Active Political Role Research Articles

Rethinking Eurasian Geopolitics: Assessing Türkiye’s Influence and the Organization of Turkic States’ Impact

This study examines power shifts in the Eurasian Region in the 21st century using traditional geopolitical approaches. These approaches center on the geographical factors that drive the expansion of borders, considering the control exerted by states over geographical areas. The study uses qualitative research methods to evaluate the position of Türkiye, which has gained an active role in global politics with its developing political and economic power within ever-changing Eurasian geopolitics. Composed of three parts, the study examines geopolitical ruptures in Eurasia during the Cold War. It delves into the areas of dominance held by the United States (U.S.), China, and Russia, which came to the forefront during discussions of the unipolar world order in the international system after the end of the Cold War. Simultaneously, the study explores a shift in actors within the international system, as well as changes among global and regional powers. The focus of the study is on issues such as Türkiye’s political presence, security phenomena, economic developments, energy investments, and diversity in Eurasia, wherein Türkiye’s presence and influence in Eurasia following its position shifting from a regional actor to a global actor, are revealed. While Türkiye’s presence in the region constitutes the main focus of the study, the effect of the Organization of Turkic States on Eurasian geopolitics is also examined.

Role of China in Saudi-Iran Normalization: The Case of Soft Power

Saudi Arabia is considered the head of the Muslim Ummah due to its affiliations with the two most holy places of the Muslim world. The country in the Middle East is also widely popular due to its oil reserves and its active role in world politics. Recently, the state developed some diplomatic tensions with another Muslim state i.e. Islamic Republic of Iran. Several states have played a crucial role in normalizing the relations and conflict resolution including Pakistan, Iraq, China, etc. This paper highlights the role of China in normalizing the turmoil using soft power and providing a good office. China besides establishing regional stability and focusing on its Foreign Policy and its economic interests with the major oil exporters. Also, the global projects of China, including BRI, and CPEC could be influenced by the global tensions it is therefore crucial for China to maintain its own national interests.

From New to Indispensable: How the 2004 Enlargement Reshaped the EU’s Transformative Powers

This editorial introduces a thematic issue that examines the consequences of the accession of the Central and East European countries to the EU 20 years onward. The socioeconomic transformation of these countries in the pre-accession period was considered a remarkable success, that was attributed to the EU’s conditionality policy. However, in the post-accession period, when these countries gained full membership rights and began playing a more active political role, they started deviating from some EU norms and rules, against a backdrop of EU crises. This shift has been, notably, reflected in concerns about democratic backsliding and rule of law violations. Nonetheless, the contributions in this issue also underscore that these countries have internalized (both top-down and bottom-up) EU norms and rules to a much greater extent than the focus on conditionality would suggest. Moreover, since Russia invaded Ukraine, Central and East European countries have become entrepreneurs of EU policy and bolstered its transformative power. These findings indicate a need to focus not only on the fundamental shortcomings in these countries—as the attention conferred to the (lack of post-accession) conditionality suggests—but also to consider other factors, such as the quality of the EU’s governance and political system, policy learning, geopolitics, and member states’ domestic politics.

UNVEILING POLITICAL DYNAMICS: THE INTRICATE MOTIVE BEHIND THE MURDER OF LEVAN (LEON) BATONISHVILI

The paper provides a comprehensive exploration of the complex political milieu in Kartl-Kakheti during the 1770s and 1780s, particularly elucidating Russia's expansionist objectives. Within this historical context, it meticulously examines the altruistic endeavors of Levan Batonishvili, a figure of significance in his own right and an ancestor to the esteemed King Erekle. Batonishvili, distinguished by his erudition, astute intelligence, courage, and active role in politics at the royal court, emerges as a pivotal character in the narrative. His unwavering commitment and robust support for King Erekle, especially in fortifying state policies that aimed at the unification of the country and bolstering defense capabilities, are integral facets explored in this research. Batonishvili's role as a stalwart ally to the king becomes crucial in understanding the broader political landscape. Through a meticulous analysis of primary sources and a chronological examination of political events, the paper posits that Russia, recognizing the influence and effectiveness of Batonishvili, strategically targeted him. This targeted approach, as unveiled through the research, played a significant role in disrupting Georgia's European aspirations, profoundly altering its developmental trajectory towards alignment with Russia. The research not only offers a nuanced understanding of historical events but also underscores the intricate interplay between key figures like Batonishvili and the broader geopolitical forces shaping the fate of the Caucasus in the 18th century.

Francesco Barberini als Politiker

Abstract Francesco Barberini, the cardinal nephew of Pope Urban VIII (1623–1644), is known to researchers primarily as a patron of the arts. However, he was a member of numerous dicasteries in the Roman Curia and held the office of head of the papal secretariat of state throughout the pontificate. In the early years he hardly appeared in this function. From 1631 onwards, testimonies of his involvement in the correspondence of the office become more frequent in the archives and provide information about his desire to play an active role in papal politics. Detailed autograph minutes to letters sent in cipher to the nuncios in Vienna deal with topics such as the mostly futile request of the imperials for subsidies, the rejection of criticism of the papal policy of neutrality and the improvement of relations between the Holy See and the imperial court. In addition, the attempt to influence the political convictions of members of religious orders working in Vienna and, in particular, the need to win the emperor’s approval for the precedence of the prefect of Rome before the imperial envoy play a noticeable role.

Activist Journalists and Postsocialist Politics Through the Lens of the Armenian Velvet Revolution

This article draws on a cross-disciplinary framework to analyse the 2018 ‘Velvet Revolution’ in Armenia and its success in implementing regime change through grassroots resistance. Utilising interview data, we suggest that the success of the Armenian revolution—that is, the relative postrevolutionary democratisation—can be partially explained by the combination of the global trend towards the digitisation of political discourse with the active political role played by the local ‘activist journalists’ within the context of a postsocialist state.

Shinzo Abe’s legacy: How did Japan's longest-serving Prime Minister Reshape the Course of Japan’s Security Policy?

Despite having left the office in September 2020, Shinzo Abe's legacy will most likely continue to dictate Japan's foreign and security policy for years to come. Throughout his long tenure, Shinzo Abe progressively, by employing multifaceted approaches, succeeded in changing Japan's prolonged tradition of pursuing pacifist policies. Building on long-term trends of reforms, Shinzo Abe made those reforms an integral part of Japan's political agenda when he assumed power as prime minister in December 2012. The contemporary global and regional challenges that Japan has faced during the last few years prompted the Shinzo Abe administration to accelerate and expand the transformation of Japan’s prolonged tradition of following pacifistic approaches in the global arena as those traditions were restricting Japan from undertaking an active role internationally. Shinzo Abe sought to loosen the shackles that restricted his country's security policies and hindered its ability to assume a more active role in international politics since the end of the Second World War. Abe’s approach took the shape of institutional and legislation revisions, a reinterpretation of constitutional articles, deepening bilateral and multilateral relations and alliances, and increasing Japan’s military capabilities. Despite the fact that Shinzo Abe’s policies were of transformational nature, they can be positioned within a long string of incremental adjustments that shifted Japan's foreign and security policy from pacifism toward more 'assertive' and realistic trajectories.

A Comparison of Women in the Time of Prophet Muhammad and Andalusian Period in Terms of Participation in Social and Political Life

The political presence of Muslims in al-Andalus had remained from Tariq bin Ziyad’s conquest of Visigothic Hispania in 711, untill the fall of Ghirnata in 1492. Despite all the political struggles, rebellions, occupations and wars, the history of al-Andalus means more than political history. Because at this period of Muslims’ presence in medieval Iberia, al-Andalus became the center of “convivencia”, that means “the art of living together of all differences”. This convivencia refers to people with different colors, religions, sects, languages and ethnicities. Among these differences, Andalusian women also played an active role in social life, science and politics. Although it is not very far in the temporal plane, al-Andalus, which has fallen to the west of the lands where Islam was born, has been a region shaped by its unique dynamics within Islamic civilization. In this context, a comparison based on the social and political aspects of women between the lands where Islam was born and the furthest point it has reached will be instrumental in our better understanding of the Andalusian woman. Hereby, our aim is to compare the role of women in the social and political life of the Islamic society, which was shaped by the message of Prophet Muhammad, with the activities of Andalusian women and their visibility in social life.

Marie de Bourgogne/ Mary of Burgundy: figure, principat et postérité d’une duchesse tardo-médiévale/ ‘Persona’, Reign, and Legacy of a Late Medieval Duchess. Sous la direction de Michael Depreter, Jonathan Dumont, Elizabeth L’Estrange et Samuel Mareel

Duchess Mary of Burgundy (1457–1482) can rightly be called a princess in the shadow. Only very few authentic images of her survive and little research has been undertaken so far to shed light on this important historical figure. This edited volume with its twenty-four individual contributions aims at filling this deplorable gap. The only daughter of Charles the Bold (1433–1477), she was heir to the powerful conglomerate of territories called Burgundy. Mary died at the age of only twenty-five, leaving her little time to develop a public image. She thus left few traces as an active patron of the arts. Several representations of the young duchess can be found in contemporary manuscripts, the window miniature in the Vienna Book of Hours being the most famous. However, no mention is made here of the duchess’s portrait in the Berlin Book of Hours; this manuscript was passed by her husband, Emperor Maximilian I to their daughter, Margaret of Austria, in 1483. In Part One, the emphasis is on the authority of Mary of Burgundy as a legitimate heir to Burgundy, being a princesse naturelle. Several suitors tried to incorporate the rich Netherlands into their territory by securing a union with the young sovereign. ­Inherent legal issues are discussed from different angles by Jonathan Dumont, Élodie Lecuppre-Desjardin, and Kathleen Daly; meanwhile, iconographic models such as the concept of a ‘City Maiden’ are studied by Lisa Demets in contemporary texts. The 1477 Bruges tableau vivant with Queen Penthesilea demonstrates for Olga Karaskova the difficulty of finding suitable symbols to represent a young female sovereign. The discussion of how to visualize the power of a female head of state is discussed further in Andrea Pearson’s close analysis of Mary’s equestrian seals. Part Two is concerned with Mary’s household, her councillors, the court as an institution, and the economic situation. In this context, Federica Veratelli investigates the presence of Italian administrators at the Burgundian court and the significance of Italian luxury goods. In Part Three, five essays discuss the afterlife of Mary of Burgundy as a historical figure in later centuries, from the funerary rites in 1482 up to the twentieth century. Pierre-Gilles Girault argues that Margaret of Austria’s response to the premature death of her mother was to play an active political role as Countess of Bresse and regent of the Netherlands, instrumentalizing the Brou Church to express her aspirations. Dominique Le Page studies the ways in which Mary was viewed in the old Duchy of Burgundy across four centuries. To balance the emphasis on French and Netherlandish history, an essay on the visual and textual examples of sixteenth-century Habsburg propaganda (Der Weißkunig, Theuerdank, and The Triumphal Procession) would have been ­worthwhile. In the conclusions by Éric Bousmar and Jelle Haemers, a brief reference is made to ­Maximilian’s use of art for the purpose of propaganda. In all, this is a ­high-calibre collection of essays that critically investigate Mary of Burgundy and provide ­numerous new insights into her life and her reputation through the centuries.

Media-Politics Parallelism and Populism/Anti-populism Divides in Latin America: Evidence from Argentina

ABSTRACT Comparative political communication scholars repeatedly debated political parallelism as a tool to conceptualize the relation of media systems to political cleavages. Despite the fact that populism/anti-populism divides (re-)emerged as central political fault-lines, scholarship has paid little attention to the concept’s potential to look at how populist polarization restructures media-politics connections in Latin America and elsewhere. Through a combination of content analysis, in-depth interviews and other sources, this article traces shifts in news media alignments and journalistic practices during and following the recent experience of leftist-populist rule in Argentina. It argues that news media shifted to a distinct form of political parallelism organized around the populism/anti-populism divide in which most private mainstream news media assumed an active political role in the mobilization of anti-populism. The article provides a broader understanding of political parallelism that applies to settings of competitive-electoral populist politics and sheds light on not only news media alignments, but also media involvement in the political task of cleavage construction. Scholarly research on Latin America, given its focus on instrumental media-politics connections or its concerns over populist threats to media freedom, generally misses both the politicizing role of anti-populist media and the ways in which they mirror populist style.

Making a difference by serving in public office: Why we need more nurses in politics.

Nursing is the most trusted profession in the United States. Most nurses have the innate desire to care for others and make a difference in people's lives. Nurses are highly educated through rigorous programs that teach not only the physical sciences but also accountability, responsibility, and duty. Similarly, elected officials are accountable, have a duty to represent their constituents, and keep their best interests at the forefront of their agenda. The characteristics of nurses include higher education, integrity, responsibility, and compassion. Each one of these elements rests on the other to build a solid foundation of leadership. Nurses are natural leaders, and government needs more nurses to get involved and provide leadership benefits to our communities, including the local level where political decisions affect us all more personally. One of the responsibilities of nursing is to take an active role in politics and policy development. Nurses are a group of extraordinary individuals who are well suited to lead through elected office and influence policies that externally shape our practice and the well-being of our patients.

The mobilising memory of the 15-M movement: recollections and sediments in Spanish protest culture

ABSTRACT The 15-M movement, which emerged in 2011 amidst the Great Recession in Spain, has achieved the status of transformative protest event. Social movement research using this concept has mostly focused on meso-level legacies: event memories shape later organisational dynamics within social movements and among activists. Collective memories can, however, transcend the activists’ milieu, acting as a sediment in the political culture of broader social sectors. Along this line of inquiry, this article examines the memory of the 15-M movement among ordinary demonstrators in two recent mobilisations (International Women’s Day and the pensioners’ protests). Based on forty-four in-depth interviews, we show not only a widespread recollection of 15-M eight years later, but also that memories include mobilising components, influencing the perceptions of protest as an efficacious political tool, or extending protest repertoires that are now considered familiar and legitimate. Recollections of 15-M are also associated with changes in the critical understanding of the political system and the advancement of a new political subject, which envisages an active role in politics for ordinary citizens. Significantly, these mobilising memories are discernible even among those who did not participate at the time, showing that cultural legacies may have transcended the first-instance protagonists. In short, protest action, subjects, critical mentalities and repertoires gained an enduring legitimacy, which is consistent with the extension of alternative horizontal logics of politics and more active understandings of citizenship.

Is Telegram a “harbinger of freedom”? The performance, practices, and perception of platforms as political actors in authoritarian states

ABSTRACT This paper examines the practices, performance, and perceptions of the messaging platform Telegram as an actor in the 2020 Belarus protests, using publicly available data from Telegram’s public statements, protest-related Telegram groups, and media coverage. Developing a novel conceptualization of platform actorness, we critically assess Telegram’s role in the protests and examine whether Telegram is seen as playing an active role in Belarusian contentious politics. We find that Telegram’s performance and practices drive citizens to form affective connections to the platform and to perceive Telegram as an ally in their struggle against repressions and digital censorship. Meanwhile, the Belarusian state uses Telegram’s aversion to censorship and content moderation to intervene in contentious politics by co-opting grassroots approaches and mimicking manipulative efforts of other authoritarian regimes. Our conceptual framework is applicable to post-Soviet authoritarian contexts, but can also serve as a useful heuristic for analyzing platform actorness in other regime types.

The extreme left and foreign policy: The “Altermondialist project” by J.-L. Mélenchon

The constant presence of the extreme left in media space and its active political role in the life of modern France contribute to the development and presentation of its own foreign policy project to voters. One of its brightest representatives is the “La France insoumise” movement and its leader J.-L. Mélenchon, author of several books, mastermind of the Internet platform and personal blog, and presidential candidate. The program of “La France insoumise” is mainly addressed to domestic political problems. However, it contains analyses and proposals about the most relevant aspects of foreign policy, combined under the conditional name “altermondialist project.” In the foreign policy program of “La France insoumise,” three important aspects can be distinguished, which this article explores: attitudes to the functioning and basic principles of the European Union, geopolitics, and the place of France in the modern world, “political Francophonie.” Attention to these problems stems from the specifics of left-wing political culture, the traditional attention of the left to the problems of European integration, colonialism, democracy, and human rights. At the same time, in Mélenchon’s program we see references from the Gaullist heritage and foreign policy experience of the Fifth Republic. Mélenchon’s “altermondialism” does not imply the renunciation of national sovereignty or the nation-state, just as it recognizes the inevitability of globalization. In the spirit of the extreme left, he criticizes its neoliberal version, offering his own version of world reconstruction. The published policy documents and brochures of “La France insoumise,” as well as interviews and reflections of its leader, allow us to build a complete picture of an alternative foreign policy program of the extreme left, which was originally presented at the presidential elections in 2012 and 2017, and then, in an updated version, was prepared for the upcoming presidential elections in 2022.

Uloga Despine Irine Kantakuzin u političkom životu Srpske Despotovine

Despotess Irene was considered the second person of the Serbian despotate in Serbian historiography. Owing to Serbian and Byzantine sources that mention her actions, this paper attempts to answer the question of her joint rule with despot Đurađ Branković in Serbian state, as an independent political factor. The first example of this is Efsigmen Charter from 1429, which the despot issued together with his wife. In addition, the miniature on Irene's charter shows her with a sceptre in her hand, a royal sign, although her and Đurađ's son had already been nominated for the heir to the throne, as indicated by the red shoes. Her activity is seen in the presence of a large number of Byzantines in Serbia, and then in the administration of the Serbian state. Of the Byzantines who lived in Serbia, the brother of the despotess Irene, Toma Kantakouzene was very important. He became the commander of the Serbian army, which was very unusual for the Middle Ages in Serbia. In 1435, during Đurađ's visit to Požun, Irene ruled the country as we know, based on the Dubrovnik mission she received. In addition, the despotess was a member of the state council, and most likely the court council. Mavro Orbini left a note on Irene's role in the diplomatic marriage between Mara Branković and Sultan Murad II, which Serbia used as means of preventing the Ottoman attack on the country. The fact that most points to Irene's active political role is the question of the successor of the despot Đurađ. Mavro Orbini and Michael Kritovoulos wrote that Đurađ Branković appointed his wife to rule after his death, which was certainly related to the division in the family due to the deprivation of the throne of the blinded Grgur. Thus, Irene would be a person around whom the family would gather and reconcile, and who would rule the country. Her sudden death and the transfer of part of the ruling family to the Ottoman territory subsequently confirmed her right to power and the division that existed between the Branković family over the ruler and the country's foreign policy.

Ben Enwonwu’s Concept of Hybrid Aesthetics in the Context of the Rise of Nigerian Modernism (1940s — 1960s)

The article is devoted to the life and work of the artist Ben Enwonwu (1917—1994), who became one of the founders and leaders of Nigerian modernism. His concept of hybrid aesthetics, which involves the combination of Western artistic techniques and traditional themes, is considered. Enwonwu's innovative ideas included the rehabilitation of the active political and social role of the artist, the rallying of various ethnic groups, the assertion of the independence and full rights of the “black man” in the post-colonial world. Using the mechanism of appropriation, he managed to adapt the European visual language of modernism to the transfer of the national Nigerian experience, which had a great influence on subsequent generations of African creative intelligentsia. Based on the analysis of Enwonwu's works, the main themes for the artist's work are highlighted.

«Політичний тип» активної жінки на шпальтах польських жіночих часописів львова «Ster», «Przedświt», «Ziarno»

The urgency of the topic of the scientific article is due to modern political science, gender and national studies of women’s movements in European countries, including the Polish women’s movement, which began and developed in Lviv, along with the Ukrainian women’s movement. The aim of the article is to analyze and review the issues of Polish women’s magazines published in Lviv in the XIX century in order to clarify the main topics, conscious paradigms of the Polish women’s movement, value concepts of Polish women’s periodicals, transformation of views on women’s political role in traditional societyб her participation in public and state life through radical journalism. The scientific article analyzes the negative stereotypes about the traditional role of women in public life on the example of Polish women’s magazines «Ster», «Przedświt» and «Ziarno», published in Lviv in the XIX century. It was found that the traditional views on the role of women are outdated, while the pages of Polish women’s magazines promote: women’s education, self-education, creative realization of women as individuals. The traditional formula for women in society, which has been reduced to marriage and the birth of children, has been criticized for being superficial. In the columns of Polish women’s publications of the 19th century in Lviv, a significant place was given to women’s education and the formation of national and political education, which indicates the «serious» nature of these publications rather than the entertainment that dominated Polish women’s periodicals. In the articles of Polish women’s publications of the early twentieth century, a new type of woman is formed − the «political type» of a woman who is not indifferent to the political life of her people and her country. It is this feature that characterizes women’s periodicals as the political dominant in the materials of magazines. Research methods. The study used a set of general and special methods: the method of conceptual analysis in determining the Polish women’s movement; thematic analysis in determining the main topics of the publications «Ster», «Przedświt» and «Ziarno»; synthesis in the study of methods and forms of strug- gle of active women for their political rights. Results and conclusions. The active political role of a woman-citizen is a conscious concept of the Polish women’s press, which was expressed in debunking active women of negative stereotypes about the passivity of women.

Політичний образ жінки-громадянки у альманахах Наталі Кобринської

The history of the publication of N. Kobrynska’s almanacs has been studied. Women’s almanacs as the first stage of development of women’s press in Galicia are singled out. Women’s Almanacs are the first periodicals (with indefinite periodicals) in which the ideas of emancipation were spread. The relevance of the topic of the scientific article is due to modern political science, gender and national studies of women’s movements in European countries, including the Ukrainian women’s movement, which began in Stanislavov and developed in Lviv, Eastern Galicia and became part of the general liberation movement of the Ukrainian nation. The aim of the article is to analyze the issues, in particular civil issues, in distinguishing the image of a woman-citizen on the pages of Natalia Kobrynska’s women’s almanacs. The study of the main issues of almanacs is important to clarify the conscious paradigms of the Ukrainian women’s movement, the value concepts of Ukrainian women’s periodicals with a political character, the transformation of views on the political role of women in traditional society, political equality and its participation in public life. almanacs. The scientific article analyzes negative stereotypes about the traditional role of women in public life on the example of comparing negative stereotypes about «backward, indifferent, dark» women who are not engaged in their self-education. N. Kobrynska’s women’s almanacs promote: women’s education, self-education, creative realization of a woman as a person. The traditional formula for Ukrainian women in society, which has been reduced to marriage and the birth of children, has been criticized for being superficial. The publication broadly discusses the topic of equality of work and pay for men and women, the opportunity to earn a decent living and be protected in society from prejudice. Research methods. The study used a set of general and special methods: the method of conceptual analysis in determining the directions of the Ukrainian women’s movement; thematic analysis in determining the main topics of women’s almanacs; synthesis in the study of methods and forms of struggle of active women for their political rights. Results and conclusions. The active political role of the Ukrainian woman-citizen and the popularization of political equality, economic independence − a conscious concept of women’s almanacs N. Kobrynska.

Політичні просвітницькі часописи для польських селянок «Zorza» і «Zorza Ojczysta»: загальні тенденції розвитку

The urgency of the topic of the scientific article is due to modern political science, gender and national studies of women’s movements in European countries, including the Polish women’s movement, which began and developed in Lviv along with the Ukrainian women’s movement. The aim of the article is to analyze and review the issues of Polish women’s magazines for peasant women published in Eastern Galicia in the XIX century in order to clarify the main topics, conscious paradigms of the Polish women’s movement, value concepts of Polish women’s periodicals for peasant women. peasant women in traditional society and their participation in public and state life through political educational journalism. It is important to trace the main trends in the development of the Polish political women’s press and its impact on modern women’s political periodicals, as in the early twentieth century laid the foundation for the development of the modern Polish women’s movement. The scientific article analyzes the negative stereotypes about the traditional role of peasant women in public life on the example of the Polish women’s magazines «Zorza» and «Zorza Ojczysta», published in the early twentieth century. It was found that the traditional views on the role of peasant women are outdated, while the pages of Polish women’s magazines promote: women’s education, self-education, creative realization of women as individuals. The traditional formula for peasant women in society, which has been reduced to marriage and the birth of children, has been criticized for being superficial. Instead, a new image of a politically active woman is taking part in the life of her country and people. Research methods. The study used a set of general and special methods: the method of conceptual analysis in determining the Polish women’s movement; thematic analysis in determining the main topics of Zorza and Zorza Ojczysta; synthesis in the study of methods and forms of struggle of active women for their political rights. Results and conclusions. The active political role of women citizens in rural areas is a conscious concept of the Polish women’s press for peasant women, which was expressed in debunking active rural women of negative stereotypes about the passivity of women who come from the countryside.

The African Participation and Experiences in the First and Second World Wars in Northern Rhodesia: A Historical Perspective 1914–1948

Unlike existing studies that examined each of the two World Wars and Africans separately, this study explores African participation and experiences in the First and Second World Wars in Northern Rhodesia (colonial Zambia) together during the period, 1914–1948. A lot has been written on the history of the World Wars in colonial Africa. However, there is not much literature that focuses on African participation and experiences during the two world wars. This study is focused on the core theme, that is, the role played by Africans in both World Wars. This is the main theme that informs the study. The core theme is sub-divided into the following three sub-themes: the making of the Northern Rhodesia Police under the British South African Company, BSACo, a Chartered Company that prohibited by law from housing a standing; recruitment of personnel for the Northern Rhodesia Regiment; the role played by traditional authorities in the recruitment of ‘Askari’ – the Foot Soldiers and the ‘Tenga-Tenga’ War Carriers and the role of government propaganda while bringing to the fore African agency during both Wars. Also discussed in the study is the demobilisation process in which African servicemen – the Foot Soldiers and the ‘Tenga-Tenga’ War Carriers – felt cheated by an Empire-wide system of racial discrimination and hierarchy. Although an expanded government propaganda machinery contributed to the growth of an African political voice in Northern Rhodesia during the period, 1914–1948, that political voice neither included nor translated to much debate or discussion about the concerns of African ex-servicemen and their personal affairs. The study equally examines how their state of affairs affected the relationship between the ex-servicemen and their traditional leaders who were active in the recruitment process that brought them into the Wars in the first place. The study concludes with the re-examination of the older arguments that African servicemen did not play an active role in nationalist politics after the World Wars, and submits otherwise, that is, that they actually did.