Shaking off the neoliberal shackles: “democratic emergence” and the negotiation of democratic knowledge in the Middle East North Africa context

ABSTRACT

There is a general assumption in democracy promotion that liberal democracy is the panacea that will solve all political and economic problems faced by developing countries. Using the concept of “good society” as analytical prism, the analysis shows that while there is a rhetorical agreement as to what the “good society” entails, democracy promotion practices fail to allow for recipients’ inclusion in the negotiation and delivery of the “good society”. Contrasting US and Tunisian discourses on the “good society”, the article argues that democracy promotion practices are underpinned by neoliberal parameters borne out from a reliance on the transition paradigm, which in turn leave little room to democracy promotion recipients to formulate knowledge claims supporting the emergence of alternative conceptions of the “good society”. In contrast, the article opens up a reflective pathway to a negotiated democratic knowledge, which would reside in a paradigmatic change that consists in the abandonment of the transition paradigm in favour of a “democratic emergence” paradigm.     

Suicide squad: Boko Haram’s use of the female suicide bomber

Boko Haram first began using the tactic of suicide bombings in 2011 and in 2014 started using female suicide bombers. This research focuses on gender differences in the use of suicide bombers. The data were collected using open sources from June 16, 2011 to June 15, 2018. Using this longitudinal data, trends are described over that 7-year period, focusing on the use of females. A majority of the suicide bombings target civilians in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. More than half of the bombers were women and girls, some as young as 7?years old, and there were more than 60 incidents where the bomber was below the age of 15. More female bombers were used to targets civilians, whereas men were used more often to target government, police, and military targets. Female suicide bombers were used in Cameroon, whereas males were used more often in Nigeria. Additionally, females used suicide belts or vests, whereas men carried out the overwhelming majority of vehicle-borne suicide bombings. In many cases, the use of the women as bombers involved coercion. The unprecedented use of female suicide bombers, particularly young girls, should be a focus of policy moving forward.     

后阿拉法特时代的以巴关系--对中东和平进程三大关键因素的分析

阿拉法特辞世后,阿巴斯当选巴民族权力机构主席,完成了巴勒斯坦民族解放事业领导人的代际更替,沙龙组成新的联合政府,布什完成连选连任,巴、以、美三方的变化为推动中东和平进程的实现带来了历史性机遇,以巴恢复和谈势在必行。但由于三方特别是以巴双方各自面临重重困难,因此,在形式上恢复和谈容易,就实质性问题达成协议难。     

正确认识社会主义坚持和发展社会主义

社会主义国家的诞生是人类历史发展的一大进步。东欧剧变、苏联解体,不是社会主义制度和原则的失败,而是社会主义一种特定模式的失败。社会主义发展是一个长期、艰巨的进程,前途是光明的。中国共产党和全体中国人民面对经济全球化和多极化的国际格局,要抓住机遇,迎接挑战,加快建设有中国特色的社会主义。     

谈铁路反暴力恐怖中的防范与保卫

铁路联系着国民经济的各行各业,往往是恐怖分子进行恐怖活动的首选目标。事实上来自新疆、西藏等地的“东 突”、“藏独”民族分裂势力、暴力恐怖势力、宗教极端势力已对铁路构成了严重威胁。面对严峻的恐怖敌情,我们必须加强防 范与保卫工作,通过提高安全意识、加强安全措施,对可能遭受恐怖袭击的目标进行保护,防范潜在的恐怖威胁。根据铁路的 实际情况,防范工作重点是:建立和完善反暴力恐怖协调机制;加强反暴力恐怖宣传教育工作,树立全民防范意识;明确目标, 落实责任;运用手段,获取情报;加强对危险物品的监督管理。     

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN SAME‐GENDER RELATIONSHIPS

Physical violence occurs in 11–12% of same‐gender couples, which suggests that domestic violence is an abuse of power that can happen in any type of intimate relationship, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. Although incidents of violence occur at the same rate in same‐gender couples and cross‐gender couples, the violence appears to be milder in same‐gender couples and it is unclear what percentage of same‐gender violence should be characterized as abuse or intimate terrorism. Same‐gender victims also suffer from the additional stress of severe isolation and the abuser's threats to expose the victim's sexual orientation in a hostile manner.     

中东伊斯兰力量掌权前景分析

1979年伊朗伊斯兰革命成功后,中东出现了伊斯兰力量夺权的浪潮。总体来看,伊斯兰组织采取了四种策略,即政变、恐怖袭击、内战或者革命以及参加民主选举。由于各国执政者对军队的严密控制,除苏丹这个特例外,政变从未成功。恐怖袭击虽能破坏社会秩序,但无法动摇政权的根基。伊朗革命具有极强的特殊性,别国无法成功复制。而大多数中东国家中央政府相对强大,不具备发生内战的条件。因此,在中东国家实行政治改革后,参加民主选举成为获取权力最为现实可行的方式。在此情况下,越来越多的伊斯兰组织将会放弃暴力夺权的方式,淡化意识形态的色彩,与其他世俗政治派别一起公平竞争国家权力。     

暗网环境下恐怖主义信息挖掘与分析

随着互联网和人工智能的快速发展,恐怖主义活动方式变得更为隐秘。网络恐怖主义活动空间从表网的在线社区与视频分享平台转向暗网黑市交易和暗网论坛。针对暗网节点通信和交易信息高度匿名等特点,相应的反恐工作需要采取新的技术手段,以深度切入恐怖分子用于扩大影响的暗网空间。为此,可以设计和优化专门适用于暗网的聚焦爬虫工具,挖掘恐怖主义活动信息;可以搭建涉恐事件数据模型,分析恐怖组织可能的线下攻击手段;可以利用社会网络分析和超链接分析方法,定位暗网内恐怖主义隐蔽社区和危险用户集群。通过准确把握暗网中的匿名恐怖主义活动规律,抓住安全监控与防范的重点、难点,综合施策,以及适时制定和精准实施反恐网络安全策略,能够最大限度遏制暗网恐怖主义的危害,保护国家安全和人民利益。     

谈宗教因素对恐怖主义的影响

宗教因素对恐怖主义的影响由来已久。近年来,宗教问题与恐怖主义经常纠缠在一起,构成对人类和平与安全的严重威胁。文章通过研究宗教史上恐怖主义活动的基本情况,试图消除宗教恐怖主义,发挥宗教社会功能,为人类和平与发展服务。     

论恐怖主义犯罪

恐怖主义犯罪是全人类文明社会的共同敌人。面对恐怖主义的全球危害 ,如何科学而全面地认识恐怖主义犯罪 ,探索其发生发展的规律 ,寻求更加有效地防范与打击恐怖主义犯罪的对策 ,是理论界一个重要的研究课题。本文在界定恐怖主义犯罪的基础上 ,对恐怖主义犯罪的特征进行概括 ,对恐怖主义犯罪原因进行了分析 ,进而提出了反恐怖主义犯罪的对策。