Peace and Conflict Studies Commons^™

A Socio-Demographic Analysis Of Responses To Terrorism, Gabriel Rubin, Christopher Salvatore

Christopher Salvatore

Extensive research has found that there are differences in reported levels of fear of crime and associated protective actions influenced by socio-demographic characteristics such as race and gender. Further studies, the majority of which focused on violent and property crime, have found that specific demographic characteristics influence fear of crime and protective behaviors. However, little research has focused on the influence of socio-demographic characteristics on perceptions, and protective actions in response to the threat of terrorism. Using data from the General Social Survey, this study compared individual-level protective actions and perceptions of the effectiveness of protective responses to the 9/11 …

A Socio-Demographic Analysis Of Responses To Terrorism, Gabriel Rubin, Christopher Salvatore

Gabriel Rubin

Extensive research has found that there are differences in reported levels of fear of crime and associated protective actions influenced by socio-demographic characteristics such as race and gender. Further studies, the majority of which focused on violent and property crime, have found that specific demographic characteristics influence fear of crime and protective behaviors. However, little research has focused on the influence of socio-demographic characteristics on perceptions, and protective actions in response to the threat of terrorism. Using data from the General Social Survey, this study compared individual-level protective actions and perceptions of the effectiveness of protective responses to the 9/11 …

She Who Laughs Loudest: A Meditation On Zen Humor, Andrew Whitehead

Andrew K. Whitehead

Articulating a Zen Buddhist perspective on humor, this paper examines the Japanese Zen Buddhist response of humor in the face of the suffering of situated existence and the motivations for this response. The examination will take the school of Rinzai Zen Buddhism as its exemplar. I argue that in order to appreciate the function of humor in Zen a number of cultural and historical influences must be considered: correlative ontology; the Buddhist notion of emptiness; the impotence of language; sense and nonsense; and the senselessness of transgression.

The Relevance Of Emotions In Presidential Public Appeals: Anger’S Conditional Effect On Perceived Risk And Support For Military Interventions, José D. Villalobos, Cigdem V. Sirin

José D. Villalobos

Implications Of The Dragon’S Rise For South Asia: Assessing China’S Nepal Policy, Bibek Chand, Lukas K. Danner

Dr. Lukas K. Danner

Distributive Conflict And Regime Change: A Qualitative Dataset, Stephan Haggard, Terence Teo, Robert Kaufman

Terence Teo

No abstract provided.

Integration Of And The Potential For Islamic Radicalization Among Ethnic Turks In Germany, Alev Dudek

Alev Dudek

In spite of ongoing improvements, integration of ethnic Turks in Germany remains a challenge from the dominant culture perspective, whereas a deeply ingrained institutional and everyday racism and the lack of legal protection against discrimination pose a challenge to full participation of ethnic Turks from another perspective. In an increasingly xenophobic Europe, particularly Germany, an increase in potential for religious and nationalist radicalization in different groups including ethnic Turks is becoming more and more evident. This increase in radical attitudes is not necessarily caused by a lack of integration, as evidenced among well-integrated individuals.

In view of recent developments toward …

About The Contributors, Dan Paracka

Daniel Paracka

No abstract provided.

Introduction: The Year Of Ghana At Kennesaw State University, Dan Paracka, Sam Abaidoo

Daniel Paracka

Introduction to the issue.

U.S. Human Rights Activism And Plan Colombia, Winifred L. Tate

Winifred L. Tate

Non-governmental organizations claim to play a central role in defining U.S. foreign policy, particularly in the field of human rights. Here, I will examine the role of human rights and humanitarian groups in the debates over U.S. foreign policy towards Colombia, focusing on the design and subsequent additional appropriations for Plan Colombia, a multi-billion dollar aid package beginning in 2000. I argue that NGOs were able to build on the legacy of prior human rights activism focusing on Latin America, but failed to achieve significant grassroots mobilization around this issue. I examine the structural issues limiting such mobilization, as well …

Élites Y Violencia Organizada En México, Andreas Schedler

Andreas Schedler

La Encuesta Nacional de Violencia Organizada (ENVO Élites) fue levantada en otoño del 2013 en México entre seis sectores de élites: gobierno, políticos, academia, medios, empresarios y sociedad civil (N = 629). Indaga en las acciones y actitudes que adoptan las élites mexicanas hacia los actores principales de la violencia organizada criminal: los perpetradores, las víctimas, el Estado y la sociedad civil. El presente informe compara los resultados descriptivos principales entre los seis grupos de élite y entre ellos y la población general.

Cold War Ii: Those Evil Russkie He-Men Are Making Us Frack Ourselves,, Michael I. Niman Ph.D.

Michael I Niman Ph.D.

You have to admit, the timing is convenient, both for us handsome free Americans and for the cursed Russians. If you’re Russian, forget about the regular jailing of protesters and musicians, your he-man government and its bizarre hatred of gay folks, the degradation of your environment and rape of your natural resources, and the rise of a billionaire mafioso class. You now have rude hubristic Americans to monopolize your hate and fear. Ditto for Americans. Forget every issue we were fretting about the day before masked, Russian-speaking troops swarmed over the border and “did not invade” Crimea, annexing it and …

Ciudadanía Y Violencia Organizada En México, Andreas Schedler

Andreas Schedler

La Encuesta Nacional de Violencia Organizada (ENVO) fue levantada en otoño del 2013 en México (N = 2,400). Indaga en las acciones y actitudes que adopta la ciudadanía mexicana hacia los actores principales de la violencia organizada criminal: los perpetradores, las víctimas, el Estado y la sociedad civil. El presente informe resume sus hallazgos descriptivos principales.

Power Struggle Over Ukraine: Systemic Observations, Zenonas Tziarras

Zenonas Tziarras

The Syrian civil war and now Ukraine. These are only two examples of crises over which the United States and Russia have bumped heads recently. Some might be tempted to call this a “new Cold War,” but it’s really not. Yes, the geopolitical competition and power struggle might be obvious and similar. And even the race for maximizing the spheres of influence. But the ideological context is different and therefore there is no clash of politico-economic systems, not to mention that calling the current international system “bipolar” is simplistic, to say the least. What we have now is a primarily …

Women's Leadership For Women's Rights And Democracy, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

No abstract provided.

The Forum For Cities In Transition: An Initiative Of The Moakley Chair Of Peace And Reconciliation, Padraig O'Malley

Padraig O'Malley

FCT is an international network of mayors, councilors, municipal officials, business people, and representatives of the voluntary and community sector. The Forum works on the principle that cities that are in conflict or have emerged from conflict (divided societies) are in the best position to help other cities in similar situations. The Forum for Cities in Transition was founded by Professor Padraig O’Malley as an initiative of the John Joseph Moakley Chair of Peace and Reconciliation at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Who Should Uphold International Law, And Why Do Syrians Support The Regime?, Ahmed E. Souaiaia

Ahmed E SOUAIAIA

Answering a reporter’s question if bombing Syria is needed in order to preserve his credibility since he was the one who set a red line, President Obama replied: “First of all, I didn't set a red line. The world set a red line. The world set a red line when governments representing 98 percent of the world's population said the use of chemical weapons are abhorrent and passed a treaty forbidding their use even when countries are engaged in war. Congress set a red line when it ratified that treaty..."

It is true that international law and treaties have prohibited …

Rhode Island Helps To Weaken Iranian Regime, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

No abstract provided.

The Diaoyu/Senkaku Dispute As An Identity-Based Conflict: Toward Sino-Japan Reconciliation, Zheng Wang

Zheng Wang

No abstract provided.

Perception Gaps, Identity Clashes, Zheng Wang

Zheng Wang

No abstract provided.

Narratives Of War In Islamic Societies, Whose Side Is God On?, Ahmed Souaiaia

Ahmed E SOUAIAIA

The so-called Arab Spring ushered in a new era of conflict that is transforming Islamic societies in unprecedented ways. In the past two years, peaceful protests ousted some of the most ruthless dictators of the Arab world. Then, violent rebellions destroyed communities in Libya and Syria, stifled the non-violent movement, and amplified sectarian tensions by interjecting God into some of the most gruesome conflicts. By looking at the Syrian crisis as a case study, in this article I explore the function of narratives in managing war and the nature and evolution of Islamism in Islamic societies.

A Turkish Spring Even If Different From The Arab Spring, Ahmed Souaiaia

Ahmed E SOUAIAIA

The wide-spreading protest movement in Turkey is bringing up the irresistible analogy: Taksim Square is for Turkey what Tahrir Square is for Egypt. Considering that Tahrir Square events were the extension of the protest movement that started it all from Tunisia, it follows that the turmoil in Turkey is similar to the so-called Arab Spring. But most observers and media analysts are dismissing Taksim Square movement arguing that Turkey’s uprising is not similar to the Arab Spring because Erdoğan and his party are democratically elected and that Erdoğan has governed over a period of unprecedented economic prosperity.

From Cyber Terrorism To State Actors’ Covert Cyber Operations, Jan Kallberg, Bhavani Thuraisingham

Jan Kallberg

Historically, since the Internet started to become a common feature in our lives, hackers have been seen as a major threat. This view has repeatedly been entrenched and distributed by media coverage and commentaries through the years. Instead the first twenty year of the Internet was acceptably secure, due to the limited abilities of the attackers, compared to the threat generated from a militarized Internet with state actors conducting cyber operations. In reality, the Internet have a reversed trajectory for its security where it has become more unsafe over time and moved from a threat to the individual to a …

Nuclear Deterrence In A Second Obama Term, Adam Lowther, Jan Kallberg

Jan Kallberg

In the months prior to the 2012 presidential election in the United States, members of the Obama administration and sympathetic organizations inside the Beltway began floating the idea that the administration would pursue – after an Obama victory – further reductions in the US nuclear arsenal. With the ink still wet on the New ST ART Treaty, efforts to reduce the American arsenal to 1000 operationally deployed strategic nuclear weapons or, as some suggest, 500, is certainly premature. These efforts illustrate a poor understanding of nuclear deterrence theory and practice and the ramifications of a United States that lacks a …

Offensive Cyber: Superiority Or Stuck In Legal Hurdles?, Jan Kallberg

Jan Kallberg

In recent years, offensive cyber operations have attracted significant interest from the non-Defense Department academic legal community, prompting numerous articles seeking to create a legal theory for cyber conflicts. Naturally, cyber operations should be used in an ethical way, but the hurdles generated by the legal community are staggering. At a time when the United States has already lost an estimated $4 trillion in intellectual property as a result of foreign cyber espionage, not to mention the loss of military advantage, focusing on what the United States cannot do in cyberspace only hinders efforts to defend the country from future …

Europe In A ‘Nato Light’ World - Building Affordable And Credible Defense For The Eu, Jan Kallberg, Adam Lowther

Jan Kallberg

From an outsider’s perspective, the Common Security and Defense Policy and the efforts of the European Defense Agency are insufficient to provide Europe with the defense it will require in coming decades. While the European Union—particularly the members of the European Monetary Union—struggle to solve prolonged fiscal challenges, viable European security alternatives to an American-dominated security architecture are conspicuously absent from the documents and discussions that are coming from the European Council and at a time when the United States is engaged in an Asia-Pacific pivot. This is not to say that no thought has been given to defense issues. …

Cyber Operations Bridging From Concept To Cyber Superiority, Jan Kallberg, Bhavani Thuraisingham

Jan Kallberg

The United States is preparing for cyber conflicts and ushering in a new era for national security. The concept of cyber operations is rapidly developing, and the time has come to transpose the conceptual heights to a broad ability to fight a strategic cyber conflict and defend the Nation in a cohesive way. Richard M. George, a former National Security Agency official, commented on recent developments: “Other countries are preparing for a cyberwar. If we’re not pushing the envelope in cyber, somebody else will.”1 Therefore, increased budgets are allocated to cyber operations research and education. The Defense Advanced Research Projects …

Κύπρος Και Εξωτερική Πολιτική: Κεφαλαιοποιώντας Την Περιφερειοποίηση Του Διεθνούς Συστήματος [Cyprus And Foreign Policy: Capitalizing The Regionalization Of The International System], Zenonas Tziarras

Zenonas Tziarras

No abstract provided.

Building National Infrastructures For Peace In Africa: Understanding The Role Of The National Peace Council In Ghana, Emmanuel Kotia, Festus Aubyn

Emmanuel Wekem Kotia

In this article, we provide an analysis of Ghana’s infrastructures for peace using the National Peace Council (NPC) as a case study. The article focuses on the composition, structures, tasks, achievements and challenges of the NPC. It argues that the NPC has made significant contributions in preventing and managing acts of violence that could have plunge Ghana into conflict. Its unique roles during the 2012 elections in Ghana are a testament to this assertion. Although some forms of violence did occur during the elections, our argument is that the violence would have become far worse if the NPC had not …

Myth Of Indian Nuke Doctrine (Cpc Journal, No.1038, Us Air Force, Alabama, Shams Uz Zaman Mr.

Mr. Shams uz Zaman

No abstract provided.