A ‘nation in exile’: the renewed diaspora of Syrian Armenian repatriates

Since the escalation of the Syrian conflict and refugee crisis in 2011, almost a fifth of Syrian Armenians in Syria have fled to Armenia. Most of them are descendants of the Armenian Genocide (1915) victims, who found shelter in Syria a century ago. Contrary to expectations on ethnic repatriation, their displacement and attachment to Syria emerge. The study assesses this peculiar case of the origin and return of a ‘traditionally diasporic’ community by combining models offered by diaspora studies with analysis of qualitative research on Syrian Armenian returnees who fled war-torn Syria. Continuing on the pathway initiated with the ‘Great Repatriation’ of Armenian diasporans to Soviet Armenia of 1946, the return to Armenia is a prolonged trajectory of diasporic displacement. Syrian Armenians returning to Armenia experience a conflict-generated diaspora of diaspora in the supposed homeland of Armenia. Explanations include the dissociation between the imagined Armenian homeland and the legally constituted one in present-day Armenia, and between the latter and the motherland of Syria. This challenges the essentialist account of the Armenian diaspora and, ultimately, the hypothesis surrounding Syrian Armenian marginalization and gradual ‘exit strategy’ in Syrian society.     

The Syrian refugees—left to their fate

ABSTRACT

The war in Syria led to one of the worst refugee crises experienced by the Middle East in recent decades. Its scope is unprecedented and has far-reaching implications not only for Syria or what remains of it, but for the receiving countries as well. In some cases, such as Lebanon or Jordan, the mass of newcomers may have an unsettling and disruptive effect on the demography of their host country. Syrian Refugees who found shelter in neighbouring countries may be able to return home or, alternatively, they may be able to be absorbed relatively easily in their current places of residence. With regard to the refugees in Europe, it is doubtful that they will ever return to their homeland, and, in any case, the Syrian regime is not at all interested in their return. Thus, for many more years even after the war in Syria ends, the problem of the refugees will undoubtedly remain complex, unresolved and an enduring burden on the host countries.

Abbreviation: EU: European Union; ISIS: the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria; PPS: the Syrian National Party; SNC: Syrian National Council; UN: United Nations; UNCHR: the UN High commisioner for Refugees     

Explaining the (Non-)Encampment of Syrian Refugees: Security,Class and the Labour Market in Lebanon and Jordan

In Lebanon and Jordan the (non-)encampment of Syrian refugees is serving states’ labour market goals. The Lebanese economy ‘requires’ large numbers of non-encamped low-wage Syrian workers, but the Jordanian regime assists its Transjordanian support base by restricting poor Syrians’ access to the labour market through encampment. While acknowledging the importance of both states’ differing historical experiences hosting refugees, and the security and budgetary motivations for policies of (non-)encampment, this article uses a critical political economy analysis of economic and labour market statistics to dislodge the centrality of the security discourses that increasingly inform discussions of refugee populations and the policies directed towards them. It demonstrates that the camp is not only a space of humanitarianism or a fertile ground for armed militancy, but a tool through which states spatially segregate those refugees, of certain socio-economic classes, whom they deem surplus to labour market requirements.     

Non-governmental organisations and the management of HIV and AIDS in refugee camps: A comparison of Marratane Camp in Mozambique and Kakuma Camp in Kenya

In recent years, a number of sub-Saharan African states appear to have placed restrictions on the operations of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) within their state boundaries. Indeed, some commentators and academics have questioned the role NGOs should play in providing humanitarian aid to refugees and to what extent they are, or should be, involved in the political, cultural, economic and healthcare concerns and agendas of any state. However, the high HIV/AIDS prevalence in refugee camps in sub-Saharan Africa creates negative economic, social, political and security implications for their host states and many states lack the knowledge, experience and funds to manage the problem successfully. Within this context, this article examines and compares the role and effectiveness of two separate NGOs involved since 2001 in HIV/AIDS management programmes in two distinct refugee camps: Save the Children in Marratane Refugee Camp in Mozambique and the International Rescue Committee in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. NGO success in managing HIV/AIDS programmes is analysed according to UNHCR guidelines and specifically against four key aspects of HIVAIDS management; HIV/AIDS awareness, HIV/AIDS prevention, access to HIV healthcare services and the provision of treatment.     

Transnational Migrants,Globalization Processes,and Regimes of Power and Knowledge

This article situates the Bush administration's new strategy in the historical context of the international capitalist order established by the United States at the end of the 1940s and argues that this order, though extraordinarily successful for some decades, is now in crisis. The unique capitalist international community that the United States established under its primacy revived international capitalism while preventing geopolitical rivalries between the main capitalist centers. The leading sectors of U.S. business have become dependent on the preservation of the unipolar primacy order for its own economic security and expansion while the American domestic political economy has failed to revive as an industrial economy meeting the rules of international economics, exhibiting growing problems with current account deficits and rising levels of debt. To manage the resulting tensions between the orientation of American transnational sectors and problems in the domestic American political economy, the United States has developed an international monetary and financial regime that is destabilizing and dependent upon the preservation of American political primacy over the capitalist world. But the Soviet collapse has destabilized the primacy system, while the dominant sections of American capitalism are committed to rebuilding it. The Bush administration is seeking to rebuild U.S. primacy, using U.S. military dominance. But this carries very high risks.     

Jordan’s solution to the refugee crisis: idealistic and pragmatic education

ABSTRACT

Syrian refugees are causing upheavals in Jordan’s economy and education. Unemployment of Jordan’s native youth is 29.9% without the addition of unemployed refugees further threatening the stability of the country. The cost of educating, sheltering, feeding and integrating them into the cities with resulting school congestion creates resentment in citizens paying 60% of their national budget for refugees. To alleviate educational pressures alone, Jordan solicited funding from the European Union, United Kingdom, Germany, United States and Norway. Together, they pledged 81.5 million in May 2016 to expand education for Jordan’s refugee children. From the refugees’ perspective, all face similar challenges in gaining access to classrooms, adapting to the culture taught in the schools and catching up academically as they try to prepare for and seek employment to survive. Jordan’s government has implemented two 5-year educational reorganization programmes Educational Reform for Knowledge Economy (ERfKE) I, II that are in many cases unknowingly shifting instruction from idealism to pragmatism. This philosophical movement towards pragmatism is less expensive and more effective for future employment of all students in contrast to the existing idealistic system. Jordan’s transitioning changes in educational philosophies and programmes provide visions for Jordan’s future. Their educational adaptations provide suggestions for other refugee host countries.     

The discipline of international relations: still an American social science?

This article reviews the state of the discipline of international relations. It starts from statements made by the editors in their editorial published in the first issue of this journal. The editors noted that there seemed to have been less adherence to positivism in international relations than in other areas of political science and that there was both more opposition to positivism and more methodological and epistemological openness in international relations than in political science generally. The article outlines the current state of the field, focusing on the rationalist mainstream and then on the reflectivist alternatives, before looking at social constructivism, seeing it as the likely acceptable alternative to rationalism in the mainstream literature of the next decade. It then turns to examine whether international relations is still an American social science, before looking at the situation in the United Kingdom. It concludes that the editors' comments were indeed accurate, but that the fact that there is both more opposition to positivism in international relations and more openness in the UK academic community does not mean that the mainstream US literature is anything like as open or pluralist. The UK community is indeed more able to develop theory relevant to the globalised world at the new millennium, but the US academic community still dominates the discipline.     

Syrian refugees in Turkey: multifaceted challenges,diverse players and ambiguous policies

Turkey is rapidly transforming into a country of immigration in addition to its roles as a country of emigration and of transit. Bearing in mind that existing arrangements in this policy area are increasingly replaced by new legal, administrative and institutional mechanisms, this paper aims to map out these recent changes in Turkish refugee and asylum policy. In this context, the mass influx of Syrian refugees has become an issue of particular concern due to the complex interplay between its security, humanitarian and socio-economic dimensions and the multifaceted relationship between the growing number of state and non-state institutions. The numerous reports, policy briefs and analysis generated so far, however, lack a clear analytical framework that would explain both the domestic contestation and the role of various actors in Turkish asylum debate about the Syrian refugees. This paper thus examines different perspectives and approaches of the Turkish state, local and national NGOs and international organizations regarding the policies addressing Syrian refugees in Turkey. ?     

The 2008 Guinea Conakry coup: Neither inevitable nor inexorable

This article examines the issue of democratic governance in Guinea–Conakry and the impact that international donors had on the political debate in the last years of the Conté regime. Our contention here is that there was and continues to be an evolving pluralism and embryo group of self-defined civil society organisations in both urban and rural Guinea but as a result of the December 2008 military coup opportunities have been lost in the promotion of democratic governance and more pluralistic group dynamics in Guinea. Support for indigenous (and self-defined) civil society groups, including the development of political parties by the international community, is essential to the return to institutionalised governance.     

The Asian Rejection?: International Refugee Law in Asia*

The majority of Asian states have not signed onto the major international refugee law instruments which promote refugee recognition and protection. Yet, second to Africa, the Asian region has had the highest number of refugees since the Second World War. Three explanations are usually offered to explain this puzzle —“good neighbourliness”, “economic costs” and “social disruption”. In this article I argue that each is flawed in important ways and then develop an alternative by explaining how limited Asian involvement in the drafting of international refugee law has led Asian states to reject Eurocentric refugee recognition practices.     

俄罗斯对叙利亚政策中的东正教因素

俄罗斯在叙利亚乱局中的表现,近期再次成为国际热点。自2011年介入不断升级的叙利亚危机以来,俄罗斯目前已经成为主导叙政治进程的主要外部力量。在俄罗斯此次应对叙利亚危机的外交中,东正教因素起到了重要作用。早在帝国时期,俄国就持续介入叙利亚事务。俄罗斯与叙利亚自古以来的东正教文化交往,影响着沙俄对安提阿教会和叙利亚东正教徒的情感,成为沙俄加入中东大国角逐的突破口。此次介入叙利亚危机,是历史的延续。俄罗斯东正教会领导人的公开发言、其附属机构在国际组织对叙基督徒问题的宣传以及提供人道援助,起到了公共外交的效果,一定程度上使俄罗斯的介入和军事行动合法化,获得了俄罗斯国内外民众的理解与支持。东正教因素的上述多重影响,是俄罗斯介入此次叙利亚危机、并成功实现其外交策略和目标的重要因素之一。     

科索沃政治发展:从托管到“独立”

科索沃的政治发展在两个层面上运行,一是在政治权力归属上,由联合国向欧盟和科索沃当局过渡;二是在政治体制建设上,构建并实行议会制和三权分立、并关注社群权利保护的体制模式.在这两个层面的发展中,科索沃独特的国际地位和内部环境既提供了动力,也构成了障碍.     

DISARMING SOMALIA: THE CONTRASTING FORTUNES OF UNITED STATES AND AUSTRALIAN PEACEKEEPERS DURING UNITED NATIONS INTERVENTION, 1992-1993

This article examines the impact of ‘micro disarmament’during the United States/United Nations humanitarian interventionin Somalia, 1992–93. To this end, it considers the controversialnature of the UNITAF mandate, the disarmament experiences ofAmerican and Australian peacekeepers in Mogadishu and Baidoaand the lessons yielded from a comparative analysis. The argumentthat emerges is that the absence of a consistent strategy linkingdisarmament and political reconciliation, not peace enforcementper se, largely condemned the UN operation to failure. If theUS had positioned itself, like the Australians in Baidoa, abovethe warlords instead of between them, the picture for UN interventionin Somalia may have looked quite different. The integrated Australianapproach revealed that the international community, confrontedwith other Somalias, may yet have a wider choice than impotenceor muscular peace-enforcement.     

SIDESTEPPING A QUAGMIRE: RUSSIA,SYRIA, AND THE LESSONS OF THE SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR

Russia's military intervention in Syria (2015-present) has ensured the Assad regime's survival to date. Why though has Russia succeeded in achieving its objective? This article provides an analysis of Russia's involvement in the Syrian civil war in comparison to the Soviet Union's military debacle in Afghanistan (1979-89). Accordingly, by avoiding the USSR's mistakes in Afghanistan, this article posits that Russia has not become entangled in a protracted conflict in Syria. In Syria, Russia has militarily intervened to buttress the Assad regime, not to reorganize the host government's leadership and assume control over the war effort. Meanwhile, Syrian opposition forces lack concerted international support and Russia has allies that are assisting the embattled Syrian government. Lastly, Russia intends to ‘freeze’ the Syrian civil war in place by (i) pressuring opposition forces to submit and other countries to re-embrace Damascus in a diplomatic forum, (ii) endorsing Syria's claim to sovereignty, and (iii) relying upon a small military presence to deter others from destabilizing Assad's rule.     

金融危机与东南亚地区国际关系的新变化

金融危机使东南亚各国面对一系列严峻挑战 ,也使该地区的国际关系发生重大而深远的变化。东盟主导东南亚地区事务的能力受到了削弱。中美日等大国的影响力增强了。尤其是美国 ,利用这次金融危机 ,得到了许多它平时得不到的东西。金融危机之后 ,东南亚地区形成了由美、日、中和东盟四足鼎立的政治经济格局。     

Sheikh Wahbah al-Zuhaili on international relations: the discourse of a prominent Islamist scholar (1932–2015)

In recent years, radical and violent Islamist movements – such as al-Qaeda and its offshoot the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria – have seized the spotlight. A corollary of this preoccupation has been the proliferation of studies on the political thought of radical Islamist figures such as Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin-Laden. By contrast, scant attention has been paid to the thought of moderate contemporary Sunni Islamist scholars. This article attempts to rectify this situation by focusing on the international relations discourse of a prominent Syrian Islamist thinker Sheikh Wahbah al-Zuhaili (hereafter Zuhaili). The article examines Zuhaili's views on three central and interrelated topics: (1) the nature and underpinning principles of international relations; (2) war; and (3) the role of international law and international norms and conventions in international relations. By shedding light on Zuhaili's thought and situating it in its proper ideational and historical contexts, the article concludes that radical Islamist ideology is at the periphery of contemporary Islamist conceptualizations of international relations while the epicentre is held by mainstream Islamists whose perspectives on international relations are fairly compatible with prevalent western views, especially those emanating from the Realist school.     

日本在国际气候谈判中的立场转变及原因分析

日本是国际气候谈判的主要参与国家之一,在美国退出《京都议定书》的情况下日本最终选择批准议定书,让国际社会对作为京都会议东道国的日本在关键时刻表现出的担当态度赞赏有加。然而《京都议定书》的第一承诺期还未过去,日本就对《京都议定书》的未来表现出消极态度。文章试图分析日本在国际气候谈判中的立场由积极转变为不积极的原因,并在此基础上提出日本的谈判态度对国际气候谈判的启示。     

The Patterns of Syrian Uprising: Comparing Hama in 1980–1982 and Homs in 2011

Economic grievances that marginalized rural citizens and eroded the Syrian government’s political base are widely considered to have sparked the 2011 uprising. Although the country’s 1980–1982 protests were also blamed on economic factors, commentators to date have largely resisted comparing the events. This article draws parallels between Hama in the lead-up to 1980–1982 and Homs pre-2011, arguing that while there are differences between the uprisings—including the socioeconomic group involved—the root causes of grievance were remarkably similar. Both uprisings followed a redrawing of Syria’s social contract that marginalized a group that had previously had a stake in the Syrian state. In both cases, a new underclass was formed that became the backbone of the political unrest. Although economic factors cannot explain the 2011 uprising in its entirety, this article argues that some of the seed dynamics in 2011 were remarkably similar to 1980–1982.     

Celebrating Continuity: The Role of State Holidays in Syria (1918–2010)

National holidays are one of the major instruments of regimes and rulers aiming to legitimise their hegemony and maintain the social and political order. This article deals with the way in which successive Syrian regimes have celebrated the national—secular and religious—holidays. It compares the various Syrian regimes: the monarchy (1918–1920); the mandate period (1920–1946); and the republic period (1946–present).Although the latter period will be treated as a whole, the analysis differentiates between five periods: post-independence (1946–1958); the United Arab Republic (UAR; 1958–1961); the secessionist regime (1961–1963); and the Ba‘th regime (1963–present), with Bashar replacing his father in June 2000. The main thesis of this article is that Syrian regimes prefer continuity over change in the realm of state holidays. Thus, in contrast to Iraq, where each new regime has attempted to delegitimise its predecessor by abolishing the national calendar and inventing a new one, Syrian regimes have added new holidays to the calendar without erasing the old ones. In this way, Syria's calendar resembles an edifice occasionally renovated according to the regime's needs, but never demolished. This policy emanated from a desire to demonstrate continuity even in times of change and upheaval, while at the same time consolidating the local national identity, which has often competed with other supra-identities, such as pan-Arabism and Islam.     

浅析美国力压人民币升值的性质与政治目标--兼论中国的对策

目前,国际社会对人民币汇率问题的关注已进入一个新的阶段,中美之间围绕人民币升值问题所进行的争论和较量已趋于白热化.本文认为,美国力压人民币升值行为在本质上是一个重大的政治问题,美国有明显的政治战略和利益追求.面对人民币升值的压力,中国应理智和妥善处理好各种关系,以求得国家利益的最大化.