The great lakes region and international relations:

Abstract

International relations in today’s highly dynamic world are very vital. Countries are competing to gain power so as to create a more enabling environment to push for their interests. Alongside all this, security and peace are complementary factors that need serious attention. This study examines Uganda’s foreign policy agenda and its implications in the GLR. The central question for the study was to locate Uganda’s foreign relations and its impact in the GLR. Issues of particular concern is Uganda’s contribution in fostering peace and security in the GLR, Uganda’s role in consolidating regional cooperation and the benefits accruing from the country’s growing foreign policy. In the case study adopted; the qualitative methodology was adopted whereby data was collected by help of interview as well as secondary literature reviewed. It was discovered that the government of Uganda was taking positive steps towards asserting herself as a power in the GLR region. In terms of advancing her foreign policy agenda, it was also discovered that the country’s peace and security initiatives stretching beyond the GLR are aimed at achieving national stability, economic growth and development. The country is counting benefits beyond its borders in terms of developed capacity for its military and better business environment within the region. On matters of regional cooperation, it was discovered that Uganda believes more in integration when it comes to cooperation. This is no doubt the reason why the country is dedicated to the work of ensuring the operationalization of all protocols coming under the EAC as agreed upon by member countries. It is recommended that civil society groups be integrated into government aspirations especially the EAC integration, the most preferred form of cooperation for Uganda if we are to achieve a people-centered integration and for the citizens to embrace and understand benefits accruing from the integration. It is also recommended that deliberate effort need to be taken to document Uganda’s unique contribution in advancing regional cooperation, her contribution in promoting peace and security in the region as well as putting in place a clearly documented foreign policy for the country with objectives to ease implementation and monitoring of ongoing initiatives.