The ‘Arab Spring’: the view from Tehran

2011 saw an unprecedented wave of popular protests shake the foundations of many Arab regimes across the Middle East and North Africa. While many observers welcomed the uprisings as movements for greater freedoms and democracy, Iran celebrated the unrests as an ‘Islamic awakening’ – the first steps in a process that would eventually result in the realignment of the Greater Middle East. This article will examine the official narrative of the Iranian regime and will contextualise the apparent contradiction in the Islamic Republic's support for the Arab uprisings despite its brutal suppression of its own people and the incitement of the same practise in Syria. The article will then assess Iran's actual role in the Arab unrests and whether the Islamic Republic has, and will retain, the ability to exploit the ‘Arab Spring’ as part of its broader revisionist struggle to weaken the forces of status quo in the region.     

Deciphering UN development policies: from the modernisation paradigm to the human development approach?

A comparative analysis of the United Nations (UN) resolutions on the development decades reveals an evolution of the UN policies: a gradual shift from the modernisation paradigm to the human development approach, even though the goal of economic growth was never entirely abandoned. Despite this evolution, all relevant resolutions define quantitative targets on inputs and outputs to be met through recommended policy measures involving state intervention in the economy and the society, introduced into developing countries’ plans for development, in accordance with the teachings of the modernisation paradigm.     

States and the constitutionalization of international relations: A view from the mid‐Atlantic

Michael J. Baun, An Imperfect Union: The Maastricht Treaty and the New Politics of European Integration (Westview, Boulder, CO, 1996), xvi + 182 pp., ISBN 0–8133–2710–5 (hb), 0–8133–2711–3 (pb)

Michael Calingaert, European Integration. Progress, Prospects and US Interests (Westview, Boulder, CO, 1996), xiii +223 pp., ISBN 0–8133–2953–1 (hb), 0–8133–2954‐X (pb)

Brian Hocking and Michael Smith, Beyond Foreign Economic Policy. The United States, the Single European Market and the Changing World Economy (Pinter, London, 1997), 216 pp., ISBN 185567–269–3

John Peterson, Europe and America: The Prospects for Partnership (Routledge, London, 1996, 2nd edn), xii +240 pp., ISBN 0–415–14653–4 (hb), 0–415–13864–7 (pb)     

The Debate on the Writer’s Responsibility in France and the United States from the 1920s to the 1950s

The debate on the responsibility of the writer was, in France as in the USA, an attack against literary and artistic modernism. From Charles Maurras to Irving Babbit, the reaction against modernism presented itself as a defense of classicism and of tradition against romanticism. Far from being politically neutral, this attack identified romanticism with revolution and the destruction of the social order. The opposition between responsibility and freedom structured the debate from the end of the nineteenth century until World War II. The war entailed a loss of autonomy of the literary field which fostered, like during World War I, the imposition of national moralism. In both countries, a debate arose on the question of the responsibility of the writer, but it took a different form. Whereas the opposition between art for art’s sake and responsibility continued to structure it in the USA, the notion of responsibility was appropriated in France by the literary Resistance and redefined by Sartre at the Liberation.     

Is the USSR dead? Experience from the financial and economic crisis of 2008–2009

The paper examines the economic linkages between the post-Soviet states from the point of view of the financial and economic crisis of 2008–2009. It aims to find out whether the interdependence between the countries of the former Soviet Union is still large enough that crises in individual countries affect the economic development in the neighboring states, and assesses the impact of the crisis itself on the linkages between the former Soviet republics. The evidence is mixed: while some channels of interdependence deteriorated over the last decade, others became more important, and some were even strengthened by the crisis itself.     

Safeguarding Political Guarantees in the Colombian Peace Process: have Santos and farc learnt the lessons from the past?

This article discusses the lessons of previous peace processes between the government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (farc). It has two policy implications. In regard to Colombia it suggests that safeguarding the lives of demobilised farc members is necessary for the current peace process to succeed, hence it proposes a hybrid Specialised Protection Force (spf). In terms of peace building the article discusses the challenges for spfs to avoid becoming tools of foreign policy diplomacy that perpetuate conflicts. The article aims to contribute to both the critique of liberal peace and of the negotiating teams in the current Colombian peace process.     

Are Daughters Always the Losers in the Chore War? Evidence Using Household Data from Vietnam

Abstract

We examine the gender gap in housework in Vietnam among siblings aged less than 18 years. We show daughters undertake 5.25 minutes more unpaid housework per day than sons. However, the gender gap in housework is negligible for children aged less than 14 years. A decline in the gender gap at 15 years of age suggests parents eventually begin to consider the education of their daughters. Before then, however, the gender gap increases with age and can be even greater if daughters also engage in paid work.     

Perceptions of the Teacher–Leader in Modern Society: Insights from the Master Teacher's Pedagogy

Abstract

Meeting the challenges of a modern era, including corporate scandal, government gridlock, and societal turmoil, requires a high level of effective leadership. In such an environment, the teacher–leader plays a critical role in cultivating the knowledge worker and learning organization. After all, the teacher–leader leverages the human resource by challenging and inspiring people to bring forth their best efforts and ideas in the quest to identify and implement creative solutions to society's dilemmas. To understand the opportunities and challenges encountered in the teacher–leader paradigm, the pedagogy of a prototypical teacher was modeled and evaluated. As the ideal model of the teacher–leader, the authors selected Jesus Christ, a historical figure whose acumen and influence earned him the title of “Master Teacher.” Jesus Christ was selected because he has repeatedly been recognized as a great leader; a great teacher; and one of the most influential people who has ever lived. Using the biblical record, Jesus’ teaching style was examined and a survey instrument developed and administered to students and faculty at a major university. Three core constructs that underlie Jesus's approach to teaching were identified: 1) empathy and motivation, 2) rigor and internalization, and 3) accountability and measurement. While students and faculty evaluate the techniques that comprise the empathy-and-motivation construct favorably, the other two constructs elicit student evaluations that would be too low for Jesus to obtain tenure. Ultimately, providing the rigor and accountability needed to cultivate personal growth and competitive skills is an unpopular task that professors tend to avoid by teaching to student expectations. Thus, the leadership conundrum—there is little incentive for teachers to lead or to help cultivate tomorrow's leaders.

The world we have created today has problems which cannot be solved by thinking the way we thought when we created them.

– Albert Einstein

     

Crossing the Boundaries between ‘Third Sector’ and State: life-work histories from the Philippines,Bangladesh and the UK

The three-sector model—encompassing the private, public and non-governmental or ‘third’ sectors—is important to much of the research that is undertaken on development policy. While it may be analytically convenient to separate the three sectors, the realities are more complex. Non-governmental actors and government/public sector agencies are linked in potentially important (though often far from visible) ways via personal relationships, resource flows and informal transactions. This paper seeks to understand these links by studying the ‘life-work histories’ of individuals who have operated in both the government and third sector. Two main types of such boundary crossing are identified: ‘consecutive’, in which a person moves from one sector to the other in order to take up a new position, and ‘extensive’, in which a person is simultaneously active in both sectors. Drawing on a set of recently collected life-work history data, the paper explores the diversity of this phenomenon in three countries. It examines the reasons for cross-over, analyses the experiences of some of those involved, and explores the implications for better understanding the boundaries, both conceptual and tangible, that both separate and link government and third sector in these different institutional contexts.     

‘Mimicking’ the West? Russia's legitimization discourse from Georgia war to the annexation of Crimea

The 2008 Georgia war represented a turning point in Russian foreign policy. It was for the first time since the dissolution of the Soviet Union when Moscow invaded an independent country and for the first time when two members of the Council of Europe fought against each other. A premiere for Russian post-Soviet foreign policy was registered in 2014 too. The annexation of Crimea represented the first incorporation of foreign territories by Moscow since World War II. These two events generated the West's protest and blatantly contradict Russia's proclaimed foreign policy discourse centered around the respect for states' sovereignty and equality of actors in the international system. Starting from the assertion that the formulation of Russia's foreign policy is determined by the West's international behavior – Moscow looking whether to emulate or to find alternatives to it; the present paper will compare Russia's legitimization arguments for the 2008 war and the 2014 annexation of Crimea trying to assess how Moscow answers Western criticism and whether there is a continuity in Russian official legitimization narratives.     

Explaining the Chinese framing of the “terrorist” violence in Xinjiang: insights from securitization theory

This paper critically examines the Chinese framing of the “terrorist” violence in Xinjiang. Drawing on the Copenhagen school of securitization theory, it examines how the historical perception of the region as a primary source of security threats to inner China has led today’s China to continue with representing the Han Chinese–Uyghur discord as an existential threat. In framing the ethnic conflict as a security issue, China has capitalized on the global “war on terror” of the early 2000s to transform the unrest into acts of Islamist terrorism to legitimize its counter-insurgency policies in Xinjiang. However, both the 2009 Urumqi riots and the 2014 Kunming attack lead us to conclude that the securitization strategy fails to quell the unrest. Not only have the Strike-Hard campaigns served to radicalize Uyghur nationalists, but also Han Chinese are not convinced that the Chinese government can contain the “terrorist” threat. Yet securitization blinds the leadership to the dysfunctional ethnic policy.     

Contextualizing Radicalization: The Emergence of the “Sauerland-Group” from Radical Networks and the Salafist Movement

This article proposes an analytical perspective on jihadist radicalization that focuses on the immediate social environment from which clandestine violent groups emerge, to which they remain socially and symbolically connected, and from which they receive some degree of support. Based on a detailed analysis of the “Sauerland-Group” it traces relational dynamics shaping individual pathways as well as processes of group formation within local Salafist milieus, the wider Salafist movement, and radical jihadist networks. It argues that one characteristic feature of “homegrown” jihadist groups is their simultaneous connection to and embeddedness in various different social contexts as well as the fluid, ad-hoc character of the clandestine group and its ambivalent relation with its supportive social environment.     

Globalising the Zapatistas: from Third World solidarity to global solidarity?

The 1994 Zapatista uprising in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas found extraordinary resonance beyond Mexico's borders and generated a range of transnational solidarity efforts. The Zapatistas retain many emancipatory ideals of earlier progressive groups, but formulate their social critique in a manner that is more democratic and global than that of most groups during the Cold War. As a consequence, their interpretation of contemporary social and political problems does not build on the distinction between first, second and third worlds so common in earlier decades. This is evident in the way solidarity is understood by the Zapatistas and transnational activists. The solidarity relationship between the Zapatistas and transnational activists is highly globalised and based on mutuality. In contrast, solidarity relationships in the cold war period, including Third World solidarity, had more of a one-way character in which there was a clear distinction between providers and beneficiaries of solidarity.     

Does Land Fragmentation Increase the Cost of Cultivation? Evidence from India

To appreciate overall impacts of fragmentation, underlying channels, and potential heterogeneity by holding size, we distinguish average fragment size and mean inter-fragment distance as two aspects of this phenomenon. Estimating a cost function with associated input demand equations on a large nationally representative Indian survey, robust to endogeneity, suggests that fragmentation’s main impact is to reduce mean plot size below the threshold for mechanisation. Higher inter-fragment distances increase costs for larger holdings, but by a much smaller magnitude. Implications as to when programmes to consolidate holdings may make sense and ways to ensure their sustainability are discussed.     

Is sextremism the new feminism? Perspectives from Pussy Riot and Femen

As Pussy Riot has changed the face of political protest in Russia, to the south, Ukraine has seen the emergence of Femen, famous for their topless protests against everything from sex tourism and trafficking to hot water shut-offs in Kyiv to sexism in the Ukrainian government to Putin's visits to Ukraine. Their concurrent appearance in the post-Soviet sphere encourages a discussion around the mobilization of sexuality as protest in the region. Both groups appropriate sexual language and imagery as well as physical sexuality in protest of their current regimes. This article engages the question of similarities between the two groups’ efforts and considers what differences structure their political goals and philosophies. What potential does the global visibility of these groups have to influence an emerging women's movement, and, more generally, how can sexuality be harnessed as a unifying force in anti-government activism in post-socialist Russia and Ukraine?     

Theorising European Integration of Local Government – Insights from the Fusion Approach

The article explores a new, dynamic conceptual framework to understand the relations between local government and the European Union (EU). It argues that, first, the fusion approach explains the systemic linkages between European integration and corresponding change within cities, counties and municipalities. Secondly, fusion dynamics are slowly emerging across European and local levels, whereby competencies and resources are merging and policies become synchronised under Europe 2020 and the European Cohesion Policy. Thirdly, the fusion approach provides an understanding of the attitudes of local actors towards European integration. In order to show the relevance of fusion, the article presents the findings of five empirical indicators: the absorption of EU policies and legislation; attention towards EU policies; institutional adaptation; EU-related action of local government and attitudes towards European integration. It also compares local government in two contrasting regions with regard to their political autonomy – North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany and the North West of England.     

Does the Heterogeneity of Project Implementers Affect the Programme Participation of Beneficiaries?: Evidence from Rural Cambodia

This study employs the dataset collected for the assessment of a post-harvest technology project in rural Cambodia and focuses on the heterogeneous preferences of project implementers, frequently overlooked in the literature on programme evaluation studies. We focus on the ‘implementer effect’ on the programme participation of the treated farmers. We demonstrate that the heterogeneous programme participation of ordinary farmers could be induced due to heterogeneity in the characteristics of the project staff. In particular, we indicate that the baseline altruism of the project staff, measured by the dictator game, consistently increases the participation rate and the number of participations in the training sessions of beneficiaries. This type of heterogeneity in project staffs’ preferences across treatment sites could be a source of treatment heterogeneity for programmes conducted at a certain cluster level. While few studies have focused on the heterogeneity of programme implementers, our empirical results indicate that the preference of implementers could be a source of treatment heterogeneity and imply the importance of implementation of an actual project.     

How Does Contract Design Affect the Uptake of Microcredit among the Ultra-poor? Experimental Evidence from the River Islands of Northern Bangladesh

This study examines the demand of microcredit among ultra-poor households in northern Bangladesh. We implemented a field experiment to identify what type of credit is best suited to their demand. We found that the uptake rate by the ultra-poor is the lowest for regular small cash credit, followed by in-kind credit. We also found that the ultra-poor are significantly more likely to join a microcredit programme than the moderately poor if a grace period with longer maturity is attached to a large amount of credit, irrespective of whether the credit is provided in cash or in kind.     

United Russia’s Primaries and the Strength of Political Machines in the Regions of Russia: Evidence from the 2016 Duma Elections

Abstract

The primary elections of the United Russia party serve as a tool for party organisation and voter mobilisation. In this study, we employ United Russia’s capacity to mobilise voter turnout in the 2016 primary elections as an indirect indicator of the strength of party-controlled regional political machines. Our analysis of the results of the 2016 Duma elections in 83 regions of Russia demonstrates that voter turnout in the spring 2016 party primaries of United Russia to a significant extent explains cross-regional variation in party success.