Paths to peace: conflict management trajectories in militarized interstate disputes

When multiple third-parties (states, coalitions, and international organizations) intervene in the same conflict, do their efforts inform one another? Anecdotal evidence suggests such a possibility, but research to date has not attempted to model this interdependence directly. The current project breaks with that tradition. In particular, it proposes three competing explanations of how previous intervention efforts affect current intervention decisions: a cost model (and a variant on it, a limited commitments model), a learning model, and a random model. After using a series of Markov transition (regime-switching) models to evaluate conflict management behavior within militarized interstate disputes in the 1946-2001 period, this study concludes that third-party intervention efforts inform one another. More specifically, third-parties examine previous efforts and balance their desire to manage conflict with their need to minimize intervention costs (the cost and limited commitments models). As a result, third-parties intervene regularly using verbal pleas and mediation, but rely significantly less frequently on legal, administrative, or peace operations strategies. This empirical threshold to the intervention costs that third-parties are willing to bear has strong theoretical foundations and holds across different time periods and third-party actors. Furthermore, the analysis indicates that the first third-party to intervene in a conflict is most likely to use a strategy designed to help the disputants work toward a resolution of their dispute. After this initial intervention, the level of third-party involvement declines and often devolves into a series of verbal pleas for peace. Such findings cumulatively suggest that disputants hold the key to effective conflict management. If the disputants adopt and maintain an extreme bargaining position or fail to encourage third-parties to accept greater intervention costs, their dispute will receive little more than verbal pleas for negotiations and peace.

Democratic Peace and Electoral Accountability

One of the few stylized facts in international relations is that democracies, unlike autoc- racies, very rarely fight each other. We examine the sustainability of international peace between democracies and autocracies, where the crucial difference between these two po- litical regimes is whether or not policymakers are subject to periodic elections. We show that the fear of losing office can deter democratic leaders from engaging in military con- flicts. Crucially, this discipline effect can only be at work if incumbent leaders can be re-elected, implying that democracies in which the executives are subject to term limits should be more conflict prone. To assess the validity of our predictions, we construct a large dataset on countries with executive term limits. Our analysis of inter-state conflicts for the 1816-2001 period suggests that electoral incentives are indeed behind the democratic peace phenomenon: while democratic dyads are in general less likely to be involved in conflicts than any other dyads, this result does not hold for democracies in which the executive faces binding term limits; moreover, the dispute patterns of democracies with term limits depend on whether the executive is in the last or penultimate mandate.

La mediación como política social: una vía eficaz para el logro de la cultura de paz = Mediation as social policy: an effective way of a culture of peace

La presente investigación surge como resultado de la tesis para la obtención del grado de Doctor y pretende contribuir al fortalecimiento de una cultura de paz en México, proponiendo implementar estrategias de resolución pacífica de conflictos como la mediación, considerándola como una política social que incida en la transformación positiva de los conflictos. La herramienta idónea, el diálogo y los valores: tolerancia, cooperación, participación activa de la sociedad, solidaridad y el acercamiento de la justicia a la ciudadanía, serán los elementos indispensables para solucionar de manera efectiva, pronta, económica y equitativa los conflictos la sociedad del siglo XXI. La mediación cumple satisfactoriamente los requisitos para poder ser contemplada como una política social que incentive la participación activa de la ciudadanía en la solución de sus conflictos, auxiliando a socavar la crisis de los sistemas de impartición de justicia. Abstract: This research arises as a result of the thesis for obtaining the degree of Doctor, and aims to contribute to the strengthening of a culture of peace in Mexico, by proposing to implement peaceful conflict resolution like mediation strategies, considering it as a social policy that affects the positive transformation of conflicts. The ideal tool, dialogue and values: tolerance, cooperation, active participation of society, solidarity and justice approach to citizenship, will be the essential elements to solve conflicts of the 21st century society in effective, faster, economical and equitable manner. Mediation satisfactorily meets the requirements to be able to be considered a social policy that encourage the active participation of citizens in the solution of their conflicts, helping to undermine the crisis of justice systems.

Lauream Pacis: Una cultura de paz a través del deporte = Lauream Pacis: Peace culture trough the sports

Abstrac: Today our society is constantly facing the need to adapt to a globalized world; ever changing life styles increase social differences; this circumstance leads to critical situations such as: extreme poverty, undernourishment, the need of a dignified life, shelter, clothing and labor; elements that become obstacles in building a culture of peace. Among the multiplicity of activities that contribute to peace; we will focus on highlighting the importance of sport as a bond of peace in which human beings find the ability to live and coexist peacefully. Considering including education for peace through sports, as it is a global medium that is not distinguished among cultures and which can be achieved with study, practice and internalization of values, lifestyles and education, would mean building a sense of enduring peace in our daily lives. En la actualidad nuestra sociedad se enfrenta constantemente a la necesidad de adaptación en un mundo globalizado; los cambios de ritmos de vida y el crecimiento de las diferencias sociales, son circunstancias que han generado situaciones críticas como la pobreza extrema, desnutrición, necesidad de una vida digna, vivienda, vestido y trabajo, elementos que se convierten en obstáculos en la construcción de una cultura de paz. Dentro de la multiplicidad de actividades que contribuyen a la paz, nos centraremos en destacar la relevancia del deporte como vínculo de paz en el que los seres humanos encuentran esa capacidad de vivir y convivir pacíficamente. Consideramos incluso la educación para la paz a través de los deportes, ya que son un medio global que no distingue entre culturas y que se puede lograr con el estudio, la práctica y la interiorización de valores, estilos de vida y educación, con lo cual estaríamos construyendo una idea de paz perdurable en nuestra vida diaria.

Unity in Christ or Pan-Europeanism?:Nathan Söderblom and the ecumenical peace movement in the interwar period

In the summer of 2014 the Swedish Church is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the appointment of Nathan Söderblom as archbishop of Uppsala, and thus head of the Swedish church organisation. As a Lutheran with an enormously broad-minded and broad-reaching approach to ecumenical understanding and community-building, Söderblom shot to prominence in the interwar period not only because of his ecumenical engagement, calling for an evangelical catholicity so stand side by side with the Roman catholic and Orthodox catholic traditions, but also because of his comprehensive secular engagement for peace and understanding between peoples. In the latter context he also acquired a solid reputation as a perhaps less prominent but still noteworthy figure in the history of European integration. This article investigates how, why and to what extent Söderblom’s ecumenical and secular engagements were intertwined. The first part discusses how his biographical and academic background led to such staunch ecumenical positions, while the second part focuses on the secular engagement, which was perceived by Söderblom as necessary to make progress on the ecumenical front in the practical political realities of the 1920s. The final part, comparing and contrasting Söderblom’s views with those of Count Richard von Coudenhove-Calergi and the Pan-European Union, demonstrates why Söderblom’s engagement for Europe had to be limited: unity in Christ is by definition global in nature and therefore cannot be continent-specific.

Audit report on the Peace Officers' Retirement, Accident and Disability System for the year ended June 30, 2016

Audit report on the Peace Officers' Retirement, Accident and Disability System for the year ended June 30, 2016

Report on the Peace Officers’ Retirement, Accident and Disability System, Schedule of Employer Pension Amounts for the year ended June 30, 2016

Report on the Peace Officers’ Retirement, Accident and Disability System, Schedule of Employer Pension Amounts for the year ended June 30, 2016

The Butterfly Effect on Peace Education

The objective of this paper on peace education is to generate a reflection, through the metaphor of the butterfly effect, on the importance of educating for peace during the change process of human beings and society.  It proposes education for peace as a human right, an experience and learning process that is put into practice by human beings.  It aims at changing attitudes and actions to create harmonious relationships based on the respect and recognition of human rights, and the freedom and dignity of every person.

Rights of humanity and Planet Earth: a dialogue of peace and love

Aportes para la paz

Militarising the body politic : new media as weapons of mass instruction

As militarization of bodies politic continues apace the world over, as military organizations again reveal themselves as primary political, economic and cultural forces in many societies, we argue that the emergent and potentially dominant form of political economic organization is a species of neo-feudal corporatism. Drawing upon Bourdieu, we theorize bodies politic as living habitus. Bodies politic are prepared for war and peace through new mediations, powerful means of public pedagogy. The process of militarization requires the generation of new, antagonistic evaluations of other bodies politic. Such evaluations are inculcated via these mediations, the movement of meanings across time and space, between formerly disparate histories, places, and cultures. New mediations touch new and different aspects of the body politic: its eyes, its ears, its organs, but they are consistently targeted at the formation of dispositions, the prime movers of action.

Asia

Reporters sans frontiéres (RSF) has repeatedly declared Asia to be the most demanding continent for journalists and their news organizations to operate in, and in some countries, even simply to survive in. The many reports issued by RSF and other global agencies regularly show Asia to be the region in which the largest number of murders of journalists occur per year, even when Asian–Arabic states and Central Asia are not included in the definition of ‘Asia’. The reports describe numerous physical, legal and economic threats as well as serious political repression and restrictions that journalists face as they attempt to function as watch-dogs, agenda-setters and gate-keepers for their societies. The statistics and examples provided within these reports, however, do not provide the full picture. Most Asian nations also host vibrant media cultures in which journalists play an important role in supporting social and democratic processes and activities. This chapter outlines the political and economic influences on Asian journalism; the impact of new technologies; the debates about philosophies such as 'development journalism', 'peace journalism' and 'Asian values'; and the influence of the so-called 'envelope culture' or practices of gift-giving and bribery that pervade journalism in some countries. To illustrate how these principles affect journalists' practice, the chapter presents a comparison of the starkly contrasting situations in India versus North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea). The chapter also describes issues affecting countries as far afield as China to Kazakhstan, including a short case study of journalism during the so-called Saffron Revolution in Burma in 2007. The chapter concludes with suggestions about how training and aid for the Asian should be contextualized to take into account the specific cultural, economic and political factors that shape and limit the media’s performance, and how journalists might be best placed to negotiate around them. Such training needs to be sensitive to valid variations in perceptions of what kind of governance and journalism best serves development, without serving politically motivated rhetoric.

A shameful spectacle

The linguistics of violence in film and on television is a hotly debated topic, especially whenever outrageously violent crimes are committed in the community. The debate tends to proceed thus: was the perpetrator addicted to watching violent films and videos, and if so, did the language of mediated violence translate into the language of everyday action, blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality? The cause—effect relationship between fantasies enacted on screen and horrific real-life crimes has never been proven scientifically, despite endless governmental inquiries and many attempts by academics to discover a causation formula. I will not be looking so much at the vexed question of the relationship between stylized violence on celluloid and real violence in a community. Rather, I wish to explore the nature of a particular form of mediated, gendered violence through an analysis of the language of several key films made in the past decade focusing on the violent crime of rape: Hollywood films The Accused (1988), Casualties of War (1989), Thelma and Louise (1991), Strange Days (1996), and the Australian films Shame (1988) and The Boys (1998). In this way, I wish to show how rape is depicted linguistically in film, and how such films may actually give solutions to this abhorrent kind of violence rather than thrill the viewer vicariously, or, in a worst case scenario, stimulate people to further violence.

Necessary but not sufficient : accelerating progress and looking beyond the MDGs

The MDG deadline is fast approaching and the climate within the United Nations remains positive but skeptical. A common feeling is that a great deal of work and headway has been made, but the MDG goals will not be achieved in full by 2015. The largest problem facing the success of the MDGs is, and unless mitigated may remain, mismanaged governance. This argument is confirmed by a strong line of publications stemming from the United Nations and targeting methods (depending on a region or country context) such as improving governance via combating corruption, instituting accountability, peace and stability, as well as transparency. Furthermore, a logical assessment of the framework which MDGs operate in (i.e. international pressure and local civil socio-economic and/or political initiatives pushing governments to progress with MDGs) identifies the State's governing apparatus as the key to the success of MDGs. It is argued that a new analytic framework and grounded theory of democracy (the Element of Democracy) is needed in order to improve governance and enhance democracy. By looking beyond the confines of the MDGs and focusing on properly rectifying poor governance, the progress of MDGs can be accelerated as societies and their governments will be - at minimum - held more accountable to the success of programs in their respective countries. The paper demonstrates the logic of this argument - especially highlighting a new way of viewing democracy - and certain early practices which can accelerate MDGs in the short to medium term.