Is a Human Security Approach Possible? Compatibility between the Strategies of Protection and Empowerment

This article explores the delivery of strategies for human security,protection and empowerment, using as case study the UN AssistanceMission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) during 2002 and 2003. This UNoperation took place in the context of the international interventionsin Afghanistan and was a direct consequence of the US-led waron terror and the post-conflict state-building process whichensued. It was tasked to address the immediate human insecurity.The analysis of this mission highlights the pertinent issueswhich relate to the development of an effective human securityapproach and which apply to UN operations in general. It isvital, in this respect, to examine the compatibility betweenthe strategies of protection and empowerment, as human securitynow forms a central value of UN operations. This exploration,in turn, questions the distinct role of the UN in dealing withhuman insecurity in post-conflict situations.     

Political leadership at state level in India: Continuity and change

ABSTRACT

Possible explanations are discussed in this article for the paucity of studies regarding political leadership, especially at the state level, in a well-functioning electoral democracy such as India with many parties and leaders. The article argues that such studies can be useful in making sense of the political and economic changes/shifts and developments of a particular state over a period that may have national impact. The article further argues that there has been a perceptible shift not only in terms of social composition but also in the “language” of politics used by the emergent generation of political leaders cutting across the party lines. The change has coincided with the rise of state-level parties and leaders in the post-Congress era followed by the ascendance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).     

Making aid effective at the community level: the AMREF experience

Effective use of donor aid is critical in achieving the sixth Millennium Development Goal –reversing the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2015. The Paris Declaration of 2005 identified five key principles for aid effectiveness: ownership, alignment, harmonisation, mutual accountability and managing for results. As civil society organisations play a critical role in implementing HIV/AIDS interventions, it is important that they adhere to these principles. Often, however, they fail to implement interventions conforming with the principles, leading to duplication and inefficiency. Two case studies from AMREF in Kenya demonstrate how the principles of aid effectiveness can be applied to increase the impact of HIV/AIDS interventions.

Rendre l'aide efficace au niveau communautaire : l'expérience d'AMREF

L'utilisation efficace de l'aide apportée par les bailleurs de fonds est cruciale pour atteindre le sixième Objectif du Millénaire pour le développement – inverser l'épidémie du VIH/sida d'ici à 2015. La Déclaration de Paris de 2005 a identifié cinq principes clés pour l'efficacité de l'aide : l'appropriation, l'alignement, l'harmonisation, la redevabilité mutuelle et la gestion en vue de résultats. Comme les organisations de la société civile jouent un rôle crucial dans la mise en ?uvre des interventions en matière de VIH/sida, il est important qu'elles adhèrent à ces principes. Cependant, souvent, elles échouent à mettre en ?uvre des interventions conformes aux principes, ce qui aboutit à des doublons et à l'inefficacité. Deux études de cas d'AMREF au Kenya démontrent la manière dont les principes de l'efficacité de l'aide peuvent être appliqués pour accroître l'impact des interventions de lutte contre le VIH/sida.

Tornando a Ajuda Efetiva no Âmbito da Comunidade: A experiência da AMREF

O uso efetivo da ajuda dos doadores é crucial para se alcançar o sexto Objetivo de Desenvolvimento do Milênio – reverter a epidemia do HIV/AIDS até 2015. A Declaração de Paris de 2005 identificou cinco princípios-chave para a efetividade da ajuda: apropriação, alinhamento, harmonização, responsabilidade mútua e gerenciamento para resultados. Como as organizações da sociedade civil desempenham um papel crucial na implementação de intervenções relativas ao HIV/AIDS, é importante que elas tenham adesão a estes princípios. Frequentemente, porém, elas falham na implementação das intervenções de acordo com os princípios, levando à duplicação e ineficiência. Dois estudos de caso da AMREF no Quênia mostram como os princípios da efetividade da ajuda podem ser aplicados para aumentar o impacto das intervenções relativas ao HIV/AIDS.

Una ayuda más eficiente a nivel comunitario: la experiencia AMREF

Para alcanzar los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio y conseguir que la epidemia del VIH/SIDA retroceda para el 2015, es de vital importancia que la ayuda de los donantes se utilice con más eficiencia. La Declaración de París de 2005 enunció cinco principios clave para que la ayuda sea eficaz: apropiación, alineación, armonización, rendición de cuentas mutua y gestión basada en los resultados. Debido a que las organizaciones de la sociedad civil desempeñan un papel fundamental en la lucha contra el VIH/SIDA, es necesario que éstas respeten los cinco principios. Sin embargo, a menudo éstos no se aplican en la práctica ocasionando duplicidades y falta de eficiencia. Dos estudios de caso de AMREF (siglas en inglés de la Fundación Africana de Medicina e Investigación) en Kenia muestran cómo estos principios de eficacia en la ayuda son útiles para aumentar el impacto de la lucha contra el VIH/SIDA.     

张掖市某养猪专业村暴发猪瘟的诊断和防制

甘肃省张掖市某养猪专业村 1999年饲养量达 12 0 0 0多头 ,由于引进仔猪及防疫等方面操作不规范 ,导致暴发猪瘟 ,死亡 2 0 0 0余头。经采取综合防制措施 ,使疫病得到了有效的控制。1　发病情况及临床症状该村某农户从外地猪贩子处购入 16头廉价的生长肥育猪与家中的 5 2头猪合圈饲养 ,当日部分猪即出现体温升高 ,皮肤发紫 ,食欲减退或废绝 ,精神沉郁 ,畏寒 ,行走时后躯不稳 ,背腰拱起 ,眼角有脓性分泌物 ,皮肤有出血点 (或出血斑 )等症状 ;病猪便秘或与腹泻交替发生 ,粪便常有粘液或血液 ;共死亡病猪5 7头 ,死亡率为 83 .8%。以后该病在全村…     

Build a Cultural Bridge for International Exchanges through Dancing

正Dancing is one of the earliest forms of arts born in the long history of human beings.As a creative dancer,I personally hold that the greatest charm of dancing is that you could use your body language to the largest extent to truly express your thoughts,emotions and insights,so as to strive to achieve genuine communication that transcends languages and writing between the dancers and the audience.     

美国站在战略十字路口

“9·11事件”是冷战结束后最具标志性的事件。值此“9·11”五周年之际,《现代国际关系》编辑部举办了“‘9·11’以来国际形势变化与中国外交”专题研讨会,邀请在京二十余位国际问题专家就五年来的国际形势变化、反恐形势、当前国际体系中的深层矛盾、大国关系的调整、国际格局的演变趋势、美国反恐的得与失、美国国际地位及实力的升与降、中国国际地位与国际战略等问题进行了深入分析和探讨。现将与会专家学者的主要观点辑录刊发,以期对读者把握国际战略形势及理解中国对外战略有所裨益。     

传染性羊痒病抗性基因分型方法的建立

根据GenBank中登录的绵羊朊蛋白编码基因PRNP序列,设计并合成了可用于单核苷酸多态性(SNP)快速分析的3对引物和7条分别标记了FAM和VIC荧光染料的MGB探针,建立了一种利用荧光定量PCR扩增反应对羊痒病抗性基因进行筛选的方法。结果表明,设计的引物及探针具有特异性和高效扩增性,能够用于PRNP羊痒病抗性基因的快速分型。借助该方法可建立一整套完善的预警监测体系来预防该病的发生,也可用于羊痒病的常规实验室诊断。     

U.S. at a Crossroads

On the fifth anniversary of September 11, there are many subjects deserving comment. Here I focus on one issue, the problem of the United States. The world today appears more unstable and uncertain than it was five years ago. This is not surprising, given that the U.S. stands at a strategic crossroads. My judgment is based on the following three arguments:     

American Grand Strategy in a World at Risk

If there is no single long-standing American grand strategy, one nonetheless sees through the course of U.S. history the tracks of a grand strategy. It started with the idea of a U.S. monopoly in the Western Hemisphere, along with balances of power in the chief theaters of the world; with belief in the primacy of sea and air power and the need for an economic system to support these; and the objective of transforming international politics. Since 9/11, even if the strategic hierarchy, intensity, and political basis have changed, the Bush administration has largely been continuing in this same project, with a sensible strategy but poorly considered tactics.     

绵羊PRNP密码子136和154及171等位基因型的ARMS-PCR鉴定方法的建立

根据已获得的绵羊PRNP密码子136、154和171等位基因型的序列,设计并合成了针对各等位基因型的特异性引物,摸索3′末端引入的错配碱基种类及位置,优化扩增条件,以建立绵羊PRNP密码子136、154和171等位基因型的ARMS-PCR鉴定方法。应用ARMS-PCR分析已知PRNP等位基因型的绵羊血样,验证ARMS-PCR与PCR-SSCP鉴定PRNP等位基因型的符合率。经ARMS-PCR验证,已知的15种绵羊PRNP等位基因型的94份血样,两者的基因分型符合率达100%。研究结果显示,该ARMS-PCR分型法能够准确鉴定出绵羊PRNP密码子136、154和171的等位基因型,且具有简便、快速、廉价的优点,适合于绵羊PRNP等位基因型的普查。     

Capacity building through secondment of staff: a possible model in emergencies?

This article offers a case study of a secondment of staff from a Northern NGO (Trócaire) to a Southern partner, the Catholic Development Commission (CADECOM) of Malawi, as a possible model for capacity building. The approach described was tried in the context of an emergency programme, but it could also be used in a development context. The author analyses the appropriateness of the model in terms of its administrative structure, focus, and impact, and draws lessons for practitioners for its successful application.     

Reviving the Russian empire: the Crimean intervention through a neoclassical realist lens

Although many policy-makers and scholars maintain that international norms have altered the motivations underlying state behaviour, this article argues that states continue to pursue national self-interest, but in ways that remain understudied. While traditional realist assumptions explain a great deal of state behaviour, they have not been widely used to account for important alternative tools of state intervention, such as economic and normative strategies. Focusing on the case of Russia's 2014 intervention in Ukraine, this article offers insights into how, and under what circumstances, these tools are used to accomplish traditional state objectives. Guided by the tenets of neoclassical realism, the article argues that in the case of Russia, military force is no longer the sole, or even the primary, means used to accomplish traditional security goals. Such dynamics have significant theoretical and policy implications for contemporary international relations.     

Supporting communication for development with horizontal dialogue and a level playing field: The Communication Initiative

This article describes The Communication Initiative (The CI), a network of those using communication to foster economic and social change in communities around the world. Network members access information and collaborate with each other through any of three knowledge websites–one with a worldwide overview and focus, one with a focus on Latin America, and one with a focus on Africa–and their associated electronic newsletters. These online spaces are components in a broader process that the author terms ‘horizontal communication’, which is central to providing a non-judgmental, level platform for accessing the information and interactions that are important to those actually practising communication for development. Drawing on this approach, The CI has engaged 50,000-plus people from 184 countries over the past seven years; the author outlines the elements that have been central to this success.     

Working at the intersection—a story from Australia

Conceived by nurses in the hospital of a Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut, and inspired by Norwegian People's Aid, the international aid agency of the Australian trade unions was designed to give a genuine material base to solidarity with national liberation struggles. Bridging the difficult division in Australian labour politics between the Catholic right and the social democratic and pro‐Moscow lefts, Australian People for Health, Education and Development Abroad (now Union Aid Abroad APHEDA) was able to channel funds from unions and the Australian government to agriculture, health, and vocational training projects in many countries in the South. Unlike most counterpart organisations in Europe and the USA, its earlier partners were rarely trade unions. Only recently has APHEDA directly supported trade union training in Cambodia, East Timor, and Indonesia, under pressure from Australian unions, who see workers' rights in neighbouring countries as crucial to their own fate. Yet unions in advanced capitalist countries don't spontaneously understand the humanitarian and development needs of countries, such as Papua New Guinea, where waged workers are a small minority of the population. Unionisation is only one part of the solution. The April 2000 Durban congress of the ICFTU called for trade unions to ‘organise the unorganised’, such as informal‐sector workers, and to build alliances with NGOs and civil society around shared values. As a trade union NGO, APHEDA is located in the middle of a challenging intersection. Mandated to educate Australian workers on globalisation issues, APHEDA finds itself often more partisan than other international development NGOs in Australia, sometimes more circumspect. With attacks on union rights and the increasing share of the Australian aid budget delivered through private companies, APHEDA faces decisions about its independence, alliances, direction, and sustainability.     

International Scene at the Dawn of a New Century

On the Threshold On the threshold of a new century, while retrospect shows a stormy centuryjust gone by, prospect displays renewal and transformations on the horizon.Just as traces of the past can be found in the trajectory of the future, so could cluesto the future be predicated from vestiges of the past. On the one hand, a reflection of the future can be gleaned from past develop-ments. In fact, all the atmospheric patterns of the current global landscape havebeen deeply intertwined with major transformations in the political and economic     

ASIA-EUROPE MEETING (ASEM): fostering a multipolar world order through inter-regional cooperation

Since its inception in 1996 ASEM has provided an opportunity for focussing relations between the EU and East Asia as a forum for informal multilayered dialogue and building a framework for enhanced cooperation in the political, economic and social/cultural fields. Inter-regionalism, of which ASEM is the incarnation in the EU-Asia relationship, developed into an important policy tool of the EU in an effort to maintain a multipolar setting. Regional identities in Asia are at a different level when comparing South East Asia, North East Asia, East Asia and South and Central Asia. ASEM contributed to a certain extent to the region building in East Asia. Although the economic pillar of ASEM turned out to be the more important one when compared to the political and the people-to-people pillars, it will not become the basis for a (deep) inter-regional free trade agreement because of the diversity of the Asian members, reinforced by the last ASEM enlargement. However, turning weakness into strength, ASEM could become the EU’s vehicle for a more holistic approach to Asia thereby fostering a more economic and political multipolar world order. The financial melt down of the international financial order lead to the rediscovery of the need for international cooperation not only on the level of business but also among states. Making use of ASEM, developed over the last 12 years, could provide the much needed platform in the EU-Asia relationship. The author, Adjunct Professor for International Politics at the University of Innsbruck, formerly served as ASEM Counsellor of the European Commission as well as Minister and Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Japan and is presently EC Ambassador to Switzerland. He contributes this paper solely in his academic capacity and the views expressed should not be attributed to the European Commission; the thoughtful comments by Brigid Gavin on the draft are appreciated and the research assistance of Tilo Wagner is recognised.

---