Les identitats de Hezbollah i la seva rellevància per a l'estudi de la cultura i la religió en les Relacions Internacionals

Aquest estudi analitza el paper de les identitats religiosa i de resistència en la transformació de Hezbollah i les seves relacions internacionals. Defensa que aquest moviment islàmic ha privilegiat interessos materials per sobre del dogma religiós quan ambdós factors no han coincidit. El marc teòric estudia les principals característiques de les interpretacions política i antropologista en la influència de la cultura i la religió en el comportament d’actors internacionals. El capítol dedicat a Hezbollah fa especial referència als nivells d’anàlisi nacional i regional. Pel que fa a la seva identitat religiosa, l’estudi conclou que el pragmatisme polític ha substituït les premisses panislàmiques pròpies dels orígens del moviment. També s’analitza la lluita contra Israel com a raó de ser de Hezbollah i s’argumenta que la identitat de resistència d’aquest moviment no ha sofert transformacions significatives al llarg del temps i s’ha combinat fàcilment amb la retòrica religiosa. La unió del marc teòric i l’estudi de cas permeten arribar a la conclusió que la concepció política de les identitats culturals i religioses en relacions internacionals esdevé la millor eina per a entendre l’evolució d’un actor com Hezbollah.

Hezbollah's identities and their relevance for cultural and religious IR

This working paper analyses the role of religious and resistance identities in Hezbollah’s transformation and foreign relations. It argues that this Islamist movement has privileged material concerns over the religious dogma when both factors have not been coincidental. To do so, it uses a theoretical framework that presents the main characteristics of the anthropological and political interpretations of the role of culture and religion in defining the behaviour of international actors. In the chapter dedicated to Hezbollah, close attention is paid to the domestic and regional levels of analysis. When assessing Hezbollah’s religious identity, this paper argues that the salience of the pan-Islamic religious identity in Hezbollah’s origins has been replaced by an increased political pragmatism. It also argues that the fight against Israel represents Hezbollah’s raison d’être and that its resistance identity has not suffered major transformations and has been easily combined with religious rhetoric. Linking Hezbollah’s case study with the theoretical framework, this paper argues that political conceptions of cultural and religious identities provide the best analytical tool to understand the evolution of this Islamist movement.

Les "grans negociacions" a la Unió Europea: la formació de preferències, les estratègies y l’èxit a les negociacions

Projecte de recerca elaborat a partir d’una estada a la School of politics and international relations, de la University College of Dublin, United Kingdom, entre 2007 i 2009. L’ objectiu del projecte present ha estat contribuir a l’estudi de les negociacions intergovernamentals a la Unió Europea (UE). En primer lloc, s’ha estudiat les estratègies de negociació del estats membres a negociacions intergovernamentals en la UE, per la qual cosa s’ha desenvolupat una tipologia d’estratègies de negociació, diferenciant entre les més agressives (conflictives) i les menys agressives (cooperatives). La conclusió principal ha estat que els actors difereixen en la elecció de les estratègies i que és precisament el poder relatiu dels actors que explica quines estratègies adopten. En segon lloc, s’analitza la ratificació dels resultats a les negociacions intergovernamentals, concentrant-me en l’us dels referèndums. La investigació mostra que els referèndums són sovint usats pels partits polítics com un instrument utilitzat durant les campanyes electorals, posant en dubte la tesis de que l’objectiu principal dels referèndums és influenciar els poder relatiu dels estats membres en negociacions intergovernamentals. Finalment, s’ha estudiat com els actors socials influeixen aquestes negociacions en la UE. La evidencia empírica clarament mostra que la pressió que exerceixen els grups de pressió es sovint subestimada.

Satellizing Galileo? Non-state Authority and Interoperability Standards in the European Global Navigation Satellite System

This paper explores the extent and limits of non-state authority in international affairs. While a number of studies have emphasised the role of state support and the ability of strategically situated actors to capture regulatory processes, they often fail to unpack the conditions under which this takes place. In order to probe the assumption that structural market power, backed by political support, equates regulatory capture, the article examines the interplay of political and economic considerations in the negotiations to establish worldwide interoperability standards needed for the development of Galileo as a genuinely European global navigation satellite system under civil control. It argues that industries supported and identified as strategic by public actors are more likely to capture standardisation processes than those with the largest market share expected to be created by the standards. This suggests that the influence of industries in space, air and maritime traffic control closely related to the militaro-industrial complex remains disproportionate in comparison to the prospective market of location-based services expected to vastly transform business practices, labour relations and many aspects of our daily life.

Global regulation of the knowledge-based economy: The rise of standards in educational services

This article examines the extent and limits of non-state forms of authority in international relations. It analyses how the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure for the tradability of services in a global knowledge-based economy relies on informal regulatory practices for adjustment of ICT-related skills. Companies and associations provide training and certification programmes as part of a growing market for educational services setting their own standards. The existing literature on non-conventional forms of authority in the global political economy has emphasised that the consent of actors subject to informal rules and explicit or implicit state recognition remains crucial for the effectiveness of those new forms of power. However, analyses based on a limited sample of actors tend toward a narrow understanding of the issues and fail to fully explore the differentiated space in which non-state authority is emerging. This paper examines the form of authority underpinning the global knowledge-based economy within the broader perspective of the issues likely to be standardised by technical ICT specification, the wide range of actors involved, and the highly differentiated space where standards become authoritative. The empirical findings highlight the role of different private actors in establishing international educational norms in this field. They also pinpoint the limits of profit-oriented standard-settings, notably with regard to generic norms.

Multilateralismo y minilateralismo en el orden regional de Asia oriental : un análisis de las conversaciones a seis bandas

Esta memoria parte del estudio de la teoría de las Relaciones Internacionales, seguido de un análisis del regionalismo en el Este asiático, así como del multilateralismo y del minilateralismo como modus operandi en las relaciones internacionales y su desarrollo específico en el Noreste asiático, o Asia oriental. Todo ello se ha examinado con el fin de poder aprehender la dinámica internacional de la segunda crisis nuclear con Corea del Norte, así como proveer con un mayor entendimiento sobre las conversaciones a seis bandas (6PT), como ejemplo de foro de negociación minilateral creado ad hoc con el fin de buscar una solución al problema norcoreano. Hemos procedido al examen del pensamiento estratégico de los diferentes países que conforman las 6PT, así como al estudio de los intereses, acuerdos y desacuerdos de cada uno de ellos en la mesa de negociaciones con el objetivo de intentar comprender el porqué de su aparente fracaso a la hora de solucionar dicha crisis nuclear. Finalmente, hemos procedido a un estudio de la comunidad del Noreste asiático y del marco de seguridad existente en la región, así como de las perspectivas para la institucionalización de las conversaciones a seis bandas para poder comprender si, desarrollado como organización multilateral, este foro podría favorecer la estabilidad en la región, la cooperación regional y con ello una mayor integración.

China en África : Aproximación a unas relaciones contovertidas

Prácticum sobre la política exterior de la República Popular de China en África.

Historia de Vida de Andrés Díaz de Rábago S.J. (1947-1957): O cómo la Guerra Civil China cambió la estructura de la Compañía de Jesús en Asia.

Peer-reviewed

Les arènes de la normalisation internationale à l'épreuve de la participation : le projet INTERNORM

Our paper presents a pilot project (INTERNORM) funded by the University of Lausanne to support the involvement of not-for-profit organisations in international standard setting bodies such as the ISO. It analyses preliminary results on how a distinct participatory mechanism can influence the institutional environment of technical diplomacy in which ISO standards are developed. It reflects on the contribution of innovative deliberative mechanisms to democratise the field of international standardisation, largely dominated by expert knowledge and market players. It draws upon international relations literature on new institutional forms in global governance and social studies of science on participatory issues in science-society relations. The paper argues that there are significant limitations to the rise of civil society participation in such global governance mechanisms and examines several types of barriers to the involvement of not-for-profit organisations in ISO standard-setting processes. Notre communication porte sur un projet pilote (INTERNORM) financé par l'Université de Lausanne pour favoriser l'implication des acteurs associatifs dans l'élaboration des normes internationales de type ISO. Elle analyse les effets d'un dispositif participatif sur l'environnement institutionnel très particulier de la diplomatie technique ayant cours à l'ISO. Elle présente les résultats intermédiaires d'une réflexion sur l'apport de dispositifs délibératifs pour démocratiser le champ de la normalisation internationale, largement dominé par le savoir expert et les acteurs économiques. Elle situe cette réflexion au croisement des travaux de relations internationales sur les nouvelles formes institutionnelles de la gouvernance de la mondialisation et des études sociales des sciences et des techniques sur la participation dans les rapports science - société. En identifiant plusieurs registres dans lesquels situer les difficultés d'une plus grande implication des acteurs associatifs dans les procédures d'élaboration de spécifications techniques de type ISO, nous posons l'hypothèse qu'il existe d'importantes limites à l'accroissement de la dimension participative de la gouvernance globale.

A Importância da Diáspora na Política Externa de Cabo Verde

Com a globalização, a emigração tem-se tornado cada vez mais um assunto que desperta muito interesse, por parte dos estudiosos. A emigração tem ganhado um forte cunho nas Relações Internacionais, já que com a alteração do Sistema internacional, o Estado deixou de ser o único actor da cena internacional. Por isso desperta muito o interesse em aprofundar os estudos sobre a emigração que é um fenómeno que tem acontecido no sistema internacional há várias décadas. Após a segunda guerra mundial e com a globalização tem-se verificado muita emigração de sul para norte, em busca de melhores condições de vida. Hoje em dia é comum quando se fala da emigração falar-se da diáspora que é um termo usado para designar a dispersão dos Judeus “exilados/expulsos” da sua terra de origem Palestina. Mas vários investigadores têm usado este termo para caracterizar a emigração cabo-verdiana para várias partes do mundo. E sem fugir à regra, Cabo Verde é um exemplo de fuga de sul para norte. Os cabo-verdianos emigram para norte à procura de melhores condições de vida. E hoje, já não se fala nos emigrantes cabo-verdianos, mas sim na diáspora cabo-verdiana. Por isso pretende-se com essa dissertação procurar fazer um estudo, para saber qual a importância da Diáspora na política externa de Cabo Verde.

Emergence of Cooperation on Static and Dynamic Networks

Game theory is a branch of applied mathematics used to analyze situation where two or more agents are interacting. Originally it was developed as a model for conflicts and collaborations between rational and intelligent individuals. Now it finds applications in social sciences, eco- nomics, biology (particularly evolutionary biology and ecology), engineering, political science, international relations, computer science, and philosophy. Networks are an abstract representation of interactions, dependencies or relationships. Net- works are extensively used in all the fields mentioned above and in many more. Many useful informations about a system can be discovered by analyzing the current state of a network representation of such system. In this work we will apply some of the methods of game theory to populations of agents that are interconnected. A population is in fact represented by a network of players where one can only interact with another if there is a connection between them. In the first part of this work we will show that the structure of the underlying network has a strong influence on the strategies that the players will decide to adopt to maximize their utility. We will then introduce a supplementary degree of freedom by allowing the structure of the population to be modified along the simulations. This modification allows the players to modify the structure of their environment to optimize the utility that they can obtain.

CABO VERDE: DE UM “ESTADO INVIÁVEL” AO PRAGMATISMO NA POLÍTICA EXTERNA

O artigo procura compreender de forma sincrónica as linhas fundamentais da política externa de Cabo Verde e seus reflexos nas relações internacionais, abarcando o período, desde a independência à actualidade. A perspectiva central é a de que a independência em 1975 representou uma nova era para o Estado de Cabo Verde, embora se tenha propalado a ideia de um Estado inviável. A estratégia para ultrapassar esta situação passava por uma aposta activa nas relações internacionais, nomeadamente numa política externa pragmática que se ajustasse num quadro de concertação e interacção com outros Estados. Procuramos, através de uma abordagem interdisciplinar e interpretativa, analisar os fenómenos sociais-internacionais que se configuram na política externa cabo-verdiana, sabendo que estes se relacionam tanto no campo da história e da sociologia como no campo da ciência política e das relações internacionais. Propõe-se novos desafios para a política externa cabo-verdiana, numa conjuntura internacional abalada pela crise financeira, uma aposta para uma maior integração regional no continente africano, aproveitando de forma estratégica o continente como nova fronteira de desenvolvimento.

Transnational authority in the knowledge-based economy: Who sets the standards of ICT training and certification?

This article examines the extent and limits of nonstate forms of authority in international relations. It analyzes how the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure for the tradability of services in a global knowledge-based economy relies on informal regulatory practices for the adjustment of ICT-related skills. By focusing on the challenge that highly volatile and short-lived cycles of demands for this type of knowledge pose for ensuring the right qualification of the labor force, the article explores how companies and associations provide training and certification programs as part of a growing market for educational services setting their own standards. The existing literature on non-conventional forms of authority in the global political economy has emphasized that the consent of actors, subject to informal rules and some form of state support, remains crucial for the effectiveness of those new forms of power. However, analyses based on a limited sample of actors tend toward a narrow understanding of the issues concerned and fail to fully explore the differentiated space in which non state authority is emerging. This article develops a three-dimensional analytical framework that brings together the scope of the issues involved, the range of nonstate actors concerned, and the spatial scope of their authority. The empirical findings highlight the limits of these new forms of nonstate authority and shed light on the role of the state and international governmental organizations in this new context.

Social Capital and Sport Governance in Europe

Although there is significant interest in the social role of sport in fostering civil society from both policymakers and academics, there is a lack of evidence of the specific role of sport federations in this system. This book critically presents the mechanisms and structures in a selection of sport federations within a variety of European countries that illuminate the varied relationships between not-for-profit sport federations, their members, governments and the citizens they represent. The contributors explore the contrasts and synergies between core social capital theoretical perspectives, and how these may be informed by and/or shape the realities of governance from different perspectives within the sport system.