Showing papers in "Journal of Political Studies in 2015"

Regionalism Revised: A Critical-reflectivist Framework for Engaging the Changing Nature of Developing Regionalisms in Africa

Abstract: The purpose of this article is a theoretical one, namely to make the case for a critical-reflectivist approach to the study of regionalism in Africa and beyond. We argue that contemporary changes in the global political economy require political economists to reconsider how we study regional processes and actors. The article provides insights into the sociology of the field of study by recounting its evolution, reviewing key debates and tracing the dominance of rationalist theories on regional integration and regionalism. Subsequently, the article questions the ontological premises of state-centrism and market logics in conventional regional theorization that does not take account of the complexities and multidimensionality of regions and regional processes. Traditional approaches to regionalism fail to do justice to regional manifestations and the repercussions of Africa's changing transnational relations as well as to crucial dynamics within regional civil societies. In this respect, the analyti...

The South African ‘Ecological Reserve’, A Travelling Concept

Abstract: With its ‘ecological reserve’, South African National Water Act of 1998 is perceived as one of the most ambitious Water Acts in the world from an environmental perspective At first sight, this ‘ecological reserve’ provision could be mistaken for a typical case of North–South policy transfer when actually it was initially engineered by the Department of Water Affairs and its civil engineers in the 1970s–1980s The paper shows the renewed influence of the scientific community over the definition of the concept during the debate leading to the adoption of the Water Reform Act in the mid-1990s While investing in the international arena, South African hydro-ecologists managed to reinforce their position in the domestic arena at the same time Therefore, we demonstrate complex interdependence between domestic and international levels benefiting this travelling concept Finally, we emphasize that for hydro-ecologists, the international arena was never a resource already there but an opportunity created

Gwadar-Kashgar Economic Corridor: Challenges and Imperatives for Pakistan and China

Abstract: IntroductionPakistan and China have convergence of national interests in economic and strategic aspects. The span of their diplomatic relations stretched over six decades. Both countries are tied to each other by geo-political dynamics as geographical location aids route linking China with Middle East and Central Asian Republics (CARs). The Central Asian states possess two hundred billion barrels oil and about three thousand billion cubic meters of gas reserves with major reservoirs in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Pakistan is at such geographical location from where she can facilitate transit trade and pipeline routes for the export of CARs natural resources and contribute in their economic development.(Alamgir, 2011)Pakistan and China strategic relations have been strengthened by Gawadar, which projects to boost Pakistan's regional prominence as it is located over coastal belt of 600 kilometers long stretch with merely a distance of 624 nautical kilometers from the busy commercial route of the Strait of Hormuz (which carries 13 million barrel oil per day), 120 kilometers from Iran border and 460 kilometers from Karachi.(Alamgir, 2011) These factors have had caused mainly fostered Pakistan's domination of the Indian Ocean from Persian Gulf to Southeast Asia and the Far East. The energy rich states of central Asia have an opportunity to tap their natural energy resources to the rest of the world through this economic corridor. Gawadar deep sea port with the initial investment of 248 million US $ was set up on the unexplored seashores of Pakistan. (Mughal, 2009) The distance differential of China's western region from to its eastern coast (3500 kilometers) and Gawadar (1500 kilometers) is approximately 2000 kilometers.China's major oil energy needs are met through the Gulf region (40 % of the world's oil source). Furthermore, China's 70 % energy needs (17% of world energy consumer) are being met through coal energy.(www.chinafaqs) Consumption of environmentally friendly fuel has become a pressing demand from the western countries. China's dependence on its SLOCs through hostile and vulnerable Pacific zone and Malacca Strait is one of the major reasons that forced China to look for an alternative road / rail links with the world. Absence of China's naval footprints on Indian Ocean / Arabian Sea also makes her ships vulnerable to piracy and threats from the world superpower domination of these oceans during any future conflict.For Pakistan; Unrest in Balochistan, prevailing law and order milieu, turbulent security situation in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), political divide on core national issues, power corruption, and a weak economy are some of the major issues.In today's world, importance of sea access can't be ruled out for any country warranting construction of roads/ highways to access the sea. Pakistan is blessed with sea frontage of 1046 Kms(www.photius.com) stretching to the West. Many sea port sites are available along sea shore of Pakistan out of which Karachi and Port Qasim is functional. Gawadar port is being developed and plans are underway to connect it with China by establishing the long awaited Gawadar-Kashghar economic corridor (GKEC). This corridor will have great importance not only for Pakistan and China but for entire region.Pakistan has always been a recipient of aid and support from China. A strong bond between both countries is caused by several reasons. China and Pakistan have the hostility with the neighboring India on geo-political disputes.This common malignance with India gets them closer. More significantly, China lies in the East Asia. It does not have land access to the Middle East. This access is available through Pakistan via Gwadar Port. From 1966 to 1978, KKH was constructed that links China with the gulf countries. The linking of China with this port provides numerous financial benefits. Gawadar when operational will link CARs to outside world. …

Spanish "Politically Correct" Movement: Reasons for Failure

Abstract: IntroductionResearch on the topic of sexism in Spanish language is almost inexistent. However, social events take place which affect sociolinguistic realities. For example, the arrival of the Arabs brought more than four thousands terms to the Spanish language and the discovery of America a large number of indigenisms. Linguistic change and evolution is actually based on a sociolinguistic approach. In this context, the emancipation of women brought forward numerous and elaborate efforts to modify the Spanish language in order for it to become more politically correct and provide women with an elevated linguistic visibility:Language has been granted too much power. The linguistic turn, the semiotic turn, the interpretative turn, the cultural turn: it seems that at every turn lately every "thing"-even materiality-is turned into a matter of language or some other form of cultural representation (Barad, 2013).In this case, the question is; either language is just a reflection of the cultural reality on the ground or realities can be shaped through language? The Oxford Dictionary defines language as spoken or written human communication:The method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way and also a system of communication used by a particular country or community (Oxford Dictionary, 2014).On the other hand the Dictionary of the Royal Academy of Spanish Language1 states that language is' Conjunto de sonidos articulados con que el hombre manifiesta lo que piensa o siente', "Manera de expresarse" and "Estilo y modo de hablar y escribir de cada persona en particular."If we take the definition "system of communication used by a particular country or community"2as valid for our purposes, we have probably direct access to cultural representations of a specific society. It is a fact that language has the power of shaping our world. If we have a look at the euphemisms it will be obvious that they give a different perspective to matters. Fines become 'pecuniary sanctions', unemployed becomes 'in between jobs', etc. Language can be used with multiple purposes, to desensitize or shape the reality. We communicate through language, understand the world around us through language, form ideas through language and learn through language as well. In this sense, the reality on the ground is reflected in the language, as well as reality can be shaped through language. Furthermore, language can be used with sexist purposes and it has been used for this purpose in the past in every language.El lenguaje, principal vehiculo de la comunicacion humana, siempre es revelador: refleja la estructura de la sociedad y expresa las caracteristicas de una cultura poniendo en evidencia las diferencias que en ella se manifiestan (Perissinotto, 1982).A good definition of sexist language is "Sexist language is language that expresses bias in favor of one sex and thus treats the other sex in a discriminatory manner" (Lei, 2006).In the last decades with the zenith of the feminist movement and the vindication of women's rights, Spanish language has been accused of containing sexist grammatical elements. There have been efforts to modify the Spanish language with the purpose of eradicating these elements from the language.In society, men are considered the norm for the human species: their characteristics, thoughts, beliefs and actions are viewed as fully representing those of all humans, male and female. This practice can make women invisible in language or altogether excludes them (Lei, 2006).The purpose of the Organic Law of March 2007 for the effective equality of men and women, was exactly this. It stated that in the administrative spheres as well as social, cultural and artistic relations a non-sexist language should be implemented:La implantacion de un lenguaje no sexista en el ambito administrativo y su fomento en la totalidad de las relaciones sociales, culturales y artisticas (Government of Spain. …

Recalibrating Africa's Geo-Political Calculus: A Critique of South Africa's Hegemonic Status

Abstract: This article critiques the increasing claims in scholarly and diplomatic circles of a putative South African hegemony in Africa. On the backdrop of the recalibration of Nigeria's GDP making it Africa's largest economy, there have been counter arguments that South Africa's regional influence is dwindling as a result of its staggering economy among other domestic impediments. In this paper, I take the position that although South Africa's capacity to fulfil a hegemonic role may be hindered by internal and external ambivalences, these factors do not in any way disqualify the country from playing a hegemonic role. I conclude by making the assertion that our regional understanding of hegemony in the African context must be one that operates beyond the realm of the preponderant material capabilities of a state into reasonable measures of ideational characteristics.

Governance Reforms in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan: The Past and Present

Abstract: FATA of Pakistan: A Brief IntroductionFederally Administered Tribal Areas extending over 27220 sq km along Pak-Afghan border covers 34 per cent of Pakistan's land area This mountainous land is inhabited by a majority of pakhtun population It is surrounded by the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the north and east, the province of Balochistan in the south, the province of Punjab in the south-east and in the west by the state of Afghanistan (IPRI Factfile, 2008, p 15) It is thus connected in the north with the district of Lower Dir of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, whereas in the east with the districts of Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Karak, Kohat, Lakki Marwat, Malakand, Nowshera, Charsadda and Peshawar In the southeast, FATA is physically linked with the district of Dera Ghazi Khan in the Punjab province, while in the south it joins the districts of Zhob and Musa Khel of Balochistan province (Ibid, p 21) Pak-Afghan border also known as Durand Line lies to the west of FATAFATA is consisted of seven political agencies and six tribal pockets called 'Frontier Regions' The political agencies are, Bajaur, Khyber, Kurram, Mohmand, North Waziristan, Orakzai and South Waziristan agency Whereas Frontier Regions are in the district of Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Kohat, Lakki Marwat, Peshawar and Tank With a minor exception of Orakzai agency, the rest the political agencies have common border with the state of Afghanistan (GOP, 2006, p 3) To the north and west, FATA and the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa collectively join a chain of nine provinces in Afghanistan from north to south ie Nuristan, Kunar, Nangarhar, Khost, Paktika, Zabol, Kandahar, Helmand and Nimruz, which are predominantly inhabited by pakhtun ethnic group (Shuja, 2009, p 2) The census report of Pakistan 1998 demonstrates 3138 million population of these areas which makes 24 per cent of the total population of the country But the current estimate shows its population almost 35 million FATA is inhabited by majority of pakhtun tribes with a limited number of other religious groups such as Sikhs and Hindus (Sarfraz: 2008, pp 8-9)Origin of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR)The British government strengthened their basis of power by establishing a strategic and effective judicial system and an archive of legal record of the necessary documents which ultimately assisted them in tax collection and maintaining public order during the mid of 19th century in British India The government was mostly cautious against collective criminal activities and considered it as a direct menace to the empire rather than individual crimes (Nichols, 2013, p x) The colonial authorities after thorough visualization drafted and executed a comprehensive system of legal and formal codes in the form of Indian Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure in order to rule British India effectively In the like manner, Criminal Tribes Act was also designed from 1871 through which the government watched, registered and controlled certain tribes However, the British official authorities realized within a short span of time that these formal codes, laws, rules of evidence and fact-finding potentials were insufficient to control lofty velocity of crimes in Peshawar valley in general and in the Afghan border regions set a part as tribal agencies in particular The colonial authorities quickly differentiated between the peaceful agriculturists residing in the valleys and wild tribesmen of the frontier border The only distinction of the settled district was that surveys of formal tax revenue and settlement had been completed while the rest of the situation and general environ of settled district and tribal belt was almost alike When the government observed high rate of killings, robberies and violence across Peshawar valley, the government eventually developed the Punjab Frontier Crimes Regulation and implemented it in early 1872 (Ibid, pp x-xi) After the establishment of North West Frontier Province, the government executed the same Regulation with some minor modifications which was called Frontier Crimes Regulation 1901 (Ibid, p …

Psychoanalysis of Leaders: Case Study of President Zia and President Musharraf Leadership in Conceptual Framework

Abstract: You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look Fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do. -Eleanor RooseveltConversations about International relations and foreign policy, they often focus on leaders and nature of their leadership. The common perception is that Foreign policy is leader's initiatives which must be assertive, clear and decisive. This variable has long been recognized as the decisive variable for success or failure of numerous activities ranging from military operations, operating a business to arranging foreign and domestic policy in nation-state system (Herman, Hagan, 1994; Bass, Stogdill, 1990) Thucydides is perhaps first scholar to discuss the fundamental elements of leadership while discussing the Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta. Furthermore, in his book The Prince Machiavelli provides a guideline to the Young rulers, giving them a template to ensure their success.Margaret Herman (1980) discusses the four basic personal characteristics of a leader which eventually affect and shapes the foreign policy. These are Beliefs, Motives, Decision style and Interpersonal style. Most social scientist and political journalists mostly takes these variables to study the personality of a leader. These factors not only develop the personality of a leader but also provide a deep insight of his/her decision making capability. These characteristics can also be studied though public statements (Public Speeches, interviews etc) of a leader and use them to evaluate the key personality traits of the leader (Yang, 2012). Other actors in policy making like bureaucracy, state system also plays a vital role but the personality of a leader will leave its impact.Beliefs refer to leader's basic assumptions about the surrounding world. Questions like Are Events predictable? Can events be controlled? Answers to these questions depict the beliefs of a leader. Beliefs, as proposed by many intellectuals affect the political leader's interpretation of his environments and subsequently on strategies, he imply. Nationalism is may be the most basic aspect of belief system of a leader, especially leaders of third world. Nationalism is being often used by leaders to control the events and to upsurge the masses mostly for their own benefits.(Jervis, 1976; Holsti, 1977)To Study the motives of a leader is may be the toughest for political-analysis. Hunger for Power is may be the most discussed motive for leadership, but there are others, such as need of affiliations, need of approval from others, can be the major motives. Motives apparently affect the leader's interpretations of his environment and strategies he use for his foreign policy. Decision style refers to the preferred method for taking decision. How a leader does take decision? Is there any certain approach he adopts? Major components are openness for new information, preference to certain level of risk, complexity in processing the information ability to tolerate the Doubtful information. The last characteristic of leader's personality is interpersonal style. How a leader communicates with other policy makers? Two major aspects, Paranoia (Excessive Suspicion), and Machiavellianism (Manipulative Behavior) are considered to be dominant in political leaders (Barber, 1972; Johnson, 1977; Hofstadter, 1965)These four characteristics affected the formulation and implementation of foreign policy. Specifically Beliefs and Motives urge leaders to dominate the policy making process. As George (1969) wrote:"The political actor's information about situations with which he must deal is usually incomplete; his knowledge of ends means relationships is generally inadequate to predict reliably the consequences of choosing one or another course of action; and it is often difficult for him to formulate a single criterion by means of which to choose which alternative course of action is 'best'"Psycho-Analysis of Leadership in Foreign Policy: A Historical PerspectiveThe Study of International Relations have mostly revolves around the ideas of cooperation and conflict. …

Sectarian Landscape, Madrasas and Militancy in Punjab

Abstract: (ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)IntroductionThe convergence of sectarianism, extremism and militancy has assumed monstrous proportions in Pakistan and has been feeding terrorism since long. Since 2001, when Pakistan joined the US led international war on terror, there has been a significant deterioration in internal security situation. Particularly, the July 2007 Lal Masjid incident resulted in intensified militant activities throughout Pakistan including assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December 2008. Thousands of people have been killed in terrorist attacks. After the launch of military operation Rah-e-Rast in Swat, militants have attacked major cities like Lahore and Peshawar, and termed the attacks as retaliation to the operation. The roots of militancy in Pakistan are traced to many socio-political factors. Social deprivation and social inequalities, poverty and illiteracy, drug-smuggling, Afghan refugees, religious exploitation through madrasas and provocative khateebs, and external factors like interplay of power politics at the international and regional levels and activities of hostile intelligence agencies all have had their share in spreading militancy in Pakistan. Before the start of the US led war on terror and especially before 2007 Lal Masjid operation in Islamabad, the terrorist activities were mainly attributed to foreign elements, Afghan groups or Pakhtoon Taliban. Later a group of militants known as Punjabi Taliban came to fore. Though the Punjab Government denied existence of any such group in Punjab, fingers were raised on Punjab based sectarian militant groups particularly those having their presence in South Punjab- being dubbed as hub of terrorists and their sympathizers (The Express Tribune, 2010). An internal security analyst in one of his articles stated, "it is actually Punjab that had turned into the main center of militancy and religious extremism. Most of the banned militant and sectarian outfits have their base in the province." (Hussain, 2014).Basically these were sectarian-turned-jehadi groups who had established their links with FATA based militants and were being identified as Punjabi Talban. Most of the analysts are of the view that the roots of Punjabi Talban go to sectarian groups like SSP, LeJ and JeM. (Hussain, 2009). Earlier in 1980s Punjab has been a battle ground of sectarian fight between Deobandi oriented ASS and Shia oriented SMP. The situation warrants a detailed study of distribution of different sects, their madrasas and activities of their ulema and khateebs in the province. This paper is an attempt to carve out a comparative sectarian scenario along with number of madrasas of each sect, madrasas which are suspected to have links with militants and number of Khateebs of each sects who are involved in fanning sectarianism through their hate-mongering and fiery speeches in each administrative division of Punjab which will be basic unit of analysis. First I will look into percentagewise population of each sect in a division showing which of the four sects is numerically bigger and which is smaller with relative position of each. Thiswill help drawa sectarian landscape of the province. Later I will move towards number of madrasas of each sect in a division. The relevant percentage of madrasas of a particular sect will be compared to the percentage of population of that sect in that division and finally in the province. A look would also be cast on sect-wise number of madrasas suspected to have links with militancy. Then I will move to number of khateebs fanning sectarianism stating their sect with their residential division. This will draw a picture depicting which sect is more radicalized and which areas are more sectarianism prone. The data used in this paper are mostly gathered by the staff of law enforcement and intelligence agencies for their use in connection with maintenance of law and order and official record and may not be completely free of biases. …

Individual Trust and Distrust in South African Trade Unions: A Quantitative Analysis, 2011–2013

Abstract: The South African organized labour movement is one of the most powerful on the African continent. A central actor in the democratic struggle, the movement continues to play a crucial role in the post-apartheid period. However, public opinion data collected by the South African Social Attitudes Survey for the period 2011–2013 suggest that only a minority of the public currently trust the organized labour movement. No cleavage in individual trust in trade unions was noted between age cohorts and labour market status. Distrust among the lower and working class has expanded significantly between 2011 and 2013. Findings suggest that trade unions in the country are increasingly associated with the unpopular political establishment. More research on public attitudes towards unions is required. There is a need for trade unions to intensify their engagement with working-class communities in order to build greater levels of individual trust.

The Kargil Crisis 1999 and Pakistan's Constraints

Abstract: IntroductionSince the testing of nuclear devices by India and Pakistan in May 1998, the world appeared sensitive towards the developments in South Asia The Kargil conflict was the first limited military operation between Pakistan and India after the nuclearisation in South Asia Historically after the partition of India, Kargil has occupied a strategic position and has therefore been the cause of the intrusion by Pakistan It had become clear that the friendly sentiments expressed by the Prime Ministers of Pakistan and India during the Lahore Summit had received a setback due to developments in Kargil The Kargil conflict which occurred between May and July 1999 involved a limited combat between the Pakistani and Indian military and resulted in approximately 1,300 battle deaths(Kapur, 2008:116) Kargil operation on the part of Pakistan shows a lack of coordination at the national political level Due to the negative result of the Kargil Pakistani military has been used as a scapegoat by US, India and by political leaders and civil society of Pakistan The attempt was to undermine the military institution of Pakistan In the Kargil conflict between India and PakistantheUS role was important as it put pressure on Pakistan to withdraw Before analyzing the Kargil crisis it is important to discuss the core issues which are related to it eg the Kashmir and Siachin Glacier issues between India and PakistanKashmir IssueThegenesis of the Kargil war can be traced back to the Kashmir dispute Kashmir is the core territorial dispute emanating from the refusal of a plebiscite by India as a fair mechanism for a popular expression to decide about the future alignment The two countries share a long border in Kashmir along the Line of Control (LOC) In August 1948, the United Nations Commission on India and Pakistan (UNCIP) adopted a resolution calling on both countries to conclude a ceasefire agreement in Kashmir This could then be followed by an internationally supervised process that could determine the future status of Kashmir according to the wishes of the Kashmiri people Finally a ceasefire line (CFL) was established between India and Pakistan As a result, a bulk of Kashmiri territory 139,000 sqkms out of a total of 223,000sqkms remained under Indian control along with its population (Akhtar,1999: XVII, 3-6) The Indian control extended to most of the Jammu and Laddakh regions whereas Pakistan controlled a part of Laddakh which is now Skardu along with Gilgit Baltistan and the issue of Kashmir emerged United Nations formally divided Jammu and Kashmir by a cease fire line (CFL) in 1949 India agreed to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir in 1948 and in 1949 but it never implemented the relevant United Nations resolutionsAfter the 1971 war between India and Pakistan, a peace agreement at Simla was announced in 1972 and under this agreement it was decided that both countries would continue to hold their post war positions in Kashmir and the dividing line between the two states was renamed as the Line of Control (LOC) and this arrangement was to hold until the final settlement of a boundary between India and Pakistan (Sattar,1995: XIII,28)In early 1990, Indian shelling of Muzzaffarabad-Kel road as it ran through the Neelam Valley resulted in great difficulties for the 10 Corps of the Pakistan Army, and also civilians were dislocated from the Neelam Valley areaThese grievances were present among the military leadership of Pakistan For more than 2 decades, the 10 Corps was subjected to what it viewed as constant encroachment by Indian forces When thePakistan military attempted to return the favor at Kargil, however, Pakistan was unable to explain its historical grievances and present a strong case for military action in the Northern Areas ThePakistan military faced a serious challenge in the Neelam Valley; here Indian- controlled heights dominated the road along the river, which supplied Pakistani positions in that area …

Framing of Women in Politics:A Case of Pakistani Elections 2013

Abstract: This paper is a content analysis of four major dailies and two political talk shows on the two leading TV news channels of Pakistan during the 2013 Elections. The study examines whether women in politics were portrayed marginally or as active agents in the political process. The paper examines if women were framed by stereotypes and whether they were taken seriously or simply as sensational tokens. Whether during the election campaign they were encouraged to come into politics and for voting? Findings show that the coverage given to women was minimal, and they were not represented as politicians with vision and contributors in political decision making. However, female politicians did not suffer from the cultural stereotype treatment in the news items. In the comparative analysis between Urdu and English dailies, English dailies coverage on women political participation was greater and more positive than Urdu dailies.

An Analysis of the Relationship between Local and Provincial Governments in Pakistan (2001-2009)

Abstract: IntroductionLocal government is a public organization, authorized to administer and decide a limited range of public policies pertaining to a demarcated territory within a larger and sovereign jurisdiction. It is not possible to govern a modern state without extensive local government, rather it is impossible to govern it if local government is not responsive to the demands of a central power and hence, little answerable directly to the citizens (Scruton, 1980). Government and its functions can be divided into three categories i-e national, provincial and local. The executive making of an area or small community i-e town, city and village by the body representing the local population, having a considerable degree of autonomy, raising a part at least of its income through local taxation and spending the proceeds on services, is called local self-government (Steytler, 2005) In spite of the fact that almost everyone is affected by the activities of local government, there is widespread lack of understanding and appreciation of the importance of role played by it. The elections in a local government unit reflect the mood and interest of the voters. In developing countries, people display little interest in local affairs. On the other hand, in the USA, France and England where citizens have been enjoying the fruits of liberty for so long, the people show considerable pride in their local governments. If democracy at the national level is to survive, it is extremely essential that its foundations at local level should be strengthened (Lipmatan, 1949)A particular advantage of local government lies in its ability to arrange for the provision of local public goods and to keep it in line with local tastes and preferences. Areas of local government authority generally contain municipal services, some aspects of social welfare and public order. Role of local government in the political system has been considered mainly in terms of its relationship with central government. Observers from a liberal democratic standpoint have stressed two bases upon which such relationships have been devised since the nineteenth century. First, local government has been considered significant to the encouragement of participation, political education and to the basis upon which services could be provided according to local needs. Therefore, relationships with the centre are based on the partnership of free democratic institutions. Secondly, local government has been seen as quite rational from an administrative point of view because it allows for the efficient provision of public services at the point of service need under the direction of the centre. In a decentralized political system, citizens have more chances to contribute to political decision-making as the whole process of policy making is descended to smaller units.The rationale behind decentralization is that a larger and higher body should not use functions which can be carried out proficiently by one smaller and lesser body rather the former should support the latter and help it to coordinate its activity with the activities of the whole community. This principle defines subsidiary as the idea that a central authority should have a subsidiary function which it should perform when this cannot be performed effectively at a more immediate or local level. It means that policies should always be made at the lowest possible level, and that the higher level should only legislate when there is unanimous agreement that a uniform regulation is necessary. Devolution of powers guarantees the transfer of political and legal powers to some subordinate institutions, while maintaining, in theory, complete political control over their exercise (Encyclopedia of Democracy) The devolution of powers and the capacity to tax citizens is an important element of decentralization. The extent and scope of these capacities, however, differ greatly from one country to another and over time. The autonomy of decentralized units depends heavily on their fiscal resources, the grants they receive, their size and the efficiency of the elected and executive elements. …

Formation of Ethnopolitical Culture Among Young People in the Caucasus Through the Features of Civilization

Abstract: The article deals with the issues of the formation of the ethnopolitical youth culture as a factor in the development of a common model of political culture, because youth is a social layer, which should be the most politically active. However, the difficulty faced by most countries in the world in that direction showed serious gaps in educational models. One of the most successful models of the ethnopolitical culture is "Caucasian" model, striving to maximize the principles of activity of youth, because the feature of Caucasian civilization is the active promotion and the desire to pass on the traditions and values of its people, future generations. Civilizational specificity is reflected in the specific principles of citizenship and patriotism not state how many of his people. To these factors the most attention in the article.

New Threats and Challenges to Federalism: In Pakistan (A Socio-Political Scenario)

Abstract: FederalismIntroductionThis dissertation will analyze the history of Pakistan's trialing with the structures of state governance to comprehend Pakistan's various federal arrangements and their input over time In doing so we will resolve why Pakistan has failed to establish an effectual federal covenant between its Constituent Units despite of some challenging incremental movements towards regional sovereignty and decentralization In an attempt to stead fasten the issues of federalism of which the Muslims of sub-continent dreamed of, the failure on the part of political heads and legislatures to create a workable national covenant has led Pakistan to what may be called a 'failing society'Secondly, it will review the concepts and history of federalism in Pakistan as entrenched indifferent Acts and constitutions together with the amendments It will be determined that; Has the democratic regime in Pakistan, with the18th amendment succeeded to rectify the damages done to the constitution and federal structure? Whether it should be considered enough and satisfactory? Whether these amendments brought true democratic system the Pakistan needed, so that the voices of the excluded sectors of society are heard and mainstreamed in the political associations? (Ahmad, 2010) Lastly this paper will examine the major challenging/threats to the federalism, the recommendations, policies, and their way to implement such recommendations by examining the issues involved thereinConcept of FederalismRonald Watts defines federation as"(Ahmad, 2010) A compound policy combining constituent units and a general government, each possessing powers delegated to it by the people through a constitution, each empowered to deal directly with the citizens in the exercise of a significant portion of its legislative, administrative, and taxing powers, and each directly elected by its citizens"Daniel Elazar (Elazar, 2014) Defines Federalism as"The prevalence of a covenant of partnership between the general government and its sub-units"According to him federalism was originally derived from the Latin word "foedus"In Dicey's opinionAcceptable distribution of powers between the centre and units is indispensable trait of the federalism those are settled through a constitution (Elazar, 2014) There are always some common perils and fiscal interests that escort federating units to form a federation; moreover, the ecological enormity of the state direct towards decentralization which ultimately results in formation of federation (Khalid, 2013) Basically, federalism denotes to advocate practical balancing of citizen's preferences fora) Combined and cooperative action for common purpose, andb) Self-governance of the constituent entities for other purposes (Ahmad, 2010)It is concerned to develop a manageable organism of governance, which could practically ensure that the regional and general governments coordinate with each other while remaining independentModes of FederationThere are two modes of federationi Dual Federationii Cooperative FederationDual FederalismIn the dual federation two independent and separate levels of government are created through the constitution, the areas of responsibilities are demarcated and their relationships and jurisdictions are defined with their respective responsibilitiesCooperative FederalismUnder this mode of federalism a single government system is formed by various parts of government, to carry its responsibilities by the cooperation of various levels of government In this way each level of the government is characterized by its responsibilities and carries its functions with the cooperation of other, without any conflict and competition (Abbasi, 2010)Evolution of the Concept of FederalismThe common dangers and economic interests direct federating units to form a federation where sovereignty in federal politics stratum is not centralized constitutionally in which citizens actively perform their political obligations …

Legacies of the Past: The Influence of Former Freedom Fighters and their Rhetoric in Southern Africa

Abstract: The liberation struggle impacts on the current political landscape of Southern Africa. In this regard, some scholars speak of enduring ‘post-liberation states’, whereas others foresee the slow but inevitable decline of the active role of freedom fighters in politics. We aim to enrich the debate over the legacies of the liberation struggle by providing empirical evidence in a three-step analysis. Firstly, we provide figures on the composition of cabinets since independence, demonstrating not only that more than half of today's cabinet members are former freedom fighters, but also that their numbers are continuously decreasing. Secondly, we compare recent election manifestos of liberation-movements-turned parties to older documents of the same movements, showing that in Namibia and South Africa, freedom fighter rhetoric is more subtle than overt, which differs from the case in Zimbabwe. In a third step, we contrast these findings with evidence from practical politics. Through this multilayered compa...

Security Dilemma in South Asia

Abstract: IntroductionSecurity is the only concept through which the national security problem can be approached. Although it is one of main concerns of the contemporary world but due to its complexity and seamlessness the concept remained neglected. The notion of security is conceptually weak or undefined that needs the support of other approaches as Realism and Idealism. Security is a difficult concept as compare to other concepts of social sciences as power, justice, peace, equality and freedom due to its ambiguity. It has to be defined under an area of concern rather than a precise condition. The element of security has been defined by W.B. Gallia as an 'essentially contested concept' due to its relational attitude with other factors and un-rationality of meaning and application. "Security is a relational phenomenon. It involves not only the capabilities, desires and fears of individual states, but also the capabilities, desires and fears of the other state with which they interact." (Buzan & Rizvi, 1986, p.5) Therefore, we have to understand the whole system of international security patterns to relate the concept of security within the incumbent structure.In International affairs the terms of power and peace belong to the classical established theories of Realism and Idealism. These two approaches dominate thinking about the national security concern. Barry Buzan relates both theories to the derived concept of security, he emphasizes "We shall argue that security is more usefully viewed as a companion to, rather than a derivative of power and that it is more usefully viewed as a prior condition of peace than a consequence of it." (Buzan, 1983, p. 2) He argues that only the Realists give the maximum conceptual framework of security as compare to other school of thoughts. He relates the concept of power to security. He never considers them synonyms but he argues that both concepts are equally shared and have mutual effect on each other. Explaining it he relates the World War I and II, and the game of power led to the emergence of security purposes that made the security subordinate to power. But he also emphasizes that security can be brought next to power in the broader perspective of security dilemma. The term of security dilemma is first coined by John Herz in 1950. He defines the security dilemma as "a problem encountered by humans in a social constellation," rather a biological trait. While Jervis (1978) defines the security dilemma as "the result of the two states' interaction in which the gain of one is the loss of the other leading to uncertainty between the two states". He only explains that the whole dilemma is built around perceptions and misperceptions among the states. The defense capabilities have perceived as a threat by the other state resulting in an anarchic environment and security dilemma. The security dilemma revolves around three basic assumptions; 1) an anarchic environment leads to uncertainty, 2) a lack of trust that exists among states, 3) a misperception of each other's motives or intentions.While he explains according to Idealists that security is the prior condition of peace rather than its consequence. The Liberalists argue for peace through institutions. Therefore, it can be analyzed that security is the common element between the two established schools of thought, which are the basis of international Relations. Realists argue for power to attain security and Idealists aspire security for ultimate peace.Theoretical Understanding behind India and Pakistan RivalryThe Neo-realists approach is confined within the domain of power and material having a state-centric attitude. In the post-World War II scenario, the world indulged in the game of power and armaments in order to sustain the territorial sovereignty after decolonization. Here we can relate with the political scenario of the subcontinent and emergence of Pakistan out of Great India in 1947."According to the neo-realist perspective, the security situation between India and Pakistan is usually defined as volatile due to differentiation in material capabilities of the two states as well as the structure of the South Asian security which is greatly tilted in favour of India. …

Militancy and Counter Militancy Measures: Impact on Pakistan's Foreign Policy

Abstract: Introduction:Militancy is the confrontational act of a group or organization supporting some aggressive cause based on a self-created agenda. Militancy is the portrayal of aggression and the militant is the one who is involved in a belligerent act (Khan, 2005). Militancy is the manifestation of unfulfilled demands that are created under autocracy are dictatorship, which may otherwise be catered peacefully under a democratic regime (Bobbitt, 2002). The difference between militancy and terrorism is quite delicate to understand. Terrorist is the one who uses the violence in order to achieve a political goal while militant is the one who is the aggressive follower of a cause. Terrorist uses the violent means like intimidation, bombing and killing for the attainment of his goals while militant is the one who serve as a tool in the hands of terrorists. A militant is the one who pick-ups the arms to achieve the belligerent goals of the terrorists (Bobbitt, 2008).There are many aspects and phases of militancy. Militancy may be religious, ethnic or political. In anyway militancy is an expression of resentment against the disparities and deprivation created and generated by the system. It because of these deprivation such elements are encouraged to put forward their separatist extremist agenda with coercive means. Beside this, these militant elements strongly reject the present administrative order and legal set-up as well. Consequently, the situation created out of these conditions is called insurgency. (Khan, 2005; Rashid, 2013a) Most prevalent militancy is found in religious realm. No religion of the world support violence and militancy. As a matter of fact, religious militancy is an effort to put forward the agenda in the name of a particular sect (Rizvi, 2005; Malik, 2008). All these trends of militancy and terror are prevalent in the under-developed and developing world, whose system does not allow participatory political culture with mature political norms. The process of political socialization and interest articulation is rather absent from such societies, that is why ethnic and separatist elements found their way to violent activities. Pakistan also includes in the list of such nations. That is why most of forms of militancy can be found in Pakistan. For instance, the port city of Karachi and Sindh is marred by ethnic militancy, the province of Balochistan is shaped by separatist insurgency and the rest of the country, and especially the Northern Areas are inflicted with sectarian militancy. Various tactics including suicide bombing and target killing are part of all three forms of militancy (Rizvi, 2005; Khan, 2005). As Rashid (2013a) writes "the ethnic conflict is being articulated in sectarian terms. That is, the Pashtun-Muhajir conflict in Karachi -, which is embedded in economic reasons - has been expressed in ethnic terms. Moreover, the Taliban-Shia conflict - which is actually embedded in ethnic reasons - has been expressed in sectarian terms". There is another facet of militancy, which flourished inside Pakistan but affects neighboring countries such as the areas of Afghanistan and India (Jones, 2002; Haq, 2007). The elements involved in such cross-border activities are referred as non-state actors. These militants entail volunteers who are members of various sectarian-cum-militant organizations and who inflict terror both inside and outside Pakistan (Rizvi, 2005). The militants whether active inside Pakistan or outside the country have invited the rage and ire of both far and neighboring countries of the region embarrassing the country in the international community (Rizvi, 2005; Haq, 2007). In this manner, militancy affects the foreign policy of Pakistan.Foreign policy of a state is the reflection of the aspirations of a nation. Rashid (2013) opines, "The foreign policy of a country is a reflection of its internal socio-economic and political strategies". If the key policy lines are not supported by the general masses the certain outcomes earn nothing but resentment from the nation. …

Land of Balochistan: A Historical Perspective

Abstract: IntroductionBalochistan covers 347,190 square kilometers, which is about 43 percent of Pakistan's land area. According to 1998 census, Balochistan's population was roughly 6.5million. According to this census 54.7 percent were Baloch and 29.0 percent were Pashtun in Balochistan. (Government of Pakistan, 1998). The province of Balochistan was established on 1 July 1970. On the occasion of formation of One Unit on 14th October 1955, the region of Balochistan was divided into four types of areas such as:a. Tribalb. Leasedc. British Balochistand. Kalat stateThe kalat state used to be ruled by Khan of Kalat, Khran and Makran by Nawabs and LasBela by James. On 17th March 1948, through instrument of accession the states, Khran, Makran and LasBela decided to accede to Pakistan. Khan of Kalat did same on 27th March 1948. Before formation of Balochistan State Union in 1951, the above mentioned states used to enjoy independent status. Balochistan State Union continued to perform its function till the formation process of One Unit of West Pakistan (Azad, 2003:1). Tribal areas of Balochistan used to be managed by Agent to the Governor General (AGG). The affairs of British Balochistan used to be run by Chief Commissioner, this Chief Commissioner was responsible to manage not only political affairs but also economic and judicial affairs of British Balochistan. Leased areas used to be controlled by Resident while princely Kalat states used to be managed by lord. The interesting thing was that affairs of all these areas used to be managed by one person with four different portfolios.History of BalochistanThe valley between Tigris and Aleppo was the ancient abode of Baloch. Baloch migrated from this valley and settled in Iran and around the border of Caspian Sea. Historical evidences show that Kurds and Baloch were two key units of one tribe who used to live in Aleppo valley. These two groups often used to come into conflict with each other due to certain reasons. Their rivalry and search of new fresh pastures-land and water for their sheep and cattle led these groups to migrate (Baloch, 1975: 2).The name Baloch and Balochistan can be found in literature and various documents as old as 2,000 years. In Old Persian literature Macka or Mecka, Machiya and Mackiyan refers to Balochistan. Greeks used to call it Gedrosia or Gedrozia. According to French archeologists Mehergarh in Balochistan is one of the earliest civilizations in the world (PIPS, 2009:13). In Burhan-Katih-a Persian Dictionary, the word Baloch has been defined as Clock's comb, Crest or the name of certain barbarian people who inhabit the mountains on the border of Kirman. It is stated that they are descended from the Arabs of Hijaz. Their employment is fighting and shedding blood. Russian professor Yu.V Gankovsky states;That Baloch had belonged to areas adjacent to the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. In the words of Encyclopedia of Islam;The Baloch were from Kirman, Iran (Ahmad, 1992:.34,38). In Farhangi-Sarwari Dictionary; Baloch are the people who inhabit the desert and plunder the caravans; and for the great part are war like and good archers; they are also styled as Koch and Baloch. In Francis Johnson English, Arabic and Persian Dictionary; The word Baloch has been defined as name of a wild tribe on the bank of Indus. Sir Burton States; Appearance of a Baloch bears little resemblance to that of Ishmael's descendants. Eye is full black, expressive, Persian, not the small, restless, fiery Arab again; the other features are peculiarly high, regular and Iranian. In the words of Mr. Menedy; Baloch are descendants of Sakas. Who gave name to the ancient province of Sakastan or Sijjistan. Mr. Risely states; That Baloch and Brohis are a fusion of Turkish and Persian element (Baloch, 1974: 1,5,6,7).According to various Archaeological and Geological findings, present day Balochistan was covered with water. It used to be green, fertile and rich in different kinds of animals. …

Revisiting Concept of Freedom of Expression Vis-a-Vis Blasphemy: Laws Against Blasphemy from Ancient to Present Age

Abstract: IntroductionAfter the emergence of religions, blasphemy and laws against blasphemy remained a matter of debate In pre-Islam religions particularly Judaism and Christianity, blasphemers had been punished The intention seems to maintain sanctity and authority of the religion and keep it out of question The punishments were also used as deterrence to warn others to be refrained from such offences Eventually when religion and government were combined in state affairs, blasphemy laws were used as tools against political and religious opponents and ensure government's authorityGreek priests, Roman Catholic clergies, the Spanish Inquisitions and the ecclesiastical authorities used to punish those who uttered unauthorized religious views Joseph remarks, "whereas the early Christians fought one another (in the literal meaning of the word) in the streets of Alexandra and elsewhere over questions of theology, the Muslims did the same in the streets of Baghdad and elsewhere over questions of religious law" (Henderson,1998, p 12)The main purpose to make an organized society was the betterment of individuals and their safety and security In this penetrating concern, state had enacted laws to protect the rights and liberty of individual and make sure that everyone enjoys rights equally and freely Many modern laws are different from the old ones because of the diversity in political ideologies and societal milieu Some pre-modern laws have already lost their importance in many countries Such old laws are not considered compatible with the democratic values and human rights Thus in 21st century respect of religion and freedom of expression are at daggers drawn and generating tension in the worldDefinitions of BlasphemyBlasphemy is utterance, defaming, damaging, and wounding of religion and religious entities It is worth mentioning that it has become an extremely combustible part of modern society This law has different forms in various countries; some countries have very strict anti-blasphemy law, however, most countries have such laws but only in documents not in real practice "The word blasphemy has been derived from the word "Blasfemen" which in turn is related to Greek Blasphemein from "Blaptein" (to injure) and "Pheme (reputation)" (Lawton, 1993, p 14)However, different religious jurists have defined blasphemy in accordance with their specific perception Lawton said, "Blasphemy translation in Hebrew verbs 'nakob' and 'qillel; 'to pronounce aloud' and 'to curse' in the classic formulation of the Mosaic law of blasphemy in the Leviticus The word 'blasphemy' combines two roots - 'to hurt' and 'to speak' (pheme as in ' fame' so 'defame') hence 'to harm by speaking' as in Leviticus (a hurt sometime conceptualized in highly physical terms)" (1993, p 14) Similarly in Islam, blasphemy had been used as heresy and apostasy Since Ancient to present, blasphemy had been forbidden in most religions of the world In simple words, to speak against or injure the religious norms and sacred entities are blasphemy However, different scholars and religious jurists have given their own perceptions of the concept of blasphemy and defined the phenomenon Thomas Aquinas has defined, "Blasphemy as an insult against God, disparaging his divine goodness This took three forms: attributing to God any characteristic that does not conform to his nature (which later commentators deemed a crime against his mercy); denying to God attributes that belong only to him (a crime against his Justice); or ascribing to a creature qualities that conformed only to God (a crime against his majesty)(Villa, 2006, p 9)Similarly Blackstone interprets, "Blasphemy against the Almighty is denying his being or providence, or uttering contumelious reproaches on our Savior Christ It is punished, at common law by fine and imprisonment, for Christianity is part of the laws of the land"(Pelton, 2004, p 81)The Catholic Encyclopedia states, "Any word of malediction, reproach, or contumely pronounced against God" (Parker, 2002, p …

The Politics of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers

Abstract: IntroductionWidespread poverty has been Pakistan's chronic and persistence problem since independence. Whether taking micro perspective of poverty using the narrow definition of lack of adequate food and income or the macro perspective of lack of access to opportunities, the number of people in poverty in Pakistan falls between the range of a quarter to a half of the total population.The Human Development Report 2014 ranks Pakistan at 146th position out of total 187 countries. Multidimensional Poverty Indices (MPI) records that 45.6 percent population in Pakistan lives below the poverty line. While an additional 14.9% of the total population of the country livesnear poverty line. MPI further highlights that the breadth of deprivation, indicatingan average of deprivation scores experienced by people, stands at 52 percent.During 1980 and 2013 Pakistan's Human Development Index value increased from 0.356 to 0.537, which indicates an increase of 50.7 percent or an average annual increase of about 1.25 percent. According to Clustered Deprivation Report issued by the Sustainable Policy Development Institute, disparities are more pronounced in rural areas. It is estimated that around 46 percent of rural households as compared to only 18 percent urban households fall below the poverty line.Since inception, Pakistan, under different political regimes, implemented various development plans and strategies to trigger economic growth and alleviate poverty.Haq (1983) summarizes few of the ideals of development which held sway in the world, and particularly in Pakistan: 1948-55 emphasize remained on import substitution industries and they were considered as the key to development, 1960-65 focus was shifted from import substitution and export expansion was considered the real answer to growth and development, 1966-67 industrialization was termed as illusion; while rapid agricultural growth was taken as an alternative, 1967-68 having sensed the danger of bulging population, top priority was assigned to population control policies and during 1971-75 it was believed that the poor masses had not been benefitting from development process based on the premise of trickle-down effect. Therefore, GNP growth model was rejected and distribution of income was brought to the fore. 1980s and 1990s witnessed the onslaught of the political agenda of international financial institutions in the shape of Structural Adjustment Programs, emphasizing on deregulation of economy and privatization of state-owned enterprises, as an ideal of economic growth and increase in per capita income. Likewise, the first decade of twenty first century dawned with the emergence of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers with attached policy matrix delineating the political interests of the lending institutions. Ironically, none of the development paradigms discussed and practiced in Pakistan could succeed to bring about desired change. Though some improvement at macroeconomic level and increase in the wealth of prominent industrialist families was noticed(Haq, 1983), yet it failed to leave positive mark on the life and earnings of the poor; rather the gap between the rich and the poor was widened with the passage of time. The paper offers a critical evaluation of thesaid development ideals, particularly PRSPs and the political motivations of the lending institutions in a bid to seek answers to the questions as to what went wrong and what prevented them to bring about positive change in the economic conditions of the developing countries and in the life of their poor masses.Research MethodologyThe paper follows descriptive research design and places reliance on the desk review of secondary data. Economic theories of poverty and related public policy prescriptions have been reviewed in order to have a comprehensive view of poverty and its various dimensions and classifications as envisaged under PRSPs. Policy initiatives undertaken by the World Bank and IMF aiming at economic growth and poverty alleviation since mid-forties has been analyzed critically. …

Pakistan as a Frontline State in War Against Terrorism: Cost and Benefit Analysis

Abstract: From the beginning of the 1980s through September 2001, Islamabad has been supporting numerous Pashtun militant groups which were considered to be friendly and a potential asset for Pakistan against other regional players particularly India to safeguard its strategic interests in Afghanistan. In this regard, the most aligned group had been the Afghan Taliban. After 9/11, Pakistan was left with no choice but to side itself with the U.S. in their effort to defeat the Taliban government and to eliminate Al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan. Pakistan in the pre 9/11 period continued to provide sanctuary to Al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban leadership who enjoyed asylum in the Pashtun territories of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)(Barnett & Abubakar, Oct 2006)and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) adjacent to Afghanistan. As time passed on, these Afghan refugees have developed strong influence within Pakistani society and they managed to occupy jobs in major cities with great ease. (Katz, 2009)During the past sixty six years of Pak-U.S. relationship, both countries have had a history of sharing strategic objectives in the region. For example, in the Cold War period, both unequal partners jointly fought against Communism as a threat. The post Cold War period witnessed a drastic shift, Communism was no longer a threat for the U.S. National Security after the disintegration of USSR but to fight against terrorism became the top most priority for the U.S. administrations.On September 11, 2001 the people of the U.S. and the world had undergone a dreadful act of terrorism. The Bush Administration within a matter of hours conceived this execution as an act of war. This action had been taken as an international crime against humanity and it was quite obvious that the retaliation would come along with severe consequences in a long run. President Bush announced a war to eliminate terrorists' network which eventually led to a War on Terror. President Bush declared:"The deliberate and deadly attacks which were carried out against the U.S. were more than acts of terror."http://www.whitehouse.govJust War Theory in all accepted forms prohibits and condemns terrorism or wars of terror. The intended killing of noncombatants in the battle field is a War Crime which needs accountability. Such a military strategy which projects the brutal use of force against weaker opponent is an act of terror which in no case is justified. It violates the primary rights of innocents on a massive scale without determining any clear jurisdiction in order to accomplish military and political objectives which do not warrant the ideology of terrorism for whatever purpose it is carried out. In the given context, where terrorism can be used as immoral and illegal tactic to apply from the perspective of the Just War practice, it can be argued, for that reason, keeping in view the level of force which is being used in self-defense against terrorism is justifiable and morally an acceptable norm in International Law. This response and interpretation may be closer under the established custom of "preemptive" act to some extent. (Snauwaert, 2004)In a global context, the Bush Doctrine has a close association with its agenda of strategic dominance under the banner of War against Terrorism. The intention of the Bush Administration to carry out pre-emption doctrine in a unipolar world is clearly difficult and complicated. The new U.S. global approach is power-driven and is more based on power projection; some would call it imperialistic tendency of the super power to rule the world. The vital questions which need to be addressed are:i. Is the War against Terrorism is interlinked to a foreign policy of the super power; when its own national security is at stake?ii. Does it obtain all the rights for expansion and projection of power by all means at hand?If the expansion of power is the driving intention, then one can come to the conclusion that the doctrine of pre-emption is unjustified; it is being driven by a wrong intention for the sake of ruling the world in hegemonic manner. …

Comparative Study of Peace Process between Pakistan and India in the News, Daily Dawn, and the Times of India: A Case Study of 'Aman Ki Asha

Abstract: IntroductionThe study is basically a comparison between the coverage of The News, Daily Dawn and Times of India related in promoting peace process between Pakistan and India during January 2010 to Jan 2014. Print Media of both countries i.e. Jang group and The Times of India, took an initiative for the promotion of peace process between both countries, Aman ki Asha which emphasize an exchange program, cultural gatherings, social impact and most important trade between both countries. The insight to the related literature highlighted the importance of dialogues to build the peace between the two countries and also helped to relate the study with the existing body of knowledge. Padder, S. (2012) in the study, "The Composite Dialogue between India and Pakistan: structure, process and agency" said that the participation of former Prime Ministers, Mr. Inder Kumar and Mr. Nawaz Sharif, gave birth to a composite dialogue process between two countries. And such peace process between India and Pakistan always put forward some positive change. In this dialogue, all the conflicting issues between India and Pakistan were discussed. Burki. (2004) in the research article "Pakistan, India and regional cooperation" discussed that to have good and friendly relations or for the enhancement of good will relations between India and Pakistan, they should promote it through context information and regional arrangement. The old rivalry cannot be removed easily but with the tool of regional arrangement and regional entity, a new way towards the peace process can be achieved. J.N. Dixit. (2002) presented a historical view of Pakistan and India in the book "India-Pakistan in War and Peace" and sketched out all the major peaceful and tensed situations of Pakistan and India. It also discussed that how we were able to compete the different chaos in the history. Now days after the peace process started by the Pervez Musharraf, it was seen that many steps were utilized towards the friendly relations. Hayat. J. (2001) in "Comparative study of editorial content of Times of India and The News with especial reference to Pakistan and India Ties", sketched the ties that have been kept by the governments of both Pakistan and India.The main purpose of taking Aman ki Asha is to find out the credibility and importance of this campaign for future perspective. Moreover, the research has discussed various elements like government policies behind maintaining media agendas of Pakistani and Indian print media and their reflection in editorial statement of The News, Daily Dawn and Times of India.Objectives of the study* To find out that how peace process between India and Pakistan is covered by Pakistani print media in a given time period.* To evaluate that how peace process between India and Pakistan is covered by Indian print media in a given time period.* To analyze whether the government policies of India and Pakistan are affecting the print media (The News, Daily Dawn and Times of India) in a given time period.* To compare the coverage of peace process in both countries print media (The News, Daily Dawn and Times of India) in a given time period.* To measure the policies of The News, Daily Dawn and the Times of India regarding Aman ki Asha in a given time period.Theoretical FrameworkTheoretical framework of the study is a structure that holds the theory of the research work. Agenda setting and framing theories have been implemented in accordance with the objectives of the study. Agenda setting theory elaborates the importance given to the peace process and making the readers to think about the issue. Whereas the framing elaborates different techniques and frames used in the news that is going to tell the consumers how to think about.MethodologyContent analysis is a kind of methodology that is used in the social sciences to study the content of communication. It is basically a study of the recorded human communications that can be in any form like books, paintings, laws and websites. …

License to Kill? On the Legality of Targeted Killings in Pakistan by Drones

Abstract: The US launched its targeted killing campaign in the northwest region of Pakistan in 2004. The human rights organizations, civil society, media, intelligentsia and representatives of all political parties have strongly condemned drone attacks within Pakistan's territory and urged to halt these attacks as they are stirring up anger among masses. Upholding US drone policy, the US administration advocated that drone strikes comply with all applicable laws. In this regard, two important legal aspects come on surface: does Article 51 of the UN Charter authorize the US to conduct drone attacks unilaterally in Pakistan as an act of self-defense or has Pakistan government accorded permission to the US to carry out drone attacks on its territory? This study, while finding the answers of such queries, analyzes the legality of US targeted killing operations in Pakistan and determines whether drone attacks correspond with Pakistan's requirements or counterproductive for peace and security.

Central Asia:Crossroads for Global Economic Stratagem

Abstract: IntroductionComprised of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, Central Asia is a region that entails with it an immense strategic importance in terms of economy and geopolitics(Vassiliev, 2013). A former portion of the Soviet Union, the Communist tint still remains visible(Glenn, 1999) in governance patterns and where a physical separation from former USSR was achieved, the region's inclination towards a close proximity Russia remains center of much debate in circles of strategic power play(Swanstrom, 2012). Many argue that Russia maintains a firm grip over Central Asia and dominates the region as a hegemon(Menon, 1995) but others also assert that the US, after 9/11, and China, in pursuance of New Silk Route Strategy, have gained ample leverage in the region and are competing to create a level playing field with Russia. (Duarte, 2012)As far as the region itself is concerned, their domestic issues are not of a nature that can exacerbate global power play but there are hints of internal strategic fissures, mainly resource oriented, that can interfere with designs of other states and cause a catastrophic chain reaction or even cause a strategic meltdown of this weakly governed geography which could either incite conflict or initiate a regional trickledown effect of extremism and corroborate terrorism(Cornell, 2005).With three of five states linking to Afghanistan, their population sharing cultural and historical linkages with Afghan population, this region becomes a buffer zone for global trade connects as it serves as a bridge between Europe and Asia. The main argument of this research is to view what possibilities are available for global and regional players(Kavalski, 2010) in Central Asia and how Central Asia can better upgrade their position on a regional and global front as well as to examine behavioral approaches of key players towards economic possibilities in the region.(Cornell, 2005)Methodological ApproachThis paper would rely upon the qualitative assessment of perceptive outlook analysis of regional economic dynamics of Central Asia and would take case-study approaches to assess the impact of global powers and regional stakeholders. The assessment would be based on analyzing economic challenges to Central Asia as a region with its resident states and how their problems become vibrantly interrupting in regional and global economic outreach. This paper would also apply qualitative methodological critique over domestic issues of terrorism and environmental degradation that has become the source of conflict between Central Asian states which can hamper both regional and global economic dynamics. As far as the foreign prospective actors are concerned, Central Asia would be assessed with respect to needs of state participants active and their needs. Central Asia would be evaluated both as a region and as an economic route for future international commerce. Geostrategic importance of the region would also be a case study assessment in this paper to examine the prospective conflict situations regarding trade.The pertinent questions that surround the Central Asian region and its diverse geostrategic economic value assert the notions that will Central Asia ever replace or alternate Middle Eastern oil hegemony? Will there be a paradigm shift in global politics attributed to Central Asian regional economic dynamics? How would China or EU or even the US gain economic momentum in a region under direct influence of Russia?Pipelining Central Asia: Alternating Middle EastThe Soviet Union was an empire that needed immense resources to maintain its behemoth structure and since it had locked antlers with the US in a multitude of competitions, resource scarcity was out of the equation. The USSR had little or no strategic allies during the Cold War and whatever alliance it did have was more of a burden than a relief, contrary to how the US and her capitalist allies were(Chow & Hendrix, 2010). …

Organization of Islamic Co-Operation (OIC) and Prospects of Yemeni Conflict Resolution: Delusion or Plausible Reality

Abstract: IntroductionThe Organization of Islamic Cooperation (Arabic:????? ??????? ????????) is the second largestsui generis intergovernmental organization after United Nation (Hakala & Kettis, 2013) in terms of membership and is mantle of collective voice of the Muslim world which has the mandate to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony. It was established on September 25, 1969 to deal with the emergent situation arising after agonizing event of arson of Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem by an allegedly unbalanced Australian tourist (Hossian, 2012). This watershed event in Muslim history necessitated formulation of an organization for pragmatic handling of any such situation in future. An emergency summit was called by King Hassan of Morocco at Rabat which was attended by 25 Muslim states. The Rabat Summit proved stepping stone for establishment of OIC. The membership of the organization expanded with passage of time and today stands at 57 member and 5 observers1countries spread over four continents (one-sixth of world land area), constituting 1.5 billion people (onefifth of world population), possessing 70 per cent of the world energy resources, 40 per cent of the available raw material and combined GDP of about seven trillion dollars (5%) of the world GDP (Siddiqui, 2013).International organizations like League of Arab States, United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)and African Union also enjoy observer status in the OIC.The fledgling organization faced 1stchallenge of its existence in 1970 when it encountered Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)-Jordan conflict. Jordan had accommodated large number of Palestinian refugees particularly after 1967 Arab-Israel war and assumed the legitimate role of Palestinian representation for their struggle. However, PLO was concurrently emerging as a force streamlining its struggle against Israeli occupation. This brought PLO face to face with Jordanian government and an armed conflict between PLO and Jordan ensued. Saudi Arabia and Egypt played pivotal role in conflict resolution between both parties. However, OIC just adopted a resolution expressing its appreciation for the efforts of Egypt and Saudi Arabia in seeking to reconcile two of its members2.Role played by OIC in resolution of this conflict remained completely murky as no information on mediation has ever been made public till to date.The OIC encountered second challenge when conflict between Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan) and West Pakistan emerged in 1971. Elections were held in both parts of the country in 1971 and eastern wing politicians (Bengalis) won majority seats in the national assembly however the western part polity ( today's Pakistan) refused to hand over power to the legitimate winners. This power struggle led to a civil war in the eastern wing which culminated on dismemberment of Pakistan. OIC launched a mediation initiative and visited Pakistan for resolution of the conflict however could not succeed in interacting with Bengali politicians who had taken refuge in India and India refused the entry of OIC delegation. Thus the initiative failed without any positive outcome. The subsequent efforts of OIC in normalization of bilateral relations did bear some fruit.Third major challenge faced by the OIC was during Iran-Iraq conflict in early 1980s. This time OIC reacted promptly and launched mediation efforts for resolving the conflict. A goodwill mission headed by Pakistan was formulated in September 1980 with the hope of bringing warring parties to negotiation table(Al-Ahsan, 1988) however mission did not succeed. In continued efforts, mission was reshuffled and renamed as Islamic Peace Committee (IPC) in January 1981. IPC asked belligerents through a summit held in Baghdad to cease fighting. However Iran boycotted the summit on the basis of neutrality of venue and no worthwhile progress could be made as Iran and Iraq both paid no heed to the proposals made by the committee. …

Building Capacity to Build Dependency? Institutional Paradoxes in Post 2001 State Building in Afghanistan

Abstract: IntroductionSeptember 11, 2001 changed Afghanistan's plight. The long neglect of Afghan civil war as a domestic development not worthy of international attention and humanitarian intervention suddenly seemed alive and worthy of notice. Security challenges arising out of the so called 'ungoverned spaces' in failed states finally knocked at the Super powers door and its reverberations were felt all across the European continent. All of a sudden the international enthusiasm for capturing perpetrators of 9/11 brought the long evaded issue of intervention for state building to the Afghan land. It is been more than a decade since November 2001, when a multilateral force, headed by the US, invaded Afghanistan and ousted the Taliban Regime. The avowed objective of preventing Afghanistan from becoming a terrorist safe heaven is near fruition. Bin Laden is dead and al Qaeeda is presumably weakened and unable to strike at vital US strategic interests. What about the Afghan state? Is Afghanistan today an empirically strong state, where the Weberian monopoly over force is adequately achieved? If there are questions over the viability of a stronger Afghanistan, than why the state building practice since post 2001 period could not deliver? Can Afghan state building failures since 2001 be explored within the paradigm of state building paradoxes? And in what manner, institutional paradoxes constrain the state building performance in Afghanistan? This paper makes an attempt to investigate these questions in order to help understand why state building practice in post 2001 Afghanistan has achieved unsatisfactory results in building state capacity.The international environment at the end of the Cold War era encouraged international community to militarily intervene in the so-called failed states for humanitarian reasons and under a nuanced understanding of the concept of 'sovereigntyas responsibility.' A large volume of literature in the post Cold War era emphasized a re-orientation of the inviolable concept of state sovereignty (Deng et al., 1996; Lund, 1996; United Nations, 2004; ICISS, 2001;Krasner, 2004). This concept postulated that a state's failure to protect its population from violence, war, hunger and misery were reasons strong enough for external intervention in rebuilding the fractured institutions of the failed state.A considerable number of such states resultantly, got intervened into militarily for reconstructing state structures, including Somalia, Liberia, Burundi, the Balkans, East Timor, Afghanistan and others. Such state building interventions have produced less than satisfying and in many cases disappointing results. Scholarship on such interventions, point to mixed or less successful results of these state building intrusions (Paris & Sisk, 2008; Call & Cousens, 2008).A majority of intervened states exhibit, either, precarious peace or an active insurgency, violence, low state capacity, international presence and a prolongation of internal conflict. These state building interventions in some cases have been followed by re-intervention in the wake of failures in initial one. With more than 40% intervened states relapsing into violence, redecivist operations have been launched in the Democratic Republic (DR) of Congo, Liberia and Haiti (Rondinelli and Montgomery, 2005; Debiel and Lambach, 2010). The failure of previous interventions to restore peace and build states resulted in renewed interventions for state and peace building.Afghanistan is a classic case of a weak state that had to endure a long protracted civil war, unabated violence, and erosion of state capacity and strength, elevating its status to the so called failed state. The international intervention in Afghanistan began in the closing months of 2001, and with a transitional government coming into power in December, Afghanistan formally kick-started the complex process of re-building state institutions. Today, after a passage of more than a decade, the Afghan state building exercise is by no means complete. …

An Analytical Study of Criminal Justice System of Pakistan (with Special Reference to the Province of Punjab)

Abstract: IntroductionOur criminal justice system is not delivering due to multiple ailments that range from reporting of crime to the police, mal-practices during the course of investigation, preparation of report under section 173 of Cr.P.C. by the I.O., submission of challan in the court by the Public Prosecutor without application of his independent mind owing to his tied hands and subsequently trial at the mercy of the defence counsel. Each steps has many slips and shorts at enforcement, judicial process and correction stages. The inbuilt inadequacies are rendering the system ineffective, the accumulation of the grievances of the complainants or aggrieved persons are posing big question mark to its performance. Patch work to improve and make it effective was done halfheartedly, thus remained ineffective. A scrupulous effort with pragmatic orientation is a must in the given circumstances. The scope of improvement must inter-relate all the shortcomings, both of substantive and procedural nature in accordance to the spirit of time. The anger and frustration that has been accumulating against the system over the decades is bound to trigger up in political chaos, and radicalism in society. The mass killings, blind murders and massive scale crime rocketing is less of social mal-adjustment and more of deprivation of our judicial delinquencies. Meaningful changes are must - a detailed study of historical contexts along the comparison of judicial system of the advanced countries will provide a practical insight into our shortcomings in the system and practical suggestions to improve it may help to pacify the lava already brewing in social echelons to social and administrative anomalies.The Criminal Justice System encompasses the whole gamut of collection of evidence during the course of investigation, production of evidence before the trial court by the prosecution and its rebuttal by the defence counsel. Each step needs utmost care and diligence. To make the things easy to understand it is important to go through the important concepts of the System. Justice (R) Dr. Munir A. Mughal (2009) has explained this term beautifully in these words, "A system that deals with the crime and the criminals with a view to maintaining peace and order in the society". But, Wikipedia has defined the concept of 'criminal justice system' in different context by highlighting that "Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts." It has been further elaborated by saying that the criminal justice system "consists of three main parts: (1) law enforcement (Police); (2) adjudication (courts); and (3) corrections (jails / prisons, probation and parole).In fact, an efficient and effective system of criminal justice not only provides an appropriate remedy to a victim of crime but also takes care of the legitimate rights of the accused. It protects and respects the rights of all concerned with due regard to the ultimate end of dispensation of justice without fear and favour but unfortunately our system of criminal justice has failed to achieve these objectives and that is why our Supreme Court observed that "people are losing faith in dispensation of criminal justice by ordinary criminal courts for reason that they either acquit the accused persons on technical grounds or take a lenient view in awarding sentences. It is high time that courts should realize that they owe duty to the legal heirs / relatives of the victims and also to the society. Sentences awarded should be such which should act as a deterrent to the commission of offence".Nature of our system of Justice?Now, this question arises: "What is the nature of Criminal Justice System of Pakistan?" To find out the answer of this question, we have to study the two well-known systems of judicial procedure of the world: (1) Adversary System; and (2) Inquisitorial Systemi) Adversary SystemIn Adversary System, the role of a Judge or a Magistrate is like a Referee or a Neutral person and it is the prosecution that has to prove its case beyond any shadow of doubt. …

National Consensual Narrative against Terrorism

Abstract: Introduction"Mujahideen is a word literally comes from the same Arabic root as jihad, which means struggle. Therefore, a mujahid is a person who struggles. In the milieu of Afghanistan through the late twentieth century, the mujahideen were Islamic combatants shielding their state from the USSR", which in 1979 assaulted and waged a pointless and gory war for a decade. Afghan mujahideen were outstandingly varied group including Uzbeks, Tajiks, ethnic Pashtuns, and others. Some were patron by Iran, whilst numerous groups were formation of Deoband Muslims and pro-Pakistan elements (Szczepanski, n.d. "Who Were the Mujahideen of Afghanistan?" about news. http://asianhistory.about.com/od/glossaryko/g/Who-Were-the-Mujahideen-ofAfghanistan.htm.)In totaling to the Afghanistan battalions, Muslims from other territories voluntarily joined the 'mujahideen lines'. Fighters from Arabs like Osama bin Laden, battalions from Chechnya, and others abetted Afghanistan. Nevertheless, the USSR was formally an agnostic land, detrimental to Islam, and the Chechens had their own anti-Soviet accusations. All these mujahideen fought on the name of Jihad and Qital emphasizing the notion of religious nationalism (Szczepanski, n.d. "Who Were the Mujahideen of Afghanistan?" about news. http://asianhistory.about.com/od/glossaryko/g/Who-Were-the-Mujahideen-of-Afghanistan.htm.)CIA and the Arab world sent the Mujahideen to Pakistan. "The United States' CIA had no straight contact with the mujahideen, using furtive ties with the Pakistani intelligence service (ISI) instead to funnel in weapons and money." Szczepanski n,d. "Who Were the Mujahideen of Afghanistan?" about news. http://asianhistory.about.com/od/glossaryko/g/Who-Were-the-Mujahideen-of - Afghanistan.htm.)Tribal people trained them to fight in the forefront in Afghanistan and America bought artillery from Israel and gave them. The ideological indoctrination was given to Taliban Madrassas in frontier areas of Pakistan, financed by fundamentalists in Saudi Arabia and other affluent Gulf states. JUI, Jamat-e-Islami and other political and religious parties and establishment of Pakistan supported them because their religious beliefs were somewhat similar to Taliban as the narratives of Jihad and Qital and the Shari'a philosophy.Hundreds of Madrassas were opened in Pakistan to train these Mujahideen. The whole literature on the ideologies of Jihad and Qital was compiled under Gen. Zia ul Haq. "In 1971 there were only 900 madrassas in Pakistan, but by the end of Zia era in 1988 there were 8,000 madrassas and 25,000 unregistered ones" (Rashid, 2008: 89). Ideological indoctrination and training to fight the superpowers originated in Pakistan. The fighters in the name of 'Allah' conceived by ideologues, organized by politicians, financed by Saudis and equipped by US terminated in the crumble of Soviet Empire. (Gunaratna & Iqbal, 2011:11).Disintegration of USSRThe Soviets sent in martial abet tanks, heavy artillery, fighter jets, and helicopter gunships plus large numbers of military professionals. In spite of extensive use of tanks, bombings, and helicopter gunships, they were inept to take the vale. The mujahideen in the skirmish against the Soviets were assisted by the foreign governments for various motives. "The US supplied finance and weapons to the mujahideen through intermediaries in Pakistan during the scuffle. The US was still stinging from her loss in the Vietnam War, so she did not send in any combat troops" (Zalman, n.d. "Osama bin Laden- Influences on Osama bin Laden from the 1960s through 1996". about news. http://terrorism.about.com/od/groupsleader1/a/binLadenContext.htm.)Holy WarNational Security Advisor of America Berzezinski in 1980 came and addressed the mujahideen that "We know of their deep belief in God and we are confident that their struggle will succeed. The land over there is yours. You will go back to it one day, because your fight will prevail and you will have your homes and your mosques back again because your cause is right and God is on your side" (http://sites. …