The Mindanao Conflict: Efforts for Building Peace through Development

In its 2003 Official Development Assistance Charter (ODA Charter), the Japanese government made peace-building one of its areas of focus. Since then, the government and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have been active in organizing and implementing peace-building support projects in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. One of the government’s initiatives is a peacebuilding project in Mindanao, the Philippines, an effort that represents a break from the traditional mold: the development support efforts started contributing to the peace process before the signing of any peace agreement took place.

This article examines how the development support initiatives by the Japanese government and JICA have contributed to the peace process in Mindanao from 2003 to 2016.

Despite the unfamiliarity and uncertainty clouding the initial stages of the project, the development support efforts by the Japanese government and JICA are considered to have played a substantial role in paving the way toward the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro in March 2014.     

The Challenges for Africa: A Culture of Peace,Good Governance and People-Centered Development

A history of colonialism, armed conflicts, mismanagement, lack of the rule of law and corruption has meant that despite its abundant natural resources, Africa remains underdeveloped and poverty, hunger, natural disasters and endemic diseases are prevalent. In this article, Ambassador Daniel António, Assistant Secretary-General of the OAU, argues that despite these difficulties there is increased hope as the people of Africa begin to take the initiative and reverse the current situation. António believes that this can be achieved if there is genuine commitment by all those concerned, including the international community, to good governance, liberalization, cooperation, peace and democracy.     

Symposium: Reexamining The Arab-Israeli Peace Process

The following is an edited version of the proceedings of a symposium sponsored by the Middle East Policy Council on March 9, 1995, in the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Former Senator George McGovern, president of the Middle East Policy Council, introduced the panel. The organizer and moderator was Thomas R. Mattair, the council'S director of research and policy analysis.     

The Dove Flies East: Whitehall, Warsaw and the 1950 World Peace Congress

In 1950 the Cold War turned hot in Korea, the threat of atomic annihilation hovered menacingly and the spectre of another world war haunted Europe. The establishment of the World Peace Council that year was one response to these fears. In November 1950 the Council decided to hold a World Peace Congress in Sheffield. The British Labour government sabotaged this Congress and forced it to shift to Warsaw. This article analyses this event which, to date, has received no scholarly attention. It argues that the attitudes and actions of the protagonists were a microcosm of the Cold War in that each side, East and West, saw the Congress as an opportunity to achieve moral authority, political leverage and strategic advantage over the other. The article also highlights the role of the state in controlling major political events during the Cold War.     

The Business of Peace: Raiding and Peace Work along the Kenya-Uganda Border (Part II)

Peace work is big business along the Kenya–Uganda border.Each year, new groups are created thanks to the generosity ofmajor donors while others disappear due to corruption and mismanagement.This cycle has continued for decades and, despite an absenceof tangible results, millions of dollars continue to flow intothe bank accounts of peace groups in the North Rift. As thefirst part of this article suggests, the focus on the so-called‘root causes’ of violence may well be responsiblefor the dismal performance of the peace industry. However, thebehaviour of peace NGOs in the field has been appalling. Peacemeetings are often only held so NGOs can display an engagementwith the conflict, despite the dangers created by such events.Other groups are dominated by politicians who use money earmarkedfor peace work to fund their political ambitions. Better monitoringis the obvious solution, but local groups have been able toavoid this by exaggerating the security risks of visiting theregion. Others argue that offloading peace work responsibilitiesto CBOs might lead to better results, but in the highly ethnicizedNorth Rift smaller groups are rarely able to transcend theirlocal roots. This article concludes that the peace industryis deeply flawed, and requires a complete overhaul in orderto have a beneficial impact on the region.     

远东地区:中国、俄罗斯、美国、日本的安全认知

近年来,远东地区在俄罗斯国家发展战略和对外战略中的地位出现了上升的趋势,这种变化源于对广义和狭义的远东地区的特殊政治经济条件的深入理解.本文指出,远东地区各大国的复杂的安全认知使得这一地区出现了理性国际格局形成的趋势和重新加强结盟以防范对手的趋势同时并存的局面.这种局面表明,远东地区真正的安全合作构架尚在萌芽状态之中.由此,各国一方面应警惕重返冷战旧辙的可能,另一方面更应看到经济上和政治上的互补性和交融性所展示的合作的机会.目前重要的问题是如何抓紧时机,使这一地区的内部发展和跨国合作能够进一步地形成互动.     

Article 5: Permanent Neutrality in The Tartu Peace Treaty, 1920

The article argues for the need to develop more multicausal accounts of international relations. It uses the Estonian–Russian political crisis over the relocation of the Bronze Soldier monument in 2007 as a case in point, showing how the ideational, material and institutional structures within the wider international society interact. As such, even cases with clear identity-political root causes can benefit from other factors being inserted into the equation when it comes to analysis. The article concludes by arguing that it is only by embracing multicausality that our chances of arriving at fuller and consequently more truthlike accounts of the events out there are improved.     

Sport for Peace: A New Era of International Cooperation and Peace through Sport

“O Sport, You are Peace!

You forge happy bonds between the peoples

by drawing them together in reverence for strength

which is controlled, organised and self disciplined.

Through you the young of the entire world

learn to respect one another,

and thus the diversity of national traits becomes a source

of generous and peaceful emulation!”

Pierre De Coubertin (The founder of the modern Olympic Movement)

Sport is an excellent and powerful tool to promote peace, tolerance, and peaceful coexistence. Sport can bring together people of different ethnicities, nationalities, race, skin color, culture and religion. Sport promotes values, such as respect, honesty and cooperation. Sport has the power and ability to overcome the intercultural and political barriers. Sport can be the significant component of social integration. This article brings into the discussion the theme of sport for peace and a positive role of sport for international cooperation and peace. There is a limited amount of research and literature on the theme of sport and peace or sport for peace. The unique and positive power of sport for bringing about peace and peaceful solutions is not well researched and understood. Therefore, the reason for this article is to try to fill the gap in the existing literature on the theme of sport for peace and broaden the discussion about it. The article focuses on sport for peace initiatives implemented by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the United Nations (UN) and its agencies, like UNESCO, UNICEF, UNHCR and non-governmental organizations and international sport federations. The article also examines the sport for peace initiatives from Japan, in the example of the Sport for Tomorrow (SFT) Programme of the Japanese Government for Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games and contribution by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in promoting and fostering friendship, cooperation, and peace in the world.     

欧盟参与中东和平进程:动因、角色与困境

出于地缘政治、经济、安全、移民、历史等方面的原因,同时受欧盟扩大其国际影响力的动机驱使,欧盟谋求在中东和平进程中扮演重要角色,并有意同美国的中东政策拉开距离。虽然中东和平进程是欧盟共同外交与安全政策取得成效最多的领域之一,但由于欧盟的共同外交与安全政策一直面临期望-能力差距的困境,欧盟在中东和平进程中更多的是在经济援助上发挥主导作用,政治进程仍被美国主导。欧盟想要在国际政治舞台上扮演一个强有力的国际行为体角色,需要突破自身在外交与安全领域所面临的期望-能力差距的困境。本文从地缘政治理论出发,基于国际行为体属性和期望-能力差距两个分析概念,对欧盟参与中东和平进程的动因、角色与困境作一分析。     

The Business of Peace: Raiding and Peace Work Along the Kenya Uganda Border (Part I)

Peace-building NGOs are frequently at work along the Kenya–Ugandaborder. But in this desolate region, results have been extremelysparse. This article contends that this is due to the inadequaciesof contemporary understandings of cattle raiding. Most NGOsand many academics ascribe cattle raids to a familiar arrayof factors such as resource scarcity, small arms proliferation,and generational conflict. While each issue is obviously ofsome relevance, such explanations are too cumbersome to reallyenhance our knowledge of cattle raiding. This article proposesa new approach to the problem by utilizing popular conceptionsof ethnicity and criminal responsibility for raids. Given thatmost major raids originally stem from seemingly insignificantthefts, the process of retaliation is seen as crucial to understandingwhy violence escalates in certain situations and defuses inothers. The failure of NGOs engaged in peace work to addressthis important issue in a meaningful way is the reason theyhave failed to achieve much success along the Kenya–Ugandaborder. This is in turn responsible for the widespread cynicismand corruption that has crept into their work, and is the subjectof the second part of this article. The author would like to acknowledge the Killam Trust, the SocialSciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and DalhousieUniversity for their generous support during the writing ofthis article. Special thanks are owed to Andrew Juma, MilcahAchola, Rachel Andiama, Kelly-Jo Bahry, Rob Blunt, MichelleBourbonniere, Kim de Vries, Gary Kynoch, Mark Longole, GabrielleLynch, Friederike Mieth, and Danielle Walters, as well as twoanonymous reviewers.     

美国与上海合作组织:认知、关系和未来

本文在阅读美国智库研究报告、学者论著及美国政府官方文件的基础上,考察了美国政府对上海合作组织的认知、政策及前景。文章认为,美国对上合组织的认知经历了一个从漠视到怀疑、重视的过程,其转折点是2005年上合组织阿斯塔纳峰会。美国对上合组织的政策也随之进行了一定的调整。美国国内主流观点认为,美国必须与上合组织积极接触、对话,防止它成为俄罗斯和中国主导中亚的工具。本文认为,客观上讲,由于美国与上合组织的关系直接影响双方在中亚的利益,因此双方有进行良性互动的必要;而双方在中亚的利益交汇也为良性互动提供了可能性。