Identity and learning in international volunteerism: ‘Sport for Development and Peace’ internships

Young sportspersons now serve abroad within the ‘Sport for Development and Peace’ (SDP) movement. Drawing on interviews with former interns from Commonwealth Games Canada's Canadian Sports Leadership Corps programme, this study explored what interns brought to, and learnt from, international SDP service. Interns confronted notions of expertise and privilege and, in some cases, considered the limits of Northern development stewardship. Interns also experienced a sense of ‘First World guilt’ that secured their sense of self at the expense of deeper engagements with inequality and struggles for development justice. Based on these findings, recommendations for supporting future volunteers are considered.

Identité et apprentissage dans le volontariat international : stages « Sport for Development and Peace »

De jeunes sportifs sont désormais actifs à l'étranger dans le cadre du mouvement « Sport for Development and Peace » (SDP - Sport pour le développement et la paix ). Sur la base d'entretiens avec d'anciens stagiaires du programme du Groupe canadien de leadership dans le sport des Jeux du Commonwealth Canada, cette étude a examiné ce que les stagiaires ont apporté au service SDP et ont appris de ce dernier. Les stagiaires se sont confrontés aux notions de connaissances spécialisées et de privilège et, dans certains cas, ont réfléchi aux limites de la gestion du développement émanant du Nord. Les stagiaires ont aussi ressenti une mesure de « culpabilité du Premier Monde » qui a renforcé leur sentiment de soi aux dépens d'engagements plus approfondis contre l'inégalité et de luttes pour la justice en matière de développement. Sur la base de ces conclusions, des recommandations pour soutenir les volontaires futurs sont considérées.

Identidade e Aprendizado no Voluntariado Internacional: Estágios do Esporte para Desenvolvimento e Paz

Jovens esportistas agora atuam no exterior dentro do movimento “Esporte para Desenvolvimento e Paz” (SDP). Baseando-se em entrevistas com antigos internos do programa “Canadian Sports Leadership Corps” do Commonwealth Games Canada, este estudo examinou a contribuição dos internos ao serviço do SDP internacional e o que eles aprenderam com este serviço. Os internos confrontaram noções de conhecimento e privilégio e, em alguns casos, consideraram os limites da liderança do desenvolvimento do hemisfério norte. Os internos também vivenciaram uma sensação de “culpa do Primeiro Mundo” que assegurou a consciência do seu eu às custas de engajamentos mais profundos com desigualdade e lutas por justiça de desenvolvimento. Com base nestes resultados, as recomendações para apoiar voluntários futuros são consideradas.

Identidad y aprendizaje en el voluntariado internacional: pasantías del programa Deportes para el Desarrollo y la Paz

Actualmente varios deportistas jóvenes cooperan en el extranjero en el marco del movimiento “Deportes para el Desarrollo y la Paz” (DDP). Basándose en entrevistas a excooperantes del programa Cuerpo de Líderes Deportivos Canadienses de los Juegos de la Mancomunidad en Canadá, este ensayo analiza lo que los cooperantes aportaron a y aprendieron de su experiencia internacional en el DDP. Los cooperantes afrontaron juicios de experiencia y privilegio y, en algunos casos, reflexionaron sobre los límites de la gestión basada en el desarrollo del Norte. Los cooperantes experimentaron la “culpabilidad del Primer Mundo”, que si bien provocó la autoreflexión, se hizo a costa de un compromiso más profundo contra la desigualdad y por la lucha a favor de la justicia en el desarrollo. En función de estos resultados, el ensayo formula recomendaciones para el apoyo a futuros voluntarios.     

Conflict over Israel: The Role of Religion,Race, Party and Ideology in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1997–2002

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the contours of support for the state of Israel in the House of Representatives from 1997 to 2002. In an analysis of votes and cosponsorship decisions, we find that when Congress considers innocuous resolutions of support for Israel, support is consensual and nonpartisan. However, as the violence escalated between Israel and the Palestinians in the 106th and 107th Congresses (1999–2001), the House increasingly considered bills and resolutions that directly engaged the Palestinian issue and forced legislators to take a side in the ongoing conflict. This transformed the politics of support for Israel and increased the level of conflict among legislators. With that, new partisan, ideological, religious, and racial cleavages emerged. Democrats, liberals, and African Americans started to identify with the Palestinians—not Israel—as the oppressed group. At the same time, religious and ideological conservatives and Republicans started to identify with Israel as a just state under attack from lawless individuals considered to be outside the Judeo-Christian tradition. At least with regard to Israel, this suggests that the development of U.S. foreign policy, which is often characterized as an elite-driven pursuit of national interests, is heavily marked by domestic ethno-religious forces.     

A Review of: “Alfred G. Gerteiny. The Terrorist Conjunction: The United States,the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,and Al-Qa'ida”

Since the advent of the Good Friday peace agreement, violence associated with dissident Irish Republican groups continues to present major security challenges. While there has not been a tragedy on the scale of the 1998 Omagh bombing, the level of violent dissident Republican (VDR) activity has risen steadily in frequency since then, and in 2010 reached unprecedented levels. This article presents findings from the VDR Project at the International Center for the Study of Terrorism at Pennsylvania State University. The research is based on the extensive identification, collection, and analysis of open source material examining the nature and extent of VDR activity from 1997 to 2010. The project analyses data on VDR activity across this period as well as the individuals taking part in these violent events. The data suggests that while originally recruitment was predominantly southern based it is now more focused on Northern Ireland. Analysis of the data also indicates that the VDR leadership continues to recruit individuals with skill-sets to serve the movement's aims.     

A Review of: “Stefan Aust. Baader-Meinhof: The Inside Story of the R.A.F. Uwe Steinhoff. On the Ethics of War and Terrorism. Seth G. Jones. Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan. Ekaterina Stepanova. Terrorism in Asymmetrical Conflict: Ideological and Structural Aspects. Laura K. Donohue. The Cost of Counterterrorism: Power,Politics and Liberty.”

Approaches to terrorism and peacebuilding have a complex relationship with each other, which may be explained according to four categories outlined in this article. These range from blocking each others’ aims, nullifying terrorism, supporting a very limited, or a broader peace process. Each of these categories has implications for the inclusion and reconciliation of a wide range of actors and the hybrid nature of the emerging peace. This relates to the critical approach of using theory to create emancipatory forms of peace, which is used as a basis for the examination of the production of hybridity via the interaction of approaches to terrorism and peacebuilding in five cases in this article. These include Sri Lanka, Kashmir, the Middle East, Nepal, and Northern Ireland. We argue that “post-liberal” possibilities for a hybrid form of peace (which are inherent in such conflicts) offer a “post-terrorist” potential for peace processes.     

Neither War Nor Peace: FDR's Ambassadors in Embassy Berlin and Policy Toward Germany, 1933–1941

American policy toward Germany in the years before Pearl Harbor can be approached from any number of angles. A rich literature already exists that emphasizes the geopolitical dimension of the German–U.S. relationship, as well as its economic and ideological complexities. I shall here explore an interpretative line that has been less fully developed in the historiography, namely, the viewpoint of U.S. diplomats posted in Berlin. Their experience in the 1930s throws into vivid relief the dilemmas posed by the Third Reich to FDR's America and its equivocal response.     

The Liberal Peace Revisited: The Role of Democracy,Dependence, and Development in Militarized Interstate Dispute Initiation, 1950–1999

We test a model of the liberal peace by examining the initiation of militarized interstate disputes at the monadic level of analysis from 1950–1999. Liberal peace theory contends that both economic dependence and democratic political systems reduce conflict propensities. Extant empirical analyses of the monadic liberal peace, however, are under-specified. First, the concept of economic dependence not only includes trade, but also foreign investment. Second, existing models do not control for the influence of economic development. Previous research on the monadic liberal peace has also failed to distinguish between the initiation of conflict and participation in conflict. We find evidence for a liberal peace: trade dependence, foreign investment, and democracy reduce a state’s propensity to initiate militarized disputes.