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Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Peace studies
This is the compelling story of a former Jesuit who traveled to Ireland in order to better understand the IRA, its widespread support among Irish Catholics, and the country's continuing civil unrest. Author Douglass McFerran, an American, made many key contacts in Northern Ireland, enabling him to gain unprecedented access to republican groups. He met with members of the Orange Lodge and the heavily armed Royal Ulster Constabulary; he had tea with leaders of Sinn Fein; and he participated in the annual Internment March on the streets of Belfast. In this book he provides a history of the conflict in Northern Ireland and goes beyond the propaganda on both sides to understand the causes of today's violence and explore what would be necessary to end it. McFerran wrote this book at the suggestion of individuals within the Irish republican community. During its writing he had the cooperation of several Sinn Fein leaders and past and present members of the IRA. McFerran came to believe that the violent situation in Northern Ireland can best be explained by considering the manner in which the English government, through genocide and civil repression, attempted to eliminate Irish resistance to English rule. The failure of the Anglo-Irish War to achieve a united Irish government brought on a republican movement with a political expression in Sinn Fein and a military expression in the guerrilla activities of the Irish Republican Army. The continued failure of the English government to negotiate with Irish nationalists can be attributed to a desire to maintain the political support of predominantly Protestant unionists, who since 1913 have pledged armed resistance to any effort to allow a Catholic-led government to rule over them.
No two figures could seem further removed than Mohandas K. Gandhi and Osama bin Laden. Gandhi advocated an inclusive religious perspective, and believed that the highest ideals in religion led to the path of absolute nonviolence. In contrast, Bin Laden has concocted a militant and exclusive interpretation of Islam, and tried to justify some of the most barbarous acts of terrorism witnessed at the turn of the century. Can both men be equally 'religious' figures? As leaders of movements of political protest, do they have any points of similarity? Moreover, how can the religious philosophy of nonviolence respond to its nemesis, which takes life so easily and casually? These and other important questions are explored in this work that examines the lives and ideas of Mohandas K. Gandhi and Osama bin Laden, as well as that of Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a refreshing, nonviolent representative of Islam.
This book examines expectations for justice in transitional societies and how stakeholder expectations are ignored, marginalized and co-opted by institutions in the wake of conflict. Focusing on institutions that have adopted international criminal trials, the authors encourage us to ask not only whether expectations are appropriate to institutions, but whether institutions are appropriate expectations. Drawing upon a wide variety of sources, this volume demonstrates that a profound 'expectation gap' - the gap between anticipated and likely outcomes of justice - exists in transitional justice systems and processes. This 'expectation gap' requires that the justice goals of local communities be managed accordingly. In proposing a perspective of enhanced engagement, the authors argue for greater compromise in the expectations, goals and design of transitional justice. This book will constitute an important and valuable resource for students of scholars of transitional justice as well as practitioners, particularly with regards to the design of transitional justice responses.
This book examines the practice of transitional justice in the Solomon Islands from the period of the 'The Tensions' to the present. In late 1998, the Solomon Islands were plunged into a period of violent civil conflict precipitated by a complex web of grievances, injustices, ethnic tensions, and economic insecurities. This conflict dragged on until the middle of 2003, leaving an estimated 200 people dead and more than 20 000 displaced from their homes. In the time that has elapsed since the end of The Tensions, numerous-at times incompatible-approaches to transitional justice have been implemented in the Solomon Islands. The contributors to this volume examine how key global trends and debates about transitional justice were played out in the Solomon Islands, how its key mechanisms were adapted to meet the specific demands of post-conflict justice in this local context, and how well its practices and processes fulfilled their perceived functions.
War, nuclear weapons, and terrorism are all major threats to US security, but a new set of emerging threats are challenging the current threat response apparatus and our ability to come up with creative and effective solutions. This book considers new, 'non-traditional' security issues such as: transnational organized crime, immigration and border security, cybersecurity, countering violent extremism and terrorism, environmental and energy security, as well as the rise of external actors. The work examines the major challenges and trends in security and explores the policy responses of the U.S. government. By using international relations theory as an analytical approach, Fonseca and Rosen present how these security threats have evolved over time.
Retaliation is associated with all forms of social and political organization, and retaliatory logics inform many different conflict resolution procedures from consensual settlement to compensation to violent escalations. This book derives a concept of retaliation from the overall notion of reciprocity, defining retaliation as the human disposition to strive for a reactive balancing of conflicts and injustices. On Retaliation presents a synthesized approach to both the violence-generating and violence-avoiding potentials of retaliation. Contributors to this volume touch upon the interaction between retaliation and violence, the state's monopoly on legitimate punishment and the factors of socio-political frameworks, religious interpretations and economic processes.
Does public opinion matter in international conflict resolution? Does national foreign policy remain independent of public opinion and the media? International Public Opinion and the Bosnia Crisis examines, through U.S., Canadian, and European case studies, how public reaction impacted democratic governments' response to the ethnic and religious conflict in Bosnia during the period from 1991-1997. Each case study offers an overview of the national media coverage and public reaction to the war in the former Yugoslavia and examines the links between public opinion and political and military intervention in Bosnia. The result is a comprehensive evaluation of the complex relationship between public opinion, media coverage, and foreign policy decision-making.
This book analyzes the implementation of Law 975 in Colombia, known as the Justice and Peace Law, and proposes a critical view of the transitional scenario in Colombia from 2005 onwards. The author analyzes three aspects of the law: 1) The process of negotiation with paramilitary groups; 2) The constitution of the Group Memoria Historica (Historic Memory) in Colombia and 3) The process of a 2007 law that was finally not passed. The book contains interviews with key actors in the justice and peace process in Colombia. The author analyses the contradictions, tensions, ambiguities and paradoxes that define the practices of such actors. This book highlights that a critical view of this kind of transitional scenario is indispensable to determine steps towards a just and peaceful society.
Bidisha Biswas explores the question of how a democratic state chooses between policies of coercion and accommodation when dealing with political violence by addressing an important, yet under examined, topic-India' approach to internal conflicts. In Managing Conflicts in India, Biswas selects three cases of conflict: the separatist campaign in Punjab during the 1980s; the protracted insurgency in Kashmir; and attacks on the Indian state by left-wing extremists, also known as Maoists and Naxalites, a campaign that has existed in different forms since the 1960s. Using archival research and fieldwork, Biswas shows that the Indian state has chosen a mix of tactics in dealing with these insurgencies. She argues that the government's responses have often been dictated by immediate political concerns, rather than a strategic vision. While the integrity of the Indian state remains intact, its democratic quality and credibility have been seriously compromised. By focusing on the choices-and missteps-that the Indian government has made, Biswas sheds light not only on the insurgencies themselves, but also on the overall processes that impact effective conflict management. For recent author events, follow these links: http://carnegieendowment.org/2014/06/16/managing-conflicts-in-india-policies-of-coercion-and-accommodation/hcui http://www.start.umd.edu/events/book-talk-managing-conflicts-india-policies-coercion-and-accommodation
In political science, war is generally considered the most traumatic event a nation faces, often posing threats to a nation's very existence. The challenge of surviving the war may, therefore, prove central to the life of a nation. However, national resilience during war has not yet been fully investigated. National Resilience during War: Refining the Decision-Making Model, by Eyal Lewin, searches for the mechanisms of national resilience through a deep inquiry into nine different case studies taken from the scenery of World War II. Following a multi-disciplinary attitude, a business management model is adopted (the PEST and SWOT model) and political, economic, social, and military-technological factors are analyzed for each of the case studies. The result is a comprehensive political decision-making model on a national level that can serve as a means for leaders to navigate successfully in geopolitical turbulence as well as for social scientists to better understand the defeats that different countries suffer and the victories that others demonstrate. This research, however, goes further by refining the model and pointing to the exact combination of factors that are crucial for a nation's ability to win its wars. Using a qualitative comparative analysis technique, the exact combination is traced. The results emphasize that the winning scheme blends political and social factors together: leadership, positive psychology and an inspiring national ethos prove to be a necessary, though not a sufficient, conditional combination for success. National Resilience during War fills a significant gap in the literature on the politics of war.
Rereading Marx, Weber, Gramsci and, more recently, Foucault, Beatrice Hibou tackles one of the core questions of political and social theory: state domination. Combining comparative analyses of everyday life and economics, she highlights the arrangements, understandings and practices that make domination conceivable, bearable, even acceptable or reassuring. To carry out this demonstration, Hibou examines authoritarian situations-especially comparing the paradigmatic European cases of fascism, Nazism and Soviet socialism and those of contemporary China or North and Sub-Saharan Africa.
This book describes the problems of intelligence sharing among peacekeeping partners, mainly due to security concerns and a lack of policies and resources. The study posits that the current emphasis on violent extremism as a driver of conflict is misplaced, as TOC is a more pervasive cause, creating and exacerbating instability to increase its markets and capabilities and is an essential funding stream for violent extremists. The book identifies approaches to future missions emphasizing training and resourcing for analysts in the field.
The civil war that has intermittently raged in the Sudan since independence in 1956 is, according to Francis Deng, a conflict of contrasting and seemingly incompatible identities in the Northern and Southern parts of the country. Identity is seen as a function of how people identify themselves and are identified in racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious terms. The identity question related to how such concepts determine or influence participation and distribution in the political, economic, social, and cultural life of the country. War of Visions aims at shedding light on the anomalies of the identity conflict. The competing models in the Sudan are the Arab-Islamic mold of the North, representing two-thirds of the country in territory and population, and the remaining Southern third, which is indigenously African in race, ethnicity, culture, and religion, with an educated Christianized elite. But although the North is popularly defined as racially Arab, the people are a hybrid of Arab and African elements, with the African physical characteristics predominating in most tribal groups. This configuration is the result of a historical process that stratified races, cultures, and religions, and fostered a "passing" into the Arab-Islamic mold that discriminated against the African race and cultures. The outcome of this process is a polarization that is based more on myth than on the realities of the situation. The identity crisis has been further complicated by the fact that Northerners want to fashion the country on the basis of their Arab- Islamic identity, while the South is decidedly resistant. Francis Deng presents three alternative approaches to the identity crisis. First, he argues that by bringing to the surface the realities of the African elements of identity in the North-- thereby revealing characteristics shared by all Sudanese--a new basis for the creation of a common identity could be established that fosters equitable participation and distribution. Second, if the issues that divide prove insurmountable, Deng argues for a framework of diversified coexistence within a loose federal or confederate arrangement. Third, he concludes that partitioning the country along justified borders may be the only remaining option to end the devastating conflict.
The book makes theoretical and empirical contributions to recent debates on hybrid forms of peace and 'post-liberal' peace. In applying concepts of power, hybridity and resistance, and providing different kinds of hybridity and resistance to explore post-conflict peacebuilding in Sierra Leone, the author makes an original contribution to existing literature by providing various ways in which power can be exercised not just between locals and internationals, but also among locals themselves and the nature of peace that is produced. This volume provides various ways in which hybridity and resistance can be manifested. A more rigorous development of these concepts not only offers a better understanding of the nature of these concepts, but also helps us to distinguish forms of hybridity and resistance that are emancipatory or transformatory from those that result in people accommodating themselves to their situation. This book is an invaluable resource for scholars and students of peacebuilding, peace and conflict studies, International Relations and African Studies, and practitioners of peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction.
This volume investigates the nature and changing roles of the non-state armed groups in the Middle East with a special focus on Kurdish, Shia and Islamic State groups. To understand the nature of transformation in the Middle Eastern geopolitical space, it provides new empirical and analytical insights into the impact of three prominent actors, namely ISIS, YPG and Shia Militias. With its distinctive detailed and multi-faceted analyses, it offers new findings on the changing contours of sovereignty, geopolitics and ideology, particularly after the Arab Uprisings. Overall this volume contributes to the study of violent geopolitics, critical security studies and international relations particularly by exploring the ideologies and strategies of the new non-state armed actors.
Does public opinion matter in international conflict resolution? Does national foreign policy remain independent of public opinion and the media? International Public Opinion and the Bosnia Crisis examines, through U.S., Canadian, and European case studies, how public reaction impacted democratic governments' response to the ethnic and religious conflict in Bosnia during the period from 1991-1997. Each case study offers an overview of the national media coverage and public reaction to the war in the former Yugoslavia and examines the links between public opinion and political and military intervention in Bosnia. The result is a comprehensive evaluation of the complex relationship between public opinion, media coverage, and foreign policy decision-making.
This groundbreaking book investigates the religious issues that businesses confront as they expand their global activity and proposes that corporations can become instruments of peace. Timothy Fort discusses the newly emerging idea of "peace through commerce," and he argues powerfully that today's businesses have the capacity to foster both peace and religious harmony. Fort asks and answers important questions: How might businesses integrate spirituality into corporate affairs? How can spirituality contribute to the production of high-quality goods and services? What can be done to promote a spiritual connection between employees and their work? Can this be done without provoking religious animosities? What business practices might encourage an atmosphere in which constructive dialogue among spiritual traditions could proceed? The author concludes that by implementing the peaceful practices advocated by religions at their best, businesses can both nurture religious harmony and strengthen their communities.
In this edited collection diplomats, academic researchers, and journalists survey modern Russian-Japanese relations. An attempt is made to go back to the origins of the conflict in their relations, to analyze their current status, and to propose an agenda for the future. The authors argue that the problems Moscow and Tokyo inherited from the decades of the Cold War cannot be resolved through a narrow bilateral approach and will require constructure U.S. participation. The problem of the Northern Territories is examined in the context of the North Pacific regional security environment. The authors explore the prospects for cooperative regional engagement, a nuclear build-down in the North Pacific, and possible involvement of the UN in the resolution of the territorial dispute. The dissolution of the Soviet Union raised hopes for a rapid improvement of Japanese-Russian relations. This is important to both global and regional stability, peace, and security in Northeast Asia, and to Russia's transition to new relations with the West. Both Russia and Japan are in the process of domestic change and have weak political leadership. Yeltsin's visit to Tokyo in October 1993 was a cause for relief and for hope as the two nations discussed their common concerns. However, the Northern Territories remains a serious obstacle to improved relations. In this book an attempt is made to go back to the origins of the conflict in Japan-Russia relations, to discuss their current status, and to propose an agenda for the future. There was a broad consensus among the diplomats, academic researchers, political analysts, and journalists whose writings are part of this collection. First, the problems Moscow and Tokyo inherited from the decades of Cold War cannot be resolved through a narrow bilateral approach and will require constructive U.S. participation. Second, the interconnection between bilateral, regional, and global trends created a new context for Moscow-Tokyo dialogue and cooperation. Third, the problem of the Northern Territories cannot be separated from the realities of the North Pacific regional security environment, which is still under the residual influence of the Cold War. The authors explore the prospects for cooperative regional engagement, a nuclear build-down in the North Pacific, and possible involvement of the UN in the resolution of the territorial dispute. Among the problems that require immediate attention, the writers focus on defense conversion, and dismantlement and disposing of nuclear weapons, and prospects for trilateral partnership that will serve the purpose of multilateral cooperation in the North Pacific/Northeast Asian region.
In the wake of massive injustice, how can justice be achieved and peace restored? Is it possible to find a universal standard that will work for people of diverse and often conflicting religious, cultural, and philosophical backgrounds? In Just and Unjust Peace, Daniel Philpott offers an innovative and hopeful response to these questions. He challenges the approach to peace-building that dominates the United Nations, western governments, and the human rights community. While he shares their commitments to human rights and democracy, Philpott argues that these values alone cannot redress the wounds caused by war, genocide, and dictatorship. Both justice and the effective restoration of political order call for a more holistic, restorative approach. Philpott answers that call by proposing a form of political reconciliation that is deeply rooted in three religious traditions--Christianity, Islam, and Judaism--as well as the restorative justice movement. These traditions offer the fullest expressions of the core concepts of justice, mercy, and peace.By adapting these ancient concepts to modern constitutional democracy and international norms, Philpott crafts an ethic that has widespread appeal and offers real hope for the restoration of justice in fractured communities. From the roots of these traditions, Philpott develops six practices--building just institutions and relations between states, acknowledgment, reparations, restorative punishment, apology and, most important, forgiveness--which he then applies to real cases, identifying how each practice redresses a unique set of wounds. Focusing on places as varied as Bosnia, Iraq, South Africa, Germany, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste, Chile and many others--and drawing upon the actual experience of victims and perpetrators--Just and Unjust Peace offers a fresh approach to the age-old problem of restoring justice in the aftermath of widespread injustice.
This book challenges the conventional wisdom that civil war inevitably stymies economic development and that 'civil war represents development in reverse'. While some civil wars may have adverse economic effects, Civil War and Uncivil Development posits that not all conflicts have negative economic consequences and, under certain conditions, civil war violence can bolster processes of economic development. Using Colombia as a case study, this book provides evidence that violence perpetrated by key actors of the conflict - the public armed forces and paramilitaries - has facilitated economic growth and processes of economic globalisation in Colombia (namely, international trade and foreign direct investment), with profoundly negative consequences for large swathes of civilians. The analysis also discusses the 'development in reverse' logic in the context of other conflicts across the globe. This book will be an invaluable resource for scholars, practitioners and students in the fields of security and development, civil war studies, peace studies, the political economy of conflict and international relations.
The book revisits Gandhi in this era of turbulence. As rigidly held notions and practices fall to pieces, and as mechanisms of violence and politicking fail, Gandhi comes to picture. If Gandhi could change the course of history, there must be elements in his thought and action, which need re-examination for the benefit of human society. This collection of essays seeks to address the question: Is it possible to generate Gandhian optimism and faith in truth and nonviolence in the contemporary world? It argues that there is a need for sustained efforts to make an in-depth study of Gandhian principles to address global problems. The book is a useful addition to the literature in political science and international relations, economics, history, sociology, conflict and peace studies, and a guide for the advocates of peaceful means of conflict resolution.
This book examines the remaking of women's citizenship in the aftermath of conflict and international intervention. It develops a feminist critique of consociationalism as the dominant model of post-conflict governance by tracking the gendered implications of the Dayton Peace Agreement. It illustrates how the legitimisation of ethnonationalist power enabled by the agreement has reduced citizenship to an all-encompassing logic of ethnonational belonging and implicitly reproduced its attendant patriarchal gender order. Foregrounding women's diverse experiences, the book reveals gendered ramifications produced at the intersection of conflict, ethno-nationalism and international peacebuilding. Deploying a multidimensional feminist approach centred around women's narratives of belonging, exclusion, and agency, this book offers a critical interrogation of the promises of peace and explores individual/collective efforts to re-imagine citizenship. |
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