avoir-Faire: A New Frontier in Global Security Alignment China-Africa Peace and Security Forum RL Vol XV No 571 MMXIX

Savoir-Faire: A New Frontier in Global Security Alignment

China-Africa Peace and Security Forum

Beijing, July 15, 2019

Interview transcript & lecture RL Vol XV No 571 MMXIX

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Former Chairperson of the African Union Anti-corruption Advisory Board

Professor of Public Policy and Sustainable Institutional Reforms

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Summary

A quick scrutiny of African conflicts shows the domineering weight of dictatorship of African states and the presence, albeit in a weaker form, of some countervailing tendencies. Undoubtedly, the struggle between tyrants and pro-democratic elements in African society has been an uneven one, with the scales unmistakably tipped towards the former. Boko Haram in West Africa, Cameroon’s English-speaking population revolt, Burkina Faso will to eradicate the flow of terrorism, Mali’s war with insurgents, Persistent ‘al-Sunna wa’a Jama’a viciousness in Mozambique, al-Shabaab in Somalia are only a few examples that exclude South Sudan, Sudan, DRC, CAR, Burundi, etc…

 While attitudes about conflict can differ radically from one cultural context to another, it is assumed here that conflict is a normal process in society; that is, it is a given. In many societies, conflict is seen as a normal element of social interaction. In some, it is seen as a positive and necessary force, desirable because individuals and groups are naturally seen as having different needs and interests, valued because it is realised that conflict often serves as an important impetus for positive change. In others, while it’s potential for creating change is acknowledged, dominance patterns in the society are such that conflict can be very destructive e. More homogeneous and tradition-oriented societies often do not place a positive value on conflict. Patterns of reciprocity and exchange engender a feeling of security, and a high value is placed upon quick resolution of public disputes, even if agreements reached might not address the underlying issues. Within these small face-to-face rural communities, whether in Africa, Asia or Latin America, conflict is seen as being dysfunctional.

The Beijing Action Plan on Political and Security Initiatives (2019-2021), on political cooperation, the action plan focuses on the two sides to continue to promote high-level exchanges to deepen traditional friendship, enhance political mutual trust, strengthen strategic coordination and cement the political foundation of China-Africa relations. On the security front, the China-Africa peace and security plan supports the operationalisation of the African Peace and Security Architecture. China will increase defence and security assistance to Africa and the two sides will enhance cooperation, strategies, and experience sharing in social governance, public security, peacekeeping, cyber security, anti-piracy and counter-terrorism. Hence, the China-Africa Peace and Security Forum must focus on tenets of The Beijing Action Plan on Political and Security Initiatives (2019-2021) on building Peace, popular participation & alternative conflict management. This must be based on the Principles for democratic egalitarianism and develop tools for an inclusive economy.

Key words: Africa, China, China-Africa Peace and Security Forum, The Beijing Action Plan on China-Africa Cooperation, social governance, public security, Peace, popular participation , alternative conflict management, democratic egalitarianism, inclusive economy

(Background paper for an interview

- Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos by Habtamu W. Liben)

See paper here or  https://www.academia.edu/39866403/Savoir-Faire_A_New_Frontier_in_Global_Security_Alignment_-_China-Africa_Peace_and_Security_Forum_RL_Vol_XV_No_571_MMXIX

Public Policy Trajectories on Pluralising Gender, Culture & Citizenship Rights RL Vol XIII No 554 MMXIX

Theoretical undergirding & Public Policy

Trajectories for Pluralising Citizenship Rights, Gender & Culture

Public Lecture Respublica Litereria - RL Vol XIII No 554 MMXIX

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Former Chairperson of the AU Anti-Corruption Advisory Board &

Professor of Public Policy & Sustainable Institutional Reforms

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

The modern conception of citizenship, as a massive voice and influential political concept is largely coupled with the advent of capitalist mode of production and the emergence of the states with distinct political realm. The natural rights of humans announced the concepts of liberty, equality, and fraternity and attempts to found the modern nation state constitutionally on the will of the people helped to construct the modern conception of citizenship. Culture is refers to a huge and varied set of mostly intangible aspects of social life and the material objects that are common to that group or society[i]. It is important for shaping social relationships, maintaining and challenging social order, determining how we make sense of the world and our place in it, and in shaping our everyday actions and experiences in society. That gender is a social construct becomes especially apparent when one compares how men and women behave across different cultures, and how in some cultures and societies, other genders exist too. What this suggests is that we learn gender through the process of socialisation.

The lecture brings out the analytical limitations inherent in current gender debate that are enveloped in human relations. Five major areas are discussed: naïve realism, narrowing democratisation of social citizenship rights to terms of not very well considered, social action; inattention to problems of articulation or production of social citizenship rights within locally grounded socio-politics rather than simply as formal or abstract possibilities; ambiguity as to whether women in civil society are agents or objects of change. A nearly exclusive concern in certain mainstreaming perspectives that may retard rather than promote legal empowerment and inadequate treatment of the role of international agencies.

In confronting the imperatives of gender relations, nothing is more challenging for polities than the strategic co-ordination of diverse global and local elements, relations and activities within themselves, nor has anything greater potential for enabling them achieve meaningful gender relations.  Within current projects of political reform, gender relations is either conventionalised or sterilised on terrain of theory and often vacuously formalised on the ground of practice. It enters society and polity in relatively abstract and plain form, yet is expected to land itself to immediate and vital polity's socio-political experience. It suggests itself, seems within reach only to elude, and appears readily practicable only to resist realisation.

Key words: citizenship, civil society, culture, gender, naïve realism, social action, social citizenship rights, legal empowerment     

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See paper here or https://www.academia.edu/39866568/Public_Policy_Trajectories_on_Pluralising_Gender_Culture_and_Citizenship_Rights_RL_Vol_XIII_No_554_MMXIX

Governmentality - the African State Apparatchik, Power & Socially Cogent Livelihoods RL Vol XIII No 570 MMXIX

Governmentality –

The State Apparatchik in Africa – Power & Socially Cogent Livelihoods

Public lecture – Respublica Litereria - RL Vol XIII No 570 MMXIX

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Former Chairperson of the African Union Anti-corruption Advisory Board

Professor of Public Policy and Sustainable Institutional Reforms

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

 The lecture is based on Foucault’s ideas - governmentality as the art of government in a wide sense, i.e. an idea of government that is not limited to state politics alone, but includes a wide range of control techniques - a wide variety of objects, from one's control of the self to the bio political control of populations. The knowledge gap the paper addresses are augured on the need for undertaking a serious review of states and governmentality in African political transitions to more pluralist societies. The research question augur on what are the mainstream thoughts that have influenced ideologies? What role has the developmental state played in development? What are the diagnostic limitations in contemporary philosophy of development and how do we prime ‘new’ ideological trajectories for African states? The following sets of tools by which to measure empirically the institutional concepts of policies & organisations have been adopted into the methodology of the research to enable desk analysis of the study. Types of policies in political competition and political participation: policies may or may not be formalised, when formalised, they are codified at three levels: constitutional policies, legislated policies and administrative policies. Organisational Characteristics refer to autonomy, capacity, complexity and cohesion.

It is widely accepted that Michel Foucault’s ‘governmentality lectures’ constituted a seminal moment in the history of neoliberal studies. In an analysis which was original and prescient, Foucault framed neoliberalism, not only in terms of a set of economic policies based on monetarism, de-regulation and privatisation, but also as a productive power, which arguably, marked the beginnings of a new paradigm in the governance of human beings. The paper recommends that the legal and judicial systems are important parts of the antidote against the threats to good governance. While good intentions on the part of lawmakers and constitutions may be a basic starting point, experience over the years have shown that this may not be adequate. Legislation alone may not be effective in limiting unethical practices unless there is the evolution of a political culture. These include inter alia, building rules and institutions, leadership - democratic and governing institutions that stem the threats to good governance include legislatures, legal and judicial systems and electoral bodies. Further, founding independent human quality development think tanks would be the single most powerful tool. Oversight and regulation of the state actions - government corporate plans, if well designed can provide the basis for establishing the state’s core activities. Ultimately, the road to good governance can only be paved if economic means exist to support private sector-led social development. The threats to good governance can be avoided if in law, citizens are able to sue the government for infringement of their civil rights that is subject to criminal proceedings and there are regulations governing conflicts of interest by the executive branch.

Key words: Governmentality, bio politics, political competition, political participation, policies: constitutional policies, legislated policies and administrative policies; organizational autonomy, capacity, complexity and cohesion

Updated Keynote address from UNECA, 2000

See paper here or  https://www.academia.edu/39815048/Governmentality_-_The_State_Apparatchik_in_Africa_-Power_and_Socially_Cogent_Livelihoods_-_RL_Vol_XIII_No_570_MMXIX 

Libya - The Intractable Phantom Sate & Unremitting Foreign Prying in the Middle East RL Vol XIII No 512 MMXIX

Libya - The Intractable Phantom Sate –

An Unremitting Foreign Prying in the Middle East - Super Power & Arab Gentry Meddling in a Ghost nation

Public lecture – Respublica Litereria - RL Vol XIII No 512 MMXIX

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Former Chairperson of the African Union Anti-corruption Advisory Board

Professor of Public Policy and Sustainable Institutional Reforms

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

In December 2010, a street vendor of fruits barely making a living to support his family attempted suicide by setting fire to himself in public leading to a chain of cause and effect initially known as the Arab Spring, but more correctly can be called an Arab Tsunami. It swept off power autocrats in the Middle Eat & North Africa (MENA). An erstwhile prosperous state, bombed to oblivion by the West, Libya today is a phantom state of toxic fanatics and clan enclaves. This brings forth the following questions as to the motives of the West. Does democracy enter civil uprisings in MENA, parachuted as an external ideology, constructing and deploying its concepts in sterile abstraction from the immediacies of indigenous traditions, beliefs and values? Does the West’s invasion signify change in terms of the transformation of the immediate stuff of politics into a new kind of political activity - an activity mediated and guided by objective and critical democratic standards, rules and principles?

Gaddafi built a collectivist state where all basic needs were met by the state; nevertheless, these were at a cost: no meaningful political rights. ‘The Political Lustration Law, which prevented anyone with even a distant connection to the Gaddafi regime from holding public office during the country’s transition. This laid down the seeds for a full-blown civil war, which, over the years has led to two key power bases. The UN-backed Government of National Accord based in Tripoli and a parallel administration the Libyan National Army in the east (Tobruk). Adding to all this is the complexity of the external players taking sides, with UAE, Saudi and Egypt behind General Haftar while the Turks and the Qataris opposing him. Haftar launched his effort to take Tripoli by force in April 2019 from the internationally recognised government under PM Fayez al-Sarraj, days before the UN had scheduled a national assembly to bring Libyans together to negotiate a compromise, effectively foiling any move into political stability, taking the civil war into its next phase. The protracted conflict, might sadly, be here to stay’ (Goel, 2019:1-2).

Keywords: Arab Tsunami, Arab Spring, Libya, Gaddafi, Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj, Libyan National Army, Haftar, UAE, Saudi, Egypt, Turkey, Qatar,

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See paper here or   https://www.academia.edu/39805572/Libya_-The_Intractable_Phantom_Sate_-_An_Unremitting_Foreign_Prying_in_the_Middle_East_-Super_Power_and_Arab_Gentry_Meddling_in_a_Ghost_nation_-_RL_Vol_XIII_No_512_MMXIX

Priming Adaptive Strategies & Survival Mechanisms for Refugees & IDPs -- RL Vol XIII No 562 MMIXX

Environmental Education Minimum Package Programmes

Priming Adaptive Strategies & Survival Mechanisms for Refugees & Internally Displaced Persons

(Case Study: Children and Women in Hostile Habitats & Altruistic Host Communities in Dimma, Bonga and Pugnido Camps in Ethiopia, 1995)

Respublica Litereria Public Lecture - RL Vol. XIII No 562 MMIXX

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Former Chairperson of the AU Anti-Corruption Advisory Board &

Professor of Public Policy & Sustainable Institutional Reforms

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

A team under the auspices of the Centre for Human Environment undertook adaptive and rehabilitative environmental awareness generation in the Sudanese refugee camps of southwestern Ethiopia beginning 1^st Nov 1995. The first part of the fieldwork was to undertake training needs assessment. For this purpose, a team of professionals composed of ecologists, sociologists, adaptive technology engineers, economists and agronomists under the team leadership of the author have conducted the assessment in Dimma, Bonga and Pugnido refugee camps and surrounding areas. The purpose was to identify the knowledge gap in the environmental problems of the area and recommend appropriate capacity building packages. The needs assessment focused on participatory collection of all possible socioeconomic data available, livelihood systems, felt needs of the displaced and host populations necessary to design and organise training of trainers. Collection and analysis of data was undertaken, necessary information was collected, and felt needs identified.

Capacity building in adaptive strategies of the populace and environmental education for training of trainers and curricula were developed to conduct training and to institutionalise and strengthen environmental clubs in the schools in Dimma, Bonga and Pugnido refugees and host communities in the villages near the camps, namely Fundika, Pugnido. Awareness generation is a continuous work among the people to gain full participation of every individual to protect and develop the environment, with an organised local agency, whose function is to sustain the programme and conduct discussions on relevant issues of environmental degradation, protection and development with assistance from state and non-state agencies in the area. This has resulted in the operationalisation of participatory environmental protection and development activities to enhance the adaptive strategies and survival mechanism of refugees, IDPs and host communities via on-going environmental protection and development activities. The last section presents a framework for priming a citizen (refuges, IDPs, host communities) driven participatory agenda for Sustainable Livelihoods

Key words: Refugee, IDP, Environmental Education Minimum Package Programme, EEMPP, Dimma, Bonga, Pugnido, Fundika, soil, water, forests, agroforestry, agriculture, 

See paper here or  https://www.academia.edu/39750853/Priming_Adaptive_Strategies_and_Survival_Mechanisms_for_Refugees_and_IDPs_--_RL_Vol_XIII_No_562_MMIXX

The power of human empathy and collective action, saves lives. People join in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet. The human can learn and understand, without  experiencing it. They can think themselves into other people’s places. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” – J.K. Rowling, author, philanthropist, and founder children’s charity, Lumos