Showing papers in "Global Change, Peace & Security in 2016"

Dignity in adversity: human rights in troubled times

Abstract: CCP’ (p. 189). Moreover, ‘grand political narratives have been replaced by lifestyle concerns when people think about class’ (pp. 189–90) in a way that seems to me to be very similar to the attitudes that were self-reported in the BBC’s Great British Class Survey conducted in 2013. Goodman has written a remarkably clear and highly readable book that is almost entirely free of jargon. In fact it is probably too jargon-free, since he seems determined to avoid any systematic discussion of class theories as they relate to Communist and former Communist societies. This is apparent as early as Chapter 1, where no explicit mention is made of Mao’s critique of class stratification in post-Stalinist Russia, which seems to have been a major influence on his thinking in the years leading up to the Cultural Revolution. There are only a handful of references to the experiences of Eastern Europe. The term ‘state capitalism’ makes a brief appearance, in a reference to the work of Iván Szelényi (p. 152), but it is not discussed or even defined, and the term is missing from the index. There is no mention of the substantial literature on state capitalism produced by dissident Marxists that dates back to the early 1930s. Neither here nor in the other two references to Szelényi (pp. 150, 179) does Goodman consider the brief allusions to China in his major work, Making Capitalism without Capitalists or comment on the differences between the experience of the ex-Communist countries of Central Europe and post-1978 developments in China. Despite these missed opportunities, this is an important book that contributes much to our understanding of the social structure that underpins the world’s second-largest economy.

Nongovernment organisations as mediators: Making peace in Aceh, Indonesia

Abstract: The emergence of international NGOs mediating in intrastate conflicts has been labelled by The Economist as ‘privatizing peace’. This article explores this growth and the tensions brought about by ...

Neoclassical realism and Australian foreign policy: understanding how security elites frame domestic discourses

Abstract: This article uses neoclassical realism to explore how foreign policy elites in Australia frame domestic debates so as to prevent certain ideas interfering with security responses. It does this by presenting a typology that seeks to understand elite dynamics in Australia by capturing three different elite responses – dilution, deflection and inflation. Taken together, these explain how elites mitigate potentially problematic domestic policy contests by pulling ideas towards the centre of debates, and marginalizing others, depending on the issue involved.

Peacemaking contractualism: a peacemaking approach to cope with difficult situations of intractable conflict

Abstract: This paper presents a contractual approach to coping with difficult situations of intractable conflict where ordinary citizens are at the center of the struggle. The contractualist peacemaker challenge is to convert conflicting parties into a peacemaking community committed to resolving the conflict by peaceful means. Three main elements are necessary to transform conflicting groups into a peacemaking community: common interest: strong desire to resolve the conflict by peaceful means; rules: commitment to democratic principles of dialogue; and peacemaking institutions: an organizational device that operates and maintains peacemaking communities. A peacemaking institution that has the potential to create momentum for the establishment of a peacemaking community is a major public negotiating congress. An ideal congress invites delegations from all walks of life to negotiate solutions to the conflict. This vision is based on the multi-party talks of the 1990s that helped to create a major change in t...

Security competition by proxy: Asia Pacific interstate rivalry in the aftermath of the MH370 incident

Abstract: When Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared from radar screens in the early hours of 8 March 2014, initial reactions suggesting that it was just another airliner disaster proved only partially correct. This article offers the interpretation that the multinational search effort for the missing Malaysian Boeing 777-200 airliner was revelatory of an abridged form of security competition among the mostly Pacific Rim states participating in both the post mortem and the search and rescue (SAR) operations. Although the Asia Pacific peace has been largely unbroken since the end of the Cold War, security competition among great powers, middle powers and weak states is still ongoing. In fact, this security competition is taking on proxy forms given the relative robustness of the overlapping architecture of Pacific Rim security regionalism in tamping down pressures for overt armed conflict to advance national security interests. MH370, following in the wake of the destruction wrought by natural disasters...

Norms and normative change in world politics: an analysis of land rights and the Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract: The Millennium Development Goals guided international poverty reduction efforts from 2000 until 2015 and they will be succeeded by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which will be guided by a new set of goals, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is argued here that since the process of formulating SDGs, targets, and indicators for their implementation brought together actors with different (and sometimes competing) issue frames, values, and agendas for discussions that clarify the content of norms and their scope, this process can bring about norm contestation and norm change. This article uses an issue that was raised in the context of the SDGs – land rights – to illustrate processes of international norm contestation, evolution, and change. In doing so, it contributes to the growing body of literature that views norms and their content and boundaries as dynamic.

Adapting to win: how insurgents fight and defeat foreign states in war

Abstract: capacity in Chapter 5, and the abovementioned comment on the ‘entire ethos of the global health security regime’, I would have expected a deeper exploration of why that ethos left so few traces in the IHR. The implicit answer can be found in Chapter 2, which addresses how the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic constituted the tipping point, leading to the extensive revision of the IHR. SARS hardly affected low-income countries at all. It spread from China, to Viet Nam and Hong Kong, and further into Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Germany, Canada and the USA. For SARS, the problem was not weak capacity, but weak political will to report and to cooperate. Weak capacity was somewhat overlooked. If the IHR are revised again, in the near future, will weak capacity – and the ways to overcome it, including international financial cooperation – be included? The answer to that question will not be found here, obviously. However, global health scholars who would like to see international financial cooperation included in the next iteration of the IHR can learn a lot from this book. What it takes is ‘a critical mass of states, persuading them to cease being apathetic (or even resistant) to a set of new collective behavioural expectations concerning infectious disease outbreak’ (p. 52), and then, of course, to persuade them that international public financing of health systems is part of the collective behavioural expectations...

The US–EU partnership: more necessary than ever

Abstract: The main objective of this communication article is to analyse why the US–EU partnership has become increasingly important not only to the US and the EU, but also for the world's security and prosperity. As global trends (including globalization, a shift towards the Asia–Pacific region, Western influence currently on the wane, and a multi-polar world in the making) are shaping the geostrategic environment around the US and the EU and posing new threats to global stability, the US–EU partnership has become more necessary than ever. The US and the EU are both economic superpowers and have the most powerful militaries in the world. Their cooperation and coordination are needed to deal with challenges posed by continued poverty in Africa, ongoing violent conflicts in the Middle East, Russia's re-emergence as a world power, and instability in Asia.

A comparative civilizational reading for the Middle East and Turkey's new role in it

Abstract: The 1990s witnessed a bloom of studies on the ‘standard of civilization', which all aimed to explore the future of the rift between the East and the West. The Arab Spring and its implications for the primordial competition between the East and the West has once again required the revisiting of certain, rather more contemporary, theoretical aspects of the grand debate on civilization. This paper aims to introduce current arguments pertaining to the grand debate on civilization into the context of the Arab Spring. In doing so, it seeks to offer a comparative perspective of the quest for understanding the current situation in the Middle East with particular reference to the civilization discourse which is currently on the rise in Turkish politics. Turkey is among the actors in the Middle East seeking to assume leadership in order to establish peace in the region.

Energy, governance and security in Thailand and Myanmar (Burma): a critical approach to environmental politics in the south

Abstract: Energy has been and will continue to be one of the important sources for growth, productivity and sustainability, political stability, national competitive advantage, advancement of the rights of w...

The securitization of development and humans' insecurity in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan

Abstract: This article explores the way the USA's efforts to bring a securitized and militarized form of development to Afghanistan have often exacerbated many women's and men's human insecurity in local rural societies. In the countryside of Afghanistan, this development strategy has involved tying the counter-insurgency and counter-narcotics agenda of eliminating poppy crops to a broader neo-liberal goal, premised on building a thriving economy based on the modern agricultural production of high-value vegetable crops. However, what was misunderstood by those implementing this development programme was the disjuncture between their modernization-inspired vision and the way this programme actually fed into existing dynamics of power. Large amounts of foreign patronage were supplied to powerful domestic actors in Afghanistan, generating a hypertrophied and predatory state apparatus beholden to these actors. Simultaneously, these counter-narcotics agricultural programmes exacerbated conditions of poverty for ...

Reflections on Peacebuilding Interventionism: State- and Nationbuilding dilemmas in Southern Sudan (2005 to the present)

Abstract: In 2005 Southern Sudan emerged from a long period of protracted civil war. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement marked the beginning of a period of post-war peacebuilding concentrating on statebuilding. However, since 2005, the much-needed gradual process of building a unified nation and inclusive national identity has been largely neglected. Instead, there has been emphasis on achieving ‘peace-through-statebuilding’ that has contributed to a highly exclusive social, economic, and political order dictated by the leadership of the dominant rebel movement turned government, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). This essay reflects on peacebuilding interventionism, and state- and nationbuilding in Southern Sudan since 2005. It argues that this overall process dictated by the SPLM/A leadership, focusing on security and state, excluded the majority of Southern Sudanese from the peace dividend and economic and political opportunities. Further, the exclusive top-down SPLM/A-centric view of t...

Do terrorism, organized crime (drug production), and state weakness affect contemporary armed conflicts? An empirical analysis

Abstract: In 2014, the UN Security Council emphasized the dangers of terrorism, criminal activity (especially drug production and trafficking), and state weakness in conflict areas. However, neither policy debates nor scholarly analyses have focussed on the potential impact of these elements on conflict dynamics and characteristics, and the investigated partial relationships have led to inconclusive results. This article explores the presence in armed conflicts of terrorist groups among fighting parties, major drug production (indicating the presence of activities typical of criminal organizations), and state failure in the period 1990–2011. Focussing on intrastate conflicts, this article highlights that, while when they are isolated their impact on armed conflicts is limited, when the three factors are simultaneously present, the interactions among them create a sort of threshold effect capable of affecting conflict characteristics and, in particular, conflict duration and incompatibility.

Nuclear disaster in Taiwan: a multidimensional security challenge

Abstract: Despite the low probability of such an event, a serious nuclear power plant incident in northern Taiwan would create a multidimensional security challenge, in terms of both traditional and non-traditional security when factors such as high population density and geopolitical significance of the island are considered. Dealing with nuclear contamination, including evacuation, medical treatment and resettlement, would severely affect human, environmental and other categories of non-traditional security. Taiwan's insufficient level of preparation would make external disaster relief crucial. Since military units are likely to be deployed by assisting countries to respond to a nuclear event, consequent Sino-US interactions in humanitarian aid and disaster relief (HADR) could be either cooperative or competitive.

Will China dominate the 21st century

Abstract: An awful lot of nonsense is often talked about China, including the notion that it is already the equal of the USA in world politics and is on track to replace the latter's ‘manifest destiny’ with ...

Civilian casualty inequity, partisanship, and American public support for Israel

Abstract: Research into how civilian casualties influence public opinion largely focuses on citizens' support for the use of force by their own countries. This study explores how civilian casualties and partisan cues shape support for the use of force by an ally in a foreign conflict. Specifically, it assesses the effects of civilian casualty inequity – the uneven distribution of civilian casualties across two sides in a conflict – on Americans' support for Israel. Drawing on an original survey experiment conducted during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, the article bridges work on inequity aversion theory, party identification, and social identity theory. It finds that civilian casualty inequity information reduces support for Israel, particularly among Independents. The study also finds that adding explicit partisan criticism cues to civilian casualty inequity information does not appear to induce motivated evaluations of Israel among Republicans or Democrats. An important implication is that under conditions of gr...

Deterring rational fanatics

Abstract: Classical deterrence theory had its heyday during the Cold War. Its utility was diminished for many scholars and practitioners with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the 11 September 2001 attacks allegedly consigned deterrence to the dustbin of history. Organizations willing to conduct suicide attacks, the argument goes, cannot be deterred in their actions. Wilner attempts to revitalize deterrence theory ‘[b]y expanding the scope of traditional deterrence theory and pairing it with a more nuanced understanding of contemporary terrorism’ (p. 2). Wilner does this by focusing on two issues. One is the expansion of deterrence theory, with the purpose of challenging what he calls the ‘conventional wisdom’ that terrorism (suicide attacks in particular) cannot be deterred. Wilner’s second purpose is to investigate the deterrent power of the use of targeted killings. The attempt is engaging and interesting, but the expansion of the concept of deterrence may go too far from the idea of ‘deterring’ (preventing) action, while the discussion on targeted killings could be a separate work in and of itself. The introduction quickly covers the rise and fall of deterrence theory, culminating with the popular notion that suicide terrorism cannot be deterred. Wilner observes that other scholars (Robert Pape and Mia Bloom among others) have already noted the (rational) calculations that terrorist organizations make when deciding whether or not to use suicide attacks, and the rest of the book proceeds to examine this point in greater detail. Chapter 2 details the traditional understandings of deterrence theory, drawing out several interesting dimensions of deterrence. Wilner highlights a significant issue for deterring terrorists, particularly those for whom suicide attacks are an effective tactic. It is not that these organizations cannot be deterred, it is that the state’s ‘usual’ tools for deterrence (high-tech military force, usually at a distance) are not suitable in context (pp. 25–6). Fighter jets and cruise missiles are certainly capable of producing great destruction, but that destruction factors minimally in many terrorist organizations’ calculations. Indeed, it can frequently energize neutral or passive populations to support the terrorist organization in the face of such ‘indiscriminate’ violence by a larger power. Here, Wilner’s conceptualization of deterring terrorism as a case of ‘intra-war deterrence’ – attempting to deter actions within a conflict rather than attempting to deter a conflict altogether – is an extremely useful heuristic for understanding state actions against terrorist organizations. Later, however, he identifies the problem as being that deterrent mechanisms are supposed to offer some tradeoff (e.g. we will not use nuclear weapons if you do not invade) but if governments are attempting to deter certain terrorist actions (such as obtaining nuclear weapons) while at the same time declaring the elimination of the terrorist group as a strategic goal, this may undermine the deterrent message as the terrorist organization may feel that it has nothing to lose. The recognition (p. 181) that a state can send contradictory messages of punishment, denial, and mitigation and that these messages may undermine the deterrent message identifies a significant dilemma for policy makers. A government may be sending a message of punishment (we will retaliate if you attack) directed to an adversary, but it also must issue ‘threats of denial/mitigation’, not for the adversary, but for the domestic population, assuring them that they are protected. Practically, there may be no way around this problem for governments, but recognizing the problem could help shape the messages governments send and how to send them. Chapter 3 examines contemporary discussions of deterrence and links Wilner’s expanded notion of deterrence with how best to mitigate terrorist attacks, suicide attacks in particular.

The Al Qaeda doctrine: the framing and evolution of Al Qaeda's discourse

Abstract: Donald Holbrook's The Al Qaeda Doctrine: The Framing and Evolution of Al Qaeda's Discourse is an analysis of Usama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri's public messages from the 1990s to 2014. Based on...

Busting Blackbeard's ghost: Somali piracy in historical context

Abstract: Despite renewed interest, one area of piracy studies that can be improved is that of historical comparison. Most studies operate under the belief that piracy is an action similar enough to be compared across time and space. Yet piracy is a socially constructed concept that only has meaning within a narrative and most ‘waves’ of piracy are characterized by more than one narrative. Thus, comparing all acts of piracy across time and space necessarily means accepting a particular narrative about piracy as true. Much historical-comparative work on piracy compares contemporary piracy to that of the ‘golden age’ of piracy in the eighteenth century. By focusing on the narratives of both pirates and counter-pirates, piracy in Southeast Asia in the nineteenth century is more comparable to contemporary piracy in the Gulf of Aden. Both ‘waves’ were characterized by competing narratives of pirates defending local interests vs. the counter-piracy narratives of criminality. This approach highlights similar dynam...

Disease diplomacy: international norms and global health security

Abstract: In mid-2016, why would a global health scholar, or student, want to read a book about Disease Diplomacy that was written before the great Ebola outbreak which started in December 2013?11 WHO Ebola ...

The Contemporary Middle East: Revolution or Reform?

Abstract: The title of this book is intentionally general as it seeks to go beyond the Arab uprisings that swept across the region in late 2010 and provide a more expansive survey. While these revolutions, e...

Failures of nonviolent action

Abstract: Thomas Richard Davies in his 2014 article ‘The Failure of Strategic Nonviolent Action in Bahrain, Egypt, Libya and Syria’ in Global Change, Peace & Security addresses an important topic.11 Thomas R...

Atomic amnesia: photographs and nuclear memory

Abstract: This paper addresses the ways in which photography can illuminate that which is unfathomable, such as nuclear catastrophe. It discusses how chronicling the nuclear era through art can allow us to break free of our atomic amnesia and urge us to imagine possible alternative futures free of nuclear disaster. It examines the ways in which members of the Atomic Photographers Guild have sharply focused on all aspects of the nuclear age and its fallout.

Conflict resolution, logic of identity and recognition through narrative

Abstract: This article analyzes various presuppositions behind the principle of absolute openness, which the philosophers of difference hold as the general principle of conflict resolution. Close attention is paid to the issue of identity. To prevent and resolve conflicts, these philosophers propose that others should be recognized by letting them be themselves. In agreement with works on conflict resolution by scholars from other disciplines such as cognitive and social psychology, sociology, anthropology and international relations, these philosophers see the process of identification as critical to understanding antagonism. They analyze this process using the logic of identity, which leads to the principle of absolute openness. It is shown through Paul Ricoeur's philosophy that the presuppositions underlying their understanding of the logic of identity are problematic. Ricoeur's idea of recognition through narrative is then explored and suggestions of how it may help resolve identity conflicts are discussed.

Afro-optimism reinvigorated? Reflections on the glocal networks of sexual identity, health, and natural resources in Africa

Abstract: The Africa Day 2015 Symposium provided a unique opportunity to develop glocal networks among activists, learners, scholars, researchers, and community members based in central Canada and other parts of the world. The Symposium examined a wide range of scholarship on Africa including calls for ending oppression based on sexual identity, greater policy responses to health, gender, and human security challenges, improving governance of natural resources, and investigating the prospects for glocal networks. While this scholarship stressed the need for Afro-optimism, it also drew attention to on-going human security challenges faced by many across the continent. This article builds upon the momentum from the Symposium by amplifying the voices of African scholars and enhancing mentorship, emphasizing greater cooperation among researchers and communities based inside and outside Africa, and defeating misconceived allusions to Afro-pessimism. Based on critical scholarship, the article also highlights inno...

Gender and global justice

Abstract: blems could have been addressed by broadening the inquiry to Al Qaeda’s general managers, like the late Abu Yahya al-Libi, to establish a more direct connection between ideological conviction and organizational practices. Within its limited scope, The Al Qaeda Doctrine is an invaluable window through which to view the evolution of bin Laden and Zawahiri’s thought-process across time. Biographers of Al Qaeda’s historic leaders could well gain important insight into the mutation of their thinking. It is a nice complement to books like Peter Bergan’s The Osama bin Laden that I Know or Lawrence Wright’s The Looming Tower, which emphasize the backgrounds of Al Qaeda’s historic leaders. Well written and organized, overall the book provides an important insight on the thought of Al Qaeda’s leaders that should not be construed with the actual mutation of the organization.