Suchergebnisse

Based upon an analysis of the peace process in Afghanistan since 2011, the article argues that past top-down approaches have failed to achieve the twin goals of peace and justice. Thus, customary justice and its associated structures offers an alternative approach to furthering reconciliation and addressing grievances, as well as to ensuring accountability for wrongs committed at the community level. Drawing from the work of The Liaison Office, the article highlights the advantages of customary justice institutions, but also cautions that their limitations (e.g., discrimination against women, an inability to reign in strongmen and address inter-ethnic conflicts) need to be addressed. The article concludes with the recommendation to establish a best practice association that can set standards for customary justice providers and guarantee the inclusion of women. Adapted from the source document.

Despite the return of almost five million Afghan refugees to Afghanistan since 2002, about three million still remain abroad. What are their prospects of return? More to the point, what is the prospect of those who have returned remaining in Afghanistan? Adapted from the source document.

Using the Afghan experience, the article tries to challenge existing approaches to peacebuilding, criticizing the absence of critical assessments prior to international engagement & efficient monitoring. Standardized processes & sequences applied to peace processes, especially exporting of western experiences, are questioned. Existing dilemmas are highlighted, such as goal conflicts between waging war vs. making peace, realistic time-frames vs. donor requirements, top-down vs. bottom-up grass-roots approaches (especially in the area of democratization), & local capacity building vs. importing expertise. The argument centers on the importance of people, both architects of peacebuilding, as well as the affected population. References. Adapted from the source document.

The case of the Afghan refugees is interesting, as (forced) migration was not linked to security until years after the initial displayment, and during a time when refugee numbers were not at their peak. Furthermore, countries with smaller numbers of refugees felt more threatened than those bearing the bulk. This article sets out to explore this interesting security puzzle, trying to answer the question whether the South Asian security dilemma can be linked to migration and displacement in the region, or other factors. The article concludes that a security-migration linkage seems to be based more on the duration than the size of displacement. (DSE/DÜI)

Using research in early warning & preventive diplomacy, a theoretical paradigm of refugee migration is developed to examine the structural elements of forced migration. Several hypotheses regarding the impact of economic crises, overpopulation, political violence, & geographic obstacles on migration trends are presented. Refugee data collected by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees & the US Committee for Refugees from 1971-1990 were employed to test the validity of the hypotheses. The findings indicate that (1) political violence is a better predictor of refugee migration than human rights violations, (2) the presence of foreign militaries increases refugee populations in nations experiencing civil war, (3) uprisings initiated by ethnic groups are poor predictors of mass refugee mobilizations, & (4) economic & geographical factors demonstrate little influence on forecasting refugee migration. It is concluded that the traditional economic hardship explanation for refugee migration is contradicted by the findings; however, the intensity of political violence determines the size of refugee mobilization. 1 Table, 64 References. Adapted from the source document.