Suchergebnisse

In this article, the 9/11 events are analysed from a gender perspective -- both the terror attacks & the military responses upon them. Gender is shown to be relevant in several aspects, as gendered arguments have been used to justify acts of violence on both sides. Concerning the cultural construction of femininity, women were made invisible in the Western media debate that followed upon the terror attacks. At the same time, Afghan women were constructed as victims & became the alibi for the American military responses to the 9/11 attacks. Further, cultural gender norms of masculinity coloured the American rhetoric that justified the wars in both Afghanistan & Iraq. Finally, the analysis in the article shows how the terror attacks might be interpreted as a way to (re)construct a masculinity men in certain contexts might feel they are entitled to, after an experienced emasculation. The conclusion in the article is that a gender analysis deepens our understanding of the war on terrorism, & at the same time it shows how gender has become a central aspect of global politics. References. Adapted from the source document.

Since small countries like Norway can seldom affect the policies of superpowers, an important question to ask is whether Norway could influence the human right situation in China through dialogue and co-operation? In the West, China has been known for human rights violations exemplified by the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. During the first decade of the 21st century the tone has changed, however. While the human right situation is still bad in China, the country has signed and ratified many UN conventions, engaged in human rights dialogues with Norway, Canada and Australia, and slowly increased the civil liberties of its citizens. The Norwegian dialogue with China has taken place on three levels: political consultation, roundtable discussions, and diplomat meetings. L. Pitkaniemi

The article compares the Norwegian & the German political debate on changes to the respective countries' citizenship laws. The Norwegian law will come into force in September 2006, while the German law was introduced in 2000. In citizenship laws we can find a contrast between an ethnic & cultural understanding of political community & a rights-based understanding. This contrast was hardly touched upon in the Norwegian debate. Among the Norwegian political parties there was broad agreement to carry on with the principle of ethnic decent. Moreover, all parties, with an exception of the Socialist Left Party (SV), wanted to introduce more restrictions on the established Norwegian practice to accept dual citizenship. The German debate dealt with the contrasting principles, & the conflict followed the left/right cleavages. The main difference found between the two countries refers to the left parties. Both with regard to the principle of ethnic decent/territorial principle & the acceptance of dual citizenship, the Social Democrats in Norway & Germany presented opposite standpoints. References. Adapted from the source document.

If the struggle for power becomes a matter of decision for a pol'al party or pol'al figure in a democracy, the ensuing action may not be in accord with previous behavior. The British pol'al scene shows an actual example of this kind of applied psychol. The Suez affair & its subsequent crisis created a serious psychol'al crisis in GB, a crisis so severe that Harold Macmillan had to deal with it by original methods. Forced to take measures, such as the one giving British shipowners the right to again use the canal, which really indicate the decline in British power, he nevertheless succeeded in restoring public confidence. He took his cabinet ministers in hand by allowing them a large measure of individual initiative, unlike Eden who supervised the most minute details of admin'tion. His authority over the Conservative party was very rapidly reaffirmed, to the point where he was able to force Lord Salisbury to leave the Cabinet. In the end he managed to get the Conservatives in Parliament behind him, by channeling their dislike toward the Labor Party, & by also directing their animosity toward the US & the UN. His apparent calm & indifference allowed him to take a neutral position toward these scapegoats, leaving vindictiveness to his partisans by this device. All of his efforts, however, did not succeed in restoring his prestige with the public who are less sensitive to the psychol'al techniques of the leader than the politicians, & who measure a politician in terms of his accomplishments, which have not been, so far very favorable. Tr by J. A. Broussard from IPSA.

A review essay on books by (1) Walter Russell Mead, Special Providence. American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World (New York: Routledge, 2002); (2) Anders Stephanson, Manifest Destiny. American Expansion and the Empire of Right (New York: Hill & Wang, 1995); & (3) Warren Zimmermann, First Great Triumph. How Five Americans Made Their Country a World Power (New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 2002). 20 References.

In 2004, 20% of the Israeli population consists of people who immigrated from the former Soviet Union. 1.3 million Russian Jews live in Israel today. Of these, 800,000 have come to Israel over the last 10 years, after the fall of the Berlin Wall & the breakdown of communism. For a number of Russian Jews, meeting the realities in their new society in "the promised land" has become a harsh experience. Many Russian Jews feel that they have been left on the sidelines, notably by orthodox Israeli Jews who do not recognize them as "proper" Jews. Simultaneously, quite a few of the Russian Jews are critical to what they perceive as a Labour party softness on the Palestinians. All in all, these experiences have led to a concentration of Russian-born Jews on the Israeli political, but nonclerical, Right. 17 References. Adapted from the source document.

Argentina has been going through the transition to democracy since 1912, when universal suffrage was introduced, for men. A significant portion of the political process takes place in the form of competition between corporatist structures rather than through political parties, with the military convinced that they have an historical right to intervene whenever they deem necessary a clean-up of the civilian or democratic mess

In western China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, development is characterized by a difficult political & social situation. Huge state investments, as well as the development of large oil & cotton industries, have led to economic growth & a standard of living that ranks among the highest of China's western provinces & regions. Despite this, groups among the region's inhabitants show great discontent with the Chinese administration. Separatism, terrorism, human rights violation & ruthless exploitation of the region's resources are equally important parts of Xinjiang's recent history as economic development & the improved standard of living. In the midst of this situation Xinjiang's Bingtuan, a group of state-run, formerly military, farming units, plays an important role as a regional development agent & as a Chinese controlling body. Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

An open debate where the eight central figures from the eight largest Norwegian political parties explain their foreign policy goals for the term 2009-2012. While all three leftwing parties stress the importance of climate change and equality, the criticism towards NATO intensifies when we moved from the center-left to the far left. The traditional center and right wing parties all emphasize the importance of free trade and globalization with an increased degree of skepticism in the center. The Progress Party stands out from the crowd by attacking foreign aid for increasing corruption and diminishing human rights in developing countries. L. Pitkaniemi