Sub-state Groups Research Articles

ALEVİ SİYASALLAŞMASI VE DIŞ POLİTİKA: ALEVİ SİYASİ PARTİLERİNDE KİMLİK-ULUSLARARASI POLİTİKA BAĞLANTISI

The foreign policy and international relations perceptions of sub-state groups have recently begun to be discussed in the literature. The central role of the state is eroding and non- and sub-state actors are emerging as influential factors in international politics. Identity is the most dominant factor in the foreign policy perspectives of these actors. This study examines Alevi politicization in Turkey in relation to foreign policy and identity. The politicization of Alevism in Turkey has accelerated since the 1950s with the urbanization of Alevis and their rapprochement with leftist ideologies. The tension between Alevism and the state since the Ottoman period has also fed this process. As a result of this politicization, the Unity Party (1966-1980) and the Peace Party (1996-1999) were established as Alevi parties. The relationship that both parties established with their Alevi base, their perception of domestic politics and their interpretation of international developments influenced their identities. This study examines the relationship between Alevi identity and foreign policy based on the parties' programs. The study aims to contribute to the literature by making three claims. The first is that sub-state entities can also make foreign policy. Sub-state identities formulate their own foreign policy concepts independently of governments and successfully integrate domestic and international developments into their political programs. Second, domestic and international developments have a transformative impact on the politicization of Alevis. The birth of the Alevi political movement following urbanization and its subsequent ideological transformation with leftist politics illustrates this. As a result, there has been a rupture between the Alevi political movement and its traditions and institutions. Third, Alevi politicization in the 1960s and 1990s followed different paths. The first was the process of individual Alevi politicization in the bipolar order of the Cold War conditions, which shrouded micro debates, while the second was the emergence of an Alevi political movement as a result of the increased emphasis on identity after the end of the Cold War.

Knowledge of, attitudes toward and practices of ethics of war of the officers and soldiers of the Zambia Army

Since the end of the world wars, the demise of the Cold War and the end of liberation wars in Africa, the changing character of warfare has given birth to uncertainties about how states will respond to acts of aggression in the face of ethics of war, or the moral rules of war. It has become difficult for states to conduct permissible self-defence and other-defence against non-state actors or sub-state groups, which do not have a sovereign (political and territorial integrity) to protect. In the face of this reality, it is not known how much knowledge military personnel world over have on ethics of war, what their attitude towards ethics of war is, and how they practice these ethics of war during war and operations other than war. Research was therefore conducted to assess knowledge of, attitudes toward and practices of the ethics of war of officers and soldiers of the Zambia Army. A mixed method research was undertaken using explanatory sequential approach. A sample of 420 participants was drawn from officers and soldiers serving in the Zambia Army. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data, while focus group discussions and interviews were undertaken to collect qualitative data. The findings from the focus group discussions and interviews provided depth and understanding about how the officers and soldiers felt about ethics of war. The findings of focus group discussions and interviews also helped to explain the findings from the quantitative data. Quantitative data were analysed at two levels. The first level of analysis comprised descriptive statistics in the form of frequency distribution tables, means and percentages. The second level involved inferential statistics by applying the chi-square test in order to determine the relationship, if any, between the independent variables and the dependent variables using the Statistical Packaging for Social Sciences. Further, the research used Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient to measure the strength and direction of association between two ranked variables. Analysis of qualitative data begun during the data collection exercise by arranging the field notes according to salient themes in relation to the objectives. This was followed by pinpointing, examining and recording patterns within the data collected. The conclusion of the study showed that, at the time, the majority of the Zambia Army officers and soldiers were reasonably acquainted with the knowledge of ethics of war. The study further concluded that Zambia Army officers and soldiers held very strong and positive attitudes towards the ethics of war at the time. In addition, the officers and soldiers also widely accepted and supported the ethics of war, as they considered them beneficial. It was evident from the research that the Zambia Army soldiers and officers practiced the ethics of war extensively and regularly during both local and international operations. However, more needs to be done to increase knowledge levels.

Large-scale monitoring of operationally diverse district heating substations: A reference-group based approach

A typical district heating (DH) network consists of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of substations. In the absence of a well-understood prior model or data labels about each substation, the overall monitoring of such large number of substations can be challenging. To overcome the challenge, an approach based on the collective operational monitoring of each substation by a local group (i.e., the reference-group) of other similar substations in the network was formulated. Herein, if a substation of interest (i.e., the target) starts to behave differently in comparison to those in its reference-group, then it was designated as an outlier. The approach was demonstrated on the monitoring of the return temperature variable for atypical11Here, “atypical” means that while it does not fit the definition of a normal operation, it is not faulty either and may also have some context. and faulty operational behavior in 778 substations associated with multi-dwelling buildings. The choice of an appropriate similarity measure along with its size k were the two important factors that enables a reference-group to effectively detect an outlier target. Thus, different similarity measures and size k for the construction of the reference-groups were investigated, which led to the selection of the Euclidean distance with k=80. This setup resulted in the detection of 77 target substations that were outliers, i.e., the behavior of their return temperature changed in comparison to the majority of those in their respective reference-groups. Of these, 44 were detected due to the local construction of the reference-groups. In addition, six frequent patterns of deviating behavior in the return temperature of the substations were identified using the reference-group based approach, which were then further corroborated by the feedback from a DH domain expert.

Reconfiguration of intelligent electrical distribution networks of railways

The Digitalization of the power supply system and the introduction of sources of distributed generation based on renewable energy create new conditions for improving the efficiency of transport and distribution of electric energy. In normal operation, the 35/10 (6) kV distribution electric networks of railways have an open-ended structure and are partitioned in such a way as to be able to connect a group of substations to another power source in emergency or repair modes. Existing technologies for managing modes in these electrical networks do not imply the possibility of changing their topology to ensure the tasks of reducing overload and electricity losses in the pace of processes of change in demand for electricity in normal modes. As a rule, at present, the task of reconfiguring the electrical network arises when normal conditions are restored after accidents, when lines are overloaded, and if necessary, electrical equipment needs to be repaired according to the n-1 criterion, while optimizing the modes. The most important task of increasing the transmission capacity of distribution grids can be solved by reconfiguring them at the pace of changing the demand for electricity in normal conditions, without resorting to expensive reconstruction and increasing the installed capacity of electrical installations and lines. An algorithm for reconfiguring the electrical network has been developed to increase its capacity based on solving problems of optimizing normal modes (static reconfiguration) and minimizing power consumption without calculating steady-state modes in the pace of electricity demand changes (dynamic reconfiguration).To ensure the admissibility of the modes of distribution electric networks, approaches to managing the supply of active (based on renewable sources) and reactive capacities and the demand of active consumers have been proposed. There are the results of the implementation of dynamic reconfiguration for the test circuitry without taking into account the power supply and demand management of active consumers, indicating the validity of the proposed approaches to improving the capacity of the electrical network

Why Sub-State Groups Are Endowed with Rights

When should international law recognize sub-state groups and, consequently, their demands? Surprisingly, in the new and vast literature dealing with the questions of sub-state groups and their rights in international law, there is little discussion of this question. Usually it is assumed that certain cultural, racial, or religious groups qualify for international recognition, and others (implicitly) do not. Those scholars who have more deeply studied this question generally identify general abstract criteria for group-rights recognition, such as the permanency and involuntariness of group identity, the importance that members of the group ascribe to group identity, the numerical inferiority of group members, and so on. In this chapter, the author concludes that the identification of such abstract criteria for sub-state group qualification is of limited usefulness, and can exclude otherwise deserving groups. Rather, the recognition of a sub-state group as a rights-bearing entity is necessarily a function of deeper normative questions, and what international legal recognition in fact seeks to achieve.

Special Operations Forces’ Role in Political Warfare

Great-power competition is once again the primary threat to the security of the United States. This is reminiscent of the political warfare between the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, in which both sides sought to use political warfare to counter the other’s influence and expand their own. US embassies around the world were on the front lines of this irregular warfare struggle. Today’s modern operational environment is far more complex, with sub-state and non-governmental groups being just as influential as government organizations. US country teams with the responsibility to understand the political warfare challenges against the US lack the capacity to engage all the relevant groups. Special Operations Forces (SOF), as political warfare experts, must act as an extension of the US country teams. SOF teams using the diplomatic, information, military, and economic (DIME) model can extend a US country team’s influence far beyond the host nation’s capital. The twentieth century has many examples of small teams, with local understanding and strong local partnerships designing and implementing tactical political warfare activities which had a strategic effect. This article will examine some of these examples to demonstrate the role that modern US SOF teams can play to support US country teams.

Accounting power supply schemes for traction substations in the calculation of short circuits in the AC traction network

When calculating short-circuit currents in the AC traction network, it is assumed that each of the traction substations receives power from uncoupled external power supply sources with known resistances. In some cases, especially when powering a group of traction substations from a high-voltage power line of a longitudinal power supply, the external power supply system affects not only the magnitude of short-circuit currents, but also their redistribution between adjacent traction substations of the interstation area where this circuit is considered. Such unrecorded redistribution can have a negative effect on short circuit protection. The article considers the equivalent circuit of the traction network, taking into account resistance of the external power supply system. Particular attention is paid to the fact that in replacement circuits of direct and negative sequence value of reduced resistance of one phase of a multiwinding transformer, calculated from the short circuit voltage, does not depend on the connection scheme of its windings. It is noted that in some cases it is difficult to obtain a complete scheme of an external power supply system. Considering that the short circuit in the traction network for the external power supply system is remote, it is proposed taking into account the reference network or traction substations as power sources, from which high-voltage transmission lines power the traction substations. Resistance of the supporting substations as power sources must takes into account connected equivalent power system.Such equivalenting should be carried out by known values of currents or short-circuit powers at the inputs of the reference substation or, if such information is not available, by the rated values of the switched-off currents or powers of the switches of high-voltage line connections.The following power schemes for traction substations are considered: each from its own supporting substation, which is part of an electrically uncoupled external power supply system; from the double-circuit high-voltage line of longitudinal power supply when it is powered from different supporting substations; from the supporting network substation, the traction substation receives power from two lines, and from this the traction substations receive power from two lines in a circle pattern.These three common cases cover all the most common power schemes for traction substations. For each of them formulas are given to determine the resulting equivalent resistance of the external power supply circuit, which should be taken into account in the replacement circuit of the traction network.

Magical Materialism: On the Hidden Danger of Repatriation Disputes

Magical Materialism: On the Hidden Danger of Repatriation Disputes

Lessons on Political Violence from America’s Post–9/11 Wars

A large literature has emerged in political science that studies the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This article summarizes the lessons learned from this literature, both theoretical and practical. To put this emerging knowledge base into perspective, we review findings along two dimensions of conflict: factors influencing whether states or substate groups enter into conflict in the first place and variables affecting the intensity of fighting at particular times and places once war has started. We then discuss the external validity issues entailed in learning about contemporary wars and insurgencies from research focused on the Afghanistan and Iraq wars during the period of US involvement. We close by summarizing the uniquely rich qualitative and quantitative data on these wars (both publicly available and what likely exists but has not been released) and outline potential avenues for future research.

PV and CSP integration study experience in a Mediterranean partner country

The current study employs static and dynamic analysis configurations under different case studies in order to define the allocation, maximum capacity of non-conventional generation with emphasis on photovoltaic (PV), concentrating solar power (CSP) and wind energy technologies that may be inhabited within a region of a Mediterranean partner country. This work focuses on the impact that may induce any distributed units' addition on the power system's load flow and transient stability. A group of substations were proposed to introduce the dispersed generation with the extension in mind to suggest the voltage level to connect these units. The main issues addressed were the total system losses and short-circuit capacity whereas among the most critical disturbances was a three-phase fault incident. Thermal and solar plants using basic machine models such as synchronous generator, exciter and governor and a wind farm employing doubly fed induction generator technology were chosen throughout this research study. The dynamic behaviour of the system elements was examined by changing the solar irradiance, applying a three-phase fault at the PV and wind power plant connected buses and by performing open-circuit setpoint step tests for one of the CSP exciter models. PSS®E software simulation tool of Siemens PTI will be utilised throughout this work.

When Identity and Politics Meet in Strife-Torn Pakistan

This article analyzes the complex relationships between identity, politics, and civil strife. The author challenges the material, structural, and functionalist approaches to ethnic conflict that undervalue the role of ethnic and religious identities in communal behavior, seeing them as instrumental factors of civil strife. The article focuses on the intersection of identity and politics in Pakistan, addressing attributes of state and substate actors that jointly shape collective behavior. It aims to show how interactions between the state and substate groups outline “the politics of identity,” in which cultural and material concerns jointly define the agendas of kinship networks. The review of the complex Pakistani scene shows that the intersection of sectarian identities and politics generates fierce conflict that threatens to tear Pakistan apart, yet the confluence of ethnic networks and politics keeps the strife-torn country together.

Probabilistic Method for Optimizing the Number and Timing of Substation Spare Transformers

This paper proposes a new probabilistic method based on chronological Monte Carlo simulation for computing optimal distribution substation spare transformers. The method allows the representation of events such as aging process, load growth, and other conditions not supported by traditional methods based on Poisson and Markov processes. The lifetimes of the transformers are represented by discrete probability distributions, determined by an algorithm that combines the aging of the insulating material, estimated by Arrhenius theory, with the loss of life caused by short-circuits, lightning and switching surges. To illustrate the importance of sizing the inventory based on reliability indices and costs, the proposed method is applied to a group of substations with 177 transformers of 138–13.8 kV, with power rating of 25 MVA. Finally, the proposed methodology is used in combination with a metaheuristic algorithm for determining the optimal timing strategy for composing of the stock of spare transformers over a pre-established planning horizon.

Authorization and The Morality of War

Why does it matter that those who fight wars be authorized by the communities on whose behalf they claim to fight? I argue that lacking authorization generates a moral cost, which counts against a war's proportionality, and that having authorization allows the transfer of reasons from the members of the community to those who fight, which makes the war more likely to be proportionate. If democratic states are better able than non-democratic states and sub-state groups to gain their community's authorization, this means that some wars will be proportionate if fought by democracies, disproportionate if not.

Devolving Power to Sub-State Groups

1. Liberal States and the Problem of Calls for DevolutionWe Uve in a world of states: a world in which die dominant form of persisting structure for the wielding of political power is characterized by territorially concentrated power exercised through political institutions that exert sovereign control in the sense of being able to exclusively command compliance.1 Within such a world, calls for reorganization of the way these institutions are organized so as to devolve power to groups oppressed or marginalized within existing structures are inevitable.For proponents of liberal states, such calls for devolving power pose a problem. Proponents of Uberai states are committed to the possibility of reforming or reorganizing states so that die exercise of poUtical power through institutions that encompass the entire territory can rightly command compliance from everyone within its jurisdiction. When substate groups call for a reorganization in which power is devolved rather than reformed, they seem to deny that it is possible for institutions that encompass the entire territory to rightly command compliance from the groups' members at least. Calls for devolution imply that within some portions of the state's territory, or for certain of the state's inhabitants, state-level political institutions cannot rightfully command compliance, or at least, cannot do so exclusively.Proponents of liberal states might respond to this problem by letting go of the need for exclusive command. This would require the development of models of liberal states or other structures for wielding political power that are compatible with a pluraUty of sources of rightful commands for compliance at least some of which are horizontally rather than vertically related. Avery Kolers's theory of territorial rights, Margaret Moore's emphasis of jurisdictional authority, and Ayelet Shachar 's concept of joint governance may be read as steps toward developing such models.2However, for many proponents of liberal states, the prospect of a competing source of rightful command that may assert priority over decision making that applies to the entire territory is impractical, and conceptually difficult to sustain.3 An alternative response, one that preserves the pre-eminent position of institutions that encompass the state's entire territory and population, is to insist that such institutions have a vital role in ensuring that the decision making of sub-state groups meets minimal conditions of moral equality and respect for human rights. Reserving these powers for state officials is argued to be unproblematic insofar as even groups who might legitimately reject state-level political institutions as rightfully commanding compUance in many or even most spheres of life must accept the requirement that policies be developed and applied in a way that preserves individual members' moral equality and respects and secures their basic human rights.4 Given this, state-level political institations may rightfully compel all individuals living within a territory to observe minimal standards of political equality and respect for human rights, even those who may plausibly claim to be exempt from rightful command by such institations in other regards in virtue of their membership in an oppressed or marginalized nonstate group. Regardless of the grounds on which a sub-state group calls for devolution of power, political institations at the level of the state may legitimately compel compliance with directives aimed at securing the moral equaUty and human rights of the group's membership; and so states may legitimately reserve to themselves powers of oversight or remedy in relation to groups calling for power to be devolved.Emphasizing the role of institations that encompass the entire territory in guaranteeing minimal conditions of moral equality and respect for human rights seems promising, but it cannot provide a satisfactory account of the desirability of empowering state officials to exercise powers of oversight, and so it cannot justify reserving such powers in the face of calls for power to be devolved. …

Securing Uncertainty

The theoretical concept John Herz called a ‘security dilemma’ has rarely been applied to sub-state social figurations, although security dilemmas do shape political behaviour in post-conflict peacebuilding. Comparable to state formation, sub-state groups develop institutional capacities. Often led by ‘warlords’ or ‘strongmen’, these entities resemble states within, while lacking recognition and legitimacy from without. Between these entities arises a sub-sovereign form of security dilemma. It is a result of uncertainty about the other’s motives regarding expansion, control of sources of funding, or domination within the legal order of the ‘state’. When statebuilding is pursued by external actors, aiming to fill the legal void, the ‘state’ can become a source of existential risks for sub-state entities. Risks – from extinction to the transformation of a group’s socio-political identity – can stem from another sub-state group taking over the state, appropriating superior means of coercion and hence enabling itself to subjugate others; relative deprivation concerning external funding or revenue from trade or smuggling; or loss of investment in networks of patronage, favourable terms of trade, or monopolies for certain goods. External support adds considerable uncertainty about interventionists’ capabilities, willingness and ability to steer and control statebuilding efforts. This article explores how risks and their perception shape interaction between social actors and at the same time how awareness and consideration of these risks may influence external actors’ behaviour. It argues that understanding risk constellations within an intervention and their processual transformation is vital for external statebuilding support.

“We must agree on our vision”

From 1999–2008, New Zealand’s Labour-led coalition Government fashioned a specific discourse of globalisation and the nation. Within a representation of globalisation as a realm of hostile competition, New Zealanders were increasingly addressed as contributors to an urgently necessary and meaningfully shared national response. While there was nothing particularly unusual about this discourse, the history and structure of New Zealand society meant that its political and ethical implications could be seen particularly clearly in this setting. This article analyses three key features of the government’s discourse — its future-focussed orientation, its heavy use of imperative terms and its careful use of the first person plural — and shows how they led logically to a reductive address and positioning of individuals and sub-state groups. Drawing on elements of CDA and critical political theory, it explores how the discursive construction of a shared (national) purpose served an anti-political function by marginalising divergent perspectives, including the historically-based claims of the indigenous Maori.

Self-Determination, Secession, and Dispute Settlement after the Kosovo Advisory Opinion

AbstractThis piece provides critical analysis of some of the broader consequences of what is potentially suggested by certain findings in the 2010 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on ‘Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo’. The focus is on consequences for disputes generally, and disputes relating to self-determination and secession in particular, in either case including disputes that have been made subject to a Security Council-imposed settlement process. In the first place, the piece considers the relatively specific suggestion that sub-state groups are free to unilaterally terminate a Security Council-imposed process aimed at enabling the resolution of a dispute concerning their aspirations to external self-determination, without this termination having to comply with the principles of justice and international law. In the second place, the piece considers the relatively broad suggestion that the act of any sub-state group of declaring independence and seceding from the state within which it is located, without the consent of that state or any other international legal sanction, is likewise not regulated by international law.

The 9/11 Attacks—A Study of Al Qaeda's Use of Intelligence and Counterintelligence

The 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. were undoubtedly the most brazen and shocking terrorist attacks conducted by a sub-state group in history. Al Qaeda's capacity to achieve this outcome depended in large part on its meticulous intelligence and counterintelligence preparations. These activities allowed Al Qaeda to exert a strong measure of control over its operating environment, leading to a confidence that events would unfold as planned. Moreover, intelligence and counterintelligence allowed Al Qaeda to form highly accurate and realistic assessments of its environment, an outcome that helps to dispel notions of an organization consumed by a level of fanaticism that distorts its perception of reality, or else frustrates its capacity to engage in rational decision making.

Beyond standards before status: democratic governance and non-state actors

AbstractAre international standards of democratic governance applied to sub-state actors as well as to states? By examining the international response to self-determination claims, this article demonstrates that the international community does indeed hold sub-state groups accountable to such standards. Claimant groups that have internalised human rights and democratic norms are more likely to receive international support in the form of empowerment (promoting some form of self-governance). Through a comparison of the Kosovars’ quest for self-determination with the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians’ claim, the article suggests that ‘standards before status’ is neither unique to Kosovo nor a deviation from the pre-1999 international response to that claim.

The Unraveling of Iraq: Ethnosectarian preferences and State performance in Historical perspective

This article argues that the ethnosectarian chaos of today's Iraq is a consequence of state policies and capacity. The same ethnosectarian problems have existed since the birth of the Iraqi state in 1921. However, unlike the post-2003 period where ethnosectarianism has been institutionalized in the body politic, and where the state is unable to project power to subdue sub-state competitors, the pre-2003 period saw the state pursue nationalist policies that denigrated ethnosectarianism and had enough power to impose its will on fissiparous sub-state groups. The answer to the question of whether Iraq will unravel need not be limited to the expectation of Iraq's total demise as a sovereign member of the global community. It does not necessarily anticipate its dismemberment into two or more independent parts. But we could ask the question of whether there will be an Iraq that would resemble the country from its inception in 1921 until the demise of the Saddamist regime in 2003 - a political entity brought and kept together by a central government that had the capacity to impose law and order, subdue sub-state fissiparous tendencies, and control economic activity in the land. The concern over Iraqi unity relates to the seeming gradual eclipse of a national Iraqi identity by sub-state, ethnosectarian identities. But that is hardly a unique or even contemporary phenomenon. Multiple identities and loyalties are as old as Iraqi history. After all, Iraq was patched together into a monarchy by the British in 1921 from three disparate provinces of the defunct Ottoman Empire. Divisions were so deep that when it came to choosing a ruler for the new state, the British realized that no local candidate would command the support of the whole population. 1 While the British decision to choose Prince Faysal of Hejaz to be Iraq's first monarch was of course multifaceted, there can be little doubt that ethnosectarian divisions in the infant state constituted one important factor. Twelve years into his reign, King Faysal would still lament the yawning dislocations in his realm. Iraq is one of those countries that lack religious, communal, and cultural unity, and as such it is divided upon itself; its power dispersed The Arab Sunni government rules over a Kurdish population, the bulk of which is ignorant, that is led by people with personal ambitions who use the [Kurds'] ethnic difference to advocate secession. [The government also rules over] an uneducated Shi'ite majority that shares the same ethnicity with the government, but which was persecuted by Turkish (Sunni) rule that [divided] the Arab population between the two sects. [This led] to the perception, which I have heard thousands of times, that taxes and death are the Shi'ites' lot in life, while public positions are reserved for the Sunnis In addition, there is the tribal mindset, plus the influence exercised by the shaykhs over the tribesmen, and the fear that [this influence] would wane in the face of enhanced governmental authority... 2 STATE POLICIES The difference between 1933 and 2003 and after was not so much in the ethnic- sectarian-tribal structure of society, but in the policies adopted by the governing elites, as well as the perceptions of these policies by the population. Regardless of the country's fissures, which in fact were deeper in the first decade of statehood than what had pertained in the post-2003 era, Faysal's government was wholeheartedly committed to the ideal of a national state, and worked to subsume communal identities within an overarching Iraqi identity. The man who spearheaded the undertaking was Faysal's protege, Sati' al-Husri, who was Iraq's Director General of Education. 3 From that position Husri and a group of committed disciples exerted profound influence on the educational and cultural orientations of the country, particularly in its crucial formative years. They disseminated their views on nation-building through purposeful educational policy, such as secularizing both the school and college curriculum, and imbuing them with nationalist ideas. …