Essays

The Rwandan Genocide: The Guilty Bystanders

Bernard-Alexandre Merkel • Jan 14 2010 • Essays

Each time genocide occurs, the world cries out ‘never again’. So why does no one stop these atrocities once they begin? Why are they simply ignored until they “resolve” themselves? This essay will be seeking to answer why the humanitarian intervention failed to prevent the genocide in Rwanda. It will focus on three main possible reasons why the intervention failed.

One Person’s Terrorist… Another Person’s Freedom Fighter?

Mareike Oldemeinen • Jan 13 2010 • Essays

This work will point out that although maybe not wholly applicable, the truism that ‘one person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter’ is useful in some respect, as it draws attention to important issues that have to be considered when attempting to define the concept of terrorism.

Disputed Lands: the Rise of Pentecostalism in Latin America

Naomi Conrad • Jan 12 2010 • Essays

The religious story of Latin America under Hispanic rule has long been one of Catholic religious hegemony and dominance. This essay explores the role of the progressive Catholic Church with the end of authoritarian rule in Latin America. It assesses the role that the rise of Pentecostalism played in this decline.

The Chinese Communist Party’s Treatment of Ethnic Minorities

Jocelyn Leung • Jan 10 2010 • Essays

To consider the CCP’s treatment of its ethnic minorities, one must recognise that the relationships between those in central authority and those isolated in the peripheries are constantly in flux, with each side’s actions incessantly influencing and constraining the others’ future moves. This paper considers arguments that posit successes and mistakes in the CCP’s treatment towards its ethnic minorities.

Hegemonic Stability Theory and the 20th Century International Economy

Rahul Prabhakar • Jan 8 2010 • Essays

The theory of hegemonic stability does not explain the failure of the interwar and the success of the post-1945 international economic orders. Domestic influences upon international monetary cooperation in major states were a crucial determining factor in the global economic stability or lack thereof in the interwar and post-WWII periods.

Why Did the Soviet Union Invade Afghanistan?

Daryl Morini • Jan 3 2010 • Essays

The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was a costly and, ultimately, pointless war. However, exactly why the Red Army wound up in direct military conflict, embroiled in a bitter and complicated civil war—some 3,000 kilometres away from Moscow—is a point of historiographical uncertainty. Little known and appreciated for its significance, the Soviet-Afghan War was one of the turning points of the late Cold War.

Is Security “Civilising”, as Argued by Loader and Walker?

Sebastiano Sali • Dec 30 2009 • Essays

Loader and Walker reveal a very interesting dynamic, in which they put citizens in a position to somehow educate the state, to secure themselves and avoid the state developing as a threat to them. However, I would say that they do not develop this notion far enough, and are subsequently unable to overcome the concept of the state as the main actor of security.

The Political Realism of Thucydides and John Mearsheimer

Philipp Sorgenfrei • Dec 28 2009 • Essays

Thucydides’ and Mearsheimer’s views on political Realism resemble a mirror’s reflection; Displaying the same, yet a closer look reveals their inverse nature. In the course of the following essay, the modern, theoretical image of John Mearsheimer’s Aggressive Realism and its ancient reflection as found in Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War will be extracted, compared and contrasted

Aesthetics and Politics: Tragedy as a Paradigmatic Category

Elisa Narminio • Dec 18 2009 • Essays

Although conceptual boxes strip analysis of depth, how do we live, study and explore the world without any guidelines or pre-manufactured tools? And assuming this to be possible, isn’t tragedy only accessible to the few elites that are read enough to extract the very substance of tragedy that can be useful in our contemporariness?

Transnational Crime and Canadian Criminal Intelligence

Paul Knight • Dec 16 2009 • Essays

Crime in the 21st century poses a major asymmetric threat to Canadian society, demanding enforcement that is flexible, responsive, and grounded in defensible strategic goals. This will require solutions beyond standard bureaucratic shifts, necessitating a broad change in organizational mindsets, shifting the emphasis of enforcement from a “statistics-based policing” model to a more strategic, long-term approach.

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