Search

Begin New Search Content Type Research Paper

731. Women’s Economic Empowerment in Afghanistan, 2002-2012: Information Mapping and Situational Analysis

Author:
Rahim Azami, Massouda Kohistani, and Lena Ganesh
Publication Date:
11-2013
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:
In the recent socio-economic culture of Afghanistan, as in most countries since the industrial revolution’s introduction of the artificial division between production and reproduction, women’s participation in the labour economy, whether productive or reproductive, has been invisible and unaccounted for in much policy-making, planning and budgeting. In parallel, socio-cultural practices specific to Afghanistan—often an uncertain mix between the Shari’āh and the customary laws followed by different ethnicities and tribes—have adversely affected the living conditions of women and girls. As a consequence, women’s practical and strategic needs have not been addressed by consecutive regimes. In parallel, the discourse of women’s human rights has not permeated much of the more recent rhetoric around “gender empowerment” to materially and politically improve the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Women, Economic Policy, and Economic Development
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and South Asia

732. Who Gets to Write History? The Question of 'Legitimacy'

Author:
Kathryn Tidrick
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
India International Centre (IIC)
Abstract:
When I last spoke at the India International Centre, in 2007 after the publication of my biography of Gandhi, I was asked during the question period how anyone who was not a devotee of Gandhi could possibly understand him well enough to write a book about him. The chairman, Professor Madan, politely moved on to the next question before I had a chance to reply. But I wanted to reply and said to the questioner that Gandhi was an important historical figure as well as an object of devotion, and his life required the kind of scrutiny customarily given to such figures. I remember adding that though I had begun to think about the book while I was living in India, I had sometimes felt as I was writing it, after I had left India, that I was glad not to be experiencing the weight of Indian devotion to Gandhi as I wrote. That was the only occasion, to date, on which the legitimacy of my undertaking a piece of writing, my entitlement to do so, has been questioned to my face, though the poor sales and few reviews of the book suggest that some other people may have found the undertaking presumptuous.
Topic:
History and Legitimacy
Political Geography:
India

733. Water For Food, Water For Life

Author:
Bharat R. Sharma
Publication Date:
07-2013
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
India International Centre (IIC)
Abstract:
Since this lecture is part of a series dedicated to water, I will try to give a complete flavour of this natural resource. Water has also been called amrit in Indian mythology and is seen in many cultures as the nectar, or elixir of life. Earlier, when there were few large cities or industries, people were poor and their requirements were modest. Yet while the demand for water has risen in the recent past, it is important to bear in mind that since the time the earth was created, the total amount of water has remained almost the same except during the last few years when climate change has brought about certain variations, but little perceptible change, in the total amount of water available for human and ecological use. We all know that sufficient water is not available for producing enough and quality food for all of humankind. Presently, there are about 6.5 billion people on the planet and we grew by almost twice during the last fifty years. The present world population is expected to further double in the next fifty years. The big question, therefore, is whether there shall be sufficient water to grow enough food for all of us in the future.
Topic:
Agriculture, Natural Resources, Water, and Food
Political Geography:
India and Global Focus

734. Towards a New Medina: Jinnah, the Deobandi Ulama, and the Quest for Pakistan in Late Colonial India

Author:
Venkat Dhulipala
Publication Date:
07-2013
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
India International Centre (IIC)
Abstract:
Towards the end of a rather long day of research in the Oriental and India Office Collections at the British Library in London, I stumbled upon a rather unexpected document in the private papers of Qaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah (Dhulipala, 2014:1). The handwritten document, with its ink fading, was the record of a special séance with Jinnah’s spirit held on 13 March 1955, nearly seven years after his death and eight years after the birth of Pakistan. The séance was conducted against the backdrop of Pakistan’s first constitutional crisis, by a spiritualist hired by a government officer, a certain Mr. Ibrahim who was at hand to direct the questions. After initial pleasantries, Jinnah’s spirit was solicitously asked if it wanted to smoke a cigarette since in life the Great Leader had been a heavy smoker. On the basis of an affirmative answer, a cigarette was lit and fixed on a wire stand for the spirit to smoke while it answered questions. Mr. Ibrahim began, ‘Sir, as a creator and father of Pakistan, won’t you guide the destiny of the nation now?’ The spirit reacted testily saying that it was not its responsibility to guide Pakistan’s destiny any more. A worried Mr. Ibrahim enquired, ‘Don’t you think there is a prosperous future for Pakistan?’ The spirit responded icily, ‘I don’t think so. Prosperity of a country depends on the selflessness of people who control its Destiny. None at all is eager to be selfless there.’ Mr. Ibrahim pressed further. ‘What advice would you give to the present rulers of Pakistan?’ Prompt came the response: ‘Selflessness, selflessness. That is the only advice I can give them now.’ Jinnah’s spirit then made a telling remark.‘ It is easier to acquire a country, but it is extremely difficult to retain it. That in a nutshell is the present position of Pakistan to gain which rivers of blood flowed.’ As the interview drew to an end, Mr. Ibrahim finally asked ‘How are you spending your time nowadays?’ Jinnah’s spirit replied gloomily, ‘Not very well friend. Evil pictures regarding Pakistan are badly in my mind every now and then and I cannot live in mental peace here.’
Topic:
Religion, History, Spiritualism, Spirituality, and Libraries
Political Geography:
Pakistan and India

735. Arab Uprisings: New Opportunities for Political Science

Author:
Eva Bellin, Lindsay Benstead, Nathan J. Brown, Nathan J. Brynen, and Melani Cammett
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS)
Abstract:
The uprisings that swept the Arab world following the fall of Tunisia’s President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011 represented a stunning moment in the region’s political history. For political scientists specializing in the region, the events of the last year and a half represented an exhilarating moment of potential change but also an important opportunity to develop new research questions, engage in new comparisons, and exploit new data and information. The Arab uprisings challenged long-held theories dominant in the field, particularly about the resilience of authoritarian regimes, while opening up entirely new areas of legitimate social scientific inquiry. The Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS) was created in 2010 in part to build the capacity of Middle East experts to engage and inform policy-makers, the public sphere, and other political scientists about the region. On May 29 to 30, 2012, POMEPS convened a group of leading political scientists who specialize in the Middle East for its third annual conference at George Washington University to discuss the opportunities and challenges that the Arab uprisings pose to the subfield. Participants were asked: “What new and innovative research questions do you think have become particularly urgent, feasible, or relevant? How would those research questions fit into wider debates in the field of political science?” This special POMEPS Briefing collects nearly two dozen of the memos written for the conference. The authors are all academic political scientists and Middle East specialists who speak Arabic and have lived in and studied Arab countries for extended periods. They include scholars at all career levels, from senior faculty at top universities to advanced graduate students still writing their dissertations. The memos reflect on a wide range of debates and paradigms within political science, and taken together lay out an impressive set of marching orders for the subfield. Graduate students looking for dissertation topics and junior faculty looking for articles that might make a big splash take note.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Political Economy, Democracy, Arab Spring, Political Science, and Muslim Brotherhood
Political Geography:
Middle East, Egypt, and United States of America

736. Arab Uprisings: The New Salafi Politics

Author:
William McCants, Christian Caryl, Olivier Roy, Aaron Y. Zelin, and Monica Marks
Publication Date:
10-2012
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS)
Abstract:
Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Salafi, Spotlight, Syria, Tunisia POMEPS Studies 2 – Arab Uprisings: The New Salafi Politics The New Salafi Politics POMEPS Studies 2 – October 16, 2012 Few developments associated with the Arab uprisings have generated as much concern as the rapid emergence of Salafi movements into the public arena. The performance of al-Nour Party in Egypt’s parliamentary elections stunned many observers. Waves of attacks on Sufi shrines in Tunisia and Libya, denunciations of secular citizens, and loud calls for the imposition of sharia have raised fears at home and abroad. The violent protests over the anti-Islam YouTube film, the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, and the emergence of Salafi-jihadist trends within the Syrian opposition have made these political concerns ever more urgent. Who are these new Salafi movements? How should we interpret their rise? This new POMEPS Brief collects more than a dozen recent ForeignPolicy.com essays on Salafis across the Arab world, including a detailed look at Salafi politics in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Bahrain, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. The picture that emerges is troubling — but also unexpectedly reassuring. These well-funded and well-entrenched sub cultures will likely continue to thrive in the open, contentious new Arab political realm. But how they will behave, the response they will generate from other political trends and societal sectors, and how they will approach political institutions remains very much in question.
Topic:
Salafism, Arab Spring, Syrian War, and Political Islam
Political Geography:
Middle East and North Africa

737. The Arab Monarchy Debate

Author:
Marc Lynch, Daniel Brumberg, Michael Herb, F. Gregory Gause III, and Sean Yom
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS)
Abstract:
It has been widely noted that monarchies have done better at surviving the Arab uprisings that began two years ago. Three Presidents (Ben Ali, Mubarak, and Saleh) have fallen, along with Muammar al-Qaddafi’s unique Jamahiriaya, while Bashar al-Assad’s Baathist presidential regime faces a mortal threat. For some analysts and academics, this pattern suggests a fairly obvious “monarchical exception” which demands explanation. In August, I launched a debate on Foreign Policy about whether and how monarchy matters in explaining the resilience of Arab regimes. I was not impressed. Against arguments that monarchies face some kind of unique legitimacy commanding the loyalty of their people, I noted that Arab monarchies have in fact faced significant popular mobilization over the last two years: Bahrain has had one of the most intense and protracted uprisings anywhere; Kuwait is facing the deepest political crisis in its post-occupation history; Jordan experienced unprecedented protests; Saudi Arabia has had a protracted challenge in its Eastern Province; Oman experienced unusual levels of protest; Morocco’s protest movement drove the king to adopt a significant (if underwhelming) constitutional initiative. I concluded, “the monarchies look like fairly typical Arab authoritarian regimes, surviving because they enjoy greater financial resources, less demanding international allies, and powerful media assets to perpetuate their legitimation myths.”
Topic:
Arab Spring, Political Science, Monarchy, and Gulf Cooperation Council
Political Geography:
Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Gulf Nations, and UAE

738. Qatar’s Natural Sustainability: Plans, Perceptions, and Pitfalls

Author:
Mari Luomi
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS), Georgetown University in Qatar
Abstract:
Growth in Qatar in the past decade has been tremendous: the total population has increased by one million and the economy has grown four-fold, leading to the skyrocketing of energy and water demand and greenhouse gas emissions.2 This research paper argues that a crucial question in need of answering is: how important is the environment for Qatar? Fast growth in population and natural resource consumption, together with a pronounced emphasis on economic growth, have had devastating impacts on the country’s environmental and sustainability performance. Recently ranked as the country with the world’s highest ecological footprint,3 Qatar urgently needs to balance its natural resource use with the local environmental and ecosystem limits so as to ensure prosperity for its people and the environment far into the future. The same question applies to Qatar’s neighboring monarchies, which share very similar economic and demographic dynamics as well as similar political and climatic conditions.
Topic:
Environment and Climate Finance
Political Geography:
Qatar

739. Globalization and Development : Current Trends

Author:
Shantanu Chakrabarti (ed) and Kingshuk Chatterjee (ed)
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Institute of Foreign Policy Studies, University of Calcutta
Abstract:
This volume of essays comes out of a seminar organized by the Institute of Foreign Policy Studies, Calcutta University as a part of its UNAI program. The United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI), officially launched with a two-day conference in New York City, 18–19 November 2010, is a UN global initiative that seeks to align institutions of higher learning with the United Nations in actively supporting ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, literacy, sustainability and conflict resolution. The Academic Impact also asks each participating college or university to actively demonstrate support of at least one of those principles each year. Academic Impact is a program of the Outreach Division of the Department of Public Information. It is open to all institutions of higher education granting degrees or their equivalent, as well as bodies whose substantive responsibilities relate to the conduct of research. It's essential frame of reference is:  To bring into association with the United Nations, and with each other, institutions of higher learning throughout the world; To provide a mechanism for such institutions to commit themselves to the fundamental precepts driving the United Nations mandate, in particular the realization of the universally determined Millennium Development Goals; To serve as a viable point of contact for ideas and proposals relevant to the United Nations mandate; To promote the direct engagement of institutions of higher education in programs, projects and initiatives relevant to this mandate.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Education, Human Rights, and United Nations
Political Geography:
New York and Calcutta

740. When is the Right of Secession Justified?

Author:
Neera Chandhoke
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
India International Centre (IIC)
Abstract:
In 1989–90, the Valley of Kashmir erupted in a series of violent protests. The scale and the intensity of the protests involving bomb explosions, closures, strikes, arson, attacks on government offices, bridges and buses, and murders, took everyone by surprise. It seemed to have even astonished the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) which had initiated and spurred the popular unrest in the Valley. For instance, on 1 March 1990, a crowd of more than one million from every part of the Valley, many wrapped in shrouds, gathered at the headquarters of the UN Military Observers Group in Srinagar and there was only one demand on their lips—freedom or azaadi. 1 If the JKLF was astonished at the intensity of anger against the Government of India (GOI), presumably the members of the Indian political establishment were also taken aback. The political elite seemed to have forgotten that the accession of the state to India in 1947 was disputed by many. They also seemed to have forgotten the special conditions on which the state had acceded to India. But now the people of Kashmir had stood up, spoken back to history, and refused to accept the way in which their state had been treated since 1947, through a combination of corruption, mis-governance, electoral mismanagement, closing off of the political space to new political agents, and violations of democracy by the Government of India and the regional government. This paved the way for the slide into political violence.
Topic:
Political Violence, Nationalism, United Nations, Sectarian violence, and Military Affairs
Political Geography:
India