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29302. Romanian–British Commercial Exchanges at the Lower Danube: The Consular Report of Percy Sanderson on the Year 1883
- Author:
- Cristian Constantin
- Publication Date:
- 07-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Hiperboreea
- Institution:
- Balkan History Association
- Abstract:
- Researchers consider that the slight increase in commerce through Brăila and Galaţi after 1883 was mainly due to the reorientation of Romanian foreign trade by the dualist monarchy towards other European states. The Danube route-way regained some of its importance, although the port of Galaţi still suffered after the loss of the rich region of Southern Bessarabia and because of the inconvenient manner by which the town was linked to the Romanian railway system. Thus, the paper insists on the quantity and value of commercial exchanges (exports, imports), the grains, the main economic partners and the specific character of Brăila, Galaţi and Sulina in the Romanian economy. This study analyses the results of this fact upon the foreign commerce of the ports, as there are opinions that it had positive consequences for development of commerce and navigation at the Maritime Danube. The text proper is preceded by a short historical comment on the activity of the International Trade in the Lower Danube region.
- Topic:
- Regional Cooperation, Maritime Commerce, and Trade
- Political Geography:
- Britain, Europe, Balkans, and Romania
29303. The Romanian Journalistic Education–The History of a Polemic
- Author:
- Marian Petcu
- Publication Date:
- 07-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Hiperboreea
- Institution:
- Balkan History Association
- Abstract:
- The present study introduces the reader to early approaches relating to journalists' education and accession to the journalistic profession. In Romania, the press was originally managed by writers, priests and teachers, who used to promote a rhetoric of talent, rather than one of competence in the trade of journalism. It was often said that talent was of prime importance here, and, since there was no vouching for talent in schools, journalism needed not to be taught in an educational format. However, Romanian intellectuals who had been schooled in Germany, France or elsewhere would plead for journalistic education. Unfortunately, all attempts in journalistic education failed in Romania until the communist regime came to power.
- Topic:
- Communism, Education, History, Journalism, and The Press
- Political Geography:
- Balkans and Romania
29304. Regime Change and Shifting Modernization Patterns: Professional Trajectories in the Field of Psychology during the Twentieth–Century Romania
- Publication Date:
- 07-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Hiperboreea
- Institution:
- Balkan History Association
- Abstract:
- Throughout the 19th and the 20th century the modernization process that Romania has undergone has revolved around two major poles, the Western pattern of development, and the Soviet one that has been enforced at the end of the Second World War. The regime change experienced after 1945 has shown however that the new leaders needed to rely on some of the existing administrative, technical and scientific cadres in order to implement the new political, social and cultural programme. The careers of Alexandru Roşca and Mihai Beniuc, two psychologists that have been trained in Western Universities and worked at the Institute of Psychology in Cluj, followed the same path that the country was on. Having manifested clear left-wing sympathies during the interwar period, they have managed to maintain their professional status and even gained access to important political positions; therefore, they have contributed to the implementation of two consecutive modernization projects.
- Topic:
- Education, Science and Technology, and Psychology
- Political Geography:
- Balkans and Romania
29305. Suresvara’s View on Knowledge (jñāna)
- Author:
- Alexander Pereverzev
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Hiperboreea
- Institution:
- Balkan History Association
- Abstract:
- The article deals with the soteriologic function of knowledge (jñāna), according to the non-dualist school of Vedānta (with a special reference to its classic author, Surevara) and with its phenomenological and semiotic aspects, in the view of the same school of thought. In its first part, it stresses on the role of knowledge in liberation, both in the system of Advaita Vedānta and in comparison with other schools of Indian philosophy. The second part deals with the great formulations of the salvific knowledge and with the attempts to analyze their meaning. Hence, the study also approaches the semiotics and the epistemology of Advaita Vedānta.
- Topic:
- Religion, Linguistics, and Philosophy
- Political Geography:
- India
29306. Vajrasucika Upanisad: Denial of the Natural and the "Verticalization” of Religious Experience
- Author:
- Ovidiu Cristian Nedu
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Hiperboreea
- Institution:
- Balkan History Association
- Abstract:
- Vajrasucika Upanisad is a more recent text, belonging to the line of the Sma-Veda. The text demolishes all the religious claims of any phenomenal condition, arguing that spiritual pre-eminence is reached only through the direct realization of the ultimate reality (Brahman) as own-identity (tman). The last paragraph of the text offers a presentation of this ultimate reality and of the condition reached by the one who gets dissolved into it.
- Topic:
- Religion
- Political Geography:
- India
29307. The Wallachians in the Nibelungenlied and their Connection with the Eastern Romance Population in the Early Middle Ages
- Author:
- Şerban George Paul Drugaş
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Hiperboreea
- Institution:
- Balkan History Association
- Abstract:
- This article analyses the fragments in the Nibelingenlied that refer to the Wallachians, by their name (Adventure XXII, Stanza 1366 in manuscript C), the name of their country (Wallachian land), and/or of their leader (Ramunc – actually still a collective name, reaffirming the Roman origin of those Wallachians) (Adv. XXII, S. 1370 MS. C; XXXI, S. 1925 MS. C). The mentions above lead to the Romance population from Pannonia to the east, echoing the times of the first two crusades, when that particular people, the Romanians, were neighbors of the Poles, Russians, and “Greeks” (Byzantines), precisely as they were grouped by the lied (Adv. XXII, S. 1366 MS. C). The Wallachians were a Romance nation in the east of Europe, with leaders of their own, having a good cavalry and distinctive costumes. They represent the offspring of the Romance population attested in various sources, both north and south of the Danube, from the times the Roman province of Dacia onward.
- Topic:
- History, Culture, Middle Ages, and Geography
- Political Geography:
- Romania
29308. Attitude of Premodern Romanian Society to “the Marginalized”. Perspectives of Observation and Interpretation
- Author:
- Carmen Alexandrache
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Hiperboreea
- Institution:
- Balkan History Association
- Abstract:
- This paper gathered a series of manifestations of Romanian society regarding to its interpersonal relationship who has development during Premodern centuries. Our observations present the relationships that determined different attitudes of the "majority” of people towards those incapable to realize physical activity or to pray. These social categories were positioned to outskirts of society, becoming the „marginalized” (for example, the mentally ill, beggar, incurably ills cripple, mutilated physically, deformed etc.). Towards those „social marginalizes”, Romanian society was called to showing the "Christian pity". Its attitudes were encouraged by the religious and legal norms. In order to highlight these relations, we used a various types of documents, as representative of the problem analyzed. By nature of the topic, the work was formulated some assumptions that could become landmarks reliable in the future scientific research.
- Topic:
- Religion and Culture
- Political Geography:
- Romania
29309. Germany and the Challenge of Mass Immigration
- Author:
- Zoltán Eperjesi
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Hiperboreea
- Institution:
- Balkan History Association
- Abstract:
- This article gives an insight into the problematic origins of the term multiculturalism, a brief summary of integration of foreigners in Germany by presenting certain debates about incorporation, assimilation and dominant culture in order to ultimately see the critique of the model of multiculturalism.
- Topic:
- Immigration, Multiculturalism, Democracy, Immigrants, and Pluralism
- Political Geography:
- Germany
29310. Warlords, Intervention, and State Consolidation: A Typology of Political Orders in Weak and Failed States
- Author:
- Romain Malejacq
- Publication Date:
- 02-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Security Studies
- Institution:
- Security Studies
- Abstract:
- Despite efforts to bolster failed states over the past two decades, many states in the international system still exhibit endemic weakness. External intervention often leads to political instability and in most cases fails to foster state consolidation, instead empowering and creating ties with the ones it aims to weaken. Using the case of Afghanistan, I develop a typology of political orders that explains variation in degrees of state consolidation and provides the basis for more systematic comparative analysis. I demonstrate the resilience of a political logic according to which non-state armed actors (warlords) “shape-shift” and constantly reinvent themselves to adapt to changing political environments. This article, based on extensive field research in Afghanistan, shows why failed states are unlikely to consolidate and exhibit Western-style state building, as a result of intervention or otherwise.
- Topic:
- Fragile/Failed State, Non State Actors, State Building, and Foreign Interference
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Middle East
29311. Misperceiving U.S. Foreign Policy in the Gulf: Raising the Hidden Costs of U.S. Dependence on Oil
- Author:
- Steve A. Yetiv
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- United States foreign policy in the Middle East over the last few decades has been controversial and checkered, and Washington has certainly flexed its muscles in the region. However, the question arises as to how aggressive America has been with regard to oil in the region. I distinguish between two perspectives in how America is viewed, which we can simply call the offensive and defensive perspectives, recognizing that there is a continuum of views. From the offensive perspective, America is viewed as having one or more of these goals: steal or own Middle East oil; control Middle East oil in order to undermine Muslims; dominate Middle East oil to advance global hegemony; or exercise “puppet” control over oil producers like Saudi Arabia to coerce them into charging far lower oil prices than markets would warrant.1 By contrast, from the defensive perspective, America chiefly aims to prevent others from threatening oil supplies in a manner that would spike global oil prices and possibly cause a recession or depression. Muslim opinion polls have revealed that oil issues are a broader source of tension in relations between elements of the Muslim world and the West. The U.S. role in oil-related issues feeds into historical, political, and religious perspectives of an imperialist and power-hungry America. In fact, a not uncommon view in the Middle East is that America seeks to exploit, even steal the region’s oil resources, a viewpoint much in line with the offensive perspective described above. I argue that the history of America’s role in the region suggests that this is largely a misconception, and that this misconception is not immaterial. It seriously raises the cost of the use of oil and of American regional intervention. This misconception not only stokes terrorism and anti-Americanism, but also complicates America’s relations with Middle Eastern countries, affects its image among Muslims, and hurts its global leverage insofar as such views become internationally prominent. Indeed, it is almost a maxim in many capitals in the Middle East that close cooperation with Washington carries a domestic political cost. Recall, for example, that the Saudis were initially reluctant to host American forces after Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990, even though they felt seriously threatened by Saddam Hussein.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Energy Policy, Oil, and Military Strategy
- Political Geography:
- United States, Middle East, North America, and Persian Gulf
29312. War and the Oil Price Cycle
- Author:
- Amy Myers and Jaffe Jareer Elass
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Oil has shaped international conflict for decades. According to one estimate, twenty-five to fifty percent of interstate wars between 1973 and 2012 had oil-related linkages. 1 But the cyclical nature of oil’s contribution to global conflict is not well understood. Not only are oil prices cyclical, but the geopolitics of oil are linked inexorably to the same boom and bust price cycle. Military adventurism, proxy wars and regional pathologies in the Middle East expand and contract with the ebb and flow of massive petrodollar accumulations related to the oil price cycle. The massive inflow of petrodollar revenues when oil prices are high creates disposable incomes that can be easily dispensed on regional arms races, especially since oil consuming countries like the United States are incentivized to increase arms sales as a means of solving oil import related trade deficits. Besides transferring wealth from industrialized countries to oil producers in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region and Russia (and stimulating renewed drilling for oil and gas in North America), high global oil and natural gas prices also slow global economic growth and encourage energy conservation. This causes petroleum demand to slow globally, lowering oil prices. Social and political problems in the region reemerge as oil prices recede. Regional governments have fewer resources to spend on restive populations that have become accustomed to generous handouts enabled by high oil prices. Job creation and visible social programs slow, dissatisfaction rises, and the consequences of economic downturns incite support for militants. Ensuing instability forces governments to use newly purchased arms, which ironically begins the cycle yet again, as new conflicts disrupt oil supplies. In this manner, the world experiences perpetuating patterns of military conflict, followed by oil supply crises, and accompanying global financial instability. In effect, the Middle East resource curse has become globalized. The challenges this is presenting on humanitarian, security and economic fronts have become increasingly dangerous. The arms race that has accompanied the rise of oil prices over the 2000s has been no exception and is now all the more complicated due to the violent participation of sub-national radicalized groups that are less susceptible to diplomatic pressures or initiatives. In this emerging geopolitical context, the rise of violent subnational groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda are increasingly putting oil infrastructure at risk, laying the groundwork for a future oil crisis that may prove harder to solve than in the past. As borders and ruling institutions have become contested, so has control of the region’s major oil and gas facilities. Initially an outgrowth of disunity inside Iraq, the conflict over oil and gas facilities is now accelerating across ungoverned territories, with important long-term consequences for global energy markets. Mideast oil and gas production capacity, along with surface facilities, are increasingly being damaged in ways that will make them hard to repair. Export disruptions, which were once sporadic, are becoming a more permanent feature of the civil war landscape. The level of destroyed capacity is currently estimated at about 2 million b/d and rising.2 The longer Mideast conflicts fester, the more that infrastructure could become at risk. There is an additional element to this oil and war story that links structurally with the oil boom and bust cycle. As oil prices recede, along with a decreased demand for oil and accelerating regional conflict, wealthy oil producers such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait, are often tempted to use large oil production capacity as a strategic asset. They flood the market with increased supplies in order to lower prices, thereby hurting geopolitical rivals. This price war strategy, which was notably present during the prolonged Soviet war in Afghanistan and the eight year Iran-Iraq War, temporarily ameliorates the short run effects of war on surface export facilities through excessive production rates. In addition, it lays the seeds for the future uptick in the oil market, by discouraging investment in future oil productive capacity outside the Middle East when prices are extremely low. In the case of the 2000s, the destruction caused by ISIS on the oil sector in many locations around the Middle East, combined with expected losses in investment in other parts of the world (like Canada’s oil sands and the Arctic due to current low oil prices), may be creating the conditions for a future oil supply crunch. This has major implications on U.S. policy. This article asserts that the United State would be, in light of these circumstances in the Middle East, unwise to dismantle its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) as has been suggested on Capitol Hill. It would be similarly unwise for the United States to lose focus on the importance of conservation efforts in the transportation sector which has both national security and climate benefits. The United States would benefit strategically from a reevaluation of its ban on oil exports. Finally, the United States should place a greater emphasis on conflict resolution in troubled states. By resolving internal conflicts over the distribution of oil revenues, the United States can better pave the way for long-term solutions whereby those same revenues can be integrated into national budgets in ways that brings economic prosperity to populations instead of rising military expenditure.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, Oil, Military Strategy, Gas, and Conflict
- Political Geography:
- United States, Middle East, North America, and Persian Gulf
29313. The Contagiousness of Regional Conflict: A Middle East Case Study
- Author:
- Graeme P. Auton and Jacob B. Slobodien
- Publication Date:
- 03-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Several factors contribute to or inhibit the “contagiousness” of regional conflict and irregular warfare, whether conducted at the interstate, extrastate, or intrastate level. Five broad drivers of the diffusion of regional conflict are (1) weak states, (2) anticipated power shifts, regional and domestic, (3) unstable and poorly controlled border regions, (4) large refugee flows, and (5) the religiously-based non-state militant campaign against the state as an organizing principle of world politics. These factors are both endogenous and exogenous to particular states and societies, and must be considered alongside the standard factors considered in international relations literature to be the basis of “dangerous state dyads:” geographic contiguity, absence of alliances, absence of an advanced economy, absence of a democratic polity, and absence of a regionally preponderant power. Two case studies illustrate this argument: the rise of Islamic State, and the awareness of the causes of contagion in regional conflict implicit in Israeli security policy.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Regional Cooperation, International Affairs, and Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
29314. The Collapse of Saudi Arabia and the Cataclysmic Power Shift in the Middle East
- Author:
- Elihugh M. Abner
- Publication Date:
- 06-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- This article points out the cataclysmic power shift that would take place in the event of Saudi Arabia’s descent into political turmoil, and briefly covers some of the catalysts that could bring about such an event. Overall, the oppressive policies towards the Shia minority carried out by the Sunni-dominated Saudi monarchy are detrimental to the country’s national security. The religious disparities in the country have given the monarchy’s enemies—primarily Iran and Russia—a weakness to exploit. This article does not give evidence of any clandestine operations taking place within the Kingdom; however, it gives evidence that Iran and Russia have much to gain and virtually nothing to lose if the country was to spiral into violence like so many others in the region.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, National Security, Fragile/Failed State, and Political stability
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Iran, Middle East, and Saudi Arabia
29315. Too Late for Two States: The Benefits of Pivoting to a One-state Solution for Israel and Palestine
- Author:
- Sama Habib
- Publication Date:
- 06-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- As a result of the 70-year conflict between Israel and Palestine, the United States should reconsider its support for a two-state solution and instead pivot to a one-state solution. Policymakers have assumed that deep hatreds can only be settled through separation. However, this policy has caused a stalemate and does not take into account fluctuating developments in the region. A more adaptive strategy is necessary. Using theories of ripeness and conflict mediation, this bold flip in policy can pave the path towards lasting peace. Exercising the instability created from Syria’s civil war, the United States. can ripen the Israel-Palestine conflict by exposing the mutual security benefits gained from uniting against a common enemy: ISIS. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria offers the parties a unique opportunity for peace as a rallying cause. As a close ally of Israel, the United States is in the ideal position to lead mediations centering around talks of permanent ceasefires, economic integration, and eventually political power sharing of a unified, binational state. In conjunction with Qatar acting as the Arab broker for Palestine, the United States should leverage its power to get the parties to the table in order to create the framework for a pocket of peace in an ever-rickety Middle East.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Regional Cooperation, Political Power Sharing, and State Building
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
29316. Exclusion and Violence in Post-2003 Iraq
- Author:
- Yasir Kuoti
- Publication Date:
- 05-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- This paper examines the origins of political violence in Iraq. It argues that, in the wake of the democratic transition process in from 2004 to 2005, Iraqi exiles, who were chiefly Shiite Muslims and Kurds appointed by Paul Bremer, Iraq’s U.S. civilian administrator, moved to write a constitution and set up a political system that deliberately marginalized minorities. Since then, the Sunni minority began and continues to engage in or support violence against the state. It suggests that violence and instability in Iraq are to be understood in terms of local contexts of meaning, notably the nature of struggle for political power.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy, Military Strategy, Political Power Sharing, and Violence
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, Middle East, and North America
29317. Divesting From Sectarianism: Reimagining Relations Between Iran And The Arab Gulf States
- Author:
- Hamada D. Zahawi and Khaled A. Beydoun
- Publication Date:
- 05-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Until recently, Iran has been economically isolated by way of sanctions, preempting investment opportunities with states allied with the United States. However, the Obama administration’s recent effort towards economic normalization with Iran affords it with unprecedented commercial possibilities, and per the focus of this article, legalized commercial enterprising within Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States—across sectarian tensions and fault lines. From both a legal and practical prism, this article investigates the recent lifting of sanctions, which opens the door for Iran’s investment within neighboring states including the GCC. Subsequently, it analyzes how commercial investment and the reciprocal advancement of economic interests offers a promising pathway toward eroding political standoffs, economic inequities, and the politicization of sectarianism. In closing, the article addresses salient challenges that may hinder the potential of this economic rapprochement, and ways forward.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy, Regional Cooperation, Sanctions, and Investment
- Political Geography:
- Iran, Middle East, Persian Gulf, and Gulf Nations
29318. Schrödinger’s Kurds: Transnational Kurdish Geopolitics In The Age Of Shifting Borders
- Author:
- H. Akin Unver
- Publication Date:
- 05-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- As the Middle East goes through one of its most historic, yet painful episodes, the fate of the region’s Kurds have drawn substantial interest. Transnational Kurdish awakening—both political and armed—has attracted unprecedented global interest as individual Kurdish minorities across four countries, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria, have begun to shake their respective political status quo in various ways. It is in Syria that the Kurds have made perhaps their largest impact, largely owing to the intensification of the civil war and the breakdown of state authority along Kurdish-dominated northern borderlands. However, in Turkey, Iraq, and Iran too, Kurds are searching for a new status quo, using multiple and sometimes mutually defeating methods. This article looks at the future of the Kurds in the Middle East through a geopolitical approach. It begins with an exposition of the Kurds’ geographical history and politics, emphasizing the natural anchor provided by the Taurus and Zagros mountains. That anchor, history tells us, has both rendered the Kurds extremely resilient to systemic changes to larger states in their environment, and also provided hindrance to the materialization of a unified Kurdish political will. Then, the article assesses the theoretical relationship between weak states and strong non-states, and examines why the weakening of state authority in Syria has created a spillover effect on all Kurds in its neighborhood. In addition to discussing classical geopolitics, the article also reflects upon demography, tribalism, Islam, and socialism as additional variables that add and expand the debate of Kurdish geopolitics. The article also takes a big-data approach to Kurdish geopolitics by introducing a new geopolitical research methodology, using large-volume and rapid-processed entity extraction and recognition algorithms to convert data into heat maps that reveal the general pattern of Kurdish geopolitics in transition across four host countries.
- Topic:
- Regional Cooperation, Geopolitics, Borders, and Translation
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Middle East, Syria, and Kurdistan
29319. Youth, Peace, And Security: A New Agenda for the Middle East and North Africa
- Author:
- Margaret Williams
- Publication Date:
- 06-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- The important role of young people in building peace and challenging violent extremism is gaining recognition within the international community. The United Nations Security Resolution on Youth, Peace, and Security (SCR 2250), passed in December 2015, is evidence of this trend. It represents a shift from the dichotomy of youth as either perpetrators or victims of violence to a perspective in which youth are viewed as agents of positive change and peace. In moving forward with this resolution and similarly reflective and supportive policy, one of the greatest challenges for the Middle East and North Africa will be the current geopolitical context and obstacles to opportunity. In a region fraught with conflict, stemming from domestic and foreign policies, as well as a history of unrepresentative and repressive governance systems, leaders have often sought to maintain the status quo. This is a problem in a region where more than 30 percent of the population is between 15 and 29 years of age, and are increasingly frustrated with and stymied by a lack of meaningful political space—leading to lost faith in political systems.1 In such a setting, regional policymakers must be challenged to meaningfully incorporate young people into decisionmaking processes, to ensure that peacebuilding programs target young people early on in their development, to avoid the securitization of youth in the development and implementation of national and local policies, and to address the underlying social, economic, and political grievances that often drive extremism and impact young people’s relationships with their communities and states.
- Topic:
- Security, Youth, Peace, and Young Adults
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Middle East, and North Africa
29320. A National Strategic Framework for Countering Violent Extremism in Jordan
- Author:
- Ghimar Deeb, Jeffrey Woodham, Mia Chin, and Sawsan Gharaibeh
- Publication Date:
- 06-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Following the uprisings in the Arab world, the region has lurched into a period of massive change and instability. An unfortunate consequence of this change has been the rise and proliferation of militant groups such as ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham) and Jubhat al-Nusra in Iraq and Syria. These militant groups successfully recruit members from the region and beyond, fueling conflict in countries that have witnessed unrest, such as Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria. Although Jordan has long been seen as a regional hub of stability and security, especially by its Western allies, it increasingly exhibits symptoms of the long-standing pressures exerted upon it by the surrounding conflicts, resulting refugee crises, and pre-existing domestic challenges. Jordan’s hypothetical fall into instability could have catastrophic consequences for the region, exacerbating the crises in Syria and Iraq, empowering ISIS and other militant groups, and threatening regional and global security. In response, this article offers a general framework for the expansion of the country’s nascent Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) program, including both preventative and remedial measures. Beginning with an overview of the processes of radicalization and de-radicalization, this article proceeds with a brief discussion of Jordan’s current situation before synthesizing scholarly articles and analyses of other CVE programs in order to establish a framework to guide Jordan’s developing CVE interventions.
- Topic:
- Terrorism, Refugee Crisis, ISIS, and Arab Spring
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Jordan
29321. The African Union’s Gender, Peace, and Security Mechanisms: Policy Options for Protecting Women in Conflict
- Author:
- Hussaina J. Abdullah
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Social Science Research Council
- Abstract:
- This brief addresses the mechanisms of the African Union (AU) for protecting and promoting women’s rights during conflict and their participation in post- conflict peacebuilding processes. These mechanisms can be found in the policy frameworks and structures of the Protocol Relating to the Establish- ment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union (the PSC Pro- tocol) of 2002, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol), adopted in 2003, and the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA) of 2004. Other mechanisms include the AU Action Plans on Gender Main- streaming in peace and security, as well as a special rapporteur on women’s rights, appointed in 1999, a special envoy on women, peace, and security, appointed in 2014, and the AU’s Five-Year (2015–2020) Gender, Peace, and Security Programme. While the AU scores high on de jure instruments designed to improve the legal framework for women’s rights and gender equality, the evidence sug- gests less progress in terms of the de facto practices directed toward their implementation. For example, the Maputo Protocol—the African Women’s Bill of Rights—whose full ratification and enforcement were envisaged by 2015 and its domestication by 2020—has not been ratified by fourteen member states,2 and two countries, Botswana and Egypt, have not even signed the in- strument. Even some of the countries that ratified it did so with reservations. Furthermore, while member states are also expected to send biennial reports on the implementation processes in their respective countries, only Malawi had complied with this provision as of December 2015. And although the protocol demands the protection of women against violence in war and in peace times, reports indicate the continued perpetration with impunity of sexual- and gender-based violence (SGBV) against women in conflict-affected settings. The PSC protocol, the normative framework on which the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA)4 is based, recognizes the need to protect women from violence in conflict-affected areas, but in doing so it makes them appear as mostly passive victims of war. An approach is needed that recognizes women can be perpetrators of violence as well as agents of change pro- moting peace and reconciliation. The integration of an all-encompassing organizational gender strategy to guide the AU’s work in conflict and post-conflict situations will strengthen effectiveness in conflict-affected societies with regard to the women, peace, and security (WPS) goals of participation in post-conflict governance; protec- tion from SGBV and acts of impunity; prevention of the abuse of women, girls, and children; and the promotion of gender equality. The mandate of the AU’s special envoy on WPS to “ensure that the voices of women and the vulnerable are heard much more in peacebuilding and in conflict resolu- tion” is both timely and relevant. Priority should be given to coordinating mechanisms for an Africa-centered gen- der, peace, and security framework and to promoting synergies among women’s organizations, national gov- ernments, and peace support operations to ensure the implementation of actions that make a difference in the lives of women in conflict-affected countries. The spe- cial envoy should also engage closely with stakeholders to ensure full domestication of the Maputo Protocol is achieved by 2020. In sum, although the AU has made some progress in establishing a gender, peace, and security framework to ensure the protection of women’s rights and promote gen- der equality in conflict and post-conflict settings, some gaps and coordination challenges continue to limit its ef- fectiveness. Gender mainstreaming mechanisms across the peace and security sector, including capacity building initiatives, need to be addressed critically to prevent the continued violation of women’s physical and bodily integ- rity in conflict-affected and post-conflict countries.
- Topic:
- Security, Gender Issues, Peace, and African Union
- Political Geography:
- Africa
29322. Blaise Compaoré in the Resolution of the Ivorian Conflict: From Belligerent to Mediator-in-Chief
- Author:
- Amy Niang
- Publication Date:
- 03-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Social Science Research Council
- Abstract:
- In the often troubled politics of West Africa, Blaise Compaoré, the former president of Burkina Faso, is a quaint figure, almost of another era. Yet with all he has experienced over a quarter century of the region’s upheavals, he is also very much a man of his time, politically astute, and a fine strategist when it comes to preserving his friendships with powerful countries and leaders whose backing has provided immunity of sorts for his alleged crimes. Compaoré has always been equally keen on keeping a clean image as a peacemaker, given the intolerable association of his name and career with a bloody 1983 coup that cost the life of Thomas Sankara, the revolutionary pan-African figure. This paper is not, however, focused on Compaoré’s political career, and it is not a diatribe meant to support or amplify common critiques of his political activism or his perceived destructive practices. The popular insurgency of October 2014 that resulted in the resignation of the long-serving president gives a good measure of popular sentiment on Compaoré’s model of governance and moral ethics more emphatically than any speculative account on political rule in Burkina Faso. The aim here, rather, is to examine how, as a mediator, Compaoré builds and deploys a particular kind of “sovereignty,” informed by his capacity to tap into different registers of legitimacy, while reinterpreting the terms of mediation mandates as part of his strategies. This paper is concerned with his role in facilitating dialogue and brokering peace in the Ivorian conflict, and it specifically examines the “Compaoré system” at work in one of West Africa’s most protracted political crises. The question is whether there are ways in which a mediator can and does appropriate the mediation process by giving it a direction it might otherwise not have taken. In our case of interest—the 2002–10 military and political crisis—a consideration of Compaoré’s personal touch with regard to political and legal processes, the nature of agreements, actors’ conduct, and mediation outcomes points to different possibilities of understanding conflict management and resolution patterns in different African contexts. More important for the mediation literature, the ways of an unlikely mediator provide useful methodological and empirical resources for thinking differently about mediation as an applied science. In fact, Compaoré’s mediation career poses an analytical puzzle to perspectives commonly developed in the literature; this puzzle has to do with his counterintuitive and unconventional methods, which deserve proper engagement.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy, Sovereignty, and Political Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Africa and West Africa
29323. Conflict, Peace, and Regional Economic Integration in Southern Africa: Addressing the Policy Challenges
- Author:
- Zebulun Kreiter
- Publication Date:
- 07-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Social Science Research Council
- Abstract:
- he Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa (SRO-SA) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Peacebuilding Network (APN) of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) organized a seminar on “Conflict, Peace, and Regional Economic Integration in Southern Africa: Bridging the Knowledge Gaps and Addressing the Policy Challenges.” It was held at AVANI Victoria Falls Resort, Livingstone, Zambia, from October 7 to 8, 2015. The seminar was the inaugural edition of the SRO-SA Southern Africa Sem- inar Series, an informal and frank forum in which academics, policymakers, and other stakeholders have the opportunity to discuss key development is- sues that affect the region. The purpose of the seminar was to sort out issues related to the causes of conflict in Southern Africa, the scope for regional responses and implications, the role of civil society in conflict mediation, the related issues of xenophobia and migration, the interaction of gender and conflict, and the importance of governance for economic development and to elicit perspectives from other regions. Despite promising economic and political developments, the regional in- tegration agenda in Southern Africa faces a number of growing challenges. The skewed nature of economic growth has resulted in in-country and cross- border migration in the region, as people search for employment and better living conditions. Furthermore, inequities in the distribution of income and wealth have inflamed tensions and led to a surge in social and political conflict within member states.
- Topic:
- Regional Cooperation, Conflict, Peace, and Economic Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Southern Africa
29324. Decolonizing the Mainstreaming of Gender in Peacebuilding: Toward an Agenda for Africa
- Author:
- Heidi Hudson
- Publication Date:
- 07-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Social Science Research Council
- Abstract:
- Peacebuilding is big business in Africa and the gendering of peacebuilding even more so—if the number of workshops and funding proposals with gen- der as their focus is anything to go by. As an academic enterprise, gender and peacebuilding have equally grown in stature and scope.1 But more often than not, gender acts as a proxy for women, especially because we are con- tinuously reminded that they must be included in all peacebuilding efforts because they make up more than half of the population and war and its aftermath affect them differently. So why bother with mainstreaming gen- der if it is actually just about adding women? Practice has shown that the rhetorical commitment to gender within peacebuilding programs (hailed as positive by some) has neither changed the generally widespread gen- der-blind nature of policy and practice nor led to more than an increased mainstreaming of women’s and girls’ needs based on a very narrow inter- pretation of male-female categories.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Decolonization, and Peace
- Political Geography:
- Africa
29325. Is UNSCR 1325 Empowering African Women to Negotiate? Peace Insights and Policy Options
- Author:
- Pamela Machakanja
- Publication Date:
- 07-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Social Science Research Council
- Abstract:
- Africa faces formidable challenges with regard to the relatively few women influencing decisions and policies related to peace and security. A study on women’s participation in thirty-one peace processes between 1992 and 2011 showed that of the fifteen African countries, only five had women on their ne- gotiating teams (Burundi, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, and Uganda); five had women witnesses or observers ( Liberia, Si- erra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda); two had women lead mediators (DRC and Kenya); and only one (DRC) had women signatories.1 Although UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 “reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security,”2 its full implementation remains a work in progress in Africa, as women’s participation in peace and security remains more symbolic than substantive, and their capacity to influence and engage in peace negotiations is often resisted by local cultural norms and patriarchal hierarchies.
- Topic:
- Security, Gender Issues, Culture, Feminism, and Peace
- Political Geography:
- Africa
29326. African Boundary Conflicts and International Mediation: The Absence of Inclusivity in Mediating the Bakassi Peninsula Conflict
- Author:
- Aloysius Nyuymengka Ngalim
- Publication Date:
- 09-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Social Science Research Council
- Abstract:
- This paper begins with a description of the conflict, mediation and post- mediation clashes, and an analysis of the mediation process. The main argument is that post-mediation clashes were a result of the exclusion of the views and interests of residents of the Bakassi peninsula. Background information on the conflict is presented to situate the paper within extant ideas on international mediation and to provide theoretical underpinning and a theoretical basis for the conclusion. This study draws data from documentary sources complemented with interviews conducted during fieldwork between January and April 2013. Documentary sources include press reports and legal documents related to the dispute as well as scholarly publications. Data was analyzed using the content analysis approach.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy, Imperialism, Conflict, and Humanitarian Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Nigeria, and Cameroon
29327. Diwaniyya Voices Podcast: Arab Christians
- Author:
- Alona Ferber and Wadi'a Abu Nasser
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
- Abstract:
- Podcast episode produced by the Moshe Dayan Center in 2016. Featuring Alona Ferber interviewing Wadi'a Abu Nasser.
- Topic:
- Religion, Culture, Oral History, and Podcast
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
29328. Valuation of World Heritage
- Author:
- Indira Rajaraman
- Publication Date:
- 08-2016
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- India International Centre (IIC)
- Abstract:
- World Heritage sites are classified in two categories—cultural heritage, and natural heritage. Outstanding Universal Value—the basis for identification of a World Heritage site implies that valuation, from a global perspective, might be sufficiently greater than the valuation of that site in its immediate location for the World Heritage tag to provide a significant incentive for the preservation of it. The rise in tourist traffic consequent upon recognition, statistically validated in several contexts, seemingly justifies that prior. The common cliché of the historical structure allowed to fall into ruin, its stones prised out for constructing nearby dwellings, or the area within what remains of the structure put to base uses, conforms to that conception. Likewise, there are natural biodiversity reserves threatened by unregulated cutting of trees, where recognition as a World Heritage site may well be the statement of superior valuation needed to put a stop to such practices and preserve what remains. This paper does not therefore argue that the World Heritage convention should be abandoned, and its sites de-recognised. What it does argue is that the basis of indigenous valuation should be investigated for its constituents, so as to bring about a better alignment between global and local valuation.
- Topic:
- Globalization, History, Tourism, Culture, and Architecture
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
29329. Trans-Himalayan Region: Evolving Politics and Strategies
- Author:
- Sangeeta Thapliyal
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- India International Centre (IIC)
- Abstract:
- The Himalayan region represents different terrain ranging from plateaus to high mountains and valleys, lower Himalayan ranges, each representing diverse ecology, resources, social moorings and political identities. The Himalayan region stretching from Afghanistan to the mountains of Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bhutan is at the cusp of South Asia, Central Asia and China. This geographical location has allowed transit for cultures, trade and movement of people from India northwards to the trans-Himalayas and from Tibet, China and Central Asia southwards to India. It has assimilated Hinduism and Buddhism along with indigenous cultures, languages, dialects and ethnicity. People have emotional and cultural sentiments towards the Himalayas, especially Hindus, Jains and Buddhists, who revere sacred Kailash Mansarovar. Ancient texts have written about the Himalayas as a symbol of divinity and spirituality. The Vishnupurana states that the country south of the Himalayas and north of the ocean is Bharat, thus signifying the Himalayas as a frontier in the north.
- Topic:
- Post Colonialism, Regional Cooperation, History, Colonialism, and Geography
- Political Geography:
- China, Nepal, Tibet, and Himalayas
29330. The South China Sea: The View From the Philippines
- Author:
- Antonio T. Carpio
- Publication Date:
- 02-2016
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- The Honorable Antonio T. Carpio, Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, discusses the South China Sea disputes in an October 7, 2015 lecture at Columbia University. Moderated by Ann Marie Murphy, Senior Research Scholar at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute. Co-sponsored by SEASI and the New York Southeast Asia Network.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Territorial Disputes, and Geopolitics
- Political Geography:
- Asia, Philippines, and South China Sea
29331. The Nuclear Disaster, Tsunami, and Manga: The Representation of Recent Disasters in Japanese Popular Culture
- Author:
- Yukari Fujimoto and Hikari Hori
- Publication Date:
- 03-2016
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Video from the March 11, 2016 Weatherhead East Asian Institute event about discussing the representations of March 11, 2011's "triple disaster" in Japan in popular media. Featuring Yukari Fujimoto, professor at Meiji University. Moderated by Hikari Hori, assistant professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University.
- Topic:
- Natural Disasters, Culture, Disaster Management, and Nuclear Energy
- Political Geography:
- Japan and Asia
29332. Taiwan and US-China Relations in a Trump Administration
- Author:
- Andrew J. Nathan
- Publication Date:
- 12-2016
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Andrew J. Nathan, the Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, discusses Donald Trump's conversation with Taiwan's president Tsai Ing-wen and what it may mean for U.S.-China relations.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Diplomacy, Bilateral Relations, Political Science, and Donald Trump
- Political Geography:
- China, Taiwan, Asia, North America, and United States of America
29333. Waltz’s Modesty: Structures Never Tell Us All that We Want to Know - They Tell Us “A Small Number of Big and Important Things”
- Author:
- Hans Rusinek
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development
- Institution:
- Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
- Abstract:
- This essay classifies Waltz’s theory into a functionalist framework, very much like the economic theories it is inspired by. Waltz assumes that structure has primacy not because this is the case, but because it helps to theorize upon. His theory should therefore be measured by its predictive fruitfulness and simplicity, not by the empiric truth of its assumptions. Constructivist criticism, which mistakes Waltz’s concept of primacy as ontological primacy and not epistemological, therefore makes a categorical mistake. Anarchy might be what states make of it, but what states make of it is broadly shown by his Theory of International Politics (TIP). By viewing TIP as a functionalist macro-theory it can incorporate constructivist theories as control- theories and creates a powerful synthesis for future research.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Economics, Anarchy, and Political structure
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
29334. The Global Politics of Gay Rights: The Straining Relations between the West and Africa
- Author:
- Hakeem Onapajo
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development
- Institution:
- Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
- Abstract:
- This article analyses the contemporary global politics of gay rights as it relates to the straining relations between the Western powers and many African states that oppose sexual minorities’ rights. While the West (with emphasis on the United States, EU, and Britain) advocates for the protection of gay rights in the world, Africa provides the largest concentration of states opposed to them. Therefore, there has been rising tension between both regions. This became more apparent after Nigeria and Uganda, respectively, signed their anti-gay bills into law in January and February 2014. In response to this, the Western powers decided to take some punitive measures, especially imposition of sanctions, against the countries to pressurise them to repeal their laws. In an unusual manner, the African states are radically determined to go ahead with their anti-gay laws in open defiance to the demands of the Western powers. This development, which is informed by a number of factors, shows a rather new pattern of behaviour by African states in global politics.
- Topic:
- Minorities, LGBT+, Sexuality, and Gay Rights
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, North America, and United States of America
29335. Financial Development and Economic Growth in European Countries: Bootstrap Causality Analysis
- Author:
- Fuat Lebe
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development
- Institution:
- Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
- Abstract:
- In the present study, it was investigated whether there was a causality relationship between financial development and economic growth for sixteen European countries. Data from the period of 1988-2012 was analyzed using the bootstrap panel causality test, which takes cross-section dependence and heterogeneity into account. The results of the test showed that there was a strong causality relationship between financial development and economic growth in European countries. In European countries, there was a causality relationship from economic growth to financial development and from financial development to economic growth. These results support both the supply-leading and the demand-following hypotheses. Therefore, it can be said that the feedback hypothesis is valid for European countries.
- Topic:
- Development, Regional Cooperation, Economic Growth, and Financial Development
- Political Geography:
- Europe
29336. Complaint Calls as a Proxy for Perceived Quality: The Turkish Dishwasher Demand Estimation
- Author:
- Çağlar Yurtseven
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development
- Institution:
- Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
- Abstract:
- The paper estimates dishwasher demand and supply in Turkey. The constructed Stackelberg type oligopolistic competition, with its strong testable implications is demonstrated to be consistent with a stable market composed of a leader firm and followers. The paper has an important contribution to demand estimation literature as well. The complaint calls rate for a product is offered and shown to be a valid proxy to help the problem of omitted variable bias due to the unobserved characteristics as perceived quality or after sale service quality. Elasticities calculated for each demand determinant can help durable good firms in emerging countries to use their investment and marketing resources more efficiently.
- Topic:
- Science and Technology, Demand, Supply, and Consumerism
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, and Asia
29337. IMS-Growth Triangle, SADC and APEC: A Brief Analysis of Regional Integration and Transborder Relations from Critical Geopolitical Perspectives
- Author:
- Iqbal Shailo
- Publication Date:
- 07-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development
- Institution:
- Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
- Abstract:
- This study briefly discusses three case studies of regional integration, namely the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle (IMS-GT), the South African Development Community (SADC) and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), to critically examine contemporary integration project as a phenomenon in which sovereignty, identity and boundary/territory are constructed and confirmed. Poststructuralist approaches reconsider regional communities as pre-given institutes, practices and actors, and inspire to focus on how these categories are constructed and implemented. I am concerned with two important questions: what are the central theoretical dilemmas concerning the concept of regional integration; and how can critical geopolitics employ the integration project and constructive discourses to form a broader view of regional integration?
- Topic:
- Globalization, Regional Cooperation, Geopolitics, Borders, and Regionalism
- Political Geography:
- Indonesia, Malaysia, and Asia
29338. Debating State Capacity and Intrastate Wars in South Asia
- Author:
- Azhar Ali
- Publication Date:
- 07-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development
- Institution:
- Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
- Abstract:
- In South Asia the notion of intrastate wars are prevalent and prolonged. Most of the countries in the region have faced or are still struggling with such wars. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebellion movement in Sri Lanka, till very recently, violent Nexal movement and Maoist insurgency in India and sectarian violence in Pakistan, Taliban and Al-Qaida in Afghanistan have all been the part of intra-state wars. These wars challenge the authority and the integrity of the state. The state’s monopoly over the means of violence seems eroded in South Asia due to certain developments in the international system. The issue of intra-state war has become major problem for the states in South Asia to deal with. This paper argues that these intra-state wars challenge and influence the power of the state particularly in South Asia. It further analyses the state capacity and tries to look that how state finds itself constrained to in dealing with such intrastate wars. In a precise manner this paper also attempts to understand the changing conceptions of security due to the changed nature of modern warfare.
- Topic:
- Globalization, War, State Formation, Information Technology, and Intrastate Wars
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, South Asia, India, and Asia
29339. A Review of Public and Private Investment in South Africa
- Author:
- Garikai Makuyana and Nicholas M. Odhiambo
- Publication Date:
- 07-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development
- Institution:
- Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
- Abstract:
- The paper aims to put the limelight on the growth dynamics of public and private investment in South Africa from the apartheid period through to 2012. With the adopted inward-looking growth policy during the apartheid, massive economic infrastructure public investment stimulated private investment. Growth buoyancy of private investment continued with the implementation of the market system in 1994, complemented by the core infrastructure growth. While the South African investment climate is considered to be competitive, at least in comparison to other African economies, there are areas that still need further improvement to unlock higher investment growth potential that includes non-all-inclusive infrastructure.
- Topic:
- Apartheid, Infrastructure, Economic Growth, Investment, Public Sector, and Private Sector
- Political Geography:
- Africa and South Africa
29340. The Role of Contesting Ideologies: Civil-Military Relations in Turkey
- Author:
- Rahman Dag
- Publication Date:
- 07-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development
- Institution:
- Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
- Abstract:
- Civil-military relationship is generally examined through the use of an institutional approach or theories (concordance) that emphasise the salience of power struggles and social cohesion. These contributions are important but often exclude the role of contesting ideologies. To address this gap, this paper takes an ideological approach to address civil-military relations in Turkey. The analyses commence with the military reforms of the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th century and the Republican period. The paper argues that modernization projects of the Empire paved the way for military superiority which turned into being saviour and founders of the Republic. It then moves to consider the ideological parameters that coloured the military establishment, arguing that the target of modernization was itself systemized and internalized into Kemalist ideology and the duty to preserve this remains inculcated in the contemporary military establishment.
- Topic:
- Military Strategy, Military Affairs, Coup, and Civil-Military Relations
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, and Asia
29341. Tunisia’s Economic Transition? Popular Evaluations of Social Crisis and Reform
- Publication Date:
- 11-2016
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Arab Barometer
- Abstract:
- Economic growth and adequate social provision can make or break a potential democratic transition. In the five years following the 2011 uprising that overthrew former President Zine el-Abedine Ben Ali, Tunisia has successfully installed the architecture of political democracy: presidential and parliamentary elections in 2014 have been widely hailed as fair and transparent, and a consensus constitution was promulgated in January 2014. Yet the substantive benefit of democracy – the translation of citizens’ needs and priorities into concrete policy solutions – has in many ways remained elusive. Previous survey research has established that a plurality of revolutionary protesters in 2011 were motivated by economic failures and corruption (Beissinger, Jamal, and Mazur 2015); an exit survey of Tunisians during the 2014 parliamentary elections likewise showed that a large majority of voters prioritized economic growth, employment, and the cost of living over other concerns, including security and civic freedoms (Berman and Nugent 2015). National household survey data from the Arab Barometer (2016) confirms that Tunisians identify “the economic situation” as the most important challenge facing their country.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Education, Public Opinion, Higher Education, Academia, and Students
- Political Geography:
- Tunisia
29342. Ambassador Walid Obeidat, A conference at the Knesset
- Author:
- Walid Obeidat
- Publication Date:
- 07-2016
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Mitvim: The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies
- Abstract:
- A conference at the Knesset, July 2016
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy and Knesset
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan
29343. Sino-Poland cooperation on publishing fosters the flower of friendship
- Author:
- Liu Yehua, Gao Ya, and Tian Yuan
- Publication Date:
- 12-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Nowa Polityka Wschodnia
- Institution:
- Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
- Abstract:
- There has been a long-termed history of Sino-Poland friendship. Poland is one of the first countries establishing diplomatic relation with China, in terms of which the year of 2016 is the 67th anniversary. Since establishment of diplomatic relation, with mutual exchanges being deeper and deeper, cooperation between China and Poland on publishing has been more and more prosperously developed. According to this great trend, China Renmin University Press has cooperated with Polish publishing houses on a great number of outstanding academic works since 2008.
- Topic:
- International Cooperation, Bilateral Relations, and Publishing
- Political Geography:
- China, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Poland
29344. Ethnicity and ethnicities Part I
- Author:
- Shokhrat Kadyrov, Olga Brusina, and Isaac Scarborough
- Publication Date:
- 12-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Nowa Polityka Wschodnia
- Institution:
- Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
- Abstract:
- Scientific paradigm changes are frequently accompanied by the reconsideration of central terms and ideas. This article demonstrates how this process is currently underway in Russian anthropological studies [narodovedenie] as part of a broader move away from ethnography to theoretical ethnology. The article also shows lines of succession and divergence between various paradigms currently dominant in Russian anthropology, including primordialism and constructivism, and presents the author’s vision of a definition of “ethnicity”, instruments needed to study ethnicities, the nature of “ethnicity,” the underlying axioms on which ethnicities are conceptualized. An initial attempt has been made in the article to outline the central positions that would provide for a principally new ethnological paradigm by way of a new definition of the phenomenon of ethnicity
- Topic:
- Science and Technology, Ethnicity, Anthropology, and Constructivism
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Eastern Europe, and Global Focus
29345. Civil society institutions crucial in securing human rights and freedoms
- Author:
- Bakhrom Babaev
- Publication Date:
- 06-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Nowa Polityka Wschodnia
- Institution:
- Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
- Abstract:
- A roundtable discussion has taken place in Paris to deliberate on the experience of Uzbekistan and France in civil society development The event was organized by the diplomatic mission of Uzbekistan in collaboration with the Institute for Forecasting and Security in Europe (IPSE). Representatives of socio-political, expert-analytical circles and non-state sector of France attended the occasion. Event participants were familiarized with large-scale efforts undertaken in Uzbekistan in encouraging the development of civil society institutions, consolidation of their role and significance in public affairs, in augmenting the socio-economic activity and law culture of the population, ensuring human rights, freedoms and legitimate interests. Organizational and normative measures approved in the framework of implementation of the Concept of Intensification of Democratic Reforms and Formation of Civil Society in the Country triggered keen interest among French experts.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Human Rights, Institutions, and Freedom
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Central Asia, France, and Uzbekistan
29346. Expanded localization, strengthened cooperation
- Author:
- Bakhrom Babaev
- Publication Date:
- 06-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Nowa Polityka Wschodnia
- Institution:
- Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
- Abstract:
- IX International Industrial Fair and Cooperation Exchange completed its work in the Expocentre in Tashkent. It was attended by about 2,000 local enterprises and companies of which more than 1000 – small businesses and private entrepreneurship. They exposed to more than 20 thousand items. The traditional forum of industrialists of Uzbekistan was carried out in the framework of implementation of tasks set by the President Islam Karimov to build a modern, diversified and competitive economy through active continuation of structural reforms, modernization, technical and technological renewal of the most important industries, accelerate the development of industrial and social infrastructure, especially in rural areas, and full support for domestic producers, small businesses and private entrepreneurship.
- Topic:
- International Cooperation, Local, and Conference
- Political Geography:
- Central Asia and Uzbekistan
29347. The Complex and Increasingly Dangerous Nuclear Weapons Geometry of Asia
- Author:
- Greg Thielmann and David C. Logan
- Publication Date:
- 07-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Arms Control Association
- Abstract:
- While much of the world’s attention is focused on efforts to halt the nuclear and missile tests of North Korea, the nuclear arsenals and ambitions of India, Pakistan, and China also pose significant dangers and deserve more attention. The complicated nuclear weapons geometry of Asia extends from the subcontinent to the other side of the world. While Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is designed to counter India’s conventional and nuclear forces, New Delhi measures its own nuclear weapons program against that of China. Beijing, in turn, judges the adequacy of its nuclear arsenal against the threat it perceives from the United States’ strategic offensive and defensive capabilities. And in its efforts to mitigate the ballistic missile threat from North Korea, the United States and its allies in the region are expanding their strategic and theater missile defense capabilities. In order to fully understand how the pace and direction of nuclear proliferation can be influenced, the interconnections of these countries must be considered, along with the kinds of nuclear weapons they have at their disposal.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, and Nonproliferation
- Political Geography:
- Asia
29348. Resuming Negotiations with North Korea
- Author:
- Elizabeth Philipp
- Publication Date:
- 06-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Arms Control Association
- Abstract:
- The window of opportunity to prevent North Korea from fielding nuclear-armed ballistic missiles is closing. Diplomatic engagement with North Korea has been scant in recent years. In response to Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests, the United States and other countries, through actions of the United Nations Security Council and independent policies, have adopted an approach of increasing political and economic isolation. Yet, during this time, Pyongyang has improved its nuclear weapons capability quantitatively and qualitatively. The next presidential administration must prioritize reviewing and renewing Washington’s diplomatic approach to North Korea. With each successive nuclear and missile test, North Korea advances its knowledge and consolidates its capability. History has shown that it is far easier to convince North Korea to negotiate away a military capability it does not yet possess. Washington’s stated primary concern is a North Korean nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Pyongyang will achieve this capability if it is not reined in through a diplomatic agreement or understanding. Once Pyongyang achieves this status, the security balance in Asia will be disrupted and U.S. diplomats will be hard-pressed to convince North Korea to abandon the capability.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Diplomacy, Nuclear Weapons, United Nations, Military Affairs, and Nonproliferation
- Political Geography:
- United States and North Korea
29349. North Korea’s Nuclear Threat: How to Halt Its Slow but Steady Advance
- Author:
- Greg Thielmann
- Publication Date:
- 02-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Arms Control Association
- Abstract:
- In the first five weeks of 2016, North Korea twice defied UN Security Council resolutions designed to stem its pursuit of nuclear weapons. On January 6, it conducted its fourth underground nuclear test; on February 7, it launched a satellite into space for the second time. These two events provided a vivid reminder that North Korea continues to make progress mastering the technology needed for developing long-range ballistic missiles and arming them with nuclear warheads. U.S. leaders have long sought to formulate and implement policies that would secure a denuclearized Korean peninsula, but these efforts have not been successful. U.S. political commentary on North Korea vacillates between taking at face value the regime’s exaggerated claims of technological prowess and reducing its leadership to cartoonish stereotypes. A clearer understanding of North Korea’s motives and the current status of its nuclear and missile programs can lead to a more realistic strategy for enhancing U.S. security. That strategy would involve using enhanced sanctions as leverage for achieving a halt in North Korea’s nuclear and missile testing and production of fissile material, but this can only happen through negotiations.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, United Nations, International Security, Military Affairs, and Nonproliferation
- Political Geography:
- United States and North Korea
29350. Silencing the Guns: Mediation practices and contemporary wars
- Publication Date:
- 10-2016
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
- Abstract:
- From 26 to 27 October 2016, the African Union (AU), in collaboration with the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt, hosted the 7th AU High-level Retreat of Special Envoys and Mediators on the Promotion of Peace, Security and Stability in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt (Sharm El Sheikh Retreat). Co-organised by the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), and the Cairo Center for Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping in Africa (CCCPA), the retreat brought together a range of senior representatives from the AU Commission (AUC), including the Commissioner for Peace and Security, Special Envoys, Special Representatives and distinguished mediators. Also in attendance were senior representatives of the continent’s regional economic communities (RECs) and regional mechanisms (RMs), as well as eminent officials from the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), League of Arab States (LAS) and civil society organisations (CSOs).
- Topic:
- United Nations, International Security, Europe Union, Peace, African Union, and Arab League
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, Middle East, and North Africa