US POLITICS AND POLICIES AFTER THE ELECTIONS

In the US presidential election held on November 5, 1996, Bill Clinton defeat-ed the Republican candidate Bob Dole with an overwhelming majority of 379electoral votes-against Dole's 159 votes. He has hence become a president to go be-yond the century and the first Democratic president gaining re-election after the     

‘AN IMPERFECT PEACE’: PARAMILITARY ‘PUNISHMENTS’ IN NORTHERN IRELAND

Since the beginning of the Troubles, alternative forms of justice have emerged in many working class areas of Northern Ireland. Such justice operates outside the formal state system and is undertaken by paramilitaries. This article explores the nature of this informal justice including an identification of activities liable for ‘punishment’, the procedures involved and the types of ‘punishment’ meted out. Moreover, this article examines the pattern of paramilitary ‘punishments’ in the pre- and post cease fire periods.     

‘THE OLD DAYS ARE OVER’:1 IRISH REPUBLICANISM,THE PEACE PROCESS AND THE DISCOURSE OF EQUALITY

This article examines the current role of equality as a key discourse in the language of Sinn Féin. It explores this within the context of the consociational character of the Good Friday Agreement and the discursive nature of Republican ideology. The article argues that mainstream contemporary Republicanism (in the shape of Sinn Féin) is reforging its political agenda and doing so by rearticulating key elements of Republican thought and northern Nationalist political culture. Republicanism has always contained within it radical-universalist and ethnic particularist dimensions. It could be argued that the consociational nature of the Good Friday Agreement has placed a political premium for parties to emphasize their role as ethnic community advocates. The article will suggest that Sinn Féin has been employing the language of equality in order to marry its appeal as a party of communalist leadership with universalized principles. While the rhetoric of Nationalist aspirations remain, this process has ensured that equality has emerged as the meta-discourse for Sinn Féin as it moves away from armed anti-partitionism.     

THE MIDDLE EAST:RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

ⅠThe year 1991 witnessed drastic changes in the Middle East, which beganwith the outbreak of the world-shaking Gulf War(January 17) and culmi-nated in the convening of the spectacular Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid(October 30), which is the first face-to-face meeting between the Arab countries     

‘THEY HAVEN'T GONE AWAY,YOU KNOW’. IRISH REPUBLICAN ‘DISSIDENTS’ AND ‘ARMED STRUGGLE’

The shift by the provisional Republican movement towards constitutional politics in Northern Ireland has caused splits among Republicans. The formation of the Continuity and Real Irish Republican Armies, pledged to continue ‘armed struggle’ against British rule in Northern Ireland, was predictable, given the historical propensity of Republicans to divide amid claims of ‘betrayal’ by the leadership. The odds against militarist Republican ‘dissidents’ appear overwhelming, as they lack weapons, members and support. Sinn Féin has carried most of the Nationalist constituency on its transition towards constitutionalism and the Irish Republic has abandoned its claim to Northern Ireland. Nonetheless, continued political uncertainty over the province's political future has contributed to the maintenance of a long-standing militaristic tradition within Irish republicanism.     

THE BOSNIAN CIVIL WAR:RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

The civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina is an ethnic-cum-religious war.Since itsoutbreak in March 1992,the war has become fiercer and fiercer and is nowthe biggest war in Europe since the end of the Second World War.Upto now,hu-man death toll has risen to more than 140 thousand,and more than two millionpeople have become homeless,with a direct economic damage amounting to overone hundred billion US dollars.All the efforts made by the international communi-     

INDIA＇S OPIUM PRODUCTION DURING THE BRITISH RULING PERIOD AND IT＇S EXPORT TO CHINA

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‘Good governance’ and ‘state failure’: genealogies of imperial discourse

Current international policy discourse routinely characterizes the condition of African states in terms of either ‘good governance’, on one hand, or ‘fragility’ and ‘failure’, on the other. This conceptual vocabulary and analytical approach has become entrenched within the public imagination more broadly, and is reproduced in academic analysis, largely without serious questioning or critique. Some scholars, however, have argued that the entire discourse of ‘state failure’ should be rejected as a valid approach to understanding, analysis and explanation of social and political conditions in Africa. This position seeks both to demonstrate the analytical and explanatory emptiness of the conceptual framework of ‘state failure’, and to reject the uncritical adoption of strands of imperial discourse by academic scholars. This article contributes to this position by examining the failed state discourse as a modern form of racialized international thought. It argues that the discourse must be recognized as a contemporary successor to a much longer genealogy of imperial discourse about Africa and other non-European societies.     

SINO-US RELATIONS:THE NECESSITY FOR CHANGE AND A NEW STRATEGY

After several years of stress and strains, a historical opportunity appears on thehorizon for considerable improvement of Sino-US relations. It will determinethe nature of long-term relationship in the post-Cold War years. The imperatives     

Extreme nationalism and violent discourses in Scandinavia: ‘the resistance’, ‘traitors’, and ‘foreign invaders’

This is a comparative analysis of neo‐Nazis and anti‐immigration activists in Norway, Denmark and Sweden with regard to their rhetoric and justifications for violence against ‘foreigners’ and political opponents, and actual patterns of violence and harassment. Different traditions of nationalism in the three Scandinavian countries, and highly dissimilar historical experiences ‐ especially during World War II ‐influence the rhetorical strategies of the two types of extreme nationalists, and their respective abilities to appropriate national symbols. However, based on divergent historical analogies, most extreme nationalist groups present themselves as a ‘resistance movement’ fighting ‘foreign invaders’ and ‘traitors’.     

Project ‘RAMBO’: an initiative to improve rickshaw pullers’ earnings

Rickshaw pulling is a large, labour-intensive, unorganised sector in India, involving 8 million individuals belonging to the lowest social strata. The article describes an initiative to increase the daily earnings of rickshaw pullers by training them to retail branded products, on a ‘bulk-buying retail-selling’ model. The article reports on a project that began with 30 rickshaw pullers in Jaunpur, a semi-urban district of eastern India. Critical issues related to the sustainability and future of such projects on a large scale are discussed.     

Configuring ‘country ownership’: patterns of donor-recipient relations

Given the proliferation in the number and type of development actors and an expressed desire by donors to engage them in a more meaningful way, this article identifies multiple ways in which ‘country ownership’ is manifested in practice. Through comparative case research, this article examines the involvement of five sets of actors in: problem identification, resource administration, programme design, implementation, and governance. Three donor-recipient relationship patterns emerge: ‘doctor knows best’, ‘empowered patient’, and ‘it takes a village’, each with specific conditions but overall underrepresentation of recipient country actors, suggesting that their involvement could take place more often than currently occurs.

Configurer l'« appropriation par les pays » : schémas des rapports bailleurs de fonds-récipiendaires

Au vu de la prolifération du nombre et des types d'acteurs de développement et du désir exprimé par les bailleurs de fonds d'intervenir de manières plus significatives, cet article identifie des manières multiples dont se manifeste l'« appropriation par les pays » dans la pratique. À travers des recherches comparatives sur des cas particuliers, j'examine le rôle joué par cinq ensembles d'acteurs dans : l'identification des problèmes, l'administration des ressources, la conception des programmes, la mise en ?uvre et la gouvernance. Trois schémas des rapports bailleurs de fonds-récipiendaires se sont dégagés : « le docteur a toujours raison », « le patient autonomisé » et « il faut tout un village », chacun doté de conditions précises, mais avec dans l'ensemble une sous-représentation des acteurs des pays récipiendaires, ce qui suggère que leur participation pourrait avoir lieu plus souvent que ce n'est le cas à l'heure actuelle.

Configurando la “apropiación nacional”: patrones de relaciones entre donantes y destinatarios

Tomando en cuenta la proliferación numérica y el tipo de actores participantes en el desarrollo, así como el deseo expresado por los donantes de relacionarse con éstos de manera más profunda, el presente artículo señala las distintas maneras en que la “apropiación nacional” se manifiesta en la práctica. A través de investigaciones realizadas por medio de comparación de casos, la autora analiza la participación de cinco conjuntos de actores en materia de identificación de problemas, de gestión de recursos, de diseño de programas, de implementación y de gobierno. Identifica tres patrones de relación entre donantes y destinatarios: “el médico lo sabe todo”, “el paciente empoderado” y “hace falta una aldea”, cada uno con sus condicionantes específicos. Sin embargo, en general, los mismos adolecen de la baja representatividad de los actores en el país destinatario, lo cual apunta a que éstos deberían participar con una frecuencia mayor que aquella con la que actualmente lo hacen.

Configurando a “propriedade de país”: modelos de relações de doador-recebedor

Dada a proliferação no número e tipo de agentes de desenvolvimento e uma vontade expressa dos doadores de engajarem-se de maneira mais significativa, este artigo identifica várias maneiras pelas quais a “propriedade de país” é manifestada na prática. Através de pesquisa de caso comparativa, eu examino o envolvimento de cinco conjuntos de agentes: identificação de problema, administração de recursos, montagem de programa, implementação e governança. Três modelos de relação doador-recebedor surgiram: “o doutor sabe mais”, “paciente empoderado” e “é preciso uma aldeia inteira”, cada um com condições específicas, mas no geral com sub-representação de agentes do país recebedor, sugerindo que seu envolvimento poderia ocorrer de maneira mais frequente do que ocorre atualmente.     

India's ‘Af-Pak’ Conundrum: South Asia in Flux

The risks to global security from a failure in Afghanistan are great. Abandoning the goal of establishing both a functioning Afghan state and a moderate Pakistan places greater pressure on Indian security. Pakistani intelligence would be emboldened to escalate terrorist attacks against India once it is satisfied that the Taliban would provide it strategic depth in Afghanistan. This would surely force retaliation from India.     

Review essay: Minerva's ‘owl dizzy with success’

Richard H. Ullman (ed.) The World and Yugoslavia's Wars (NY: Council of Foreign Relations Book, 1996). Pp.230, index $18.95. ISBN 0–8760–191–5.     

The problem of peace: understanding the ‘liberal peace’

To remember Hiroshima is to commit oneself to peace. Pope John Paul II, 1 ?1. Pope John Paul II, 25 February 1981. View all notes 1981

Pax Invictis2 ?2. ‘Peace to the undefeated’ or the victor's peace. Inscribed on the Tomb of the Unknown Solider in St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, Australia. View all notes

Virtue runs amok. Attributed to G.K. Chesterton