Abstract

VISIONING UGANDA FOREIGN POLICY 1.1 INTRODUCTION The emerging state of interdependency in the region follows from the intertwined nature of security political, social and developmental problems. This in part creates mutual vulnerability and heavy costs of maintaining and protecting one's sovereignty. Yet with increasing interactions due to advanced transportation and communication and the slowly increasin·g economic exchanges it becomes imperative that the peace and prosperity that Uganda desire can only be achieved within the regional context. The opportunity costs of Uganda's inabi lity to appreciate and work towards a viable regional integration would be substantial and the consequences of not establishing a frame work towards its long term vision would be great indeed. Our goal in this study is to demonstrate that Uganda can vision for herself a foreign policy of securing peace and prosperity through regionalism. This could then provide a framework for policy makers, implementator and the populace at large to have a clear goal and path to follow to achieve it on long term basis. It would provide all stake holders and key players in U ganda and the region a foundation of regional foreign policy goal and aspirations which they and every successive regimes should follow and attain. It would more fundamentally create a sound basis for solving all the persistent problems belittling the growth of generalised coherenceness in the region. We believe that the regional integration final end goal should be political unity. 1 nrr3Tlll �----· :' �' ,..- · .: llm.:�� ·-; In searching for an all embracing peace and prosperity in the regio o� contention 1s that we should garn some knowledge by focusing on tho 4 It a 1 ' critical areas that would make the region come together rather than looking at regional integration purely from the perspective of trade and the economy. We should also create structure al the regional, national and local levels that can simultaneously pursue common range of mutually beneficial policies and maintain constant dialogue to enable the momentum to regional integration to be sustained all the time. 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM In searching for a foreign policy vision, Uganda must seek to focus on those fundamental common values that all the people of Uganda aspire too and have some shared consensus on. Vision is taking the longer and broader view, requiring both imagination and a commitment to setting those goals that will define the characteristic of the world orders from Uganda's point of view and developing the most effective methods of shaping that vision in light of Uganda's own domestic needs and preferences. This entails that Uganda must evolve a new national consciousness and consensus on the goals and objectives of her foreign policy and thereby forge national cohesiveness and support for such foreign policy programmes. It is this grand vision and grand strategy for its execution that will then be the guiding principle of Uganda Foreign Policy towards the year 2025. Despite Uganda's favourable natural endowments, it has suffered from serious social and political cleavage to allow her chart a clear and effective foreign policy for most of her independent years. Although a .. , �.; relatively small country it has excellent climatic and soil conditions and is strategically important because of its location at one of the main sources of the Nile. Being landlocked by large neighbours Uganda cannot but press her interest directly through active foreign policy at the c.entre of regional diplomacy if she is to compensate for her disadvantaged position and promote and protect her interest and maintain a balance in the region.