Top 15 articles of 2014

Top 15 articles of 2014

TransConflict recommends the following 15 articles published during 2014.

 Suggested Reading Conflict Background GCCT

1) Time to begin thinking about world government?

Gerard M. Gallucci – What might a world citizen look like while there is still no world government? The first example might be Edward Snowden. Whether he meant to or not, his disclosures have served the interest of people around the world in the privacy of our communications. In other words, world citizens may think and act outside the confines of the sovereign entities they inhabit. Read more…

 

2) Managing conflict as America declines

David B. Kanin – Those seeking to better manage America’s important but diminished role in the world need to consider a number of questions concerning, for instance, its own interests, capacities and vulnerabilities; trends in conflict and co-operation; and international commitments, the missions required to uphold them, and the mix of military and intelligence capabilities needed to pursue them. Read more…

 

3) Bosnia and Iraq – cycles of calamity

Matthew Parish – Whatever government structure is finally developed for an ethnically segregated Iraq it should not be as dysfunctional as the Dayton constitution proved to be for Bosnia. Avoidance of an equivalent post-conflict catastrophe must be the predominant goal of the international policymaker. Read more…

 

4) From Nigeria to Iraq – the on-going failure to protect women and girls in armed conflict

Karol Alejandra Arámbula Carrillo – Armed conflicts like the one currently consuming Iraq, plus the actions of Boko Haram in Nigeria, continue to show that women and girls are among the most vulnerable actors, regularly subject to indiscriminate exploitation, discrimination and violence. Read more…

 

5) Kosovo, Ukraine, Syria and Iraq

Gerard M. Gallucci – The struggles by ethnic and religious groups left behind by empire cannot be resolved by outsiders. These competing groups need to find their own way – even fight their own way – to arrive at boundaries and arrangements they can live with. Any foreign intervention risks alienating one side or the other. Read more…

 

6) Living with the Islamic State

Matthew Parish – Even if the Islamic State’s current modus operandi revolts us, the political logic to its existence remains firm. The West and the regional powers alike would now do best to encourage fixture of this new country’s borders, promote its openness to the rest of the world, and facilitate the rapid development of what is presently emergent barbarism. Read more…

 

7) A tale of two genocides

Chris Davey – While approaches to “genocide” differ and the claimants voices are many, the historic legacy of genocide must be a starting point. One could conclude that both Palestinians and Yazidis are experiencing such a destructive process, albeit over different time scales and receiving opposing ideas of “support” and condemnation from Western powers. It must be clear, however, that any condemnation of genocide against one party must acknowledge the destruction of the other (in these cases). Read more…

 

8) A ‘Segment state’ vision of the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina?

Dr. Valery Perry – A Bosnia and Herzegovina with one segment state – the Republika Srpska – has proven to be untenable. Whether a BiH comprised of two or three would be more or less likely to produce a stable future EU member state is worthy of discussion, as poorly thought through “interim” policies made in the past have led to two decades of stagnation. Read more…

 

9) Five more inconvenient truths about Kosovo

Michael Rossi – Though Kosovo’s relations with the Serbian government in Belgrade have certainly improved and a series of agreements reached in April 2013 under EU mediation committed both sides to long-term normalization of relations, questions remain as to what happens next. Officials in Pristina, Belgrade and Brussels need to address a number of additional truths that have become all too inconvenient and, like the previous five, risk keeping Kosovo in political, economic, and diplomatic limbo. Read more…

 

10) Post-Haass Northern Ireland and the future of Irish republicanism

Seán Byers – Flags, parades and the past cannot be easily disentangled from the high levels of social discontent that currently exist. However, there is no reason why these issues of identity cannot be addressed in parallel with an assault on the vast social and economic problems that show no sign of receding. Read more…

 

11) Why youth policy is a key factor in preventing conflict

Heidi Green – On International Youth Day, it is vital to acknowledge and understand the role of youth policies and the positive effect their implementation has on communities and countries, especially for the reduction and prevention of conflict. Read more…

 

12) Conflict transformation as a method for societal reconstruction in divided communities – antagonism, agonism, cooperation

Derya Yüksek – High-profile, consensus-centered solutions on the level of positions and interests, which do not involve society, fail to address the relational, organizational, and communicational patterns embedded in and changed by a conflict, as well as the altered images, confronting positions and discourses produced by those; thus, do not eradicate the latent dimensions of conflict. Conflict transformation is therefore a process of engaging with and transforming the relationships, interests, discourses and, if necessary, the constitution of society that supports the continuation of violent conflict. Read more…

 

13) Palestinian flags in Derry and Sarajevo – solidarity through representation

Dr. Ulas Doga Eralp – Victimhood is a powerful motivator of acts of solidarity. It is, therefore, more important than ever to understand and explain the role of symbols and slogans as political motivators in divided societies. Conflict transformation practitioners should not be scared of symbols, but rather of their interpretations. Read more…

 

14) Commemorating genocide – an important element of the politics of memory in Rwanda

Urszula Róg – Rwanda’s ruling elites and society at large need to accept the existence of certain ‘inconvenient’ historical facts – such as the thousands of Hutu refugees killed at the hands of Rwandan troops in the eastern part of then Zaire – in order to create the collective memory which does justice to victims on all sides. Read more…

 

15) On peacekeeping

Kirthi Jayakumar – An effective law is required to regulate peacekeeping missions; one that provides a standardized basis for the behaviour of peacekeepers, including issues such as the potential use of force and questions of impunity. Read more…

 


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