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42. Argentina: National Security Strategy and Armed Forces / Argentina: Estrategia de Seguridad Nacional y roles de las Fuerzas Armadas
- Author:
- Jerónimo Morales Rins
- Publication Date:
- 06-2018
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal on International Security Studies (RESI)
- Institution:
- International Security Studies Group (GESI) at the University of Granada
- Abstract:
- The definition of a National Security Strategy is essential to take a stand in a world of limited resources where competence for access, use, and appropriation of international common spaces is going to escalate. Added to the role of preserving jurisdictional spaces the Armed Forces should develop new roles emerging from the defense of national interest in spaces of diffuse sovereignty in a global scenario of deterioration of governance. The Armed Forces should rethink accordingly their structure, doctrine, organization and capabilities to adapt themselves to those scenarios, in accordance with the guidelines of the National Security Strategy.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Sovereignty, Military Strategy, and Armed Forces
- Political Geography:
- Argentina and South America
43. The Case for Foreign Electoral Subversion
- Author:
- Cecile Fabre
- Publication Date:
- 09-2018
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Carnegie Council
- Abstract:
- Most foreign policy is not implemented through war. Yet, with a few recent exceptions—like James Pattison’s 2018 monograph The Alternatives to War—political and moral philosophers have yet to explore all options between war and doing nothing.1 Here I consider one such option: subversive interference in a democracy’s nationwide elections. In that regard, the years 2016–2017 have proved rich in controversies. In France, Russian banks with close ties to the Kremlin provided cash loans to the National Front in the run-up to the 2017 presidential elections. In December 2017, the Australian premier announced a tightening of restrictions on foreign funding of political parties out of concern with alleged and undue Chinese influence on some Australian politicians. Last, but far from least, in the United States the Office of the Director of National Intelligence along with the CIA, FBI, and NSA all take the strong view, backed in part by social media data, that Russian authorities actively sought to undermine Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and to bolster Donald Trump’s.2 Interestingly, however, some of President Putin’s critics are vulnerable to the charge of hypocrisy. To give but two examples, the United States has a long history of interfering in the institutions and elections of its Latin American neighbors and, indeed, at the height of the Cold War, of its European allies. More recently, many believe that, absent U.S.-driven assistance, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia would have lost the 2000 Yugoslavian presidential election to Slobodan Milošević.3 Attempting to subvert the democratic elections of a putatively sovereign country is a time-honored way of bending the latter’s domestic and foreign policy to one’s will. However, it seems to elicit far more condemnation than war and, indeed, other forms of coercive diplomacy. Perhaps this is because, to many people, the rights of democratic participation have primacy over all other rights; or because most often electoral subversion takes place covertly. Either way, given how destructive those other modes of interference are, this is puzzling. I frame my inquiry as follows. I focus on the state-sponsored, nonviolent, nonkinetic subversion of nationwide elections (for short, subversion). Moreover, because I am interested in exploring whether there are any situations in which subversion may be justified, I consider cases in which subversion is used as a means to prevent or end large-scale human rights violations, though my argument also has implications for subversion as a tool of foreign policy in general. In addition, my aim is not to evaluate subversion as an alternative to war or, for that matter, to other measures, such as economic sanctions. Due to space constraints, I simply wish to show that, under certain conditions and subject to certain constraints, subversion is pro tanto justified. Whether it is justified all things considered—and, in particular, once one has taken into account other options—is another matter and one that I cannot settle here. Finally, although subversion affects election candidates, it above all undermines a citizen’s right to vote. Accordingly, in what follows I focus on the latter and not the former. Attempting to subvert the democratic elections of a putatively sovereign country is a time-honored way of bending the latter’s domestic and foreign policy to one’s will. However, it seems to elicit far more condemnation than war. Before I begin, let me outline the overall normative framework on which my arguments rely. I take it for granted that all individuals, wherever they reside in the world, have rights to the freedoms and the resources they need to lead a minimally flourishing life—in other words, human rights. Moreover, they hold those rights against all human beings and their respective governments. Put differently, on this cosmopolitan view, all of us, wherever we reside in the world, are under duties to all other individuals, wherever they reside, to respect their human rights. How precisely we discharge those duties partly depends on the institutional structures under which we live. Be that as it may, I am not under a stronger duty to respect my compatriots’ human rights—for example, not to be killed or to be given means of subsistence—than I am to respect those same rights of noncompatriots, and vice versa
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Sovereignty, Elections, and Election Interference
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
44. Sovereignty or "Globalization"? Reflections on an Apparent Antagonism
- Author:
- Diego Pautasso and Marcelo Pereira Fernandes
- Publication Date:
- 06-2017
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
- Institution:
- Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
- Abstract:
- The article intends to problematize the alleged antagonism between, on the one hand, state capacity and sovereignty and, on the other hand, the integration of markets at a global level. The current manichaeism that tends to reduce approaches to "globalists" or "skeptics" does not contribute to the understanding of the contemporary international system. It is necessary to overcome the supposed antagonism between state-centric and transnational visions, in favor of critical approaches that understand the interlacements between the State and the internationalization of capital, which are crossed by the process of expansion of capitalism in contemporary times.
- Topic:
- Globalization, Sovereignty, Capitalism, and State
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
45. The Responsibility to Protect beyond Borders in the Law of Nature and Nations
- Author:
- Luke Glanville
- Publication Date:
- 10-2017
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- While histories of human rights have proliferated in recent decades, little attention has been given to the history of thinking about duties to protect these rights beyond sovereign borders. We have a good understanding of the history of duties of sovereign states to ensure the safety and well-being of their own citizens and of the right of other states to forcefully intervene when these duties are violated. But the story of the development of thinking about duties to assist and protect the vulnerable beyond borders remains to be told. This article defends the importance of excavating and examining past thinking about these duties. It then sketches key aspects of Western natural law thinking about such duties, from Francisco de Vitoria through to Immanuel Kant, claiming that such study holds the promise of exposing from where ideas that prevail in international law and politics have come and retrieving alternative ideas that have been long forgotten but that may reward renewed consideration. It concludes by briefly outlining how three such retrieved ideas might be of particular use for those seeking to push international law and politics in a more just direction today.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Law, Sovereignty, History, Humanitarian Intervention, and Philosophy
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Global Focus
46. Etre cachemiri à New Delhi. L’expérience du nationalisme à distance (Being a Kashmiri in Delhi. Experiencing Long-distance Nationalism)
- Author:
- Charlotte Thomas
- Publication Date:
- 06-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
- Abstract:
- Armed combatant and leader of the Hizbul Mujahideen Burhan Wani was killed by the Indian Army in July 2016. This killing triggered a new phase of insurgency in Kashmir. In the Valley, the local populace started mobilizing against the Indian State in the name of azadi, (freedom). In such volatile context, the production of the national sentiment of the Kashmiris is documented from a distanciated perspective. Frontiers of the national group are explored from New Delhi, as well as the logics of differentiation and otherification of the Kashmiri group towards the Indian one. Kashmiri nationalism therefore more clearly appears in a negative definition (what a Kashmiri is not) than in a positive definition (what a Kashmiri is). The slight and incremental slip of the meaning of azadi demands is at the heart of Kashmiri nationalism. From an original demand for greater autonomy within the Indian Republic, demands of azadi now refer to the independence of the Valley – yet there are nuances that will be studied. They also convey an utter rejection of “Indianess” whether national or citizen. In that respect, New Delhi’s negating the political aspect of the mobilizations that are taking place in the Kashmir Valley has dramatically fuelled the national sentiment of the Kashmiris. The current insurgency that started in July 2016 has sped up the pace of the process. Despite the escalating tensions in the Valley, New Delhi keeps refusing to consider the political dimension of the local social movements, be they violent or peaceful. That is the reason why, beyond Kashmir and Kashmiris themselves, studying the political demands of the Kashmiri population does shed a light on the functioning of the Indian nation and the Indian state.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Sovereignty, Terrorism, War, Territorial Disputes, Sociology, Material Culture, Political Science, Regional Integration, and Borders
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and India
47. Regards sur l’Eurasie - L’année politique 2016
- Author:
- Anne De Tinguy, Bayram Balci, François Dauceé, Laure Delcour, Tatiana Kastouéva-Jean, Aude Merlin, Xavier Richet, Kathy Rousselet, and Julien Vercueil
- Publication Date:
- 02-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
- Abstract:
- Looking into Eurasia : the year in politics provides some keys to understand the events and phenomena that have left their imprint on a region that has undergone major mutation since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991: the post-soviet space. With a cross-cutting approach that is no way claims to be exhaustive, this study seeks to identify the key drivers, the regional dynamics and the underlying issues at stake
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Corruption, Crime, Democratization, Economics, International Trade and Finance, Politics, Sovereignty, War, International Security, Regional Integration, and State
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Ukraine, Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Belarus, and European Union
48. The Security Sector Legislation of Ukraine
- Author:
- Oleksandr Lytvynenko, Philipp Fluri, and Valentyn Badrack
- Publication Date:
- 01-2017
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- This comprehensive collection of Ukrainian legislation on the Security Sector serves two purposes: it gives Ukrainian and Western experts an overview of what legal documents already exist in Ukraine; and serves as a tool for identifying possibilities for adaptations to the law.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Sovereignty, Territorial Disputes, Governance, Law, Military Affairs, Conflict, and Legislation
- Political Geography:
- Geneva, Russia, Europe, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe
49. How Catalan's Independence Leader Failed by Design
- Author:
- Liam Hunt
- Publication Date:
- 11-2017
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for the Study of Security and Development, Dalhousie University
- Abstract:
- Catalonia unilaterally declared independence from Spain on October 27, 2017, and with that, the fate of the European Union was briefly, once again, put in jeopardy. Since then, the international community, including Canada, the US, UK, Germany, and France, have all come forward to call for Spanish unity and quash the separatist tide. The Spanish Constitutional Court has ruled the results of the October 1 secession referendum illegal. In response, the Spanish Senate triggered Article 155 of the Constitution, which effectively gave Madrid direct rule over the region of Catalonia. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy then dissolved the Catalan Parliament and installed a caretaker government under the leadership of vice-premier Soraya de Santamaria before calling snap regional elections for December 21.
- Topic:
- Sovereignty, Elections, European Union, Separatism, and Secession
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Spain, and Catalonia
50. Palestine : de l’Etat introuvable à la nation en déroute. A quoi servent les dirigeants palestiniens ? (Palestine: From an untraceable State to an impossible nation. What purpose do Palestinian leaders serve?)
- Author:
- Laetitia Bucaille
- Publication Date:
- 10-2016
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
- Abstract:
- Today, the creation of a Palestinian state appears to be a distant possibility: the international community rejected to manage the issue, and the leadership in these territories weakened because of its divisions, revealing their inability to advance. Both the political and the territorial partition between the Gaza strip, governed by the Hamas and the West Bank, under Palestinian authority in line with Fatah, reveal a profound crisis that questions the very contours of Palestinian politics. It also shows that Hamas’ integration in the political game made it impossible to pursue the security subcontacting system. Maintaining the system avoids reconstructing the Palestinian political community, and makes it difficult to develop a strategy that moves towards sovereignty. Since October 2015, the popular and pacific resistance project has been shelved by the return of the violence against Israeli civilians. The Palestinian leadership counts on internationalization of the cause, which has shown mediocre results. Will the replacement of Mahmoud Abbas by his competitors permit to leave the rut?
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Democratization, Politics, Sovereignty, War, Territorial Disputes, Governance, Peacekeeping, Conflict, and State
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and West Bank