This article deals with the issue of the peace-building process in countries with long-standing civil wars and the factors that might influence such processes. Based on my analysis, I identify two types of factors that might influence the peace process: power-sharing arrangements as an institutional factor, and attitudes of internal actors of the peace process as an agency factor. In this article I analyze the peace-building process in the West African country of Liberia. The peace-building process is analyzed through the study of the two main peace treaties signed to end the Liberian civil war in the 1990s: the Treaties of Abuja and Accra. In the analysis, I focus mainly on the extent to which the peace treaties incorporate the elements of power-sharing as well as the motivations, decision-making, and behavior of internal actors involved in the peace building process during the implementation of the peace treaties. The goal of this analysis is to reveal which dominant factor influenced the stability of the peace-building process in Liberia. Adapted from the source document.
In: Polemos: časopis za interdisciplinarna istraživanja rata i mira ; journal of interdisciplinary research on war and peace, Band 16, Heft 31, S. 9-11
The author's starting point is the assumption that the idea of the Christian Republic, suppressed by the Enlightenment, entered the French 18th-century discourse through its two secularized versions: the "Great Plan" put forward by Duke of Sully in Royal Economies (1638) and the Project for Perpetual Peace in Europe by Charles-Irenee Castel, the abbot of Saint-Pierre (1717). While the "Great Plan" aimed at establishing a secularized European peace alliance under the hegemony of France, Saint-Pierre strove to remove all hegemonic facets of the plan and establish peace according to the principles of equality of sovereign states. In the second half of the 18th century, Gabriel Bonnot de Mably and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in reaction to the Seven-Year War, assumed different standpoints regarding the heritage of Sully and Saint-Pierre: although both deemed useful to build upon Saint-Pierre's pacifist thought, they rejected his way of establishing a Christian Republic in Europe as essentially Utopian. The former saw the only way of pacifying Europe in federalization under the hegemony of a single federal republic. The latter however rejected this solution as too risky and too difficult to carry out, preferring a return to the old theory of balance of forces, which enables small, autarchic and belligerent republics, that must always take into account the certainty that they could be attacked at any time, to establish only temporary and loose connections with other (equally small) republics within the frameworks of defensive alliances. Adapted from the source document.
In: Polemos: časopis za interdisciplinarna istraživanja rata i mira ; journal of interdisciplinary research on war and peace, Band 15, Heft 30, S. 11-23
Nakon Hladnoga rata pojavila se nova sigurnosna prijetnja: zbog propalih država koje ne mogu kontrolirati vlastiti teritorij, širenje nestabilnosti postala je realna opasnost. Da bi se to spriječilo, angažirane su međunarodne organizacije radi uspostavljanja stabilnoga društva u slabim državama. Izgradnja države zahtjevniji je posao od izgradnje javnih ustanova i pretpostavlja stvaranje političkih, gospodarskih i vojnih uvjeta za održavanje trajnoga mira. Politički se analitičari ne mogu usuglasiti oko pitanja vezanoga za međunarodno sponzoriranu izgradnju države; jedni to nazivaju neokolonijalizmom, dok drugi tvrde da je proces izgradnje države nužan ne samo zbog sigurnosnih nego i humanitarnih razloga. Dva tipična primjera izgradnje države jesu Kosovo i Irak – obje su prošle rat i rušenje institucija vlasti. Na Kosovu je glavnu ulogu preuzeo UN, dok je u Iraku proces izgradnje države preuzeo SAD. U ovom se članku analizom izgradnje države u Iraku i Kosovu nastoje prikazati razlike u pristupu UN-a s jedne i SAD-a s druge strane. ; New security threat appeared after the Cold War: expanding of instability became a real danger because of ruined countries which cannot control their own territory. Developing a country is a more demanding work than developing public institutions; that requires creating political, economic and military conditions for keeping permanent peace. Political analysts cannot agree on the issue related to internationally sponsored developing of countries; some call it neocolonialism, while the others say that process of developing the country is necessary not only because of security but also because of humanitarian reasons. Two typical examples of developing the country are Kosovo and Iraq – both went through the war and destroying authorities. UN took over the main role in Kosovo, while the USA took over the process of developing the country in Iraq. In this paper analysis of developing the country in Iraq and Kosovo served for showing differences in UN approach from one side and the USA approach from the other side.
Globalizacija i povećana međunarodna međuovisnost pridonose tomu da se ponovno povećava interes utjecaja strukture međunarodnog sustava na međunarodne odnose. Međunarodni sustav od kraja Hladnog rata neprestano proživljava promjene. One se najviše odlikuju u političkim i sigurnosnim novitetima. U takvim je uvjetima struktura sustava postala glavnom odrednicom ponašanja država koje se, promatrajući ih kroz perspektivu strukturalnog realizma ili neorealizma, ponašaju isključivo u skladu s vlastitim interesima, u uvjetima anarhičnog sustava. S obzirom na geopolitički položaj te veličinu Hrvatskoj je izrazito bitno čvrsto članstvo unutar NATO-saveza i Europske Unije. Kontekst razvoja sigurnosti i obrane time postaje više usmjeren na činjenicu da se zemlje članice saveza obvezuju pomagati jedna drugoj u slučaju pojave ugroze, te se time jača stabilnost nacionalne sigurnosti potrebne da se omoguće dugoročni mir i stabilnost u zemlji, ali i u susjedstvu. Kao središnji i konstantan fenomen u proučavanju međunarodnih odnosa, savezi nastaju jer su vlade svih razvijenih država svjesne da su dio jednog većeg entiteta u međunarodnoj politici u kojoj, prema postavkama neorealističke škole među-narodnih odnosa, postoje prijetnje koje su uzroci stvaranja saveza. ; Globalisation and increased international interdependence have contributed to the fact that once again the interest of the impact on the structure of the international system to international relations is increased. The international system, since the end of the Cold War, is constantly going through changes. They are the most distinguished in political and security innovations. In such circumstances, the structure of the system has become the main determinant of behaviour of states that, looking through the perspective of structural realism or neorealism, act solely pursuing their own interest, in terms of an anarchic system. Given the geopolitical position and size of the country, it is extremely important for Croatia to have a firm membership within the NATO and the European Union. The context of development of security and defence thus becomes more focused on the fact that the member states of the alliance commit to assist each other in case of threats, so the stability of national security needed to enable long-term peace and stability in the country, but also the neighbourhood, is strengthened. As a central and constant phenomenon in the study of international relations, alliances are formed because the governments of all developed countries are aware that they are part of a larger entity in international politics, in which, according to the neorealist school of international relations, there are threats that cause creating alliances.