War Order Research Articles

The Invention of Peace: Reflections on War and International Order Micheal Howard

The Invention of Peace: Reflections on War and International Order Micheal Howard

Racing Berlin

Racing Berlin

Globalised images of environmental security in Africa

Since the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s, there has been a pronounced concern in academic and policy circles, with global environmental change, and its implications for global security (Speth, 1990; Brock, 1991; Renner, 1996; Brown, 1994; Obi, 1997a, 1997b, 1998b; Leach & Mearns, 1996; Hyden, 1999). At the heart of this shift has been the expansion of the notion of security to include the containment of non‐military, extra‐state threats. Thus, issues such as poverty, environmental degradation, crisis, wars, drug‐trafficking and even migration were included in the emerging perspective to security. Also, globalisation meant that threat‐perception in the west began to take on board the linkages between environmental crisis in the third world, with its strategic needs for stability, markets, resources, and even, leisure. At the same time, there was the concern among some policy‐makers and scholars of the implications of globalisation for the post‐colonial African state, which was experiencing various forms and intensities of crisis. Such fears were based on the belief that a crisis‐ridden Africa would pose a serious threat to global peace and security. This concern is most pronounced in the surviving Cold War superpowers, particularly the United States, which is the undisputed global hegemon in the post‐Cold War order.

Politics of Constitutional Reforms and Democratization in Africa

JULIUS O. IHONVBERE [*] ABSTRACT Any constitution that does not emerge from widespread consultations with all nationality and interest groups cannot be regarded as legitimate. The basis of constitutional legitimacy must now be measured by the extent to which the masses have been part of the process of compacting the constitution. [1] The mere existence of a constitution, however comprehensive, will do little to create a stable environment for democracy and development unless people know and understand its provisions, have faith that their governments will not overrule it, and believe that their rights as promulgated within it, will indeed be upheld (Ould-Abdallah 1998). Introduction: Global Issues and Objectives CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS have become the main political activity in most African states. In Angola, Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria to mention a few, constitutions are either being reformed or there are very intensive contestations on the need for reforms. Without doubt, these agitations for reforms and on going reviews of existing constitutions are precipitates of the changing character of national, regional, and global politics. The end of the Cold War has had far-reaching impacts on socioeconomic and political relations in Africa. As distances are shrinking and economic and financial relations are becoming streamlined, African states have had to adjust accordingly. The imposition of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank designed and supervised structural adjustment programs (SAPs) on African states was accompanied with the imposition of political conditionalities. Economic conditionalities required African states to execute policies of desubsidization, deregulation, devalu ation, and the adoption of other stringent fiscal and economic policies. As well, economic conditionality required the crisis and debt-ridden African states to shrink their roles in the economy, and open their economies to the new forces of globalization that were rapidly integrating national markets. Of course, for foreign dominated, distorted, disarticulated, and largely technologically challenged African states, globalization meant further incorporation into the margins of the world economy. This marginal location meant increasing vulnerability to the vagaries of a metropole-dominated capitalist global order. Unfortunately, for most African states, the failure of adjustment programs culminated in a rising debt profile, unemployment, inflation, a rising crime wave, rural-urban migration, infrastructural decay, and social dislocation. One consequence of this development was the massive emigration of qualified professionals (brain drain phenomenon) to foreign lands, thus, further complicating the already desp erate economic conditions in the continent. As African states were struggling to meet the stringent conditionalities required to obtain credit, aid, and resuscitate their declining markets, Western nations, lenders, and donors, capitalizing on the advantages of the post-Cold War order, imposed new political conditionalities. Among other factors, the conditionalities required African states to respect human rights, allow for multiparty politics, and conduct democratic elections as preconditions for doing business or securing aid. This new approach reflected a determination by the global community to alter existing economic and political patterns for restructuring the emerging global order, albeit in the interest of the developed nations. Yet, the new emphasis on democracy, human rights, elections, transparency, and accountability was designed to streamline conditions within the developing formations to make them conducive for business. In this way, economic and political conditionalities became aspects of the overall globalization process by incorporat ing political necessities within economic determinants that fuel the global relations of power, production, and exchange. …

From policy to regime: Trends in Euro‐Mediterranean governance

The post‐Cold War (dis)order has lent great fluidity and instability to the Euro‐Mediterranean international (sub)system, which was not well equipped in terms of policies, competencies and institutions to transcend such complexity. This essay traces the origins of the Euro‐Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) and examines whether the EMP will be empowered through mechanisms and institutions to manage Euro‐Mediterranean relations. It focuses on the period since 1995, when the European Union (EU) has been investing in its Mediterranean policy more seriously. The essay conceptualises the EMP as an international regime in statu nascendi, and explores the properties and dynamics of Euro‐Mediterranean governance. The essay concludes that international regime theory provides a useful set of conditions for regional order‐building and the successful institutionalisation of Euro‐Mediterranean relations.

From the Balkans to Central Asia: Kosovo as Harbinger

The left-wing advocates of NATO's attack on Yugoslavia have achieved the singular feat of being the first group of people on the international left to have sided with this mighty military machine of imperialism in its history of exactly half a century. The Kosovo War was, hence, not only a new manifestation, after the Gulf War of 1991, of the fact that the New World Order is also a New War Order; it equally was a sign of the extreme and unprincipled confusion reigning in large segments of the international left and acted as a warning with respect to the probability of even more abject instances of capitulation before imperialism in the near future.

Elder of Ukrainian Religious Studies (to the 75th anniversary of B.O.Lobovik)

The Makiyivka village, which was donated to the Ukrainian people by Boris Lobovik December 22, 1923 in the Bakhmach district in Chernihiv Region. Having finished finishing in high school Baturyn Hetman capital, the young man since September 1941 continues his studies at the regimental school. Then - participating in battles near Belgorod, in the Kharkiv and Voronezh directions, injuring, capturing and fleeing, again engaging in hostilities. The Order of the Patriotic War, a number of medals marked the battle merits of Boris Alexandrovich. In the end, the rank of lieutenant colonel is a reserve.

Development NGOs and the Challenge of Partnership: Changing Relations between North and South

This paper reviews the changing relationships between Northern development NGOs (NNGOs) which are organizations with their roots in industrialized countries, and local southern NGOs (SNGOs) which exist in many aid‐recipient countries. It draws on selected experiences from the Bangladesh context. There are three main changes which have taken place. Firstly, many NNGOs in the past decade or so have moved from implementation of development projects towards a partnership approach in which they fund and attempt to work with SNGOs. This has increasingly led to the idea of NGO "capacity‐building" as a key objective, but a significant growth in SNGO capacity in a country such as Bangladesh increasingly renders such objectives less meaningful. Secondly, official bilateral or multilateral development donors are increasingly moving towards the direct funding of Southern NGOs rather than the previous model of funding through Northern NGOs in the partnership approach. This leaves many NNGOs in an uncertain position. Thirdly, the need to respond to international emergencies in the post‐cold war order has led governments increasingly to fund NNGOs to undertake relief and emergency work on a contractual basis. This trend also potentially raises questions about the viability of their longer‐term development work. All three sets of changes are contributing to an uncertain future for NNGOs, which arguably face an "identity crisis", and they will need to adapt carefully to the emergence of new global social policy agendas if they are to continue to be effective.

New borders for new world orders: territorialities at the fin-de-siecle

After decades of relative silence, the study of frontiers and boundaries is resuming a prominent place in political geography. The impetus for the revival of limology (border studies) comes from the global context of a post-Cold War order, which has led to challenges to existing political arrangements, and from the identity turn in human geography and related disciplines. The study of frontiers and borders needs to be integrated into the main theories of the discipline. World-system theory, long criticized for its lack of a territorial footing, offers an opportunity for extension of its three geographic scales (world-economy, nation-state and locality) to incorporate two newly-emerging spatial dimensions at the macro-regional (bloc) and sub-national levels. Global and geopolitical trends, as well as shifting identities at national and sub-national scales, are reviewed and their effects on the changing scales of territoriality are reviewed. A geographic model illustrating the shifting and overlapping nature of borders is developed based on the contemporary developments in Eastern Europe. The case of contemporary Ukraine, as an example of state-and nation-building, shows these geopolitical changes as complex and dynamic.

American Diplomacy and the End of the Cold War: An Insider's Account of U.S. Policy in Europe, 1989-1992

As director for European affairs at the National Security Council from 1989 to 1992, Robert Hutchings was at the heart of U.S. policymaking toward Europe and the Soviet Union during the dizzyingly fast dissolution of the Soviet bloc. American Diplomacy and the End of the Cold War presents an insider's report on and analysis of U.S. performance during a crucial turn of world history. Hutchings also brings a scholar's balanced judgment and historical perspective to his insider's view as he reconstructs how things looked to policymakers in the United States and in Europe, describes how and why decisions were made, and critically examines those decisions in the light of what can now be known. He assesses the critical support of U.S. diplomacy for the East European revolutions and the unification of Germany-offering fascinating character sketches along the way-and describes how U.S. relations with Moscow were managed up to the collapse of the USSR. Hutchings also discusses the difficulties in forging a post-cold war European order and U.S. failures in dealing with a disintegrating Yugoslavia.

India in the World: Neither Rich, Powerful, nor Principled

War, one of the defining events for the post-Cold War order. India's confused response?which included a unilateral peace initiative to Baghdad?based on a faded image of itself as leader of the non aligned nations, succeeded in alienating both Baghdad and Washington without winning any friends. Being bracketed with Cuba and Yemen in a U.N. Security Council vote at war's end calling for Iraq's surrender was less than edifying. Five years later, India repeated the policy mistakes. Last September the U.N. General Assembly approved the text of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which India had campaigned against, by a vote of 158-3. Only Bhutan and Libya joined India in rejecting the treaty. The next month, the General As sembly voted to fill five nonpermanent seats on the Security Council. India and Japan keenly contested the Asian va cancy. What was expected to have been a close vote, perhaps requiring several bal lots, turned into a rout. Japan romped home, 142-40. The two defeats proved that, 50 years after independence, India is neither rich enough to bribe, powerful enough to bully, nor principled enough to inspire.

The World the Cold War Made: Order, Chaos, and the Return of History

An examination of the Cold War from the creation and structure of the postwar settlement to the eventual coming apart of the post war order in the 1980s and early 1990s. James Cronin explores the creation and structure of the postwar settlement and the eventual coming apart of the postwar order in the 1980s and early 1990s. Cronin argues that the current state of the world must be understood against the backdrop of the postwar order that until recently governed, prevented or distorted political and economic change.

MEDIA OBSERVATIONS ON WORLD OPINION DURING THE KUWAITI CRISIS: POLITICAL COMMUNICATION AND THE EMERGING INTERNATIONAL ORDER

This paper discusses the role of political communication in defining the “post‐Cold War order” by focusing specifically upon the question of the construction of world opinion by different nations' newspapers. The first section analyzes references to world opinion during the pre‐Gulf War Kuwaiti crisis in the New York Times and the Times of India. Topics for discussion include (1) the comparative timing of references to world opinion on the crisis; (2) the comparative emphases on the moral and pragmatic components of world opinion; (3) the two newspapers' evaluations of world opinion on the crisis; and (4) the manner in which both newspapers describe the timing and extent of Iraq's isolation from the world community. The second section correlates these findings with the United Nations activity regarding Iraqi sanctions during the crisis. It is shown that once both newspapers reflected a rough consensus regarding the timing of references to world opinion and the isolation of Iraq, this consensus was reflected in the timing of documents on sanctions in the United Nations. The paper concludes by evaluating the importance of understanding different constructions of world opinion as a means of evaluating the role of political communication in the post‐Cold War order.

The Myth of Post-Cold War Chaos

A great deal of ink has been shed in recent years describing various versions of the post-Cold War order. These attempts have all failed, because there is no such creature. The world order created in the 1940s is still with us, and in many ways stronger than ever. The challenge for American foreign policy is not to imagine and build a new world order but to reclaim and renew an old one?an innovative and durable order

The Perils of Anarchy: Contemporary Realism and International Security

Current debates about the nature of international politics have centered on the clash between supporters and critics of realism. The Perils of Anarchy brings together a number of recent essays written in the realist tradition. It includes realist interpretations of the collapse of the Cold War order and of the emerging order that has replaced it, the sources of alignment and aggression, and the causes of peace. A final section provides a counterpoint by raising criticisms of and alternatives to the realist approach. Contributors: Charles L. Glaser. Christopher Layne. Peter Liberman. Lisa L. Martin. John J. Mearsheimer. Paul Schroeder. Randall Schweller. Stephen M. Walt. Kenneth N. Waltz. William C. Wohlforth. Fareed Zakaria.An International Security Reader

Yugoslavia, the former and future: reflections by scholars from the region

This book contains a unique collection of essays written by scholars from the former Yugoslavia, exploring the events that led to the devastating disintegration of their homeland. The scholars, who are from the different ethnic groups now in conflict, provide insightful, multicultural perspectives on the crisis. The essays lead readers to reconsider the assumptions behind the predominant western views of the post-cold war order and the place of ethnic conflict and ethnic nationalism in that order. Most of the authors point to the causes of the federal breakup and the war that are specific to the social, political, and economic situation of Yugoslavia as it evolved since Tito. The existence of these causes, largely ignored in western analysis of the crisis, questions the view that conflicting or overlapping claims of different ethnic groups must result in nationalism and national conflict. The variety of viewpoints--by scholars from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia--provides a much-needed dialogue about the combination of forces, events, and personalities that led to the crisis and offers the opportunity to look ahead to a brighter future for the region. This book is essential reading for everyone who wants a better understanding of what caused the breakup of Yugoslavia, as well as the more general problems of nationalism and post-cold war international struggles. The contributors are Vojin Dimitrijevic, University of Belgrade; Dusan Janjic, University of Belgrade; Dusan Necak, University of Ljubljana; Albina Necak Luk, University of Ljubljana; Zoran Pajic, University of Sarajevo; Zarko Puhovski, University of Zagreb; Milorad Pupovac, University of Zagreb; and DragomirVojnic, University of Zagreb. Payam Akhavan is a legal adviser at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the Hague and was formerly a human rights investigator with the United Nations in the former Yugoslavia. Robert Howse, assistant professor of law at the University of Toronto, was Second Secretary at the Canadian Embassy in Belgrade from 1984 to 1986.

Book Review: Charting the Post-Cold War Order

Book Review: Charting the Post-Cold War Order

German politics of genetic engineering and its deconstruction.

Policy-making, as exemplified by biotechnology policy, can be understood as an attempt to manage a field of discursivity, to construct regularity in a dispersed multitude of combinable elements. Following this perspective of politics as a textual process, the paper interprets the politicization of genetic engineering in Germany as a defence of the political as a regime of heterogeneity, as a field of 'dissensus' rather than 'consensus', and a rejection of the idea that the framing of technological transformation is an autonomous process. From its beginning in the early 1970s, genetic engineering was symbolically entrenched as a key technology of the future, and as an integral element of the German politics of modernization. Attempts by new social movements and the Green Party to displace the egalitarian imaginary of democratic discourse into the politics of genetic engineering were construed by the political élites as an attack on the political order of post-World War II Germany. The 1990 Genetic Engineering Law attempted a closure of this controversy. But it is precisely the homogenizing idiom of this 'settlement' which continues to nourish the social movements and their radical challenge to the definitions and codings of the politics of genetic engineering.

Asia Pacific in the New World Politics

The Post-Cold War Era - Asia Pacific in the New World Order, J.C. Hsiung Power and Policy - US Choices in a Changing Pacific Region, S. Chan Japan Redefining Its Role, B. Gordon Japan and Russian-Japanese Relations, P. Berton China in the Post-Nuclear Era, J.C. Hsiung Post-Cold War Philippine and South Korean International Relations, A. Celoza and M. Sours Taiwan and the Post-Cold War Order, C. Clark Impact of the New Asia Pacific on the Southeast Asian Nations, B. Gordon Alternative Directions for US Strategy in the Changing Pacific Basin, D. Denoon Asian Pacific Economic Integration in Global Perspective, P. Chow Asia Pacific and 21st-Century World Politics - Horizon-Gazing, J.C. Hsiung.

The Social Market and Liberal Order: Theory and Policy Implications

During the Early 1990s the Term Social Market economy has been used rather loosely; this is not surprising since the theory is derived from a specifically German tradition of political economy with little or no resonance outside the Germanspeaking area. The leading thinkers in the genre are hardly known in English-speaking circles and most of their works remain untranslated.The fundamental purpose of this article is to present this rich and diverse strand of thought to a non-German audience barely aware of its existence, to point out possibilities for developing the international aspects of such a theory, and to highlight policy issues concerning the post-cold war European and international orders which can be addressed from social market perspectives.