Suchergebnisse

This book examines the operational and political challenges facing UN peace operations deployed in countries where civil war and protracted violence have given rise to the complex and distinctive political economies of conflict. The volume explores the nature and impact of such political economies – informal systems of power and influence formed by the interaction of local, national, and region-wide war economies with the political agendas of conflict actors – on the course of UN peace operations. It focuses in detail on the UN's long-running peace operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Mali, and Somalia. The book is centrally concerned with the interaction of UN missions with the power structures and local conflict dynamics that shape individual mission settings, and the challenges these pose for mediation, protection of civilians, and other tasks. It also offers a critical assessment of the various ways in which the UN 'system', from its headquarters in New York to the field, has confronted the policy challenges posed by political economies of conflict-affected states, societies, and regions. It advances a pragmatic set of policy recommendations aimed at improving the UN's ability to confront predatory and exploitative war economies. At the same time, the volume makes it clear that political and institutional obstacles to more effective UN action are certain to remain profound and are unlikely ever to be fully overcome let alone eradicated. Despite making some progress since the 1990s to better understand the political economy of civil wars, the UN has struggled with how to tackle informal networks of power and their consequences for efforts to end wars.

In the aftermath of popular uprisings that unleashed the quest for freedom, Arab governments scrambled to limit sectarian divisions, though much of these efforts came to naught. Regrettably, weak governments fell into carefully laid traps, aimed to divide and rule. Protracted wars further destroyed Arab wealth and cohesiveness, and Sunni communities saw their power bases marginalized. On cue, and predicted by some commentators, extremist movements like the so-called Islamic State emerged, targeting Sunnis with extreme violence. In 2014 Nabil Khalifé, an established Lebanese thinker, published a widely praised thesis that identified the root causes of renewed sectarian tensions at a time when confrontations polarized awakened Arab societies. Based on an extensive discussion of the 1979 Iranian Revolution that toppled the Shah, Khalifé advanced the notion that the revolution was not "Islamic" but an "Iranian-Shi'ah" rebellion that ended the Pahlavi military monarchy, and that the post-2011 Sunni-Shi'ah struggle was planned by leading Western powers, including Russia, to preserve Israel and impose the latter's acceptance in the Middle East as a natural element. In this translation of Istihdaf Ahl al-Sunna [Targeting Sunnis], Joseph A. Kéchichian analyses the fundamental questions raised by the author to better place the current sectarian collision in a geo-strategic global perspective. Based on the book's avowals of how the world's three monotheistic religions perceive each other and "Political Sunnism," Kéchichian assesses Henry Kissinger's famous appellation of the "Middle World" that houses significant and indispensable oil resources, and why that allegedly makes it - "Political Sunnism" - dangerous

Erwerbsarbeit dominiert unser Leben. Seit der Industriellen Revolution im 19. Jahrhundert ist sie ins Zentrum des gesellschaftlichen, wirtschaftlichen und politischen Lebens in Europa gerückt und bestimmt unsere gesellschaftliche Stellung sowie unsere Selbstdefinition. Mittlerweile ist das Normalarbeitsverhältnis in vielen Bereichen von neuen Formen der Arbeit abgelöst worden: Industrielle Produktion ist weitgehend automatisiert oder in Niedriglohnländer verlagert, prekäre Arbeitsverhältnisse haben Hochkonjunktur und die Arbeitslosigkeit hat sich auf einem hohen Niveau eingependelt. Die Beiträge des Bandes nehmen diese Tendenzen auf und liefern Impulse für die Gestaltung des Lebens und Arbeitens in Europa.