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CIAO DATE: 07/06
Winter 2005 (Volume 4, Number 4)
Environmental Security in Lebanon’s Second Republic (PDF, 15 Pages, 133KB)
Sami Zeidan
This paper examines the ongoing threat to environmental security in Lebanon since the end of the civil war in 1990. It makes the case that there can be environmental causes and effects of conflict, as well as environmental targets of conflict in Lebanon. It examines why the government does not always implement international environmental treaties. The paper studies the hydropolitics of the region, the ominous threat of water wars, and the claims of Syria and Israel on Lebanon’s abundant water. It examines the Wazzani pump dispute that erupted in 2001 when, following Israeli withdrawal, the Lebanese government decided to divert water from the Hasbani River into surrounding impoverished villages. The dispute exemplifies how water tensions, in an area already fueled by political distrust, can easily inflate into war rhetoric. The implications for cooperation with Israel, as well as the role of water in the peace process are also analyzed.
Social Quality: Opening Individual well-being for a Social Perspective (PDF, 17 Pages, 184KB)
Peter Herrmann
Point of departure is the thesis that a clear understanding of the social vanished from social science itself. Over time, the interpretation of social and individual developed into a direction that confronts the two as distinct areas, relating as mutually external faits sociaux on the one hand and faits individuels on the other hand. Moreover, individuals are seen as the actual core of life, confronted with a society which is a seemingly superior power. The following presentation tries to oppose such a position, claiming that individual and social can fundamentally be grasped as constitutive entity. Furthermore, it is by taking such a relational view that we can understand the social and its quality as distinct from simple interactions.
This contribution will first aim on providing a framework for the analysis and development of policies following the Social Quality Approach which will be introduced. In a second part this will be further developed, looking at what is underlying the process of negotiating the social. Finally, the current debate of the European Social Model will be discussed against this theoretical background.
Cultural and Religious Identities in Era of Information and Globalization (PDF, 7 Pages, 78KB)
Mohammad Reza Neyestani
Information and communication revolution is one of the most important instruments in globalization. In fact , Information and Communications Globalization has changed people's relations and the meaning of time , space and have reduced distance and has demolished physical boundaries and has increased relations between people, governments and cultures . In recent years, culture globalization with rise of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) has undoubtedly accelerated a uniform world culture and democracy and world modern values are proceeding strongly through various aspects of life: cultural industries ,international language, music, press, media and etc. In this increasingly globalized culture and modernity, south countries have little or no margin of action as they can to position themselves into the so called Global village. Therefore when we are talking about culture globalization by Information and Communications Technology, we confront with its negative effects as well. The first negative role of culture globalization is cultural, religious and identical conflict in national and international level that is enforced and carried out by the information and communication technology. In fact using of information and communication technology play an important role in the appearance of such conflicts.
The Beginning of the End of the Petrodollar: What Connects Iraq to Iran (PDF, 17 Pages, 157KB)
Bulent Gokay
Throughout history, empires and their civilisations have come and gone. During the first part of the last century, the US quietly built its empire, first in the North and Central Americas and in South America. Soon after the Second World War, the US worked to maximise the advantages it gained, and the power it assumed, between 1943 and 1945, from its victory over Germany and Japan, and as a consequence of massive Soviet casualties, and large British debt and financial burden caused by the war. The USA assumed the leading role in the Western world by, on one hand, containing the Soviet Union and preventing the spread of communist revolution beyond the borders of the Soviet bloc; and on the other hand, ensuring uncontested American supremacy within the Western world.
Iran and the West (PDF, 22 Pages, 165KB)
Reza Simbar
This paper argues that Iran’s struggle for obtaining nuclear technology may lead to a new crisis in the Persian Gulf. As Iran offers its own reasons to have access to this technology, the West has its own perceptions and fears. With a US major role, the emerging crisis may lead to devastating impacts on the Persian Gulf region, the Middle- East the Islamic World and the whole international system. To understand the situation and to manage a workable and comprehensive plan for (negative) peace and stability, the paper explains the main considerations in crisis management, describing the records of crises and relations between Islamic Iran and the West. It suggests that the past 26 years of Western harsh policy toward Iran has proved to be counterproductive and ineffective. It recommends that the combination of security guarantee, economic benefits, support for the right to peaceful nuclear technology and diplomatic negotiation can pave the way for non- violent, sustainable cooperation.