Second-Generation Liberation Wars


Book Description

Exploring the history of the liberation wars in Iraqi Kurdistan and South Sudan, this book analyses both the rebels' strategies and government counterinsurgency responses for insights into their evolution and the practices and roles that emerged in the subsequent period.




Second-Generation Liberation Wars


Book Description

An exploration of the strategies that both governments and insurgents employed in the liberation wars in Iraqi Kurdistan and South Sudan.




Navigating Terrains of War


Book Description

Through the concept of "social navigation," this book sheds light on the mobilization of urban youth in West Africa. Social navigation offers a perspective on praxis in situations of conflict and turmoil. It provides insights into the interplay between objective structures and subjective agency, thus enabling us to make sense of the opportunistic, sometimes fatalistic and tactical ways in which young people struggle to expand the horizons of possibility in a world of conflict, turmoil and diminishing resources.




Erdogan's Path to Authoritarianism


Book Description

Michael M. Gunter explains why Recep Tayyip Erdogan—the current populist, charismatic, but divisive president of Turkey and arguably the most consequential Turkish leader since Kemal Ataturk—was again reelected in May 2023 despite so many negative factors working against him such as a terribly faltering economy, deadly earthquake, and authoritarian reputation, among others. Gunter analyzes how several different domestic and especially foreign initiatives contributed to his continuing electoral success. Gunter introduces succinctly Erdogan’s storied advancement to authoritarianism, how, although an Islamist, he triumphed by eventually humbling the long-ruling, secular Kemalists and even more powerful military who had up to then been the ultimate arbitrator of Turkish politics. Erdogan's Path to Authoritarianism: The Continuing Journey will introduce the consequences of the long-running Kurdish PKK problem, the failed coup attempt in July 2016, neo-Ottomanism, transnational Islamist organizations and pro-Turkish militias such as the Diyanet and SADAT, , as well as back to the Kurds, although this time in Syrian Kurdistan, also known as Rojava. In addition, this book analyzes Erdogan’s many other foreign initiatives regarding Iraq, the EU, Arab Spring, Israel, NATO, Cyprus, Greece, Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran, among others. The final chapter specifically analyzes the May 2023 presidential elections and how Erdogan won.




Articulating Childhood Trauma


Book Description

The volume addresses the pertinent need to examine childhood trauma revolving around themes of war, sexual abuse, and disability. Drawing narratives from spatial, temporal, and cultural contexts, the book analyses how conflict, abuse, domestic violence, contours of gender construction, and narratives of ableism affect a child’s transactions with society. While exploring complex manifestations of children’s experience of trauma, the volume seeks to understand the issues related to translatability/representation, of trauma bearing in mind the fact that children often lack the language to express their sense of loss. The book in its study of childhood trauma does a close exegesis of select literary pieces, drawings done by children, memoirs, and graphic narratives. Academicians and research scholars from the disciplines of childhood studies, trauma studies, resilience studies, visual studies, gender studies, cultural studies, disability studies, and film studies stand to benefit from this volume. The ideas that have been expressed in this volume will richly contribute towards further research and scholarship in this domain.




Seeking Order in Anarchy


Book Description

"The idea of multilateralism is not something that can be forced on states, nor does it come naturally to them." —Tom Keating Seeking Order in Anarchy offers insights into both the theoretical foundations and the real-world outcomes of multilateralism in world affairs. Recognizing that Tom Keating's theories, though rooted in Canadian foreign policy, have a broader application in international relations, Robert W. Murray has assembled an array of theoretical interpretations of multilateralism, as well as case studies examining its practical effects. Drawing from the insights of fourteen noted scholars and featuring an essay from Tom Keating himself, this volume examines the conditions that encourage states to adopt multilateral strategies, and the consequences of doing so in the context of increasingly complex global politics. Seeking Order in Anarchy is an important book for scholars, graduate students, policy makers, and anyone interested in how multilateralism functions in today's world. Contributors: Francis Kofi Abiew, Edward Ansah Akuffo, Greg J. Anderson, David R. Black, Duane Bratt, Antonio Franceschet, Paul Gecelovsky, David J. Hornsby, Tom Keating, Christopher J. Kukucha, John McCoy, Robert W. Murray, Shaun Narine, Kim Richard Nossal, Matthew S. Weinert




Saving Succeeding Generations from the Scourge of War


Book Description

The aim of this book is to evaluate the functioning of the Security Council during its first 75 years, from an institutional legal perspective. It analyzes three issues that were not only hotly debated when the United Nations was founded, but have also been highly relevant for the Council’s functioning in practice and are likely to remain so in the future: the right of veto for the permanent members, the rule of law, and the size of the Council (the need for enlargement).




Change: Adapt or Perish


Book Description

Prof. Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi examines the myriad social, economic, technological and political changes currently taking place globally, exploring the extent to which these changes will redefine humanity’s role, function and position, even the very concept of human existence itself. Change, Adapt, or Perish explores change from an analytical perspective, while also bringing together ideas on how we can coexist with it, mitigating its negative aspects in order to leverage its positive effects. While technology is the most prolific driver of change in modern societies, Change, Adapt, or Perish looks at a broader array of ways in which change is taking place. Education, IT, jobs, warfare and energy are all being transformed by the process of change, but so too is language. Prof. Jamal takes an in-depth look at the challenges facing the Arabic language and presents solutions for how it can be protected. The book also focuses on the impact that change has on some communities that are excluded from it, an important aspect of the conversation about the future of the Middle East. By providing a conceptual framework to understand change, and the nuances of its impact on education, employment, communication, and the future of security, warfare and energy, Prof. Jamal also provides an important examination of the position of the UAE and the wider Arab world in relation to change, as well as a strategy to positively respond to it. The UAE has taken a proactive approach in preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and while the implications of change are neither identical nor inevitable in all societies, Prof. Jamal reveals the inherent advantage industrialized communities will have in facing these implications. Traditional societies, such as those of the Arab world, may lack the education, skills and cultural adaptability to respond effectively to change, highlighting the importance of the proactive steps being taken by the UAE to not only confront the changes taking place, but actively leverage them to enhance the country.




Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration in Southern Africa


Book Description

This book is a critical comparative reflection of the post-colonial conflict Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa. It offers an up-to-date comparative analysis of how specific analytical elements that transcend state boundaries shaped DDR in the three southern African countries. The author explores structural and organizational frameworks, target groups, state leadership in DDR, linkages between DDR and SSR in nation and state building, and types of post-conflict violence. The volume draws on fieldwork including interviews with policy makers and government officials as well as ex-combatants and experts to provide valuable insights into how post-colonial conflict DDR can provide knowledge crucial to understanding and addressing the problems of post-conflict peace building in Africa. The book is aimed at academics, researchers and students working on Southern Africa; African and Western policymakers concerned with problematic post-conflict situations on the continent, where improvising DDR processes will be vital to success; as well as the general reader interested in political, security and other developments in the region. It will be of use in postgraduate courses in the inter-related fields of international relations, comparative government, conflict resolution and peacebuilding.




Eroding Local Capacity


Book Description

Eroding Local Capacity is a critical examination of the interplay between international and local actors operating in the humanitarian arena in Africa. All sides emphasise the need to build local capacity for humanitarian action, yet the results have not been substantial. Even long-term, semi-permanent emergencies have generated little local capacity to assist and protect the victims of violence, displacement and related deprivations. In some cases, whatever local capacity did exist has been overwhelmed by the international aid presence. Why is this so? What is the case for a more even division of labour between North and South in this area, and why is it so difficult to bring about? The book focuses on cases from East Africa and the Horn. It considers institutional capacity in the public and private sector, as well as legal and social norms of humanitarian action. The authors are African and Nordic scholars who worked together on the NORAD-supported project over a 3-year period. Preliminary conclusions were discussed at seminars organized by the Centre for Foreign Relations (Dar es Salaam), the School of Government at the University of the Western Cape (Cape Town), and the Chr. Michelsen Institute (Bergen).