Nationalist Mobilization and State–Society Relations: The People's Houses' Campaign for Turkish in Izmir,June–July 1934

This article studies the campaign against the use of non-Turkish languages that was organized by local forces in Izmir in 1934. In contextualizing the campaign within domestic politics and state–society relation, the article attempts to study domestic politics through a local perspective and explore the impact that similar events in the periphery had in the centre's policies, which the literature is usually inclined to comprehend solely with reference to state ‘high politics’. The article argues that cases of autonomous mobilization from below, such as the 1934 Izmir campaign, contributed to the evolution of the Turkish political regime in the 1930s by turning the centre towards decisions that would redesign the relationship between the state and the ruling party, and have an impact on state–society relations.     

From Notary to Ruler: The Role of the President of the Republic during the Italian Crisis (2010–14)

During the period of political and economic crisis in Italy, the President of the Republic became the central institutional actor of the Italian parliamentary government. This led to a debate among party politicians and scholars of Italian politics concerning the role of the Head of State in Italian democracy. Focusing on the period from 2010 until the beginning of 2014, the article explains the growing power of the President by examining the conditions that allowed presidential powers to increase. It concludes by discussing the potential effects of the increase in presidential powers on the evolution of Italian parliamentary government.     

The Balkan Entente in Turkish–Yugoslav relations (1934–41): the Yugoslav perspective

By discussing the role of the Balkan Entente within Turkish–Yugoslav relations, this article endeavours to reflect the extent to which the Entente guaranteed security to Turkey and Yugoslavia. It deals with the 1934–41 period, which starts with the formation of the Balkan Entente and ends with the German invasion of Yugoslavia. The article is written mainly based on Yugoslav archival documents and aims to provide an alternative narrative that contests the conventional Turkish view. It also demonstrates that although the political leaders in Turkey and Yugoslavia became more optimistic about the future of the region after having signed the Balkan Entente, their perception of threat changed over time during the period of increasing instability in Europe.     

From Resistance to Accommodation: Taiwanese Working Class in the Early Postwar Era (1945–55)

This article explores Taiwan’s worker activism in the early postwar era (1945–55) in the attempt to revise the received perception of labour quiescence under high authoritarianism. Rather than a passive victim of state repression, workers mounted two rounds of resistance, first in the form of factory-defending worker-militias during the February 28 Incident of 1947 and later in the subsequent clandestine communist movement. With the case of sugar industry workers, it is argued the postwar ethnic domination was the triggering factor for worker resistance, which was severely repressed. Their consecutive failures as well as the lure of the privileged status of state-owned enterprise employees eventually persuaded them to accept a subordinate role.     

From terror to public diplomacy: Jibril Rajoub and the Palestinian Authorities’ uses of sport in fragmentary Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Focusing on sport as an arena of struggle in the Israel/Palestine conflict, the current study traces, conceptually and historically, the way in which the Palestinian Authority in general, and Jibril Rajoub in particular, have shifted efforts toward the sporting arena in order to promote global awareness of the Palestinian case. In the current case study, the Palestinians were not successful at drawing attention to their political goals or in suspending Israel from Fédération Internationale de Football Association. However, their attempt emphasizes the ways in which conflicts had changed and the importance of images in the information age we live in. Conflicts today are very much battles of ideas and the information designed by the media. Alongside the military confrontations, an Image War is taking part in which each side tries to justifies its ideas, beliefs and actions.     

The EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership: From bilateral to multilateral forums and the strategic value for South Africa

ABSTRACT

Strategic partnerships are seen as a means of elevating bilateral relations between two countries, or in the case of the European Union (EU), relations between an intergovernmental organisation and its 10 identified strategic partners. There is a growing body of analysis on the value of these strategic partnerships for the two partner states, yet just what role this partnership has within wider multilateral forums is an area for further discussion. This article explores the role that the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership plays in shaping engagement between the bilateral partners in multilateral contexts. In reviewing the partnership over the course of its first decade, the article argues that South Africa has increasingly acknowledged its potential value. However, further interrogation on how to manage the complex intersection between bilateral and multilateral relations is called for if the strategic partnership is to be used to optimal effect as a tool of foreign policy.     

A democratic dictator's success: how Chad's President Deby defeated the military opposition in three years (2008–2011)

This article focuses on how President Deby re-gained power after a nearly successful coup d'état against him in February 2008. The analysis points towards one major external reason for success and a divided internal strategy. The international community's little interest in Chad and the desire for political stability among the few interested states are the main external reasons for Deby's success. Internally, Deby's use of violence and co-optation explain his success. Deby defeated the Chadian military opposition by combining co-optation of adversaries in Chad's patrimonial marketplace.     

The first ‘history of the Turkish revolution’ lectures and courses in Turkish universities (1934 – 42)

Due to its particular border situation and historical past, Antakya (in south-central Turkey) has, in contrast to most cities in Turkey, been successful in protecting important components of its diachronically composed multiculturalism. In light of such qualities Antakya is able to permit a diachronic analysis of different subsequent ‘governmentalities’ (Foucault) and flexible network formations that reflect the various processes in government styles in twentieth century Turkey. Through participant observation and in-depth interviews the authors try to reconstruct the diachronic multiculturalism from a perspective of macro- and micro-powers, ‘conduct’ and ‘counter-conduct’.     

The border as bridge: an Israeli perspective on the Mandelbaum Gate in divided Jerusalem (1948–1967)

Between 1948 and 1967, Jerusalem was divided by a ‘city line’, dividing Jordan (East Jerusalem) from Israel (West Jerusalem). Between the two sections stood one border crossing called ‘Mandelbaum Gate’. While existing literature on the Gate tends to emphasize its military status – owing in particular to the military convoy that crossed the border on a regular basis – research using sources from that time paints a picture of a border with civilian activity run jointly by two ostensibly warring countries. Whether it was the return of civilians and bodies, tourism coordination, or medical passage, those manning the border worked together to make it bridge, rather than barrier – and may even have paved the way to a peace agreement years later.     

From the Hague Congress to the Council of Europe: hopes,achievements and disappointments in the parliamentary way to European integration (1948–51)

SUMMARY

This article examines the commitment of many parliamentarians from Western countries after the Second World War in favour of European integration and the role played by the first European representative assembly, the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe, from its foundation in 1949 to the resignation of its first president, Paul-Henri Spaak, in 1951. The Hague Congress of May 1948 proposed the creation of an assembly elected by national parliaments which was to be the core of an integration process. The Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe, established by the Treaty of London of 5 May 1949, was far from satisfying the promoters of a parliament-led Europe, as the Committee of Ministers was the main decision-making body of the new international organization. The members of the Consultative Assembly (many of whom were leading political figures such as Winston Churchill, Harold Macmillan, Guy Mollet, Georges Bidault, Eamon de Valera, Ugo La Malfa and Ferruccio Parri) made an important contribution, however, to creating a supranational forum of discussion, and the Assembly's proposals led to the Convention on Human Rights, signed in November 1950, and to other European conventions. However, the Assembly was unable to share a common vision about the institutional perspectives of European integration. This article examines how the debate about the political structure of Europe was influenced by national traditions.     

Construction of Gender and National Identity in Turkey: Images of the First Lady in the Turkish Media (2002–7)

This article analyses the conception of womanhood and nationhood in Turkey through images of the First Lady in the media. It demonstrates that while there is a struggle between the secularist and Islamist media on issues such as Turkish national identity and public visibility, the secularist and Islamist discourses overlap when it comes to gender roles. In both cases, the private sphere is designated as the primary domain of women and the agency of women in the public sphere is limited by the symbolic duties they are expected to perform in accordance with the national imaginary.     

From Araucanian warriors to Mapuche terrorists: contesting discourses of gender,race, and nation in modern Chile (1810–2010)

This article explores the complex, shifting intersections between gender, racial, and national identities in modern Chile. Focusing on the figure of the Araucanian warrior who famously defeated the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century, it draws readers' attention to four transformative periods between the first declaration of Chilean independence and the bicentennial celebrations of that independence, and examines the contesting notions of masculinity that emerged in such contexts. Firstly, it analyses the late nineteenth-century liberal State's “civilising” discourse, which was imbued with imperial racist concepts of masculinity; secondly, a protest mestizo masculinity that emerged through the writings of Nicolás Palacios in the early twentieth century; thirdly, a revolutionary masculinity that was exalted by various actors during the Popular Unity government (1970–3); and finally, multicultural, neo-liberal configurations of masculinity in post-dictatorship Chile. It shows how the masculine ideals of physique (strength, impressive build, virility) and behaviour (independence, intelligence, bravery, spirit of adventure) projected onto the noble warrior of old have existed in tension with disparaging attitudes towards contemporary Mapuche demanding respect for their rights. It also underscores the multiple, creative ways in which Mapuche intellectuals and political leaders have engaged with dominant discourses of gender, race and nation in republican Chile.     

From Positive Neutrality to Partisanship: How and Why the Armenian Political Parties Took Sides in Lebanese Politics in the Post-Taif Period (1989–Present)

This article examines the policy of the Armenian political parties in Lebanon in light of the Taif agreement in 1989 that ended the Lebanese civil war and granted the Armenian community more political rights. The Armenian parties (Dashnak, Hunchak and Ramgavar) in the post-Taif period were obliged to abandon the policy of positive neutrality that they adopted from 1975 to 1989, and took sides with various Lebanese parties to protect the communal interests that the consociational structure of the state had allowed them. However, the Armenian parties were not united over the goal of maintaining the Armenian bloc inside parliament. As they chose different policies to pursue communal interests they took sides with the ruling majority and the anti-government opposition. The Armenians were criticized by some Christian politicians for their partisanship and were expected to maintain their traditional neutrality in Lebanese politics. It is very likely that the Armenians will return to their neutral policy and support the President and the government once their group rights are protected.     

From Indifference to Obsession: The Role of National State Celebrations in Iraq, 1921–2003

Rulers and elites have invented rituals and commemorations in order to serve their interests—to legitimize their hegemony as well as to maintain the existing social and political order. This process is most salient in the new modern states, whose national identity and collective memory are at an early stage of construction. This article analyses Iraq's state celebrations in the context of its state formation and nation-building processes. Before the US occupation in April 2003, Iraq had been governed by four regimes: the monarchy (1921–1958), ‘Abd al-Karim Qassem (1958–1963), the ‘Arif Brothers (1963–1968), and the Ba‘th (1968–2003). This article shows how successive Iraqi regimes moved from indifference to obsession with regard to celebrating national holidays. It advances three major arguments. First, each regime attempted to de-legitimize its predecessor by erasing or significantly changing its national calendar of holidays. These changes adversely affected the ability of the Iraqi polity to establish a shared historical memory serving as a basis for its national identity. Second, though a modern invention of British colonialism, Iraq's cultural artefacts of celebrations were taken from a mixed reservoir: foreign—both Western European and Eastern European—and local or ‘traditional’, either Islamic or pre-Islamic. The end result of the use of this wide symbolic market was a calendar reflecting a hybrid political culture. Third, the Iraqi case study shows that an inverse correlation exists between the calendar's density and the regime's perceived legitimacy. It seems that a ‘thick’ calendar reflects a shortage of legitimacy while a ‘thin’ calendar reflects a more secure and legitimized regime.