The central aim of this article is to unpack the political reality that was observed by the inter... more The central aim of this article is to unpack the political reality that was observed by the international community in respect of the United States of America (USA) and Iran’s recent ideological conflict. The latter has adequately attracted the international media attention during the first week of the year 2020. Thus, the USA airstrike killing of Iran’s Qassem Soleimani who was the Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and leader of the Quds Force led the principal causal of this international tension between the two countries. In light of this, the authors show how this unfortunate incident came about and why it is relevant to be given scholarly attention. Equally important to consider is the use of the critical regional security complex perspective in the unpacking of an international incident that almost brought the world to its knees. Keywords: Regional Security Complex Theory, United States of America, Iran, Qassem Soleimani, Donald Trump, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
This article seeks to apprehend and highlight South Africa (SA) and Lesotho`s ties looking at pol... more This article seeks to apprehend and highlight South Africa (SA) and Lesotho`s ties looking at political, economic and diplomatic relations at both a bilateral and multilateral level. We see Lesotho as a country that needs to be politically reformed due to the ever reoccurring political instabilities that have plagued the country over the years. As such, this article uses thematic content analysis and critical discourse approach in their broadest form, to evaluate Pretoria`s (the administrative capital of South Africa) mediation efforts in Lesotho, by comparatively assessing and appraising the 1998 Lesotho constitutional crisis and the 2014 attempted coup.
China's entrance in Africa in the early 2000s through the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation h... more China's entrance in Africa in the early 2000s through the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation has apparently signalled several mutual beneficial agreements. However, there is a view that the Asian tiger's (China) arrival on the African soil was driven by its national interests. Such interests were particularly in the continent's rich mineral resources complex, which are deemed significant for its own economic boom. This observation reflects that scholars and practitioners alike have not uniformly understood China's engagement with Africa. Therefore, this paper problematizes what is often cited as the second “scramble for Africa” within the context of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It argues that Chinese mining companies' operations in DRC are no different to the early colonial masters who only came to Africa for nothing else but mineral resources in order to develop their own nations at the peril of Africa's own development. Based on Afrocentricity as the alternative theoretical lens, this paper seeks to critique the involvement of Chinese Multinational Corporations in the mineral resources complex of DRC. Methodically, this paper relies on document review and analysis in its broadest sense.
As a relatively new media, social media has been fairly researched by scholars emanating from Med... more As a relatively new media, social media has been fairly researched by scholars emanating from Media and Communication Studies, Political Science, Public Administration and Sociology, just to mention a few. A considerable effort has been invested by these scholars to explore the dynamics and implications of social media. But the understanding of this phenomenon remains uncommon; yet most of the contributors to this discourse operate from Euro-American consciousness-which does not accurately capture the essence of African reality. Based on qualitative materials and Afrocentricity, this paper concedes that generally social media births casual social relations. But it argues that its unguarded nature as reflected in Mpofu's Facebook rants constitute an imminent threat to knowledge development in South Africa.
African Journal of Political Science, Feb 27, 2023
In this research paper, authors provide a comprehensive overview and criticism of the World Syste... more In this research paper, authors provide a comprehensive overview and criticism of the World System Analysis (also read as World System theory). This central focus is driven by the need to bring about a fair and justifiable explanation of the theory and appreciation by examining the work critically as the most persuasive theory in international relations. The aim of this paper is to bring about world system analysis as the best tool in analysing the world politics, understanding world history and key reasons for imperialism, and why core countries such as the United States of America (USA), China and others, often intervene in world crises through grants and other forms of aid. The authors argue that the world system theory, unlike the dependency theory, is broader in perspective and place the world as a centre of attention in the analysis of the world economic distribution instead of the nation-state. Equally, it can also be deployed in understanding global inequality, dependency and power. The above argument which is achieved through the use of a qualitative approach that has taken the form of the adoption of secondary materials and the Afrocentric paradigm.
In this research paper, authors provide a comprehensive overview and critique of the World System... more In this research paper, authors provide a comprehensive overview and critique of the World System Analysis (also read as World System theory). This central focus is driven by the need to bring about a fair and justifiable explanation of the theory and appreciation by examining the work critically as the most persuasive theory in international relations. The aim of this paper is to bring about world system analysis as the best tool in analysing the world politics, understanding world history and key reasons for imperialism, and why core countries such as the United States of America (USA), China and etc., often intervene in world crises through grants and other forms of aid. The authors argue that the world system theory, unlike the dependency theory, is broader in perspective and place the world as a centre of attention in the analysis of the world economic distribution instead of the nation-state. Equally, it can also be deployed in understanding global inequality, dependency and p...
As a relatively new media, social media has been fairly researched by scholars emanating from Med... more As a relatively new media, social media has been fairly researched by scholars emanating from Media and Communication Studies, Political Science, Public Administration and Sociology, just to mention a few. A considerable effort has been invested by these scholars to explore the dynamics and implications of social media. But the understanding of this phenomenon remains uncommon; yet most of the contributors to this discourse operate from Euro-American consciousness-which does not accurately capture the essence of African reality. Based on qualitative materials and Afrocentricity, this paper concedes that generally social media births casual social relations. But it argues that its unguarded nature as reflected in Mpofu's Facebook rants constitute an imminent threat to knowledge development in South Africa.
Strategic review for Southern Africa, Dec 22, 2020
In this article, the author uses Afrocentricity in order to provide an African point of view in r... more In this article, the author uses Afrocentricity in order to provide an African point of view in respect of the analysis of the United States (US) foreign policy towards Africa. Given the dominance of mainstream thinking about the US foreign policy that takes for granted US as a prominent and primary in defining the relations, this article employs historical sensibility in order to trace the US relationship with Ghana and Tanzania using Afrocentric lens. This discourse is often partially understood due to the lack of an Afrocentric perspective on the existing literature in this aspect of Strategic Studies. History is crucial in this regard because the past provides a sound basis for understanding the present and future. This helps challenge the thinking overly informed by mainstream theories in Strategic Studies. As it shall be seen below, such a paradigm remains critical in highlighting the peculiarity of the US relationship with Ghana and Tanzania and in providing a deeper understanding of underlying dynamics in US foreign policy towards Africa. To realise the purpose of this article, the author relies methodologically on interdisciplinary critical discourse and conversations in their widest forms.
As a relatively new media, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagr... more As a relatively new media, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram have received the attention of scholars emanating from Political Science, Public Administration, Media and Communication Studies, inter alia. Given that it is difficult to gaze the measure of adequacy, it suffices to mention that much of the scholarly works on this subject are disciplinary inward looking and Western centred-which exposes them to deficiency in capturing the African reality in its totality. As such, this interdisciplinary paper examines a sample of Mpofu's Facebook roar during May 2023 on the basis of an Afrocentric lens and auto-ethnographic approach. The key argument of this paper is that Mpofu's roar does not have a sound academic basis. But it is a revelation of underlying scholarly limits (enter profanity) which are common to all but worse for those with troubled consciousness.
Since March 2016, the subject of South African state capture has received much attention from the... more Since March 2016, the subject of South African state capture has received much attention from the political, business and scholarly community in the country and beyond. The vibrancy of this public and scholarly discourse was reignited by the claims by some politicians from the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), that in the recent past, they were approached by the Gupta family (business moguls) for consideration in ministerial appointments. These revelations have since produced a dominant perception that the Gupta family wields an undue influence over the President of the Republic and by extension, the entire state machinery. This extends to the family and friends as well. While the Guptas 'capture' the state, ministers and premiers are not directly accountable to them by protocol, but only to the President as a constitutional prerogative to do so. The view on state capture is not uniformly accepted. One notes the discourse is dominated by Euro-American perspectives, purporting to create a misunderstanding of the current trajectory of business-state relations in South Africa. As a theoretical framework, Afrocentricity is adopted and used in this article to answer the following two central questions: (i) Is it a myth or reality that the Gupta family has captured the South African state? (ii) At which point should corporate influence in state affairs be considered as illegal? Methodologically, this is achieved through thematic content analysis on conversations and the prevailing discourses circulating within South Africa.
The politics of knowledge in the world are as old as the cradle of human civilisation. The stakes... more The politics of knowledge in the world are as old as the cradle of human civilisation. The stakes of knowledge politics are higher in countries that have a rich history of colonialism, such as South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, among others. In the post-apartheid South Africa, there has been a raging scholarly and policy debate about the dynamics of the knowledge industry within our shores. At the centre of this debate has been the role of statutory institutions, such as ASSAf, NRF, universities and research councils. Despite the expressed legislative framework, the role of these institutions in terms of knowledge generation and development has not been applied in line with this framework by their administrators. The policy makers have not yet seriously held them accountable. The consequence is that these administrators have been largely acting not within the national policy framework. In fact, this discourse has largely assumed the form of a conversation between the deaf. Drawing from the fusion of an alternative Afrocentric perspective and interdisciplinary discourse analysis in its broadest form, this paper argues that statutory institutions have an important national role to play in the knowledge industry. But their activities are not above board. If left operating the way they do, their wrong activities have a potential to undermine declared policy measures to the pursuit of true and quality knowledge.
The central aim of this article is to unpack the political reality that was observed by the inter... more The central aim of this article is to unpack the political reality that was observed by the international community in respect of the United States of America (USA) and Iran’s recent ideological conflict. The latter has adequately attracted the international media attention during the first week of the year 2020. Thus, the USA airstrike killing of Iran’s Qassem Soleimani who was the Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and leader of the Quds Force led the principal causal of this international tension between the two countries. In light of this, the authors show how this unfortunate incident came about and why it is relevant to be given scholarly attention. Equally important to consider is the use of the critical regional security complex perspective in the unpacking of an international incident that almost brought the world to its knees. Keywords: Regional Security Complex Theory, United States of America, Iran, Qassem Soleimani, Donald Trump, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
This article seeks to apprehend and highlight South Africa (SA) and Lesotho`s ties looking at pol... more This article seeks to apprehend and highlight South Africa (SA) and Lesotho`s ties looking at political, economic and diplomatic relations at both a bilateral and multilateral level. We see Lesotho as a country that needs to be politically reformed due to the ever reoccurring political instabilities that have plagued the country over the years. As such, this article uses thematic content analysis and critical discourse approach in their broadest form, to evaluate Pretoria`s (the administrative capital of South Africa) mediation efforts in Lesotho, by comparatively assessing and appraising the 1998 Lesotho constitutional crisis and the 2014 attempted coup.
China's entrance in Africa in the early 2000s through the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation h... more China's entrance in Africa in the early 2000s through the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation has apparently signalled several mutual beneficial agreements. However, there is a view that the Asian tiger's (China) arrival on the African soil was driven by its national interests. Such interests were particularly in the continent's rich mineral resources complex, which are deemed significant for its own economic boom. This observation reflects that scholars and practitioners alike have not uniformly understood China's engagement with Africa. Therefore, this paper problematizes what is often cited as the second “scramble for Africa” within the context of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It argues that Chinese mining companies' operations in DRC are no different to the early colonial masters who only came to Africa for nothing else but mineral resources in order to develop their own nations at the peril of Africa's own development. Based on Afrocentricity as the alternative theoretical lens, this paper seeks to critique the involvement of Chinese Multinational Corporations in the mineral resources complex of DRC. Methodically, this paper relies on document review and analysis in its broadest sense.
As a relatively new media, social media has been fairly researched by scholars emanating from Med... more As a relatively new media, social media has been fairly researched by scholars emanating from Media and Communication Studies, Political Science, Public Administration and Sociology, just to mention a few. A considerable effort has been invested by these scholars to explore the dynamics and implications of social media. But the understanding of this phenomenon remains uncommon; yet most of the contributors to this discourse operate from Euro-American consciousness-which does not accurately capture the essence of African reality. Based on qualitative materials and Afrocentricity, this paper concedes that generally social media births casual social relations. But it argues that its unguarded nature as reflected in Mpofu's Facebook rants constitute an imminent threat to knowledge development in South Africa.
African Journal of Political Science, Feb 27, 2023
In this research paper, authors provide a comprehensive overview and criticism of the World Syste... more In this research paper, authors provide a comprehensive overview and criticism of the World System Analysis (also read as World System theory). This central focus is driven by the need to bring about a fair and justifiable explanation of the theory and appreciation by examining the work critically as the most persuasive theory in international relations. The aim of this paper is to bring about world system analysis as the best tool in analysing the world politics, understanding world history and key reasons for imperialism, and why core countries such as the United States of America (USA), China and others, often intervene in world crises through grants and other forms of aid. The authors argue that the world system theory, unlike the dependency theory, is broader in perspective and place the world as a centre of attention in the analysis of the world economic distribution instead of the nation-state. Equally, it can also be deployed in understanding global inequality, dependency and power. The above argument which is achieved through the use of a qualitative approach that has taken the form of the adoption of secondary materials and the Afrocentric paradigm.
In this research paper, authors provide a comprehensive overview and critique of the World System... more In this research paper, authors provide a comprehensive overview and critique of the World System Analysis (also read as World System theory). This central focus is driven by the need to bring about a fair and justifiable explanation of the theory and appreciation by examining the work critically as the most persuasive theory in international relations. The aim of this paper is to bring about world system analysis as the best tool in analysing the world politics, understanding world history and key reasons for imperialism, and why core countries such as the United States of America (USA), China and etc., often intervene in world crises through grants and other forms of aid. The authors argue that the world system theory, unlike the dependency theory, is broader in perspective and place the world as a centre of attention in the analysis of the world economic distribution instead of the nation-state. Equally, it can also be deployed in understanding global inequality, dependency and p...
As a relatively new media, social media has been fairly researched by scholars emanating from Med... more As a relatively new media, social media has been fairly researched by scholars emanating from Media and Communication Studies, Political Science, Public Administration and Sociology, just to mention a few. A considerable effort has been invested by these scholars to explore the dynamics and implications of social media. But the understanding of this phenomenon remains uncommon; yet most of the contributors to this discourse operate from Euro-American consciousness-which does not accurately capture the essence of African reality. Based on qualitative materials and Afrocentricity, this paper concedes that generally social media births casual social relations. But it argues that its unguarded nature as reflected in Mpofu's Facebook rants constitute an imminent threat to knowledge development in South Africa.
Strategic review for Southern Africa, Dec 22, 2020
In this article, the author uses Afrocentricity in order to provide an African point of view in r... more In this article, the author uses Afrocentricity in order to provide an African point of view in respect of the analysis of the United States (US) foreign policy towards Africa. Given the dominance of mainstream thinking about the US foreign policy that takes for granted US as a prominent and primary in defining the relations, this article employs historical sensibility in order to trace the US relationship with Ghana and Tanzania using Afrocentric lens. This discourse is often partially understood due to the lack of an Afrocentric perspective on the existing literature in this aspect of Strategic Studies. History is crucial in this regard because the past provides a sound basis for understanding the present and future. This helps challenge the thinking overly informed by mainstream theories in Strategic Studies. As it shall be seen below, such a paradigm remains critical in highlighting the peculiarity of the US relationship with Ghana and Tanzania and in providing a deeper understanding of underlying dynamics in US foreign policy towards Africa. To realise the purpose of this article, the author relies methodologically on interdisciplinary critical discourse and conversations in their widest forms.
As a relatively new media, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagr... more As a relatively new media, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram have received the attention of scholars emanating from Political Science, Public Administration, Media and Communication Studies, inter alia. Given that it is difficult to gaze the measure of adequacy, it suffices to mention that much of the scholarly works on this subject are disciplinary inward looking and Western centred-which exposes them to deficiency in capturing the African reality in its totality. As such, this interdisciplinary paper examines a sample of Mpofu's Facebook roar during May 2023 on the basis of an Afrocentric lens and auto-ethnographic approach. The key argument of this paper is that Mpofu's roar does not have a sound academic basis. But it is a revelation of underlying scholarly limits (enter profanity) which are common to all but worse for those with troubled consciousness.
Since March 2016, the subject of South African state capture has received much attention from the... more Since March 2016, the subject of South African state capture has received much attention from the political, business and scholarly community in the country and beyond. The vibrancy of this public and scholarly discourse was reignited by the claims by some politicians from the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), that in the recent past, they were approached by the Gupta family (business moguls) for consideration in ministerial appointments. These revelations have since produced a dominant perception that the Gupta family wields an undue influence over the President of the Republic and by extension, the entire state machinery. This extends to the family and friends as well. While the Guptas 'capture' the state, ministers and premiers are not directly accountable to them by protocol, but only to the President as a constitutional prerogative to do so. The view on state capture is not uniformly accepted. One notes the discourse is dominated by Euro-American perspectives, purporting to create a misunderstanding of the current trajectory of business-state relations in South Africa. As a theoretical framework, Afrocentricity is adopted and used in this article to answer the following two central questions: (i) Is it a myth or reality that the Gupta family has captured the South African state? (ii) At which point should corporate influence in state affairs be considered as illegal? Methodologically, this is achieved through thematic content analysis on conversations and the prevailing discourses circulating within South Africa.
The politics of knowledge in the world are as old as the cradle of human civilisation. The stakes... more The politics of knowledge in the world are as old as the cradle of human civilisation. The stakes of knowledge politics are higher in countries that have a rich history of colonialism, such as South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, among others. In the post-apartheid South Africa, there has been a raging scholarly and policy debate about the dynamics of the knowledge industry within our shores. At the centre of this debate has been the role of statutory institutions, such as ASSAf, NRF, universities and research councils. Despite the expressed legislative framework, the role of these institutions in terms of knowledge generation and development has not been applied in line with this framework by their administrators. The policy makers have not yet seriously held them accountable. The consequence is that these administrators have been largely acting not within the national policy framework. In fact, this discourse has largely assumed the form of a conversation between the deaf. Drawing from the fusion of an alternative Afrocentric perspective and interdisciplinary discourse analysis in its broadest form, this paper argues that statutory institutions have an important national role to play in the knowledge industry. But their activities are not above board. If left operating the way they do, their wrong activities have a potential to undermine declared policy measures to the pursuit of true and quality knowledge.
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Papers by Kgothatso Shai