The Struggle for Establishing A New International Order

The 20th century is a century when both intra-national order and internationalorder were frequently changing. The struggles have never stopped focusingon setting order. Today with the East-west cold war over for 10 years, there arestill strong appeals for peace and stability, and demands for establishing a newinternational order. The War on Kosovo in the end of the 20th century is a sig-nificant attempt from the U. S. and other major Western powers to set up a newworld order without caring whether by means of force or even of war. This war     

The Fifth Wave: The New Tribalism? 1

In political disputes, issue frames set parameters for debate and shape which view dominates. This study expands issue framing research to examine the influence of frames on the perception of future terrorist threats as well as subsequent support for related counterterrorism policies. We test several hypotheses using data from an experimental field poll. We find that issue frames clearly influence perceptions of threat. However, our frames, which posit specific terrorism threats, only have a limited influence on respondent preferences for counter-terrorism policies. We consider a variety of explanations for these results and provide direction for future research.     

A cooperative Peru: Is centralisation of cooperatives better for local development?

Research shows that some agricultural cooperatives implement development projects in their local communities. What remains to be explained is why certain cooperatives pursue local development while others do not. Through a comparison of coffee cooperatives in two regions of Peru, this study examines the implications of a regional cooperative for local development. The creation of a regional cooperative leads to a concentration of resources and a decrease in the need and ability of local cooperatives to pursue independent development projects. At the same time, it allows for more equal access to those resources and to the benefits of cooperative-led development projects.     

The Rise of Referendums: A Death Sentence for Multilateralism?

Perhaps the most notable development of the second half of the twentieth century, and its greatest achievement, is the rapid global spread of two institutions: democracy and multilateralism. These institutions have collectively made us safer and more prosperous than any previous generation in history. But could the two now be coming into conflict? Recent experience regarding the EU suggests both that referendums as a tool of foreign policy decision-making are likely to become more common in the future, and that they pose major risks for multilateralism and international cooperation.     

The US and China: A New Bipolar World

Despite uncertainty over the international order,China and the US are increasingly creating a bipolar world.Compared with the former US?Soviet Union bipolarity,primary components of the Sino-US bipolar structure are economy,trade,finance,technology,culture,development model,and value.The complexity of the new bipolarity is a test for national strength,strategy and wisdom.Continuing to analyze the development of the international order will be crucial to assessing the international strategic situation and diplomatic policy-making.     

Intersectionality – A challenge for development research and practice?

“Intersectionality” as a concept is increasingly finding its way into development work. In order to develop an understanding of the concept, this article shows how intersectionality can be used as a conceptual framework to analyse identity-based development claims. The article builds on qualitative research with people living in the countryside in northwest Pakistan to develop an intersectional methodology to engage with development claims. It uses a three-step analytical model to identify subject positions from which different people negotiate “eligibility for development'' and ‘‘responsibility to develop”. The paper shows how frequently used categorisations such as gender and class should be complicated by development practitioners and worked with in a more nuanced way.     

Prime Minister Badawi:A New Look for Malaysia

Prime Minster Abdullah Badawi has successfully presented a newlook for his country since he took over from his much-respected predecessor former Prime Minister Mohamad Mahathir and won a land-slide election victory last March. Domestically, he has improved theimage of the ruling National Front coalition (Barisan Nasional) and hisparty the United Malay's National Organization (UMNO) by pressingahead with drastic reforms including crackdown on corruption and socialcrime. Externally, he h…     

Fit for purpose? A review of guides for gender-equitable value chain development

This article presents a review of seven guides for gender-equitable value chain development (VCD). The guides advocate persuasively the integration of gender into VCD programming and raise important issues for designing more inclusive interventions. However, gaps persist in their coverage of gender-based constraints in collective enterprises, the influence of norms on gender relations, and processes to transform inequitable relations through VCD. Guidance for field implementation and links to complementary value chain tools are also limited. The article identifies opportunities for conceptual and methodological innovation to address the varying roles, needs, and aspirations of women and men in VCD.     

The Davao Consensus: A panacea for the Muslim insurgency in Mindanao?

This article examines the process of conflict resolution in the southern Philippines, paying particular attention to the peace agreement that was signed between President Ramos and Nur Misuari, the leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), in 1996. Having traced the historical background to the conflict on Mindanao, the article analyses the main features of the 1996 Davao Consensus and examines the reactions that have so far been exhibited by four main ‘rejectionist’ groups ‐ the Moro Islamic Liberation Organisation (MILO), the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and Christian vigilante organisations. The article concludes that in the absence of substantial economic investment in Mindanao ‐ something that does not look likely at least in the short term ‐ support for these groups will grow, greatly reducing the chances for a lasting peace on the island.     

The Capability–Capacity Crunch: NATO's New Capacities for Intervention

Abstract

In September 2006 NATO's role in Afghanistan expanded to cover the whole of the country. With 32,000 troops under NATO command Stage 4 of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) represents an open-ended commitment to rebuilding a country long torn by war and instability. The Alliance's showpiece for advanced military transformation, the the NATO Response Force (NRF) represents a down payment on the future of transatlantic military co-operation. Taken together these two developments reflect the reality of NATO's new interventionism of an Alliance that bears little or no resemblance to that which won the Cold War. NATO today is an organisation designed for global reach and global effect, undertaking operations at their most robust. Unfortunately, the re-design of NATO's architecture has not been matched by a parallel development in Alliance military capabilities. NATO's big three, the US, Britain and France, have taken steps to improve their military capabilities. However, the transformation of NATO's other militaries has proved slow and uneven, leaving many members unable to fulfil any meaningful role. Thus, as NATO today plans for both robust advanced expeditionary warfare and stabilisation and reconstruction vital to mission success in complex crisis management environments a gap is emerging. Indeed, in an Alliance in which only the Americans can afford both military capability and capacity most NATO Europeans face a capability–capacity crunch, forced to make a choice between small, lethal and expensive professional military forces or larger, cheaper more ponderous stabilisation and reconstruction forces. This article explores the consequences of the crunch and the implications for NATO's current and future role as the Alliance struggles to find a balance between fighting power and staying power.     

The Importance of Historical Context: A New Discourse on the Nation in Basque Nationalism?

All nationalist movements make use of a variety of aspects (language, history, race, etc.) of the territory claimed as a nation to build their discourse on said nation, and, though these discourses are often presented as something permanent and unchanging over time, they can change depending on the historical context. This is indicated by the Basque nationalist movement's two main discourses on the nation, as well as by what appears to be a tendency towards a new discourse currently being developed within this movement. The new discourse seems to have adopted the concept of democracy as a key element in its theorization.     

The Internet: A Virtual Training Camp?

This study aims to investigate how Al Qaeda uses the Internet for military training and preparation. What kind of training material is available on jihadi webpages, who produces it, and for what purpose? The article argues that in spite of a vast amount of training-related literature online, there have been few organized efforts by Al Qaeda to train their followers by way of the Internet. The Internet is per today not a “virtual training camp” organized from above, but rather a resource bank maintained and accessed largely by self-radicalized sympathizers.     

A conservation partnership for development? Marine conservation and indigenous empowerment at Mimiwhangata

In New Zealand indigenous participation is identified as a means to achieve effective environmental conservation and indigenous empowerment. This article suggests that within current frameworks the scope for meaningful authority and control to be devolved to indigenous communities is limited. The Mimiwhangata project demonstrates the importance of participatory processes in confronting policy shortcomings. Although the successful implementation of culture-centred conservation offers a conservation model both accommodating state-led goals and providing for indigenous cultural empowerment, structural change is required within conservation policy to achieve this outcome.