RESEARCH
Civil Society as Controllable Chaos: Viktor Orban’s Defense of Sovereignty in the Light of the International Burke Institute MethodologyThe present analysis is based on the up-to-date methodology developed by the International Burke Institute (IBI) and applies the Burke Sovereignty Index System for 2024-2025 to the Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s speech, delivered on February 14, 2026.
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Censorship should be obsolete by now. Why isn't it?Techies, activists, and academics were in Paris this week to confront the doom scenario of internet shutdowns, developing creative technology and policy solutions to break out of heavily censored environments. The event– SplinterCon– has previously been held globally, from Brussels to Taiwan. I am on the programme committee and delivered a keynote at the inaugural SplinterCon in Montreal on how internet standards must be better designed for censorship circumvention.
Migration Governance in Unsettled Times. How Policymakers Can Plan for Population ChangeA string of populist gains has radically changed both the politics and governance of migration, pushing governments of all stripes toward greater restrictions and reducing the appetite for experimentation. The backlash comes at a particularly fraught time. Advanced economies with aging populations are increasingly reliant on immigrants to sustain their workforces, and more people worldwide are seeking out opportunities to move, whether for work, family, or protection. There is a clear humanitarian imperative to ensure vulnerable populations can access protection through safe and legal channels instead of resorting to dangerous, illicit journeys (from which smugglers are reaping enormous profits). But as public concerns about how population growth could affect the soaring cost of living and as housing pressures have grown, support for even legal immigration has waned. Meanwhile, chaotic scenes at borders and a perception of a loss of control over admissions have prompted quick fixes, at the expense of longer-term, sustainable solutions.
A new direction for students in an AI world: prosper, prepare, protectIn November 2022, OpenAI released its frontier Large Language Model (LL M), ChatGPT. Within five days, ChatGPT had five million users. Within two months, that number swelled to 100 million monthly active users. By August 2025, 700 million users across the globe were using ChatGPT (Mehta 2025). Many of those users are students harnessing LLMs for brainstorming, tutoring, creating, and learning; to work better and faster; and, crucially, to outsource their thinking. 
Why Has Somaliland Not Been Recognised as A Sovereign State?After the collapse of the Somali state, civil war followed, leading people to turn to their ancestral homeland. Consequently, rudimental local administrations were formed with a provision of becoming part of a decentralised governance system in Somalia. However, one region stood differently by declaring itself a separate state, Somaliland, within the boundaries of the former British Somaliland Protectorate. To overcome the objections of African countries about the session, Somaliland claimed that its declaration of independence in 1991 was supposed to be a dissolution of the union rather than a declaration of separation. This idea follows in the footsteps of other failed federations, such as the United Arab Republic, which included Egypt and Syria from 1958 to 1961, or the Senegambia Confederation, which existed between Senegal and the Gambia from 1981 to 1989. These failed political unions symbolized the breakup of that union and the restoration of the protectorate's original, pre-1960 borders. (Gordon, 2023) Britain granted Somaliland independence on June 26 1960, and after four days, it joined with the former UN Italian Somaliland Trusteeship Territory to form the Republic of Somalia. Thus, Somaliland's case differed markedly from the other regions as it wanted to stand as a separate nation-state within Africa. Yet, over thirty years have passed, and Somaliland has not been recognised as a sovereign entity. To answer why it happened, we have to look at the historical factors on state formation in Africa and how newly independent countries treated colonially inherited boundaries.
The Trajectory of Contemporary Governance in Lesotho: A Transition towards Coalition GovernmentThis paper examines the success story of the formation of coalition government in Lesotho. Lesotho has since 1970 experienced a chequered history of authoritarian and military rules until 1993 when the country went democratic. Interestingly, within two decades of the country ’s multiparty democratic experience, it has experimented with multiple governmental systems viz; in 1993 1998, it adopted First Past the Post or winner takes all model, and then in 2001, it adopted Mixed Member Proportion model, which brought some stability within the unitary parliamentary governance. In 2012 the latter model gave impetus to a new model of coalition government. Unfortunately, however, the three-party coalition government was interrupted in 20 14 by a military adventurism which gave rise to the 2015 nap elections that led to another seven-party coalition government. Interestingly, another faction occurred from the seven-party coalition and a vote of no confidence was passed by the opposition against the ruling coalition, which led to the early 2017 elections. The third coalition governance of four parties was established after the elections and took its term of five years before the elections of October 2022 that established a “of three parties coalition under the leadership of a prominent businessman. This paper posits that although coalition model has been accepted by the Lesotho people, however, it has come with increasing cost on executive expenditure, as it puts great burden on taxpayers. This paper recommends the inclusion in the democratic discourse (conversation), a blend of the western democratic culture with traditional African culture in administering the affairs of the state since the two are not mutually exclusive.
Prosecutorial Independence in Lesotho: A Critique of the ModelThe Constitution of Lesotho is substantially cast on the Westminster prototype. As such, its institutions, by and large, reflect the structure of similar institutions at Westminster. The institution of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is no different: it has been designed to mirror its namesake under the British constitutional design. The underlying feature of classic British-based constitutions is the weak separation of powers and the predominance and condescending nature of the executive branch of government, as incarnated by the office of the Prime Minister. As such, most institutions within the design are beholden to the executive in general and to the Prime Minister in particular. The institution of the DPP is integral in the administration of criminal justice. Hence, its independence and its accountability in the discharge of this important constitutional mandate are of paramount importance. This notwithstanding, the Constitution of Lesotho is generally weak on safeguarding the independence of the office of the DPP and ensuring its corresponding duty of accountability. The purpose of this article is to critique the constitutional design in relation to the office of the DPP and to expose the deficiency of the constitutional clause establishing the Lesotho DPP office. The article contends that while the Constitution, under section 141, provides for some small measure of independence of this office, the broader schematisation of the Constitution is feeble on the independence and accountability of the office. The article analyses the constitutional design of the Lesotho DPP office in comparison with international developments.
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No Independence without Sovereignty! The resistance of Emperor Hayalla Sellase I to the British Occupation of Ethiopia (1941-1944) On 5 May 1941 Emperor Hayalla Sellase I, recently restored to the throne of Ethiopia, delivered a stirring message of hope, triumph and future expectations from the steps of his imperial palace in Addis Ababa. Within his speech, the Emperor of Ethiopia declared, It is my firm wish and purpose to merit the blessing with which God in His mercy has visited us, first, by sharing our gratitude to our Allies, the British ...secondly, to do work beneficial to the people and the country by establishing in our Ethiopia a Government which will protect the Faith and cause it to be respected, and by guaranteeing liberty of the people and Freedom of conscience.
Privatisation in Botswana: the demise of a developmental state?This article argues that efforts by the Government of Botswana to embark on privatisation of some parastatals as well as contracting out the provision of certain services with the main intention of enhancing productivity and strengthening the private sector will not have a negative effect on the strength and nature of the existing strong developmental state. It is argued that the cautious and pragmatic approach adopted by the government, coupled with the fact that privatisation in Botswana is embraced voluntarily (that is not imposed on the country by either the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a condition for financial assistance), hiving off parastatals to the private sector will not result in the weakening and ultimate demise of the state as it has happened in some countries within Sub Saharan Africa. Copyright # 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Reforming the Role of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Advancing Democratic Principles and Human Rights in African Countries: An Examination Using the Lens of Swaziland/eSwatiniThis article explores the role of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the role it plays regarding human rights in individual country situations in Africa. It specifically examines the extent to which it has been able to advance a human rights agenda in countries with long-standing human rights problems. The article uses Swaziland/ eSwatini as a lens to examine the matter, because of the longstanding problems that exist in that country. This is done to indicate how the institution works over time on a country’s human rights problems. The article examines a range of institutional structural matters to establish how these issues affect the role of the Commission in its work. The article examines the way in which the Commission uses its various tools, including its communications, the state reporting processes, fact-finding visits, and resolutions, to determine whether those tools are being used effectively. The article examines how the Commission’s processes issues also affect it work. Issues examined negatively affecting the Commission are examined, including problems with the status of its resolutions and communications, limited compliance with its outcomes, and inadequate state cooperation. Reforms necessary to enhance to role and functions of the Commission are surveyed to determine how the institution could become more effective. The African Union’s (AU) Kagame Report on AU reform is briefly reviewed to examine the limited view and focus of AU reform processes and why AU reform ought to focus on enhancing human rights compliance. The article makes various suggestions on necessary institutional reforms but also as far as the African Commission’s procedures and methods of work to allow it to have a far more effective role in the promotion and protection of human rights on the continent. It is noted that political will by the AU and African states is the largest obstacle to giving the Commission the necessary independence, support and assistance that it needs to play the role in Africa that it should.
Indicators of Sovereign Risk of South Africa’s International Monetary Fund Loan: The Nexus Between Political Risks and Economic GrowthUpon the approval of the 70 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan for South Africa, concerns have emerged over the affordability of this loan and its impact on the economy and sovereignty of the country. South Africa’s ability to pay its IMF loan is assured because its track record of loan repayment is good, considering that the loan is repayable in five years at an interest rate of 1.1%. This study explores political and economic indicators of sovereign risk of South Africa’s IMF loan taken in 2020. The tenets of sovereign risk are being explored in a South African context. The significance of this study lies in understanding sovereign risk from a South African context and forecasting the country’s capacity and sustainability of servicing its IMF debt. This study presents a special and underexplored case of sovereign risk mainly due to 2020 being the first time South Africa has taken an IMF loan since the inception of a democracy in 1994. This qualitative study heavily relies on secondary literature, theories, and predictive forecasting models and is aided by descriptive statistics to reach its conclusion. Findings from the Council of Foreign Relations used the CFR Sovereign risk tracker designed to gauge the susceptibility of emerging economy to default on external debt.
Pro-Democracy Protests in the Kingdom of Eswatini 2018–2019Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) is an absolute monarchy, ruled by King Mswati III (1986–current), who took over from his father, King Sobhuza II (1921–1982). Power is vested in the King and influential ruling elite, who have stakes in the perpetuation of a closed and repressive regime that is known for human rights abuses. The actuation of political parties and civil society is severely constrained not only in law (ban from 1973; and 2008 Suppression of Terrorism Act) but in practice (protesters face high level of repression). Despite facing a very inhospitable political context, groups and citizens have found ways to engage in protest. In the case of Eswatini, trade unions have been the leading protest actors against government policies and advocating for democracy. With a special focus on 2018–2019 protests, this chapter aims to understand the emergence and outcomes of pro-democracy protests in Eswatini.
Independence through leapfrogging: Energy transitions in EswatiniThe need to swiftly transition to clean energy and expand electricity access is pressing; however, the goals of SDG7 are unlikely to be met by 2030, with the UN specifically mentioning land-locked states as being off track. Through the conceptual lens of ‘leapfrogging’ fossil fuels, straight from traditional fuel sources to renewable energy, this paper discusses the relationship between electricity production and independence. It makes a conceptual contribution by introducing the term ‘energy independence through leapfrogging’, which is used to characterise the process of reducing dependency on another country – in the case of Eswatini, electricity is supplied by South Africa. Drawing from empirical research in Eswatini involving document analysis and in-depth interviews, this paper discusses the potential for the country to move from being primarily an importer of electricity to generating its own supply from renewable sources. With Eswatini's current electricity supply from South Africa at risk/expiring in 2025, this research argues that the country faces a moment of opportunity for Eswatini to build further generation capacity, with a recommended focus on solar energy. The paper identifies potential challenges/barriers to this energy transition, examining power generation, storage, maintenance and affordability as key areas for intervention. Drawing on previous theories of electricity access, the paper argues that ‘access’ to electricity requires consideration of the affordability and reliability of energy systems. Eswatini is an understudied geographical area, and this paper makes a contribution to the literature on energy transitions by examining the specific circumstances attending this transition and examining these with relevance for other land-locked nations in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Black Atlantic’s quest for reparationsThe transatlantic slave trade remains one of the most horrific crimes in human history. Between 1450 and 1888, European imperial powers (Britain, France, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark) transported 12-15 million enslaved Africans across the Atlantic. This coerced labour force was instrumental to the West’s industrialisation, which was sustained by Europe’s colonial plunder of Africa’s natural resources.
India’s China strategy after Galwan: minilateral and multilateral soft balancing in the Indo-PacificDuring the night of 15–16 June 2020, in the Galwan Valley on the disputed frontier between India and China, Indian troops engaged in hand-to-hand combat with soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Both sides incurred casualties. New Delhi later acknowledged that twenty of its soldiers died, while Beijing conceded that four perished on its side. In the aftermath of the clash, India and China came closer to war than they had been for half a century. Over the next 18 months, as both countries deployed large forces into the border areas, further skirmishes took place along the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC), including incidents in which shots were fired.
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Generalized Delegation
11.01.2026 10:52
researchThe consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war
28.12.2025 18:08
researchContemporary Diplomatic and Consular Relations. Selected AspectsDiplomacy, as a science or an art or both, is as old as international society. Over time the practice of diplomacy has acquired enduring, uniform institutional features and contributed to a more rational organization of international relations.
Beleaguered Opposition Politics in Southern AfricaIn many southern African countries, the incumbents have retained control of executive power since independence, while opposition parties fare poorly. Why have liberation movements-turned government tended to produce dominant party systems, despite multiparty elections? And, what accounts for this dynamic of beleaguered opposition politics? It is theorised that the historical influence of Marxism-Leninism and its ideas of the vanguard party, ‘democratic’ centralism, the use of violence and casting opposition as enemies of the state produces dominant party systems hostile to opposition. Using public survey data from Afrobarometer, a further cultural explanation is provided – a society distrustful of opposition. As citizens, eager for civil and political liberty, grow in their understanding of the importance of opposition politics, the region may yet see an expansion of competitive politics.
Uneven and combined desires: A psychological rethinking of societal multiplicity in world politicsThis article contributes to the growing body of scholarship which claims the notion of societal multiplicity offers both a foundational ontology and novel theoretical approach to the discipline of International Relations (IR). By focusing on its unheeded psychological dimension, I offer a critique of societal multiplicity with the aim of contributing to theory development. The central contention of this article is that, despite several compelling articulations of societal multiplicity in IR since its original formulation, the notion has not yet satisfactorily accounted for the hierarchical nature of societal co-existence in world politics, in particular with regards to its psychological dimension. I explore the analytical purchase of combining the theory of Uneven and Combined Development (U&CD), understood as the core mechanism of societal multiplicity, driving interaction between and across multiple societies, with an added focus on the psychological effects of the overarching presence of Western modernity as the main civilisational referent of progress and development in world politics. I empirically illustrate the article’s theoretical argument through the historical analysis of Brazil under the administration of Jair Bolsonaro (2019–2022), as a compelling example of the uneven and combined desire to emulate the Western other.
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A Difficult Balance Privacy, National Security and the Free Flow of DataTimes and technologies change, people change and national positions evolve. Although change is inevitable, and can be gradual or radical, many people find change jarring. America’s evolving position on the free flow of data provides a good example because it looked like the world’s leader of efforts to encourage the free flow and utilization of data was advocating for greater restrictions on openness. This paper examines how and why this occurred. 