Critical Review of the Icg Report Will the Real Serbia Please Stand Up?

Critical Review of the Icg Report Will the Real Serbia Please Stand Up?
Author: Michel Figusch
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
Total Pages: 37
Release: 2009-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3640483790

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: International Organisations, grade: 1, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen (Institut für Politikwissenschaften), course: Crisis in Eastern Europe and the EU's response, language: English, abstract: This term paper critically reviews the International Crisis Group report "Will the Real Serbia Please Stand up?" from April 2008. The report was published two months after Kosovo declared its independence and the subsequent rioting and looting in Belgrade. Section 2 briefly introduces the ICG and presents two main criticisms which concern the institution's organisational structure as well as its reports. In Section 3.1 I will summarise the situation in Serbia according to the above-named report and portray the conflicts about the Kosovo-question and Serbia's EU-membership. The two opposing camps of pro-EU and anti-EU-parties will be presented and the viewpoints of their respective leaders Tadic and Kostunica will be discussed. As the report was published before the early election in May 2008, Section 3 will be complemented with the outcome of it and an analysis of the results. What follows is an analysis of ICG's issues of concern and the resultant policy recommendations; in particular the recommendation to the European Union not to sign a Stability and Association Agreement with Serbia. Section 4 will summarise the paper and add concluding remarks.

International Intervention and State-making

International Intervention and State-making
Author: Selver B. Sahin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2015-07-16
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317674715

This book analyses the changing dynamics of sovereignty resulting from contemporary international state-building interventions. It aims to highlight how the exercise of ‘exceptional’ forms of power by intervening agencies impacts on the sovereign capacity of intervened states. Drawing upon in-depth analyses of three case studies – Kosovo, East Timor and the Kurdistan Regional Government, the book shifts the focus of the debate to the nature of contemporary intervention as an act of statemaking, and argues that foreign intervention changes the dynamics of political power upon which sovereignty is structured. At the same time, it reveals how intervention reproduces the imposed conditions of international state-making, thus permanently internalising external regulatory mechanisms. International intervention, in other words, becomes the constitutive element of governance in the newly created state. This book will be of much interest to students of statebuilding, war and conflict studies, global governance, security studies and IR.

Business of Civil War

Business of Civil War
Author: Patience Kabamba
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2013
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 2869785526

Within the context of the absence of effective state sovereignty and the presence of numerous armed struggles for power, Nande traders have managed to build and protect self-sustaining, prosperous, transnational economic enterprises in eastern Congo. This book discusses the commercial enterprises of the Nande trust networks and the subsequent transnational community they have produced, thereby challenging the assumption that a "weak state" or a "failed state" or even a "collapsed state" can be presumed to signal a "failed" society. It demonstrates the fact that several sovereignties and property right systems can coexist side by side, reinforcing each other - an idea which seems inconceivable for those with a normative view of governmental institutions and state sovereignty. Rethinking the question of African state formation, the study contributes to the formulation of a more rigorously transnational and local paradigms in the study of post-colonial African state formations. It constitutes an original contribution to critical theory of societal responses to processes of state implosion, and the anthropology of new social formations that emerge when states disintegrate, especially in war-torn Africa. The book also discusses issues related to the dynamics of conflict, new state formation, transnational trade network, ethnicity, and global political and economic governance. In the midst of abundant anti-ethnic literature on African studies, this study posits that there may be a renewed usefulness and necessity in theorizing the salience and continuing production of 'ethnic' differences in a manner that challenges the notion of ethnicity as merely a devious and divisive invention of colonialism that must simply be overcome.

You, the People

You, the People
Author: Simon Chesterman
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2005
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780199284009

The governance of post-conflict territories embodies a central contradiction - how does one help a population prepare for democratic governance and the rule of law by imposing a form of benevolent autocracy? This book explores the transitional administrations put in place by the UN.

European Security

European Security
Author: Bjørn Møller
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 516
Release: 2016-04-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317139364

Europe has undergone quite profound changes since the end of the Cold War. Having been a highly militarised, conflict-ridden and war-ridden region, the core of Europe today constitutes a security community where armed conflicts among the constituent states has become inconceivable. This comprehensive book offers a theoretically founded and thoroughly documented analysis of European security, with a special emphasis on the role played by the United Nations and the various regional and sub-regional organisations, especially the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe and the European Union. When it comes to explaining peace in Europe opinions differ widely. Some argue that it was only because the West refused to give in to Soviet threats that the latter eventually gave up; or that the 'long peace' in Europe was due to the combination of a bipolar alliance structure, pitting the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) against the Warsaw Pact, with the presence of nuclear weapons on both sides. Others point instead to the extraordinarily dense network of international institutions and organisations in Europe, offering a wide panoply of fora in which to handle disputes peacefully; or to the web of interdependence in economic and other affairs, tying together all states in Europe in relations which militate strongly against war. Still others believe that the external peace between the states in Europe is simply a reflection of a convergence of cultures, democracies with marked economies that are open towards the world market. These questions are the focal point of this book, which concentrates on security, albeit not in the sense of being a treatise on military matters, but security obtainable by much more indirect and non-military means. It will be required reading for all students and scholars of European security and the organisations which underpin it.

Political Economy of Statebuilding

Political Economy of Statebuilding
Author: Mats Berdal
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2017-07-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 1351553836

This volume examines and evaluates the impact of international statebuilding interventions on the political economy of post-conflict countries over the past 20 years. While statebuilding today is typically discussed in the context ofpeacebuilding and ‘stabilisation operations, the current phase of interest in external interventions to (re)build and strengthen governmental institutions can be traced back to thegood governance policies of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) in the early 1990s. These sought political changes and improvements in the quality of governance in countries that were subject to, or were seeking support under, IFI-designed structural adjustment programmes.The focus of this book is specifically on state-building efforts in conflict-affected countries: countries that are emerging, or have recently emerged, from periods of war and violent conflict. The interventions covered in the present volume fall into three broad and overlapping categories:International administrations and transformative occupations (East Timor, Iraq, and Kosovo); Complex peace operations (Afghanistan, Burundi, Haiti, and Sudan); Governance and state-building programmes conducted in the context of economic assistance (Georgia and Macedonia).This book will be of much interest to students of statebuilding, humanitarian intervention, post-conflict reconstruction, political economy, international organisations and IR/Security Studies in general.

Peacebuilding

Peacebuilding
Author: David Chandler
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2017-03-29
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3319503227

This book is the first to chart the rise and fall of peacebuilding. Charting its beginnings, as an ad-hoc extension of peacekeeping responsibilities, and formalisation, as a UN-supported international project of building liberal states. Twenty years later, the grounding policy assumptions of peacebuilding - that democracy, the rule of law and free markets were a universal solution to conflict-prone states and societies - have been revealed as naïve at best, and at worst, hubristic and Eurocentric. Here, Chandler traces the disillusionment with international peacebuilding, and the discursive shifts in the self-understanding of the peacebuilding project in policy and academic debate. He charts the transformation from peacebuilding as an international project based on universalist assumptions, to the understanding of peace as a necessarily indigenous process based on plural and non-linear understandings of difference. Is the end of peacebuilding necessarily a cause for celebration? Does this shift result in a realist resignation to the world as it appears? Is it necessary to “marry idealism with realism” – as E.H. Carr once argued - if we wish to keep open the possibilities for social change? This book seeks to answer these questions, making an invaluable reference both for students and practitioners of peacebuilding and for those interested in the broader shifts in the social and political grounding of policy-making today.

Party Politics in the Western Balkans

Party Politics in the Western Balkans
Author: Vera Stojarová
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2013-10-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1135235848

This book examines the development of party politics in the region of Western Balkans, describing party politics and analyzing inter-ethnic or inter-party cooperation and competition. Beginning with a thematic overview of the electoral systems and their link to the party systems, the authors consider the legacy of socialist/communist parties; compare the nationalist parties in the region; and explore opportunities for the national minorities. The book then provides detailed country case studies on Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania that: Provide an overview of the development of the respective political system since 1990, presenting key changes over time Depict important political issues in each of these countries and explains parties ́ particular policies in relation to these issues Discuss the level of democracy as well as ethnic minorities in the given states Explore the extent to which nationalism has dominated party organization, the stability of the parties, important changes in the party policies, and their electoral performance and personalisation of the parties Bringing together a range of specialist experts on the Balkans, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of party politics, comparative European politics, post-communist politics, nationalism, Southern European and Western Balkan politics.

Stabilization Operations, Security and Development

Stabilization Operations, Security and Development
Author: Robert Muggah
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2013-07-24
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1135044481

This edited volume provides a critical overview of the new stabilization agenda in international relations. The primary focus of so-called stability operations since 9/11 has been Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. Covering the wider picture, this volume provides a comprehensive assessment of the new agenda, including the expansion of efforts in Latin America, the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia. By harnessing the findings of studies undertaken in Brazil, Colombia, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Sudan and Sri Lanka, the volume demonstrates the impacts – intended and otherwise – of stabilization in practice. The book clarifies the debate on stabilization, focusing primarily on the policy, practice and outcomes of such operations. Rather than relying exclusively on existing military doctrine or academic writings, the volume focuses on stabilization as it is actually occurring. Drawing on the reflections of scholars and practitioners, the volume identifies the origins and historical antecedents of contemporary operations, and also examines how the practice is linked to other policy spheres – ranging from peacebuilding to statebuilding. Finally, the volume reviews eight practical cases of stabilization in disparate regions around the globe. This book will be of much interest to students of war and conflict studies, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, statebuilding, development studies and international relations in general.

Gangsters and Other Statesmen

Gangsters and Other Statesmen
Author: Danilo Mandić
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2020-12-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 069120005X

How global organized crime shapes the politics of borders in modern conflicts Separatism has been on the rise across the world since the end of the Cold War, dividing countries through political strife, ethnic conflict, and civil war, and redrawing the political map. Gangsters and Other Statesmen examines the role transnational mafias play in the success and failure of separatist movements, challenging conventional wisdom about the interrelation of organized crime with peacebuilding, nationalism, and state making. Danilo Mandić conducted fieldwork in the disputed territories of Kosovo and South Ossetia, talking to mobsters, separatists, and policymakers in war zones and along major smuggling routes. In this timely and provocative book, he demonstrates how globalized mafias shape the politics of borders in torn states, shedding critical light on an autonomous nonstate actor that has been largely sidelined by considerations of geopolitics, state-centered agency, and ethnonationalism. Blending extensive archival sleuthing and original ethnographic data with insights from sociology and other disciplines, Mandić argues that organized crime can be a fateful determinant of state capacity, separatist success, and ethnic conflict. Putting mafias at the center of global processes of separatism and territorial consolidation, Gangsters and Other Statesmen raises vital questions and urges reconsideration of a host of separatist cases in West Africa, the Middle East, and East Europe.