The Post-Conflict Environment

The Post-Conflict Environment
Author: Daniel Bertrand Monk
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2018-03-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0472900897

In case studies focusing on contemporary crises spanning Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe, the scholars in this volume examine the dominant prescriptive practices of late neoliberal post-conflict interventions—such as statebuilding, peacebuilding, transitional justice, refugee management, reconstruction, and redevelopment—and contend that the post-conflict environment is in fact created and sustained by this international technocratic paradigm of peacebuilding. Key international stakeholders—from activists to politicians, humanitarian agencies to financial institutions—characterize disparate sites as “weak,” “fragile,” or “failed” states and, as a result, prescribe peacebuilding techniques that paradoxically disable effective management of post-conflict spaces while perpetuating neoliberal political and economic conditions. Treating all efforts to represent post-conflict environments as problematic, the goal becomes understanding the underlying connection between post-conflict conditions and the actions and interventions of peacebuilding technocracies.

Ending Holy Wars

Ending Holy Wars
Author: Isak Svensson
Publisher: University of Queensland Press(Australia)
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2012
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0702249564

Ending Holy Wars explores how religious dimensions affect the possibilities for conflict resolution in civil war. This is the first book that systematically tries to map out the religious dimensions of internal armed conflicts and explain the conditions under which religious dimensions impede peaceful settlement. It draws upon empirical work on global data, based on the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), and complements this quantitative data with several smaller case studies (Sri Lanka, Philippines and Indonesia). The book shows how religious identities and incompatibilities influence the likelihood of agreements and the mechanisms through which parties and third-party mediators have been able to overcome religious obstacles to negotiated settlements. These findings pave the way for a discussion on how conflict theory can better incorporate religious dimensions, as well as how policy can be designed to manage religious dimensions in armed conflicts.

With Us and Against Us

With Us and Against Us
Author: Stephen Tankel
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2018-05-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 023154734X

In the wake of the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush drew a line in the sand, saying, “Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists.” Since 9/11, many counterterrorism partners have been both “with” and “against” the United States, helping it in some areas and hindering it in others. This has been especially true in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, where the terrorist groups that threaten America are most concentrated. Because so many aspects of U.S. counterterrorism strategy are dependent on international cooperation, the United States has little choice but to work with other countries. Making the most of these partnerships is fundamental to the success of the War on Terror. Yet what the United States can reasonably expect from its counterterrorism partners—and how to get more out of them—remain too little understood. In With Us and Against Us, Stephen Tankel analyzes the factors that shape counterterrorism cooperation, examining the ways partner nations aid international efforts, as well as the ways they encumber and impede effective action. He considers the changing nature of counterterrorism, exploring how counterterrorism efforts after 9/11 critically differ both from those that existed beforehand and from traditional alliances. Focusing on U.S. partnerships with Algeria, Egypt, Mali, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen against al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other terrorist organizations, Tankel offers nuanced propositions about what the U.S. can expect from its counterterrorism partners depending on their political and security interests, threat perceptions, and their relationships with the United States and with the terrorists in question. With Us and Against Us offers a theoretically rich and policy-relevant toolkit for assessing and improving counterterrorism cooperation, devising strategies for mitigating risks, and getting the most out of difficult partnerships.

How Insurgencies End

How Insurgencies End
Author: Ben Connable
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2010-04-21
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0833049836

RAND studied 89 modern insurgency cases to test conventional understanding about how insurgencies end. Findings relevant to policymakers and analysts include that modern insurgencies last about ten years; withdrawal of state support cripples insurgencies; civil defense forces are useful for both sides; pseudodemocracies fare poorly against insurgents; and governments win more often in the long run.

The Rise and Fall of Modern Empires, Volume IV

The Rise and Fall of Modern Empires, Volume IV
Author: Martin Shipway
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 687
Release: 2016-12-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 1351882678

The collection of essays in this volume offers an overview of scholarly approaches to the ways in which diverse actors, representing the colonised or the colonising nations, or indeed the international community, reacted to colonialism during the lifetime of the modern colonial empires or in their aftermath. The coverage is broad in terms of geographical scope and historical period, with articles on the major colonial empires in Asia and Africa and the imperial centres of Paris, London and Berlin, from the conquests of the late nineteenth century to the period of decolonisation. The selection also reflects recent academic trends by focusing on countries whose colonial past and experience of decolonisation have been studied and debated with particular intensity, such as Algeria, Kenya and India. The volume draws on previously published articles and book chapters by leading international scholars writing in, or translated into, English and includes a critical introduction which situates each essay in relation to recent debates in this dynamic and expanding field of study.

Terrorism and the Politics of Naming

Terrorism and the Politics of Naming
Author: Michael Bhatia
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2013-10-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317969855

Previously published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly, this volume assesses the nature, power, role and function of names in global politics and the international media. Names are not objective, they accrue subjective associations, for example 'Terrorist' has a very different connotation to 'Freedom-fighter'. The contributors seek the truth beneath the names assigned in an effort to remove the obscurity created by the power of 'the politics of naming' to the reality of the situation, taking examples from Al Qaeda, Russia's demonization of the Chechens and naming in the Israeli-Palestine conflict, among other important contemporary debates. Terrorism and the Politics of Naming makes a substantial contribution towards elucidating the power of naming in the discourse of conflict and will be of great interest to students and scholars of political philosophy, political theory, and politics and the media.

No End to War

No End to War
Author: Walter Laqueur
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2004-07-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780826416568

Describes the latest events and trends in terrorism against the United States.

ISS 3 Political Culture and Conflict Resolution in the Arab World

ISS 3 Political Culture and Conflict Resolution in the Arab World
Author: Benjamin MacQueen
Publisher: Academic Monographs
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2009-06-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780522859966

Benjamin MacQueen presents an innovative and in-depth look at contemporary conflict resolution in the Arab Middle East, developing a unique theory of political culture through his analysis of peace processes in Lebanon and Algeria. Moving beyond conventional perspectives, Political Culture and Conflict Resolution in the Arab World highlights that while culture can serve as a key to resolving and transforming conflict, if neglected, it can act to worsen the conditions that lead to conflict. This book represents a critical advance in the study of conflict and its resolution in the Arab World.