North-South Conflict Research Articles

The New World Order: Geopolitical Shifts in the Post-Cold War Era

The end of the Cold War marked a pivotal moment in global history, widely seen as the commencement of the "New World Order." The new world order in the post-cold war witnesses the decrease in the powers of classical states and their inter-states matters for restoring international peace, and emerging of other threats like religious militancy, ethnic conflicts, unfair economic competition, north-south conflict, terrorism, etc. This research presents a comprehensive analysis of the challenges, dynamics and potential of the post-Cold War era. This research aims to explore the complexities of “New World Order” in post-Cold War era in international relations through an examination of global political, economic, and socio-cultural transformations, to analyze the geopolitical landscape by focusing on the increasing involvement of non-state players during the post-Cold War era in reshaping economies, society, and conflict dynamics. The study utilizes qualitative research approach to conduct this study.

Realist, Naturalist, Impressionist Narrative Techniques and Themes in Crane’s the Red Badge of Courage

The distinguished American novelist Stephen Crane has been regarded as one of the pioneers of naturalism in American Novel. In his novel The Red Badge of Courage, naturalism occurs through the whole story, realism and impressionism also play an important part in his work. Cited for its fresh narrative style and naturalistic, realistic and impressionistic depictions of combat, the novel made him a celebrity. Naturalism sometimes depicts the relationship between individual and nature, focusing on the characters in their environment. Nature’s indifference to humanity’s fate is such naturalistic element explored in this novel. The reality of war is shown in its brutality, boredom and injustice. Crane carefully uses imagery that reflects the perspective and state of the protagonist. In this study, it is aimed to examine Stephen Crane’s novel as a non-traditional war narrative, where he reflects the inner experience of its protagonist, a soldier fleeing war from the perspectives of realism, naturalism and impressionism. In this thematic and descriptive study, text analysis was used and examples of naturalism, realism and impressionism were interpreted. In this work, which is close to the naturalness of daily language, the use of images and colour is important. The author has managed to convey the civil war in the most effective way, even though he did not live during the war years. This work, which reflects the American Civil War through the internal transformations experienced by the soldiers, provided a different perspective as well as general topics such as the north-south conflict.

Growing Apart: China and India at the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol

Abstract Developing countries are growing apart on environmental issues. International environmental negotiations are no longer characterized merely by the North–South conflict. Rising powers have come to divide the Global South and redefine the Common-But-Differentiated Responsibilities principle. This article explains the divergence of China and India at the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, one of the first global environmental agreements to differentiate obligations between developing countries. China and India, the world’s two largest hydrofluorocarbon producers, ended decades of collaboration and split the rest of the developing world behind them. I argue that developmental strategy and political institutions shape the preferences and influences of industrial, governmental, and social stakeholders, thereby explaining their negotiation behavior and outcome. This article explains why China moved faster and further than India on negotiations for hydrofluorocarbon regulation. It has important implications for the two rising powers’ implementation of the Kigali Amendment and for their position formulations on other environmental issues.

Reclaiming the politics of South-South cooperation

ABSTRACT Framed by the North–South conflict, this article conducts a historico-conceptual analysis of the politics of South-South cooperation (SSC) from a decolonial Global South perspective. Based on documentary analysis and a review of academic SSC literature, three distinct periods of SSC post-1945 are identified: Concertation (1945–1981); Containment (1981–1995); and Cooptation vs Confrontation (1995–present). This periodization complements previous endeavours of its kind, whereby the rationale here is that a historical understanding of SSC politics and neo-colonial/imperialist counter-politics is indispensable for emancipatory social praxis. With co-optation of SSC backed by coercion as the Global North’s contemporary tactic within the strategy of re-Westernisation, I argue for the Global South to reclaim SSC as a strategy to move from delinking as de-Westernisation towards delinking as decoloniality in the context of crisis of the capitalist world order.

Undefeated: John Wayne’s Confederate-Yankee Adventure in Mexico and the Rise of Populist-Conservatism, 1860s/1960s

Undefeated: John Wayne’s Confederate-Yankee Adventure in Mexico and the Rise of Populist-Conservatism, 1860s/1960s Marco A. Macias and Daniel Robert McClure In November 1969, 20th Century Fox released a now largely forgotten Western film, The Undefeated (1969). Starring John Wayne and Rock Hudson, the story traces the exploits of ex-Union and ex-Confederate soldiers who make their way to Mexico in the late-1860s, struggling against Mexican bandits and various factions of the Second French Intervention. Upon the resolution of the movie’s conflict, the concluding scene unfolds as wagons and people on horses slowly make their way back to the United States. Characters exchanging light comedic banter presents the mood as uplifting, while the reprisal of two songs heard earlier in the film unfolds through the harmonica playing of the character, Soloman Webster (who rides just behind Wayne’s character, Colonel Thomas): Ex-Union Soloman Webster: [starts playing “Dixie” on his harmonica] Ex-Union Colonel John Henry Thomas [Wayne]: Soloman, can’t you play any other tune?! Ex-Union Soloman Webster: Sure, boss! [begins to play “Battle Hymn of the Republic”] Ex-Confederate Judd Mailer: That neither, Yank! Ex-Union Soloman Webster: [begins to play “Yankee Doodle”] As Soloman Webster plays “Yankee Doodle,” the camera cuts to the pleasant facial expressions of both ex-Union and ex-Confederate soldiers, as the choice of tune appears to satisfy everyone. Representing the nation’s founding, the selection of “Yankee Doodle” is highly symbolic for both the eras: the late 1860s (the film’s setting) and the late 1960s (the film’s production). Deep cultural echoes connect these two eras, as multiple historical shadows haunted the use of “Yankee Doodle” in The Undefeated. Within the film world of the 1860s, the Northern and Southern whites in The Undefeated— who at first despise one another—find solidarity through conflict against Mexicans in the wake of the Civil War. Within the film production world of the 1960s, the song offered white viewers a similar form of unification: the reaffirmation of Cold War patriotism in the wake of the turbulent decade of civil rights activism, racial upheavals in the North and South, and the domestic conflict over the Vietnam War. Indeed, the voices of Nixon’s silent majority echoed the sentiment of the representation of North-South conflict 100 years before, with solidarity in both eras rebuilt upon structures of racial conflict associated with settler colonialism and slavery. The Undefeated’s set of dual realities—the late-1860s and the late 1960s—presents the film as an exceptional study of conservative popular culture in the United States. In spite of the hard-won struggle for equal rights against centuries of white intransigence to social equality with people of color, the combination of a patriotic John Wayne film—with Twentieth-Century Fox giving Wayne “complete control of the film”—and the “Yankee Doodle” ending induced a heartfelt patriotism momentarily displacing the complicated reality facing white America at the dawn of the 1970s: the loss of the white nationalist monopoly on economic and political structures of American society in the wake of 1960s social equality legislation.1 In this sense, The Undefeated offers an interesting exploration of “historical projections” or the “possession of history,” where reflections of an ideal past find life in the politics of the present, with the politics of the present drawing its legitimacy from [End Page 32] this idealized past.2 Through a conflict against white America’s racial enemies, The Undefeated mobilized historical projections to rehabilitate the innocence of whiteness under siege in both the memory of the 1860s—after centuries of slavery—and the legislated end to a century of white nationalist Jim Crow policies in the 1960s. Click for larger view View full resolution This paper examines the various ways history circulated through The Undefeated as a reflection of borderland history in the 1860s, as well as how the film reflected a present filtered through images of the past. Weaving the narrative between filmed representations and the historical record, this paper [End Page 33] offers a genealogical breakdown of information flows and the way the movie both possessed a familiar American past while discarding some...

Transfer of technology: a North-South debate?

The transfer of technology has been mainly subject to the North-South dichotomy where the North is regarded as the principal source of technical knowledge to the South. Nevertheless, as new economic powers emerge in the South, the scene of international technology transfer is changing rapidly. Many South-South endeavors on transfer of technology are on the rise. Thus, a new model of transfer of technology is gaining momentum, in particular the South-South Model of transfer of technology. This paper aims to look at this issue by attempting to answer the following questions: How did South-South cooperation in the field of transfer of technology evolve? How did the rise of the South affect the North-South conflict in the context of transfer of technology? What is the impact of the South-South cooperation in the field of technology transfer on the North?

Trade for the Environment: Transboundary Hazardous Waste Movements After the Basel Convention

AbstractInternational institutions are important regulators of the trade–environment relationship. Many of them deploy trade measures for environmental purposes, with mixed results. The Basel Convention is one case where trade restrictions have not succeeded in curbing movements of hazardous waste or protecting vulnerable countries from waste dumping. Current literature emphasizes North–South conflict under the Basel Convention as a main reason for these shortcomings. This paper returns to the fundamental question as to why countries engage in this trade. It contends that hazardous wastes are not only characterized by their environmental impacts, but are also distinct in the ways they are generated, distributed, and managed. I argue that global economic integration has commodified these wastes, and countries are increasingly diverging on their views of hazardous materials. This paper draws from the under‐utilized Basel Convention Database and other sources to piece together a holistic picture of the global hazardous waste movements. It identifies three types of countries with distinct trade orientations: industrialized countries trading the largest amounts of hazardous wastes and with considerable specialization; newly industrializing countries as influential players in hazardous waste generation and management; and least developed countries, which oppose waste trade yet suffer from waste dumping. As globalization deepens, management of hazardous wastes may require extensive trade of hazardous materials between countries of varying capabilities and interests. Contrary to its current trade minimization approach based on a crude North–South dichotomy, the Basel Convention may benefit from an approach that motivates capable countries to import wastes and one that builds capacity for intended waste importers.

Transition Without Transformation: The Legacy of Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement

Abstract In recent years, the transitional justice framework has expanded to include a broader notion of transformative justice, which strives for socio-political reform in addition to legal accountability. Over the course of two civil wars, Sudan has grappled with various attempts at transition and transformation with mixed results. Though the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement brought an end to decades of North–South conflict, South Sudan’s subsequent descent into civil war has been characterised by a flawed transition and a lack of any immediate transformative potential. This paper analyses the Comprehensive Peace Agreement’s transitional mechanisms. In doing so, it explores how certain mechanisms frame the ‘meta-conflict’ about what the conflict is about, and how this can cut off a range of conflict resolution opportunities. It concludes by considering the legacy of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in contemporary Sudan and South Sudan, and how it might inform the prospective transitions in both countries.

Statebuilding in the Peace Agreements of Sudan and South Sudan

ABSTRACT This article presents a retrospective analysis of the principal peace agreements to emanate from the North–South conflict in Sudan and the civil war in South Sudan. In doing so, it argues that statebuilding practices dating back to the inception of the Sudanese state continue to inform and undermine contemporary efforts to resolve the conflicts in both countries. The article makes a unique contribution by linking the legacy of peace agreements in Sudan and South Sudan to the crises of governance that plague both countries today. In doing so, it seeks to further the discussion on statebuilding as part of a broader strategy of sustainable peacebuilding and transitional justice.

EU-ERWEITERUNG IN KRISENZEITEN? ZUR BEITRITTSREIFE DER BEITRITTSKANDIDATEN VOM WESTBALKAN (EU Enlargement in Times of Crisis? Readiness for Accession of the Western Balkan Candidate Countries)

German Abstract: Zusammenfassung In diesem Papier wird analysiert, inwieweit die Staaten des Westbalkans die notwendige wirtschaftliche und institutionelle Reife fur einen EU-Beitritt erreicht haben. In der Studie werden die vier Staaten untersucht, die bereits Kandidatenstatus haben: Albanien, Montenegro, Nord-Mazedonien und Serbien. Die Autoren beschreiben, wie die EU derzeit den Stand des Beitrittsprozesses bewertet. Sie analysieren, welchen wirtschaftlichen Entwicklungsstand die Westbalkanstaaten bisher erreicht haben und welche moglichen Entwicklungspfade fur einen Aufholprozess moglich erscheinen. Daruber hinaus bewerten sie die institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen in diesen Landern auf der Grundlage internationaler Standortrankings, die unabhangige Informationen uber den institutionellen Aufholprozess der Lander enthalten. Die Autoren berechnen zudem die Kosten, die der EU entstehen, wenn diese Kandidatenlander Zugang zu den bestehenden Struktur- und Investitionsfonds der EU erhalten. English Abstract: The topicality of the paper’s subject “EU accession of the Western Balkan Countries” results from the fact that despite the unresolved crises in the EU, in autumn 2019 the EU member states will decide whether to open accession negotiations with the Western Balkan states of North Macedonia and Albania. Due to doubts concerning the readiness of accession of these countries, the discussion on an alternative option for EU integration between full membership and non-membership for countries that are only partially ready for accession is reviving. The focus here is particularly on economic integration. The corresponding objective of the paper is to clarify whether from an economic point of view doubts about the accession readiness of northern Macedonia and Albania, as well as of the other Western Balkan accession candidates Montenegro and Serbia, are justified. The research tasks in this contribution are reflected in the following modules: drawing conclusions from evaluations by the EU, a statistical analysis of the economic development in the candidate countries, the simulation of convergence processes for each Western Balkan state, the evaluation of international country rankings and finally the execution of a cost analysis of the EU accession of the Western Balkan states. Problematic enlargement plans of the European Union. In the European Union (EU), which has grown to 28 member states, centrifugal forces are becoming increasingly visible: the efforts of the United Kingdom to withdraw from the EU, the smouldering economic crisis in Southern Europe, the strong differences in refugee and immigration policy, the North-South conflict over the future of the Stability and Growth Pact or the controversial question of further deepening EU integration point to fundamental differences within the EU. In view of a large number of unresolved problems in the current EU, it would be reasonable that the further enlargement of the Community will not be on the European policy agenda. Especially the enlargements during the last 15 years have made the political consensus building in the EU increasingly difficult and can explain the drifting apart of the member states in many policy fields. But a new enlargement of the EU is still planned. Following their strategy of an Eastern enlargement, in 2004 the EU accepted the majority of Central and Eastern European reform states as full members. The accession of Bulgaria and Romania (2007) as well as Croatia (2013) completed this enlargement process by countries in the Balkans that had been comparatively economically weak or politically unstable until then. From the EU's point of view, however, enlargement is not yet completed — despite all the integration problems that have come to light. In the “Thessaloniki Declaration” in June 2003, the Western Balkan states of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia (Northern Macedonia since 2019), Serbia and Montenegro and, with restrictions, Kosovo were also given the prospect of accession. This was reaffirmed in the “Sofia Declaration” in May 2018. This enlargement project seems to focus less on the enlargement of the EU internal market, which is not surprising given the small size and limited economic potential of these candidate countries. Rather, it is a project for the political stabilization of the Western Balkans, as can be seen from the highlighted objectives: strengthening democracy and the rule of law, fighting crime and corruption, and pacifying regional conflicts. The establishment of functioning market economies is seen as a vehicle to achieve these goals and also to curb migration from these states to the EU. Therefore, the creation of a perspective for young people to stay in the EU plays a special role.

The absence of great power responsibility in global environmental politics

Great powers routinely face demands to take on special responsibilities to address major concerns in global affairs, and often gain special rights for doing so. These areas include peace and security, global economic management, development, and egregious violations of human rights. Despite the rise in the importance and centrality of global environmental concerns, especially climate change and issues covered by the new Sustainable Development Goals, norms or institutions that demand or recognize great power responsibility are notably absent. This absence is puzzling given expectations in several major strands of International Relations theory, including the English School, realism, liberalism, and constructivism. Drawing on the reasoning behind these expectations, the absence of great power responsibility can be explained by a lack of congruence between systemic and environmental “great powers,” weak empirical links between action on the environment and the maintenance of international order, and no link to special rights. Instead, the institutionalized distribution of environmental responsibilities arose out of North–South conflict and has eroded over time, becoming more diffuse and decentered from ideas of state responsibility. These findings suggest a need to rethink the relationship among great powers and special rights and responsibilities regarding the environment, as well as other new issues of systemic importance.

Double Loyalties?

As North–South conflict appeared to overshadow Cold War tensions in the early 1970s, minor powers as well as non-aligned states across the world faced new challenges. The oil crisis, the rise of environmentalism, and the calls for a New International Economic Order (NIEO) propelled a wide-ranging debate within the Nordic countries regarding their complex position vis-à-vis international development and global environment. In Sweden, these debates reflect the emergence of (inter)national knowledge production about economic inequalities, ecological imbalances, and sustainable development. While these debates can be followed in both media and public debate, they also resulted in a specific body of governmental reports, research projects, and future long-term planning for the 1980s. By analysing a series of such studies from Sweden, this article problematizes the fusing of ecology and economy, the grand strategy of small states, and the local intellectual history of global solidarity during a key moment in the global Cold War. It is argued that the NIEO agenda/ideology played a significant but understudied role in shaping the debate on the balance between development and environment as well as the idea of Sweden’s ‘double loyalties’ as a solidaristic small state and as a competitive advanced economy.

Trade for the Environment: Transboundary Hazardous Waste Movements after the Basel Convention

International institutions are important regulators of the trade-environment relationship. Many of them deploy trade measures for environmental purposes, with mixed results. The Basel Convention is a typical case where designated strong trade restrictions have failed to curb movements of hazardous waste or protect vulnerable countries from waste dumping. The existing literature emphasizes North-South conflict under the Basel Convention as the main reason for these shortcomings. This paper returns to the fundamental question as to why countries engage in the trade of hazardous wastes. It relaxes the Basel assumption that hazardous wastes are invariably negative externalities, and argues that global economic integration has commodified these wastes. Countries are increasingly diverging on their views and treatment of hazardous materials. This study draws from the under-utilized Basel Convention Database and other sources to piece together a holistic picture of the global hazardous waste movements. It identifies three types of countries with distinct trade-orientations: industrialized countries, which trade the largest amounts of hazardous wastes and with considerable specialization; newly industrializing countries, which are becoming influential players in hazardous waste generation and management; and least- developed countries, which are least open to waste trade yet least protected from waste dumping. This analysis shows that, as globalization deepens, the management of hazardous wastes may actually require extensive transboundary movements of hazardous materials between countries of capability and interest. Contrary to its current trade minimization approach based on a crude North-South dichotomy, the Basel Convention may benefit from an approach that motivates capable countries to treat more wastes and builds capacity for intended waste importers.

Implementing globally desirable intellectual property rights in the emerging South

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to use a variety-expanding growth model embedded in the North–South framework to study the implementation of globally desirable protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in the emerging South.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a variety-expanding growth model with innovation-led economic growth in both North and South. As usual, imitations targeted equally at Northern and Southern innovations only occur in the South, and the authors focus on the design of Southern IPR protection.FindingsWelfare-maximizing degrees of Southern IPR protection are explicitly derived for both North and South. There tends to exist a North–South conflict on the right degree of protection. To resolve this conflict, the Southern government can grant appropriate subsides to support domestic innovators. The authors derive the right rate of innovation subsidies such that the conflict is resolved.Originality/valueThis paper represents the first attempt to deal with the North–South conflict on the degree of Southern IPR protection within the variety-expanding growth model. And the novel perspective is to relax the North–South tension on IPR protection via additionally implementing an appropriate innovation subsidy policy.

A two-dimensional analysis of seventy years of United Nations voting

International relations scholars frequently use roll-call votes on resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to measure similarity in the foreign policy ideologies of states. They then correlate those measures with consequential outcomes, such as development lending, trade, or military disputes. Dynamic ideal point models of UNGA voting thus far have been restricted to a single dimension. We examine the existence of a stable, important, and interpretable second dimension underlying contestation in the UN. From the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s, North–South conflict constitutes a stable second dimension, shaped heavily by the agenda-setting powers of the so-called Non-aligned Movement and the Group of 77. In the periods before and after, the second dimension neither is stable nor easily interpretable, though it is sometimes important. We suggest that in most applications, our original one-dimensional estimates have conceptual advantages with minimal losses in explanatory value. We illustrate that conclusion with an analysis that correlates ideal point changes with militarized interstate disputes. Yet, our findings also suggest that scholars interested in specific issues, such as the Middle East, human rights, or arms control, might benefit from more specifically tailored ideal point estimates.

La Suède mondiale : francophonie, Palme et le dialogue Nord-Sud pendant la guerre froide

Decolonization and the rise of the “Third World” opened up a new front in the global Cold War. In response, neutral and non-aligned states faced the complex choice of either adapting to or challenging the bipolar order. In this context, Sweden gradually embraced a highly profiled “active foreign policy” in the interest of East-West détente, North-South dialogue and so-called Third World solidarity. In particular, Swedish Social Democratic Prime Minister Olof Palme played a crucial role in establishing “small state interests” as a discursive alternative to the antithetical bipolarism of the Cold War during his first terms in power (1969-1976). As such, Palme’s activities as a public diplomat in the emerging progressive universe of networks, debating fora and expert bodies were widely noted in the emerging global public opinion of the Cold War era. In this paper, we explore two related dimensions in Palme’s Cold War public diplomacy: 1) Sweden as both a global neutral and a possible social model, both of which must be interpreted from the perspective of the ideological contest of the Cold War; and 2) Palme as a public intellectual in probing alternatives to pervasive Cold War bipolarism, focusing upon the early 1970s as a key moment in Cold War North-South conflict.

Autonomy, Secession, and the Ties that Bind -- Lessons from the Peace Agreements of the Sudan

This paper analyses the 40-year history of peace agreements emanating from the North-South conflict in the Sudan. In doing so, it aims to identify the legal features and structures of power that had a significant influence on that peace process, and subsequently found expression in an independent South Sudan. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement formally resolved the conflict between North and South Sudan in 2005. However, many of the symptoms of state-failure persist and the failures of peacebuilding remain evident. South Sudan’s secession – though prescribed under the terms of the 2005 Agreement – has not served as a cure-all for recurring civil conflict, fuelled by pastoral concerns at the State’s periphery and a contest for political power at its centre. A critical retrospective of the North-South peace process elucidates our understanding of this conflict and its causes by exploring the unequal structures of power that were legitimised by the Addis Ababa and Sudan Peace agreements, respectively. These unequal power structures were merely exported south of the border under the terms of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and they continue to find expression in contemporary efforts to resolve the conflict, such as the 2015 Compromise Peace Agreement on South Sudan. This paper unpacks the lessons learned from the Sudanese experience, revealing the manner in which legal mechanisms radically affect autonomy and the transition from short-term to long-term peacebuilding. It concludes by addressing the implications these lessons have for the ongoing conflicts in the region.

A Two-Dimensional Analysis of Seventy Years of United Nations Voting

International relations scholars frequently use roll-call votes on resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to measure similarity in the foreign policy ideologies of states. They then correlate those measures with consequential outcomes, such as development lending, trade, or military disputes. Dynamic ideal point models of UNGA voting thus far have been restricted to a single dimension. We examine the existence of a stable, important, and interpretable second dimension underlying contestation in the UN. From the mid 1960s to the mid-1980s, North-South conflict constitutes a stable second dimension, shaped heavily by the agenda-setting powers of the so-called Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of 77. In the periods before and after, the second dimension neither is stable nor easily interpretable, though it is sometimes important. We suggest that in most applications, our original one-dimensional estimates have conceptual advantages with minimal losses in explanatory value. We illustrate that conclusion with an analysis that correlates ideal point changes with militarized interstate disputes. Yet, our findings also suggest that scholars interested in specific issues, such as the Middle East, human rights, or arms control, might benefit from more specifically tailored ideal point estimates.

Technology spillovers, intellectual property rights, and export-platform FDI

How do trade liberalization and changes in market size affect the strength of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection in Southern countries? We explore this question in an international oligopoly model in which a Northern firm has the option of export-platform FDI (EPF): that is, to set up an export platform in the South to serve not only the Southern market but also other export markets. EPF allows the Northern firm to take advantage of low tariffs that often exist between the South and other export markets. However, with imperfect protection of IPR in the South, the Northern firm’s technological advantage is reduced under EPF as technology spills over, at least partially, to Southern firms. We show that when trade between the South and the export market becomes more liberalized, South government weakens its optimal IPR policy to improve welfare. The opposite is true when trade is liberalized between the North and the South, or between the North and the export market. The effect of an increase in the size of the Southern market critically depends on whether the Northern firm chooses EPF over home production to increase its profit in the Southern market or in the export market. The robustness of our findings is explored in a variety of extensions including multiple export platforms, multilateral trade liberalization, and EPF by multiple Northern firms. Explicitly incorporating export markets and the possibility of EPF, this paper sheds new light on our understanding of the North–South conflict regarding IPR protection, a highly debated issue among member countries of the WTO.

Revolutionary Hopes and Global Transformations

Summary This article explores some of the deep structural and political transformations which the World Council of Churches underwent in the 1960s and 1970s. One of these changes included the growing proportion of new independent Christian churches in Africa and Asia, which had begun to join the WCC since 1961 as a result of the decolonisation process. This change marked the beginning of the de-Westernisation of the World Council of Churches, which transformed over the course of the »long sixties« (Marwick) from a mainly Anglo-American network to a modern international non-governmental organisation. Simultaneously, as the North-South conflict was coming into the centre, the East-West conflict began moving to the periphery of ecumenical debates.