A partner in Africa? Canada and post‐apartheid South Africa
Before the apartheid‐induced imposition of sanctions beginning in the 1960s, Canada's ties with South Africa were closer and more complex than with any other nation on the African continent. William Dobell looks at the renewal of relations in the post‐apartheid era to determine whether South Africa has once again come to occupy the position of Canada's primary partner on the continent. The resumption of political, economic and cultural interchange has indeed fostered closer links between the two countries than those between Canada and other African nations, he notes, but this may have more to do with the weakness of Canadian ties to Africa than with the strength and vitality of its burgeoning relations with the new regime. Dobell examines the factors which may hinder or enhance the development of the ties that do exist and what benefits there may be for both nations in the pursuit of closer relations.
Conflict in Southern Africa: Whither Collective Security?
Professor Willie Breytenbach, of the Department of Political Science at the University of Stellenbosch, considers the issue of collective security in Southern Africa in this adapted version of his paper presented at the Eighth Conference on Peace and Security, Centre for Foreign Relations (Dar es Salaam), Arusha, February 1994.
Analysis: The Agenda 2007 Proposals: Evolution or Revolution?
On 10 February 2004 the Commission published its proposal for the financial perspective 2007-2013. A week later it adopted the third report on economic and social cohesion. These two documents form the basis of the so-called ‘Agenda 2007 reforms’. They will be the greatest challenge for the enlarged EU after the intergovernmental conference, since they will determine the financial basis for EU policy-making until the middle of the next decade. The Agenda 2007 proposals certainly hint at courageous reforms, because they place a previously unheard-of emphasis on performance and quality. Under the proposals, structural operations should generate value for money, and the funds should focus on projects which generate added value at a European level. Overall the Commission’s proposals point in the right direction, because they balance, on the one hand, solidarity for the new Member States and weak regions in the old Member States with, on the other hand, investments in future tasks. Moreover, they constitute a paradigm shift. For the first time, the Common Agricultural Policy will not be the dominant expenditure category. Now it is up to the Member States to examine the proposals politically and find a compromise between sometimes very divergent interests. It is to be hoped that, during the debate over expenditure limits and division of funds, national interests do not outweigh European interests.