Will Senegal’s 2012 Presidential Election End in Violence?
Those who study Senegal have long thought it could never be the site of significant political violence. Over the past twelve years, however, Senegalese politics has changed.
Nigeria’s Boko Haram: the Anatomy of a Crisis
Nigerians will doubtless find ways to overcome this crisis, but the solution may not lie in counter-violence. It will take remarkable acts of statesmanship to achieve an honourable peace with Boko Haram – it was achieved in 1970 after Nigeria’s bloody civil (‘Biafran’) war. It can be done again.
Likud: A Balance Of Historic Ideology and Reality
As long as Likud’s principles remain uncompromising and Netanyahu holds firm to them there is little that will come of the peace process with the Palestinians.
Turning “Fortress Europe” Inside Out: Bordering Practices and the EU’s External Border
The external border of the EU has become dispersed within and beyond its territory, blurring the territorial scope of sovereign prerogatives.
21st Century Threats: Non State Actors, Participatory Democracy and Social Rights
The Americas are menaced by the emergence of a reactionary bloc of states & the rise of non-state actors that threaten to plunge the region into chaos.
The Transition to Majority Rule in Southern Africa and the Exceptional Case of Botswana
Botswana is an exceptional example of a Southern African country which appears to have successfully negotiated the pitfalls inherent in the perilous journey to democratic, majority rule.
Can the EU Foster a Post-national European Identity by the Extension of European Constitutional Rights?
Constitutional patriotism carries several threats. It imperils the meaning of rights, making them too dogmatic or too universal. In the latter case it disconnects them from institutions, in the former it alienates those with a minority identity.
A Road to Cultural Imperialism: An Examination of Winch’s Language Games
In his essay, “Understanding a Primitive Society” Peter Winch claims that cultures are enclosed in language games which are both mutually unintelligible and equally valid. In doing so he is trying to prevent anthropologists from concluding that a culture is ‘wrong’ about reality (i.e. their belief system and how that informs their daily life) (Winch 79). Winch sees such judgement as an open door to cultural imperialism; if a culture is wrong than it stands to be corrected by the culture which judges it as such. He has every reason for such a noble pursuit. Writing in the time of African decolonization, he had born witness to the colonialists’ domination of innumerable cultures. Justified out of a ‘need’ to civilize the inferior savages and support the superior Europeans (through slaves and natural resources) this unequal cultural relationship allowed for utter destruction on the continent.
Universals in a World of Difference: Human Rights in Sri Lanka
The international community is fixated on the protection of human rights, and sees only one route to do this: the expansion of liberal democracy. The interest in propagating these models produced the conditions for conflict to break out in Sri Lanka.
Food Security and the Role of NGOs
In 1996, leaders came together at the World Food Summit in Rome to address the rising level of malnutrition throughout the world. They feared that if no action were taken, the amount of hungry people in the world in 2010 would reach 680 million, and set a commitment to halve the amount of undernourished people by 2015. Yet ten years after the summit, the World Food Program reported[1] the amount of hungry people has surpassed the 2010 estimate of 680 million and is already at 842 million.
