CIAO DATE: 08/2012
Volume: 88, Issue: 4
July 2012
Stormy waters: Britain, the Falkland Islands and UK–Argentine relations (PDF)
Klaus Dodds
This article considers Britain's relationship with the Falkland Islands and the wider context of UK–Argentine relations. It does so by considering three main themes. First, the current Argentine government’s strategy towards the Falklands (Islas Malvinas). Second, the debate surrounding the defence of the Falklands is examined for the purpose of considering how this issue, brings into sharp relief the implications of recent defence and spending reviews. Finally, the article aims to assess and evaluate the manner in which the Falkland Islands community engages with and responds to worsening UK–Argentine relations. It is concluded that UK–Argentine relations are in their worst state since 1982 and that there is little or no prospect of any improvement given the Argentine government's commitment to force the UK into entering sovereignty negotiations. On its side, the UK and the Falkland Islands' community do not believe that sovereignty is negotiable and would rather consider how more cordial relations could be established in a manner reminiscent of the late 1990s.
Politics and the London 2012 Olympics: the (in)security Games (PDF)
Barrie Houlihan, Richard Giulianotti
This article traces the emergence of security at the Olympic Games as a key concern of host governments and of the Olympic movement and analyses the implications of this heightened concern for the delivery of the Games, the local host community and for national security policy. Since the 9/11 attacks in New York there has been a sharp increase in security expenditure for the Olympic Games, arguably significantly out of proportion to the likely risk. It is argued that the period since 2001 has been characterized by hyper-insecurity and a culture of intense risk aversion based not on probability but on the possibility of attack. Among the consequences of this development is a desensitization of host nations to the increased securitization of their cities. The article concludes by discussing some of the longer-term implications of the increased securitization of the Olympic Games, including the normalization of intense surveillance, the further encroachment on civil liberties and the growing tension between the values espoused by the Olympic movement and the reality of a successful delivery of the Games.
The African National Congress centenary: a long and difficult journey (PDF)
Raymond Suttner
This article traces the history of the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa, its formation, operations and political activities. The article concludes by arguing that the ANC has transformed the lives of many - but continued poverty, unemployment, extensive corruption and criminality risk leading to a deep systemic crisis affecting governance as a whole.
Lost in translation: why Nigeria's police don't implement democratic reforms (PDF)
Alice Hills
The transfer of democratic values and practices such as community-based policing to African police forces is a key aspect of western aid and security policies, yet the cultural transmission on which it depends is not fully understood; the ways in which African officers respond to theories and practices imported from western societies has yet to be assessed critically. Further, despite decades of international support for police reform and re-education, there is little evidence to support the assumption that the skills, technologies and procedures associated with western policing can act as an effective channel for the transmission of democratic values. This article uses the Nigerian police's response to both externally funded and internally generated reform projects to address a question with implications for policy transfer more generally: what explains the uneven transmission of politically sensitive forms of knowledge? It discusses how imported ideas and practices are received by Nigerian officers and political elites, and how they are transformed having been filtered through local interests and dispositions. It shows that even when the process of reform is accepted, the political will required to ensure its effective implementation is not. Democratic practices do not travel well because recipients respond to imported practices in an adaptive manner, integrating aspects of donor understanding and indigenous realities.
Greed and grievance in civil war (PDF)
David Keen
While economic agendas have been shown to be an important factor in shaping civil wars, there are several problems with prominent explanations centring on rebel 'greed', notably those put forward by Paul Collier. Among these are: the way proxies for 'greed' and 'grievance' have been used; the lack of attention to links between 'greed' and 'grievance'; and the lack of attention to 'greed' among elements associated with counter-insurgencies. Why has Collier's analysis proven so popular, despite its flaws? This article suggests that it represents an attractive over-simplification with a scientific aura. It achieves a degree of simplicity by excluding many of the most important features of civil wars, even to the extent of asserting that there is no point in asking rebels about their motivations. Furthermore, it is often politically convenient in that it tends to exclude a number of western governments - and (sometimes favoured) governments in poorer countries - from serious scrutiny.
India's rise in Africa (PDF)
Ian Taylor
India's rise in Africa has been largely overlooked, despite the important implications of the growing presence of Indian corporations and a rise in New Delhi's political ties with the continent. Not only are Indian actors providing much-needed investment and capital, but Indo-African connections represent a further important diversification of Africa's international relations, something which reflects a major development for the continent. It is evident that India's growing activity in Africa has the potential to help African companies become more efficient by exposing them to competition, new advances in technology and modern labour skills. African governments could potentially use the opportunity of an increased Indian corporate presence in Africa as sources of appropriate technology, skills and advice for economic development. However, if not handled correctly, any goodwill that India possesses in Africa will quickly be squandered and/or India will become just another actor in Africa. It is up to Africans to negotiate with Indian actors to ensure that the benefits accrued from Indo-African ties are evenly shared and that Indian interest in the continent, alongside that of others, may help to serve as a catalyst for economic revitalization. The key issue is how African leaders can seek to leverage newfound Indian investment and interest in Africa so that Africa’s place in global trade networks becomes more proactive and beneficial to the continent’s citizens.
Deborah Bräutigam, Tang Xiaoyang
China's rapidly growing economic engagement with other developing countries has aroused intense debates, but these debates have often generated more heat than light. The Chinese government is clearly pushing its companies to move offshore in greater numbers, and state-owned firms figure prominently in many of the major investments abroad. Yet relatively little research exists on when, how and why the Chinese government intervenes in the overseas economic activities of its firms. China's state-sponsored economic diplomacy in other developing countries could play three major strategic roles: strengthening resource security, enhancing political relationships and soft power, and boosting commercial opportunities for national firms. This article examines China's programme to establish overseas special economic zones as one tool of Beijing’s economic statecraft.
Asia's role in twenty-first-century global economic governance (PDF)
Srinivasa Madhur
In recent decades the centre of gravity of the global economy has shifted towards Asia, and this trend is likely to continue in the decades to come. Asia's growing economic weight enhances its potential to play a much stronger role in shaping twenty-first-century global economic governance. Realization of that potential will, however, depend upon how successfully Asia addresses five key challenges: rebalancing sources of growth; strengthening national governance; institutionalizing regional integration; providing political leadership; and adopting the global lingua franca-English. While the Asian policy-makers' ambition to play a bigger role in global economic governance is growing, their appetite for addressing the necessary policy challenges is not necessarily keeping pace with that growing ambition. This gap between ambition and action will need to be gradually closed - only then can Asia help itself in playing a bigger role in global economic governance.
Containment and territorial transnational actors: Israel, Hezbollah and Hamas (PDF)
Amnon Aran
Containment has been salient in intellectual and policy debates for 60 years. The endurance of containment beyond the Cold War suggests that it possesses the quality of transferability: the capacity of a grand strategy from the past to transcend the circumstances that gave rise to it, to suggest what should be emulated and what avoided in future policies. Drawing on the notion of transferability and on the method of structured, focused comparison, this article uses Israel's foreign policy towards Hezbollah and Hamas to argue that containment is transferable from the state level to a state/territorial transnational actor (TNA) relationship, albeit with permutations. This argument is examined in relation to four issues: the circumstances under which containment arises; its applicability to territorial TNA; the objectives sought by implementing containment; and the role of legitimacy as a component of containment. In so doing the article seeks to make a contribution to the debate on containment. While there is a rich literature on state containment, research on containing territorial TNA has been extremely limited.
Review article: Realism: rational or reasonable? (PDF)
Chris Brown
Realist constructivism: rethinking International Relations theory. By J. Samuel Barkin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2010. 173pp. Index. Pb: £19.99. isbn 978 0 52112 181 1. Available as e-book. Rational theory of international politics: the logic of competition and cooperation. By Charles L. Glaser. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 2010. 281pp. Index. Pb: £19.95. isbn 978 0 69114 372 9. Available as e-book. Realism has maintained its central role in International Relations theory throughout the post-1945 era, but the relative clarity of the realism of Carr and Morgenthau has been lost by the addition of several variant forms of the structural realism of Kenneth Waltz; moreover, while some liberals may have tempered their criticisms of realism, constructivist scholars have taken their place as opponents of the doctrine. In the books under review, Samuel Barkin attempts to reconcile constructivism to classical realism, while Charles Glaser has produced the most sophisticated account of structural realism since that of Waltz. Both books are well-reasoned and stimulating, but as yet constructivist realism has produced no substantive findings, while Glaser’s account of states as rational egoists cannot underpin an account of the national interest which is sensitive to the reasonable interests of others.
Review article: The effectiveness of UN and EU sanctions: lessons for the twenty-first century (PDF)
Alex Vines
UN sanctions and conflict: responding to peace and security threats. By Andrea Charron. Abingdon: Routledge. 2011. 226pp. Index. £80.00. isbn 978 041559 835 4. Available as e-book. Coercing, constraining and signalling: explaining UN and EU sanctions after the Cold War. By Francesco Giumelli. Colchester: ECPR Press. 2011. 210pp. Index. Pb.: £27.00. isbn 978 1 90730 120 9. Targeting peace: understanding UN and EU targeted sanctions. By Mikael Eriksson. Farnham: Ashgate. 2011. 296pp. Index. £65.00. isbn 978 1 40941 932 7. European Union sanctions and foreign policy: when and why do they work? By Clara Portela. Abingdon: Routledge. 2010. 206pp. Index. £85.00. isbn 978 041555 216 5. A fractious UN Security Council has contributed to the decline in effectiveness of a number of UN sanctions adopted in recent years. Yet they remain a tool of the Council, for example with regard to Libya in 2011. The challenge is to understand how UN, country (US) and regional sanctions (EU, AU, Arab League) can be meaningful in such a climate. The four books reviewed make various suggestions, from clarity of mandate to better evaluating impact. Mikael Eriksson’s Targeting peace seeks to evaluate the complexity of the sanctions policy process. He argues that effectiveness comes partly from understanding politics (episodes of sanctions), but also from institutional reform - 'black box' processes, as he calls them. Sanctions are more successful as part of a wider package. Clara Portela in European Union sanctions and foreign policy examines the use of sanctions as a political tool, including the suspension of development aid and the withdrawal of trade privileges. She shows how the EU plays an important role in signalling and constraining when UN sanctions are weak. For example, informal measures like the 2003 EU decision to invite only dissidents to national day receptions in Havanna resulted in the release of detainees that it had aimed for. The high rate of success of development aid cut-off stands in sharp contrast with EU Common Foreign and Security Policy sanctions. The unintended consequence of good intentions is also highlighted by both Portela and Eriksson - Zimbabwe in particular but also Côte d’Ivoire and Iran pose similar challenges. The imposition of EU or UN sanctions is easier than reaching consensus to lift them, although events in Burma (Myanmar) in 2012 have resulted in smooth suspensions of most US and EU sanctions. All four books show that targeted sanctions cannot be seen as stand-alone measures, nor assessed in isolation. Sanctions are multi-faceted and require detailed assessment of political context, episode and institutional process.