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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Role Of Private Military Companies In Us-Africa Policy, Emmanuel Aning, Thomas Jaye, Samuel Atuobi Nov 2008

The Role Of Private Military Companies In Us-Africa Policy, Emmanuel Aning, Thomas Jaye, Samuel Atuobi

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

This article discusses the increasing use of private military companies (PMCs) in United States' security policy in Africa, and examines this phenomenon in relation to the US' various military training programmes on the continent. We argue that the increasing use of PMCs in US security policy has evolved due to two critical and mutually dependent developments; African state weakness and resource stringency on the one hand, and the US's overwhelming security commitments around the world, combined with military downsizing, on the other. The article further argues that the involvement of PMCs is to a large extent informed by US concerns …


From 'Voluntary' To A 'Binding' Process: Towards The Securitisation Of Small Arms, Emmanuel Aning Mar 2008

From 'Voluntary' To A 'Binding' Process: Towards The Securitisation Of Small Arms, Emmanuel Aning

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

This article analyses the issue of small arms and light weapons (SALW) proliferation in both Ghana and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Specifically, it assesses the extent to which both Ghana and ECOWAS have 'securitised' this particular issue through an initial 'voluntary' instrument first in 1998 and extended in 2001 until the signing in June 2006 of a legally and politically binding ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, their Ammunition and Other Related Materials. To do so, the article begins by setting out the scope and a brief history of the SALW problem in West …


Us Peace-Operations Policy In Africa: From Acri To Africom, A. Sarjoh Bah, Emmanuel Aning Jan 2008

Us Peace-Operations Policy In Africa: From Acri To Africom, A. Sarjoh Bah, Emmanuel Aning

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

This article examines the changing nature of US peacekeeping policy in Africa in the postcold war period. After an account of the failures in Somalia and Rwanda in the early 1990s, it traces the evolution of various training programmes, from the African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI) in the early 1990s to the African Command (AFRICOM). We argue that, while these initiatives had some characteristics that were welcomed by African states, the programmes never achieved their full potential. The United States was quick to replace one programme with another when it ran into difficulty with the recipients, leading to a shift …


China’S Ventures In Africa, Emmanuel Aning, Delphine Lecroute Dec 2007

China’S Ventures In Africa, Emmanuel Aning, Delphine Lecroute

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

In this paper, we are guided by several questions of which the critical one is whether Sino-African relations are merely opportunistic and based on an ad hoc momentum, or whether they reflect a real strategy based on presence and territorial domination in the new context of competition and cooperation on the reconfigured African continent. We argue that any endeavour to appreciate the complexities of this relationship needs a more nuanced and differentiated appreciation and understanding of Sino-African relations. Such an approach will elucidate the complex relationship between Africa and China and, more importantly, emphasise the delicate nuances that are overlooked …