Decades Of War Research Articles

Analysis of Challenges and Opportunities for Improving the Health System in Afghanistan: Innovative Approaches and Sustainable Solutions

This research explores the challenges and opportunities for improving the health system in Afghanistan. The healthcare system is critical to any country's social and economic development. Equitable and comprehensive access to health and medical services is vital for public health and plays a critical role in improving quality of life, reducing poverty, and enhancing workforce productivity. Afghanistan, a country that has experienced decades of war, political instability, and economic crises, faces significant challenges in healthcare. The main objective is to identify the significant issues within the healthcare system and propose sustainable solutions to enhance the quality of health services. Using a mixed-method approach (qualitative and quantitative), data were collected through semi-structured interviews with experts and a review of credible scientific sources. The findings indicate that a lack of healthcare infrastructure, a shortage of specialized human resources, and management issues are among the primary challenges facing Afghanistan's healthcare system. Additionally, opportunities such as international support and utilizing modern technologies in healthcare have been identified. The study concludes that investment in infrastructure, human resource training, and strengthening international collaborations are essential to improve the healthcare situation in Afghanistan.

The evolution of inequality in Mozambique 1996/97–2019/20

ABSTRACT After decades of war, Mozambique experienced sustained economic growth and poverty reduction from the mid-1990s. However, these positive dynamics started to revert from 2015. Meanwhile, inequality stagnated in the period 1996/97–2008/09, before markedly increasing afterwards. In this study, we analyse some of the most relevant indicators of inequality for Mozambique and their trends over the last 25 years. Using real per capita consumption as the main welfare aggregate, we look at various indicators of inequality, including the consumption distribution, percentiles and percentile ratios, growth incidence curves, Lorenz curves, and Gini indices. In addition, we discuss spatial inequality. Overall, we find that until 2014/15, consumption increased for the whole population, but it did so much more for richer households; conversely, in the last few years, consumption has reduced across the distribution, but the relative consumption-gap between better- and worse-off people has continued to increase.

Sudan's catastrophe: the role of changing dynamics of food and power in the Gezira agricultural scheme.

This article explores the role of historical, political, and economic processes in understanding war and famine in Sudan after 2023. The focus is on Al-Gezira, the site of Sudan's largest agricultural scheme. Using ethnography, interviews, and document reviews, the study analyses the Gezira irrigation project in three phases. First, the 1980s and 1990s, when patronage politics dominated its management. Second, the neoliberal strategies of the Gezira Scheme Act of 2005, which enabled Islamist profiteering while increasing vulnerability among farmers and labourers and tensions between them. Third, post 2018, when political movements used evidence of the scheme's deterioration to call for revolution, but once achieved, previous tensions grew and have been manipulated during the war. Sudan provides an example of how decades of war and neoliberal economic strategies have led to a deeply-rooted, violent, and extractive political economy. This has been to the benefit of business and elites, leaving many to a life of precarity, exploitation, and hunger.

Regulation of health professions education and the growth of schools in Somalia.

Health professions education, encompassing training programs for medicine and surgery, nursing, midwifery, medical laboratory sciences,, and public health, along with their regulations, are pivotal to achieving universal health coverage and Sustainable Development Goals, contributing significantly to health outcomes and public trust in the healthcare workforce. However, low- and middle-income countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, face challenges, such as inadequate resources, outdated curricula, and weak governance. Somalia in particular grapples with a fragmented health system and a critical shortage of skilled health professionals, exacerbated by decades of civil war and political instability. This study employed a mixed-method approach that incorporated both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. A comprehensive literature review was conducted along with semi-structured interviews with 44 key informants, including representatives from professional health schools and officials from the Ministry of Health. Additionally, five focus group discussions were held with young professionals and an online survey was administered to students enrolled in professional health courses. The data analysis employed descriptive for quantitative data, and thematic analysis for qualitative data, guided by the human resources for health (HRH) maturity model framework. This study identified 112 health professions schools across Somalia, with a significant concentration in urban areas, particularly in Benadir. The health workforce analysis revealed a pronounced urban-rural disparity and a density of health professionals below the WHO's recommended threshold. The focus group discussions and surveys highlighted the employment challenges faced by young physicians and students' perceptions of their training and future employment opportunities. The proliferation of health professions schools without adequate quality control, the critical shortage and maldistribution of skilled health professionals, and the absence of a comprehensive regulatory framework are significant challenges facing Somalia's healthcare system. The establishment of the National Health Professionals' Council (NHPC) Act in 2020 marks a step towards addressing these issues. This study emphasizes the need for accreditation of health professions schools, capacity building of HRH teams, and collaboration among stakeholders to improve healthcare workforce development and regulation. Addressing urban-rural disparities and combating professional misconduct are also crucial for achieving universal health coverage and improving health outcomes in Somalia.

Defend the Nation, Crush the People: Desertion and Civil War in Greek Macedonia, 1916–17

ABSTRACT The creation of compact nation-states out of multi-ethnic empires in the Balkans was accompanied by bouts of ethnic cleansing. Critical histories of the emergence of the modern Balkan states have consequently tended to focus on ethnic violence. However, state violence often targeted the ‘dominant’ ethnic group as well, as its centralizing and modernizing agenda put it at loggerheads with traditional sources power and autonomy. Conscription was perhaps the most important dimension of state-building, as it sought to buttress the state’s military machine, all while demanding significant coercive power to register, draft, and discipline young men. Conscription thus came up against intense popular resistance, especially in the decade of total war of the 1910s. In Greece, this spiralled into episodes of virtual civil war. This article focuses on resistance to the draft during the first recruitment drive of the National Defence Government in Greek Macedonia, with special emphasis on the Chalkidiki revolt of 1916–17. It uses this case study to explore broader trends about the formation of the modern Balkan nation-states.

Profile of human rights defenders in the Maghreb: the case of the Tunisian human rights league

ABSTRACT Since the 1980s, human rights activists have constituted political agenda-setting groups in the Maghreb countries, mainly following the international turn towards human rights in the post-Cold War decades. Despite this fact, only scarce attention has been paid to their social and professional background. The article explores this topic and provides hitherto unpublished data about the first generation of human rights activists in Tunisia, in particular the members of the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH). Its members were a product of post-colonial Tunisia’s investment in (higher) education, teachers and professors, white-collar public servants, lawyers, doctors and journalists. They formed a committed, intellectual elite concerned with relationship between the state and citizens, seeking to influence public policies, carve out public, independent political spaces and get a share in the management of state affairs. Factual evidence surrounding human rights activists in Morocco and Algeria suggests they shared the same characteristics as LTDH members. Given the human rights situation in the Maghreb countries, the article suggests more research should be done about how human rights activists could more effectively link-up up with moral activism of social–professional groups that are absent from the human rights organisations.

Exploring the Legal Approach of the Islamic Emirate towards Child Labor in Afghanistan

Children’s rights are one of the most sensitive aspects of human rights, which are emphasized in all religious and legal values. Children need the attention of the international community and the government for their growth and development. One of the violations of children’s rights is the issue of their work, which has existed for a long time, and child labor is consistently struggling with numerous challenges in Afghanistan, although throughout all the governmental periods, numerous promises have been made to guarantee the rights of child laborers to both the UN and the people of Afghanistan, but they have failed to fulfill them. Difficult circumstances compel children to do arduous deeds that have irreparable consequences for them. Considering the importance of children's rights in Afghanistan, which have been dominated by decades of war and economic poverty, with the formation of the new Islamic Emirate government, the question arises: what is the current legal approach of the Islamic Emirate system to child labor? Apparently, the current approach of the Islamic Emirate system towards child labor includes actions to protect children’s right, but there is no specific law regarding child labor. The aim of the study is to examine the current approach of the Afghan legal system to child labor. The research method is library-method, utilizing tools such as books, scientific and research articles, sharia, and social reports. Research findings indicate that the Islamic Emirate system is currently attempting to align issues related to child labor with the principles of Sharia law. However, formal and specific laws in this regard are not yet being enforced, and the life of child labor in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly dire day by day, leading to the persistence of vulnerabilities associated with child labor.

Touring Communist Poland: British Defence Attachés in Search of Secrets, 1980–1987

This article explores problems of collecting intelligence in Poland by British defence attachés. In the 1980s, the last decade of the Cold War, tours of Poland by the British defence attaché staff turned out to be an essential method of collecting military intelligence about the Polish Army and Soviet forces in Poland. Annual reports of British attachés in Warsaw were declassified for every year of the 1980s except 1988 and 1989. Most of their content was made available, with the exception of some parts related to equipment and coordination of tours with North Atlantic Treaty Organization partners. The reports provided a detailed picture of the British Section’s knowledge about the Polish armed forces whose military capabilities it sought to assess.

In the Name of National Security: Press Censorship in Cold War Australia

Though little known, a system of voluntary press censorship based on the British D Notice system operated in Australia during the Cold War. The Australian D Notice system, while successful in the early decades of the Cold War, became increasingly contested throughout the 1970s before apparently falling into disuse in the 1980s. The belief that Australia’s D Notice system simply decayed through lack of use is generally accepted by scholars; however, this explanation does not sufficiently convey the complexity behind the breakdown of the system. The system relies heavily on trust and requires a degree of transparency between governments and the press. This article makes the case that a broadening of the definition of national security combined with the simultaneous growth of both investigative journalism and the perception of increased government secrecy was the ultimate cause of the failure of the D Notice system in Australia.

Covering the ‘Scottish position adequately’: Planning Civil Defence in Post-war Scotland, 1948–59

Abstract This article brings together the histories of post-war Scottish policymaking, local civil defence governance, and the British security state in the first decade of the Cold War, 1948–59. The article addresses three themes: organizational responsibility, evacuation and shelter, and nuclear radiation to show that Scottish cultural, social, and political contexts were distinct from the English precedents set by Whitehall. In the context of developing Cold War security measures, and regional differences, the article argues that Scottish policy-makers negotiated independence over early civil defence planning, while exercising a conciliatory relationship with the central government. Issues raised around regionality posed important questions in Whitehall about the implementation of nuclear era civil defence nationwide. In assessing how this occurred the article augments the debate around Scottish autonomy and administrative distinction in the post-war era and makes a wider contribution to understandings of civil defence cultures in Britain’s Cold War. While studies of civil defence have provided important context to the history of the British Cold War state, local responses to such policy have not been adequately interrogated. This study shows that civil defence is not only an invaluable window onto local government perceptions of Cold War policy but is also a lens onto regional expressions of Second World War memory, post-war recovery, political power, and social organization.

"The War came to me... ": 1939-1941 in the memories of former Soviet prisoners of war decades later

"The War came to me... ": 1939-1941 in the memories of former Soviet prisoners of war decades later

Hydrogeological Investigations of Paghman Valleys in Kabul, Afghanistan

Paghman valleys are located at the foothills of the Hindu Kush Mountain range (Afghanistan) and consist of dissimilar kinds of valleys with different rocks and sediments. Valleys in this region consist of several types of streams which are clean, due to their filtration at the valley beds. Water resources, such as streams, springs, and rivers are used for drinking, irrigation, and other general-purpose usages. Due to years of regional conflict, the general water infrastructure needs to be upgraded, however since people need water for their day-to-day activities, it is necessary to characterize various sources of water to ensure their safety. Thus, this study aims to estimate the petrographic characteristics of the Paghman valleys and predict the resource suitability of the region through certain analyses: petrographic, gravel, and sieving analysis. The study is important since no such studies exist on this subject for this region, because of decades of war and much work remains to be done due to an ever-increasing population accompanied by air pollution which may affect the water resources of the region and thus causing health problems for people. The results provided through this investigation provide some preliminary quantification of heavy and light minerals, mechanical analysis, pH determination, electrical conductivity, and Cation and Anion concentrations of heavy and light minerals in water. Furthermore, as the regional population is steadily increasing, the authors highlight policy recommendations for a range of mitigation measures for the relevant authorities to keep water and soil quality within a safe range.

Management of rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis in conflict-affected areas: The case of Iraq.

Since December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) has encouraged National Tuberculosis Programs to deprioritize the use of injectable-containing regimens and roll-out all-oral bedaquiline-containing regimens for rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (RR-TB) treatment. Consequently, Iraq gradually replaced the injectable-containing regimen with an all-oral regimen, including bedaquiline. To assess treatment enrolment and outcomes of both regimens during a transitioning phase in Iraq, where health system services are recovering from decades of war, we conducted a nationwide retrospective cohort study using routinely collected programmatic data for patients enrolled between 2019-2021. We describe treatment enrolment and use logistic regression to identify predictors of unfavorable treatment outcomes (failure, death, or lost to follow-up), including regimen type. Nationwide, a total of 301 RR-TB patients started treatment, of whom 167 concluded treatment. The proportion of patients enrolled on the all-oral regimen increased from 53.2% (50/94) in 2020, to 75.5% (80/106) in 2021. Successful treatment was achieved in 82.1% (32/39) and 63.3% (81/128), for all-oral and injectable-containing regimens respectively. Moreover, the proportion of lost to follow-up was lower among those treated with the all-oral versus the long injectable-containing regimen; respectively 2.6% (1/39) versus 17.9% (23/128: p = 0.02). Unfavorable treatment outcome was associated with male gender (aOR 2.12, 95%CI:1.02-4.43) and age <15 years (vs 30-49 years, aOR 5.80, 95%CI:1.30-25.86). Regimen type (aOR 2.37, 95%CI: 0.91-6.13) was not significantly associated with having an unfavorable treatment outcome. In Iraq, the use of bedaquiline-containing all-oral regimen resulted in a high treatment success and reduced lost to follow-up.

Profili and González Robles: Biennial Events and Exhibitions between Friendship and Geopolitics

Drawing on archival correspondence, this paper analyzes the relationship between Luis González Robles, Franco’s curator responsible for international displays of Spanish art, and Arturo Profili, the general secretary of the first five editions of the São Paulo Biennial until the late 1950s. Exploring this micro-history of rapprochement, the paper shows how these figures influenced the turbulent scene of cultural negotiations during the first decades of the Cold War, and it lays bare the political bias underpinning the decision of the prizes of the São Paulo and Venice Biennials. This study explores the balance that was achieved through the triangulation of three territories—Latin America, Europe, and the US—reified at the biennials of São Paulo and Venice, and the Spanish art exhibitions held in the United States.

Nezavisnost, nesvrstanost, socijalizam: osnove jugoslovensko-burmanskog partnerstva u Hladnom ratu

This article deals with the analysis of the fundamental factors that contributed to the establishment of an extremely close Yugoslav-Burmese partnership during the first decades of the Cold War, a relationship which had a significant impact on shaping global non-alignment at the time. After gaining independence from colonial rule in Burma’s case or expulsion from one of the blocs in Yugoslav case, the strong desire of both countries to assume a position outside the direct control of the great powers and their efforts to establish an authentic socio-political system at home had a decisive influence, not only on the character of bilateral relations, but also on the strivings of the post-colonial and non-bloc worlds to find their own path in the world arena.

The Contribution of Czechoslovakia to Creation of the Independent State of Israel

This article examines the diplomatic relations between Czechoslovakia and the Zionist movement during the late 1940s in regard to Czechoslovakia's contribution to the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948. The support provided by Czechoslovakia, both diplomatically and militarily, played a pivotal role in the formation of an independent Jewish state. Notably, this assistance continued even after Czechoslovakia underwent a political regime change following the communist coup d'état in February 1948. The article aims to unravel the reasons behind this exceptional cooperation between two seemingly distant actors, both geographically and ideologically. Drawing upon recently disclosed archival collections from the relevant Czech archives and providing the insight to the foreign policy of a Soviet satellite, this research aligns with the historiographic paradigm known as the New Cold War History. By focusing on the contributions of satellite states to Cold War history, it sheds light on Czechoslovakia's significant role in shaping the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East in late 1940s. Even though it might have been a somewhat marginalized story in the later decades of the Cold War due to the affiliation of the two countries with opposite ideological blocs, the history of Czechoslovakia's contribution to the creation of the State of Israel is now recognized as one of the significant narratives in the mutual relations between the two states, demonstrating the importance of past-present linkages.

Mental health and access to care in the Montagnard migrant community: Examining perspectives across four generations in North Carolina

Background The Montagnards are a diverse group of indigenous tribes from the Central Highlands of Vietnam. With thousands now resettled in the United States, Montagnard migrant communities face unique mental health challenges stemming from decades of trauma, war, and persecution. Research has demonstrated that health challenges facing migrant communities are often compounded by sociocultural, political, and economic factors associated with resettlement, and by a lack of access to health care. Methods In this qualitative study, framework analysis was used to assess mental health care access across multiple generations of Montagnards in North Carolina. Semi-structured interviews and mental health screenings were conducted with twenty-six participants. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using Dedoose software. Results The results show that some Montagnards, especially elders, have an understanding of emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing that differs from the standard concept of “mental health” as defined by the CDC. Pervasive negative beliefs about mental illness, alongside cultural values of strength and family reputation, lead some Montagnards to avoid discussing mental health publicly. Barriers such as the cost of treatment and challenges with communication and language limit access to care and disproportionately affect older community members. However, only younger Montagnards showed symptoms of mental illness on the diagnostic screenings. Conclusions Montagnard migrant communities in North Carolina do not have adequate access to mental health care. Community-based interventions are needed to improve mental, emotional, and social wellbeing, increase access to care, and provide culturally-responsive support to Montagnards.

Patriarcat, califat et réseaux : le moment Ḥarrān au cœur de l’Empire (126/744-140/758)

Abstract This paper offers a cross-analysis of Syriac and Arabic sources related to the Jazīra, the northern province of the caliphate, during the second/eighth century. Specifically, it delves into what the author refers to as the “Ḥarrān moment”. It pertains to the period when this regional town was turned to the last capital of the Umayyads, and immediately to the centre of the provincial government of the future caliph al-Manṣūr, prior to his ascent to power in 754-755 CE. The study views the Abbasid revolution as part of a single decade of civil war (fitna) (744-755) and emphasises the continuity between two dynasties, challenging the traditional historiographical divide of the “Abbasid revolution.” The “Ḥarrān moment” marked a significant shift in central political (and ecclesiastical) power from Umayyad Damascus to Abbasid Baghdad. Syriac sources underscore the centrality of the Jazīra and its capital, as well as the similarities in the political and military history before and after 132/750. Moreover, local ecclesiastical chronicles highlight how Ḥarrān became the centre of the Church at that time, partly by chance and partly due to geopolitical and geo-ecclesiological co-construction. It is argued that this results from a period when prelates and patriarchs became more courtiers, and both Marwān II and al-Manṣūr initiated a policy of affiliation of the Syrian Orthodox Church to the Caliphate, particularly through the issuance of diplomas (sigillions). This article demonstrates that the physical encounter of these two central powers, civil and ecclesiastical, in this strategic location during this critical time of interconnected political-military and ecclesiological turmoil and changes of the 740s-750s, is the key to understanding this process. The study specifically examines the similarities between monastic and tribal provincial and infra-provincial networks, which arise from the same political constraints, to explore the formation and crystallisation of parallel regional ecclesiastical and political blocks during the mid-eighth century CE.

Doing Business across the Iron Curtain: Trade and Financial Relations between the United Kingdom and Hungary, 1945–1956

Abstract This article explores economic relations between the United Kingdom and Hungary between 1944 and 1956. After the Second World War, the UK attempted to maintain some of its influence in Soviet-occupied Hungary by resuming trade relations with the country as early as 1946. Financial discussions around settling Hungary’s debts began a year later, but they ended abruptly in December 1949. British-Hungarian trade and financial talks resumed only in 1953, and a trade agreement was not signed until June 1956. In addition to providing an outline of British-Hungarian economic relations, this article also assesses the relationship between a relatively small country in the Soviet sphere of influence and the United Kingdom, as well as the role of economic diplomacy in East-West relations in the first decade of the Cold War.

The Fragility of Peace: Song China's Northwestern Frontier and Erosion of the Chanyuan Paradigm in the Mid-Eleventh Century

Abstract The Chanyuan Covenant of 1005 that ended decades of war between Song and Liao precipitated a new political model that, from the Song perspective, exchanged wealth, territory, and dynastic pride in return for peace along the northern frontier, civilian sovereignty over a long-dominant military class, and the replacement of a culture of arms with the love of books. That “Chanyuan Paradigm” survived the Qingli war of 1040–1044 with the Tangut Xi Xia, but was steadily overturned in the expansionist wars promoted by Shenzong and his sons from 1068 through the fall of the Northern Song in 1127. This article argues that the fragility of the Chanyuan-style peace did not stem from the aspirations of a revanchist emperor and his confidantes, but was rather the consequence of the intrinsic difficulties of maintaining peace in a world of new players, internecine political contests, and shifting geopolitical alliances that characterized the mid-eleventh century.