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56341. The Model of Ethnic Democracy

Author:
Sammy Smooha
Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Abstract:
The classical model of the liberal-democratic nation-state is on the decline in the West as a result of globalization, regionalization, multiculturalism, the institutionalization of universal minority rights and the rise of minority ethnonationalism. While western countries are decoupling the nation-state and slowly shifting toward multicultural democracy, some other countries are consolidating an alternative form of a democratic state that is identified with and subservient to a single ethnic nation. This type of political regime, "ethnic democracy," combines the extension of civil and political rights for all permanent residents with an institutionalized ethnic ascendancy of the majority group. The core ethnic nation controls the state and uses it to further its national interests and to grant its members a favored status. The non-core groups are accorded individual and collective rights and allowed to conduct a struggle for change, but treated as second-class citizens and placed under control.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe

56342. The Effectiveness of the Exercise of Jurisdiction by the International Criminal Court: The Issue of Complementarity

Author:
Sammy Smooha and Susan Hannah Farbstein
Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Abstract:
The prevalence of collective violence and the agony of mass atrocity may prove to be the twentieth century's most distressing and enduring legacies. From Germany to Uganda, from Cambodia to Sierra Leone, from the Former Yugoslavia to Rwanda, the past hundred years are replete with examples of terrifying violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed against diverse groups of people. Limited attempts to unveil the truth about past horrors, to hold individuals responsible, and to deter future offenses have repeatedly proven inadequate. A dearth of satisfactory moral and legal responses to these crimes often left victims suffering without any sense of reconciliation, while perpetrators routinely enjoyed impunity rather than facing justice.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Ethnic Conflict, Human Rights, and Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:
Uganda, Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, Germany, Cambodia, Sierra Leone, and Rwanda

56343. The Situation of Minorities in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Towards an Implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities

Author:
Matthias KÖNIG
Publication Date:
06-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Abstract:
On 11 May 2001 the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) acceded to the Council of Europe's FRAMEWORK CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES (FRAMEWORK CONVENTION hereinafter). The new government in Belgrade, in power since the democratic revolution in October 2000, has thereby declared its political intention to improve the situation of minorities by revising its legislation in accordance with the normative standards of the FRAMEWORK CONVENTION. By identifying general patterns of minority treatment in both legal standard-setting and factual practice in the FRY over the past decade, this study contributes to an analysis of primary concerns to be considered in the implementation of the FRAMEWORK CONVENTION.
Topic:
Democratization, Development, Ethnic Conflict, International Law, and Nationalism
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe and Yugoslavia

56344. ECMI Civil Society Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Role of Annex 8 in Bridging Communities, Promoting Reconciliation, and Developing a Unique Identity in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Author:
Valery Perry
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Abstract:
On Saturday, 15 December 2001, over 30 people gathered in Sarajevo to discuss the policy development and challenges of implementation related to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP). The participants came from a broad range of relevant backgrounds, including the museum, culture, preservation, history, archaeology, architecture, civil society, and academic, governmental, and diplomatic fields. While full representation of the relevant government officials from the Federation of BiH (FbiH), Republika Srpska (RS), and Brcko District was expected, on the day before the workshop the representatives from the RS cancelled, and the representatives from Brcko failed to appear the day of the meeting.
Topic:
Civil Society, International Law, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe

56345. ECMI Civil Society Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Workshop on Media Issues Working Session on Media Issues

Author:
Valery Perry
Publication Date:
11-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Abstract:
The ECMI Civil Society Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina aims to assist local actors in assuming responsibility for democratic governance in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are being involved, with the assistance of international experts, in a process of reviewing existing policy on practical issues of concern to all communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and of developing specific policy recommendations to further governance and civil society development within the framework set out by the Dayton Peace Accords (DPA).
Topic:
Civil Society, Peace Studies, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe

56346. Kosovo/a Standing Technical Working Group: 5th and 6th Session Economic Development and Reconstruction

Author:
Robert Curis and Camille Monteux
Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Abstract:
The Standing Technical Working Group was established in March 2001 to address important issues of public policy in Kosovo/a at a technical level. It is composed of experts from Kosovo/a NGOs, from the parties and other civil society representatives. Its membership is fully interethnic and it prides itself on being able to conduct substantive debates about Kosovo/a in an interethnic way. In addition to reviewing technical aspects of policy, the group also formulates proposals and critical questions in relation to them. It then seeks to engage the international and Kosovo/a authorities on these issues. As the 5th and 6th session of the group were devoted to one common theme, it was found convenient to present the proceedings in one report.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:
Europe

56347. Negotiation and Capacity Building in Montenegro, Workshop 1: Education and Curriculum Development

Author:
Florian Bieber
Publication Date:
11-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Abstract:
The ECMI project “Montenegro Negotiation and Capacity Building” was launched with the aim to establish a Track II informal negotiation process providing a forum for interethnic dialogue between the Serbian and Montenegrin communities, which includes minority communities from the Sandzak border region. Through a series of workshops, the project aims to help promote dialogue, identify issues of common concern and assist in delivering concrete benefits as well as building confidence between the communities involved. By focusing the debate on the concrete needs of these communities, the project seeks to facilitate thinking about future interethnic relations in a less charged atmosphere, irrespective of the deeper political questions on the future constitutional arrangements of the two republics.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe

56348. Kosovo/a Standing Technical Working Group, Fourth Meeting: Review of Activities

Author:
Graham Holliday and Camille Monteux
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Abstract:
After a preliminary sketch of the overall aims of the project and the objective of the weekend's deliberations, the fourth meeting of the STWG was formally declared open. The first session was chaired by Dr Gylnaze Syla, who had also chaired an earlier plenary meeting of the Group and convened the Steering Committees on Health. The first session sought to re-examine questions pertaining to civil registration in Kosovo/a and, specifically, to address issue areas that had been highlighted by the Group in its constitutive session in March (identity documentation; registration of births, deaths and marriages; and vehicle registration).
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, Education, and Government
Political Geography:
Europe

56349. The Pugwash Policy Brief: US-Cuban Medical Cooperation: Effects of the US Embargo

Author:
Jeffrey Boutwell
Publication Date:
06-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
Abstract:
In 1995, the Pugwash Conferences and one of its cofounders, the physicist Sir Joseph Rotblat, shared the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their decades-long work to reduce the threat of nuclear war and ultimately abolish nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. Beginning with its first international conference in Pugwash, Nova Scotia in 1957, the Pugwash Conferences have brought together influential scientists, scholars and public figures concerned with reducing the danger of armed conflict and seeking cooperative solutions for global problems.
Topic:
International Relations and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States

56350. Walk Softly and Look Ahead in Nuclear South Asia

Author:
Zia Mian
Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
Before September 11, South Asia's problems loomed large. The region, with over a billion people, a history of war, rising religious militancy, newly tested nuclear weapons, and a gettough mood, was on the brink of instability. Adding to South Asia's long list of troubles is the U.S. war against Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. Hasty U.S. actions could deepen the problems facing South Asia. Over the long term, the U.S. has the opportunity to foster regional stability—but only if it pursues a different set of policies in the region.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Nuclear Weapons, and War
Political Geography:
United States, South Asia, and Taliban