International Organisations and the Evolution of Humanitarianism: Cross-perspectives on the Commonwealth and the European Union

Abstract

As international relations actors in the post-Second World War world, international organisations have played a significant role in the standardisation of global policy concepts during the 20th century, and humanitarian assistance has been no exception. While the study of the role of international organisations in shaping a dominant model of humanitarian aid has recently gathered pace, few historians have focused on different, less successful models and interpretations developed by other international organisations. Recently declassified Commonwealth Secretariat records show that discussions within the Secretariat and among member states regarding the potential objectives and scope of Commonwealth humanitarian assistance programmes took place as early as the 1960s, and continued throughout the following decades. This article provides an overview of the origin and evolution of the Commonwealth’s approach to humanitarian assistance since the 1960s. Its objective is to document this hitherto little known aspect of Commonwealth assistance policies, and, based on an initial literature and archival survey, to contribute to the identification of further research questions and gaps in this aspect of Commonwealth history. Although they are very different in nature and scope, the Commonwealth and the European Union share at least one common feature in so far as humanitarian assistance is concerned, namely their difficulty in reaching a consensual definition of it. By exploring the links and discrepancies between, as well as within, each organisation’s approach to humanitarian assistance, and by examining the initiatives of some of their member states, this paper seeks to highlight the plasticity of the definition of humanitarian assistance.     

Setting a new framework for co-operation between the Commonwealth and the European Union

This paper proposes a new approach to understanding the relations between the European Union (EU) and the Commonwealth. There has been a long-standing lack of mutual insight between the Commonwealth and the EU, chiefly due to a general lack of knowledge of the modern-day Commonwealth and its role on the international stage. The relations between both organisations are currently limited, despite the fact that there are areas of common interest, where cooperation would not only be feasible, but also beneficial. An agreement, such as that proposed in this paper could contribute significantly in the fight to eradicate poverty and uphold human rights.     

Revisiting Transnational European Consociationalism: The European Union a Decade After Lisbon

This article discusses the notion of consociationalism as applied to the EU and assesses whether the institutional and procedural changes introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon (ToL) and by the management of the Euro and refugee crises still warrant considering the EU as a case of consociational democracy. Our contention is that the changes introduced by the ToL bore the promise to strengthen the consociational structural traits of the Union but that the further institutional and procedural changes engendered by the management of the Euro and refugee crises have made the behavioral dimension of consociationalism all the more necessary just as the accommodating orientation of the political elites had begun to evaporate. We support this argument by looking at empirical evidence which allows us to offer a set of propositions on the effects of the recent crises on the attitudes of the European elites towards the future of EU democracy.     

浅析认知变量对欧洲安全观变化的影响

欧洲战略文化从冷战时期的防御型模式向冷战后的干预型模式转变,其中,认知变量对战略文化中的核心要素——安全观的变化起着重要的作用。认知变量主要包括四大变量,即内生变量、外生变量,传导变量和干扰变量。由于认知变量发生变化,导致欧洲国家在冷战后不再把苏联作为主要威胁来源,而把非传统安全威胁,特别是人道主义灾难作为主要威胁来源,确定了新的威胁来源和安全观,并在此基础上形成了关于安全战略方面的基本认知规范,从而导致欧洲战略文化模式的变迁。本文主要从战略文化的理论角度出发,围绕安全观及其认知变量的概念,简要阐述认知变量如何影响安全观,从而更好地理解欧洲安全观改变的原因,以及这些变化对欧洲战略文化的影响。     

欧盟与区域间主义:区域效用与全球意义

区域间主义已成为国际关系中一种新的现象,而欧盟在其中扮演着关键的领跑者角色。欧盟区域间主义以综合性、多元性、契约性、条件性等核心特征,形成一种独特的欧盟模式。它不仅通过规范扩散、认同强化、利益共享和制度建设给欧盟自身发展带来了重要区域效用,而且通过对基于区域一体化的新型南北关系的探索和对世界多极化趋势及多区域主义全球新秩序建设进程的推动,对全球政治经济产生了积极的影响。     

Building capacities,exerting power: The European Union police mission in the Palestinian Authority

This article offers a Foucauldian approach to examine the European Union Police Mission in the Palestinian Authority. Using Foucault’s ideas on ‘policing’, ‘discipline’ and ‘normalization’ and applying an interpretive approach, the article argues that the EU police mission rests on ideas, visions and techniques that problematize local capacities and skills in the policing of the population. It highlights the epistemic context of knowledge creation within which the local becomes an object of intervention through two techniques: benchmarking and capacity-building. The article also discusses what is left invisible and unaddressed in EUPOL COPPS activities.     

The European Union and Democracy in Latin America

The European Union has developed a significant range of democracy promotion initiatives in Latin America since the 1990s. The E.U.'s approach to democracy building has been seen to possess a number of strengths relative to U.S. policy, especially in connection with grassroots developmental imperatives. European policy itself, however, has a number of limitations. It has inadequately conceptualized the linkages between economic and political dimensions; it has insufficiently recognized the potential benefits of balancing bottom-up and top-down approaches. The E.U.'s influence over Latin American governments has remained more nebulous than that of the United States. European and U.S. policies in Latin America have both rivaled and complemented each other. Understanding this might inform both actors' democracy promotion efforts in the region.     

The Commonwealth,Gender and Peacekeeping

Abstract

Reflecting on the strategic commitment outlined in the Plan of Action for Gender Equality (2005–2015) and the priority issues of the Commonwealth Women’s Forum, this article assesses the extent to which the Commonwealth as an institution is supporting troop- and police-contributing member states in addressing the gender imbalance in peacekeeping operations. Drawing on desk-based research, interviews with international policymakers and a statistical analysis of the International Peace Institute Peacekeeping Database, the article first outlines the Commonwealth’s gender and security policy perspective before examining datasets to determine the success of Commonwealth member states in integrating women into uniformed peacekeeping contingents between 2009 and 2015. The article observes that, in spite of a renewed optimism and drive to propel women into leadership positions in politics, the judiciary, public bodies and private companies, security-sector reform and the implementation of pillar one of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 are notably absent from the Commonwealth’s gender agenda. It is argued that this policy gap suggests that national and international security architecture is regarded as an accepted domain of male privilege. A lack of political will among Commonwealth heads of government to mainstream gender equality and facilitate structural transformation of national security organs and a chronically under resourced Commonwealth Secretariat limit the influence of the institution to that of arms-length promoter of international norms on women, peace and security.     

Hype,disillusionment and capacity problems: Turkish Cypriot media and the European Union

Since the failed 2004 Annan Plan referendum, a special relationship between the Turkish Cypriot community and the EU institutions has been established. Increased unofficial contacts have paved the way for a reinforced role of sub-state actors, including Turkish Cypriot media. The role of the Turkish Cypriot media in shaping public opinion towards the EU has been largely correlated with the course of the Cyprus negotiations. Weak institutionalisation has negatively affected the influence of the local media on advancing the sui generis relationship between the Turkish Cypriot community and the European Union, as well as Europeanisation in the northern part of Cyprus. This article applies the theoretical framework of horizontal and vertical Europeanisation to explore the impact of local media on the relations between the European Union and the Turkish Cypriot community.     

The Commonwealth,Apartheid, and the Role of Micro-states

In the 1980s, the debate surrounding South Africa apartheid consumed the Commonwealth. While superficially this discussion might appear to have had little relevance to the interests of micro and small state members of the Commonwealth, the behemothic nature of apartheid presented significant challenges to such states. This article attempts to assess the varied ways in which South African apartheid affected the diplomatic strategies of micro-states within the political landscape of the Commonwealth, and how it could be perceived as both a hindrance to their agendas, as well a potential tool in the fight to amplify their voices. Micro-states used the egalitarian structure of the Commonwealth and combined it with the prominence of apartheid in international debate to both elevate their status and even to garner support for their own personal concerns. Apartheid’s reframing of the international conversation had broad reverberations which affected Commonwealth responses to a variety of seemingly disparate issues. This culminated in the ejection of Fiji from the Commonwealth in the aftermath of the 1987 coup due to concerns over racial discrimination, emblematising the all-pervasive nature of the apartheid debate within the Commonwealth.