School for Security and Africa Studies

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Browsing School for Security and Africa Studies by browse.metadata.advisor "Blaine, Mark"

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    An analysis of the maritime domain governance architecture in Southern Africa
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Mkhonto, David Maningi; Blaine, Mark; Ramokgadi, S. B.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science. School for Security and Africa Studies: Military Strategy.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Southern Africa's maritime domain covers a vast territory which covers 16 seaboard and island state countries in the SADC region. This territory offers numerous blue ocean economy opportunities for these states in their Exclusive Economic Zones. However, in addition to potential blue ocean economy opportunities in this maritime domain, the vastness of the territory exposes these seaboard and island state countries to a number of maritime security threats which are transnational and multidimensional in nature. This causes complexities that could only be best addressed through multilateral and regional cooperative policy architectures. To address the issue of maritime threats and benefit from the blue ocean economic opportunities, a number of agreements have been entered into by different governments in the region. The result has been the signing of approximately nineteen policies. However, the Maritime Domain Centres are not linked and operate independent of each other without coordination. This results in fragmented and duplicated effort and inefficient use of resources. Accordingly, while the potential for developing a regional cooperative architectural regime exists, it is not being realised as the policies agreed on the state level are not being implementation. The criticality of policy coordination through a regional cooperative architectural regime is heightened by an increase in the activities of transnational organized crime within the maritime domain of these Southern African states. Therefore, the need to establish why policies for a coordinated effort agreed on the state level are note being implemented is critical. This research analyses the maritime domain governance architecture in Southern Africa and evaluates the presence of governance architecture, as well as its challenges, implementation, and efficacy.