Doctrine and violence: The impact of combatant training on civilian killings

Military theorists and practitioners have long argued that training shapes how combatants treat civilians during war. Yet there is little systematic evidence regarding the impact of training on wartime behavior, and almost none for non-state armed groups, despite the fact that such groups intensively train their fighters in order to shape their behavior towards civilian populations. This article argues that among insurgent groups that emphasize the strategic and tactical importance of restraint towards civilian populations, political training can reduce civilian killings. We test the observable implications of our theory in the case of Colombia, using survey data on former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) insurgents and sub-national data on civilian killings. We find support for our hypothesis, with results that are robust to a range of model specifications and controls, including alternate sources of combatant discipline and obedience, such as military training and punishment.     

Whole-person health and development: two South Indian initiatives

ABSTRACT

In responding to the 2016 reformulation of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, the development community’s efforts are focused on a sweep of initiatives aiming to promote whole-society, sustainable development. The ambition of the SDGs is inspiring, but also daunting, and does not always sit easily within national models of economic development. This viewpoint profiles two organisations in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, that have decades of experience in whole-person development among scheduled tribes and disability communities. Both organisations serve as timely examples of ongoing holistic, whole-person health and development in the context of new ideals and economic realities.     

Developing urban space: the changing role of NGOs in Bangladesh

Rapid urbanisation has been an emerging issue in recent decades, particularly for developing countries such as Bangladesh. As one of world’s largest international NGOs, BRAC, based in Bangladesh, is transiting towards a more integrated approach for alleviating urban poverty. This article presents BRAC’s current journey for eradicating urban poverty and outlines the characteristics of urban poverty, key issues faced by the urban poor, and learning that BRAC has accumulated through its urban interventions. Introducing the concept of “coproduction”, the article identifies BRAC’s priorities to eradicate urban poverty within the context of an overall urban strategy.     

Meeting development goals: evidence from the Civil Society Education Fund

In recent years, the Civil Society Education Fund has supported national education civil society coalitions (NECs) in low-income countries so that they put pressure on governments and donors to implement the Education for All agenda and the Millennium Development Goal on education. This article draws on literature on global governance as well as on an extensive evaluation of the CSEF to explore the actual contribution of this initiative to the activity of NECs. The article highlights the achievements and shortcomings of the CSEF and includes a set of practical recommendations on the role of global civil society in international development processes.     

内战反对派武装的联盟构建与内部冲突——以叙利亚内战为例

在内战进程中,不同的反对派武装组织有时会构建起联盟共同反抗政府军,而有时则会相互袭击引发内部冲突。对于此现象的解释已是当前内战研究理论的重点。通过回顾既有研究对此问题提出的物质因素和理念因素解释,文章认为单纯的理念因素和物质因素均无法解释反对派联盟的形式与瓦解。因此,文章提出了一个将物质因素和理念因素进行整合的分析框架,分析理念因素与物质因素交互影响反对派联盟形成和内部冲突。在政府军实力较强的情况下,理念因素无法起作用,而反对派内部实力均衡与否也将使得理念因素对联盟构建产生不同的影响,并且外部支持则会加强理念在反对派联盟形成中的影响作用。文章以叙利亚内战作为阐释性案例,采取案例内比较的方式,对提出的逻辑进行分析。     

The state of public discourse in Kenya’s post-Moi era: Where are Kenya’s organic intellectuals?

One of the defining moments in Kenya’s political landscape was the defeat of KANU, the party that had been in power since the country’s independence in 1963, by the National Rainbow Coalition, NARC in 2002. The victory was hailed as a new dawn that would entrench good governance, equity, rule of law, and human rights. After all, the victory was a culmination of many years of agitation against KANU dictatorship. Furthermore, NARC was a mass movement with national appeal and led by renowned anti-establishment politicians, civil society, and activist intellectuals and clergy. But, these aspirations would be betrayed by fragmentation of elites in NARC and re-invention of corruption by the same elites. This paper investigates the ramifications of the NARC collapse to the country’s post-Moi democratization process, more so the diminished role of intellectuals in public discourse. The paper demonstrates the urgent need for organic intellectuals and the way forward.     

Trading in development: norms and institutions in the making/unmaking of European Union–African,Caribbean and Pacific trade and development cooperation

This paper offers a contribution to recent debates on European Union (EU) external trade and development policy, with a specific focus on the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries. The question asked is why the EU encountered such difficulties in the attempt to translate its normative preferences for freer trade and closer economic integration into a series of binding agreements? Drawing on both economic constructivist and historical institutionalist insights, it is argued that the case for reform initially rested on a strong convergence between institutions and ideas, enabling the EU to discursively present desired policy reforms as necessary to satisfy World Trade Organisation trade rules. However, in due course, the institutional dynamics behind the latter began to diverge from the EU's policy preferences and blunt its norm-based argument – thus creating the space for transnational coalitions to, first, question and, ultimately, undermine aspects the EU's trade and development prospectus for the ACP.     

广域组织RCEP下我国货物贸易流量的影响因素——基于静态面板数据的贸易引力模型

在广域一体化组织RCEP的区域范围内,运用基于静态面板数据的贸易引力模型分析方法,对我国货物贸易流量影响因素的问题进行了研究。首先探讨了什么是RCEP及其发展历程,其次对我国与其他RCEP成员国间的货物贸易流量进行描述性统计,接着对货物出口流量与GDP等诸多影响因素间的关系进行实证研究,再通过对描述性统计和计量研究进行总结,认为我国与其他RCEP成员国间的货物贸易增长较快但增长率并不稳定,GDP和距离因素是影响相互间贸易的主要因素,人口数量、TPP及FTA是次要因素。     

论民事法律行为的构成要件及其理论意义

民事法律行为制度作为民法学领域的一项重要制度,其构成要件理论引起了人们的广泛争鸣。鉴于长期存在的理论混淆,文章从一般构成要件与特别构成要件角度出发加以分析,进而探讨明确界定民事法律行为构成要件的重大理论意义。这一界定有利于完善法律行为要件论,有利于理顺构成要件与生效要件的逻辑关系,有利于为举证责任提供理论依据。     

美国《2018年出口管制法》评析与启示

美国《2018年出口管制法》在术语定义和政策声明、出口管制的权限和管理、许可证、确定和控制"新兴和基础技术"出口的要求、涉及与美国全面禁运的国家有关的审查、惩罚和强制执行等方面作出了许多新规定。该法使美国出口管制体系走向法典化、系统化和多边化,建立跨部门许可审查机制,确立"合规协助"条款,扩大了"新兴和基础技术"这一出口管制范围,并扩张出口管制域外管辖权,同时加强了惩罚和执行力度。我国应注重"新兴与基础技术"的管制,完善出口管制系列清单,扩大出口管制管理机构的执法权限,为出口经营者出口合规提供具体指导,严格执行阻断法,推进双边与多边出口管制标准的设立以应对该法的实施。