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Rivals – states with acrimonious, militarized histories – often intervene on opposing sides of civil conflicts. These interventions are known to exacerbate and prolong civil wars, but scholars have yet to fully understand why states engage in them, given the significant costs and countervailing strategic interests. Why Rivals Intervene argues that rivals are driven by security considerations at the international level – specifically, the prospect of future confrontations with their rival – to intervene in civil conflicts. Drawing on a theory of rivalry which accounts for this strategic rationale, John Mitton explores three case studies: Indian and Pakistani intervention in Afghanistan, Israeli and Syrian intervention in Lebanon, and US and Soviet intervention in Angola. The book examines a range of evidence, including declassified memoranda, meeting transcripts, government reports, published interviews, memoirs of political leaders, and other evidence of the thought process, rationale, and justifications of relevant decision-makers. The book claims that the imperatives for intervention are consistent across time and space, as rivals are conditioned by a history of conflict to worry about future confrontations. As a result, Why Rivals Intervene illuminates an important driver of civil conflict, with implications for how such conflicts might be solved or mitigated in the future. At the same time, it offers new insight into the nature of long-standing, acrimonious international relationships.

"'America is now threatened less by conquering states than we are by failing ones'(National Security Strategy 2002): Diese Erkenntnis ist vor allem als Reaktion auf die Terrorakte vom 11. September 2001 in den USA zu verstehen. Seither hat sich der Gedanke aber weltweit verfestigt: Sowohl in der Europäischen Sicherheitsstrategie als auch in der US-amerikanischen Nationalen Sicherheitsstrategie werden failing states als sicherheitspolitische Bedrohung eingestuft. Die den verschiedensten Veröffentlichungen zugrunde gelegten Kriterien fragiler Staatlichkeit variieren erheblich. Und empirisch stellt sich die Frage, ob Staatlichkeit in der Dritten Welt tatsächlich so stark erodiert ist, wie diese Verlautbarungen glauben machen. Folgende Korrekturen sind notwendig: Allein aus der Beobachtung westlicher Systeme gewonnene, angeblich notwendige Staatsfunktionen sind für die gesellschaftliche Befriedung nicht zwingend erforderlich. Der unterstellte Zusammenhang von innerem Frieden, Marktorientierung, Demokratisierung, Rechtsstaatlichkeit und sozialem Ausgleich ist keinesfalls widerspruchsfrei und universal gültig. Einige Ordnungsleistungen des Staates können durch einigermaßen äquivalente Leistungen anderer - substaatlicher oder privater - Träger erbracht werden. Staatliche Funktionen wurden früher nicht grundsätzlich besser wahrgenommen, wie es das Schlagwort Staatszerfall pauschal unterstellt. Externe Faktoren werden für die tatsächlich zuweilen stattfindende Erosion von Staatlichkeit in der Dritten Welt in übertriebener Weise verantwortlich gemacht." (Autorenreferat)

This book investigates demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration (DDR) in Colombia during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The six large peace processes and amnesties that took place in Colombia over this period were nation-led, providing an interesting case study for the wider DDR literature, which has historically focused on Africa and Asia. The continuous process of creating and demobilising illegal armed groups has been pivotal in building the Colombian state. Although the peace settlements and amnesties have brought renewed cycles of violence, they have also been key to the negotiation of democracy and citizenship rights for both ex-combatants and wider sectors of the population. Here the author analyses the role of DDR programmes in building state and citizenship. Comparing DDR during Alvaro Uribe's presidency and the peace process with the FARC guerrilla under the presidency of Juan Manuel Santos, the book draws on extensive fieldwork conducted with local authorities, officers on the ground and ex-combatants themselves. It details the process of creating and implementing DDR policy and explores the difficulties, challenges and security dilemmas ex-combatants may face in integrating within a post-conflict society in social, economic and political dimensions. Bringing us right up to date with the implementation of the FARC's peace process and the challenges ahead in the reintegration of ex-combatants under a new president, this book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of politics and development in Colombia, and to those with an interest in peace-building, state-building and DDR in other countries and conflicts.

In aktuellen akademischen Debatten findet sich eine verbreitete Kritik an liberalen Strategien zur Herstellung und Sicherung eines dauerhaften Friedens. Es erschließt sich allerdings nicht immer einfach, was genau dabei jeweils mit "liberal" gemeint ist, und was nicht. Darüber hinaus befindet sich die historische Konstellation, in der liberale Vorstellungen zur Herstellung und Sicherung des Friedens zuletzt umfassend ausformuliert wurden, im Angesicht fortschreitender Globalisierung schon seit einiger Zeit im Umbruch. Notwendig ist daher eine differenziertere, erweiterte und aktualisierte Betrachtungsweise. Dieser Artikel zeichnet zum einen die Herausbildung vier verschiedener, in der Literatur kaum explizit reflektierter Spielarten liberaler Friedensstrategien (libertär, nationalliberal, sozialliberal, neoliberal) nach. Zum anderen plädiert er für eine stärkere Hinwendung auf die Frage, ob und inwieweit die "neuen" Herausforderungen widersprüchlicher Globalisierungsprozesse die "alten" Rezepte liberaler Friedensstrategien in Frage stellen. Dazu benennt dieser Artikel auch bereits konkrete, sich abzeichnende globalisierungsbedingte Bruchstellen. (ZEUS_WP/Pll)

" The book examines several models which have been advocated for a workable and acceptable solution to the Kurdish problem which would be absolutely necessary for stability in the West Asian region. The book evaluates how the more than two-decade long experience of Kurdish self-rule in a democratic framework in Iraqi Kurdistan affects the debate over the other Kurdish regions in West Asia. With Turkey's European Union accession process contributing to the opening of the political space to ethno-nationalism, there is a need for a non-military solution to the Kurdish issue. The book analyses the role of Kurdish diaspora which plays a significant part in placing the Kurdish question on the European political agenda. It also examines the role of the Kurds in the aftermath of the Arab Spring and the changing geopolitics in the region. Now, the Kurds maintain the strongest platform in battling against the ISIS terrorists." (Publisher's description)

The 2003 invasion of Iraq was undertaken to dismantle a regime that had long threatened its own population and regional peace, as well as to establish a stable, democratic state in the heart of the Middle East. This Adelphi looks at the legacy of that intervention. It analyzes the evolution of the insurgency, the descent into civil war and the 'surge' as a counter-insurgency strategy and examines US and Iraqi efforts to reconstruct the state's military and civilian capacity. This book seeks to answer three questions that are central to the country's future. Will it continue to suffer high levels of violence or even slide back into a vicious civil war? Will Iraq continue on a democratic path, as exemplified by the three competitive national elections held since 2005? And does the new Iraq pose a threat to its neighbors?

Vol. 1 : The military and international security dimensions. - XVIII,413 S. : zahlr. graph. Darst., Tab., Reg., Lit. S. 391-401, Lit.Hinw. - ISBN 0-275-97997-0; Vol. 2: The political, foreign policy, economic, and energy dimensions. - XXII,588 S. : zahlr. graph. Darst., Kt., Tab., Reg., Lit. S. 561-570, Lit.Hinw. - ISBN 0-275-97998-9