Statebuilding in Divided Societies: The Reform of Dayton in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Drawing from the literature on conflict regulation and other plural society theories, this paper provides a framework of analysis to explore the dynamics involved in the external statebuilding process in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The analysis is based on a three-level framework whereby patterns of conflict regulation are analyzed at the inter- and intra-ethnic levels, as well as what this article terms the ‘supra-national’ ethnic level, where interactions between domestic and external actors are considered. In order to explore these issues empirically, this paper examines the process of constitutional reform in BiH over the course of 2005–6, drawing from personal interviews. The paper concludes that, while the assistance provided by external actors has proven substantial, the neglect of intra-ethnic dynamics and other related considerations have often rendered external actors’ efforts at shaping the statebuilding process in BiH ineffective.     

The Limits of Liberal Peacebuilding? International Engagement in the Sri Lankan Peace Process

Abstract

This essay explores international engagement in the Sri Lankan peace process between 2002 and 2008. The internationalization of peacebuilding in Sri Lanka is analysed as part of a broader international shift towards a model of ‘liberal peacebuilding’, which involves the simultaneous pursuit of conflict resolution, liberal democracy and market sovereignty. The essay provides a detailed and disaggregated analysis of the various exporters, importers and resisters of liberal peacebuilding, with a particular focus on the contrasting ways in which the United National Front (UNF) and the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) regimes engaged with international actors. It is argued that an analysis of the Sri Lankan case provides a corrective to some of the core assumptions contained in much of the literature on liberal peacebuilding. Rather than viewing liberal peacebuilding as simply an hegemonic enterprise foisted upon countries emerging from conflict, the essay explores the ways in which peacebuilding is mediated through, and translated and instrumentalized by, multiple actors with competing interests – consequently liberal peacebuilding frequently looks different when it ‘hits the ground’ and may, as in the Sri Lanka case, lead to decidedly illiberal outcomes. The essay concludes by exploring the theoretical and policy implications of a more nuanced understanding of liberal peacebuilding. It is argued that rather than blaming the failure of the project on deficiencies in its execution and the recalcitrance of the people involved, there is a need to look at defects in the project itself and to explore alternatives to the current model of liberal peacebuilding.     

我国发展独立第三方公共政策评估机构论析

发展独立第曼方政策评估机构是对公共政策公平与效率两大价值追求的必然要求。相比国外而青,当前我困独立笫三方政策评估机构的发展尚不健全,究其原因主要受限于内外两方面因素制约,文章对如何促进我国独立第三方政策评估机构发展展开研究。     

劳动权的宪法释义及其救济机制研究

宪法视阈下的劳动权是指宪法规定的有关取得和选择工作的权利及获取劳动报酬的权利,它是一项综合性权利,由择业自由权与就业援助权为核心要素构成的一系列权利束。劳动权兼具自由权和社会权双重属性,它应受到宪法合理的限制。劳动权与公权力、私权利存在冲突,应通过比例原则与平等原则、倾斜原则与协调原则调适。宪法视阈下的劳动权具有可诉性,建立宪法主导下的法律保障体系,同时借鉴域外立法构建包括公益诉讼制度在内的司法救济和宪法救济模式,以确保劳动权的实现。     

我国生产者责任延伸制度实施困境分析——从家电以旧换新政策实施谈起

生产者责任延伸是解决废弃产品问题的一项新兴的环境策略,在我国已初步构建并开始实施。为拉动经济增长,促进废旧电器电子产品的循环利用,我国实施了家电以旧换新政策。但该政策实施后遇到的一些问题,如回收企业技术落后不能满足回收的大量废弃电器电子产品的无害化资源化处置、生产者组织和废弃产品处理基金制度没有有效建立、政府行政干预机制和经济激励机制的缺位、法律规定的空白等阻碍着生产者责任延伸制度的实施。     

Political Evangelism

In 2000, UN Security Council Resolution 1325 called for the increased participation of women in formal political processes surrounding violent conflict. However, worldwide, women continue to be a minority in formal politics, particularly in situations of armed violence. Contrary to this trend, women have played an influential role in the Casamance peace process in southern Senegal, where a rebel movement has been fighting for independence since 1982. This article assesses the methodology, constraints and, most importantly, the gendered opportunity structures surrounding the women's peace movement in Casamance. It demonstrates how women participate in the politics of war and peace through an astute manipulation of gendered platforms and a judicious reading of political context, thus propelling their voices into the formal political arena. This case study highlights practical and local approaches to political participation that may be relevant to women around the world.     

DISCUSSION - Agricultural Policy Reform and Rural Livelihoods in Central Mexico

This contribution examines the impact of profound changes to agricultural policy implemented since 1988 on the livelihoods of Mexico's rural population. Detailed studies in four villages show that rural incomes are very unevenly distributed within communities leaving half of households in poverty. During the last decade key factors affecting village economies have been international and national, rather than specific changes to farm policy. Most changes have been to the detriment of the communities studied, but peasant households have adapted and survived, at a price. If the worst fears about the consequences of economic liberalisation have not been realised, neither have the hopes. Depressed markets for basic goods and services have limited the growth of the rural economy. Private investment and provision of services have not been stimulated.     

Coercive Policy Diffusion in a Developing Country: The Case of Public-Private Partnerships in Sri Lanka

Over the last two decades, public-private partnership policy has been adopted in developing countries to a lesser degree than in industrialised countries. This paper argues that this policy has been diffused to developing countries like Sri Lanka with coercion from international aid-granting organisations through conditionalities attached to financial assistance. It details the country-specific challenges faced by Sri Lanka in responding to conditionalities as it has sought to implement this policy. Drawing on policy diffusion theory the paper develops a framework to be used in analysing the issues under investigation.     

Contextualising the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ in Darfur

ABSTRACT

This article argues for a thorough contextual analysis based on understanding local, regional and international politico-economic linkages in the Sudan, in order to ground prospects of the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P) doctrine in the ongoing crisis in Darfur. The R2P framework was crystallised by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) in 2001. It was adapted and subsequently endorsed by United Nations (UN) member states during the 2005 UN World Summit. The R2P ostensibly provides normative benchmarks on how states should respond to the quadruple human rights violations of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. Indeed, there is debate on whether the prevailing crisis in Darfur constitutes a test case for the application of the R2P. However, such debate is misplaced on two grounds: first, it glosses over the inherent conceptual deficiencies of the R2P, as presently constituted. More importantly, such debate is primarily inspired by reactionary and externalising influences based on past international failings, like Rwanda (1994) and Bosnia (1993). Hence, it is argued that the starting point of analysing the Darfur crisis should be a thorough investigation of how local, regional and international politico-economic factors have historically worked in an orchestrated fashion to trigger and sustain the crisis in the Sudan. Knowledge and an understanding of such historical specificity is a requisite for determining the relevance of the R2P in Darfur. The R2P, as presently constituted and practised, does not address this gap.     

The regional outcome of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement five years down the road: Are external forces playing a progressive role?

ABSTRACT

The Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of January 2005 is the outcome of regional and international mediation led by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD)1 and the IGAD Partners’ Forum broadened to include the United States of America, Norway, the Netherlands, Canada, Italy and the United Nations. Five years into its implementation the peace agreement appears to have transformed the war between North and South Sudan into a series of engagements of conflicting nature. Numerous contradictory actions by both the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the National Congress Party (NCP) (the main political forces behind the CPA) have been noted during the ongoing implementation process (Grawert forthcoming 2010; Grawert and El-Battahani 2005; Wassara 2008). Although internal Sudanese forces are the key actors in implementing the CPA, external forces are critical in providing the support and pressure needed for a complete realisation of the peace deal. The New Regionalism Approach (NRA), as advanced by Grant and Soderbäum (2003), is instrumental in understanding this dynamic. This article is based on the result of a study that seeks to examine why positive engagements of external forces are needed for a timely implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.