Contending issues in South Africa's foreign policy : universalism versus economic national interest : the case of South Africa's arms sales to 'pariah states' 1994-1999

This study examines post-apartheid South African foreign policy under former President Nelson Mandela, and the apparent ambiguities that were its recurrent feature in the period from 1994 to 1999. Its focus is on the inherent irreconcilability of the economic national interests and the foreign policy principles which included the promotion of and respect for universalist principles and interests such as human rights, democracy, international peace and security. In examining South African foreign policy during this period, it would appear that the country was trapped between two competing priorities: the need to promote "universalist" principles and the need to satisfy its national economic interests. The main aim of the study is to explain how this "irreconcilability" between universalist principles and national economic interests would later create ambiguities and contradictions in South Africa's foreign policy, weaken respect for its foreign policy principles, and ultimately lead to ideological failure among politicians who employed 'short-term gain' policy decision-making in dealing with 'pariah states'. The study further demonstrates that "realist" national interests are frequently short-term, realizable and vital for a country, while universalist interests are long-term, idealistic and usually not easily realizable. It will be argued, therefore, that a country faced with making decisions about its vital national interests, will not make efforts to pursue long-term universalist interests if that choice would in any way endanger its fundamental national interests. In order to better assess this ambiguity, this thesis will provide a case study of Pretoria's arms sales to 'pariah states' during the period. The purpose of this study is not to attempt to explain all of the issues around post-apartheid foreign policymaking, or even to argue whether the sale of arms to 'pariah states' was 'politically incorrect', but to provide a 'piece of the puzzle' which might explain how the social and economic situation may have compelled Pretoria to sell arms when these actions disregarded universalist principles of foreign policy. The conclusion seems to confirm the realist view that universal values and principles can be regarded only when they are in harmony with a state's perceived self-interests

Cuba's revolutionist and anti-imperialist foreign policy in Southern Africa: the case of Angola and Namibia

This study examines Cuba’s role in the two southern African countries of Angola and Namibia during the Cold War period. It argues that Cuba’s ideological motivations have been embodied in the mutually reinforcing concepts of proletarian internationalism and anti-imperialism. These conceptual perspectives constitute some of the central variables that influence Cuba’s foreign policy behaviour in international relations. It is within this context that one can understand Cuba’s involvement in Southern Africa. This study also attempts to explain that Cuban foreign policy towards Africa was based on two complementary and contextual objectives namely, promoting nationalism at home and nurturing revolutionary Marxist-Leninist governments, as well as supporting anti-colonial and anti-imperialist movements abroad. For the purpose of achieving these foreign policy objectives, Cuba not only engaged in state-to-state relations with Angola and Namibia; but had cordial relations with the rest of the continent and in particular Southern Africa, which also became a direct military testing ground for Cuba’s commitment to an anti-colonial and anti-imperialist revolutionary stance. Furthermore, the thesis shows that Cuba’s relentless hatred of imperialism is rooted in its historical relationship with the United States because from the turn of the century till 1958, the Americans interfered in Cuba’s internal affairs by supporting corrupt administrations and exploited the country. These practices by the United States laid the foundation for Cuba’s anti-colonialism and antiimperialism abroad. Ultimately, this thesis shows that Cuban involvement in Angola and Namibia can be conceptualised within these contexts (anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism, proletarian internationalism and revolutionary Marxism-Leninism). The role of Cuban nationalism in the realisation of these objectives and ideals, as well as its role in perpetuating and consolidating her foreign policy is assessed in this study. This nationalism and ideals of internationalism constitutes the central idea in the Cuban revolution. Finally, this thesis asserts that Cuban motives for getting involved in the politics of Southern Africa were not motivated by economic or imperialistic reasons. Rather, the historical similarity and colonial experiences between Africa and Cuba were some of the central causal factors

A framework for assessing cloud computing risk for Kenyan organizations

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Information TechnologyCloud computing has recently emerged as a buzz word in the distributed computing community. Many believe that Cloud is going to reshape the IT industry as a revolution. Yet for security professionals, the cloud presents a huge dilemma: How do you embrace the benefits of the cloud while maintaining security controls over your organisations’ assets? It becomes a question of balance to determine whether the increased risks are truly worth the agility and economic benefits. The author proposes a framework that borrows from other developed frameworks that will assist in the mapping out of security risks and controls that current and prospective users will need to take care of. The target group of respondents for this research are employees in the Information Technology departments in randomly selected Kenyan firms cutting across Utilities, Manufacturing, Transport, Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Government, Academia, Finance and ICT. Questionnaires were used with forty respondents giving their feedback. The feedback was positive with majority of the respondents having confidence in the framework – 90% of the respondents did not suggest any item for removal from the framework. They concurred that to address the risks in cloud computing, consideration has to be given to security in personnel, operational and physical issues, in addition to supply-chain assurance, portability and business continuity management. Also to be considered are environmental controls and legal and jurisdiction matters. The suggestions for additions were incorporated in the final model that was used to evaluate an existing cloud user who found areas that needed to be addressed by their Cloud Service Provider. The implication of this research is that the market is ripe and ready for cloud computing as long it can have assurance of the security and continuity of their data and systems. The research will give guidelines to those interested in implementing cloud computing on the considerations to make in order to ensure security and continuity risks of their systems are considered. The paper adds value in that cloud computing being a relatively new phenomenon, not much research has gone into its implementation, especially in Africa and more so in Kenya