The EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership: Waning affection,persisting economic interests

ABSTRACT

Ten years after the coming into force of the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership, this article takes stock of this partnership. Our aim, within this special issue, is to assess the EU’s perspective on its strategic partnership with South Africa, and in particular to look at economic and development cooperation within the partnership and to what extent European expectations of closer engagement have been met. Our analysis shows that economic interests have remained central to bilateral relations and the strategic partnership, even if some potential for economic engagement has remained unexploited. At the same time, the relationship has been quite tense in recent years, as bilateral ‘affection’ at the political level has waned. The implications for the partnership are weighed.     

Economic,trade and development relations between South Africa and the European Union: The end of a strategic partnership? A South African perspective

ABSTRACT

The relationship between democratic South Africa and the European Union (EU) has been in existence for over 20 years, with its roots tracing back to anti-apartheid support measures. In its earlier form, it was anchored in the Reconstruction and Development Programme. Currently, it is guided by the National Development Plan of the National Planning Commission. This relationship has been tested over time, especially as a result of negotiations over the Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU. In the meantime, the euphoria that marked new South Africa's participation in the global system, with trade and development cooperation with the EU as one of the cornerstones, has waned considerably. The cancellation of several bilateral investment treaties with EU member states has further strained the relationship. While there are notable successes in the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership, these may not be reflective of the actual strategic value of the partnership in the context of global shifts and the rising influence of emerging powers with which South Africa is integrating.     

An overview of the EU–SA Strategic Partnership 10 years on: Diverging world views,persisting interests

ABSTRACT

The European Union–South Africa (EU–SA) Strategic Partnership has entered its 10th year. It is a product of its time and particular regional and international circumstances. These having changed somewhat over the course of the last decade, it is not surprising that the dynamics of the relationship, expressed through the strategic partnership's parameters, have undergone commensurate changes. Based on the recognition that the partnership is between a multilateral institution and a state, the difference in their respective strategic positions is inevitable. The challenge, therefore, is for the EU–SA Strategic Partnership to maintain a flexibility that allows for continued contestation, development and relevance. This paper reviews the historical context of the partnership and the challenging dynamics that have evolved over the lifespan of the partnership, providing the basis for the thematic discussion which follows in this issue. The analysis in this article demonstrates that, in spite of acknowledged challenges, the functionality of the strategic partnership based on persisting interests remains intact.     

Gender,Ethnicity, and Education as Privileges: Exploring the Generalizability of the Existential Guilt Reaction

Two cross-sectional questionnaire studies were conducted to replicate and extend previous research on the existential guilt reaction. In Study I, gender was considered as a privilege. Male student participants (N = 141) were confronted with the low proportion of women in high-ranking positions and asked to appraise this situation. Self-reported behavior, behavioral intentions, and appeal to authorities aimed at advancing equal opportunities for both genders served as criterion variables. Path analyses were performed to explore the correlation structure among the variables. Self-reported behavior depended most strongly on behavioral intentions and on belief in control. Behavioral intentions depended most strongly on existential guilt. This effect accords to previous existential guilt research. Ethnicity and education were considered as privileges in Study II. Privileged Paraguayan students (N = 80) were confronted with the disadvantageous living conditions of Indians and Campesinos. They were asked to appraise the situation. Behavioral intentions and appeal to authorities directed at improving the living conditions of Indians and Campesinos served as criteria. As in Study I, existential guilt was the strongest predictor of behavioral intentions. Study II revealed the role of values in the process of existential guilt and prosocial behavior. This is a new research finding. Indirect effects of the two values of universalism and benevolence on behavioral intentions were obtained. The effect of universalism was mediated by existential guilt and moral outrage, the effect of benevolence was mediated by injustice and existential guilt. Tradition had a negative indirect effect on behavioral intentions. This effect was mediated by justification of deprivation and probably means that adherence to tradition eases the justification of traditionally existing social inequalities in a society.     

Effect of financial sector development and FDI inflow on employment rate in South Asia: New empirical evidence from ARDL approach

The current analysis aims to explore the empirical nexus between financial development, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow, and employment rate. To attain this aim, we collect 30 years of annual data over the period 1990 to 2019 from South Asian economies and employ the autoregressive dynamic least square (ARDL) model for regression analysis. The implication of the ARDL model was subject to the mixed stationarity status of the series as assessed by unit root testing. The robustness of the analysis was checked by employing the fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) models. The statistical analysis infers that both financial development and FDI inflow enhance the employment rate in the South Asia region. In addition, the empirical analysis infers that the gross capital formation, economic growth, and export volume have a positive while the population growth rate has a negative effect on the employment rate. The impact of underlying explanatory variables was found significant only in long run. The estimated coefficient values in the case of FMOLS and DOLS models support the direction of the relationship between explanatory variables and employment rate, implying the robustness of the analysis. The findings of the current analysis can be used to devise efficient economic policies to cope with the encroaching issue of unemployment in the South Asia region. This study offers the robustness to existing literature and complements the literature by exploring the underlying arrangement of study to the whole South Asia group.     

Developing small production and marketing enterprises: mushroom contract farming in Bangladesh

This article presents a case study of an activity implemented under the FAO component of the Local Partnerships for Urban Poverty Alleviation Project, funded by UNDP in Bangladesh. In Mymensingh city the project is linking poor urban dwellers with a niche market for oyster mushroom. This small enterprise activity appears to be sustainable, in that it develops agricultural production to cater for the specific demand of an existing small marketing enterprise. As long as the trader finds a market for his mushroom, he has an incentive to collaborate with the project beneficiaries who supply the produce. This model is thus an example of mutual benefit between extremely small landholders and a trader through the catalytic effect of a development project.     

Reflections on innovation,assessment, and social change: a SPARC case study

This article challenges the terms on which donor agencies evaluate development success, drawing on a particular case to make its point. It describes the resettlement of 60,000 people squatting along the railway tracks in Mumbai, a process planned and carried out by a federation of the railway dwellers themselves, with support from the NGO SPARC (the Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres). The article argues that this effort, which met donor criteria for a successful project, was the tip of an iceberg. Without an appreciation of the years of learning and innovation that preceded it, and the underpinning of principles and relationships built up over many years, this achievement cannot be adequately assessed or understood – and certainly not replicated. Yet in the world of formal assessment and evaluation, there tends to be a lack of interest in the deeper learning about social change that makes such success stories possible.     

Oxfam Australia's experience of ‘bottom–up’ accountability

Oxfam's experience suggests that ‘bottom–up’ accountability can be an important mechanism whereby men and women living in poverty can hold others to account. The first section of this article illustrates this with two examples of Oxfam experience in Vietnam and Sri Lanka. The second section draws out some of the lessons from these examples and attempts to situate them within the broader debate about approaches to accountability. In the third section some suggestions are put forward about what would need to change if active citizenship and ‘speaking truth to power’ were to become the renewed focus of accountability.     

试析南海问题中的美国因素

南海争端涉及多个国家。作为最大域外因素的美国对南海问题的关注和介入日益突出,“9．11”事件后,美国主要通过加强军事存在、与南海周边国家进行能源合作、加强与东盟合作三个渠道介入南海问题。在相当长的时间里,美国的南海政策仍以主动、扩张、威慑为主,其牵制中国崛起的基本方针不会改变：同时,美国参与和建构新的南海多边安全机制构想已日趋凸现。     

反思金大中政府的对朝政策

1998年金大中政府执政后,在总结历届政府处理和解决对朝政策的经验教训、全面分析朝鲜半岛形势和国际形势的现状和发展趋势的基础上,提出了旨在维护和促进朝鲜半岛和平稳定的对朝"和解、合作"政策.在朝韩共同努力下第一次实现了两国首脑会晤,签署了<南北共同宣言>,使南北交流与合作得到一定程度的进展,并稳定了朝鲜半岛和东北亚地区的局势.