Download or read book State Collapse and Reconstruction in the Periphery written by Jens Stilhoff Sörensen and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2009-05-01 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 1990s, Yugoslavia, which had once been a role model for development, became a symbol for state collapse, external intervention and post-war reconstruction. Today the region has two international protectorates, contested states and borders, severe ethnic polarization and minority concerns. In this first in-depth critical analysis of international administration, aid and reconstruction policies in Kosovo, Jens Stilhoff Sörensen argues that the region must be analyzed as a whole, and that the process of state collapse and recent changes in aid policy must be interpreted in connection to the wider transformation of the global political economy and world order. He examines the shifting inter- and intracommunity relations, the emergence of a "political economy" of conflict, and of informal clientelist arrangements in Serbia and Kosovo and provides a framework for interpreting the collapse of the Yugoslav state, the emergence of ethnic conflict and shadow economies, and the character of western aid and intervention. Western governments and agencies have built policies on conceptions and assumptions for which there is no genuine historical or contemporary economic, social or political basis in the region. As the author persuasively argues, this discrepancy has exacerbated and cemented problems in the region and provided further complications that are likely to remain for years to come.

Download or read book Regime Building written by Oisín Tansey and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2009-05-21 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a study of regime change in the context of international administration, where the United Nations and other multilateral organisations hold temporary executive authority at the domestic level. Work on the politics of state-building has highlighted how these administration operations can influence nearly every aspect of politics in the country or territory in which they are deployed. This book concentrates in particular on the 'regime-building' practices of these missions, and examines the aims and influences of international administrations in the area of democratic development, as well as their ultimate impact on the process of regime change. Through a comparative analysis of events in Bosnia, Kosovo and East Timor, the book demonstrates how external actors assume positions of power conventionally held by domestic elites, and in so doing gain the ability to affect democratic development in ways unavailable to international actors in more conventional settings. In particular, the case studies highlight the ways in which the democracy promotion objectives of international administrators can have both positive and negative effects on democratization processes, with the presence of international authorities helping to rule out non-democratic options in some areas, while at times undermining democratic development in others. The book identifies the key international actors involved, highlights the mechanisms of influence available to them in these contexts, and explores the crucial mediating role of domestic actors and structures. Oxford Studies in Democratization is a series for scholars and students of comparative politics and related disciplines. Volumes concentrate on the comparative study of the democratization process that accompanied the decline and termination of the cold war. The geographical focus of the series is primarily Latin America, the Caribbean, Southern and Eastern Europe, and relevant experiences in Africa and Asia. The series editor is Laurence Whitehead, Official Fellow, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.

Download or read book Donors technical assistance and public administration in Kosovo written by Mary Venner and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2016-09-01 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book looks beyond the apparently united and generally self-congratulatory statements of The United Nations, other major multinational organisations and many large bilateral aid donors to examine what actually happened when they tried to work together in restoring stability and establishing governance in the territory.

Download or read book Peace Through Peace Media written by Julia Egleder and published by LIT Verlag Münster. This book was released on 2013 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How does the media contribute to peacebuilding and reconciliation in a post-conflict environment? This dissertation examines the question with respect to the media's involvement during the UN and NATO mission in Kosovo (UNMIK and KFOR), from 1999 to 2008. The theoretical part of the book deals with existing approaches to peace journalism, effective organizational communication, and media effects theories. In the empirical part, the evaluation first focuses on the content of the media produced by UNMIK and KFOR in Kosovo, followed by the assessment of media production processes in both missions. The book also explores the impact of UNMIK's and KFOR's media within the local Kosovar population. It argues that "peace media" can have a positive impact in a post-conflict environment, provided that it features de-escalation oriented content and is framed according to the preferences and attitudes of target audiences. Dissertation. (Series: Schriftenreihe der Stipendiatinnen und Stipendiaten der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung - Vol. 43)

Download or read book Modern Romania written by Tom Gallagher and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2008-03 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the 1989 fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, Romania, arguably the most regimented of states in the Soviet bloc, has struggled with the transition from totalitarian state to democratic nation. In this insightful examination of modern Romania, Tom Gallagher provides an overview of Romania’s unique political and social history, focusing on both its national identity as well as the legacy of Soviet rule. Gallagher provides an in-depth look at Romania since 1989, focusing on the government’s attempts at economic reform, engagement with democracy, problems with corruption among the ruling elite, as well as the weakness of civil society and the resilience of implacable expressions of nationalism. Ultimately, Gallagher argues that thus far democracy has essentially failed in Romania. In fact, he warns that Romania is on its way to becoming one of the most unequal states in Europe and quite possibly a future trouble-spot unless efforts to resume much-needed reforms are undertaken.

Download or read book Abuse Your Illusions written by Russ Kick and published by Red Wheel Weiser. This book was released on 2003-05-01 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The third of Russ Kick’s bestselling Disinformation Guides gathers another all-star line-up of exposés: Juries have ruled in recent trials that Watergate was really about a Democratic Party prostitution ring. Ignored in the U.S. and distorted elsewhere, the Milosevic tribunal hasn’t gone the way authorities were anticipating. (We present exclusive first-hand reporting from the trial). Most theologians don’t believe in the physical Resurrection of Jesus. In 2001, the U.S. uncovered the biggest spy ring in the country since WWII, yet most people never heard about it. The U.S. is engaging in bioweapons research that violates international treaties and federal law. (The New York Times knows about this but refuses to report it). Teddy Roosevelt and Wall Street created Panama for profit. Gandhi wasn’t so wonderful, after all. These are just some of the revelations in the third of our all-star anthologies. Following up on bestsellers You Are Being Lied To and Everything You Know Is Wrong, editor Russ Kick has again assembled a line-up of leading investigative journalists, academics, activists, commentators, and independent researchers, covering CIA assassinations, the anthrax attacks, fluoride, TWA 800, Abraham Lincoln, child protective services, the tobacco industry, forgotten uprisings, the government's missing trillions, even more revelations about 9/11 and much more. Contributors include Gary Webb, Greg Palast, Noreena Hertz, Howard Zinn, Douglas Valentine, Jim Hougan, Kristina Borjesson, Arianna Huffington and many more well-known writers—some of whom you’ll be extremely surprised to see in these pages!

Download or read book Peacebuilding and International Administration written by Niels van Willigen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-07-18 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a detailed historical and political analysis of the role and effectiveness of international administration in statebuilding. It analyses how the international administrations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo have attempted to create sustainable political institutions and to what extent they have been successful in doing so. In the 1990s, large and ambitious international administrations were established to administer territories that had been left without an effective government in the wake of violent conflict. International administrations, to a greater extent than peacebuilding operations, exercise extensive authority and take over the governance of a country. Though they combine the state and nationbuilding programs of regular peacebuilding, with the political power normally reserved for sovereign states, there remains a question of how effective or successful international administrations are, and whether they lead to a sustainable peace. The author argues that despite years of international administration, the political institutions remain weak and rely heavily on international support, dominated by an ethnic nationalist ideology with little domestic support. Peacebuilding and International Administration will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, security studies, conflict resolution and international organizations.

Download or read book Shadow World written by Robert Chandler and published by Regnery Publishing. This book was released on 2008-08-05 with total page 642 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE SECRET WAR AGAINST AMERICA America is at war and the stakes are huge. The fight is not just in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is a global contest between the United States, radical Islam, a resurgent Russia, and a virulent New Left that is coming to power in Latin America and stalking the corridors of power around the world, including the United States. These three enemies of America are separate but they cooperate--and in his stunning new book, Shadow World, Robert Chandler shows how. In Shadow World you'll learn: * Why "post-Communist" Russia is not really "post-Communist" at all, but represents an insidious new strategic threat to the United States * How "cultural communism" has rejuvenated the radical Left's prospects around the world * Why American-style democracy is losing out to Castro and Hugo Chavez-style communism in Latin America * How radical Islam has allied itself to the New Left--and why this makes radical Islam even more dangerous than before Shadow World reveals, in a way no other book has done, the new strategic realities of the post-Cold War, post-9/11 world. Provocative, insightful, thorough, it is essential reading for those who want to see the 21st century as America's century, and not the century of her enemies.

Download or read book Peace Without Politics written by David Chandler and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited collection brings together policy specialists and academics from the UK, Europe, the US and Canada to assess and analyse lessons from ten years of nation-building in Bosnia.

Download or read book Dangerous Strait written by Nancy Bernkopf Tucker and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dangerous Strait provides fresh perspectives on the complex political, economic, and strategic issues of the Taiwan Strait. Essays examine a variety of topics, which include the movement for independence and its place in Taiwanese domestic politics, the underlying weaknesses of democracy in Taiwan, and the significance of China and Taiwan's economic interdependence. In the area of security, contributors provide incisive critiques of Taiwan's incomplete military modernization, the strains in U.S.-Taiwan relations and their differing interpretations of China's intentions, and the misguided inclination to abandon Washington's traditional policy of strategic ambiguity.

Download or read book Justice as Prevention written by Pablo De Greiff and published by SSRC. This book was released on 2007 with total page 568 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Countries emerging from armed conflict or authoritarian rule face difficult questions about what to do with public employees who perpetrated past human rights abuses and the institutional structures that allowed such abuses to happen. Justice as Prevention: Vetting Public Employees in Transitional Societies examines the transitional reform known as "vetting"-the process by which abusive or corrupt employees are excluded from public office. More than a means of punishing individuals, vetting represents an important transitional justice measure aimed at reforming institutions and preventing the recurrence of abuses. The book is the culmination of a multiyear project headed by the International Center for Transitional Justice that included human rights lawyers, experts on police and judicial reform, and scholars of transitional justice and reconciliation. It features case studies of Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, El Salvador, the former German Democratic Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, and South Africa, as well as chapters on due process, information management, and intersections between other institutional reforms.

Download or read book Peace without Politics Ten Years of State Building in Bosnia written by David Chandler and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-13 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ten years on from the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in November 1995, the legacy of the Bosnian war still shapes every aspect of the political, social and economic environment of the tiny state. This state of affairs is highlighted by the fact that Bosnia is still under international control, with the Office of the International High Representative regularly using its powers to dismiss elected presidents, prime-ministers and MPs and to impose legislation over the resistance of elected legislatures at national, regional and local level. What has changed in the ten years since Dayton? Is international regulation helping to establish a sustainable peace in Bosnia? What lessons can be learned for nation-building in Bosnia? This volume was previously published as a special issue of the leading journal International Peacekeeping.

Download or read book Peacebuilding in the Balkans written by Paula M. Pickering and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2018-07-05 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After suffering years of war, Bosnia is now the target of international efforts to reconstruct and democratize a culturally divided society. The global community's strategy has focused on reforming political institutions, influencing the behavior of elite populations, and cultivating nongovernmental organizations. But expensive efforts to promote a stable peace and a multiethnic democracy can be successful only if they resonate among ordinary people. Otherwise, such projects will produce fragile institutions and alienated citizens who will be susceptible to extremists eager to send them back into war. Paula M. Pickering challenges the conventional wisdom that common people are merely passive recipients of peacebuilding projects. Instead, in Peacebuilding in the Balkans, she shows how ordinary people, particularly minorities in Bosnia, understand elite rhetoric and actively shape reconstruction. Pickering's years of fieldwork—direct observation, interviews, and analysis of many surveys—has yielded a precise understanding of how ordinary citizens react to and influence peacebuilding programs in their neighborhoods, workplaces, municipal agencies, and other real-life social settings. The evidence suggests that international efforts to rebuild an inclusive Bosnia will be futile unless they pay sufficient attention to citizens' varying ties to ethnic groups, indigenous forms of civic activity, and the development of nondiscriminatory employment and responsive political institutions. Pickering's insights from reconstruction in the Balkans have important implications for peacebuilding elsewhere in Eurasia.

Download or read book Turning points in post war Bosnia written by Christophe Solioz and published by Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft. This book was released on 2005 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The tenth anniversary of the Dayton Peace Agreement in December 2005 provides a unique occasion to review its achievements and shortcomings, as well as future challenges to be faced both by the international community and Bosnia and Herzegovina itself. The country has received huge amounts of attention and inquiry; this book outlines some basic trends, focusing on three essential issues: democratisation and transitions processes, country owner-ship, and potential turning points. These issues are addressed in a non-dogmatic way in the spirit of constructive criticism. The conclusion is that both the EU and Bosnia must take their opportunities ñ and responsibilities ñ now.

Download or read book Reducing Disaster Early Warning Systems For Climate Change written by Ashbindu Singh and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-05-12 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Around the world, extreme weather events are becoming increasingly "the new normal" and are expected to increase in the 21st century as a result of climate change. Extreme weather events have devastating impacts on human lives and national economies. This book examines ways to protect people from hazards using early warning systems, and includes contributions from experts from four different continents representing 14 different universities, 8 government agencies and two UN agencies. Chapters detail critical components of early warning systems, ways to identify vulnerable communities, predict hazards and deliver information. Unique satellite images illustrate the transnational impact of disasters, while case studies provide detailed examples of warning systems. With contributors from the fields of economics, ethics, meteorology, geography and biology, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in disaster risk reduction or climate change.

Download or read book The Secret Sentry written by Matthew M. Aid and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2010-06-08 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a history of the agency, from its inception in 1945, to its role in the Cold War, to its controversial advisory position at the time of the Bush administration's search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, shortly before the invasion of 2003.

Download or read book Romania and the European Union written by Tom Gallagher and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2013-07-19 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to Tom Gallagher, Romania's predatory rulers, the heirs of the sinister communist dictator Ceausescu, have inflicted a humiliating defeat on the European Union. He argues convincingly that Brussels was tricked into offering full membership to this Balkan country in return for substantial reforms which its rulers now refuse to carry out. This book unmasks the failure of the EU to match its visionary promises of transforming Romania with the shabby reality. Benefiting from access to internal reports and leading figures involved in a decade of negotiations, it shows how Eurocrats were outwitted by unscrupulous local politicians who turned the EU's multi-level decision-making processes into a laughing-stock. The EU's famous 'soft power' turned out to be a mirage, as it was unable to summon up the willpower to insist that this key Balkan state embraced its standards of behaviour in the political and economic realms. The book unravels policy failures in the areas of justice, administrative and agricultural reform and shows how Romania moved backwards politically during the years of negotiations.