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361. Security & Justice Development – What Next?

Author:
Andrew Rathmell
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Security Sector Management
Institution:
Centre for Security Sector Management
Abstract:
The development of local security and justice sectors in developing, fragile and conflict-affected states has for a long time been an important strand in the UK’s approach to delivering its national security and development objectives. The 2009 White Paper on international development committed DFID to placing considerably greater emphasis on promoting security and access to justice in developing states. The Ministry of Defence’s Green Paper is likely to place greater emphasis on soft power, including security cooperation activities. In some countries, the UK has poured bilateral resources into this domain, from the training of Afghan military and police to the reform of the Sierra Leone security sector and the strengthening of various African militaries and police forces.
Topic:
International Relations
Political Geography:
United Kingdom

362. The North-South Divide in Everyday Life: Londoners Sending Money "Home"

Author:
Anna Lindley
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
These views neatly capture the ambiguous feelings that soon become apparent when asking Somali Londoners about sending money “home.” A relative minority of the Somali regions' so-called “missing million” have settled in the Global North, but they provide the bulk of remittance funds. A key node in global trade and finance, London has also witnessed “globalisation from below”: by the beginning of the 21st century over one third of the workforce was born abroad. While the dynamics and impact of immigration and asylum in London are relatively well-recorded and well-researched, the fact that London is also a key source of remittances for poorer countries has only come to the attention of researchers and policymakers in recent years. The World Bank in 2008 suggested that migrants in the U.K. sent official remittances amounting to some $4.5 billion in 2006.
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, London, and Somalia

363. Making Anti-Corruption Regulation Effective for the Private Sector

Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Transparency International
Abstract:
A comprehensive regulatory framework for the private sector is a prerequisite for a transparent, honest and just society: where regulation is weak, corruption risks grow strong. As the primary rule makers and enforcers, governments have a responsibility to ensure the effective regulation of markets, protection of citizens and enforcement of laws. Ultimately, an inadequate or unstable regulatory framework for the private sector — without the will, power or resources to enforce legislation — facilitates the marginalisation of stakeholder rights, distortion of markets and negligent or corrupt practices.
Topic:
Security, Corruption, Genocide, Markets, and Law
Political Geography:
Russia, United Kingdom, and Brazil

364. Cyprus: Unity and Difference

Author:
Michael Moran and Rauf R. Denktas
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Political Trends Center
Abstract:
This series of letters came about as follows. Sometime late in April, 2008 I went to see President Denktaş at his office in Nicosia, partly as a courtesy visit and partly because I thought he would be interested to read two documents I brought with me. One was a long article on Cyprus by Perry Anderson, a well-known British leftist, now teaching at an American university. Anderson's piece had recently appeared in the London Review of Books to which journal he was a regular contributor. The other thing I gave Denktaş was a letter I had sent to the LRB pointing out, in effect, what a one-sided, slapdash assortment of misinformation Anderson had inflicted on the British reading public.
Political Geography:
United States, United Kingdom, and Cyprus

365. Post-Migration Geographical Mobility, Mental Health and Health Service Utilisation among Somali Refugees in the UK: A Qualitative Study15

Author:
Nasir Warfa, Kamaldeep Bhui, Tom Craig, Sarah Curtis, Salaad Mohamud, Stephen Stansfeld, Paul McCrone, and Graham Thornicroft
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Migration is known to be associated with poor health outcomes for certain marginalised and socially disadvantaged populations. This paper reviews a number of reasons why residential mobility in the 'host' country may be associated with poor mental health for refugee populations and reports on a qualitative study of Somalis living in London, UK, and their beliefs about the relationship between residential mobility, poor health and health service use. Two discussion groups were undertaken with 13 Somali professionals and four groups with 21 lay Somalis in East and South London, UK. Lay Somalis did not wish to move accommodation but felt they were forced to move. Some Somali professionals believed that the nomadic history of Somalis made them more likely to elect to move in order to escape problems of living, but this was not supported by the lay group. Frequent geographical movements were seen as stressful and undesirable, disrupted family life and child development and were detrimental to well being. Residential mobility was also perceived to interfere with health care receipt and therefore should be more comprehensively assessed in larger quantitative studies.
Political Geography:
United Kingdom

366. How European Protest Transforms Institutions of the Public Sphere: Discourse and Decision-Making in the European Social Forum Process

Author:
Nicole Doerr
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
Against the background of the alleged democratic deficit of EU institutions, this case study explores how politicization and emerging transnational public spaces in European protest movements innovate existing practices of discursive or grassroots deliberative democracy in national social movements. I studied the European Social Forum (ESF) process, a transnational participatory democracy platform created by civil society groups and social movement organizations. I explored discourse and decision-making in the small-scale European Assemblies in which hundreds of activists have met six times a year since 2002 to organize the ESFs, and form campaigns on issues such as global and social justice, peace, climate change, migration, health, or education. Comparing activists' democratic norms and discourse practices in these frequently occurring European Assemblies with social forum assemblies at the national level in Germany, Italy and the UK, I arrived at a surprising result: European Assemblies reflect a higher degree of discursive inclusivity, dialogue and transparency in decision-making and discussion compared to national social forum assemblies. In this paper I discuss structural, strategic and cultural changes that occur in the process of a Europeanization “from below”, that is, when social movement activists work together transnationally across a certain time period. I argue that European protest as a form of contentious Europeanization has developed new social practices and actors that innovate existing practices of participatory democracy at the national level, showing the relevance of social movements to democratize European integration.
Topic:
Democratization
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, Germany, and Italy

367. Speaking Palestinian: An Interview with Rosemary Sayigh

Author:
Mayssun Soukarieh
Publication Date:
07-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
This interview is part of a longer conversation that independent researcher Mayssun Soukarieh conducted with Rosemary Sayigh in Beirut during the summer of 2008. Sayigh, an anthropologist, oral historian, and researcher, was born in Birmingham in the United Kingdom and moved to Beirut in 1953, where she married the Palestinian economist Yusif Sayigh. She earned her master's degree from the American University of Beirut (AUB) in 1970 and was awarded a PhD from Hull University in Yorkshire in 1994. Since coming to Beirut fifty-six years ago, Sayigh has dedicated her life to writing and advocating for the Palestinians in Lebanon and elsewhere. She is the author of two groundbreaking books: Palestinians: From Peasants to Revolutionaries; A People's History (Zed Books, 1979) and Too Many Enemies: The Palestinian Experience in Lebanon (Zed Books, 1993). Although these conversations focused on Sayigh's scholarly work rather than her personal history, it became clear that the two are inextricably linked.
Topic:
War
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, America, Palestine, and Lebanon

368. NATO and the Economic and Financial Crisis

Author:
Keith Hartley and Binyam Solomon
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
These is some consensus among economic forecasters and international economic organizations that the world economy is stabilizing after the worst global contraction since the end of the Second World War. While it is difficult to ascertain empirically whether the massive fiscal policy support played a role or not, the improving credit conditions and the return of demand in the housing market in North America and the UK point to some evidence that the stimulus is providing the necessary short-term boost. Nonetheless, there remain significant challenges that may constrain a quick recovery including the decline in household wealth (debt-laden consumers rebuilding their savings), persistent unemployment and deleveraging (decreasing the amount of debt a firm holds by paying it off) in the financial system together with future long-term prospects of inflation.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and North America

369. Crown, Empire and Nation (1807-1834)

Author:
Miriam H. Pereira
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute of European Studies
Abstract:
Before 1807, in Portugal the new liberal ideals had mainly an indirect influence, reflected in the enlightened elite. The wave of a more profound political change came about only in the beginning of the nineteenth century, when the whole Iberian area was involved in the European wide struggle between old regime and the new liberal society and state, that was enhanced by the Napoleonic wars. Between 1807 and 1820, Portugal went through one of the most complex period of its whole History, when the British informal occupation of twelve years, followed the French invasion, short but very destructive. The Crown survived in the hands of the House of Bragança and kept Brazil and the rest of the its colonial territories for over a decade. This makes the Portuguese and Brazilian history of this period somewhat different from that of both Spain and its American colonies. It provides an interesting case for the study of the evolution of three main institutions and political concepts involved in the end of the Old Regime: the Crown, the Empire and the Nation, whose changes during this period are analysed in this paper..
Topic:
Civil Society and History
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, America, Europe, Brazil, South America, and Portugal

370. Outside the European Economic and Monetary Union: Consequences for the United Kingdom

Author:
Anna Konarzewska
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
The consequences of staying outside the European Economic and Monetary Union can be divided into three categories: political, economic, and social. For the United Kingdom, most attention has been concentrated on the issue of economic gains and losses. The potential gains include a possibility for the British government to conduct its own national economic and monetary policy, the elimination of so-called social dumping, preserving the British mortgage and housing markets, and promoting London as a worldwide financial center. Moreover, approving the Euro could enlarge British foreign trade and enhance inflows of foreign direct investment. On the other hand, the negative economic consequences focus on lack of transparency of prices, no elimination of transaction costs, and the risk of disrupting the exchange rate of the pound sterling. The political and social consequences of staying outside the Euro zone must also be taken into account when analyzing the British case. Without participating in the common currency, the United Kingdom could preserve her national sovereignty and independence, although this remains questionable in the current world, which is characterized by high levels of interdependence. Likewise, the British stand to lose their influence in the European Union and in the world by not participating in the third stage of the EMU.
Topic:
Foreign Exchange
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, and London