Does civil war breed authoritarian values? An empirical study of Bosnia-Herzegovina,Kosovo and Croatia

This article analyses how armed conflict affects individual support for liberal values. It is commonly assumed that the consolidation of democracy depends on individual values such as tolerance as well as aspirations of civil and political liberty. For post-conflict societies, consolidating democracy is also a means of reducing the risk of recurring violent conflict. However, democracy has proven to be especially hard to achieve and consolidate in ethnically divided societies. While previous research has centred mainly on institutions and political elites, I expand the focus to also include ordinary citizens. Using survey data from post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Croatia, I examine the effect of exposure to violence on a scale of authoritarian values. While the effects are small, the results show that war-related violence in some cases leads people to embrace authoritarian values.     

Preventive War and Permissive Normative Order

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. president George W. Bush articulated a new national security strategy based on striking terrorist organizations and the states that harbor them before they could endanger the United States. Though expressed in the language of preemption, the Bush strategy embodied a far more problematic doctrine of preventive warfare. Whereas the grounds for preemption lie in evidence of a credible, imminent threat, the basis for prevention rests on the suspicion of an incipient, contingent threat. We argue that an American national security strategy that embraces preventive war will set an inauspicious precedent, undermining normative restraints on when and how states may use military force.     

Civil Society and Peace Negotiations: Beyond the Inclusion–Exclusion Dichotomy

Civil society is generally seen as an important actor in peace processes. But when it comes to reaching an agreement during peace negotiations, much of the current debate is centered on the question of including or excluding civil society. Although most researchers argue that civil society participation makes the process more sustainable and democratic, most practitioners emphasize that enhanced civil society participation makes it more difficult to reach a peace agreement. I argue that practitioners and theorists must both move beyond this dichotomy and, instead, focus on the variety of ways in which civil society actors can be included in a given negotiation process. To this end, I present in this article a comprehensive overview of nine models of inclusion, from most to least direct involvement of civil society, supported by illustrative case studies. Analysis of these models suggests that it will be possible to broaden the participation of civil society in peace negotiations without decreasing the negotiations' effectiveness.     

和谐之音：抗战时期的延安日本工农学校

日本工农学校,1940年10月成立于宝塔山西麓。其办学宗旨为宣扬中国共产党俘虏政策之精神,改造渐多之日军战俘。学校通过行动感化、理论讲述、生活照顾等方式对日本战俘进行再教育并使之转化。在清除法西斯主义毒害之后,他们或加入八路军,或服务于反战组织,其中许多人在战后也一直为中日友好做贡献。     

Kant’s Project of Perpetual Pacification

Richard Tuck locates a conundrum in the Hobbesian world view. Whereas the nation-state is desired to effect the pacification of the domestic sphere, a world state and the promise of global pacification is feared. Kant’s strong program for perpetual peace is presented as a moral imperative to establish through legal means a world republic based on reason and individual autonomy. Kant emphasizes the empirical impossibility of a world republic and hence advocates the weaker program of a world federation of states. This essay argues not the empirical but the logical impossibility of Kant’s strong program and by extension any program of perpetual peace that claims to be essentially different from ‘mere’ peace as truce. In so doing this essay distinguishes between political theory based on the assumption of the ontological priority of peace and political theory based on the assumption of the ontological priority of violence and argues for the necessity of thinking the latter.

中国抗战与日本南进政策的选择

二战中日本选择南进政策的根本动因何在？从全局上看,日本选择南进与中国抗战有必然的联系。正是中国抗战促使日本放弃了北进,而不得不贸然南进。南进既是日本帝国主义的无奈之举,又是破釜沉舟之策,由此注定了日本的最终失败。从这种意义上说,日本帝国主义的失败始于侵华战争。     

论"人-机"智能系统与超常性军事思维

提高战场的感知系统、传输系统和思维中介系统的效能,是信息化军事革命追求的一个重要目标。信息传感技术的发展深刻地改变了军事思维要素,使超常性军事思维呈现出“人—机”结合、人主机辅的特征。     

论战时舆论动员

舆论动员在战争舞台上扮演着越来越重要的角色。与其他战争动员样式相比,舆论动员是一种精神动员、信息动员、公众动员和媒体动员,是实现战时快速动员的基本保证,直接影响着战争的进程和结局。中国共产党在长期革命斗争实践中,构建了独具特色的战时舆论动员范式。其中,对战时舆论动员基本原则的范式认知主要包括:军事斗争谋略与舆论宣传思想高度统一,政治斗争规律与舆论宣传规律高度统一,舆论宣传实践与马克思主义新闻思想高度统一;对战时舆论动员基本路径的范式认知主要包括:争取一切力量扩大舆论阵地,整合新闻资源形成舆论强势,运用典型示范引导舆论走向。     

国内武装冲突中的战争犯罪审判问题研究

针对国内武装冲突中的战争犯罪行为,国家立法机关应当提供必要的惩处依据。我国现行刑法、刑事诉讼法和人民法院组织法尚不能适应追究这类犯罪的客观需要。建议通过法律修正案或单行法规的形式,尽快完善相关的实体法、程序法和组织法,促进中国特色社会主义法律体系的健全发展,为军事斗争准备提供必要的法律保障。     

Pashtun Jirga and prospects of peace and conflict resolution in Pakistan’s ‘tribal’ frontier

ABSTRACT

There is growing recognition and appreciation of traditional approaches towards peace and conflict resolution across the world. This article aims to highlight the crucial role and consequential importance of traditional mechanisms of peace and conflict resolution in Pakistan’s terror-hit Pashtun ‘tribal’ areas, formerly known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). These ‘peripheral’ areas of Pashtun tribes stand in relative isolation from the ‘centre’ of the Pakistani ruling establishment. Moreover, with the onset of militancy since 2001 in the Afghanistan–Pakistan region, the situation has turned worse for the local Pashtun tribes. The article discusses the changing role of traditional mechanisms and local structures of peace and conflict resolution, arguing that colonial legacies have failed to prevent, manage, resolve or transform conflicts in post-colonial states such as Pakistan. Furthermore, the Pashtun cultural code of Pashtunwali, along with its various tenets and structures, especially Jirga (Pashtun tribal council) and Lashkar (tribal militia), is also discussed in the article. The article concludes that the changing socio-political situation, along with the rise of the secular Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), is presenting a challenge to ‘tribal’ Pashtun patriarchal values as well as traditional structures like Jirga in the region.