"War and Peace"

Third Party Intervention in Ethnic Conflict

Third Party Intervention in Ethnic Conflict
Thomas Houghton

This essay is concerned with the motivations that drive states to intervene, and argues that their actions are never wholly disinterested. The scope of this essay will be limited to interventions which third-parties have justified on humanitarian grounds, looking in particular at the case of the NATO intervention in Kosovo in 1999.

International Intervention in Croatia during the Yugoslav Wars

International Intervention in Croatia during the Yugoslav Wars
Julie Malá

This essay examines the international intervention in Croatia, arguing that while Western powers did achieve some minor victories, international diplomacy failed to accomplish its main objectives and in several cases even exacerbated the violence and disintegration in Croatia.

How can the media be successfully used for peacebuilding?

How can the media be successfully used for peacebuilding?
Maite Vermeulen

Access to information is a vital building block for lasting peace, yet media interventions are not a ‘quick fix’. While they may not be able to solve conflicts, there is certainly an important role for them in spurring debate, reconciling communities and changing behaviour towards peacebuilding.

All That Works Is Obsolete: The Shortcomings of US COIN That Must Be Addressed

All That Works Is Obsolete: The Shortcomings of US COIN That Must Be Addressed
Wiliam Thomson

The western way of war, in which conflict is politics/policy by other means, need not be the only lens through which the military understands problems, even if it remains the only lens through which it operates. Insurgencies are not fought simply for political reasons but also for intractable social and cultural reasons, and this lesson must be further examined and understood.

Civil-Military Relations in Afghanistan

Civil-Military Relations in Afghanistan
George Bragg

NGOs have been voicing concerns that the military have intruded into their domain by conducting short term aid work and long term ‘hearts and minds’ projects that have blurred the lines between aid workers and military troops. This has had worrying consequences for humanitarianism.

Should we regard gender-based violence as a weapon of war?

Should we regard gender-based violence as a weapon of war?
Kieran Ford

This essay argues that all violence can be exposed as an expression of gender; as an expression of masculinity or as an attack on femininity. It goes on to explore the ways in which the violence of the War on Terror and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq are based on gendered narratives.

Have attempts at reconciliation and justice in post-genocide Rwanda fostered or hindered a new national identity?

Have attempts at reconciliation and justice in post-genocide Rwanda fostered or hindered a new national identity?
Charlie Tarr

The fallout from the 1994 Rwandan genocide would always be complex and littered with historical, ethnic and political issues and efforts to find closure through the judicial process is inherently problematic. The failure to address the grievances of all ethnic groups will continue to hinder changes for a lasting national identity.

Is it correct to announce the decline and fall of the CNN effect?

Is it correct to announce the decline and fall of the CNN effect?
Daniel Hardwick

The so-called CNN effect, where the actions of governments are influenced by the imagery presented by 24 hour news media, is not declining, but has been overstated since its initial conception, rendering James Hoge’s assertion that the CNN effect had more influence in its infancy than in subsequent years a misleading notion.

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