Diplomacy-Governance-Development-Security

  North Korea cannot be stopped, it is a little too late! Development of nuclear weapons and the subsequent claim of a nuclear state status have rattled the international system’s key players. The United States has been conspicuously taking a hard stance against such activities and further threatening Pyongyang with consequences. The Russians seem reserved but calling for negotiations out of the stalemate. The United States is of great interests due to its allies in the Korean Peninsula; Japan and South Korea. The two are constantly seeking for the US help against an aggressing North Korea. Internationally, both states have greatly improved economically. They would seem benign powers to the United States, however on a different prism, their economic and technological prowess poses a threat to Washington’s dominance. The extend of dependency would be greatly reduced in the event that a military threat was never imminent. The current situation has hiked defence expenditure t...

The world has been awash with radical sentiments against the possibility of peaceful indulgence with terror groups and other forms of insurgencies. Powerful states have led the way in this. Negotiation is a pointer to recognition in international politics. This is a reservation for actors that have the capacity to explore the course of diplomacy and sustain international peace and stability. Legal personality is therefore conferred to such units. Terrorism falls short of this target. Its complexity is however evidenced by the lack of a consensus on its definition and basic elements. Who is a terrorist question would probably qualify as a “turtles-all-the-way-down”  Some states despite their political insinuations explore secret talks and facilitate, ransom deliveries or prisoner swaps. Several others sponsor terrorism. This makes radical extremists, pawns in the game. The world, therefore has been gaming on the edges of a stable unchecked king. The backdoor engagements c...

Highgate Cemetery, North London, England. Dear Brother Karl. Salute. It is probably over a hundred years since you wrote the Communist Manifesto! I have gone through it severally and I feel like pen should meet paper. Give me a short while to tell you about how my day began and what it is like living in it. You’ve heard of Kenya and notably a new foul cry from the Capitalists who mocked you, they have their new Manifesto! They have beautified it to goals and agendas. Brother, you explicitly cautioned against the freedom that is unconscious, free trade. We have it in the globe. The consumption and production you warned about is floating. We are threatening our own existence, and it seems this is the bullet we cannot duck! The bourgeoisie is at its peak, on our side push gets to shove each hour and we have to depend on towns though they map this into a beautiful goal that seeks to have a benevolent city life, with good houses of course but no clear plan for the rural, they must ...

THE RUSSIAN LIMITED AIMS SECRET . The current international system has several ongoing conflicts which have the great powers taking sides and engaging in such proxy wars. These states have put in place strategies in the war gaming. Russia is placed among the powerful states club along with the United States, China and Britain. The approaches used by the Russians however, are those of a weaker state. One of the scholars of war, T.V Paul in his piece Asymmetric conflicts: War initiation by weaker powers discusses some of the means and ways that can be used by these countries or rather any parties in a conflict. Attrition or manoeuvre strategy, blitzkrieg and the limited aims strategy could be applied. The United States and Russia have kept on the cold war traits of unending competition in fostering their interests. Evaluating Russia’s configuration of its war involvement explicitly displays the limited aims strategy. This is an approach that has less exposure to several or p...

Excellency the President, Excellency the Deputy President, ladies and gentlemen good evening. I convey my gratitude and that of my family to his Excellency the President for this appointment and opportunity to serve as Secretary of Defence.  Fifteen years ago, our defence forces took up a task to safeguard our country in line with its mission to defend our sovereignty. Our disciplined forces pursued an enemy that had a distorted identity but manifested itself in the basic fabric of our society. You fought with determination and pride for our republic. Those moments still hold a special place in our hearts and in the narratives I have encountered before as a researcher with the heroes who fought along our regional colleagues in Somalia.  Over the years we lost patriotic men and women but the goal of a secure Kenya was achieved. Your Excellency you have tasked me with the leadership of one of the world’s most recognized forces. A military that has reinvented itself a...

The Kenyan Defence forces has three major sectors: the infantry sector of the Kenya Army, The powerful Kenya Air force and the Kenya Navy. The Department of Defence lately has attracted media attention owing to its purchases of artillery from foreign markets. A large chunk of such weaponry have been to the Kenya Air Force. The National Police too has had its share. The Navy is responsible for securing our waters, and its capacity is the greatest focus of my article.                BRIEF ON KENYAN COAST                         The Coastal part of Kenya has realized in the recent past some of the most violent conflicts in the Republic of Kenya. Notable among them being the Mpeketoni attacks and the secessionist movement of the Mombasa Republican Council. Some of the mentioned greatly played against the c...

Come here chap. Let’s have a talk, based on my terms because am your mother’s boyfriend. I accept interjections and questions. As you grow up son, there are things that you must learn and know. That politics will grab you however much you avoid it. Be man enough and grab politics by the collar. Be an expert in shadow governments, never run around getting compliments and praise from the populace. The last time I did that puppy, I got depressed. Precision in handling and mishandling democracy is of necessity. If I ever stand on your way to the place of dark political strategies, behind the scenes computation and skilled men in the vanguard of political terrorism, slit my throat. You know about the men in uniform? Read about them, know about them but don’t be any of them. The military, son. You have no idea how they safeguard power, structure incentives in a negotiation and the discipline in the chain of commands that can help you project your interests. Rap your ideas around them. If y...

The election of Donald Trump to the helm of the United States presents an interesting scenario in relations between states and the Americans. The President-elect has greatly popularised his actions on social media which have elicited support and condemnation in equal measure. The Donald has praised with regards the Taiwanese considerations, applauded the European Union and embraced Iraq. The likelihood of propaganda application is certain. Diplomacy has a history of secrecy, and the American style is nothing far from it. This, however looks different. The international platform has had sentiments that favour the role of developing states in global prosperity. The level of cooperation between the global north and the south had grown and the terms of engagement availed choices which are an improvement. The change of guard might come along with stricter terms by The United States. The developing countries should now strive to improve their economic terms as a bargain with a business-borne...

The International community has supported and fronted the new framework to peace building which is the Responsibility to Protect. The prevention of genocides and several other crimes against humanity through joint effort. In letter, this is an exemplary goal with a Westernised print out. I do not intend to exclude the African input to the international community setting but the failure of the procedure initiates a –who is the actual owner of it- thought. It is then that I will be able to compare and contrast, between the sponsoring faction and the silent owner. Kwame Nkrumah spearheaded African liberation from colonialism, Malcom X and Martin Luther King were at the centre of the battle abroad. The old black guy was married to the people and the ideal of freedom. What aroused this enthusiasm was actually the responsibility to protect, in an old capsule. Kwame reminded us of the power of a united Africa that our priorities subscribed to, rather than the state formula. We got a charm l...

The Trappings of Succession The headlines, the bulletins and front pages of the media outlets describe a worrying trend in Kenya’s political display. The basis for ally or foe in the political context is ideologies, values and the influence of visions. Kenya’s rhetoric is far from that. The thumbscrew has been the craving, anxiety and plans of succession. Development has both economic and political timings. The performance of an economy could be understood and interpreted with ease, but political processes that favour development have an ingenious way of avoiding clarity. The contemporary trends have explicit and implicit mergers, both at the national and county level. Parties have cropped up, with plans to gather bargaining power and some have disintegrated as ploys to amass political power play out. Machiavelli, a political scholar described the balance between the nobility and the people in a constitutional principality. Mobilization and demobilization of both sides is based on t...

Greetings your Excellency! If the media information  is what to go by,that you’ll be visiting Narok County to settle the current unrest, then better take a second thought like you did to the Kisumu tour and go to worthy summits. This, I say not to underestimate your institutional capabilities and responsibilities that come with such a position but to forewarn of the expected failure of the same. You got shoes on your face which were not meant for you but a county sheriff who kept provoking the proletariat.I’m proud that I’m out of the clannism cocoon and my criticism revolves around competence,diligence,professionalism and charismatic leadership. The above mentioned qualities, I’m yet to see in my county.The current man in charge of the devolved unit has hatched,played and seemingly enjoying a pig get-dirty game. All development projects are inclined to have him as the main beneficiary.We’re in the age of reason Mr President and such walls created between the gover...