Postmodernism and security challenges in the developing world
Postmodernism is “seeking out and challenging the endlessly unfolding relationship between knowledge and power, rejecting metanarratives and the Enlightenment project, and seeing ‘truth’ as a temporary social construction limited in time and space”. But do postmodernists have anything meaningful to say about the security challenges facing societies in the developing world?
Is the Emergence of International Terrorism Likely to Further Undermine the Institution of the State?
In the post-September 11th world international terrorism is synonymous with catastrophic violence and unprecedented threats to states. International terrorist groups, by their structure, makeup as non-state actors, logistical mechanisms and resources are inherently unpredictable. As we have seen in the bombing of Madrid and the ongoing violence in Iraq, terrorist groups have expanded beyond national boundaries and therefore have an unparalleled ability to strike globally. The common impression of the phenomenon of international terrorism is that it is ‘more dangerous or at least more difficult to counter’[2]than conventional, often nationalistic and politically-motivated, terrorism.
The challenges confronting western intelligence services after 9/11
After the attacks there was an automatic shift in intelligence interest from state to non-state actors. Agencies changed from gatherers into hunters, searching for any information revealing possible threat of attack. Compared to standard state targets, Al- Qaeda and other global terrorist groups were more difficult to find, target and spy on due to their mobility.
Conceptualising Global Governance in International Relations
The questions of how the concept of global governance can be used to describe the prevailing global order and what is the most appropriate way of formulating the concept of global governance challenge the limits of traditional IR theory to explain a world where the shape and importance of individual states is changing and the role of agents above and below the state is increasing.
Ethnic Minorities and Political Participation
The structure of a state’s government and its strategies towards minorities determines whether or not ethnic minorities participate in political processes through institutionalized modes.
Linguistic Portrayals of Conflict and the Inaction of the International Community: The Case of Rwanda
Using theories of cognitive consistency and identity, this essay seeks to understand the impact of a conflict’s portrayal on the decision to intervene. To illustrate, the essay analyses the inaction of the United Nations in the face of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The Differences Between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda
The mainstream media and the Bush Administration blended the Taliban and Al-Qaeda together making the two groups the same terrorist entity in the eyes of the American public.
An Assessment of the Phenomenon of Global Jihad
Salafism is the belief that over centuries of Islamic practice, certain Muslims have introduced new practices and innovations that have distorted the message of Islam and the Prophet.
Terrorism and the Media: A Dangerous Symbiosis
The media plays a central role in the calculus and framing of political violence and is put into position where it can magnify or minimize these kinds of acts.
The Relationship between the Spread of HIV/AIDS and Inequality in Africa
HIV/AIDS a poses serious threat to public health around the globe. Africa in particular has suffered from the ravages of HIV/AIDS for decades and attempts at containing and eradicating the disease have missed important groups within African society.
