Post-war Reconstruction Process Research Articles

ASSESSMENT OF THE POSSIBILITY OF USING RECYCLED COARSE AGGREGATE IN A WOOD-SOIL CONCRETE SLAB

Problem statement. During the process of post-war reconstruction in Ukraine, there will be a need for a large number of affordable and ecological building materials, especially in the part of restoration and construction of low-rise buildings. Such building materials can be soil-concrete and aggregates from crushed concrete waste. The proposed constructive solution of the ribbed floor, in which the ribs are made of pine beams and OSB sheets, and the slab part is made of soil concrete on fixed formwork. The purpose of the article is to determine the optimal composition of the soil-concrete mixture using crushed stone obtained after crushing concrete scrap, taking into account the configuration of the wood-soil concrete slab, to determine the strength of soil-concrete of this composition, to determine the possibility of using recycled coarse aggregates. Conclusions. Based on the results of determining the optimal composition of soil-concrete, it was established that the maximum compressive strength is achieved when the mass content of the binder in the cement-soil mixture is at the level of 20 %. Taking into account the configuration of the slab part of the floor, a fraction of 5...7.5 mm is accepted for coarse aggregate. During the test of soil-concrete samples with recycled aggregate with a mass content of 10 %, 20 % and 30 %, the compressive strength of soil concrete decreased. Obviously, the presence of a clay component (loam) in the mixture reduces the adhesion in the contact zone between the aggregate and the soil-concrete, which increases the heterogeneity of the entire structure of the soil-concrete. Thus, the use of natural or recycled coarse aggregates in soil-concrete is impractical. Taking into account the determined strength of soil-concrete without aggregate, a scheme of combined concreting of the soil-concrete slab is proposed – heavy concrete above the rib and soil-concrete in the overhangs. In this case, there is a need for research on the possibility of using recycled coarse aggregate of the required size in heavy concrete.

ІНТЕГРАЦІЯ ПРИНЦИПІВ SMART-CITY ТА ЗАПРОВАДЖЕННЯ ЕНЕРГЕТИЧНИХ ІННОВАЦІЙ У ПРОЦЕС ПІСЛЯВОЄННОЇ ВІДБУДОВИ БЛАГОУСТРОЮ АДМІНІСТРАТИВНО-ТЕРИТОРІАЛЬНИХ ОДИНИЦЬ

The article explores the possibilities and challenges of integrating Smart City principles and energy innovations into the post-war reconstruction process of administrative-territorial units. In today's world, where environmental pollution and efficient use of energy resources are becoming increasingly critical, implementing energy-efficient projects in urban development has become necessary for community development. One of the essential aspects of successfully implementing energy-efficient projects is their integration into the city's strategic planning. To address challenges such as financial constraints and technical difficulties, implementing energy-efficient projects will bring numerous benefits, including emission reduction, energy consumption reduction, and improvement of urban environment quality. Since many urban amenities in Ukraine having suffered damage during the war, there is an increased opportunity for the restoration of progressive and modern spaces using advanced technologies. This new stage of reconstruction includes adopting innovative approaches, such as using alternative energy sources, implementing energy-saving systems, introducing Smart City principles, greening territories, and more. This opens up opportunities for creating modern, environmentally friendly, and energy-efficient spaces that improve the quality of life and restore administrative-territorial units' infrastructure. The article explores key concepts such as smart technologies, energy efficiency, and sustainable development while presenting the fundamental principles and mechanisms for implementing these principles in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. Utilizing the case-study method, the article highlights the best practices for implementing Smart City principles worldwide. Additionally, the authors examine the advantages and obstacles associated with adopting these principles.

Development of the regions of Ukraine in the conditions of today's challenges

The article's authors attempted to construct an optimistic scenario for the socio-economic development of the Kharkiv oblast. They analyzed pre-war indicators of the region's economic, social, and environmental conditions, considering the state's involvement in the post-war reconstruction of the region. The scenario construction was based on an econometric model, which confirmed the relationship between investments and the gross regional product and the placement coefficient, revealing Kharkiv Oblast's comparative advantages in the service sectors, particularly in IT and industry. Through their calculations, the authors concluded that investments played a crucial role in capital accumulation and increased productivity during the post-war reconstruction process in the region. The authors calculated the placement coefficient indicators specifically for the Kharkiv region. The results confirmed that the region has the prerequisites for post-industrial development during the post-war reconstruction. However, the situation is complicated by the need to finance the region's devastated infrastructure. The researchers emphasized the importance of attracting investments in sectors that directly contribute to human capital formation, such as education, scientific activities, and healthcare. The authors also highlighted the potential risks and threats associated with post-industrial development in the Kharkiv oblast. On a model level, the authors outlined various options for regional state policies aimed at the recovery and development of regional economies. Both considered options prioritize the formation of market incentives for regional development. The scientists acknowledged that in conditions of uncertainty, future development scenarios for regions in Ukraine, including the Kharkiv region, possess an alternative and probabilistic nature. Furthermore, the researchers identified areas for further scientific research, emphasizing the importance of an interdisciplinary approach that combines economics, political science, regional studies, and ecology. Keywords: regions, socio-economic development, gross regional product, placement coefficient, post-war reconstruction.

Виклики війни для музеїв України

Having analyzed the challenges faced by Ukrainian museums during the war, we can conclude that the war has created a number of difficulties for the preservation and exhibition of cultural heritage. Destruction of infrastructure, displacement of population, and lack of funding are some of the main challenges faced by museums in Ukraine. Ongoing violence and instability also make it difficult for museums to operate and continue their important cultural activities. Despite these challenges, many museums in Ukraine continue to strive to preserve their heritage and showcase their cultural history to the world. It is important that the international community supports these efforts by providing funding and resources to help these museums thrive in the face of the conflict, as the ongoing hostilities have also made it difficult for museums to acquire new exhibits or preserve existing ones, as funding is often diverted to other pressing issues. Despite these challenges, museums in Ukraine continue to play a vital role in preserving the country's cultural heritage. They serve as important repositories of historical knowledge and provide opportunities for the public to appreciate and learn about Ukraine's rich cultural heritage. With proper support and resources, Ukrainian museums can continue to thrive and contribute to the country's cultural development. The preservation of cultural artifacts during the war is extremely important for museums in Ukraine. Not only are these artifacts important to the country's cultural heritage, but they also serve as reminders of its past, present, and future. They can also play a crucial role in the post-war reconstruction process, providing a sense of unity and preserving the population's own identity. In addition, cultural artifacts often have significant economic value, contributing to the development of an important tourism industry. Therefore, museums in Ukraine should make every effort to protect their collections, even during wartime, as they are an invaluable part of Ukraine's national identity and history. Key words: museum, war, protection of museum institutions, "museum front", artifact

Public finance in modern Ukraine: theoretical and practical aspect

Introduction. In this article we analyze the sphere of public finance in Ukraine. In the theoretical aspect, domestic financial science does not pay enough attention to issues related to the conflicting combination of economics and politics in public finance, the interplay of political and financial theories in this field, and the application of behavioral models of various public finance subjects in scientific research. At the same time, there is a need for clarification of the structure and nature of public finance. Objective. To define the essence and structure of public finance based on well-established theoretical postulates; to investigate main trends in its development, problems, and ways of improvement in modern Ukraine using statistical data. Results. Foreign and domestic scholars not only interpret the concept of "public finance" differently but also include various components in it. Public finance is defined as the total amount of society's always limited monetary resources at the disposal of the state authorities and local self-government. Its formation and use require accompanying institutional and organizational activities based on the scientific groundwork produced by public finance theory. Over the past five years public finance in Ukraine has been characterized by conflicting trends with the defining factors being the global Covid-19 pandemic and Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. In 2022, the share of expenditures of the consolidated budget and the Pension Fund reached a record high of 65.8% of annual GDP. The deficit of the consolidated budget has reached a record level. In these conditions, the government is implementing a forced but well-balanced active debt policy. The existing solidarity-based pension system significantly burdens and adds problems to Ukraine's public finance. Conclusion. To solve a series of accumulated problems in the field of public finance, what is needed first and foremost is peace in Ukraine after its victory. During the post-war reconstruction process, further reforms and measures should be taken to improve the state of public finance and bring it closer to international standards of efficiency, effectiveness, social utility, and security.

Interactions between Turkish Building Professionals and French Advisors in the Reconstruction of Historical Cities in Western Anatolia

The year 1923 was a turning point for Turkey. The collapse of the Ottoman Empire after a long war brought in Republican ideology centered on economic self-sufficiency and modern, secular values. With the proclamation of the Republic, the reconstruction of war-torn historical cities became a priority, to spread the new ideology and meet the country’s industrial needs. The new authorities encouraged municipalities to consult with Western European architects, many of whom were invited in the first years of the Republic. Their knowledge of the latest technologies and modern urban planning principles in Europe were to be applied to reconstruct Anatolian towns and villages according to the modern ideology. To facilitate this cooperation, the Society of Studies for the Reconstruction of İzmir was established in Paris in 1922. It brought together French experts and Turkish authorities during the planning process of Western Anatolian cities. The most prominent French consultants were Paris-based Henri Prost and Rene Danger, working together in France after having gained long-term experience in French colonies. This paper, firstly, highlights the mobility of these French professionals in Western Anatolia by tracing the history of their planning studies. Secondly, framing the political tension between the two countries, it aims to investigate whether the perspectives of the Turkish authorities associated the guest French architects and planners with colonial France. Lastly, it focuses on the post-war reconstruction process of historical cities in Western Anatolia, discussing the results of the interaction of the decision-makers and focusing on İzmir, Manisa, and Uşak.

Market Value as a Specie of Public Value: Incorporation of Externalities, Including in the Context of the Azerbaijan Post-War Reconstruction Process

Market Value as a Specie of Public Value: Incorporation of Externalities, Including in the Context of the Azerbaijan Post-War Reconstruction Process

A paz enquanto dependência: uma análise da dimensão econômica do processo de reconstrução pós-bélica no Timor-Leste

The post-war reconstruction process became the main reference for action in favor of peace in the world after the cold war period. In this sense, studying it corresponds to analyzing which vision of peace, applied in a practical way, is dominant in the world from this period onwards. Thus, the objective of this paper is to identify in the post-war reconstruction process of East Timor the economic dimension impacts of the peacebuilding instrument, from the analytical tools of the Marxist Dependency Theory. The hypothesis is that the role of International Financial Institutions in the economic dimension of East Timor peacebuilding was responsible for creating favorable structures to dependence and, consequently, an incompatible scenario with the new UN perception of peace.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ПІДТРИМКИ ТА РОЗВИТКУ НАЦІОНАЛЬНОЇ ЕКОСИСТЕМИ СТАРТАП-ПІДПРИЄМНИЦТВА РУМУНІЇ

The article is devoted to issues of state support and development of the startup ecosystem in the example of Romania. The peculiarities and reasons for its formation, as well as the characteristics of the main startups of the country, main directions of startup entrepreneurship development, PESTEL, and SWOT analysis of the national ecosystem of startups in Romania, are considered. The article analyzes the features of the ecosystem of startups in Romania: the growth of global investment and revival of Romanian investors in local startups, increasing the average size of checks for seed stages of financing, development of venture and innovation infrastructure, and the formation of 5 cities for startups in the global ranking of startup ecosystems StartupBlink. The article reviews the state support for startup entrepreneurship in countries, including the Start, Incubators, and Entrepreneurship Encouragement and Development Programs. Factors of the development of the local ecosystem of Romanian startups have been identified. The ecosystem of startups is attractive to global investors due to the pool of talented technicians and engineers, the availability of high-speed Internet and opportunities for startups to enter the European market, and the availability of effective acceleration programs for startups and digital infrastructure. The strengths and weaknesses of the local ecosystem of Romanian startups have been identified. Insufficient government policy to support startups, in particular in coordinating various programs and tools to boost entrepreneurship; the need to improve the regulatory framework of the country to the needs of digital technology; bureaucratic obstacles to starting and running a startup; the lack of entrepreneurship educa- tion programs in secondary and higher education are attributed to the problematic and weak points in the development of the local ecosystem of startups in Romania. The study allowed us to study the experience of developing the ecosystem of Romanian startups as an example to follow in the Ukrainian environment. Despite the political and economic situation in Ukraine, the is- sue of government assistance in the formation and development of cities for startups will significantly accelerate the process of postwar reconstruction of our country

Collaborative Governance in the Management of Integrated Community Shelters Post Disaster (ICS) in the City of Palu

This article tells the involvement of humanitarian organizations in the post-war reconstruction process of disaster in the city of Palu, Sigi and Donggala Regencies. The presence of humanitarian organizations is urgently needed to help the process of acceleration of reconstruction. In carrying out its humanitarian mission, it is expected that these institutions are coordinated by the authority of the government/state. Management of Integrated Community Shelter expected able to help the process of reconstruction post disaster apparently also still constrained in the pattern of coordination. Coordination pattern which is less likely to occur in delivering open and funneling aid to victims. this paper found that the existence of the weakness of the State in controlling and embody the humanitarian agency's involvement in the process of reconstructions. Collaborative approach to governance in the management of Integrated Community Shelter appears as an alternative solution in the answer to these problems.

The Warp of the Social Reconstruction and the Weft of the Arts: The Association for the All-Citizen Singing Campaign

1950년대 한국사회에서 남북통일과 전후재건이라는 명제는 화두의 중심에 있었다. 작곡가들 또한 이러한 사회의 화두로부터 자유롭지 않았다. 1950년대에 음악계의 중심에서 활동하던 작곡가 대부분이 국민개창운동추진회(國民皆唱運動 推進會)의 활동에 참여하면서 국가재건의 문화 기획에 동참하였다. 국민개창운동추진회의 활동에 참여하는 것은 작곡가들에게는 순수예술의 세계에 침잠하는것에서 벗어나 문화 정치에 참여하고 보다 넓은 범위의 청중들과 관계를 맺는 기회가 되었다. 전후재건의 시기에 국민의 정신적 원동력을 음악으로 추진하고자하는 관심에서 이들 작곡가들은 신민요(新民謠) 장르에 관심을 두었다. 한국 민요에서 파생된 혼종형 대중음악인 신민요의 1950년대 전개과정에 대한 일반적인 평가에 따르면, 그것이 당대의 사회적 쟁점에서 동떨어진 여흥으로 소비되는 한계를 가졌다고 한다. 하지만 국민개창운동추진회의 노래 캠페인 과정에서 만들어졌던 노래에 대한 검토는 1950년대 신민요에 대한 새로운 이해를 제공한다. 작곡가들은 신민요가 민족적 요소를 담고 있고 국가를 위한 노래 캠페인에 유용한 매개가 되는 음악의 갈래라고 보았으며, 신민요는 대중가요의 경계를 넘어 새로운 사회적 의미를 부여받게 되었다. 이러한 논의의 전개를 위하여 본 논문에서 는 신문 잡지의 기사 분석과 음악분석을 아우른다. 특히 본 연구에서는 아직 알려진 바가 없었던 노래모음집, 국민개창운동추진회가 1958년에 발행했던 󰡔이내몸 바치리󰡕를 소개하고 이에 대하여 상세한 설명을 제공한다. 이 노래책과 함께 1950년대의 담론과 기존 문헌을 참고하면서, 본 연구는 당시의 노래 캠페인이 음악과 문화의 측면에서 가졌던 의미를 재해석한다.In the 1950s the prevailing discussions within South Korean society were about the formation of a nation-state and the process of post-war reconstruction. Composers were no exception to this trend, and most of the leading composers of the 1950s participated in the rebuilding of the country with their music through Kungmingaech’angundongch’ujinhoe (The Association for the All-Citizen Singing Campaign, 國民皆唱運動推進會). Partaking in the All-Citizen Singing Campaign was an opportunity for the composers to be involved in cultural politics and broaden their relationship with audiences rather than using their music for art’s sake. Interested in boosting the nation’s morale during the difficulties of reconstruction, these composers turned their attention to the genre of shinminyo (new folk songs, 新民謠). It is generally believed by scholars that shinminyo, a hybrid popular music type derived from Korean folk songs, tended to be consumed as limited musical entertainment in the 1950s, without serious engagement in contemporary social issues. However, a close look into the music from the campaign provides a new understanding of shinminyo in the 1950s: composers considered shinminyo an important contemporary genre whose indigenous Korean musical elements made it a valuable tool for musical nationalism. In order to contextualize these discussions, I analyze articles in newspapers and magazines along with the music itself. In this paper, the book Inaemom Pach’iri (Devotion to the Country), which was published by the Association for the All-Citizen Singing Campaign in 1958, is introduced and explained in detail. By looking closely at this songbook in addition to referencing discourses in the 1950s and previous research on the singing campaign, this analysis provides a new insight into the significance of the campaign from a musical and cultural perspective.

Analysis of the Transformation of Herat Old City, Afghanistan

ABSTRACTThis study examines the ongoing transformation of Herat Old City (also referred to as the Old City), the former capital of the Timurid Empire on the Silk Roads, regarding the transformation of residential quarters. The data for this study is provided by a literature review, field surveys, and interviews with city officials and citizens. The study analyses the changes to residential quarters occurring in the Old City with a particular focus on their relation to a) the post-war reconstruction process, b) lack of management by the municipal government, and c) inadequate involvement of citizens/residents. The study shows how changes in private housing have occurred across the Old City. They began around 2004 and accelerated with the reconstruction process, which included projects funded by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC). Redevelopment of traditional houses has been continuing in the Old City even after AKTC completed their mission in 2010.

Depoliticising the Balkans? International intervention(s) and economic development in Kosovo

Slavoj Zizek and Agon Hamza From Myth to Symptom: The Case of Kosovo, Kolektivi Materializmi Dialektik: Prishtine, 2013; 103 pp.: 9789951883528 (pbk) The charge of de-politicisation has long been a staple in leftist circles. Since John Harris coined the phrase, we often hear that the World Bank has been in the business of 'depoliticising development' (Harris 2002). Neoliberalism itself is frequently chided for denying or concealing its deeply political character. (1) At times, though, the argument from depoliticisation has been stretched to absurd proportions. In much of the post-modern literature, the study of development--or of anything else, for that matter--is reduced to a study of its 'discourse'. As a result, the material dimensions of international development --how developing countries are hardly benefttting from development interventions; how international capital has an axe to grind in this global 'industry'; how development practice may be redesigned to the benefit of the global South, etc.--are simply taken for granted, or even spitefully dismissed. The post-modern critique of ideology, just like the ideology it critiques, ends up obscuring, rather than illuminating, the social world. Loosely speaking, this punchy philosophical diptych steers clear of the fallacies of the post-modern turn. As such, it artfully demonstrates how the charge of depoliticisation can resonate also with those who maintain that materiality remains an important (if not the most important) dimension of the social world. Focusing on NATO's 1999 intervention in Kosovo and the process of post-war reconstruction, this book takes aim at the 'proliferation of discourses on the ethnicisation and culturalisation of ... injustice' (p. 76)--a phenomenon that Zizek and Hamza regard as an attempt to take politics out of the picture. According to the authors, the scholarship on the Balkans is overwhelmingly written by 'essentialists or culturologists' (p. 12), who explain virtually everything --from the dissolution of Yugoslavia to persistent economic underdevelopment--as a consequence of culture. Beginning in the late 1980s, pre-modern myths and neo-tribal passions supposedly resurfaced and re-ignited a long-simmering powder keg of interethnic strife and socioeconomic impoverishment. Engulfed by an irrational fever-pitch, the cultural imaginary of the Balkans stands in contrast to the rational-objective gaze of Western commentators--the likes of Noel Malcolm and Anna di Lellio--who set out to 'demystify' the Balkan spell of tribal myths, revealing the latter for what they really are, and explaining the supposed role of these phantasms in fuelling violence, conflict and poverty. The authors do not dwell on the intellectual origins of the culturalist discourse. Rather, their response is a call for re-politicisation: demystifying the very practice of 'myth demystification' (p. 79) in which Western intellectuals have engaged since the break-up of Yugoslavia. To their credit, Zizek and Hamza do not limit themselves to a critical discourse analysis. They also preoccupy themselves with the political economy of humanitarian intervention and post-conflict state-building, dissecting and re-politicising the irreducibly material dimensions of the social phenomena that the culturalist seeks to depoliticise and obscure. In particular, the authors set out to dismantle the two most influential arguments made in response to foreign intervention(s) in Kosovo: on the one hand, the liberal view that a well-meaning West violated Yugoslavia's sovereignty benevolently and legitimately in order to protect the human rights of Kosovo's ethnic-Albanian majority; and on the other, the view defended by the likes of Michael Parenti (2002), according to whom NATO--qua military arm of Western corporate capital--launched the 1999 intervention to bring down Europe's last line of resistance to neoliberal capitalism, namely Milosevic's Yugoslavia. …

Arab and Non-Arab Tribes as State-Like Entities: Informal Alliances and Conflict Patterns in the Historic and Contemporary Middle East

The process of postwar reconstruction in Iraq since 2003 has revolutionized the significance of Arab and other tribes in policy approaches toward the Middle East. However, much attention directed at tribal structures during this period has focused on engagement with influential sheikhs with the aim of promoting stability rather than identifying tribes’ role as informal organizations in a context of altered Iraqi state formation. This study instead conceptualizes tribal confederations and sub-tribes as state-like actors that function at both the international and the domestic level. I examine historical precedents of tribal alliance formation, conflict resolution and security mechanisms, coalitions and political participation, and variations in interactions across ethnic groups, and consider their implications for present-day Iraq and its neighboring states.

Illiberal peacebuilding in Angola

ABSTRACTAngola's oil-fuelled reconstruction since the end of the civil war in 2002 is a world away from the mainstream liberal peacebuilding approach that Western donors have promoted and run since the end of cold war. The Angolan case is a pivotal example of what can be termed ‘illiberal peacebuilding’, a process of post-war reconstruction managed by local elites in defiance of liberal peace precepts on civil liberties, the rule of law, the expansion of economic freedoms and poverty alleviation, with a view to constructing a hegemonic order and an elite stranglehold over the political economy. Making sense of the Angolan case is a starting point for a broader comparative look at other cases of illiberal peacebuilding such as Rwanda, Lebanon and Sri Lanka.

Alberto Savinio's Alcesti di Samuele in the Aftermath of the Second World War

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Alcesti di Samuele (Alcestis, Daughter of Samuel), by Italian writer, painter, set designer, and composer Alberto Savinio (1891-1952), voices the anxiety that surrounds the difficult process of postwar reconstruction. Savinio warns against the dangerous manifestations of nationalism that are ingrained in human nature, arguing that the only solution against future threats of totalitarianism is to take refuge in one's intellect, to maintain a critical detachment and resist propagandistic enticements. As Brecht had parodied the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, (1) Savinio rationalizes past events through a deconstruction of the myth of the dictator as a supernatural being. In Alcesti di Samuele, the former American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt states: Molti cercano la soluzione del fascismo e io questa soluzione l'ho trovata: smettere di pronunciare il nome di Mussolini. In un mese, del fascismo non rimarra, traccia.... La colpa del fascismo e del nazismo si imputa a Mussolini e a Hitler. Errore. La colpa e dei popoli che hanno espresso dai propri visceri questi due personaggi cosi profondamente, cosi pericolosamente, cosi tragicamente espressivi. II dittatore un mezzo, uno strumento, un intermediario, un irrresponsabile, un passivo. Il dittatore e una vittima. (2) (Many people are looking for a solution to Fascism; I have found a solution: to stop saying Mussolini's name. In a month there will be no trace of Fascism.... The responsibility for Fascism and Nazism is attributed to Mussolini and Hitler. This is a mistake. The responsibility lies with their peoples, who have expressed from their own bowels two characters so deeply, so dangerously, so tragically expressive. The dictator is a means, a tool, a middleman, an irresponsible, passive individual. The dictator is a victim.) Set in Munich during the Second World War, Alcesti di Samuele centers on the ultimate sacrifice of Teresa Goerz, a Jewish woman who commits suicide to protect the career of her Christian husband, Paul. Published by Bompiani in 1949, the play received a cold reception when it premiered in 1950 at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan under the direction of Giorgio Strehler. The story of Teresa's voluntary death becomes, in Savinios imagery, a modern echo of the archetypical myth of Alcestis who, in Euripides' homonymous play, chooses to die in her husband Admetus's stead. In Alcestis, Heracles compensates Admetus's generous hospitality by bringing back Alcestis from the underworld after defeating Thanatos, the personification of death. As Teresa's sacrifice replicates the tragedy of Alcestis, the plot requires a new Heracles to rescue her from the underworld. In Alcesti di Samuele, Roosevelt, who helped to deliver Europe from the horrors of the Second World War, is the last representative of a long series of Heracleses, whose task is to conduct periodic purifications of the world, each time having to face different challenges (96). (3) Roosevelt/Heracles is the emblem of libertarianism and democracy, whereas the last embodiment of the Lernean Hydra, one of the monsters defeated by Heracles, is totalitarianism itself. Hence his katabatic mission to retrieve Teresa/Alcestis symbolizes the defeat of the triumphal violence and brutality that nourish totalitarian regimes. …

Just and Unjust Postwar Reconstruction: How Much External Interference Can Be Justified?

This article seeks to reconcile a fundamental normative tension that underlies most international reconstruction efforts in war-torn societies: on the one hand, substantial outside interference in the domestic affairs of such societies may seem desirable to secure political stability, set up inclusive governance structures, and protect basic human rights; on the other hand, such interference is inherently paternalistic—and thus problematic—since it limits the policy options and broader freedom of maneuver of domestic political actors. I argue that for paternalistic interference in foreign countries to be justified, it needs to be strictly proportional to domestic impediments to self-government and basic rights protection. Based on this claim, I model different degrees of interference that are admissible at particular stages of the postwar reconstruction process. Extrapolating from John Rawls'sLaw of Peoples, I suggest that full-scale international trusteeship can be justified only so long as conditions on the ground remain “outlaw”—that is, so long as security remains volatile and basic rights, including the right to life, are systematically threatened. Once basic security has been reestablished, a lower degree of interference continues to be justified, until new domestic governance structures become entirely self-sustaining. During this second phase of postwar reconstruction, external actors ideally ought toshare responsibilityfor law-enforcement and administration with domestic authorities, which implies in practice that domestic and international officials should jointly approve all major decisions. I discuss various approximations of such shared responsibility in recent international peace operations and speculate about how best to ensure a timely transition toward full domestic ownership.

Faith in democracy: Islamization of the Iraqi polity after Saddam Hussein

This study addresses systematically the rising phenomenon of insurgency in Iraq and concurrent democratic developments since the fall of Saddam Hussein. It demonstrates two main features of the democratization process. First, not only that democratization is taking place within an unstable post-war environment but that much emergent Islamist discourse is also stifling the rebuilding of institutions where democratic rights are protected. Second, democratic discourse is subject to a consistent tension between secular and religious interpretations which in turn inhibits the post-war reconstruction process more widely. The analysis examines the prospects for democracy in Iraq as a Muslim polity and examines the factors that both facilitate and hinder state and polity reconstruction post-war. It offers the hypothesis that the Muslim polity needs to be intimately involved in its own processes of democratization of state and society in order for the present transition to lead to an outcome that is not characterized by state authoritarianism. The final section contends that democracy in Iraq is a long way off and it is most likely to emerge, if at all, as Muslim rather than liberal in character.

‘Going Home’ in Post-conflict Sierra Leone: Diamonds, agriculture and re-building rural livelihoods in the Eastern Province

ABSTRACTSierra Leone has recently emerged from a long period of political instability and civil war, which has relegated the country to the bottom of the world human development league table. A process of reconstruction and rehabilitation is now underway, to restore livelihoods, repair damaged infrastructure and rebuild the economy. The sustainable development of valuable mineral resources and the restoration of rural production systems and food security are important priorities. This article examines the post-war reconstruction process and presents evidence from communities in the Eastern Province which were badly affected during the conflict. Although some progress is being made, the pace of change is slow, and the threat of a return to instability is a common concern among all citizens and organisations, from national government to individuals and communities at the grassroots level.

Resisting Amnesia: Yuyachkani, Performance, and the Postwar Reconstruction of Peru

In 2002 the transition government of Alejandro Toledo established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Peru. Its aim, like that of similar commissions created to deal with the democratization of a country after a period of violent intra-ethnic conflict and widescale abuses of human rights, was to record the testimonies of the victims and offer recommendations ranging from reparation to radical structural change in the governing of the country. Working alongside the Peruvian commission was El Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani, one of Latin America's oldest and most impressive activist theatre collectives. To facilitate the truth-gathering process as well as publicly honor and remember the dead, five members of Yuyachkani traveled to the mountainous regions of the Andes most affected by the war. There, over a period of eight months, they held workshops, performed in the streets, and participated in local demonstrations. Through a range of stylized performance pieces and street-art installations directly related to the recent crisis and translated into an idiom accessible to all, they converted ordinary streets and plazas into ritual spaces for reflection and remembrance. In doing so, they dignified the victims and their relatives and transformed the personal stigma of abuse into the collective trauma of a nation needing to heal. This essay details the collaboration between Yuyachkani and the TRC and explores the critical intersection of secular ritual and "embodied memory" for the process of postwar reconstruction in Peru.