Suchergebnisse

Why do international peacebuilders fail to address the local causes of peace process failures? The existing explanations of peacebuilding failures, which focus on constraints and vested interests, do not explain the international neglect of local conflict. In this article, I show how discursive frames shape international intervention and preclude international action on local violence. Drawing on more than 330 interviews, multi-sited ethnography, and document analysis, I develop a case study of the Democratic Republic of Congo's transition from war to peace and democracy (2003-2006). I demonstrate that local agendas played a decisive role in sustaining local, national, and regional violence. However, a postconflict peacebuilding frame shaped the international understanding of violence and intervention in such a way that local conflict resolution appeared irrelevant and illegitimate. This frame included four key elements: international actors labeled the Congo a "postconflict" situation; they believed that violence there was innate and therefore acceptable even in peacetime; they conceptualized international intervention as exclusively concerned with the national and international realms; and they saw holding elections, as opposed to local conflict resolution, as a workable, appropriate, and effective tool for state- and peacebuilding. This frame authorized and justified specific practices and policies while precluding others, notably local conflict resolution, ultimately dooming the peacebuilding efforts. In conclusion, I contend that analyzing discursive frames is a fruitful approach to the puzzle of international peacebuilding failures beyond the Congo.

This assessment of the current state of the implementation of the Basel core principles (BCP) for effective banking supervision in Bulgaria has been completed as a stand-alone report on the observance of standards and codes undertaken by the international monetary fund (IMF) and the World Bank during March of 2015 at the request of the Bulgarian authorities. It reflects the regulatory and supervisory framework in place as of the date of the completion of the assessment. The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has an internal governance structure which, by vesting the majority of the powers of supervision in the Deputy Governor for banking supervision, exposes the supervisory function to risks. Under the BNB's legal structure, supervision and enforcement is dissociated from the Governing Council, and the Governing Council has no right to compel transparency of decision making or to impose a framework to ensure consistency in the use of the enforcement regime. There are material concerns that the BNB is too resource constrained to deliver effective minimum levels of supervision. Despite a broad range of supervisory powers, there are some gaps in the legal framework that unduly restrict the BNB's locus. The BNB has a good understanding of risk and many strong practices, and also making good use of international standards and guidelines, but there are some important system wide vulnerabilities. The assessment team reviewed the framework of laws, rules, and guidance and held extensive meetings with officials of the BNB, and additional meetings with the Finance Ministry, auditing firms, professional bodies, and banking sector participants. The authorities provided a comprehensive self-assessment of the CPs, as well as detailed responses to additional questionnaires, and facilitated access to supervisory documents and files on a confidential basis as well as staff and systems.

Soviet theory of international law for the seventies
Towards the end of the sixties, Soviet leaders became convinced that in order to move forward with the development of Soviet economy, it is necessary to establish closer economic and cultural relations with the industrialized West. One of the facets of this policy was the reorientation of Soviet science of international law, and a less critical view of what was being done scientifically in Western cultures. A turning point took place during the annual meeting of the Soviet Association of International Law, in 1972 at which Professor Tunkin, the leading Soviet publicist criticized the uncritical attitude of his colleagues towards Western science of international law. Since the time, Soviet publicists have adopted the methods of research, techniques of scientific inquiry, and the organization of treaties of international law in the West. Professor Tunkin himself in his studies reaffirmed that there is only one science of international law (Soviet and Western included), that the development of international law is also the achievement of Western scholars, and that only since the October revolution SovieL science armed with the theories of Marx and Lenin are able to perceive more correctly the real development of international law. Soviet scholars began to write with approval about their colleagues in the West, although basic criticism has remained in place. What is even more important, the accepted view now is that there is one general international law binding the capitalist and socialist world, with this reservation however that socialist countries are more respectful of the rights of other countries guaranteed by international law.

Philosophising in Mombasa provides an approach to the anthropological study of philosophical discourses in the Swahili context of Mombasa, Kenya. In this historically established Muslim environment, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, philosophy is investigated as social discourse and intellectual practice, situated in everyday life. This is done from the perspective of an 'anthropology of philosophy', a project which is spelled out in the opening chapter. Entry-points and guidelines for the ethnography are provided by discussions of Swahili literary genres, life histories, and social debates. From here, local discourses of knowledge are described and analysed. The social environment and discursive dynamics of the Old Town are portrayed, firstly, by means of following and contextualising informal discussions among neighbours and friends at daily meeting points in the streets; and secondly, by presenting and discussing in-depth case studies of local intellectuals and their contributions to moral and intellectual debates within the community. Taking recurrent internal discussions on social affairs, politics, and appropriate Islamic conduct as a focus, this study sheds light on local practices of critique and reflection. In particular, three local intellectuals (two poets, one Islamic scholar) are portrayed against the background of regional intellectual history, Islamic scholarship, as well as common public debates and private discussions. The three contextual portrayals discuss exemplary issues for the wider field of research on philosophical discourse in Mombasa and the Swahili context on the whole, with reference to the lives and projects of distinct individual thinkers. Ultimately, the study directs attention beyond the regional and the African contexts, towards the anthropological study of knowledge and intellectual practice around the world.