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851. Security Sector Reform Policy Brief

Author:
Hilary Benn, Baroness Symons, and Adam Ingram
Publication Date:
11-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
With the end of the Cold War, a new understanding of the concept of peace and security has emerged. A broader focus on the nature of sustainable peace and its building-blocks, such as social and economic development, good governance and democratisation, the rule of law and respect for human rights, is supplementing the traditional concept of collective security. Security is necessary for people to go about their lives without fear or harassment and it is the responsibility of the state to provide this security. Security sector reform (SSR) describes the process for developing professional and effective security structures that will allow citizens to live their lives in safety.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, and Government
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

852. Report Of The South-South Dialogue On Defence Transformation

Author:
Anicia Lalá
Publication Date:
05-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
The objective of the conference was to promote the debate about defence transformation in the context of Ghana, inject local content and transparency, and enhance Ghana's ability to gain ownership of the process. The departure point was the Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) of the Ghanaian Ministry of Defence (GMoD), whose primary objective is to strengthen the capacity of civil staff of the MoD in managing the defence sector. In order to highlight the challenges of defence transformation under African conditions, the presentations included the experiences of South Africa, Uganda and Sierra Leone, delivered by respective nationals.This initiative was part of a collaborative effort between the GMoD, the British Defence Advisory Team (DAT) and the African Security and Dialogue Research (ASDR) and followed a two-week defence management course for civilian staff mounted by Cranfield University. Conference participants included civilians and military from the GMoD and the Ghanaian Armed Forces, parliamentarians, academics, representatives from the Ministry of Interior and the Intelligence services as well as members from civil society organizations (CSOs) equally attended the meeting.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Civil Society
Political Geography:
Africa

853. Clientelism in Flux: Democratization and Interest Intermediation in Contemporary Mexico

Author:
Blanca Heredia Rubio
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
The buoyant optimism spurred by the rush to democracy throughout Latin America along with the high, even if less widespread, hopes about market reform of the last decade have given way to a different mood. The excitement associated with large scale social change has subsided and a certain disillusionment, a hangover of sorts, has begun to set in.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, and Economics
Political Geography:
Latin America, Central America, and Mexico

854. The Death of Barricade: Politics and Professionalism in the Post Sandinista Press

Author:
Adam Jones
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
This article examines two decades in the life of Barricada, established as the "official organ" of the revolutionary Sandinista Front (FSLN) in Nicaragua, from its founding in 1979 through to its demise as a daily in 1998. it is argued that as distinct from the overriding "mobilizing imperative" of support for its Sandinista sponsor, and institutionally-generated "professional imperative" was also evident in Barricada's functioning from the early days of the paper's operations. After the FSLN's election defeat in 1990, this professional imperative-along with the political preference of most senior staff for "renovation" within the FSLN-resulted in the paper's establishing a significant degree of day-to-day autonomy fro its sponsor, and important transformations in its journalistic project. This semi-autonomy was foreclosed when the dominant ortodoxo faction of the Front engineered the dismissal of Barricada director Carlos Fernando Chamorro in 1994. Barricada then returned to its more highly-mobilized role as FSLN propagandist, but lost readers and advertising revenue as a result, finally closing in February 1998. The final section of the paper situates the experience of Barricada in the comparative context of mass media and political transitions worldwide.
Topic:
Civil Society, Politics, and War
Political Geography:
Africa and Central America

855. Gendercide and Genocide

Author:
Adam Jones
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
Gender-selective atrocities have tended to attract little attention when the victims are male. The result is that gender-selective killing-"gendercide"-has tended to be examined only in the context of the female experience. This paper takes a broader and more inclusive approach to the subject. It argues that, contrary to the standard depiction, gender-selective mass killing is more likely to target men than women-especially males of a "battle age." Drawing on a wide range of historical and contemporary case studies, the paper examines the methods and underlying motivations of gendercides against both men and women. Moving beyond a state-centered framework, it also considers institutional gendercide through forced labor, military conscription, female infanticide, witch-hunts, and other phenomena. It concludes by calling for an inclusive approach to gender-selective mass killing, and for a recognition of extreme urgency of the phenomenon in the modern world.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, Gender Issues, and Genocide

856. Kosovo: Orders of Magnitude

Author:
Adam Jones
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
The issue of the number of civilian causalities in the Kosovo war of 1999, especially of "battle-age" men, attracted considerable controversy both during the war and in its aftermath. This article considers the pattern of Serb atrocities in the province, and the pace and character of the forensic investigations conducted since the war by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). It argues that the lowest casualty estimates are highly unlikely, given the evidence of widespread mass executions gleaned from refugee testimony and forensic investigations. The article concludes with some thoughts on the implications of the casualty figures in the policy of human-rights arenas.
Topic:
Civil Society, Genocide, Human Rights, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Kosovo and Yugoslavia

857. The Interpretation of Meaning in Social Sciences

Author:
Farid Kahhat
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
This article presents in a relatively brief but comprehensive way the constitutive elements of an interpretive approach towards social sciences. It explains why interpretive frameworks constitute unavoidable screens that sift our cognitive appropriation of the world, and how metaphors (understood as a distinctive way of achieving insight) can provide their ordering principles. It further explains in what sense social intercourse is a meaning creating process, and why the interpretation of those meanings should be the main purpose of social sciences.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, and Education

858. Mexico and Drug Trafficking: The Sovereignty Dilemma

Author:
Jorge Chabat
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
Sovereignty is a concept that is debated every day in international politics. In many respects, sovereignty is the foundational concept of the international system as we know it. The word is used frequently by most countries in the world, often with a defensive purpose in mind. At the same time, the concept is a subject of considerable debate in the academic literature, as well as in international for a. the discussions about the relationship between sovereignty, autonomy, human rights, and the role of the international community are abundant and challenging. However, it seems that not all states hold a similar concept of sovereignty, and not all of them practice (or suffer) a similar concept. Even more, the concept differs not only from state to state, but from one period of historical time to another. As Fowler and Bunck point out: "the concept of sovereignty has been used not only in different senses by different people, but in different senses by the same person in rapid succession."
Topic:
International Relations, Civil Society, Politics, and Sovereignty
Political Geography:
Mexico

859. Law - Enforcement: Creating and Maintaining a Police Service in a Post - Conflict Society - Problems and Pitfalls

Author:
Eirin Mobekk
Publication Date:
11-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
The police service of East Timor, Policia Nacional de Timor-Leste (PNTL), was formally established on 10 August 2001 by UNTAET Regulation 2001/22. It was initially know as East Timor Police Service (ETPS), later this was changed to Timor- Leste Police Service (TLPS), it is now referred to as PNTL, which is what will be used throughout this paper. The creation of the police service came about as a result of Indonesia's withdrawal from East Timor in 1999, after 24 years of occupation after a ballot where 78.5% voted for independence. Up until that time East Timor had been policed by a foreign state. It had never had its own separate police force.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Indonesia and Southeast Asia

860. The Parliamentary Dimension of Security Sector Reform

Author:
Willem F. van Eekelen
Publication Date:
08-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
The term security sector reform is in fashion because it recognises the need for adaptation to changed circumstances after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the emergence of fanatical terrorism, without being precise about its vast agenda. In the report 2003 of the Secretary General of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly defence sector reform was defined as the reorientation away from Cold War structures of armed forces and defence establishments through reorganisation, restructuring and downsizing in order to meet the demands of the new security environment. It is a challenge that all countries - Alliance and partners alike - have had to confront. However, the need has been particularly acute for the countries of central and eastern Europe because of the military legacy many of these countries inherited and the dire straits of many of their economies.
Topic:
Security, NATO, Civil Society, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe