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The Right Side Of The Coin: Focus On The Human Rights Of People, Not The Failure Of States, Brooke Ackerly

Human Rights & Human Welfare

US policy toward failed states should focus on strengthening civil society and social movements so that people are better able to hold their leaders accountable.

The language of “failed states” disassociates foreign policy from international dialogue about human rights. Instead, “failed states” is a contemporary sound bite that connotes a lack of sovereignty, suggesting that intervention would not violate national sovereignty because in a failed state, there is none. Of course, we could have a similar cynicism about the use of human rights concerns to justify invasion. Certainly, states have tried to choose when to reference international human rights norms …

August Roundtable: Re-Thinking State Failure And Human Rights, Introduction, Claudia Fuentes

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Think Again, Failed States ”. By James Traub. Foreign Policy. July/August 2011.

Immobilizing Conceptual Debates, Jonas Claes

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In “Think Again: Failed States,” James Traub argues that “state failure” is a failed concept. Prioritizing efforts to prevent or address state fragility, weakness, or failure may seem impractical given the conceptual breadth of this systemic challenge. Like globalization, human security, or climate change, state failure contains so many aspects that it becomes analytically useless. But the need to rethink this garbage-can concept—everything can be thrown in—does not keep us from addressing the litany of well-understood challenges subsumed within.

"Sometimes I Feel Like I'D Do This Job For Free": A Phenomenological Study Exploring Public Relations Practitioners' Beliefs About Immensely Satisfying Work, Peggy M. Rupprecht

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative phenomenological study explored the beliefs of 12 public relations practitioners’ about the construct of immensely satisfying work. The central research question was: What is the meaning of immensely satisfying work for a group of public relations practitioners working in the Midwest? Participants in this study had three or more years of experience as public relations practitioners, were members of, or affiliated with, a professional public relations organization, such as the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), and had experienced, at some time during their professional careers, immensely satisfying work. Eight themes emerged from the semi-structured interviews: Leader Sets …

A Phenomenological Study Of Millennial Generation Cooperative Extension Educators' Development Of Core Competencies, David L. Varner

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to describe the experiences that contribute to the development of core competencies among Millennial Generation, county-based Extension educators in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Division. Fourteen educators were randomly purposefully selected to participate in the study. Participants were born in 1977 or later as determined by Tapscott (2009). Educators’ tenure in Cooperative Extension ranged from two months to seven years. Three themes and associated sub-themes emerged from semi-structured interviews: (a) Blindfolded and Scared—educators were confused, overwhelmed and in need of support; (b) Developing the Big Skills: A Daunting Task—focused on discovering competencies …

More Questions, Few Answers On State Failure And Human Rights, Edzia Carvalho

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Foreign Policy article under review brings us back to the issues addressed in April's Roundtable, which looked at humanitarian intervention in light of widespread political violence in the Ivory Coast. Much of that discussion centered on the factors that lead states to adopt policies aimed at stopping egregious human rights abuses from being committed in other jurisdictions, either by state agents or non-state actors. This month's Roundtable discussion highlights the myths attached to the concept of “state failure,” which increases the likelihood of such violations occurring. The author of this month's centerpiece, James Traub, comments on a number of …

Psychological Net Worth: Finding The Balance Between Psychological Capital And Psychological Debt, Michele L. Millard

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This multi-level study examined a proposed framework of psychological net worth that builds on the current psychological capital conceptualization of positive psychological assets provided to an organization by articulating the construct of psychological debt or those psychological liabilities in an organization. By describing psychological debt as a collection of negative attributes that occur at the individual level for individuals that hamper productivity, morale, and effectiveness in organizations, this framework of psychological net worth proposes the need to create a psychological balance sheet of psychological capital and debt. Psychological debt is described using the dimension of emotional labor, job insecurity, job …

Study Of Erw Accidents In Quang Tri Province, Vietnam, Phung Tran Kim, Nam Hoang

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The purpose of the study discussed in this article was to determine statistical findings, as well as the knowledge, attitude, practices and beliefs of the affected population, regarding the number of explosive-remnants-of-war victims in Quang Tri province, Vietnam, from the end of the American-Vietnam War in 1975 through 2010.

Landmines In War And Peace: From Their Origin To Present Day, Book Review

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Ten years after the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and their Destruction (also known at the Anti-personnel Mine Ban Convention or APMBC) entered into force and the publication of his book, The History of Landmines, Mike Croll provides a sequel detailing the present condition of demining operations throughout the world.

Art Therapy And Sport Activities Enhance Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Reykhan Muminova

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Tajikistan Mine Action Centre has worked to improve the physical and psychological health of landmine survivors through its summer camps in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Using sport activities, survivors improve their ability to function physically and learn to adjust to life with their disability, while art therapy helps them overcome fears of self-expression, enabling them to form healthy relationships with others.

Clutter Reduction In Manual-Demining Operations With The Help Of A Handheld Magnet Tool, Arnold Schoolderman, Yolanda Rieter-Barrell

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The authors discuss a study investigating the potential of permanent magnets for the reduction of metal clutter in manual demining operations.

Security Threats To Afghan Deminers, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Abductions of deminers in Afghanistan have placed the safety and lives of those working to clear mines at risk. At the end of 2010, two separate incidents drew attention in the landmine community to this alarming safety concern for which the Taliban and other organized criminals are responsible. The Mine Action Coordination Centre of Afghanistan and other mine-action organizations have been working to protect the deminers’ safety, which sometimes means restricting mined areas; however, this has not hindered dedicated deminers from continuing their demining efforts in Afghanistan.

Peer Support And Trauma Recovery, Cameron Macauley

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Peer support is becoming an important strategy to help survivors of war-related violence recover from psychological trauma. After a short training in counseling techniques, peer-support workers seek out trauma survivors in the community and help them reintegrate into society, find work, engage in sports and come to terms with their traumatic memories. Peer-support programs incur costs related to transportation and communication, but support groups may recover some costs through income-generating projects.

Sri Lanka Works Toward A Mine-Free Nation, Vidya Abhayagunawardena

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

This article discusses Sri Lanka’s steps to demine its land, educate its citizens on landmine and unexploded-ordnance dangers, and offer survivor-assistance services. Sri Lanka’s national mine-action program is building on previous mine-action work done by the government and humanitarian organizations by presenting a workshop on demining issues, developing a mine-action center and improving partnerships with concerned organizations.

Erw In The Republic Of Serbia, Dragan Jovanović

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

As a result of operations conducted during the Balkan Wars, World Wars and Yugoslav Wars, Serbia remains affected by numerous pieces of unexploded ordnance. The author explores the extent of UXO contamination and reveals the extensive process by which it is removed from and destroyed within southern Serbia, areas that have been plagued by explosive remnants of war for the past century.

The Surprisingly Constant Cost Of Landmine Impact Surveys, Russell Gasser

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Landmine Impact Surveys involve survey teams that work with the local people to evaluate how landmines and unexploded ordnance affect daily lives. The Survey Action Center, United Nations and the affected countries closely regulate this process to ensure the preservation of high standards.

Jim Lawrence Named Director Of Pm/Wra, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

On 8 May 2011, James (Jim) F. Lawrence was appointed Director of the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA).

New Prosthetics Offer Hope In Sudan, Mohammad Ismail

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Unfortunately for amputees in developing countries, poverty and disability go hand-in-hand. Limb loss can make it extremely difficult for victims to provide for themselves and their families. From this reality came the inspiration for Sudanpro, an inexpensive and durable prosthetic developed by the author, an orthotist and prosthetist working with Project Hope Sudan.

Unifil Peacekeeping In Southern Lebanon, Christina Greene

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Since 1978, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon has been working to help bring peace and security to the region. UNIFIL began humanitarian mine-action activities and cluster-munitions clearance in Lebanon in 2006. It also began to demine parts of the Blue Line, which is the demarcation line between Israel and Lebanon. This overview discusses a few UNIFIL projects

Capacity Building In Western Sahara, Penelope Caswell

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Action on Armed Violence (formerly Landmine Action) is the only nonprofit organization that has carried out humanitarian mine-action activities (including survey, marking, battle-area clearance and explosive-ordnance disposal) in Frente POLISARIO-controlled Western Sahara since 2006. This article provides an overview of AOAV’s capacity-building efforts through its Mine Action Programme, which focus heavily on training national staff to efficiently identify and remove dangerous items threatening the safety of the Saharawi population, U.N. personnel and international visitors.

As an essential element of training for managerial decision-making, case studies provide managers with applicable scenarios that benefit the professional, day-to-day lives of people working in the explosive-remnants-of-war/mine-action community. While class sessions provide pertinent instruction on how to react to potential scenarios, the opportunity to use that knowledge in well-constructed examples proves highly useful for personnel. This article reports the steps taken to implement appropriate case studies for CISR’s Senior Managers’ Course in ERW and Mine Actionand the results.