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36621. Journal of Advanced Military Studies: Spring 2015

Author:
Christopher Steinitz, William McCants, Donald Thieme II, and David J. Ulbrich
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Advanced Military Studies
Institution:
Marine Corps University Press, National Defense University
Abstract:
Change is many things if not inevitable. It has become a pervasive part of everyday life, yet it defies description or analysis at its most basic level. While many see change as destructive, its presence means that people must continually evolve, adapt, and innovate to meet tomorrow’s challenges. This issue of the Marine Corps University Journal highlights the concept of change in all its forms. Even as recent regional events in the Middle East have challenged the individual governments of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, and Saudi Arabia have been the most active in reshaping their existence in the wake of the Arab uprisings. In this issue’s lead article, Christopher Steinitz and William McCants posit that, for the United States, understanding the goals and motivations of these Gulf states remains key to effective international relations. At the regional level, Gulf states are in accord on the need to prevent instability even as their perspectives on the most dangerous threats vary as developments occur. At the global level, Gulf states hope to internationalize the security of the region by keeping the United States engaged and active in the area. While the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are similar in many ways—particularly in their heritage, culture, language, political systems, and economies—their differences highlight the disparity of their goals, strategies, and approaches to foreign policies. While the United States should endeavor to avoid appearing biased toward a single Gulf state, it should actively support a common purpose with its allies for Syria and Egypt. Appearances suggest, however, that the issues with these two Arab states will not end until the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia move in the same direction.
Topic:
Armed Forces, Military Affairs, and Arab Spring
Political Geography:
Japan, Middle East, Arab Countries, and North Africa

36622. ARAB STUDIES JOURNAL VOL. XXIII, NO. 1

Author:
Sherene Seikaly
Publication Date:
09-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Arab Studies Journal
Institution:
Arab Studies Institute
Abstract:
The rapid changes that the people of the Arab world have witnessed in the last four and a half years have been revolutionary. In its initial instances this wave of change was a euphoric experience. From the far east of the Arabian Peninsula to the far west of Morocco, many transgressed generational, sectarian, gender, and class divides to break the barrier of fear. They unified to publically and collectively call for popular sovereignty. They marched on various squares, neighborhoods, and roads demanding bread, freedom, and social justice. They led us to the unknown territory of hope. As the bids for popular sovereignty became louder and stronger, and people placed their lives and bodies in the line of fire, these Arabs posed a fundamental challenge to what observers had admonished as apathetic and moribund. Politics outside the confines of a militant Islamism and a calcified authoritarianism seemed possible. Perhaps at last, Arabs could step out of the identity debate on authenticity, to demand the basics: economic redistribution and freedom from state brutality. Perhaps at last, observers could finally step out of the closed circle of debate that 11 September 2001 and the war on terror escalated to new heights: essentialism on the one hand and apologetics on the other. In a sense, the ontological non-choice between militant Islamism and militant authoritarianism mirrors the epistemological trap that can do little more than eulogize politics.
Topic:
Islam, Religion, Arab Spring, Christianity, War on Terror, Gulf War, Iraq War, Militant Islam, Nakba, and Orientalism
Political Geography:
Iraq, Middle East, Kuwait, Palestine, Algeria, North Africa, Lebanon, and Kurdistan

36623. A Democracy Assembly to Face the New Authoritarian Challenges

Author:
Ladan Boroumand
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL)
Abstract:
Sixteen years after the first World Movement Assembly, the situation has dramatically changed. We no longer have the strong wind of triumphant democracy in our sails. Instead, we are facing a reinvigorated wind of authoritarianism that defies us not only in practice but also ideologically and tests our understanding of our own values, our consistency, and our commitment. During the last wave of democratization, civil society emerged as a recognized and legitimate actor on the international stage. If as civil society actors we are being silenced and made irrelevant in our countries, with the help of democratic governments and the global human-rights community we can use the virtual and international stage to reemerge as strong, relevant actors and impose ourselves as our governments’ interlocutors.
Topic:
Civil Society, Human Rights, Authoritarianism, and Democracy
Political Geography:
Latin America and Global Focus

36624. Comparing Turkey and Iran in Political Science and Historical Sociology: A Critical Review

Author:
Agah Hazir
Publication Date:
09-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies
Institution:
Sakarya University (SAU)
Abstract:
This article reviews existing comparative literature on Iran and Turkey in terms of their approaches, themes and findings. It extracts and critically analyses two dominant trends in this literature; Comparative Analyses of Cultures and Comparative Analyses of Modernizations. This paper argues that, these two common lines of approaching have serious limitations since they carry the traces of orientalist and ethnocentric assumptions. New literature on this topic however, offers new avenues of research, enabling the debate to avoid the above mentioned pitfalls. As a conclusion, this critical review points to certain dynamics to consider (over-politicization of the Iran-Turkey comparisons and the impact of international developments) in order to facilitate stronger comparative frameworks.
Topic:
History, Sociology, and Academia
Political Geography:
Iran, Turkey, and Middle East

36625. Foreign Policy as Domestic Power Struggle: The Northern Iraq as a Battlefield Between the AKP and the TAF in 2007-8

Author:
Ali Balci
Publication Date:
09-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies
Institution:
Sakarya University (SAU)
Abstract:
The issue of rapprochement with Kurdish parties in the Northern Iraq turned a discursive battlefield between Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the ruling Justice Development Party (AKP) after the 2005 General Elections in Iraq from which Kurdish groups emerged as a strong political actor in Iraqi politics. When the AKP government declared its policy of rapprochement with the Kurdish regional government at the beginning of 2007, the then Chief of General Staff Yaşar Büyükanıt publicly criticized and rejected this new policy. Büyükanıt declined to talk with Kurdish leaders on the grounds that they were supporting for the PKK. This exchange of statements was the part of a political snowball rolling to which other areas of the struggle were included. The rift between the AKP government and the TAF over how to deal with Iraqi Kurds started just as Turkey gears up for key presidential elections. This paper will attempt to analyze the battle over the Northern Iraq between the TAF and the AKP in order to answer the following questions: How the TAF and the AKP came face to face on the issue of the Northern Iraq? Under what conditions the Northern Iraq turned a discursive battlefield between the TAF and the AKP? What was the function of the Northern Iraq in the domestic power struggle between the TAF and the AKP?
Topic:
Foreign Policy, History, and Political Parties
Political Geography:
Iraq, Turkey, Middle East, and Kurdistan

36626. Türkiye’nin Ortadoğu Politikası | Turkey’s Middle East Policy 2015

Author:
Kemal İnat, Muhittin Ataman, and Açılım Kitap
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Sakarya University (SAU)
Abstract:
2015 yılında Türkiye’nin Ortadoğu politikasında yaşanan gelişmelerin ele alındığı bu yazıda, Türkiye’nin özellikle kendisini çok yakından ilgilendiren Ortadoğu sorunları konusundaki yaklaşımı analiz edilmiştir. Bu çerçevede Suriye ve Irak sorunları konusunda Türkiye’nin politikası açısından önem arz eden gelişmeler incelenmiş ve bu gelişmelerin Türkiye’nin İran gibi bölge ülkeleriyle ilişkilerine etkisi analiz edilmiştir. Aynı şekilde söz konusu sorunların Türkiye’nin ABD, Rusya ve Avrupa Birliği gibi küresel güçlerle ilişkileri açısından ne tür etkilerde bulunduğu da ele alınmıştır. Son olarak Türkiye ile Ortadoğu ülkeleri arasındaki ekonomik ilişkiler de makale çerçevesinde incelenmiştir. | In this paper, which analyzes the Turkish foreign policy initiatives regarding the Middle East in 2015, the focus particularly lies on events that are of great importance for Turkey. In this framework Ankara’s policies towards the Iraq and Syria problems are examined and also its effects on Turkey’s relationship to regional states like Iran are matter of analysis. Also the question of how these problems influence Turkey’s affairs with international actors like the USA, Russia and the European Union, is tried to be answered. Finally, the study explores economic ties between Turkey and the Middle East countries.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Economics
Political Geography:
Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria

36627. Avrupa Birliği’nin Filistin Politikası | European Union’s Palestine Policy

Author:
Fatma Zehra Toçoğlu
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Sakarya University (SAU)
Abstract:
Bu çalışmada Avrupa Birliği’nin Ortadoğu’ya olan ilgisi ve bu bağlamda Filistin-İsrail meselesine yaklaşımı incelenmektedir. Avrupa Birliği’nin kuruluşuna kısaca değinildikten sonra dış politika konusunda yapmış olduğu çalışmalar ele alınacaktır. AB’nin genişleme sürecinden sonra komşuları ile güçlü ilişkiler kurmak için oluşturduğu Avrupa Komşuluk Politikası birimi ile sınırları dışındaki bölgelere olan ilgisi artmış, Filistinİsrail çatışmasında ortak bir dış politika belirleme çabasında olmuştur. AB kendisi için siyasi, stratejik ve ekonomik nedenlerden dolayı daima önemli bir bölge olarak gördüğü Ortadoğu ve özelde Filistin konusunda özel politikalar geliştirmiştir. Son zamanlarda Avrupa Birliği üye ülkeleri Filistin’i devlet olarak tanımayı gündemlerine aldı. Bu çerçevede makalede Avrupa Birliği’nin Filistin politikasının ekonomik ve siyasi yaklaşımları ortaya konulacaktır. | In this article, the question of how the EU is established and what kind of studies the EU undertook concerning foreign policy so far, is briefly discussed. The interest of the European Union in the Middle East is examined regarding the approach of the Palestinian - Israeli conflict. After the enlargement process, the EU has increased its interest in areas outside the borders of the EU Neighborhood Policy in order to build strong relationships with its neighbors and made efforts to define a common policy for the Palestine-Israel conflict. The EU developed particular policies for the Palestinian issue and the Middle East that are sprung from political, strategic and economic reasons. Recently, some EU member states put the recognition of the state of Palestine on their agenda. In this context, the EU’s approach toward the historical process of Palestine and the Palestinian issue is explored in this article.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, European Union, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Middle East, Israel, and Palestine

36628. Türk Dış Politikasında İslamcı-Kemalist Hesaplaşma: Erbakan Dönemi Libya Örneği | Islamist-Kemalist Reckoning in Turkish Foreign Policy: Libyan Case in the Erbakan Era

Author:
Talip Küçükcan
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Sakarya University (SAU)
Abstract:
Campbell’ın ‘”çifte dışlama” (double exclusion) kavramsallaştırmasından yola çıkarak, dış politikanın içeride işlerlikte olan iktidar ilişkilerinin bir uzantısı olduğunu savunan bu çalışma, Erbakan dönemi iktidar ilişkilerine odaklanarak bu dönemin dış politikasını incelemektedir. Bu noktada Refah Partisi’nin Kemalizm’in sacayakları olan laiklik, ulus-devlet ve Batıcılık ilkelerini yerinden edici söylem ve pratikleri incelenecek ve bu dönem dış politikasının Kemalist yerleşiklerin iç siyasetteki tutunma alanları üzerindeki iç politik mücadelenin bir parçası olduğu gösterilmeye çalışılacaktır. Bu anlamda bilhassa Refah Parti iktidarının ilk aylarını fazlasıyla meşgul eden Libya konusu analiz edilecek ve konunun söz konusu iki blok arasındaki mücadelede hangi söylem ve pratikler çerçevesinde nasıl bir temsile oturtulduğuna bakılacaktır. | With reference to Campbell’s ‘double exclusion’ conceptualization, considering foreign policy as a continuation of domestic power struggle, this paper focuses on Turkish foreign policy while particularly taking into account the domestic power struggle in Erbakan’s first period. At this point, the paper analyzes the Welfare Party’s discourses and practices which are adverse to Kemalism’s trivet -secularism, nationstate and Westernism- and tries to show that foreign policy in this period is a part of a domestic struggle. In this sense, especially the Libya case which had exceedingly occupied the first months of the Welfare Party rule, is analyzed. A part of this analysis is also the question of how this issue is represented while taking a deeper look at the discourses and practices within the mentioned two blocks.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Islamism, Welfare, Political Parties, and Identity
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and Libya

36629. Future Directions in the DPRK’S Nuclear Weapons Program: Three Scenarios for 2020

Author:
David Albright
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Science and International Security
Abstract:
Like many secret nuclear weapons programs, the DPRK goes to great lengths to hide its capabilities to produce nuclear explosive materials and nuclear weapons. Despite these actions, a picture can be drawn of North Korea’s current and projected plutonium and weapons-grade uranium (WGU) stocks. Knowing these plutonium and WGU stocks can, in turn, allow an estimate of the DPRK’s current number of nuclear weapons and a range of projections of the number North Korea could build in the next several years. Although great uncertainty surrounds these projections, as well as the quality of North Korea’s nuclear weapons, these projections form a reasonable picture of the DPRK’s possible nuclear weapons futures, absent actions to significantly limit its nuclear programs. After summarizing estimates of stocks of separated plutonium and weapons-grade uranium as of the end of 2014, this report develops three projections of future nuclear arsenals through 2020: low-end, medium, and high-end nuclear futures. In developing these projections, which are intended to bound North Korea’s nuclear futures, a number of constraints are considered, including the number and size of nuclear production facilities, future underground testing, the extent and success of nuclear weaponization efforts, costs, and access to necessary goods and classified and proprietary technologies abroad.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Asia and North Korea

36630. Civil HEU Watch Tracking: Inventories of Civil Highly Enriched Uranium: National and Global Stocks, as of End 2014

Author:
David Albright and Serena Kelleher-Vergantini
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Science and International Security
Abstract:
Highly enriched uranium (HEU) is a key ingredient in nuclear weapons, making it one of the most dangerous materials in existence. As a result, governments take extraordinary measures to secure HEU against theft or diversion and to reduce the inventories of HEU in the world. To that end, it is important to track how much civil HEU exists and where it is. However, national civil HEU stocks are difficult to estimate, with transparency policies varying by country and few countries providing official declarations of their stocks. As a result, this report contains the few official civil HEU declarations and estimates civil HEU stocks in countries that do not provide public declarations. This study relies on open source information to derive these estimates. It is an update of a report published in 2005.
Topic:
Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Power, and Uranium
Political Geography:
Global Focus

36631. India’s Stocks of Civil and Military Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium, End 2014

Author:
David Albright and Serena Kelleher-Vergantini
Publication Date:
11-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute for Science and International Security
Abstract:
India has one of the largest nuclear power programs among developing nations. Utilizing plutonium produced in these power reactors and discharged in irradiated or spent fuel, India has developed a relatively large civil plutonium separation program and an associated fast breeder reactor program that is using that separated plutonium. India has a sizeable nuclear weapons effort. The weapons use separated plutonium produced primarily in a set of small, dedicated reactors and a smaller amount produced in nuclear power reactors. It has a growing gas centrifuge program able to produce significant amounts of highly enriched uranium (HEU) mostly for naval reactor fuel and perhaps for nuclear weapons, including thermonuclear weapons. India is not transparent about its fissile material stocks. This report estimates India’s stocks of separated plutonium and highly enriched uranium.
Topic:
Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Power, Uranium, and Plutonium
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

36632. Military Highly Enriched Uranium and Plutonium Stocks in Acknowledged Nuclear Weapon States

Author:
David Albright and Serena Kelleher-Vergantini
Publication Date:
11-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Science and International Security
Abstract:
Plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU), called “fissile materials,” were first produced in large quantities for use in nuclear weapons. Starting in World War II, and for over two decades afterwards, almost all the plutonium and HEU in the world was produced for these immensely destructive weapons. This production was centered almost exclusively in five states: Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States. In the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) these five countries are designated as “nuclearweapon states” because all five had manufactured and exploded a nuclear weapon prior to January 1, 1967. To this day, they remain the only acknowledged nuclear weapon states. Although other countries possess nuclear weapons, the acknowledged states have gained a special status in international affairs. As part of that status, however, these five states also committed to work towards nuclear disarmament, in particular steps accompanied by the elimination of their own stocks of fissile material for nuclear weapons. At the end of 2014, these five states had military stocks totaling about 238 tonnes of plutonium and 1,330 tonnes of HEU, mostly weapon-grade uranium (WGU is defined as HEU enriched over 90 percent). Table 1 provides a summary of the results. Tables 2 and 3, located at the end of the report, provide official declarations or detailed estimates of each country’s military plutonium and HEU holdings. These tables provide extensive endnotes describing official declarations, other sources, and the derivation of the various estimates. In addition to aggregate totals, tables 2 and 3 provide partial information about the various types of military stocks held by these five countries, including fissile material dedicated to nuclear weapons activities and naval propulsion programs, and declared excess to defense requirements.
Topic:
Nuclear Weapons, Uranium, and Plutonium
Political Geography:
Britain, Russia, China, France, and United States of America

36633. Highly Enriched Uranium Inventories in South Africa

Author:
David Albright
Publication Date:
11-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Science and International Security
Abstract:
South Africa produced highly enriched uranium (HEU) for nuclear weapons at the Y plant at the Pelindaba nuclear center located near Pretoria. This plant, which operated from 1977 until early 1990, was designed to make weapon-grade uranium. However, it experienced operational problems that led to the production of less than expected amounts of weapon-grade uranium and a considerable amount of HEU enriched less than 90 percent. In late 1989, then-President F.W. de Klerk ordered an end to the nuclear weapons program, including the shutdown of the Y Plant, and decided to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Following the dismantlement of its nuclear weapons, South Africa brought the NPT into force in 1991, subjecting its entire inventory of HEU to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. As part of the IAEA’s effort to verify South Africa’s initial nuclear material declaration, it conducted an unprecedented investigation aimed at determining that South Africa had declared its HEU inventory completely. After a two year investigation into both the production and use of HEU, the IAEA concluded in September 1993 that South Africa had satisfactorily declared its HEU.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, Treaties and Agreements, and Uranium
Political Geography:
Africa and South Africa

36634. Israel’s Military Plutonium Inventory

Author:
David Albright
Publication Date:
11-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Science and International Security
Abstract:
Israel developed its first nuclear weapon shortly before the 1967 Six Day War, making it the sixth nation to develop nuclear weapons.2 To this day, Israel maintains an ambiguous posture about its nuclear weapons, despite the declassification of formerly secret U.S. government documents which assert the existence of Israeli nuclear weapons. In addition, the revelations of Mordechai Vanunu in 1986 revealed a larger nuclear weapons program than commonly assessed at that time.3 The heart of Israel’s nuclear weapons production complex is the Dimona site near the city of Beersheva. This site contains a number of secret nuclear facilities for the production of plutonium, including a heavy water reactor, a fuel fabrication plant, and a plutonium separation plant, all provided by France in the 1950s and early 1960s. The site also reportedly contains facilities likely involved in tritium extraction and purification (using tritium also produced in the reactor), lithium production, and possibly facilities dedicated to uranium enrichment, at least on a research and development scale.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Middle East and Israel

36635. Additional Taiwan-Based Element of Iranian Military Goods Procurement Network Exposed

Author:
David Albright, Andrea Stricker, David Schnur, and Sarah Burkhard
Publication Date:
09-2015
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Institute for Science and International Security
Abstract:
On June 25, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas announced that Kunlin Hsieh (or Xia) of Taiwan pled guilty to conspiring to violate U.S. export control laws and transshipment of dual-use military equipment from the United States to Iran.1 The goods had uses in missile guidance systems, secure tactical radio communications, and military radar networks. According to court documents, between 2007 and 2014, Hsieh, a Taiwanese national and sales manager of JunBon Enterprises of Taiwan, along with his associate Agris Indricevs, who was charged in the same indictment, procured and brokered the purchase of U.S. goods and transshipped them to Iran. They also worked with Ryan Surrena, another employee of JunBon, who was charged in a separate indictment. Hsieh will face up to twenty years in prison at a sentencing hearing scheduled for September 25, 2015. Indricevs’ case was scheduled to go to trial on August 10, 2015. Surrena was arrested in Texas in 2013 and worked with U.S. officials to further their case. He pled guilty to reduced charges in July 2014 under a sealed plea agreement, which likely takes into consideration his believed assistance, and is due to face sentencing in October 2015. This network represents another element of an already known procurement network operating among entities in Taiwan and Iran and targeting goods made in the United States. The network sent U.S. dual-use military equipment to several companies owned by Mehrdad Foomanie in Iran, such as Sazgan Ertebat Co and Moravid Sanant Co, Ltd.2 Foomanie, who remains at large, was indicted by the Texas court in 2011. Another Taiwanese national operating in the United States, Susan Yip, was arrested and sentenced in Texas. ISIS documented the case of Yip and Foomanie here. Yip used her Taiwan based company Hivocal Technology Co to procure goods for Foomanie in Iran.3 She pled guilty in July 2012 to charges and was sentenced to two years in prison. It appears that U.S. officials gathered additional evidence for charges before seeking to indict the other participants in the network.
Topic:
Military Affairs, Military Spending, Trade, and Illegal Trade
Political Geography:
Iran, Middle East, Taiwan, and Asia

36636. Daesh Hype about Stealing Nuclear Weapons

Author:
David Albright and Sarah Burkhard
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Science and International Security
Abstract:
With Daesh entrenched in Syria and Iraq and growing in influence in North Africa and Pakistan, the risk is likely to grow that the terrorist group or one of its allies will seek nuclear weapons. Or at least this is what they want the world to think since their publications imply these intentions. But Daesh’s public claims of ways to accomplish that goal are unfounded and mainly seem intended to simply incite fear. At ISIS, we assess that the risk of Daesh acquiring nuclear weapons is low. However, that characterization needs to be carefully considered. The chance of Daesh acquiring a nuclear weapon, either through theft of a functioning nuclear weapon, or of nuclear explosive material followed by the manufacturing of a crude nuclear explosive, is assessed as low, similar to the risk of a major nuclear reactor accident, such as the Chernobyl and Fukishima disasters. However, although the chance of Daesh stealing a nuclear weapon is low, the consequences would be horrible and extraordinary efforts need to be waged to ensure that the risk becomes even lower. A nuclear explosive going off in a major city would have catastrophic consequences, probably far worse than those of Chernobyl or Fukishima. While the threat of Daesh stealing or otherwise acquiring a nuclear weapon needs to be taken seriously, Daesh writings on the subject should be discounted. In a May 2015 article in the Daesh magazine Dabiq, the British journalist John Cantlie warns of Daesh’s rapid global expansion and its capabilities to launch major terroristic attacks – including acquiring a nuclear weapon and smuggling it into the United States. It is uncertain if Cantlie actually penned the article, titled “The Perfect Storm.” However, the sentiments of the piece likely reflect Daesh ambitions.
Topic:
Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism, and Islamic State
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Middle East, and North Africa

36637. The BIG Picture: Reflections on the Role of International Educational Exchange in Peace and Understanding

Author:
Darla K. Deardorff
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:
Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:
As humans we’ve always lived in relation to each other – whether in small local groups of hunters/gatherers or in virtual social networks that connect us with strangers around the world. Mobility and exchange have always been part of human history, although much of it relegated to history books and long since forgotten - such as Cahokia, now a historic site in the U.S. state of Illinois but at one time the largest and most sophisticated prehistoric city north of Mexico, whose people maintained vast trade networks throughout the eastern half of the North American continent. In many ways the realities of geo-political developments in current times are simply a variation on past human history, albeit with graver issues that confront human kind. The horrific devastation and realities of twentieth century world wars resulted in the intentional creation of numerous organizations and programs with specific missions to further peace and international understanding in the hope of preventing such horrors in the future. Examples include American Field Service secondary exchanges, started by ambulance drivers in World War I, the International Baccalaureate Organization, the formation of the Institute of International Education after World War I, the formation of the U.S. Peace Corps after World War II, as well as other programs like Fulbright exchanges and later the Chevening Scholarships. In these examples, the underlying assumption was that peace and understanding was not just the purview of nation states (as addressed through the establishment of the League of Nations and later the United Nations) but could also be addressed through “soft power” at the individual level, with the ultimate goal being a more peaceful world. As Wilson notes, there is a dearth of research about whether educational exchange leads to a more peaceful world, ((Iain Wilson, “Exchanges and Peacemaking: Counterfactuals and Unexplored Possibilities,” All Azimuth 4, no. 2 (2015): 5-18.)) particularly given that there are limits to individual-level peacemaking within the broader nation-state system. Nonetheless, there are numerous examples of individuals who have indeed made a difference in the world, including giants such as Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Theresa, or Nelson Mandela, as well as many unsung heroes, and some of the programs mentioned here operate on the premise of the power of the individual to affect change in the world. Since World War II, there has been an increase in educational exchange, particularly at the post-secondary level. The articles in this issue explore various aspects of this: Atkinson’s article looks at lessons learned from educational exchange that occurs within US military institutions,(( Carol Atkinson, “The Role of U.S. Elite Military Schools in Promoting Intercultural Understanding and Democratic Governance,” All Azimuth 4, no. 2 (2015): 19-29.)) Bean’s article highlights the Fulbright program and looks at strategic messaging and communication of such programs,(( Hamilton Bean, “Strategic Communication and the Marketization of Educational Exchange,” All Azimuth 4, no. 2 (2015): 31-44.)) and Wilson’s article addresses this question even more directly in looking at how exchanges can contribute to peacemaking. This commentary outlines some prevailing myths around educational exchange, sets forth three value propositions to inform future international educational exchange and concludes with the bigger picture of the role of educational exchange in promoting peace and international understanding.
Topic:
International Relations, Education, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

36638. Strategic Communication and the Marketization of Educational Exchange

Author:
Hamilton Bean
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:
Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:
This article describes how the marketization discourse that typifies U.S. strategic communication also influences the meanings and practices of educational exchange. Through an analysis of five presentations and 34 program evaluations provided by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, this article explores the risks associated with marketization discourse for the development of mutual understanding and peace.
Topic:
Education, Engagement, Discourse, Public Diplomacy, and Marketization
Political Geography:
Global Focus

36639. The Role of U.S. Elite Military Schools in Promoting Intercultural Understanding and Democratic Governance

Author:
Carol Atkinson
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:
Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:
Educational exchanges at the U.S. military’s war and staff colleges promote intercultural understanding, international security, and help the United States achieve its foreign policy goals. This article provides an overview of the different types of U.S. military education and training programs that are open to foreign participation, and explores the differences between these and civilian exchange programs. It looks at the impacts of military educational exchange programs on their participants, and also draws lessons learned for the design and administration of exchange programs.
Topic:
Education, Governance, Military Affairs, Democracy, Soft Power, Constructivism, and Socialization
Political Geography:
North America, Global Focus, and United States of America

36640. Exchanges and Peacemaking: Counterfactuals and Unexplored Possibilities

Author:
Ilain Wilson
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:
Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:
We may expect international exchange programmes to contribute to peaceful international relations, but how strong is the evidence that they actually do? In addition to the intercultural education discussed elsewhere in this issue, I classify mechanisms by which exchanges might contribute to peace into four categories – signaling, attitude change, network formation and institutional transfer – and assess the evidence that exchanges affect international relations through each of these mechanisms. Despite considerable research there are still important gaps in the evidence, and these gaps may have significant consequences for how we organize exchanges and what kinds of mobility we support.
Topic:
Research, Institutions, Peace, and International Exchange
Political Geography:
Global Focus