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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political activism > Armed conflict
Breaking a Rainbow, Building a Nation covers the university protests that took place in 2015–2016, better known as the #FeesMustFall protests. Rekgotsofetse (Kgotsi) gives us his first-hand account of what happened prior to the protests and what led to the events of October 2015 at the various university campuses and nationally. This is a four-part retelling of what happened on the ground amongst the students, first at #RhodesMustFall, then moving to the university responses and management and what ultimately led to #FeesMustFall nationwide. Chikane then looks at student politics now and how they are different from 1976, specifically the fact that the protests were being led by so-called coconuts, who are part of the black elite. The book poses the provocative question, can coconuts be trusted with the revolution?
Scholars agree that a direct correlation can be made between poor governance and the emergence of extremist movements. As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres puts it: ‘I am convinced that the creation of open, equitable, inclusive and pluralist societies, based on the full respect of human rights and with economic opportunities for all, represents the most tangible and meaningful alternative to violent extremism.’ This book challenges both the efficacy and wisdom of purely militarised responses to extremist movements typified by the Global War on Terror, as well as the cursory replication of international counter-terrorism frameworks promulgated by the United Nations and European Union in Africa. Emphasis is given to the importance of understanding local history, culture and regional geopolitics, among a variety of context-specific factors to truly understand and thereby effectively address the emergence and spread of extremisms in Africa. As such, it draws on contributions from a range of thematic and regional experts, including security-sector specialists, conflict analysts, journalists, international relations and governance specialists, political scientists, social anthropologists, psychologists and theologians, among others. A diverse range of extremist movements on the continent are examined, from radicalised religious groups to race-based organisations. These case studies provide in-depth insight into answering why and how these movements came to be, while thematic chapters address issues pertinent to addressing them, such as public perceptions of extremism, methods of recruitment and radicalization among marginalised communities, supporting survivors of extremism and former combatants, strategic approaches to counter-terrorism and the role of governance, among others. This is an introductory anthology and the first of its kind on this topic to be authored and published in the African continent.
In 1993 South Africa state president F.W. de Klerk and African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize ‘for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime’. Yet, while both deserved the plaudits they received for entering the negotiations that led to the end of apartheid, the four years of negotiations preceding the April 1994 elections, known as the transition era, were not ‘peaceful’: they were the bloodiest of the entire apartheid era, with an estimated 14,000 deaths attributed to politically related violence. This book studies, for the first time, the conflicts between the ANC and the Inkatha Freedom Party that took place in South Africa’s industrial heartland surrounding Johannesburg. Exploring these events through the perceptions and memories of combatants and non-combatants from war-torn areas, along with security force members, politicians and violence monitors, offers new possibilities for understanding South Africa’s turbulent transition. Challenging the prevailing narrative which attributes the bulk of the violence to a joint state security force and IFP assault against ANC supporters, the author argues for a more expansive approach that incorporates the aggression of ANC militants, the intersection between criminal and political violence, and especially clashes between groups aligned with the ANC.
1994 symbolised the triumphal defeat of almost three and a half centuries of racial separation since the Dutch East India Company planted a bitter almond hedge to keep indigenous people out of `their' Cape outpost in 1659. But for the majority of people in the world's most unequal society, the taste of bitter almonds linger as their exclusion from a dignified life remain the rule. In the year of South Africa's troubled coming-of-age, veteran investigative journalist Michael Schmidt brings to bear 21 years of his scribbled field notes to weave a tapestry of the view from below: here in the demi-monde of our transition from autocracy to democracy, in the half-light glow of the rusted rainbow, you will meet neo-Nazis and the newly dispossessed, Boers and Bushmen, black illegal coal miners and a bank robber, witches and wastrels, love children and land claimants. With their feet in the mud, the Born Free youth have their eyes on the stars.
This timely Handbook examines the causes, costs and consequences of state fragility, advancing key debates in the field. Demonstrating the multidimensionality of fragility by applying diverse theories and methodologies, it provides new insights on effective policy development and application in the context of fragile states. Drawing on a wide variety of disciplines, approaches and case studies, the Handbook pays particular attention to the root causes and drivers of fragility. It centres authority, legitimacy and the citizen-state relationship alongside state capacity, revealing the flaws in the reasoning behind previous Western policy interventions in fragile states. Chapters address a broad range of issues facing fragile states, from fragility traps, refugees and urbanisation to recent events including the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war and the increasing pressures of climate change. Ultimately, the Handbook advances the state of both academic and policy knowledge on state fragility, revealing the deep links between the two. This Handbook will be a valuable resource for scholars and students of political science, international relations, development studies, economics, and sociology. It will also benefit practitioners seeking to improve the effectiveness of their policy proposals.
Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. This updated and revised second edition of Advanced Introduction to International Conflict and Security Law provides a concise and insightful guide to the key principles of international law governing peacetime security, arms control, the use of force, armed conflict and post-conflict situations. Nigel D. White explores the complex legal regimes that have been created to control levels of armaments, to limit the occasions when governments can use military force, to mitigate the conduct of warfare and to build peace. Key Features: Analysis of new efforts to regulate nuclear weapons Extended coverage of peacekeeping and analysis of war crimes Updated coverage of recent state practice and academic literature New analysis of recent and on-going conflicts, in particular Syria and Ukraine With updated analysis of peacekeeping, the law surrounding nuclear weapons, war crimes and extensive coverage of conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, this thoroughly revised second edition is an essential text for academics, researchers and students interested in international law and world peace.
This extensive examination of the Kurdish conflict in Turkey, Iraq, Germany, and the EU focuses on the history and development of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) and its impact on transnational security, human rights, and democratization. The Militant Kurds: A Dual Strategy for Freedom explores the complexity of the 30-year guerrilla war of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) against the Turkish Republic, identifying longstanding obstacles to peace and probing the new dynamics that may lead to an end to the conflict. In doing so, the book provides fascinating insights into Turkey's national ethos, its dominant military culture, and civil society's struggle for increased democratization. The Militant Kurds offers an extensive analysis of the precarious position of the Kurdish minority, beginning with the establishment of the modern Turkish republic in 1923. Divided into five sections examining current political realities in Turkey, the book investigates the role of Islam and ethnicity, analyzes the rise of the PKK, discusses Turkish military culture, and explains the international dimensions of the Kurdish conflict. Comparative historical, political, and socioeconomic examples contextualize the long struggle for Kurdish self-determination. Each chapter offers an analysis of the underlying dynamics of the conflict and provides up-to-date explanations.
'An intelligent, sensitive writer' - Financial Times Palestine has been under attack for three quarters of a century. The 'peace process' that has favoured the two-state solution for more than forty years has now been internationally exposed as masking the expansion of Israel's apartheid regime. 75 years ago, Ghada Karmi and her family in Jerusalem were among the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who were exiled during the Nakba. She has since become one of the most vocal proponents of the single democratic state in Palestine-Israel. In this book, Karmi powerfully argues that this is the best possible settlement for the Palestinians, including the refugees; imagining a single secular state in historic Palestine, all of whose inhabitants would enjoy the same rights. Uniting the land - from the Mediterranean Sea to the River Jordan - and allowing the Palestinian right of return is the only way to end the exclusive and antidemocratic character of the Israeli state. Ghada Karmi's eloquent and moving writing shows that Palestinians refuse to meekly accept the fate created for them by others, and that they will never give up fighting for their home.
This cutting-edge book illuminates the key characteristics of inclusivity in mediation during armed conflicts and post-conflict peacebuilding. Daisaku Higashi illustrates the importance of mediators taking flexible approaches to inclusivity in arbitration during armed conflicts, highlighting the crucial balance between the need to select conflicting parties to make an agreement feasible and the need to include a multiplicity of parties to make the peace sustainable. Higashi also emphasizes the importance of inclusive processes in the phase of post-conflict peacebuilding. Higashi draws on first-hand experience as a team leader for reconciliation and reintegration in UNAMA, as well as interviews with leaders in conflicting states and UN missions, and recommends various roles for the UN, neighboring states and global powers in mediation during and after armed conflicts. Utilizing extensive field research and analysis, the book focuses on conflict regions in Afghanistan, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and East Timor to demonstrate the significance of addressing inclusivity in mediation and peacebuilding with different approaches. Engaging with a range of empirical sources to make key policy recommendations, this book is crucial reading for practitioners working in mediation and peacebuilding, particularly UN officials, think-tank experts, government officials and NGOs. It will also benefit scholars and students of political science and international relations in need of unique, real-world accounts of global mediation, peacebuilding and conflict management.
Steve Joubert had always wanted to be a pilot and the only way he could afford to do so, was to join the South African Air Force in the late 1970s. As an adventurous young man with a wicked sense of humour, he tells of the many amusing escapades he had as a trainee pilot. But soon he is sent to fight in the Border War in northern Namibia (then South West Africa) where he is exposed to the carnage of war. The pilots of the Alouette helicopters were witness to some of the worst scenes of the Border War. Often, they were the first to arrive after a deadly landmine accident. In the fiercest battles their gunships regularly supplied life-saving air cover to troops on the ground.
Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. This updated and revised second edition of Advanced Introduction to International Conflict and Security Law provides a concise and insightful guide to the key principles of international law governing peacetime security, arms control, the use of force, armed conflict and post-conflict situations. Nigel D. White explores the complex legal regimes that have been created to control levels of armaments, to limit the occasions when governments can use military force, to mitigate the conduct of warfare and to build peace. Key Features: Analysis of new efforts to regulate nuclear weapons Extended coverage of peacekeeping and analysis of war crimes Updated coverage of recent state practice and academic literature New analysis of recent and on-going conflicts, in particular Syria and Ukraine With updated analysis of peacekeeping, the law surrounding nuclear weapons, war crimes and extensive coverage of conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, this thoroughly revised second edition is an essential text for academics, researchers and students interested in international law and world peace.
Educated and aspirational, with dreams of becoming a teacher, George Omona would seem an unlikely recruit for the Lord's Resistance Army; a group which for many has the become the embodiment of evil, reviled for its use of child soldiers, sexual slavery, and for waging a decades long campaign of terror across a large swathe of Eastern and Central Africa. But drawn in by the charismatic pull of its messianic leader, and by the group's claims to speak for the long marginalized Acholi people, George came to regard the group as the best chance for rebuilding his life after his expulsion from high school. George's education and fluent command of English allowed him to rapidly rise through the ranks, eventually becoming a bodyguard to the group's now notorious leader, Joseph Kony. Having spent almost three years with the group before deserting, George's story - as told to acknowledged LRA expert Ledio Cakaj - provides a unique, unsettling and often astonishing insight into the inner workings of the LRA.
Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. A Research Agenda for Military Geographies explores how military activities and phenomena are shaped by geography, and how geographies are in turn shaped by military practices. A variety of future research agendas are mapped out, examining the questions faced by geographers when studying the military and its effects. Bringing together chapters from leading contributors, this Research Agenda explores a range of geographical places, spaces, environments and landscapes, examining peoples' experiences of the military in a variety of contexts. Chapters investigate key topics from armed conflict to its aftermath, as well as the study of the economic, social, political and cultural practices that make war possible. Providing interdisciplinary insights to military geography issues in European, North American, African and Asian contexts, this timely book sets out key areas of scholarship for discussion. Advanced students of critical geography and geopolitics studies as well as military studies, will greatly appreciate the suggestions for future research that sits at the heart of the book. Human geographers more broadly will find this a useful read in analysing the interdependent relationships between the military and place and space.
From Homer to Tim O'Brien, war literature remains largely the domain of male writers, and traditional narratives imply that the burdens of war are carried by men. But women and children disproportionately suffer the consequences of conflict: famine, disease, sexual abuse, and emotional trauma caused by loss of loved ones, property, and means of subsistence.Collateral Damage tells the stories of those who struggle on the margins of armed conflict or who attempt to rebuild their lives after a war. Bringing together the writings of female authors from across the world, this collection animates the wartime experiences of women as military mothers, combatants, supporters, war resisters, and victims. Their stories stretch from Rwanda to El Salvador, Romania to Sri Lanka, Chile to Iraq. Spanning fiction, poetry, drama, essay, memoir, and reportage, the selections are contextualized by brief author commentaries. The first collection to embrace so wide a range of contemporary authors from such diverse backgrounds, Collateral Damage seeks to validate and shine a light on the experiences of women by revealing the consequences of war endured by millions whose voices are rarely heard.
Rethinking and revising the established knowledge and practice of conflict resolution and management, this innovative book brings together complementary perspectives to consider novel approaches to resolving conflict after the collapse of the World Order. Examining the current system of world disorder, the authors identify ways of operating constructively and navigating conflict in order to better manage and resolve it. Analysing conventional and hybrid conflict at both international and internal state level, they look to transform current scholarship on conflict resolution and management in international relations. Chapters rethink mediation; power in peace-making; prevention of escalation; governance, protest and revolt; inclusion and representation; and the individual as subject and object in conflict resolution and management. Paving the way for future research in the field, the book outlines the need to learn how to operate within the present world disorder in order to prevent the descent into entropy. By awakening realistic creativity and examining present characteristics and future possibilities, the book develops a more positive evolution which can reinstitute an effective new system of World Order. Both prescriptive and analytical in approach, this insightful book will prove vital to students and scholars of international relations, political science and public policy, alongside policy makers looking to rethink their conflict resolution and management methods.
Law of the Environment and Armed Conflict discusses the most important and influential research articles relating to the protection of the environment in armed conflict. This research review plots the trajectory of research on this issue from early weapons impacts and the Vietnam War, to the first major challenge for wartime environmental protections in the Gulf Conflict, liability for harm and possible future directions.
'Extremely convincing' - Electronic Intifada For decades we have spoken of the 'Israel-Palestine conflict', but what if our understanding of the issue has been wrong all along? This book explores how the concept of settler colonialism provides a clearer understanding of the Zionist movement's project to establish a Jewish state in Palestine, displacing the Palestinian Arab population and marginalizing its cultural presence. Jeff Halper argues that the only way out of a colonial situation is decolonization: the dismantling of Zionist structures of domination and control and their replacement by a single democratic state, in which Palestinians and Israeli Jews forge a new civil society and a shared political community. To show how this can be done, Halper uses the 10-point program of the One Democratic State Campaign as a guide for thinking through the process of decolonization to its post-colonial conclusion. Halper's unflinching reframing will empower activists fighting for the rights of the Palestinians and democracy for all.
The Vietnam War is one of the defining conflicts of the twentieth century: not only did it divide American society at every level; the conflict also represented a key shift in Asian anti-colonialism and shaped the course of the Cold War. Despite its political and social importance, popular memory of the war is dominated by myths and stereotypes. In this incisive new text, John Dumbrell debunks popular assumptions about the war and reassesses the key political, military and historical controversies associated with one of the most contentious and divisive wars of recent times. Drawing upon an extensive range of newly accessible sources, Rethinking the Vietnam War assesses all aspects of the conflict - ranging across domestic electoral politics in the USA to the divided communist leadership in Hanoi and grassroots antiwar movements around the world. The book charts the full course of the war - from the origins of American involvement, the growing internationalization of the conflict and the swing year of 1968 to bitter twists in Sino-Soviet rivalry and the eventual withdrawal of American forces. Situating the conflict within an international context, John Dumbrell also considers competing interpretations of the war and points the way to the resolution of debates which have divided international opinion for decades.
Preventing School Violence: A Self-Assessment Approach provides readers with a research-based risk-management model designed to prevent school shootings. The self-assessment tool is adapted from a protocol developed by Tom McWeeney, which has been used to assess the readiness of FBI field offices to prevent terrorist attacks in the USA. Through extensive research, real-world application, and collaboration with Dale Watson, the former assistant director of the FBI, and Professor McWeeney, author Mark Harrington has modified this method with the express goal of reducing instances of school violence. Opening chapters share Dr. Harrington's experiences in the field and introduce the self-assessment tool. They underscore the importance for schools and organizations to be well prepared to respond not only to high-risk/high-consequence situations but also low-risk/high-consequence situations. The book shares key data from FBI reports regarding pre-attack behaviors of active shooters. Additional chapters outline the attributes of a successful self-assessment program and how to reimagine and rework security measures, including law enforcement/security presence, exercises and drills, surveillance, and more. The text walks readers through the criteria for an effective self-assessment approach: intelligence, mental health services, administrative support, training, and crisis plan considerations. They learn how gangs in schools and neighborhood ties can influence safety and security on school campuses. Throughout, true stories from the field demonstrate the need for the model and its application, and statistics, charts, and graphs provide necessary research to bolster action and understanding.
Lloyd Sachikonye traces the roots of Zimbabwe's contemporary violence to the actions of the Rhodesian armed forces, and the inter-party conflicts that occurred during the liberation war. His focus, however, is the period since 2000, which has seen state-sponsored violence erupting in election campaigns and throughout the programme of fast-track land reform. The consequences of this violence run wide and deep. Aside from inflicting trauma and fear on its victims, the impunity enjoyed by its perpetrators has helped to mould a culture within which personal freedoms and dreams are strangled. At a broader social level, it is responsible - both directly and indirectly - for millions of Zimbabweans voting with their feet and heading for the diaspora. Such a migration 'cannot simply be explained in terms of the search for greener economic pastures. Escape from authoritarianism, violence, trauma and fear is a large factor behind the exodus.' Sachikonye concludes that any future quest for justice and reconciliation will depend on the country facing up to the truth about the violence and hatred that have infected its past and present.
We had been there for over 12 hours. The man was still 30 feet up a tree, balancing on a branch directly over one of the main railway lines out of one of the busiest train stations in the country. He refused to talk to us, threatening to jump if we came too close. To him, we were the enemy. My job was to preserve his life. The most dangerous time in any negotiation is when you think you’re winning. From kidnappings to terrorist incidents, violent armed stand-offs to talking someone back from the ledge: all these make up the day-to-day life of Nicky Perfect’s job as a crisis and hostage negotiator. One of the first on the scene in situations that most would run from, Nicky is deployed to defuse the most volatile and fraught situations imaginable. After a decade on the frontlines, confronting the extremes of human behaviour, these are the stories and cases that have shaped a career spent on high alert, where life often hangs in the balance. It’s about finding yourself and following your passion, and of a life lived to help others.
In Conflict and Human Security Threats in Africa, South African scholar Victor Ojakorotu unravels the dynamics of conflicts and human security threats now affecting numerous African nations. While some of these conflicts are local, others are national and international. This current and highly engaging study captures multiple cases of insecurity, presenting discussions of terrorism, kidnapping, militia activities, human trafficking, political violence, teenage pregnancy, civil war, and armed conflicts, as well as strategies for their future management. Ojakorotu documents a philosophical assessment of African politics as well as the place of the "new" media in the politics of human security and the development of an African worldview in the post-modern intellectual arena. This book is a must-read for all students of African and global politics, as well as policy makers and diplomats working with Africa, which will soon be home to more than three billion people and a center of global growth.
This is an examination of how embassies work and cope during wartime, with a focus on the experiences of the British, American, and Indian embassies. During wartime, embassies assume different roles and face various situations. An embassy might represent a belligerent state while being situated in an enemy, an allied, or a neutral state. Conversely, it might represent a neutral state, while having to function in a belligerent state. How does an embassy's situation affect its priorities? How does it affect its staff and mission? The work and risks they face may vary greatly, but embassies play a key role in war, a time when they are required to give higher priority to military and political intelligence while facing daily risks of attacks and managing media and high-ranking visitors. "Embassies in Armed Conflict" examines these issues and the problems wartime embassies encounter by looking primarily at the experiences of American, British, and Indian embassies. Written by a leading expert, the book aims to both examine the role of wartime embassies and to provide guidance for those who serve - or wish to serve - in the Foreign Service. The volumes in the series are relatively short handbooks aimed at beginning practitioners and advanced university students. The volumes highlight the ways foreign policy is implemented through the apparatus of diplomacy, the diplomatic system, and diplomats and will discuss: specific aspects of diplomacy, such as the concept of diplomatic relations, the consequences of cutting off diplomatic relations, diplomatic immunity, etc., and key diplomatic activities and events, such as an international crisis, or a summit meeting. Such books will focus on the conduct of diplomacy rather than its politics. The focus will be on the contemporary practice of diplomacy, not on foreign policy or the theoretical direction of diplomacy.
Cowell-Meyers examines the continued sectarian conflict on the island of Ireland from a comparative and historical framework. Analyzing the process through which sectarian conflict was managed on the continent, she identifies the unique evolution of the Irish situation. Whereas European Catholics, such as those in the new Germany, developed an institutional pillar to defend themselves and protect their interests in the modern plural state, Irish Catholics developed a radical nationalist movement in the same period at the end of the 19th century. As elements of the British political system pushed the Irish Catholic mobilization toward more separatist goals and means, they thwarted the process of accommodation seen in other European settings. The shape and dynamics of Catholic mobilization in the last three decades of the 19th century set Catholics and Protestants on a path toward the management of sectarian conflict in Germany and continental Europe and toward the perpetuation of conflict in Ireland. Much like conflict resolution literature, as well as liberal and pluralist theory mischaracterizes the role of exclusive voluntary associations in the amelioration of conflict, Cowell-Meyers asserts that voluntary organizations, if they are encouraged to do so as they were in continental Europe in the late 19th century, can provide the channels through which intense conflicts are managed. Although exclusive mobilizations reinforce social cleavages, careful handling may make them constructive political formations that allow for the channeling of differences. Of particular interest to scholars, students, and other researchers involved with peace and conflict resolution, religion and politics, and the history of modern Ireland and Germany. |
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