Military twists and turns in world politics: downsides or dividends for UN peace operations?

Russia’s challenge to the post-cold war order, and the rise of Islamic State have resulted in a call for increased military spending among NATO members. Despite the increased demand for UN peace operations, any expansion is unlikely to benefit the world organisation. Instead we see an increasing reliance upon regional organisations like the African Union, European Union and NATO, in particular, for robust peace operations. An analysis of Western states (France, Germany and the USA) suggests that future investments in weaponry, technology and staff will primarily benefit NATO and the EU, but not the United Nations.     

Making the Invisible Visible: Disability Inclusive Development in Solomon Islands

International and national level disability inclusive discourse, policy and strategy typically render invisible the institutional structures, political economies and socio-cultural power relations that constitute the lived experience of disability. The lack of robust information on disability extends these theoretical blind spots to the absence of disability in official statistics, political dialogue and social policy. Empirically grounded, inclusive research that recognises disability as embedded in globalised political economies and culturally specific power relations is required to address the theoretical, statistical and programmatic invisibility of disability. Such research will provide a solid knowledge base on which to build effective inclusive interventions.     

Five years after the Arab Spring: a critical evaluation

A new political geography has emerged in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) after the Arab Spring. The transformative impact of the popular upheavals appeared to put an end to long-term authoritarian regimes. Today, the region is far from stable since authoritarian resilience violently pushed back popular demands for good governance and is pushing to restore former state structures. However, the collective consciousness of the popular revolts endures, and a transformative prospect may emerge on the horizon. The chaotic situation is the result of an ongoing struggle between those who seek change and transformation and others in favour of the status quo ante. A critical evaluation of the Arab Spring after five years indicates a continuous process of recalculation and recalibration of policies and strategies. There are alternative routes for an eventual settlement in the MENA region, which are in competition against both regional and transregional quests for a favourable order.     

The Effect of Music Video Clips on Adolescent Boys’ Body Image, Mood, and Schema Activation

There is limited research that has examined experimentally the effects of muscular images on adolescent boys’ body image, with no research specifically examining the effects of music television. The aim of the current study was to examine the effects of viewing muscular and attractive singers in music video clips on early, mid, and late adolescent boys’ body image, mood, and schema activation. Participants were 180 boys in grade 7 (mean age = 12.73 years), grade 9 (mean age = 14.40 years) or grade 11 (mean age = 16.15 years) who completed pre- and post-test measures of mood and body satisfaction after viewing music videos containing male singers of muscular or average appearance. They also completed measures of schema activation and social comparison after viewing the clips. The results showed that the boys who viewed the muscular clips reported poorer upper body satisfaction, lower appearance satisfaction, lower happiness, and more depressive feelings compared to boys who viewed the clips depicting singers of average appearance. There was no evidence of increased appearance schema activation but the boys who viewed the muscular clips did report higher levels of social comparison to the singers. The results suggest that music video clips are a powerful form of media in conveying information about the male ideal body shape and that negative effects are found in boys as young as 12 years.     

Does Humor Explain Why Relationally Aggressive Adolescents are Popular?

The association between relational aggression and popularity during early adolescence is well established. Yet, little is known about why, exactly, relationally aggressive young adolescents are able to achieve and maintain high popular status among peers. The present study investigated the mediating role of humor in the association between relational aggression and popularity during early adolescence. Also considered was whether the association between relational aggression and humor varies according to adolescents’ gender and their friends’ levels of relational aggression. Participants were 265 sixth-grade students (48 % female; 41 % racial/ethnic minority; M _age = 12.04 years) who completed peer nomination and friendship measures in their classrooms at two time points (Wave 1: February; Wave 2: May). The results indicated that Wave 1 relational aggression was related to Wave 1 and 2 popularity indirectly through Wave 1 humor, after accounting for the effects of Wave 1 physical aggression, ethnicity, and gender. Additional analyses showed that relational aggression and humor were related significantly only for boys and for young adolescents with highly relationally aggressive friends. The results support the need for further research on humor and aggression during early adolescence and other mechanisms by which relationally aggressive youth achieve high popular status.     

Gendered Citizenship in a Multidimensional Perspective: The Challenges Facing Norway within the Nordic Model

This article discusses the challenges that continue to exist in the struggle for full and equal citizenship in Norway, focusing particularly on the multidimensional citizenship that has been central to the overarching project of women's movements. It reports on comparative research on the social, economic, multicultural, and intimate dimensions of citizenship which offers grounds to regard Norway as an example of good practice and supportive policies in relation to gendered citizenship, and at the same time highlights that fully equal and just citizenship remains to be achieved, particularly for minoritized women.