ABSTRACT

The ongoing security crisis in Mozambique reveals the limitations of the mainstream statist approach to security promotion. Whenever there is social conflict or unrest, state authorities instinctively and routinely rely on military means to deal with it. However, this approach disregards the root causes of the problem, which are often the internal social, political and economic triggers of insecurity. Presently there are international security actors assisting the Mozambican government in dealing with the armed conflict in their country. As a contribution to the emerging body of work on Mozambique’s security challenges beginning in 1990, this paper adopts a critical security perspective in the analysis of the problem. The view is taken that there ought to be a balanced or broader approach to security. Although a military response is necessary for combating hostile forces, this effort should go in tandem with addressing the fundamental causes of the crisis. The paper argues that in Mozambique poor governance in the form of corruption, political patronage, marginalisation of minority groups, centralisation of power and other exclusionary practices are the major sources of the country’s insecurity. Some proposals are suggested to address these challenges.

摘要

莫桑比克持续的安全危机揭示了主流国家主义方法在促进安全方面的局限性。每当发生社会冲突或动乱时，国家当局都会本能地、例行地依靠军事手段来应对。然而，这种方法忽视了问题的根源，这些根源往往是不安全的内部社会、政治和经济触发因素。目前有国际安全行动者协助莫桑比克政府处理其国家的武装冲突。作为对 1990 年开始的莫桑比克安全挑战的新兴工作的贡献，本文在分析问题时采用了批判性安全视角。有人认为应该有一种平衡的或更广泛的安全方法。尽管军事反应对于打击敌对势力是必要的，但这种努力应该与解决危机的根本原因同时进行。该论文认为，在莫桑比克，腐败、政治庇护、少数群体边缘化、权力集中和其他排他性做法等形式的治理不善是该国不安全的主要原因。提出了一些建议来应对这些挑战。