Content Type: Journal Article / Publication Year: within 3 Years

1701. Environment, Conflict and Peacebuilding: Addressing the Root Causes of Conflict in Darfur

Author:: Zurab Elzarov
Publication Date:: 08-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Conflict Trends
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The relationship between climate change and deadly conflict is complex and context-specific, but it is undeniable that climate change is a threat multiplier that is already increasing food insecurity, water scarcity and resource competition, while disrupting livelihoods and spurring migration. In turn, deadly conflict and political instability are contributing to climate change.[2] Darfur captured international headlines in 2004 when United States (US) Secretary of State Colin Powell declared that genocide was occurring in Sudan in his testimony to the US Senate.[3] The early-2000s conflict in Darfur between rebel groups on one side and government forces and allied militias on the other caused an estimated 300 000 deaths, and about 2.5 million people live in displacement camps across Darfur.[4] Most observers agree that the immediate cause was a regional rebellion, to which Khartoum responded by recruiting Arab militias, known as the Janjaweed, to wage a campaign of ethnic cleansing against African civilians.[5] They also argue that the three core drivers of violence in Darfur at present are disputes over land and resources, the complex network of militias and paramilitary forces, and the weakness of the rule of law and security institutions.[6] Eighteen years after the eruption of the conflict in Darfur, these conclusions regarding the main causes and triggers of the conflict remain valid. In 2021, despite the signed Juba Peace Agreement, the security situation in Darfur remained volatile, with significant inter-communal violence and fighting between government forces and rebels in the Jebel Marra area. The instability in the region continues to cause large-scale displacement, with more than 200 000 people displaced in Darfur since the beginning of 2021.
Topic:: Environment, Conflict, and Peacebuilding
Political Geography:: Africa and Darfur

1702. Natural Resource (In)justice, Conflict and Transition Challenges in Africa: Lessons from the Niger Delta

Author:: Luke Amadi
Publication Date:: 08-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Conflict Trends
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The term ‘natural resource (in)justice’ has been used in various contexts by various scholars. Contemporary resource justice scholarship highlights several different areas of debate, including power and inequality in resource access, control, ownership, greening, eco-efficiency, feminist ecology, resource transparency, just transitions,[1] resource equity, resource rights, and fairness with regards to global inequality in North/South natural resource policies.[2] Resource injustice underlines two dynamic and interwoven contexts. First, there is the anthropogenic context, which examines the adverse effects of natural resource extraction on humans, including exclusion, degradation, inequality, and unfair treatment in natural resource allocation. Second, there is the eco-centric context, which explores the adverse effects of natural resource extraction on the ecosystem or the natural environment. The broader terrain within which natural resource justice is being pursued is rapidly changing. With the rise of natural resource justice movements, new ecological threats, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and lethal feedback with deleterious capitalist resource extraction in the global South, resource justice is confronted with new challenges, notably resource conflict. Since the end of the Cold War, there has been a considerable and increasing number of studies on natural resource conflict, including on questions of resource appropriation or what has become known in resource conflict debates as the ‘resource curse’, which points out the paradox of poverty among resource-rich countries.[3] Conflict and poverty are intertwined. In 2013, 471 million people lived in fragile and conflict-affected countries, while 78% of the world’s poor lived in these countries (181 million people).[4] Natural resources – land, water, forests, air – are essential to life on Earth.[5] Natural resource conflict accounts for the incompatibility of goals in natural resource use or appropriation. The rural poor in developing countries remain the most vulnerable, as they directly depend on natural resources for their food and livelihood security, while the livelihoods of 2.5 billion people depend wholly or partly on agriculture.[6] The dynamics of fair and equitable resource allocation in contexts associated with resource injustice are largely unknown. This is true especially where the resource-bearing local population is either marginalised or excluded in decision-making processes regarding natural resources.
Topic:: Environment, Natural Resources, Transitional Justice, Conflict, and Justice
Political Geography:: Africa and Niger Delta

1703. Peacebuilding Policies and Frameworks in Kenya

Author:: Sylvan Odidi
Publication Date:: 08-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Conflict Trends
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Peacebuilding is both a contested and evolving concept,with no universally accepted definition.[1] Despite being a broadly fluid term without clear guidelines or goals, most scholars agree that the fundamental task of peacebuilding is to improve human security.[2] The term first emerged through Johan Galtung’s peace work. He advocated for the establishment of a peacebuilding system to stimulate long-lasting peace by finding a solution to sources of violent conflicts and enhancing local capacities for conflict resolution and peace management.[3] A report by Boutros Boutros-Ghali entitled ‘An Agenda for Peace: Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking and Peace-Keeping’ refers to peacebuilding as ‘an action to identify and support structures which will tend to strengthen and solidify peace to avoid a relapse into conflict’.[4] A peacebuilding agenda is critical in the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which advocate for ‘peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels’.[5] In the Kenyan context, peacebuilding activities and regulatory frameworks are recognised as vital processes and instruments that are necessary for the achievement of Vision 2030, which is the country’s new development blueprint that aims to transform Kenya into a new industrialising middle-income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizen by 2030. On the one hand, the peacebuilding, conflict management, and security strategy of the political pillar of Vision 2030 underscores the need for promoting peacebuilding and reconciliation, deepening policies and legal and institutional frameworks that promote order in society, as well as institutionalising dialogue between and among communities to promote harmony among racial, ethnic and other interest groups. On the other hand, the social pillar aims at establishing ‘a just and cohesive society that enjoys equitable social development in a clean and secure environment’.[6] Nyambura Githaiga observes that from a cursory glance, Kenya is not an immediate or apparent choice for a peacebuilding case study.[7] This can be attributed to the fact that peacebuilding studies primarily focus on nations that experienced highly destructive and horrific civil wars and require international intervention. However, Kenya has suffered intermittent and localised destructive conflicts, such as the 1992, 1997, and 2007-2008 election-based violence. Therefore, Kenya offers a peacebuilding case study which is not related to civil war, but part of a tactical response to repeated incidents of local destructive conflicts.[8]
Topic:: Infrastructure, Conflict, and Peacebuilding
Political Geography:: Kenya and Africa

1704. From Terrorism to Banditry: Mass Abductions of Schoolchildren in Nigeria

Author:: Freedom C. Onuoha and Joseph Chukwunonso Akogwu
Publication Date:: 08-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Conflict Trends
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Kidnapping in Nigeria is not a new phenomenon but has assumed an alarming dimension in recent times. Acts of kidnapping are increasingly perpetrated by different criminal elements, such as militias, gangs, ritualists, and terrorists, among others, for a variety of reasons. However, the increased frequency, geographical spread, and operational sophistication of kidnapping for ransom (K4R) is a major source of concern for individuals, organisations, the diplomatic community, and, indeed, the Nigerian Government. Much of the concern is about the safety of the victims as well as the cost of this expanding criminal enterprise. For instance, Nigeria’s main geopolitical intelligence platform, SBM Intelligence, estimated that between 2011 and 2020, Nigerians paid at least US$18.34 million (₦7 billion) in ransoms to kidnappers.[1] In the first half of 2021, 2 371 people were kidnapped and the sum of about US$23.84 million (N10 billion) was demanded in ransoms in Nigeria.[2] The targets are as diverse as the actors who benefit from and the factors that underpin the upsurge in K4R. Expatriates, businesspeople, schoolchildren, women, politicians, government officials, diplomats, and traditional rulers, among others, are increasingly being targeted by criminal gangs.[3] The wanton predation on schoolchildren through mass abduction by armed groups that are ideologically or economically motivated is the latest worrisome trend in the pattern of criminal victimisation in Nigeria. This article examines the trajectory of the mass abduction of schoolchildren in northern Nigeria, highlighting the drivers of mass abduction and evaluating emerging responses by the government.
Topic:: Security, Terrorism, Governance, Leadership, Peace, and Abductions
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

1705. The Role of Youths in Countering Violent Extremism in Northeast Nigeria

Author:: Angela Ajodo-Adebanjoko
Publication Date:: 08-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Conflict Trends
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: Northeast Nigeria is the epicentre of violent extremism in the country. Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states, in particular, record high incidences of extremism regularly. Extremists have been responsible for various killings and wanton destruction in the north and other parts of Nigeria. At the centre of the violence are youths, who constitute the majority of the members of these extremist groups. Young people are easier targets for recruitment by extremist groups because of peer pressure, drug use, gang involvement, prior delinquency, family member gang-involvement, membership in a cult, and the quest for adventure, among others. In spite of their involvement in violent extremism, it is recognised globally that the youth can be equal partners in its prevention. The youth should be considered a country’s asset, as the future of the country as well as having the potential to be leaders of today. However, a growing ‘youth bulge’ of unemployable young people trying to survive – and subject to recruitment by armed extremist groups – is problematic, and can even present a threat to prosperity and peace.
Topic:: Violent Extremism, Youth, Conflict, and Countering Violent Extremism
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

1706. The Risk Pivot: Great Powers, International Security and the Energy Revolution

Author:: Felix Shihundu
Publication Date:: 08-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Conflict Trends
Institution:: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:: The Risk Pivot: Great Powers, International Security and the Energy Revolution shows a good understanding of conflict trends in Africa. The book highlights and provides evidence for the dangers existing in the energy revolution from fossil fuels to much-needed environmentally friendly, sustainable, and renewable energy that has become the next frontier in great power rivalries. Both the United States (US) and China are valuable stakeholders in this area and command geopolitical influence on the African continent. The book brings into perspective the geopolitical consequences of the revolutionary energy supply, demand and flow and how it is transforming the global economy, international security, and the order of states. According to the authors, the emergence of global middle-class countries, such as the Asian giants, a fast-growing source of energy demand, combined with security-challenged energy producers and exporters, such as Algeria, Libya and Nigeria in Africa, represents geopolitical instability. The authors lay out the foreign policy and security implications of dramatic changes in energy production, distribution and consumption. The danger, what the authors refer to as risk pivot, in international security is caused by a number of factors. The first factor is the increasing dependence of rising Asian powers, such as India and China, on Middle East oil and gas supplies. The second factor is the new energy partnership between China and Russia, a leading fossil fuel producer. The third factor is the shifting centre of global energy markets as a result of energy revolutions in the US. The fourth factor is the increased energy demands due to the rising global middle class, which poses challenges for governance and development. The final factor is the role of the US in securing energy flows from the Middle East following its Asia re-alignment.
Topic:: International Security, Power Politics, and Energy
Political Geography:: Africa

1707. Protecting Australian Protected Persons

Author:: Savitri Taylor and Jodie Boyd
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:: Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:: This article examines the changing concepts of racialised citizenship in two intertwined nations: the Independent State of Papua New Guinea (‘PNG’) and the Commonwealth of Australia (‘Australia’), PNG’s former colonial ruler, as the latter sought to shake off the legacies of its recently abandoned ‘White Australia’ policy. It examines the historical intersection between PNG’s developing citizenship criteria, with its racialised articulation of who was ‘in’ and who was ‘out’, and Australia’s efforts to recast its image on the international stage as a multi-racial, non-racist and anti-imperial nation. Specifically, it demonstrates how the intersection of these policy choices impacted on a particular cohort of so-called ‘Australian Protected Persons’ (‘APPs’). APPs who happened also to fall outside PNG’s citizenship criteria were left stateless at PNG’s independence. Drawing on newly released Australian archival material, this article casts light on the particular historical moment that allowed for this outcome.
Topic:: Regional Cooperation, Citizenship, Independence, Protected People, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:: Australia and Papua New Guinea

1708. A Typology of Statelessness

Author:: Benedikt Buechel
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:: Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:: Although statelessness within the modern state system has many facets, there has not been any attempt to work out a formal typology. When conceptualising statelessness in singular terms, theorists miss something important: they fail to capture the full moral scope of statelessness. This article addresses this shortcoming. It is divided into four parts. First, I will show how statelessness is categorised under the UN’s framework. Second, I will turn to legal and social theory to argue that statelessness can be best understood through the two concepts of responsibility and recognition. Third, I will identify three different subtypes of statelessness. They derive from the source of nationality deprivation and include voluntary statelessness, structural statelessness and denigrative statelessness. Finally, I will offer some concluding remarks.
Topic:: International Cooperation, Nationalism, United Nations, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1709. The Law is Not Enough: Realising the Child’s Right to a Nationality in South Africa

Author:: Liesl Heila Muller
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:: Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:: The Republic of South Africa (‘South Africa’) boasts some of the most progressive and inclusive citizenship laws on the African continent, protecting the right to citizenship in both its constitution and subsidiary legislation and affording special protections to children. A simple exercise in comparative law would find that there is no statelessness problem in South Africa but that would be incorrect. A closer look at the implementation of the laws reveals serious problems in the Government’s nationality administration, resulting in statelessness. In the South African context, it is not immediately possible to tell whether a child is stateless. It is only once attempts have been made to obtain (recognition of) citizenship and those attempts have failed (because of a faulty system) that a determination can be made. Under customary international law, a person is stateless because of non-recognition of citizenship by any state, whether legally or illegally. As a result, nationality administration procedures are as important as laws. South Africa’s failure to formally recognise its citizens because of insurmountable administrative barriers and discriminatory practices is making children in South Africa stateless, rendering its impressive laws useless. This article provides a brief analysis of the historical and legislative context within which South Africa finds itself, then analyses recent jurisprudence on childhood statelessness to illustrate how the right to administrative justice is crucial to South Africa’s trajectory of success in ending childhood statelessness, offering recommendations for the way forward.
Topic:: Nationalism, Citizenship, Bureaucracy, and Administration
Political Geography:: Africa and South Africa

1710. Militarized Global Apartheid

Author:: Catherine Besteman and William Kattrup
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:: Catherine Besteman is Francis F. Bartlett and Ruth K. Bartlett Professor of Anthropology at Colby College. A past President of the Association of Political and Legal Anthropologists, her most recent books include Militarized Global Apartheid (2020), Making Refuge: Somali Bantu Refugees and Lewiston, Maine (2016), and the co-edited Life by Algorithms (2019). In addition to coordinating the 2021 abolitionist initiative Freedom & Captivity, she has published six other books, and received recent fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations.
Topic:: Apartheid, International Affairs, and Interview
Political Geography:: South Africa, Global South, and Global North

1711. Rethinking Recovery: How to Sustainably Support Communities A!ected by Genocide and Sexual Violence

Author:: Nadia Murad
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:: In August 2014, the Islamic State (ISIS) surrounded Yazidi villages in Sinjar, Iraq as part of an e2ort to ethnically cleanse Yazidis from existence. Over a two-week period, ISIS militants murdered more than 5,000 men and older women, took more than 6,000 women and children captive, and forced more than 400,000 individuals to 1ee their homes.1 I lived in one of those villages. My family members were killed and dumped into unmarked, mass graves. My sisters, nieces, and I were taken captive and forced into sexual slavery. 3is was no accident. Sexual violence has long been used as a weapon of war. ISIS believed that violating Yazidi women would destroy the community from within.2 For much of history, the use of sexual violence as a weapon has been considered an unfortunate byproduct of con1ict at the high- est levels of peace and security. While the international community has begun to recognize sexual violence as a weapon, many survivors are still silenced by shame and stigma. It is imperative that the taboo surrounding sexual violence is broken so that the international community can work proactively to prevent and respond to this gender-based weapon.
Topic:: Genocide, Islamic State, Sexual Violence, and Yazidis
Political Geography:: Iraq and Middle East

1712. Democracy, Demography, and the Future of the European Union

Author:: Dubravka Šuica and William Kattrup
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:: Dubravka Šuica is the European Commission Vice President for Democracy and Demography. She is leading the Commission’s work on deliberative democracy, the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), demography, children’s rights, and child protection.
Topic:: Demographics, Children, European Union, Democracy, and Protection
Political Geography:: Europe

1713. Transparency and the Internet: Facebook’s Global Reach

Author:: Frances Haugen, Caroline Allen, and Kamran King
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:: Frances Haugen specializes in algorithmic product management, having worked on ranking algo- rithms at Google, Pinterest, Yelp, and Facebook. In 2019, she was recruited to Facebook to be the lead Product Manager on the Civic Misinformation team, and later also worked on counter-espionage. In 2021, Haugen disclosed tens of thousands of Facebook’s internal documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Wall Street Journal. Haugen is an advocate for accountability and transparency in social media.
Topic:: Internet, Transparency, Interview, and Facebook
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1714. Reification of Data: the Right to be Forgotten, Data Ownership, Network Usage Fee, and Data Sovereignty

Author:: Kyung-Sin Park
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:: A regression is taking place around the world: the reification of data. Data is a relationship between sentient beings and the objects sensed, knowledge of the world external to the consciousness of that being. Transfer of data is speech. Collection of data is learning. Thus, a restriction on the transfer of data is a restriction on speech or the freedom of speech.1 A restriction on the collection of data becomes a restriction on learning or the freedom to learn. Data—origi- nally, a configuration of the consciousness perceiving external objects—is being rei3ed, that is, treated as if it is a tangible thing. Increasingly, data is deemed to be a possession by people reflected in it or those producing it and subject to delivery fees for transfer. Data is deemed capable of being “owned by data subjects,” “owned by data producers,” or charged fees for delivery.2
Topic:: Science and Technology, Networks, Data, Digital Sovereignty, and Right to be Forgotten
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1715. Remaking the Future of the Internet

Author:: James Lewis
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:: A rule of thumb in Hollywood is when you have no new ideas for a 1lm, remake an old one. 5e United States is taking a similar approach to internet policy, with the well-intended “Declaration for the Future of the Internet” (hereafter referred to as “the Declaration”) reiterating themes from the dawn of the internet.1 5ere is a real opportunity for a new approach to internet policy that endorses democratic values and a reformed multistakeholder model, but the Declaration does not provide this opportunity because it ignores sovereignty and great power con6ict—the forces reshaping the internet. 5ere are 193 countries in the world. Only 60 endorsed the Declaration.2 If this had been an election, the United States would have lost. 5is outcome may partly re6ect a lack of diplomatic skill by the United States, but it also re6ects a paucity of ideas to address concerns in the developing world, which center around development, sovereignty, and the rule of law. Many nations would have welcomed a bold new vision for the internet that took their interests into account. 5ey did not get this vision from the Declaration.
Topic:: Science and Technology, Internet, and Digital Policy
Political Geography:: Global Focus and United States of America

1716. Inclusion and Environmental Protection in Space

Author:: Tony Milligan
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:: A push for inclusion has been one of the most striking features of space programs in recent years, with a diverse range of agents going up to the Inter- national Space Station. NASA has been promoting the recognition of the early, but hidden, role of black scientists such as Katherine Johnson within its pro- grams of the 1960s (Johnson was celebrated in the 2016 7lm Hidden Figures).1 Beyond this, private sector activities are emerging with some built-in elements of inclusion. In 2021, Wally Funk fially could make it into space on a private sector Blue Origin suborbital flight, 60 years after being part of the privately trained female Mercury 13 group. These women were not part of the official NASA program, and they never made it into space, despite public criticism and the advantages of sending women in the cramped capsules given their generally smaller size. The women had what Margaret Weitekamp has referred to as “right stu:, wrong sex.”2
Topic:: Environment, Women, Space, Inclusion, and Protection
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1717. The Strength of Small, Lean, and Agile

Author:: Brian Binnie
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:: As a youngster, the 1960s wereexciting times for space exploration. In 1968, I watched Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, a movie that sparked the minds of young adventurers everywhere. Just one year later, in 1969, I watched alongside the world as two men bounced around on the moon. With millions of others, I believed that since everything was happening so quickly, by the time we were older, there would be all sorts of opportunities available in the burgeoning 1eld of space. 9ese expectations were never realized. For 45 years, the same starry adventurers watched from the sidelines as the severed operations of NASA maintained their exclusive grip on all things space with the Shuttle and International Space Station operations. But in 2004, a small, privately owned company shocked the landscape, 0ying three space 0ights with a reusable ship to the rapt attention of millions worldwide. With the visibility provided by a $10 million prize, these 0ights became the leading story of that year.
Topic:: Science and Technology, Regulation, Space, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Political Geography:: United States of America

1718. Talking About NASA: Outer Space and World A!airs

Author:: John M. Logsdon, David Del Terzo, and Luka Willett
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:: Dr. John M. Logsdon is Professor Emeritus at George Washington University’s (GWU) Elliott School of International A!airs, where he was the founder and long-time director of GWU’s Space Policy Institute. He is an author of many articles, essays, and edited books, with his most recent publication being Ronald Reagan and the Space Frontier (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019). In 2003, he was a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board and was formerly a member of the NASA
Topic:: International Affairs, Space, Interview, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

1719. Sexual Abuse, Violence, and Prostitution Toward Children in Mexico

Author:: César Niño
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:: Oscar was born in an illegal prostitution center where his mother was a sex worker (we are not certain if she worked there voluntarily). Oscar was first prostituted at age four, serving up to six “clients” daily at the same center where his mother worked. Both he and his mother were constant victims of rape and physical violence. This was the environment in which he was raised. In recent decades, according to a Reinserta study, violence against children in Mexico has intensi7ed nationwide.1 From 2006 to 2018, there were 325,699 homicides, according to data from Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI). Of these victims, 23,420 were men under the age of 19, a little over 7 percent of the total, and 6,022 were women under the age of 19, about 2 percent of the total.2 Children represent a particularly vulnerable group, as they are immersed in practices that violate their human rights and make it impossible for them to develop physically and psychologically in an adequate manner and according to their age. They experience physical violence, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and other forms of violence that are normalized from an early age.
Topic:: Human Rights, Children, Sexual Violence, Abuse, and Prostitution
Political Geography:: North America and Mexico

1720. The State of Exception: Gangs as a Neoliberal Scapegoat in El Salvador

Author:: Leisy Abrego and Steven Osuna
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:: On 26 March 2022, gangs in the small Central American country of El Salvador killed 62 people, making it the deadliest day in modern Salvadoran history.1 In the span of just three days, between 25 and 27 March, there were a total of 87 seemingly random murders of people laboring and commuting in El Salvador. In line with the common political practice since the 1990s, Salvadoran politi- cians zeroed in on punishing gangs, whom they have blamed for all social ills. Indeed, the brutal intercommunal violence of gangs is horrifying and dehuman- izing in ways that permeate everyday life for large swaths of Salvadoran society. 3ese realities make gangs particularly visible and therefore politically useful for the ruling elite, who can and frequently do turn to gangs as a distraction from their own corruption. 3e proliferation of gangs and violence, however, was not inevitable, and a political and media focus solely on gangs misses the larger picture. Gangs, and the social conditions surrounding them in El Salvador, are ultimately a symptom of a larger root problem: neoliberal capitalism. To best understand the conditions of the present moment, we trace how neoliberalism developed in El Salvador, why it has thrived across party lines, how it is fueling the actions of this particular Salvadoran administration, and how a growing grassroots cross-border movement is resisting it.
Topic:: Neoliberalism, Violence, Organized Crime, and Gangs
Political Geography:: Central America and El Salvador

1721. Fighting Gangs to Dismantle Democracy: How Anti-Crime Policies Have Contributed to the Authoritarian Drift in Central America

Author:: José‐Luis Cruz
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:: For several years, the northern countries of Central America—El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—have seen some of the highest levels of criminal violence globally. 5ey are also ground zero for two of the most brutal street gangs in the Western Hemisphere: the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the 18th Street Gang (Barrio 18). Di6erent government administrations have imple- mented various policies to address gangs and criminal violence; however, no policy has been more controversial or frequently used than the zero-tolerance, or mano dura (iron fist), crackdowns. Zero-tolerance crackdowns were introduced at different moments in all three countries but have been a dominant feature of state response to crime in Central America in the last two decades. In this essay, I examine the latest installment of hard-on-crime policies in El Salvador and how they contributed to the democratic erosion of the country. This case exemplifies how Central American governments have repeatedly used the fight against crime as a justification to strengthen security forces without oversight, ignore human rights standards, and leverage the justice system to serve corrupt government officials.
Topic:: Crime, Authoritarianism, Democracy, and Gangs
Political Geography:: Central America

1722. A Path Not Taken: A Historical Interpretation of the Roots of Contemporary Crime in Central America

Author:: Jeffrey L. Gould and David Diaz-Arias
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:: Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:: Has Central America always been a dangerous place? During the early 1980s, in the provincial city of Chichigalpa, Nicaragua, one could walk anywhere and at any time without fearing crime. The Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN), a leftist guerrilla organization founded in 1961 that had led the Ni- caraguan Revolution to triumph in 1979, ruled the country.1 Remarkably, its police force, the Policía Sandinista, was neither feared nor scorned, even by the anti-Sandinista sectors of the community. Neither crime nor its absence were a topic of conversation in Chichigalpa, nor were they a concern in the U.S. media, despite the media’s obsession with all things Sandinista.2 If the media or the Reagan administration had commented on the low levels of crime in Nica- ragua, they likely would have criticized the FSLN for that too, citing a highly regimented surveillance society as its cause.3 On the contrary, any surveillance that did exist in Nicaragua in the early 1980s derived from enhanced forms of solidarity against what was largely perceived as an external threat: the Contras— the United States-backed, counter-revolutionary forces composed of former Somoza supporters, Nicaraguan-dictatorship exiles, and ex-Guardia o:cers. 9is military force eventually received signi5cant peasant support in the central and eastern parts of the country.4 One institution that fomented solidarity was the Comités de Defensa Sandinista (CDS). Organized immediately preceding and following the revolutionary triumph of July 1979, the CDS began as a group of relatively democratic organizations that promoted community development as well as security.5 Over the next few years, through nightly patrols, they increas- ingly focused on the surveillance of potential Contra terrorist activities. While such e;orts certainly contributed to crime reduction, the democratic character of the organizations also eroded, as a top-down emphasis on national defense became predominant among the CDSs.
Topic:: Crime, History, Immigration, and Conflict
Political Geography:: Central America

1723. Introducción a “Recursos desiguales: retos de la seguridad en la encrucijada de la sostenibilidad”

Author:: Rosa Ana Alija Fernández
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal on International Security Studies (RESI)
Institution:: International Security Studies Group (GESI) at the University of Granada
Abstract:: En lo que va de década,el mundo está asistiendo a una sucesión vertiginosa de amenazas a la seguridad: desde la agresión de Rusia a Ucrania, que ha reavivado tensiones militares entre potencias que parecen evocarla Guerra Fría–con amenaza nuclearincluida–,hasta la pandemia de la COVID-19, la carestía de alimentos, la escasez de energía, o los efectos de la aceleración del cambio climático yla degradación medioambiental. Calificar este último bloque de “nuevas amenazas” sería despreciar la realidad de buena parte de la población mundial, que lleva décadas experimentándolas, y que ya fueron señaladascomo amenazas a la paz y la seguridad por Kofi Annan en su informe Un concepto más amplio de la libertad(SGNU, 2005: párr. 78). Lo que resulta realmente novedoso es que ahora están impactando de lleno en los países desarrollados, que ya no pueden limitarse a tratar de repeler los efectos de estosfenómenos en otros puntos del planetacomo parte de su agenda de seguridadnacional(Wilkin, 2002: 634, 641).Por el contrario, empiezan a constatar que la rápida expansión desde los años 90 del modelo económico neoliberal en un planeta que dispone de recursos limitados está generando ya riesgos a supropia seguridad nacional, además de a la seguridad internacional.Así, poco ha tardado en comenzar a materializarsela previsión realizada porPaul Rogers,quienha señalado que en las dos próximas décadas habrá tres factores predominantes de inseguridad global: i) una turbulenta economía mundial basada en un sistema neoliberal fallido que está incrementando las brechas socioeconómicas, ii) los límites medioambientales a la actividad humana, y iii) el arraigo de una cultura de la seguridad centrada en el uso de fuerza militar como respuesta a las amenazas, incapaz de asegurar la paz y la estabilidad en un mundo socioeconómicamente dividido y medioambientalmente constreñido (Rogers,2019: 139).
Topic:: Security, Natural Resources, Inequality, and Sustainability
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1724. La pobreza como vector de inseguridadglobal e interna: una aproximación regulatoria

Author:: Jordi Bonet
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal on International Security Studies (RESI)
Institution:: International Security Studies Group (GESI) at the University of Granada
Abstract:: Este estudiopretende realizar una reflexión, desde una aproximación esencialmente político-jurídica internacional, sobre la pobreza como un vector susceptible de generar amenazas a la seguridad, tanto desde una perspectiva global como interna de los Estados. Sin desdeñar un enfoque de este tenor (especialmente, si es un enfoque desde el prisma de la seguridad humana), se entiende que la securitización de la lucha contra la pobreza no es demasiado útil para abordarlos problemas que genera y potenciar el desarrollo. Se aboga por orientar la centralidad político-jurídica de la lucha contra la pobreza desde su comprensión como un asunto de interés público global, al que el planteamiento programático de los ODS y el Derecho internacional de los derechos humanos ofrecen una base regulatoria sólida (sin perjuicio de las dificultades reales de llevar a cabo este programa y ejecutar las normas jurídicas internacionales sobre derechos humanos). Asimismo, no se ha querido dejar de lado la importancia colateral, pero propia, de la desigualdad.
Topic:: Human Rights, Poverty, Governance, Inequality, Sustainable Development Goals, and Securitization
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1725. De la Agenda para la Paz a Nuestra Agenda Común: la “sostenibilidad” de la paz

Author:: Eugenia López-Jacoiste Díaz
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal on International Security Studies (RESI)
Institution:: International Security Studies Group (GESI) at the University of Granada
Abstract:: El presente artículo analiza el alcance de las agendas políticas de la Naciones Unidas en relación con la paz y la seguridadinternacionales.La percepción integral de las relaciones entre “paz”, “seguridad”y “desarrollo”justifica las nuevas perspectivas multidimensionales, preventivas ysostenibles de toda actividad de construcción y consolidación de la paz, que sigue siendo el principal propósito de esta Organización.En Nuestra Agenda Común(2021), el Secretario General contempla acciones concretas de muy diversa índoley diversidad de materias paraerradica las causas últimas que generan inseguridad y que son un obstáculo para el desarrollo sostenibleal que aspira la comunidad internacional de conformidad con laAgenda 2030. Apuesta porunamayor inversión en prevención y consolidación de la pazcon medidasque van desde el control de armamentos hasta la financiación de las estructuras de consolidación de la paz, pasando por la erradicación de la violencia, en particular contra la mujer,y la búsqueda de nuevos modelos asociativos y cooperativos, pero más allá de los acuerdos previstos en el capítulo VIII de la Carta.
Topic:: Security, Development, United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals, and Peace
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1726. Pobreza y desigualdad en laagendadel Consejo de Seguridad: un análisis de sus resoluciones

Author:: Rosa Ana Alija Fernández
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal on International Security Studies (RESI)
Institution:: International Security Studies Group (GESI) at the University of Granada
Abstract:: El examen de las resoluciones del Consejo de Seguridad en las que menciona los términos pobrezay desigualdadpermite observar un creciente interés por estas realidades sobre todo desde la perspectiva de la prevención de conflictos y en relación con la construcción de la paz. Sin embargo, el uso que hace de sus competencias para abordarlas no resulta adecuado para luchar contra la pobreza. Antes al contrario, el modelo de gobernanza que fomenta a tal fin puede agravar las desigualdades en países que salende conflictos armados.
Topic:: Poverty, Governance, Inequality, and UN Security Council
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1727. Empleo-salarios: un binomio clave para garantizar la seguridad económica

Author:: Juan Antonio Alujas Ruiz
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal on International Security Studies (RESI)
Institution:: International Security Studies Group (GESI) at the University of Granada
Abstract:: La seguridad económica en su vertiente laboral está ligada tanto al empleo como a los salariosy acaba repercutiendo sobre el nivel de bienestarde una sociedad. El objetivo de este trabajo es determinarlas diferencias entre los paísesde la Unión Europeaen relación con el grado de seguridad económica,en base ala carencia de empleo o a suprecariedad y a la insuficiencia de los ingresos, considerando el impacto desigual según el género, la edad, el nivel de estudios, el tipo de contrato y jornadalaboral.Los datos analizados muestran que laprecariedadlaboral genera pobreza,poniendo en jaque unode los elementos clave para la seguridad interioreuropea como es la inclusión social.
Topic:: Poverty, Employment, Economic Security, and Wages
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1728. Tecnología y desigualdad: la gobernanza tecnológica como nuevo paradigma de la seguridad internacional

Author:: Milena Costas Trascasas
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal on International Security Studies (RESI)
Institution:: International Security Studies Group (GESI) at the University of Granada
Abstract:: En este trabajo examinamos el impacto que la introducción de las tecnologías digitales y la inteligencia artificial está teniendo en materia de igualdad y discriminación. El análisis de la arquitectura global de gobernanza existente, y de las propuestas para su remodelación, demuestra que existen numerosos aspectos que aún no se encuentran lo suficientemente desarrollados, lo que produce el riesgo de exacerbar las desigualdades y perpetuar las discriminaciones. La regulación de las actividades de las empresas multinacionales para anticipar y mitigar los impactos negativos sobre los derechos humanos que se derivan de las mismas y para que rindan cuentas por posibles daños, se presenta como elemento esencial en este contexto. Igualmente se precisa la adopción de acuerdos internacionales que se apliquen con carácter general a aquellas tecnologías que, por su propia naturaleza, tienen el potencial de poner en riesgo la paz y la seguridad internacionales. Este proceso debe perseguir el objetivo de ofrecer igualdad de oportunidades a los ciudadanos, la protección de los valores compartidos entre los Estados y, en definitiva, el bien común de la humanidad.
Topic:: Human Rights, Science and Technology, International Security, Governance, Democracy, Inequality, and Discrimination
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1729. La OTAN y los límites del crecimiento

Author:: José Luis Gordillo
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal on International Security Studies (RESI)
Institution:: International Security Studies Group (GESI) at the University of Granada
Abstract:: La nueva guerra fría, cuya primera batalla parece estar librándose en Ucrania, se produce en un contexto muy diferente al de la guerra fría del siglo veinte. En la tercera década del siglo veintiuno, el mundo se enfrenta a las consecuencias dela superaciónde buena parte de los límites de sostenibilidad, cuyas principales manifestaciones son el cambio climático, el agotamiento de muchas materias primas y la crisis energética. Este hecho puede conducir a una lucha desesperada por los recursos limitados entre países y regiones. En estas circunstancias, una nueva confrontación planetaria entre potencias nucleares es lo que menos necesita la humanidad para poder afrontar con éxito los grandes problemas globales. En este artículo se propone una reflexión crítica sobre estas cuestiones con el fin de reivindicar el retorno a las políticas de cooperación internacional y de resolución pacífica de los conflictos.
Topic:: NATO, Cold War, International Cooperation, Natural Resources, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1730. Building Bridges over Caspian: South Caucasus-Central Asia Cooperation

Author:: Farid Shafiyev
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Caucasus Strategic Perspectives
Institution:: Center of Analysis of International Relations (AIR Center)
Abstract:: The current issue of the Caucasus Strategic Perspectives (CSP) journal entitled “Building Bridges over Caspian: South Caucasus-Central Asia Cooperation” is dedicated to the new paradigms for peacebuilding and geopolitical gaps, as well as possible confrontation and cooperation matrices in the South Caucasus region with focus on security, economic, humanitarian, political and geopolitical aspects. The CSP’s new issue includes 7 articles and 1 book review. The CSP’s current authors analysed the EU’s increasing mediation role towards the South Caucasus region, the importance of the Middle Corridor for transregional connectivity, the recent processes in the South Caucasus region in the light of ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Türkiye’s engagement, as well as the US strategic interests in this region, the possibility of the potential threats for South Caucasus, etc.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, European Union, Geopolitics, Strategic Interests, Peacebuilding, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:: Russia, Central Asia, Turkey, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, South Caucasus, and Caspian Sea

1731. INDIA-CHINA STRATEGIC COMPETITION IN THE INDIAN OCEAN

Author:: Chuong Nguyen, Binh Nguyen, Hiep Tran, and Mi Le
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:: Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:: The XXI is considered by major countries in the Asia-Pacific region as ‘the century of sea and ocean’ and is accompanied by fierce competition among the nations to gain interest in the sea regions. On the basis that previously only considered the competition for military objectives, geostrategic bases and traffic channels through the straits, nowadays, countries worldwide have stepped up the competition for economic interests and marine resources. The development of military power and the competitive activities for resources at sea show clear the tendency to use the sea to contain the continent. In that context, the Indian Ocean, as the world’s third largest ocean, has an important geographic location and rich and diverse natural resources; the arterial sea route is gradually becoming the center of new world geopolitics and an important area in the strategic competition between two ‘Asian giants’ - India and China. The competition between these countries in the Indian Ocean is growing and profoundly impacts the region’s stability and security. This article focuses on the position and important role of the Indian Ocean in the policies of India and China, the fierce competition between the two countries in nearly two decades of the XXI century.
Topic:: International Relations, Military Affairs, Geopolitics, and Strategic Competition
Political Geography:: China, India, Asia, and Indian Ocean

1732. KAZAKHSTAN AMID UNREST AND INSTABILITY: MAIN IMPLICATIONS

Author:: Aram Terzyan
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:: Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:: This paper explores the reasoning and implications of the unrest in Kazakhstan unleashed in January of 2022. This crisis was the most severe form of violence that Kazakhstan has endured since gaining independence. It distorted Kazakhstan’s image as a stable country. While the crisis was limited to the territory of Kazakhstan and developed mainly from domestic problems, it undeniably acquired an important international element. Kazakhstan’s appeal to the CSTO presented a drastic change in Kazakhstan’s foreign policy and ensued in the shift in the balance of power in the greater Eurasian region. Although Russia played a relatively subtle role on the ground, Russia’s involvement was set to link the political future of Kazakhstan to Russia for an unspecified amount of time. The study concludes that Kazakhstan is faced with the challenges of undertaking significant reforms to lower the possibility of further instabilities while remaining true to its multi-vector foreign policy agenda amid Russian intrusion.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Reform, Domestic Policy, and Civil Unrest
Political Geography:: Russia, Central Asia, and Kazakhstan

1733. THE APPLIED STATE OF VIOLATION OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN ARMED CONFLICTS: YAZIDI WOMEN DURING THE ISIS WAR IN IRAQ

Author:: Roza Omer Hamadamin, Nor Anita Abdullah, and Mohd Zakhiri Md. Nor
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:: Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:: On 3 August 2014, fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) attacked the Yazidi minority of Sinjar in Kurdistan-Iraq. The Yazidi community was the main target of ISIS fighters, including Yazidi women. The ISIS group has committed violence against Yazidi women in several ways. This study aims to show the crimes committed by the group ISIS against Yazidi women and to highlight the problem of violence against women in war through recent living examples, such as women in the ISIS war between 2014-2017. The second part of this study identifies the legal deficiencies related to the regulations that guarantee the protection of women's rights in Iraq. Through a content analysis approach, qualitative methodologies are used. Also, based on a thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews, this paper found that the Yazidi women and girls have been subjected to the most heinous crimes involving international crimes. Furthermore, despite various legal provisions in Iraqi laws and the constitution relating to protecting women's rights, these laws have several legal deficiencies. The Iraqi legal authority has not attempted to guarantee sufficient protection for women's rights in armed conflicts.
Topic:: Human Rights, Women, Islamic State, Armed Conflict, Human Rights Violations, and Yazidis
Political Geography:: Iraq and Middle East

1734. RUSSIA’S COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES ABOUT CRIMEA IN SPANISH-LANGUAGE SPUTNIK AND RUSSIA TIMES (2014-2018)

Author:: Ludmila Gonzalez Cerulli and Sybil Rhodes
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:: Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:: We analyze Russia’s communication strategies in the period leading up to and following the seizure (2014-2018) of the Crimean Peninsula in the Spanish editions of its digital platforms, Sputnik and Russia Times. Drawing from theories of political communication, we show how Russia used storytelling and framing to build an international image and political brand consistent with, and try to justify, its foreign policy actions. Specifically, Russian messages transmit no room for doubt about the legality of any of its strategies in Crimea. We argue that this communication strategy is consistent with the concept of ‘sharp power’ to describe Russian projection in the world. Cultural and emotional appeals designed to generate positive emotions about Russia, i.e., ‘soft power’, were far less common. In recent years, Russian projection of sharp power appears to have increased in the Spanish-speaking world, particularly in South America. In addition to helping explain Russian foreign policy, our findings contribute to broader debates about political branding and truth in a ‘post-truth’, multipolar world.
Topic:: Communications, Media, Soft Power, and Cyberspace
Political Geography:: Russia, Eurasia, and Crimea

1735. THE DYNAMICS OF DEMOCRATIZATION AND THE IMPLICATIONS ON THAILAND’S FOREIGN POLICY

Author:: Ornthicha Duangratana
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:: Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:: As Thailand undergoes a long democratization process, significant barriers to the country’s consolidation of democracy include reserved domains and tutelary powers. While states are usually treated as homogenous units in understanding their behaviors in the international arena, the internal processes are important determinants of states’ actions. Therefore, the swings in the embeddedness of Thai reserved domains and tutelary powers can shape the domestic constraints that governmental actors face in foreign policy formulations. In this paper, the Thai democratization trajectory was investigated in a comparative study to trace the changes in the prevalence of reserved domains and tutelary powers in different periods. Then, through an exploration into Thailand’s foreign policy decisions that the country enacted towards the major powers and the neighboring countries in the Cold War and the post-Cold War periods, these foreign policy actions were scrutinized in connection to the dynamic of the decision-making apparatus of the time. The information was compiled through official papers, government statements, newspapers, and scholarly literature. The paper demonstrates that when tutelary powers and reserved domains are highly embedded in the policy-making structure, and conflicting standpoints on a foreign policy decision are presented, the outcomes of the policy-making process will lean towards the camp advocated by the non-democratic actors.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Cold War, Democratization, Reserved Domain, and Tutelary Power
Political Geography:: Thailand and Southeast Asia

1736. THE CHALLENGES TO WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURIAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Author:: Rimsha Khalid, Mohsin Raza, Anusara Sawangchai, and Hassan Raza
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:: Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:: Entrepreneurship is one of the growing trends, and studies are focusing on it generally. However, this study is mainly focused on women’s entrepreneurship. This study intends to measure the impact of work-family interference, socio-cultural support, access to finance entrepreneurial skills, and legal constraints on women’s entrepreneurial involvement through the mediation of self-leadership in the hospitality and tourism sector. This study has chosen a quantitative approach, collecting data through surveys. The snowball sampling method was used for data collection from women of Pakistan, and data was analyzed through the PLS-SEM method. The result of the present study affirms that work-family interference, social and cultural support, and entrepreneurial skills are significantly associated with women’s entrepreneurial involvement other than access to finance and legal constraints. Moreover, self-leadership significantly mediates between (work-family interference, socio-cultural support, and access to finance) and women’s entrepreneurial involvement except for entrepreneurial skills and legal constraints. The present study’s findings affirm that formal or informal institutions influence women’s entrepreneurial involvement. This study may help women entrepreneurs understand the factors and policymakers to make policies for women entrepreneurs in the hospitality sector.
Topic:: Tourism, Women, Entrepreneurship, and Leadership
Political Geography:: Pakistan and South Asia

1737. THE MIGRATION STRATEGIES AND POSITIONS ON THE EU MIGRATION AND ASYLUM AGENDA: EVIDENCE FROM THE VISEGRAD GROUP COUNTRIES

Author:: Tomáš Kajánek
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:: Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:: At the time of the outbreak of the migration crisis in Europe, the Visegrad Group gained the status of the EU troublemaker due to its opposition to the solidarity and cohesion mechanisms adopted on the European level. The migration strategies (not only) of the individual states of the grouping proved insufficient and unfeasible in times of crisis. However, in the case of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic, the absence of national mechanisms and solutions was partially replaced after 2015 by joint declarations and statements rejecting active cooperation in resolving migration and asylum pressures within the EU Single Market. Despite failing to manage migratory pressures since 2015, four Central European countries have not learned their lessons and will face unprecedented crises in 2022 again. This time, however, Visegrad countries became the first-line countries affected by the refugee crisis. The migration and asylum agenda is thus becoming an extremely complex problem within the Visegrad Group region due to the initially intense politicization of the topic by the government elites in individual states. The paper analyses the migration strategies of individual states and the migration and asylum management-related positions after the migration crisis in 2015 and the sequence of events associated with the outbreak of armed conflict in Ukraine in early 2022.
Topic:: Migration, European Union, Asylum, and Visegrad Group
Political Geography:: Europe

1738. ACTUAL CHALLENGE IN INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE TAXATION: SHIFTING THE OBLIGATION OF CONDUCT INTO OBLIGATION OF RESULT

Author:: Mihaela Tofan
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:: Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:: The research answered whether cooperation in ruling corporate taxation, a traditional obligation of conduct of sovereign states, was undergoing profound transformation into the obligation of result. The analyzed topic was not whether the tax authorities want or should cooperate (which is answered per se), but rather how to appropriately respond to the international taxation requirements for strengthening the multilateral agreements. Tax authorities worldwide have expressed concerns about identifying efficient regulation, and the development of multilateral agreements to combat tax evasion was under long and often unproductive negotiation. The empirical analyses of relevant literature and jurisprudence helped formulate an opinion on the regulation’s efficiency in strengthening multilateral taxation. The need to change the nature of the state’s obligation to negotiate fiscal regulation was not mentioned explicitly in hard law. Still, it was indirectly supported by soft law instruments, such as state representatives’ continuous yet divergent dialogue and the approaches presented in the international courts’ jurisprudence. The consistent influence on the obligation to support developments in international law in corporate taxation was justified, given the limit when considering its conduct nature, compared to potential benefits generated by the obligation of result.
Topic:: Sovereignty, Treaties and Agreements, and Tax Systems
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1739. ECONOMETRIC EVALUATION OF PUBLIC DEBT ON INFLATION: EVIDENCE FROM KOSOVO AND NORTH MACEDONIA

Author:: Ismail Mehmeti and Gazmeda Deda
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:: Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:: The nexus between public debt and inflation has been continuously investigated, but after the pandemic, it has returned to the center of researchers' courtesy. Consequently, this research examines the influences of public debt, interest rates, trade openness, GDP growth, and foreign direct investments on inflation. The study employs secondary data from 2008 to 2021 and incorporates a mixed econometric technique such as the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Arrellano-Bover/Blundell-Bond approach. The study's findings argue that public debt, interest rates, and trade openness significantly influence inflation, whereas GDP growth has a significantly negative impact. Because of the limited number of observations in the context of the research, we have not been able to evaluate the impact in the long term. The uniqueness and relevance of this research stem from its use of a combined approach, and in recent months, a continuous increase in inflation has been recorded throughout the world. The current findings and arguments inspire a productive discourse among academics, scholars, and policy-making entities.
Topic:: Inflation, Econometrics, and Public Debt
Political Geography:: Eastern Europe, Kosovo, and North Macedonia

1740. THE IMPACT OF ISIS ON IRAQ’S NATIONAL SECURITY: REVIEW OF THE PERIOD FROM 2014 TO 2017

Author:: Araz Ramazan Ahmad and Gardwn Tahir Othman
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:: Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:: In the post-Ba’athist era, stability and national security remain the two key goals. Iraq has suffered from many extremist terrorist groups on several separate stages from 2003 to 2017. The most threatening terrorist group was ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), which has enormous impacts on Iraqi society, given the vast geographical areas that it controlled, and the dangers, crimes and violations suffered by the Iraqi people with all its components. The main aim of this study is to determine the impacts of ISIS on Iraqi national security. The study relied on Content Analysis Method to analyze the collected data and achieve its aims. Also, the primary research question is about the impact of ISIS on Iraq’s national security from 2014 to 2017. Correspondingly, an international coalition of more than a hundred countries was formed to stop the rapid expansion of ISIS. The number of victims who lost their lives and were affected at the psychological and humanitarian levels was explained in this study. According to the research results, ISIS was seeking long-term goals. The most important was the preparation for disseminating this new extremist ideology. The intelligence and the exploitation of poverty, ignorance, and political conflicts that ISIS used aimed to implant the extremist mentality in the most significant number of attention.
Topic:: National Security, Terrorism, Islamic State, and International Coalition
Political Geography:: Iraq and Middle East

1741. MANAGEMENT’S PERCEPTION OF THE DETERMINANTS THAT INFLUENCE SMEs PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM KOSOVO

Author:: Sokol Krasniqi, Arta Jashari, and Ismail Mehmeti
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:: Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are now unquestionable contributors to economic development on the one side and employment creation on the other. To promote sustained growth, SMEs must meet specific prerequisites, particularly the leadership structures of this segment. Therefore, this research aims to investigate and identify the determinants that affect SMEs performance. The research employs a qualitative technique, using questionnaires containing 52 questions. The study surveyed 336 SMEs owners or managers from March to April 2022. The Multinomial Logistic Regression (MLR) empirical technique explored the influence of education level, previous experience, training attendance, business plan, consultation services, and employees' insufficient competency in SMEs performance. The research has revealed that the level of education and consultancy services positively impact SMEs performance. In contrast, neglect of training and employees' insufficient competence harm SMEs performance. The study encourages SMEs owners and managers to take advantage of professional training opportunities and to invest in existing personnel through training to acquire acceptable competence, which will be reflected in management performance. From the perspective of the contribution, it provides the most recent evidence in the context of Kosovo's economy, employing the logistic regression analysis.
Topic:: Business, Training, Management, Skills, and Influence
Political Geography:: Eastern Europe and Kosovo

1742. THE ROLE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN THE JUDICIARY SYSTEM: THE CASE OF 2016 JUDICIAL REFORM IN ALBANIA

Author:: Bojana Hajdini and Gentjan Skara
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:: Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:: Corruption in the judiciary system has been considered by Albanian citizens and international organizations as deeply corrupt. In 2016 Albanian Parliament, supported by the EU and USA, adopted a judiciary reform to increase transparency, accountability, impartiality and citizens’ access to information. One way of preventing corruption and increasing citizens’ access to justice is by using information technology. This paper analyses the role of information and communication technology in preventing corruption in the Albanian judiciary system. The main research question is how and to what extent digitizing the judiciary contributes to preventing corruption in the judiciary system. The paper argues that the use of ICT in the judiciary system has been limited due to several factors, such as lack of legislation on the use of ICT in the judiciary system, absence of a unified automated case management system, lack of appropriate education or training of judiciary staff to use ICT and lack of reinvestments on ICT equipment in courts. The 2016 judicial reform, for the first time, emphasized the importance of digitizing the judiciary system in Albania. The paper concludes that digitizing the judiciary will increase integrity and prevent corruption in the judicial system.
Topic:: Corruption, Reform, Judiciary, and Digitalization
Political Geography:: Eastern Europe and Albania

1743. EMERGING POWER IN INDUSTRIALIZATION: EMPOWERING INDIA THROUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Author:: Sayak Pal, N. Thilaka, and Sharmila Kayal
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:: Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:: The ‘soft power’ can be brought forward and achieved for any developing country through softer means. Advertising (both direct and indirect approach) is a powerful tool for disseminating information to various stakeholders concerning the MSME sector. To introspect the potentiality of India’s MSME’s emerging power, the researchers attempted to answer the different components that shaped Indian industrialization over the years and also analyzed the direct and indirect audio-visual advertisements created on MSMEs to encourage entrepreneurial activities throughout the nation. The observation indicates that direct and indirect advertisements that promote and encourage the growth of entrepreneurship have their advantages and disadvantages; however, direct advertisements are proven to be preferred over indirect advertisements, while the reason behind it can be the dilution of concept or the prominence of commercialization.
Topic:: Entrepreneurship, Economy, Industrialization, Emerging Powers, and Advertising
Political Geography:: South Asia and India

1744. EVALUATING THE ROLE OF TOURISM IN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA AND OTHER MEMBER STATES OF THE EURASIAN ECONOMIC UNION

Author:: Gayane Tovmasyan
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:: Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:: Tourism has a significant role in the economies of many countries. It creates jobs, brings money, promotes investments, decreases poverty, develops infrastructures, etc. Many research works try to evaluate the role of tourism development on the economy. The article evaluates the role of tourism development in the economy of Armenia and checks the Tourism-Led Growth Hypothesis (TLGH). With the help of statistical methods, the article evaluates the connections between tourism total expenses (visitor exports, domestic spending, government spending, and capital investment), the number of tourists and tourism total contribution to GDP, employment and other indicators. Besides, the correlation analysis between these indicators was done for the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union. The results show that the increase in tourism expenses and the number of tourists will increase GDP and employment. However, the change in tourism contribution to employment is not so high, which was explained by different reasons. The same is the case for other countries of the Eurasian Economic Union. The article results may be helpful for future studies, as well as for government agencies for evaluating tourism contribution to economic development and for elaborating tourism development policies.
Topic:: Development, Treaties and Agreements, Tourism, GDP, and Expenses
Political Geography:: Eurasia, Eastern Europe, and Armenia

1745. DOES COLLECTIVE ACTION INSTITUTIONALIZE RATIONAL CHOICE? CANDIDATE SELECTION IN INDONESIAN POLITICAL PARTIES

Author:: Andi Luhr Prianto, Achmad Nurmandi, Zuly Qodir, and Hasse Jubba
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:: Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:: The selection process for local head candidates in the electoral democracy in Indonesia is still closed and confidential. Recruitment regulations are insufficient to control the informal actions of the candidate selection process, which is based on political pragmatism. This paper examines the dynamics of local head candidate selection from the rational choice institutionalism approach, with the collective action perspective. The research method uses content analysis, with analyzed interpretively using the NVivo 12 plus application. Research findings show that candidate selection in political parties is not entirely based on supply and demand but as a rational choice formed from the collective actions of party elites. In deciding the mayoral candidate in Makassar City in Indonesia 2020, political parties are influenced by collective mentality, individual quality, group size and resources in political parties. The conclusion is that the rational choice institutionalism approach through the practices of principal-agent, game-theory and rule-based models occurs in the selection of local head candidates. This rational choice institutionalism approach explains the tension between political actors to maximize personal and group interests in political party institutions.
Topic:: Institutionalism, Political Parties, Rational Choice, and Collective Action
Political Geography:: Indonesia and Southeast Asia

1746. DEMOCRACY AND THE RIGHTS OF NON-MAJORITY COMMUNITIES AT THE LOCAL LEVEL IN KOSOVO

Author:: Besim Myrtezani and Ferdi Kamberi
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:: Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:: Democratic governance has to do with the majority's will, respecting the rights of communities and all citizens' well-being. In Kosovo, the rights of communities are regulated by the constitution and legislation, which guarantee the special rights of minority communities. One of the fundamental policies of governmental institutions was about decentralizing local self-government, designed to facilitate the creation of new municipalities of communities and their integration into the local institutions. Our purpose was to search and analyze the level of representation of communities in the local institutions, legal mechanisms that guarantee their rights, challenges in putting the rights of communities into practice, and the political steps that must be taken to achieve so. The methodology is based on quantitative research with 500 (five hundred) respondents in three municipalities: Pristina, Gracanica, and Dragash, where 59% of respondents are male and 41% are female. The results show that about 55% of the communities are somewhat satisfied with the constitutional guarantees, and 38% are represented in the institutional life of Kosovo. Implementing legal mechanisms has allowed the communities to have higher representation at institutional levels and be part of Kosovo society’s integrative processes.
Topic:: Democracy, Legislation, Institutions, Autonomy, and Community
Political Geography:: Eastern Europe and Kosovo

1747. An Unlikely Duo? Regionalism and Jus Cogens in International Law

Author:: Carlos Lima Lima and Loris Marotti
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:: The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:: Recent years have witnessed a renewed interest in peremptory norms of international law (jus cogens) in the international legal discourse.  e ongoing works of the International Law Commission (ILC or Commission) on the topic1 , also prompted by the increasing relevance such norms have gained in the case law of national and international courts, is refreshing the long-standing debate about the scope, nature and content of peremptory norms2 . Against this background, less attention is being paid to the possible relations between jus cogens and regionalism, as well as to the legal and political implications such relations may have in the international realm.
Topic:: International Law, Law, and Regionalism
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1748. Dynamic Belt and Road Initiative and the Global South’s Approach to Sustainability

Author:: Dan Yao and Mingzhe Zhu
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:: The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:: When discussing China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), mainstream scholarship adopts the narrative of grand strategy, which assumes the existence of a predetermined and top-down plan as well as China’s determination to implement it according to its interests and vision. This article, with its focus on sustainability, challenges this narrative and draws attention to the indeterminate features of the BRI. It proposes an alternative interpretation that considers the BRI as a dynamic field that facilitates the emergence of the Global South’s approach to international law. It argues that the countries of the Global South can be regrouped as a symbolic region by their proximity in the global distribution of economic and environmental goods, with its identity defined by common history with international law, and necessary solidarity in the pursuit of the cause of liberation. This article then compares the BRI with the previous projects of the Global South and identifies a vagueness of commitment, lack of coordination mechanism, and flexibility as their key features. Further substantialized by two case studies, it contends that the formulation of rules is determined by strategic interactions between States and different non-State actors in a given location according to local realities.
Topic:: International Law, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and Sustainability
Political Geography:: Global South

1749. Is the International Law Commission Taking Regionalism Seriously (Enough)?

Author:: Janina Barkholdt
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:: The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:: Regionalism poses a challenge to the work of the International Law Commission (ILC). The Commission, entrusted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) with the “progressive development of international law and its codification”, is tasked with identifying and elaborating universally accepted and acceptable rules of international law. The challenge posed by regionalism lies in its ambivalent role precisely in relation to the mandate of the ILC: on the one hand, a significant share of practice in international law is generated at the regional level. Since regional practice thus constitutes a substantial part of State practice, the ILC cannot avoid taking regional practice into account if it is to identify and develop common rules. On the other hand, regionalism often involves claims for special legal treatment based on the affiliation with a region; thus, deviations from precisely those general legal rules which the ILC seeks to codify and develop. The present contribution analyses how the Commission has approached regionalism in its previous work and identifies four approaches. It shows that each of these approaches suffers from shortcomings. At the same time, the current projects on General principles of law (GPL) and Sea-level rise in relation to international law possibly indicate the emergence of a more fruitful fifth approach. Based on this analysis, the present contribution shows that the practice of the ILC evinces two methodological challenges arising from regional plurality –, the challenge of equal regional representation and the challenge of regional exceptionalism, – and makes suggestions as to how to address these in the future.
Topic:: International Law, United Nations, and Regionalism
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1750. Interpretation and Application of the ECHR: Between Universalism and Regionalism

Author:: Mattias Guyomar
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:: The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract::  e protection of human rights guaranteed by the Council of Europe, in particular through the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the supervision exercised by the European Court of Human Rights, has a dual dimension: its universal vocation goes hand in hand with the regional nature of its implementation. Tensions between universalism and regionalism play out in a fruitful and productive way.
Topic:: Human Rights, International Law, Regionalism, Universalism, and European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)
Political Geography:: Europe

Search

Search Constraints

Search Results

Refine your search

Topic

Political Geography

Content Type

Journal

Publishing Institution

Author

Publication Year

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS