Suchergebnisse

Der Verfasser analysiert die Transformation der politischen Elite im Bezirk Omsk in der Periode zwischen 1987 und 1995 in drei Phasen. Die erste Phase (1987 bis August 1991) ist durch den Zerfall der alten kommunistischen Elitestruktur auf regionaler Ebene und die Entstehung eine kleinen Gegenelite im Kontext des Zusammenbruchs des sowjetischen Machtzentrums gekennzeichnet. In der zweiten Phase zwischen August 1991 und Dezember 1993 vollzieht sich die Ablösung der alten Elite durch eine sich aus der Führung der demokratischen Bewegung rekrutierende neue Elitegruppe. In der folgenden dritten Phase zwischen Dezember 1993 und Dezember 1995 gelingt es dieser neuen, demokratischen Elite jedoch nicht, ihre Position zu konsolidieren. Sie wird durch neue Elitegruppierungen abgelöst. Gegen Ende des Jahres 1995 hat sich in Omsk eine neue regionale Elitestruktur herausgebildet, deren Kern eine Gruppierung aus örtlichem Staatsapparat und Interessenvertretern der Wirtschaft bildet. Einflußreiche und in die regionale Politik eingebundene Minderheitsgruppierungen stellen daneben die Kommunisten und der Block um Baburin dar. Die Wahlen im Dezember 1995 dienten der neuen Elite zur Festigung und Legitimierung ihrer Position. (BIOst-Wpt)

Examines the three-stage transformation of the elite in the Omsk region during the periods 1987-Aug. 1991, Aug. 1991-Dec. 1993, and Dec. 1993-Dec. 1995; focuses on the elections of Dec. 1993 and 1995 and their role in the creation of a "consensually unified" group.

In the past two decades the relationship between natural resources and conflict risk has re-emerged as a key issue in international security. The current debate about the linkage between natural resources and the onset, duration and termination of conflicts around the globe focuses on three distinct perspectives: economic theories of violence; environmental factors, especially linked to climate change, as risk multipliers for conflict; and resource geopolitics. These approaches highlight the direct and indirect ways that resource issues can cause conflict. For example, both resource scarcity and resource dependence can interact with social and institutional vulnerabilities to create the conditions for conflict. Key elements of this include informal or illicit trade and violent criminal groups pursuing illegal exploitation of and trade in natural resources. National over-dependence on natural resource revenues is also closely associated with state weakness, even failure, producing conditions under which armed groups can emerge. The rise of dynamic and large consumer markets in Asia -- principally China and India -- has also raised the priority of resource issues on the international security agenda. Record levels of demand and commodity prices have led international organizations, governments, businesses and civil society to launch various initiatives designed to mitigate the interactions between resource issues and conflict. Other responses include the creation of conflict monitoring and early warning systems and efforts to incorporate resource management into peacebuilding agendas. Several high-level initiatives have been established to regulate illegal resource trade, most notably the Kimberley Process for 'conflict diamonds'. Provisions in national legislation, such as the Dodd-Frank Act in the United States, are designed to obstruct trade in 'conflict resources'. However, efforts to manage the different aspects of natural resources and their relationship to conflict and security -- notably the effort to regulate trade while still ensuring market access -- have highlighted the complex balance required in such initiatives. Thus, more effective global resource governance frameworks should be part of the international effort to weaken and eventually break the links between resources and conflict. Adapted from the source document.

Transnationalism has been recognized as an important aspect of international relations for several decades. It has recently also become an important factor in the analysis of conflict, helping to provide explanations for and definitions of conflict that link local incidents of violence to broader social, political and economic developments in the world order. Important transnational aspects of collective armed violence are population displacement and the role of diasporas; state-based transnational conflict networks; and international terrorism and crime. Three conflict areas that claimed international attention in 2006 and most starkly demonstrate transnational dimensions of modern conflict are Afghanistan, the Middle East and Somalia. In Afghanistan the main transnational element of the conflict was the Taliban's ability to operate from bases in neighbouring Pakistan -- an allegation that has been contested by the Pakistani Government but is otherwise generally accepted as fact. The conflict involving Israel, the Palestinian territories and Lebanon illustrated the greater role of regional and transnational conflict networks and the link between state and non-state actors, as both Hamas in the Palestinian territories and Hezbollah in Lebanon received political, ideological and practical support from states such as Iran and Syria. Recognition was given to the interlinked nature of the conflicts in the Middle East by British Prime Minister Tony Blair in his call for a 'Whole Middle East Strategy' to resolve the problems of the region. In Somalia violent battles and humanitarian crises caused scores of civilian casualties and led to widespread population displacement. The inability of the Transitional Federal Government to extend its control throughout the country enabled the Union of Islamic Courts to broaden its influence, at first challenged only by US -- supported Mogadishu warlords. Devoid of any state authority to impose internal order and to counter destructive external influences, Somalia provided a base where transnational criminal and terrorist interests could intersect. The international Somali diaspora continues to affect the conflict in various ways, and large Somali refugee populations outside the country may also be a destabilizing factor. A growing awareness of the transnational character of security issues in 2006, the urgent need to counter the negative aspects of this phenomenon and the potential for making positive use of transnational actors and influences to promote conflict resolution and peacebuilding all suggest that, in the future, finding ways to address transnational aspects of conflict will be high on the international policy agenda. Adapted from the source document.