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.     

冷战期间缅甸的中立外交政策

独立后的缅甸一直奉行独立自主的中立外交政策,在与中美苏三大国的关系上表现的尤为突出。冷战期间,缅甸与三大国的外交关系有以下特点:其一,缅甸与三大国都基本上保持着正常的关系,没有产生大的矛盾和冲突;其二,不与任何大国结盟,从不倒向任何一方。其三,在与三大国的关系中,缅中关系显得更为密切,但两国仍属于正常的国家关系,并没有结成同盟。总的来说,缅甸的对外政策确实是中立和不结盟的。     

Feminist Perspectives on 9/11

In this article I offer a feminist analysis of September 11, 2001 and its aftermath. I demonstrate how gendered discourses are used in this and other conflict situations to reinforce mutual hostilities. I suggest that men's association with war–fighting and national security serves to reinforce their legitimacy in world politics while it acts to create barriers for women. Using the framework of a post–9/11 world, I offer some alternative models of masculinity and some cultural representations less dependent on the subordination of women. Often in times of conflict women are seen only as victims. I outline some ways in which the women of Afghanistan are fighting against gender oppression and I conclude with some thoughts on their future prospects.     

Intimate femicide in Israel; temporal, social, and motivational patterns

This study investigated all (76) cases of intimate femicide (the killing of women by their intimate male partners) in Israel during the years 1990–1995. The analysis focused on temporal patterns, the representation of various population groups, and given motives. The findings show a relationship between the incidence of intimate femicide and a number of major events/processes experienced by Israeli society during the period investigated. Following the Persian Gulf War (in 1991), during which families were enclosed for lengthy periods in sealed rooms, there was a sharp increase in intimate femicide. On the other hand, the enactment of the Law for the Prevention of Family Violence in 1991 was followed by a sharp (though temporary) decrease in intimate femicide in 1992. New immigrants from the former Soviet Union and even more so, from Ethiopia were over-represented among intimate femicide offenders. In most cases, more than one motive is given for the intimate femicide, with 'possessiveness' being mentioned in the majority of cases usually in conjunction with other motives (such as argument/conflict between the parties, mental, drinking or drug problems of the offender). Here too, differences were found between the various population groups. The findings are discussed within the framework of a stress-support theoretical model which postulates that violence in society will be positively related to stress factors and negatively related to support systems.     

有事法制与《日本国宪法》的危机——兼论有事七法案的通过对日本和平宪法的影响

2004年6月14日,日本国会通过了有事七法案。有事七法案的通过标志着日本有事法律体系的全面建立。然而,《日本国宪法》第9条明文规定日本放弃一切战争权利并不得保持任何战争力量。由此,有事法制便与《日本国宪法》产生了矛盾性。本文在系统介绍有事法制的基础上分析了有事七法案及有事法律体系的建立对于《日本国宪法》的影响。     

俄罗斯经济恢复增长中军品、技术出口因素影响

俄罗斯经济经历了一段时期的衰退之后 ,从 1999年开始逐步回升。对于俄罗斯经济好转的原因 ,国内外学者做了很多分析。则从军品、技术出口成为俄罗斯经济恢复增长的影响因素之一角度 ,分析其经济增长的前景和影响。     

Attitudes Toward a Military Enforcement of Human Rights

In recent years, Western countries and NATO have repeatedly intervened in international conflicts using military means (e.g., Kosovo, Macedonia, and Afghanistan). The countries involved in these military operations have stated that these interventions did not serve strategic goals; instead, their prime purpose was to enforce human rights. Against this background the present paper aims to answer two main questions: First, how can attitudes toward such military interventions be measured? Second, how are these attitudes related to prosocial and antisocial personality dispositions? Two studies were conducted to address these questions. A first study with 275 university students from Germany enabled us to develop a short and reliable scale to measure attitudes toward the military enforcement of human right. A second study (N = 190) revealed that authoritarianism and the willingness to aggressively sanction the antisocial behavior of others were positively related to this attitude, while no significant relationship with prosocial dispositions emerged. Furthermore, it could be shown that a high concern for human rights only then was connected to a positive attitude toward their military enforcement if persons indicated to handle their daily conflicts in an aggressive manner.

     

The International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania: successes,challenges, perspectives

The article summarizes the history of the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania and outlines the work it has accomplished to date. The author reviews the problems and controversies surrounding the Commission’s research into the post-1940 period of Lithuania’s history and describes the clashing perspectives inherent in the starkly different Lithuanian, Jewish, Western and Soviet wartime narratives.     

Alliance Institutionalization and Alliance Performance

The appeal of differentiating between small and big wars is limited if the question is restricted to the utility of inductive indicators of war size in isolating some phenomenon of interest. However, there is considerable theoretical justification for treating systemic wars as a special war category. Historical‐structural emphases on geopolitical and macrostructural dynamics have led to the development of contextually specific theories that do not lend themselves readily to the explanation of all interstate wars. Examination of the cyclical fluctuations in the concentration of sea power and land power over the past 500 years help illustrate this general point. Thus, to the extent that systemic wars require a different type of explanation than do non‐systemic wars, the appropriate specification of the dependent war variable is an inescapable necessity.