Suchergebnisse

Although the new administrations in Konor (capital of Palau) and Washington began 1989 on a hopeful note, it rapidly became clear how much Palau's options had been limited by the USA. By the years's end, Palauans were scheduled to go to the polls once again to vote on the Compact of Free Association with the USA they have rejected six times in the last six years, with no change in the fundamental issues of land rights, nuclear materials and sovereignty. Regardless of the outcome, which could go either way, Palau faces a difficult and uncertain future. (DÜI-Sen)

Early forms of international administration -- Evolving peace operations -- UN international administrations, the 'light footprint' approach and the occupation of Iraq -- The competence of the United Nations to engage in comprehensive peace-building and international territorial administration -- The legal status of territories and states under international administration -- The temporary nature of authority -- Human rights obligations of international actors -- The laws of occupation -- Civil administration -- The rule of law and judicial reconstruction -- Institution-building and democratic governance -- Exit strategies and post-conflict administration -- Internationalisation, consultation, and local ownership -- International administration, the light footprint and beyond

Rebels can comply with international law during a conflict by not violating international borders, yet strategic goals may incentivize rebels to violate these borders. When do international borders affect the spatial and temporal distribution of rebel activity in a conflict setting? I theorize rebels have an incentive to refrain from violating borders when doing so will reduce their international legitimacy. When international legitimacy is a less important goal, rebels will be more likely to violate borders. I test this claim in the context of the 1948 War in Mandate Palestine by exploiting a quasi-natural experiment in how the 1947 UN partition line was drawn. Using an original dataset on over 1,000 Palestinian villages from British colonial documents and an atlas of aerial photographs of Palestine, I use a geographic regression discontinuity design to see how the UN partition line affected the location and timing of depopulated villages during the war. The results show that villages in areas that the UN assigned to the future Israeli state as part of the 1947 partition plan were more likely to be conquered before Israel received recognition. These findings have important implications for understanding where and when rebels target areas and shed new light on important dynamics of the 1948 War in Palestine.