Suchergebnisse

A review essay covering books by: 1) Rob Johnson, The Afghan War, Culture, and Pragmatism: A Critical History (2011), 2) Peter L. Bergen, The Longest War. The Enduring Conflict between American and al-Qaeda (2011), 3) Hy Rothstein and John Arquilla, [eds], Afghan Endgames. Strategy and Policy Choices for America's Longest War, (2012).

The Western security community has increasingly militarized its politics of peace, through peacekeeping, peace-making and other policies to which the 'peace' prefix has been attributed. Peace has become a virtual concept, which at times disguises rather violent management techniques of 'global governance'. Peace, within this framework, is a practice and a policy, mantled by a narrative of a liberal, and teleological, desire for non-violence. Non-violence towards the governing institutions became viewed as peace, advancing the notion of 'peace-as-order'. A teleology of liberal development helped to securitize the 'not-yet-liberalized Other', excluding non-liberal concepts from the idea of peace. Like the baby thrown out with the bathwater, peace lost its emancipatory content. A particular peace is the result, which includes transitional justice or reconciliation as rhetorical devices for its legitimization. However, the practice of 'peace' leaves these processes to the 'losers'; lasting peace between equals remains elusive and the politics of peace an exercise in managing security. Adapted from the source document.

The theoretical concept John Herz called a 'security dilemma' has rarely been applied to sub-state social figurations, although security dilemmas do shape political behaviour in post-conflict peacebuilding. Comparable to state formation, sub-state groups develop institutional capacities. Often led by 'warlords' or 'strongmen', these entities resemble states within, while lacking recognition and legitimacy from without. Between these entities arises a sub-sovereign form of security dilemma. It is a result of uncertainty about the other's motives regarding expansion, control of sources of funding, or domination within the legal order of the 'state'. When statebuilding is pursued by external actors, aiming to fill the legal void, the 'state' can become a source of existential risks for sub-state entities. Risks -- from extinction to the transformation of a group's socio-political identity -- can stem from another sub-state group taking over the state, appropriating superior means of coercion and hence enabling itself to subjugate others; relative deprivation concerning external funding or revenue from trade or smuggling; or loss of investment in networks of patronage, favourable terms of trade, or monopolies for certain goods. External support adds considerable uncertainty about interventionists' capabilities, willingness and ability to steer and control statebuilding efforts. This article explores how risks and their perception shape interaction between social actors and at the same time how awareness and consideration of these risks may influence external actors' behaviour. It argues that understanding risk constellations within an intervention and their processual transformation is vital for external statebuilding support. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd., copyright holder.]

The Afghan state competes for dominance with other local orders and structures. It constitutes a political space structured by external support in the form of political legitimacy (e.g. by international regimes), finance (external grants or development aid), military (troop deployment), and privileged access to information. It finds itself in the unpromising situation of having to respond to local needs and challenges in order to strengthen its internal legitimacy, and to (re-)act according to demands put forward by the financing bodies. These vectors of responsiveness and accountability diverge, in some cases leading to a situation that can best be analysed in terms of the rentier state. Rentier state relations shape the political-economic space in which parallel relations of power develop facilitating the political base of both a state class and of private rentier groups. Using the case study of Afghanistan, this paper argues that rent theories help explain some of the mechanisms at work in post-conflict states - at the same time, it is highlighted that rent theories must be less state-centric in their approach to grasp the dynamics of competition, cooperation and cohabitation at play. Adapted from the source document.

The present article discusses the monopoly of power in western countries (Europe, USA, Japan) that is controlled through the public. Power changes its form but not its substance, which is demonstrated through examples of Afghanistan and the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Nassauer's comparison in Militarmacht Deutschland?, (Germany a military power? WeltTrends 2007, 54, which opened the discussion that has followed in previous issues and will be followed up throughout 2008 issues) his comparison of endangerment and threat is analyzed and commented upon. References. O. van Zijl

This special issue critically interrogates the current practices of international 'peacebuilding interventions' and 'peace missions' to highlight the violence that inheres in their attempts to enforce socio-economic and political changes (such as regime change) from the 'outside'. As in the Latin adage: 'Si vis pacem, para bellum' ('if you wish for peace, prepare for war') the starting point of this special issue was the basic observation that these interventions and missions have little to do with peace but, rather, are violent from their outset. By combining conceptual analysis with case study articles, we hope that this special issue contributes to the on-going debate about how something normatively desirable -- 'building peace' -- has turned out so badly. Adapted from the source document.