Politically motivated violence in the southwest pacific

Over the past 20 years the Southwest Pacific has been changing and there is now considerable scope for unrest within the states and territories of the region. Some of these tensions have already been manifested in politically motivated violence, for example in Irian Jaya, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia and Fiji. Those incidents which have occurred to date have stemmed from local issues and been directed against local targets, but an increase in tensions could bring the prospect of international terrorist activity. There is also the possibility of interference from outside elements seeking to capitalize on such unrest as part of a wider campaign.     

Breaking the cycle of violence: applying conflict sensitivity to transitional justice

The legacies of mass violence can, if left unaddressed, fuel future conflicts. Transitional justice seeks to address the legacies of large-scale past abuses. Despite the sensitive nature of transitional justice and recognition that initiatives can adversely influence conflict-affected contexts, there has been limited attempt to extend the application of conflict sensitivity to transitional justice. Conflict sensitivity is an approach and tool to help aid actors to understand the unintended consequences of aid and to act to minimise harm and achieve positive outcomes. Transitional justice initiatives can exacerbate tensions by replicating existing tensions; introducing resources that become a struggle for control; or challenging power and vested interests. This article argues that conflict sensitivity should be applied to transitional justice; and identifies tools and factors that could contribute to conflict sensitive transitional justice. They include promoting: broad-based participation; resonance with local actors; social cohesion; public outreach; collaboration with other sectors; and appropriate sequencing.     

Eurasian tensions: How the U.S. Should Assess Competitive Pressures from Russia and China

With tensions over Ukraine growing, the Biden administration finds itself confronting a similar charge to one that dogged the Obama administration in the run-up to and aftermath of Russia’s annexation of Crimea: namely, that it is exhibiting weakness that could embolden Moscow and other discontents of the post–Cold War settlement. This judgment overstates U.S. agency while discounting the competitive challenges confronting Russia and China.     

Anglo-American relations after Suez, the rise and decline of the working group experiment, and the french challenge to NATO, 1957-59

This article explores the establishment of a number of Anglo-American working groups at the Washington Conference of October 1957, and explains how the British regarded the groups as an attempt to institutionalize the principle of consultation in Anglo-American relations. American and British officials were anxious that the existence of the groups be kept secret for fear that they would be a cause of resentment to other close allies. De Gaulle's attacks on an Anglo-American monopoly within NATO, and disruptive calls for institutionalizing tripartite cooperation following his assumption of power in June 1958 underlined this point, and helped to cool US attitudes to any notion of formal machinery that by-passed established alliance structures. Practical problems associated with the functioning of the groups, as well as the potential for political embarrassment they could represent, meant that their role had largely by the spring of 1959, yet their brief history was illustrative of the tensions that exclusivity in ANglo-American relations could bring to the Western alliance.     

Anglo-American relations after Suez,the rise and decline of the working group experiment,and the french challenge to NATO, 1957-59

This article explores the establishment of a number of Anglo-American working groups at the Washington Conference of October 1957, and explains how the British regarded the groups as an attempt to institutionalize the principle of consultation in Anglo-American relations. American and British officials were anxious that the existence of the groups be kept secret for fear that they would be a cause of resentment to other close allies. De Gaulle's attacks on an Anglo-American monopoly within NATO, and disruptive calls for institutionalizing tripartite cooperation following his assumption of power in June 1958 underlined this point, and helped to cool US attitudes to any notion of formal machinery that by-passed established alliance structures. Practical problems associated with the functioning of the groups, as well as the potential for political embarrassment they could represent, meant that their role had largely by the spring of 1959, yet their brief history was illustrative of the tensions that exclusivity in ANglo-American relations could bring to the Western alliance.     

Changing Hydropolitical Relations in the Nile Basin: A Protracted Transition

A new hydro-political order is emerging in the Nile Basin. Upstream riparian states have improved their bargaining power vis-à-vis downstream countries by adopting a common position in the negotiations over a new framework agreement to govern the utilisation of the Nile waters. Some upstream riparians have unilaterally constructed hydraulic projects that threaten Egypt’s hegemonic position in the basin, the most notable of which is the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Whether these developments will lead to a more equitable utilisation of water resources and a more cooperative order will depend on the policies of the riparian states, especially in the Eastern Nile. Respect of the Declaration of Principles on the GERD signed between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan could help build trust between the three countries after years of tensions around the project. Beyond that, a basin-wide plan for the utilisation of water resources would not only maximise the benefits from the river and address the common challenges facing the basin, but also reduce the political costs of tensions on future projects.     

Bringing Practitioner Experience into the Classroom: The United Nations Intensive Summer Study Program

Diplomatic practitioners and policy makers represent an important, although frequently neglected, resource for teaching about international relations. The insights and stories provided by practitioners regarding key processes and events are often able to inspire our students to engage complex material and to play a much more active role in their own learning. While it is possible to argue that any type of practitioner contact is beneficial in terms of going beyond the material covered in textbooks, there are definite challenges associated with how to most effectively integrate these experiences with overall student learning. What type of format is most conducive to providing students with an insider's view? What type of preparation is required before contact with practitioners? How can student learning be evaluated in terms of assignments and debriefing activities? And finally, are traditional student feedback mechanisms appropriate for a course that involves a substantial practitioner component? This article investigates each of these challenges in the course of discussing one mechanism for bringing practitioner experience into the classroom, the United Nations Intensive Summer Study Program.     

The Politics of Restitution: The 1964-66 Labour Government's Policy Towards Ireland

This article analyzes Harold Wilson's policy towards the Republic of Ireland during the first eighteen months of his government. This article will demonstrate that the Labour government embarked upon a concerted effort to improve Anglo-Irish relations. In particular, the Labour government acceded to the Irish government's time-honoured request to repatriate the remains of Roger Casement, and returned the flag that had flown over the General Post Office during the 1916 Rising. How successful these gestures were is a moot point. In the short-term it almost certainly did create a climate of goodwill between the British and Irish governments. In the longer-term, however, it could be argued these gestures served to stimulate republican sentiment in Ireland, and perhaps contributed to heightening the tensions within Northern Ireland in the late 1960s.     

Looking Beyond a Nuclear-Armed Iran: Is Regional Proliferation Inevitable?

The past year has seen a steady rise in tensions with regard to Iran's nuclear programme. Iran's economy is being crippled by far-ranging sanctions and the threat of an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities looms large on the horizon. Yet the country's nuclear programme marches on, stoking fears that Iran may indeed be seeking to cross the nuclear weapons threshold. In this context, it is timely to consider how key regional players would respond to a nuclear-armed Iran. Many argue that an Iranian bomb would prompt a proliferation cascade in the Middle East. However, a closer examination of the drivers for key regional players shows that this is not necessarily the case. There is a range of non-proliferation tools that could be applied by the West and others to offset this risk.     

Democratising Transitional Justice: Transitional Trade-offs and Constituting the Demos

I argue that transitional justice should be democratised and to realise this goal I propose a method by which people can be enfranchised to make such choices. By showing that transitional justice options often involve trade-offs, I lay the groundwork for my democratic account of transitional justice. This article balances three democratic principles, including collective self-determination, the all affected interests principle and the protection of individual rights that are necessary to vote, to argue that victims and potential victims should constitute the transitional justice demos. I propose a new institution that would balance international and local control of transitional justice decision making, and choose the demos. This article does not attempt to construct a theory of how to resolve tensions in transitional justice decisions. Conversely, exactly because these tensions are often present, I develop a theory of who should be empowered to make transitional justice decisions and how their powers should be constrained.     

The Politics of Restitution: The 1964–66 Labour Government’s Policy Towards Ireland

This article analyzes Harold Wilson’s policy towards the Republic of Ireland during the first eighteen months of his government. This article will demonstrate that the Labour government embarked upon a concerted effort to improve Anglo-Irish relations. In particular, the Labour government acceded to the Irish government’s time-honoured request to repatriate the remains of Roger Casement, and returned the flag that had flown over the General Post Office during the 1916 Rising. How successful these gestures were is a moot point. In the short-term it almost certainly did create a climate of goodwill between the British and Irish governments. In the longer-term, however, it could be argued these gestures served to stimulate republican sentiment in Ireland, and perhaps contributed to heightening the tensions within Northern Ireland in the late 1960s.     

British cultural diplomacy and the cold war: 1946-61

Why was Britain so reluctant to use the tools of cultural diplomacy for the cold war? First, the habits of administration and the effects of war encouraged a compartmentalization of effort. There was no obvious point at which to construct an overview or a strategy which could match the Soviet enterprise. Second, the dissolution of the empire exposed the racism and ethnic tensions which had existed in both the United Kingdom and its colonies. Policymakers appeared to be pursuing incompatible objectives. They found it difficult to think about post-colonial influence except in terms of a policy for the Commonwealth, but also to construct such a line of action. The insubstantiality of cultural diplomacy is part of the trauma of losing great power status. Arab nationalism was the major force which prompted government into action on cultural affairs. Commitments were made before the military operations in Suez.     

Civil-Military Tensions and the US Civil-Military Bargain

Civil-military relations (CMR) are concerned with the interactions among the people of a state, the political institutions of that state, and the military of the state. In the United States, these interactions can be understood as a bargain regarding the allocation of military prerogatives and responsibilities. A history of US civil-military relations shows that this bargain has been periodically re-negotiated to take account of political, social, technological, or geopolitical changes. Often, such a renegotiation creates civil-military tensions. Yet, always underlying healthy civil-military relations is a fundamental degree of trust and respect between the uniformed military and the other two parties to the civil-military bargain. The absence of such mutual trust and respect has contributed to recent US civil-military tensions.     

Social action group strategies in the Indian sub-continent

The purpose of this paper is to review the experience of social action groups (SAGs) in the Indian sub-continent over the past fifteen years or so. There are tensions between their stated objectives and their actual practice, and conflicts arising from their role in the political sphere. The author considers the practical problems and some philosophical and conceptual issues arising from these tensions, and concludes with some recommendations for non-governmental funding agencies.     

Resolving the tensions between the principles of aid effectiveness: an Indonesia-Australia technical assistance project

It has been more than 10 years since the Paris Declaration was signed, yet critical questions remain about whether – and how – increased compliance at the national level has improved the overall effectiveness of Official Development Assistance. Previous studies have argued fundamental tensions arise between the principles of aid effectiveness as they are translated into practice. This article explores this argument using a case study of an Australian-Indonesian technical assistance project – the Poverty Reduction Support Facility – carried out between 2010 and 2015. It demonstrates that tensions do arise between the principles of aid effectiveness as they are translated into practice, but these can be resolved through political negotiation and compromise.     

British cultural diplomacy and the cold war: 1946–61

Why was Britain so reluctant to use the tools of cultural diplomacy for the cold war? First, the habits of administration and the effects of war encouraged a compartmentalization of effort. There was no obvious point at which to construct an overview or a strategy which could match the Soviet enterprise. Second, the dissolution of the empire exposed the racism and ethnic tensions which had existed in both the United Kingdom and its colonies. Policymakers appeared to be pursuing incompatible objectives. They found it difficult to think about post‐colonial influence except in terms of a policy for the Commonwealth, but also to construct such a line of action. The insubstantiality of cultural diplomacy is part of the trauma of losing great power status. Arab nationalism was the major force which prompted government into action on cultural affairs. Commitments were made before the military operations in Suez.     

Brazil as ‘Southern donor’: beyond hierarchy and national interests in development cooperation?

This article analyses Brazil's growing role in external development assistance. During Lula da Silva's presidency, cooperation with developing countries grew dramatically. While the official position is that Brazilian development assistance is moved not by national economic or political interests, but by international ‘solidarity’, and does not reproduce the North–South traditional aid relations, we suggest that it is not completely divorced from national, sub-national or sectoral interests and cannot be viewed apart from Brazil's broader foreign policy objectives. Brazil does pursue political, economic and commercial interests and, concomitantly, has made a positive difference in the recipient countries. However, more empirical research and field investigation are needed to better gauge the impact of Brazil's assistance initiatives and their contributions to South–South cooperation more broadly. During Lula's terms (2003–2010), Brazil could be classified as a ‘Southern donor’, which expresses the country's own novelties, and tensions, of simultaneously being a donor and a developing country.     

Overcoming ‘Gnosticism’? Realism as political theology

This paper takes issue with approaches that relate realist political theology exclusively back to its Schmittian and neo-orthodox roots. While not entirely denying those influences, it argues that realist thought is more accurately described as rooted in the tensions characterizing Augustine's anti-heretic diatribes rather than taking inspiration from Schmittian political theology or the ‘Gnostic’ tendencies in Protestant neo-orthodox theology. Augustine's refutation of both the Manichaean Gnostic and the Pelagian solutions to the problem of evil gave rise to a complex understanding of the relationship between human free will and original sin based on a combination of ontological monism and ethical dualism. Building on this heritage, realists can be read as rehearsing Augustine's ambiguous gesture of overcoming Gnosticism with equally uncertain success. In responding to the modern ‘Gnostic’ challenge in terms that recognized the dialectical tension between ontological monism and ethical dualism, realists such as Morgenthau and Niebuhr should rather be seen as direct heirs of Augustine's ambivalent orthodoxy rather than Schmitt's unorthodox, semi-‘Gnostic’ Catholicism. This intellectual legacy may, then, explain their abhorrence of purist positions in politics—be they quietism, pacifism or, their opposite, political messianism—and adherence to an anti-‘Gnostic’ pragmatism grounded in the tensions of Augustinian theology.     

India's response to terrorism after 13 December 2001

The nature of the December 13, 2001 terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament brought about an Indian reaction significantly different from the restraint exercised in the past, influenced by the ongoing global “war on terror”. India's response to terrorism became dynamic and multi-faceted, with alternating emphasis on a variety of measures, including diplomatic, military, political, administrative, and legal. Considerable emphasis was also placed on international cooperation, especially with the U.S. With continuing tensions in Indo-Pakistani relations, and the regrouping of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the risk of a high-value Al Qaeda-linked attack in New Delhi remains high. This could well escalate into another military confrontation between India and Pakistan, with inherent uncertainties.     

Rising Russian-Western Tensions in the Global Security Context

Tensions between Russia and the West have grown increasingly apparent in recent years. This can be demonstrated in Moscow＇s ideological confrontations with the West, the intensifying rivalry over military strategic force, the fierce geopolitical confrontation, and grave contentions over energy resources between the two. The author concludes that in short, rising Russia-US tensions can hardly be remedied. It is a matter of political significance that merits careful consideration by the international community.