Suchergebnisse

In this article in the special journal issue "From Conflict to Coexistence" the threats to international peace and security posed by weak & failing states with communal tensions among rival factions, extremist groups with radical political agendas, & faltering regimes clinging to power & asserting militaristic ambitions has initiated a paradigm shift in the strategic environment attempts to respond to the forces of a growing world disorder. The terrorism of 9/11 raised the curtain on the era of failing states in which history has made a U-turn as the dominant threat to world peace no longer comes from powerful states, but from weak states. Identifying weak & failing states by the application of the Conflict Assessment System Tool (CAST) developed by The Fund for Peace describes 12 characteristics of economics, violence, high risk, foreign aid, & instability of the Failed States Index (SSI). The question of how to fix the failed states is concluded to require the two track policy of building core state institutions while reducing the conflict drivers. Implementation of these steps by Western governments & the UN Peace Building Commission through the Rand Corporation's "rough hierarchy of nation-building functions" as a guide is concluded to begin fixing failing states as the new national security agenda of the early 21st century. References. J. Harwell

As the author sees it, among the great political transitions of this decade, the crumbling of apartheid in South Africa ranks among one of the most stunning. To understand what has happened in this country in the past 18 months and to grasp evolving developments, she identifies the predominant myths (about whites, blacks and the nature of political change) and examines them against the backdrop of new realities that are turning South Africa's politics upside down. (DÜI-Sen)