Suchergebnisse

Nestled in the SWAT valley lies Pakistan's earliest known deradicalization initiative for former militants, the Mishal Deradicalization and Emancipation Program (DREP). The Deradicalization program was launched following a military operation in 2009 against the Pakistan wing of the Taliban, namely, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The program aimed to deradicalize and rehabilitate arrested militants, with what officials claim is a 99 percent success rate and with more than 2,500 former Taliban fighters now 'reformed'. The program abides by a 'no blood on hand' policy, whereby it only takes in militants who have not caused any bodily harm to others. In this paper, we analyze the deradicalization program and highlight the limits and challenges it faces. The paper also highlights the common individual and environmental factors among the beneficiary population of the deradicalization program. This study finds that most participants of the program belonged to large or broken families with weak socio-economic profiles. Additionally, these individuals had very little technical knowledge of religion. This study also finds that the program is more oriented towards re-integration rather than deradicalization due to its policy of inducting only low and mid-level cadre militants. The program also has other severe limitations including lack of credible religious scholars, limited financial and human resources.

The literature compiled in this four-volume collection explores the real and potential linkages between environmental change and security. Early formulations of environmental security date to antiquity, whilst contemporary formulations of environment-conflict-peace linkages grew in part from the environmental movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The ensuing flood of academic enquiry has been diverse and extensive, and the objective of this major work is to organize this important but polysemous literature in order to provide a comprehensive, historically rich and global overview of its key concepts, findings, contributors and methodologies

This article explores the nature of the contemporary "special relationship" between Germany and Israel. Having emerged out of the ashes of the Second World War and the Holocaust, political relations between these two states are widely seen as having successfully undergone a process of reconciliation. A key feature is German support for Israel, usually understood as a constant attempt to pay off a historical debt in exchange for rehabilitation and recognition of Germany as a "good state." The article probes another interpretation by asking whether contemporary German–Israeli relations have reached the stage of friendship, a relationship structured by care rather than guilt. To this end, it presents an original conceptual framework of interstate friendship as a bond of shared memories and visions that enable a common orientation toward the past and the future both sides are committed to invest in. Applied to an interpretive analysis of the "sharedness" of the memory of the Holocaust and the vision of a secure Israel, the paper finds strong evidence for the former yet significant gaps in the latter, concluding that relations between the states of Germany and Israel still fall short of friendship.

In his famous essay, Kant argued that the most important goal of foreign policy should be the democratization of governments. If all governments are democratic, their foreign policy behavior will be nonviolent. Peace will reign. This is particularly important for the establishment of a new political order in Europe. The solution is not the extension of NATO eastward, but the widening & deepening of democracy. Hajo Schmidt's (1996) argument that the media are more important than I have admitted is probably correct. However, since the media offers a plurality of views, I think that the citizen has the freedom of choice. Schmidt argues convincingly that democratization as a strategy poses many problems. There are, however, strategies available, direct & indirect ones. Changing the political environment of a country influences substantially its system of government. So do all processes of interdependence, ranging from direct military or economic help to business investments. Adapted from the source document.

This paper complements the limited scholarly interest in the case of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)'s consistent practice of word-deed gaps, or "hypocrisy" according to some scholars, by employing the insights of organisational sociology. Specifically, it introduces a claim that the gap between ASEAN's words and deeds can be understood as an organisational response to its material and political vulnerability in relation to its major external stakeholders, aiming to ensure its survival and adaptability. Accommodating multiple, or sometimes even conflicting, demands from various external actors, ASEAN may be able to secure its material and diplomatic engagement in developmental and political regionalism within Southeast Asia. However, ASEAN also wants to protect its local identity and practices; or it may want to avoid forced internal reforms at an undesirable scale and pace. In this context, organised hypocrisy would likely become a vital consideration for the complex institution. For ASEAN, this paper notes, these word-deed gaps reflect the way it wants to manage conflicting external demands as an international social agency.

Shaper Nations provides illuminating perspectives on the national strategies of eight emerging and established countries that are shaping global politics at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The volume's authors offer a unique viewpoint: they live and work primarily in the country about which they write, bringing an insider's feel for national debates and politics. The conventional wisdom on national strategy suggests that these states have clear central authority, coherently connect means to ends, and focus on their geopolitical environment. These essays suggest a different conclusion. In seven key countries―Brazil, China, Germany, India, Israel, Russia, and Turkey―strategy is dominated by nonstate threats, domestic politics, the distorting effect of history and national identity, economic development concerns, and the sheer difficulty, in the face of many powerful internal and external constraints, of pursuing an effective national strategy. The shapers represent a new trend in the international arena with important consequences. Among them is a more uncertain world in which countries concentrate on their own development rather than on shared problems that might divert precious resources, and attend more to regional than to global order. In responding to these shaper states, the United States must understand the sources of their national strategies in determining its own role on the global stage. ; https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/1274/thumbnail.jpg

Over the new year, tensions between Serbia and Kosovo rose once again. This occurred in the context of negotiations on a new European Union (EU) proposal - also known as the Franco-German or "European" proposal aimed at formalising relations between Belgrade and Pristina, much along the lines of the 1972 Basic Treaty between the two Germanys. On 27 February, there was a breakthrough in the negotiations: Both sides agreed on the text of the proposal, although it has not yet been signed. Additionally, the prioritisation of individual issues in the so-called implementation map has not yet been determined, which could cause further disputes. To ensure the adoption and full realisation of the agreement, the EU should not only assess its progress in the con­text of the EU accession negotiations of both countries. It should also estab­lish specific implementation and monitoring mechanisms that will secure more modest interim targets for the implementation of individual issues in the agreement. This is the only way to successfully implement the new agreement. (author's abstract)

Cooperation in global digital policy is considered one of the most promising fields in the strategic partnership between India and the European Union (EU). However, pro­found differences are apparent in terms of implementation, for example with regard to data protection, competences of security authorities and the future global digital order. Meanwhile, similar problems are being addressed in the EU's negotiations with the US on digital trade issues. Possible compromises there could also form components of an understanding with India. Shared democratic values are consistently referred to as a justification for efforts to strengthen Europe's cooperation with India. In their Roadmap 2025, India and the EU affirm their interest in promoting an "open, free, stable and secure cyber-space" and fighting cybercrime. But the road to this goal is proving to be rocky. (author's abstract)

By November 2017, as the civil war abated and the so-called Islamic State (IS) was all but defeated, Moscow increased its efforts to reach what it regards as conflict resolution in several fora beyond the UN-led Geneva process. Moreover, as the US administration made it clear that it would not be engaging in reconstruction efforts, Russia has sought European financial assistance to help cover the costs of rebuilding the country, together with Arab Gulf states. Although the European Union had, in April 2017, ruled out support for reconstruction without a political transition, calls have now been mounting in Europe to accommodate Bashar al-Assad, help in the reconstruction of Syria, and send back refugees. Yet, the fighting is far from over. More importantly, the mere reconstruction of physical infrastructure would do little to instill stability, but would rather raise the risk of fueling new conflicts. Europeans should therefore make clear to Russia that they will stick with their own approach. They should play the long game and develop leverage to make future contributions serve state- and peace-building purposes. Meanwhile, they should focus on increased levels of humanitarian aid, early recovery measures, such as de-mining and restoring basic water and health infrastructure, building human capital in Syria and among Syrian refugee communities, in addition to concentrating on civil society and local governance support where they have credible partners. (Autorenreferat)