Samuel M. Makinda

This paper argues that the main cause of Africa’s poor governance, insecurity and abject poverty is the lack of appropriate knowledge. Therefore, the key to good governance, security and development on the African continent is the provision of relevant knowledge in one form or another. The paper explores the international structure of knowledge and argues that Africa remains on the scientific, technological, economic, political and military margins of the world largely because it is a net consumer, rather than a producer, of knowledge. It also examines the meaning of development in the African context, focusing on how knowledge can play an important role in the empowerment of women and in the promotion of respect for human rights. In addition, the paper explains how the political and legal infrastructure in African states has hindered the absorption of new knowledge and suggests how some of these countries might acquire a larger share in the benefits of global knowledge flows if they established appropriate governance structures. Finally, the paper explains the value of capacity building and argues that Africa’s international partners can play important roles in helping African states develop expertise in various fields.

Hedley Bull made a significant contribution to international security studies, but his role as a security theorist remains largely unexplored. This paper argues that Bull's ideas went beyond the traditional international security agenda and helped establish the foundation for critical security theory. Although Bull did not describe himself as a critical security theorist, his work indirectly provided a basis on which the assumptions underpinning the traditional international security assumptions could be challenged. What makes Bull's ideas on security relevant for the post-Cold War international climate is the fact that he took seriously the moral and political complexities of strategy which were often ignored by other realists. In his early work, Bull used realism and pluralism to address the traditional international security agenda. He also used 'classical' solidarism to explore ideas about collective security and the ability of the United Nations to deal with common threats to international order and security. In his later work, Bull used cosmopolitan solidarism to explain the need for international society and world society to tackle poverty, human rights abuses and other forms of injustice in the world as part of efforts to deal with international order an security. The agenda which Bull addressed through 'classical' and cosmopolitan solidarism has remained at the centre of security debates in the post-Cold War era.