‘Re‐solving’ the Cyprus problem: Changing perceptions of state and societal security

The Republic of Cyprus has been included in the next enlargement of the European Union (EU) to be announced at the European Council Summit in December 2002. The EU accepted Cyprus’ membership even without a solution to the island's divided status. In the months preceding the summit, efforts to arrive at a solution intensified in the hopes of averting a crisis that could ensue, particularly between the EU and Turkey. Analysing the debate in Turkey and Northern Cyprus from the perspective of state and societal security, this article examines challenges to Turkey's Cyprus policy that may provide impetus towards a solution.     

‘No one speaks for us’: security policy,suspected communities and the problem of voice

This article examines some of the detrimental consequences of post-9/11 counterterrorism and security policies on Muslim minority groups in the United Kingdom. Drawing on empirical data from a qualitative study conducted in the north-west of England involving young British Pakistanis, it is argued that both political discourses and specific security policies have unjustly targeted Muslims and fuelled a wider public climate of suspicion and hostility. Three focal issues raised by participants in the study are prioritised. First, we discuss the process of collective attribution through which Muslims are generically treated as a suspect community. Second, a series of experiential ‘safety gaps’ – resulting in part from the pre-emptive turn in counterterrorism regulation – are considered. Third, critical ‘speech gaps’, which have important ramifications for future policy-making, are elucidated.     

Russia and the role of the OSCE in European security: a ‘Forum’ for dialog or a ‘Battlefield’ of interests?

Abstract

This essay explores Russia's Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) policy, by focusing on two questions. First of all, analysts have noted Russia's disinterest and obstructive policies towards the Organization. Thus, the question is what – if anything – does the Russian Federation still want from the OSCE? Secondly, does the OSCE still serve as a forum for dialog? These two issues are studied on the basis of rational institutionalism and realism. The essay demonstrates that Russia is still interested in the OSCE, but its policy has become more pragmatic, selective and instrumentalist. It includes obstructive and constructive strategies. At the same time, today the Russian Federation ascribes less significance to the Organization in European security. This is predetermined not only by its inability to push its interests through the OSCE, but also by the declining interest of other participating States in the Organization. The differences between OSCE participants have turned it into a battlefield of interests in many areas.     

Balancing tolerance,security and Muslim engagement in the United Kingdom: the impact of the ‘Prevent’ agenda

In this article, we consider how engagement with Muslims by the state has been conducted under the UK government's counter-radicalisation ‘Prevent’ agenda. New Labour's ‘hearts and minds’ approach to Prevent emphasised, and innovated, engagement with Muslim ‘communities’. This approach was widely criticised, however, particularly in the way it merged Prevent with ‘Community Cohesion’. By contrast, the current Coalition government's new Prevent strategy operates with a much thinner conception of engagement and stipulates that in future, Prevent and cohesion work will be kept separate. This new strategy signals less community engagement and a hardened line on the types of Muslim groups that can be engaged with. However, local actors driven by operational or normative concerns are pursuing somewhat different objectives, often outside of central funding streams. Such unintentional localism may sustain more participatory and inclusive modes of engagement with Muslims.     

Tweaking the Lion's Tail: Edgar J. Tarr,the Canadian Institute of International Affairs,and the British Empire, 1931–1950

In its first 2 decades the Canadian Institute of International Affairs (CIIA), Canada's premier foreign policy think tank, never functioned merely as a neutral and apolitical research organization. Under the leadership of Edgar Tarr, president of the Monarch Life Assurance Company, and in its capacity as the Canadian Council of the transnational Institute of Pacific Relations (IPR), in the 1930s and 1940s the CIIA became an instrument that championed Canadian national autonomy and sought to expand Canada's international role, while challenging British imperialism, racism, and Anglo–Saxon dominance. Prominent Canadian diplomats and other officials were complicit in this enterprise, which reached its apogee at the IPR conference held at Mont Tremblant, Quebec, in December 1942. The CIIA's activities during this period revealed the porosity and imprecision of the boundaries in Canada between the state and non-state realms. Throughout World War II, DEA and other Canadian government representatives attended CIIA and IPR conferences as “official non-officials,” effectively cooperating with private individuals in a network of purportedly non-governmental organizations that enabled Canada to exert leverage on the British government, reject British leadership, align itself with the United States, and secure a greater world role. CIIA leaders and Canadian officials also consciously encouraged nationalist forces in India, China, and Southeast Asia that sought to reject colonial rule and Western dominance. CIIA activities thus became part of a web of diplomatic interactions across a transnational network of think tanks within and outside the British Empire that had their own impact upon international affairs.     

‘The limits of international leadership’: The Eisenhower administration,East‐West trade and the cold war, 1953–54

This article examines the Eisenhower administration's trade policy towards the Soviet Union in 1953–54. It argues, contrary to previous scholarship on the subject, that the liberalization of East‐West trade controls in August 1954 cannot be attributed solely to the presidential leadership of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Instead, whilst Eisenhower played a significant role in changing American embargo policy, it was the Churchill government which provided the impetus required for the revision of the international export control lists. Despite conflict and confrontation over the shape and contents of the new embargo between Washington and London, the two governments forged a compromise in the summer of 1954.     

You’ve Got to Know When to Fold ‘Em: International and Domestic Consequences of Capitulation, 1919–1999

This article explores the effect of acquiescing to compellent threats on the probability that a leader loses office and on the probability that he or she is targeted in a subsequent international crisis. Using a leader-specific punishment (LSP) model that corrects for the endogeneity between domestic and international politics, an analysis of over 9,000 observations during the period 1919–1999 suggests that backing down generally increases both the risk of becoming a target and the probability of losing office. Leaders who back down to coercive threats without a fight are almost twice as likely to become targets in subsequent crises and much more likely to lose office than those who do not. Democratic leaders are more at risk than their autocratic counterparts for loss of office and becoming targets if they acquiesce to coercive threats.     

A People's Court: Emotion,Participant Experiences,and the Shaping of Postwar Justice at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, 1946–1948

The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (1946–1948) or Tokyo IMT is overlooked for its contributions to modern international criminal justice. Convened to hold Japanese leaders accountable for conspiring to commit aggression, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and war crimes during the Second World War, the IMTFE was both a groundbreaking judicial undertaking and a pioneering multilateral institution. This distinction makes it a unique vehicle for exploring the fundamental challenges of both international justice and organisation. Institutions like the IMTFE are usually viewed through broad geopolitical, legal, and ideological lenses. Although important, these approaches miss a singularly important dimension of multilateralism: the human contingencies that impact international bodies. Using unique participant sources, this article presents an intimate “trial's-eye-view” of how working at the IMTFE affected the emotions, psychology, and temperament of its personnel. Participant responses on these very personal levels had profound consequences on the tribunal's proceedings, findings, and legacy. Other factors shaped justice in Tokyo, but the responses identified here were common, and their impact significant. Ultimately, this paper argues that people and their experiences—as much as anything—produced the outcome of justice in Tokyo.     

On the 2002 U. S. Mid-Term Election Zhang Yanyu and Wang Wenfeng are both assistant research professors at the Division for American Studies in China Institute of Contemporary International Relations

The first mid-term election of the U. S. in the new century took place on November 5, 2002. One third of the senators from the 107th Congress (34 out of 100), all representatives (435), 36 state governors, and numerous local officials and legislators were to be elected or reelected. The resounding victory of the GOP in the congressional elections and the fact that the Democrats only got three more governors     

Papua International Biodiversity Conference: banking on the social capital Conference report of the International Biodiversity Conference for Sustainable Development in Papua Land (Jayapura, 11–15 November 2009)

The International Biodiversity Conference for Sustainable Development in Papua Land (Jayapura, 11–15 November 2009) gathered inputs and best practices from various sources, and initiated commitments towards conservation and sustainable development in one of the earth's areas of richest biodiversity and bio-cultural heritage. The conference resulted in mandating the establishment of a local working group which will mainstream sustainable development. In particular, it is proper development of Papua's social capital that should drive the fight to save one of the earth's most unique yet endangered ecosystems and ways of life.

Conférence internationale de 2010 sur la biodiversité, Papouasie: compter sur le capital social

La Conférence internationale sur la biodiversité pour le développement durable en Papouasie (Jayapura, 11–15 novembre 2009) a rassemblé des contributions et les meilleures pratiques de diverses sources, et a mis en branle des engagements en faveur de la conservation et du développement durable dans l'un des héritages les plus riches de la Terre sur le plan bioculturel et de la biodiversité. La conférence a abouti à la demande de l'établissement d'un groupe de travail local qui se chargera de l'intégration du développement durable. C'est en particulier le développement approprié du capital social de la Papouasie qui impulsera la lutte en vue de sauver un des écosystèmes et un des modes de vie les plus uniques mais menacés de la Terre.

Conferência sobre Biodiversidade Internacional de Papua em 2010: contando com o capital social

A Conferência sobre Biodiversidade Internacional para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável em Papua Land (Jayapura, 11–15 de novembro de 2009) reuniu contribuições e melhores práticas de várias fontes e iniciou compromissos em direção à conservação e desenvolvimento sustentável em uma das mais ricas biodiversidades e herança biocultural do mundo. A conferência resultou na exigência da criação de um grupo de trabalho local que enfatizará sistematicamente a questão do desenvolvimento sustentável. Em particular, é o próprio desenvolvimento do capital social de Papua que orientará a luta para salvar um dos ecossistemas e formas de vida mais especiais da terra, porém sob risco.

La Conferencia Internacional sobre Biodiversidad de 2010: apostando al capital social

La Conferencia Internacional sobre Biodiversidad para el Desarrollo Sustentable en Papúa (Jayapura, 11-15 de noviembre de 2009), recopiló información y buenas prácticas de distintas fuentes y dio origen a varios compromisos para la conservación y el desarrollo sustentable de una de las zonas de mayor riqueza en biodiversidad y en herencia biocultural del planeta. De la Conferencia surgió la conformación de un grupo de trabajo local que divulgará el desarrollo sustentable en el área. Es decir, será el mismo desarrollo del capital social de Papúa el que encabezará la lucha para salvar uno de los ecosistemas más singulares y más amenazados del mundo.