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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Failure of Security Co-Operation in SADC (Southern African Development Community): The Suspension of the Organ for Politics, Defence and Security
Author:Breytenbach, Willie J.ISNI
Year:2000
Periodical:South African Journal of International Affairs
Volume:7
Issue:1
Period:Summer
Pages:85-95
Language:English
Geographic term:Southern Africa
Subjects:regional security
SADC
Politics and Government
Inter-African Relations
Military, Defense and Arms
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10220460009545290
Abstract:The SADC Organ for Politics, Defence and Security (PDS) was founded in June 1996. It was supposed to institutionalize the new security thinking in southern Africa and to integrate military and human security. In 1997, the Organ was suspended because of uncertainty about the position of the chair of the Organ relative to the chair of SADC, as well as concern about the Organ's functional autonomy and about operational procedures in conflict resolution, as in the crises in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Kingdom of Lesotho. According to another view, formulated in Zimbabwe, South Africa was responsible for the split in the SADC over the status of the Organ because this member-State allegedly tried to dominate it from the start. The present paper evaluates the Organ's organizational structure in terms of the original thinking behind its foundation, its relevance in the handling of conflicts in the SADC, and the extent to which the Organ's actual performance matches stated objectives. An adequacy performance index reveals the Organ's failure. The paper suggests some improvements, and the creation of a separate collective security system to be linked functionally with the SADC, providing for proper mechanisms for early warning, preventive diplomacy, and disaster relief. The key to the new security approach remains the challenge to integrate security, economics and development. Ref.
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