’s of media corporations that keep the global real-time news industry running 24/7, 365 days a year.
It is therefore always a pleasant surprise to come upon publications that do their best to creep into corners of the human social and political reality where camera lenses do not go, and where, on most occasions, even angels fear to tread. The January 2010 edition of the BBC Focus on Africa magazine is a case in point. On the cover it sports a photograph of a person wearing a colourful cloth, which is on its part held in place by a well worn ammunition belt loaded with bullets. This image brings the hard bullet ridden reality of the African political landscape home with the apt title on the cover, “Wrapped in Arms.” [Read More]
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Tehran waiting for an answer from the West
More important than the ability to flex muscles and exercise power in international politics, is the need to exercise patience. After long protracted diplomatic wrangling and intense naval-gazing on all sides involved in negotiations on Iran’s civilian nuclear program, Tehran agreed that it is in its best interests to engage in a Uranium swap deal. After all the dramatic news headlines hurling allegations on Iran’s supposed ill-intent, one would expect the world media to applaud the fact that Iran is willing to allay international fears by agreeing to a complicated, costly, and time consuming process of shipping a significant portion of its Uranium reserves to a foreign destination for further enrichment. [Read More...]
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Speed and the politics of projectiles in the Persian Gulf
If one can draw a lesson from the 20th century then it is that the survival of state orders are determined by their ability to develop, master and control technologies. Military technologies, be-it the development of long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles, supersonic fighter jets, unmanned aerial vehicles or vast electronic surveillance networks, all extend the power of states to exercise critical control and/or surveillance functions over areas or issues of strategic interest. Read More...
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Is there light at the end of Iran's nuclear tunnel?
From the South African point of view the protracted stand-off concerning Iran’s nuclear program may seem remote and of little consequence. Yet, given the fact that Iran supplies approximately 35 to 40% of South Africa’s crude oil imports, South Africa’s relationship with Iran is of strategic importance for both countries. Trade volumes between the countries stand at approximately $3.8 to $4 billion annually. South Africa’s reliance on the import of Iranian oil makes it necessary to pay close attention to the impact a stepped-up regime of international sanctions and isolation of Iran may have on South Africa’s strategic energy interests. Read More...
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US & Chinese interests in Africa oil and resources
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Rebels, Guerrillas and Resources Series #6
Sudan: war machines, state formation and two million square kilometers of complexity
The war machine
Society is a rhizomatic bulb of strained relationships. A terrorist organisation, as extreme political example, comes into existence not because of that which it opposes or rejects, but relies for its growth and ultimate “success”, on tearing individual members away from the larger body of society, family, culture and general social constructs they inhabited before. This means that its existence depends on an internal dynamism, a fundamentalist agenda, and/or a worldly or otherworldly goal that can sustain their struggle through multiple hardships. Individual members are thus torn away from socio-cultural spaces to be inducted into the logic of the organisation, its goals, and vision. Read More...
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Geopolitical Solutions believes that turbulent changes and severe uncertainties are plaguing the world political-economic system, with consequences that can be felt on all levels of individual, state and business activity. Given situations of complexity, change, and uncertainty, Geopolitical Solutions provides quality research, information, and strategic analysis services to assist organisations to cope with change and to gain a deeper understanding of factors that impact on operations in complex political, economic and social environments. Geopolitical Solutions believes that it is possible to create new political and economic insights that can lead to the development of opportunities that can best serve the interests of humanity within a Southern-oriented developmental paradigm.
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Geopolitical Solutions services are not generic, we strive not to follow a one-size-fits-all approach, but, to respond directly to the specific information, and strategic research needs of small and large organisations in the public and private sector.
This site, and the work of Geopolitical Solutions, is dedicated to the study of emerging patterns of political change, turbulence, and transformations in local- and global politics. In a globalised world characterised by interconnectivity, instantaneousness, and high levels of conflict in regions of geostrategic significance such as the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, and Central Asia, the global and regional impact of such conflicts has to be studied in order to understand future trends.
In order to fully comprehend the nature of change in political systems, it is often necessary not to ask what is happening at the centre(s) of the system, but to unearth the complex dynamics and processes that unfold on the periphery. Events and dynamics in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, the Niger Delta, Venezuela, Indonesia, Beijing, Tehran and Moscow point not only to the emergence of new, and the re-emergence of old powers and processes in the world system, but also to the need to understand the impact the BRIC economies have on the future of the world system. Geopolitical Solutions is well positioned to develop research products for businesses active in the African continent. Please view the Geopolitical Solutions Services page for a full description of our range of services.
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