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1641. Afghanistan: Old Problems, New Parliament, New Expectations

Author:
Emily Hsu and Beth DeGrasse
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
With the September 18 parliamentary elections, Afghanistan completes its internationally mandated blueprint for democracy and enters a new phase of state building in uncharted waters. This transition occurs against the backdrop of rising threats to security and an economy dominated largely by illicit production and export of opium. On October 12, 2005, the U.S. Institute of Peace convened a meeting of the Afghanistan Working Group to review the recent parliamentary elections. The presenters at the meeting included Robert Varsalone, resident country director for Afghanistan for the International Republican Institute; Sam Zia-Zarifi, research director for the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch; Larry M. Sampler, former chief of staff for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan; and Barnett R. Rubin, chairman of the Afghanistan Working Group. The following USIPeace Briefing summarizes views expressed at the meeting. The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Institute, which does not take positions on policy issues.
Topic:
Democratization, Development, and Politics
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, and Asia

1642. Syria and Political Change

Author:
Mona Yacoubian and Scott Lasensky
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
This USIPeace Briefing , written by Scott Lasensky and Mona Yacoubian of the Institute's Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention, is based on discussions at a recent seminar. The views expressed do not reflect those of the Institute, which does not take policy positions. Syria is facing unprecedented pressure from the international community on issues ranging from Syrian meddling in Lebanon to its support for terrorist groups. The United Nations investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri will release its second report in mid- December 2005. The current crisis has increased speculation about prospects for political change in Syria. The opacity of Syrian politics means there are more questions than answers. Nonetheless, a number of key indicators suggest a changing political environment, in a country where political development has essentially been frozen for thirty-five years.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Politics
Political Geography:
Middle East and Syria

1643. Iraq before the Election: Constructing a National Narrative

Author:
Courtney Rusin
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Iraq will elect a new parliament on December 15th. The new government—whatever its composition—will then be in a race to build a democratic order before the insurgency creates enough chaos to break it down. Whether or not the government succeeds depends on how political events of the past two years have set the stage for the December elections—and on the prospects of creating a national narrative that encompasses all of Iraq's main political and ethno-sectarian groups.
Topic:
Democratization, Development, and Politics
Political Geography:
Iraq and Middle East

1644. The United Nations as a Security Political Actor - with a Special Focus on Africa

Author:
Bjørn Møller
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The report analysis the UN's role in the provision of four different forms of security – national, societal, human and environmental security – both in general terms and with regard to Africa. It also contacins brief surveys of the UN's collaboration with regional and subregional organisations and of envisaged UN reforms.
Topic:
Security, Politics, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Africa

1645. Farewell to Conscription? The Case of Denmark

Author:
Pertti Joenniemi
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This contribution probes the essence of Denmark as a political project by using conscription as an inroad and employing it as a lens that provides insight into the way some of the key constitutive relationships underpinning Denmark have been unfolding over time. Conscription is approached by focusing on its discursive features, those furnishing it with – or depriving it of – ideational power.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe and Denmark

1646. Caucasian Diaspora in Turkey and Its Impact on Turkish Foreign Policy

Author:
Mitat Çelikpala
Publication Date:
03-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
The concept of diaspora, which was incorporated into the literature on politics in the 1960s, has become a significant notion in current international politics. This study aims to present a theoretical assessment of the diaspora concept, followed by the organisation and the evolution of the Caucasian diaspora(s) in Turkey, which include Armenians, Azeris, Georgians and other North Caucasian peoples. It discusses their transformations from emigrants to diaspora, their views regarding each other as well as the changes that took place within these groups after the collapse of the Soviet Union which had a dramatic impact on their relations with their homelands. The second part of this study shifts the emphasis to the recent developments in Abkhazia and Chechnya, and to the activities and increasing influence of the diaspora over Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the political leaders in Turkey.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Development, Migration, and Politics
Political Geography:
Turkey, Chechnya, Armenia, Georgia, and Abkhazia

1647. Whose Oceania? Contending Visions of Community in Pacific Region-building

Author:
Greg Fry
Publication Date:
10-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Australian National University Department of International Relations
Abstract:
In the past year the 'war against terror' and perceptions of state failure within the post-colonial Pacific have sparked an Australian-led initiative to deepen and widen regional integration in Oceania. This paper argues that behind the seeming unanimity of the 2004 Auckland Declaration and agreement by Pacific Islands Forum leaders on a 'Pacific vision' and a 'Pacific plan' are several contending visions of regional community, and of community-building. The political and moral legitimacy of each vision depends significantly on how these visions answer the question of who is Oceania for, and who has the right to speak for it? The seemingly dominant vision (that of the Australian government) is problematic in this regard. Past practice of Pacific region-building suggests that it may therefore not receive the legitimacy it requires for sustainability. This therefore is in danger of producing an unintended consequence: the replication at a regional level of the legitimacy problem associated with the so-called failing state.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
Australia/Pacific

1648. Advocacy or Activism: Gender Politics in Fiji

Author:
Nicole George
Publication Date:
10-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Australian National University Department of International Relations
Abstract:
This paper asks whether new insights can be gained by differentiating between advocacy and activism when examining the work of civil society organisations in relation to gender equality. The scholarly community and practitioners in the field of development have shown increasing interest in the political activities of non-governmental organisations and civil society more broadly. Until fairly recently, these groups have been characterised as innovative and autonomous agents of reform. While this view has tended to provide a relatively homogenised view of civil society, it has also ignored the extent to which individual organisations within the 'third sector' negotiate space within a broader political culture that can at the one time place both opportunities and constraints in their path. This paper is part of a new wave of more critical literature which aims to provide a detailed portrait of this terrain's complexity. Focusing upon the ways in which women's organisations in Fiji approach issues of gender equality, I contrast strategies employed in the 1960s and 1970s with those adopted in more recent times and consider the extent to which the prevailing political culture has afforded these groups the space to exercise a critical political voice.
Topic:
Civil Society, Gender Issues, and Politics
Political Geography:
Australia/Pacific

1649. The Political Economy of Nuclear Energy in the United States

Author:
Pietro S. Nivola
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
A tendency among commentators, even experts like Bernard L. Cohen, the author of the sentence above, is to regard the complicated story of nuclear energy in the United States as exceptionally troubled and frustrating. The root cause of the troubles and frustrations, moreover, is commonly thought to be more political than economic. The promise of nuclear power in the United States is said to have been dimmed primarily by an eccentrically risk-averse public and an unusually hostile regulatory climate. Practically nowhere else, it is said, have political and legal institutions been so uncooperative. Supposedly the central governments of most other advanced countries have lent far more support to their nuclear industries. And because those governments are assumed to be more aggressive in combating pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels, surely “the rest of the world” has been doing much more than America to level the playing field for the development of nuclear energy. But just how valid is this conventional picture?
Topic:
Nuclear Weapons and Politics
Political Geography:
United States

1650. Deterring Conflict in the Taiwan Strait: The Successes and Failures of Taiwan's Defense Reform and Modernization Program

Author:
Micheal D. Swaine
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
THE TAIWAN STRAIT IS ONE OF THE TWO PLACES in the Asian Pacific where a major war could break out; the other place is the Korean Peninsula. For over fifty years, the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC, or Taiwan) have maintained an uneasy peace across the Strait, punctuated by brief periods of limited conflict or by occasional military displays. The PRC insists that Taiwan is a part of China and asserts that the island must one day be reunited with the mainland. Until the early 1990s, the ROC government also viewed Taiwan as an integral part of China and insisted on eventual reunification, albeit under the Chinese Nationalist flag. But in recent years, with democratization opening the system to native Taiwanese, public support for independence has grown, as has the alarm in Beijing. As tensions have grown and the prospect of the resumption of a cross-Strait understanding regarding Taiwan's status has become more remote, stability has depended primarily on military deterrence. For China, such deterrence aims to prevent the final consolidation of Taiwan's separate status. For Taiwan (and the United States), it aims at preventing China from using force to compel reunification on Beijing's terms.
Topic:
Security and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, China, Taiwan, Beijing, and Asia