The Security Concept in Southern Africa: Prospects for the Post-Apartheid Era
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The Security Concept in Southern Africa: Prospects for the Post-Apartheid Era A Thesis Submitted by : Agostinho M. Zacarias For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economics/ International Relations London School of Economics and Political Science June 1996 UMI Number: U087011 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U087011 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 F 7 S ivounowQNV »** To the Memory of my father: Marcelino Bonifacio Zacarias who did not live longer to share this experience with me and to my mother Hortencia, and to Luisa and Jose, all of whom made immense sacrifices for my education. Abstract The thesis examines the concept of security that states and other actors in Southern Africa have acted upon. It argues that Southern Africa, due to its peculiar colonial history and apartheid, and the regions’ links with great powers, embraced the traditional concept of security, a concept that was unsustainable and inappropriate for its specific conditions. The traditional concept seeks to protect states and domestic societies from outside threats. This concept was inherently militaristic, nationally focused, state-centric and narrow in scope. The emphasis is on immediate problem-solving rather than on a sustained attempt to identify the underlying causes of insecurity. Its application to Southern Africa led to regional confrontation and produced more insecurity than security. Southern Africa needs a new concept which is broader and long term in its outlook in order to restore stability and prosperity. The new concept should essentially be people centred, because people are the only object of security. The new concept should take into account the diverse factors, military and non-military impinging on the security of people. Placing people at the centre, when conceptualising security, requires focusing on making the environment secure rather than on the threats to and the vulnerabilities of the state. The environment of security is defined by the coexistence of three pillars: order, justice and peace. Thus the task of building security in Southern Africa should be orientated towards the strengthening of these pillars. In the final analysis the pillars need to be supported and reinforced by a political process which seeks to promote the good of all members of society as the final goal of all policy. This cannot be achieved without building legitimate states, i.e. states regarded as protectors of their citizens interests and strengthen social agents other than those merely around the state. The task of building a legitimate state and strengthening civil society then become primary steps in the process of building the desired security community in Southern Africa. National integration of different political communities within the states and regional co-operation are essential. This implies strengthening domestic and regional institutions. While domestic institutions are necessary to reduce internal conflicts, regional institutions are essential to allow the predictability of peace in relations among states. The economic and social inequalities between the states and the military asymmetries, will hamper states quick integration, hence the building of the security community. Regional institutions will tend to drain the resources of the relatively richer states, even though there is a strong will to avoid the confrontations of the past. This thesis suggests that a security system, defined as a pattern of relations aimed at assuring the sharing of common values and interests, should be followed in the process of building security in Southern Africa. Contents Page Abstract i Abbreviations ii Acknowledgements iii Introduction 1 What is Security 3 The Security debate 6 Security and the third World 9 Security and Southern Africa 13 Part I - The Idea of Security and Southern Africa Chapter 1 Historical overview of the concept of Security 23 The Realist School 24 The Liberal School 37 Collective Security 44 The Marxist School 51 Southern Africa and the Concept of Security 57 Chapter 2 The Making of the Southern Africa Security Complex: Regional Factors 65 The Discovery of Diamonds and Gold 67 Towards the Monopoly of Means of Violence and power 74 South Africa and the Search for Regional Power 83 The Impact of Nationalist Struggle 91 Consolidation of the Bloc System 90 Chapter 3 The Making of the Southern Africa Security Complex: Extra -Regional Factors 108 NATO Ambiguous Policies and Southern Africa 110 Britain and South Africa 118 The Socialist Bloc and Southern Africa 126 The Replication of East West Divide in the Region 138 PART II - Legacies and Inadequacies of Traditional Approaches To Security Chapter 4 The Legacies of the Southern Africa Security Complex 151 The State and Security 151 The Southern African States 156 The Successor Colonial States 159 The Physical Base and Institutions 161 The Military Related Legacies 169 Economic Legacies 176 Chapter 5 The Inadequacies of the Traditional Concept 184 The Traditional Concept 185 The Nature of the State 190 The Endemic Nature of Problems Impinging on Security 199 PART III - Towards New Approaches to Security Chapter 6 Towards A New Concept of Security 207 The Foundations of the Concept of Security and their Inter-relations 215 How to Guarantee the Equilibrium Between Pillars 221 The Nature of Agents: Changing the Nature of States 225 Strengthening the Civil Society 229 How to Assure the Balance Between Competing Interests 232 Chapter 7 From A Complex to a Community? 238 The Region and The Idea of Community 240 The Variables of Security 248 Power 249 Fear and fragmentation 253 Interdependence 257 Managing the Variables 260 How to Ensure a Security Society 264 States 265 The Civil Society 271 The Role Of International Donors 273 Chapter 8 Conclusions 277 Bibliography 302 AnnexI 329 AnnexII 339 Abbreviations APLA Azania People Liberation Army AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome ANC African National Congress ARMSCOR Armament Corporation of South Africa CMA Common Monetary Area COMESA Common Market For Eastern and Southern Africa CSCE Conference on Security and Co-operation of Europe FADM Mozambique’s Defence Force FLEC Front for Liberation of Cabinda Enclave FLS Front Line States FRELIMO Front for Liberation of Mozambique FPLM Mozambique’s Armed Forces HIV Human Immunedeficiency Virus GOR Government of Rwanda IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency ILO International Labour Organisation LLA Lesotho Liberation Army MK Umkonto We Swizwe ( ANC, Armed Wing) MEDO Middle Eastern Defence Organisation MPLA People’s Movement for Liberation of Angola NATO North Atlantic Organisation NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NIS National Intelligence System OAU Organisation of African Unity OSCE Organisation of Security of Europe PAC Pan - African Congress PIDE Portuguese Secret Police RENAMO Mozambique National Resistance RMA Rand Monetary Area SADC Southern Africa Development Community SADCC Southern Africa Development Co-ordinating Conference SACP South African Communist Party SACU Southern Africa Customs Union SADF South African Defence Force SAN South African Navy SAND South African National Defence Force SAP South African Police SATO South Atlantic Treaty Organisation SWAPO South West African People’s Organisation TVBC Transkei, Venda, Baputhatswana and Ciskei UDI Unilateral Declaration of Independence UDF Union Defence Force UN United Nations UNITA Total Union for Liberation of Angola US United States of America ZANLA Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army ZIPRA Zimbabwe People Revolutionary Army Acknowledgements My foremost acknowledgement is to the British Government, represented by Maeve Fort and Richard Idis both British Ambassadors to Mozambique, for having enlisted me as a candidate for the Chevening Scholar Awards to conduct this study at the London School of Economics. This study would be of lesser quality had it not been for the close supervision of Professor James Mayall. I owe immense gratitude to his thought provoking comments, questions, support and encouragement throughout the research. This space seems appropriate to thank my friend Dr. Mark Simpson for having suggested the LSE. Indeed, if it had not been here where else? Various lectures and seminars at the LSE were crucial in expanding my intellectual horizons during this research. It is difficult to single out all of them here, but lectures, seminars, and discussions conducted with Professor Halliday, Mr. Michael Banks, Mr. Mark Hoffman and Dr. Margot Light, all made a strong contribution to my work. I am also indebted to my colleagues of the Africa Workshop and the following seminars: Peace and Conflict, Concept and Methods in International Relations and Modernity and International Relations, all of which have influenced the direction that my work has taken. A number of colleagues and friends read, commented and edited drafts of chapters of of this work. I am thankful to my friend, Michi Ebata, who found the time to edit the entire text at all stages of drafting. I am also immensely grateful to Malory Green, Comfort Ero and Bernice Lee. It is thanks to them that my ideas could be understood by others. Jennifer Kavanagh helped me to overcome some of my computer nightmares, which I deeply acknowledge. Many members of staff and students of Department of International Relations have been very supportive throughout the period of my research. Although I do not single out anyone in particular, No one has been forgotten. I am grateful to all of them. My life in London was made easier by a lot of friends in the Department and outside the school. Again the list is too long to mention all of them.