The Study of Modern Intrastate War
As many as 30 million people have perished in intrastate wars since 1945, with nearly 50 million displaced. Human rights violations during intrastate war – including rape, systematic torture, displacement, sexual mutilation, genocide, and the exploitation of child soldiers – have caused great misery. As a consequence, there is a need for more effective ways of controlling and transforming the devastating effects of intrastate war to be unearthed.
Can China be Defined as an Authoritarian State?
The People’s Republic of China was formed in 1949 from a country crippled by poverty, internal and external conflict, and has grown into one of today’s economic superpowers. Modern China can be defined as an authoritarian state. However, socialism with Chinese characteristics is a far better way of describing China’s unique system of government and economy
From Westphalia to Tehran: International Secularism and Iran’s Theocracy
International Relations is currently facing a global religious revival. Tehran’s foreign policy reflects the pluralism of the regime’s political-theological discourse. Westphalian assumptions promote an ignorance of this pluralism and lead to the incorrect assumption that a theocratic Iran is incompatible with international stability.
Is terrorism morally distinctive from war?
There is a clear moral distinction between terrorism and war; in the plights of terrorism, more individuals can be considered morally culpable for the state of affairs they are reacting to and so the concept of innocence, or what constitutes a non-combatant to use just war terminology, is greatly reduced when compared to that of war.
The effect of domestic politics on foreign policy decision making
Foreign Policies are designed with the aim of achieving complex domestic and international agendas. It usually involves an elaborate series of steps, in which domestic politics plays an important role. Additionally, the head of the government in most cases is not an individual actor. Foreign Policy decisions are usually collective and/or influenced by others in the political system.
The Western Balkans: The Ultimate Test for the European Union
Despised by Bismarck as ’not worth the life of a single German solider’’ and described by Churchill as ‘having too much history to consume’’, the region of the Western Balkans is returning to the agenda. The EU and the USA must step in and show that they are up to this ultimate test of bringing the last remaining non-EU island into the orbit of the Union and NATO.
A Personal Perspective on the Tunisian Revolution
It was the first cyber-revolution, but it probably won’t be the last. While in the past it was more than common for leaders to rule their people through fear and threat, with increased education and accessibility to the internet, authoritarian leaders and dictators like Ben Ali will hopefully soon be known only in history.
Hamas in Power
Hamas, ‘Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya’ (The Islamic Resistance Movement), has evolved over time from its humble beginnings as a faction of the Muslim Brotherhood, to an arguably legitimate political body, controlling much of the occupied Palestinian territories. This paper will reflect on the key factors in its development and features of the movement, and will conclude with a discussion of Hamas’ future as both an agent of armed struggle and a legitimate political body.
Is the United Nations Relevant?
This paper argues that despite its flaws in the political domain and the weaknesses of the Security Council, the UN’s role in sustaining the economic and social development and addressing global issues such as hunger has been exceptionally strong. It is inadequate to focus on the UN’s political realm only and dismiss the other substantive areas of its work such as sustainable development.
The challenges confronting western intelligence services after 9/11
After the attacks there was an automatic shift in intelligence interest from state to non-state actors. Agencies changed from gatherers into hunters, searching for any information revealing possible threat of attack. Compared to standard state targets, Al- Qaeda and other global terrorist groups were more difficult to find, target and spy on due to their mobility.
