Peace support operations: An analysis of Botswana's position from 1992-2009

Abstract

This paper set out to find Botswana’s position regarding participation in peace support operations from 1992 to 2009 and why it has adopted such an outlook. The paper further investigated why Botswana should participate in peace support operations and how well it is prepared. To address this objectives the methodology chosen for this paper is the case study design to understand Botswana’s position in lieu of military interventions by Botswana Defense Force (BDF) in peace support operations in particular. The data was collected from both secondary and primary sources. Data was collected using questionnaires from selected key respondents in the BDF. Additionally expert’s documents, newspapers, including Government of Botswana Parliamentary records (Hansard) were used. This paper established that Botswana’s position on peace support operations is that of indifference. The BDF is overstretched by internal security operations especially antipoaching. This situation is aggravated by lack of an active Reserve Force to complement the BDF. The risks associated with participation in PSO and public disapproval following the killing of a BDF officer in Darfur was found to be one of the fulcrum for the current position. The paper also found out that Botswana has not only a moral obligation, but also a legal obligation by virtue of it being a member of United Nations, African Union and Southern African Development Community to participate in peace support operations. This paper also found out that although the BDF has a Peace Training School which essentially implies willingness to partake in peace support operations, it is not ready for peace support operations deployment. The rational choice theory was used to understand the phenomenon under study. It is based on assumptions that individuals make choices based on their preferences and information that they have to make rational decisions. This has been proven in that individual actors like in the executive and other members of the Legislature have been instrumental in Botswana’s foreign policy, determining whether Botswana participates in peace support operations or not over the years. The major recommendations of this paper are: Botswana Government should consider its constitutional review, in the process the Legislature may be empowered to influence decisions on the future BDF external deployments, the BDF should participate in peace support operations in order to improve Botswana’s relations with other countries, the Government of Botswana should consider having a budget to equip the BDF for peace support operations.