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From Civil Strife to Civil Society: Civil and Military Responsibilities in Disrupted States edited by William Maley, Charles Sampford, & Ramesh Thakur (United Nations University Press) Man without law is the lowest of animals. - Aristotle

The 1990s saw the United Nations, the militaries of key member states, and NGOs increasingly entangled in the complex affairs of disrupted states. Whether as deliverers of humanitarian assistance or as agents of political, social, and civic reconstruction, whether in Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, or East Timor, these actors have had to learn ways of interacting with each other in order to optimize the benefits for the populations they seek to assist. Yet the challenges have proved daunting. Civil and military actors have different organizational cultures and standard operating procedures and are confronted with the need to work together to perform tasks to which different actors may attach quite different priorities.

Edited by William Maley, Professor and Foundation Director of the Asia‑Pacific College of Diplomacy at the Australian National University; Charles Sampford, Foundation Professor of Law and Head of the Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance, Griffith University, Brisbane; and Ramesh Thakur, Head of the Peace and Governance Programme and Vice Rector of the United Nations University, Tokyo; From Civil Strife to Civil Society explores the nature of these challenges, blending the experience of scholars and practitioners.

The first part of the book offers a rigorous examination of the dimensions of state disruption and the roles of the international community in responding to it; the second part looks at military doctrine for dealing with disorder and humanitarian emergencies; the third part examines mechanisms for ending violence and delivering justice in post‑conflict times; the fourth part investigates the problems of rebuilding trust and promoting democracy; the fifth part deals with the reconstitution of the rule of law; while the sixth and seventh parts address the reestablishment of social and civil order.

From Civil Strife to Civil Society had its origins in two conferences. The first was held in Canberra in July 1999 under the joint sponsorship of the Australian Defense Studies Centre, the University of New South Wales , and the Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice, and Governance, Griffith University . The second conference was held at the United Nations University (UNU) in Tokyo in January 2001, entitled "Partners in Humanitarian Crises", and organized jointly by the UNU and the Delegation of the European Commission in Japan . The chapters of From Civil Strife to Civil Society represent revised and expanded versions of papers prepared initially for these conferences.

The book centers around globalization based not on market exchange but on a spreading sense that the rule of law, human security, and the ability of ordinary people to change their rulers without bloodshed are all values worth protecting has drawn what is loosely called "the inter­national community" into the internal affairs of these territories. Detailed discussion of the elements of the transition from civil strife to civil society makes up the core of From Civil Strife to Civil Society. Given the vast range of issues that can arise in the context of sociopolitical transitions, the contributions make no claims to being definitive.

Amin Saikal examines various forms that states might take, and notes five different types of disrupted state: those scarred by conflict but still accepted as states; those whose very existence is contested; embryonic states; those being punished for violating international law or norms; and those gripped by strong undercurrents of instability and held together by coercion. He goes on to discuss internal factors that can contribute to disruption: elite fragmentation; ethnic antagonisms; ideological struggle; confessional or sectarian divisions; loss of the revenue base of the state; a specific legitimacy crisis; or separatism.

These issues are taken up more concretely by Paul Diehl. He opens by discussing the range of interests – humanitarian interests, human rights interests, and security interests which can underpin the various dimensions of international action. He argues that the international community has choices of how to proceed in terms of timing (when), actions (what) and organization (by whom). Actions can take a diverse range of forms: preventive deployment; humanitarian assistance; pacification; protective services; traditional peacekeeping; sanctions enforcement; election supervision; state/nation building; and arms control verification.

Simon Chesterman and David M. Malone seek to advance the troubled discussion of prevention and intervention by arguing that it is necessary to shift the focus from seeing prevention as an alternative to intervention, to seeing intervention as a consequence of failed prevention. They offer a survey of prevention strategies, both in the abstract and as practiced by the United Nations, and argue that humanitarian action is not synonymous with military intervention.

The United States of America , as a globally dominant power, is frequently the target of demands for action to help overcome the problems of state disruption. Thomas E. Seal discusses the roles of the United States Marine Corps as the cutting edge of American power, given its forward presence, multiple capabilities, capacity for rapid response and its historical and cultural affinity for dealing with disrupted states. He argues that a range of constant factors – human nature; the nature of states; the nature of war; geography; national character; and resistance to attempts to disrupt the status quo – shape America's outlook, while variables such as globalization, migration and urbanization, and the changing character of military operations create new challenges.

The diversity of the challenges posed by state disruption is emphasized by Frederick M. Burkle, Jr. in his discussion of "complex emergencies". The complexity of complex emergencies, he notes, lies in the multifaceted responses which the international community initiates in reacting to the simultaneous emergence of political and social decay, high levels of violence, catastrophic threats to public health, population shifts and competition for resources.

Observing that civil war is not unique to our times, Raimo Vayrynen notes its disappearance from modern industrialized societies and links it to the decline of interstate wars among them. He finds examples in Latin America and East Asia of various security regimes and limited security communities with mutually reinforcing internal stability and external peace. By symmetric contrast, in Africa, where the informal political and economic map differs substantially from the formal boundaries, the internal and external dimensions of crises are often linked. On the basis of this survey, Vayrynen concludes that the institutionalization of sovereignty contributes substantially to the internal and external stability of a region through building identity, political authority and legitimacy.

Cees de Rover too takes up the question of how violence might be brought to an end in those countries wracked by civil strife. Dissatisfied with explanations of violence that simply identify patterns of social differentiation, he draws on Maslow's theory of needs to argue that one must take account of historical developments which create differential access to the resources by which needs can he satisfied. It is therefore important to address economic and social issues as well as civil and political rights if one is seeking a durable end to violence. The current collective security system is unable to do this. International intervention also has its limitations, as NATO's actions over Kosovo demonstrate. A reinvigoration of law is vital, to govern both the circumstances in which intervention can occur and the actual conduct of intervention. Finally, waging war to resolve a conflict can simply entrench the conflict itself. It is necessary also to "wage peace.”

Helen Durham investigates this issue in her chapter. Mercy, she argues, has a role to play in reconstituting society after trauma, but not a foundational role. Justice, on the other hand, has a range of fundamental roles to play bringing wrongdoers to account; acknowledging the suffering of victims; educating the public as to the evil of the past. She then explores a range of institutional options for meeting the demand for justice. Domestic prosecutions may lack impartiality or legality; Truth and Reconciliation Commissions are an important alternative. But the burden may well fall on the international community, as it did with the famous Nuremberg and Tokyo trials.

This is taken up by William Maley, who discusses more generally the issues of institutional design and the rebuilding of trust. Distinguishing anonymous trust from face‑to‑face trust, he argues that the breakdown of trust leads to unworkable political communities and disunified political elites. Ways of addressing these problems include the provision of neutral security, the resocialization of antagonists and the design of institutions to mute the effects of political conflict.

Reginald Austin addresses a range of problems associated with democratization. He notes a growing rhetorical commitment to democracy, but sees this as compromised by the reality of state decay or corruption. The international community, through bodies such as the United Nations, the Commonwealth, and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) has been heavily involved in seeking to give practical support to a nascent right to democratic governance.

Mark Plunkett is concerned with the practicalities of restoring the rule of law in disrupted states. Lawlessness, he notes, is one of the most pressing problems arising from the spread of civil strife, and two broad models are available to assist the reconstruction of a legal system: an enforcement model and a negotiation model. The enforcement model involves the establishment of a functioning criminal justice system and a Criminal Justice Commission to permit both exposure of misdeeds and reintegrative shaming. Plunkett offers a range of specific proposals.

The particular tasks of external military forces in the delivery of justice in disrupted states are investigated by Michael Kelly. Where peace operations are conducted by the military, it is vital from the earliest phases that appropriate frameworks for the delivery of justice he put in place, lest the legitimacy of the mission he compromised. The law of occupation, as embodied in the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, offers an appropriate general regime for such forces. The use of force must be properly regulated.

Lorraine Elliott examines the performance of the United Nations in social reconstruction, which, she argues, must confront issues of human security, taking into account individuals, the rehabilitation of communities and the rebuilding of civil society. It also needs to recognize the roles played by local institutions. In discharging the tasks of social reconstruction, a range of UN agencies are normally involved, but the United Nations has a grim record with respect to operational effi­ciency, coordination, accountability, transparency and competence.

Fiona Terry, in her exploration of the activities of non‑governmental organizations (NGOs), argues, however, that improved coordination is not a panacea for the problems surrounding humanitarian action. These problems are more fundamental and deeply rooted, arising from the paradox that humanitarian action has the potential to prolong conflict and thus the suffering of its victims. Some NGOs have sought to maintain a strict and complete neutrality, while others have responded with overtly political commitments, complex emergencies, in Terry's view, are scarcely more complex than in the past: rather, it is the reaction of humanitarian actors that is complicated, because of the diversity of their agendas and objectives.

Sadako Ogata, who had the front‑line responsibility for coping with the dramatic upsurge in refugees, reminds us that the right balance has to be struck also between the pressing interests of the most vulnerable and deprived people in the world and the legitimate concerns of states. She notes the paradox that peace operations continue to be country based, reflecting neither the internal nor the regional nature of many contemporary wars.

Samuel M. Makinda takes up the issue of the disarmament and reintegration of combatants, a problem of fundamental importance in states where the ploughshare is an oddity to soldiers both adult and child – who know only the sword. He notes that realist, liberal, constructivist and feminist points of departure lead one to investigate the question in quite different ways. He concludes by suggesting that a critical perspective, which does not take institutions and power relations for granted should augment a problem‑solving approach to the disarmament of antagonists. The broader context of political and social reconstruction must be taken properly into account.

Adrien Whiddett discusses the use of police in the transition to civil order. Policing a democracy, he notes, is vastly more arduous than policing a totalitarian state, since the rights of citizens must be properly recognized. Criminal behavior, in the context of wider world disorder, creates significant challenges for peace operations. Police from middle powers such as Australia have valuable roles to play when such operations are undertaken.

In conclusion, Martin P. Ganzglass reflects on the problems of rebuilding the rule of law in the Horn of Africa. He surveys the very different experiences of Australians in Somalia and code­drafters in Eritrea , and argues that a new NGO, "Justice Without Borders", might have a useful role to play in filling gaps that the breakdown of the rule of law in disrupted states characteristically causes.

From Civil Strife to Civil Society seeks to illuminate the nature of these problems and responsibilities, and to identify some of the steps which might he taken to smooth the path from civil strife to civil society. In blending the work of scholars and practitioners and in bringing together and facilitating discussion and feedback among authors and panelists at two conferences, it makes a contribution to building a civil society.

Understanding Third World Politics: Theories of Political Change and Development (Second Edition) by Brian C. Smith (Indiana University Press) is a comprehensive, critical introduction to political development and comparative politics in the non-Western world today. It explains controversies that have dominated debate on the politics of development since 1945.

The book starts by reviewing the shared and increasingly diverse experiences of “developing” societies, debates about the nature of imperialism and the usefulness and limitations of “ Third World ” as an organizing category. It then proceeds to evaluate major explanations of political change and attempts to theorize the character and dynamic of Third World political institutions and the challenges, in particular, political instability, they face.

Chapters include:

  1. The Idea of a “ Third World ”
  2. Theories of Imperialism and Colonialism
  3. Modernization and Political Development
  4. Neo-colonialism and Dependency
  5. The Sate in the Third World
  6. Political Parties and Party Systems
  7. Bureaucracy and Political Power
  8. Military Intervention in Politics
  9. Nationalism and Secession
  10. Instability and Revolution
  11. Democratization in the Third World
  12. Conclusion: Democracy and Development

Understanding Third World Politics: Theories of Political Change and Development (Second Edition) by Brian C. Smith (Indiana University Press) is a comprehensive, critical introduction to political development and comparative politics in the non-Western world today. It explains controversies that have dominated debate on the politics of development since 1945.

The book starts by reviewing the shared and increasingly diverse experiences of “developing” societies, debates about the nature of imperialism and the usefulness and limitations of “ Third World ” as an organizing category. It then proceeds to evaluate major explanations of political change and attempts to theorize the character and dynamic of Third World political institutions and the challenges, in particular, political instability, they face.

Chapters include:

  1. The Idea of a “ Third World ”
  2. Theories of Imperialism and Colonialism
  3. Modernization and Political Development
  4. Neo-colonialism and Dependency
  5. The Sate in the Third World
  6. Political Parties and Party Systems
  7. Bureaucracy and Political Power
  8. Military Intervention in Politics
  9. Nationalism and Secession
  10. Instability and Revolution
  11. Democratization in the Third World
  12. Conclusion: Democracy and Development

Understanding Third World Politics, second edition, written by B.C. Smith, Professor of Political Science and Dean of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Dundee, has been extensively revised in order to sharpen its focus and reflect the current preoccupations in the study of Third World politics, especially the potential for sustainable democracy and the relative merits of democracy or authoritarianism for a poor country striving to develop economically and socially. It gives special attention to the problems and challenges faced by developing nations as they become democratic states by addressing questions of political legitimacy, consensus building, religion, ethnicity, and class.

The Facts on File World Political Almanac: From 1945 to the Present by Chris Cook (Facts on File) already established as an invaluable resource for reference libraries, brings together a wealth of information about post-World War 11 international politics. It offers the researcher an overview of the forces, events, and people that have shaped the world since 1945.

Now thoroughly updated, this edition covers contemporary events in inter­national politics, including the founding of new states, the emergence of new politi­cal leaders, and the most recent warfare and civil strife in countries such as Rwanda, Bosnia, and Haiti. Individual chapters provide clear, concise information on interna­tional organizations and alliances, political parties, governments and elections, pop­ulation growth, armed conflict, and more.

The fourth edition includes new and updated coverage on such topics as

  • International Political Organizations and Movements
  • Heads of State and Government
  • Treaties, Alliances, and Diplomatic Agreements
  • Elections
  • The Violent World
  • Population and Urbanization 

Plus, complete updates to the dictionary of political terms, events, and actions and the dictionary of political figures

Chris Cook was formerly head of the Modern Archives Unit at the London School of Economics. He is the author, editor, and/or compiler of many previous reference books on international politics, including The Facts On File Asian Political Almanac and The Making of Modern Africa.

Encyclopedia of the World's Nations, 3 volumes by George Thomas Kurian (Facts on File) is at once a new publication and an old one. It is descended from, incorporates, and continues the traditions of three major encyclopedias developed by George Thomas Kurian and published by Facts On File in the 1970s and 1980s: The Encyclopedia of the Third World (3 volumes), which went through four editions from 1978 to 1991; the Encyclopedia of the First World (2 volumes); and the Encyclopedia of the Second World, both published in the early 1990s. At the same time, it has been entirely rewritten (while retaining some of the more useful features of its progenitors) to reflect the emerging world in the new millennium. The original encyclopedias were published at a time when the divisions between the three worlds as they emerged after World War II were clearly demarcated and seemed set in concrete. The old divisions have not been abolished; there is still a developed or "first world," the "second" or Communist world (or at least its detritus), and, above all, a "third world" of poor and developing nations. But globalization is making these divisions less of a permanent divide than it was 20 years ago. More countries today are democratic than they were at any time in the past, and dictators are becoming an endangered species. National economies as well as societies are becoming more intertwined and in­terdependent so that it is difficult to describe one without reference to all. It was therefore necessary to combine all the three encyclopedias into one and also recalibrate the scope and reach of the new encyclopedia to capture the Zeitgeist, the spirit of the age. This effort makes the Encyclopedia of the World's Nations an entirely new work designed for the 21st century. It surveys 190 countries of the world, providing a broad range of in­formation based on a standard classification system, accompanied by an equally broad array of statistical data. It was a difficult undertaking. The amount of information avail­able on the 190 countries is so immense that it would take at least 15 volumes to treat each one fully. It was therefore necessary to condense the information to achieve a brevity that in the words of Lytton Strachey "excludes everything redundant and noth­ing that is significant." It was also difficult because despite globalization, every country has a separate and distinct identity that is sometimes lost when adopting a common tem­plate of information. Smaller countries, especially, sometimes get lost in the welter of details that have significance only for the larger ones.

The Encyclopedia of the Third World , the Encyclopedia of the First World and the En­cyclopedia of the Second World together covered about 168 countries. The Encyclopedia of the World's Nations covers 190. The difference in numbers illustrates the dramatic in­crease in the roster of nations following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the breakup Yugoslavia . During the same period, two countries lost their separate existence when East and West Germany and South and North Yemen merged. Nevertheless, there are more countries today than at any time in human history. In fact, more countries were born in the 20th century than in any prior century. In 1901 there were only 47 sovereign nations in the world, and at the time the United Nations was founded in 1945, it had only less than 50 members. There is always the possibility that the number of nations will continue to grow, as a result of ethnic fissures and separatist forces, given the pattern of the 20th century. In any event, the world will continue to be buffeted and transformed in the 21st century by the collision of national interests and cultures. Such upheavals make it tempting to view the world as a moving target with shifting players and out­comes. But however dramatic the changes, there are always enduring themes and issues: geography, population, ethnic groups, religion, language, politics and government, econ­omy, defense, education, law, and foreign policy. These constitute the focus of this book.

Encyclopedia of the World's Nations provides a compact, balanced, and objective de­scription of the dominant political, economic, and social systems of 190 sovereign countries. It identifies and describes all major components and sectors of national life and presents them within a clearly defined hierarchical structure and in a consistent se­quence. In this sense, the structure of the encyclopedia is as important as its contents. The most onerous task in the work was to achieve a reasonable degree of uniformity in the treatment, despite vast disparities in the amount and nature of the available infor­mation about each country. Every effort has been made in all sections to avoid subjective interpretations, whether partisan or analytical; evaluations of people or events are de­liberately avoided or made only when absolutely necessary for an understanding of the data presented.

The cutoff date for this edition is June 1, 2001 , although more recent significant events, such as election results, are often included. Every attempt has been made to make the encyclopedia current as of that date. However, statistical data of earlier vintage are often used when such data are the only ones available. See the caveat on statistics below. Readers should be aware that addresses of websites change frequently; those listed in the encyclopedia were current as of press time.

Encyclopedia of the World's Nations is planned as a triennial. Each edition of the encyclopedia will focus on the immediately preceding triennial period, but will also provide significant continuity in treatment of earlier information.

All years are calendar years unless noted as fiscal years, in which case a slash or virgule appears between the years. Inclusive years are noted with a hyphen, signifying the full period of the calendar years noted.

Proper names and place‑names are based on the style of Webster's Geographical Dictionary as well as recommendations of the United Nations and U.S. State Department.

All statistics in the encyclopedia are derived from publications issued by principal international agencies, such as the United Nations, World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and so on. The time lag between collection of data by these agencies and their eventual publication is reflected in the tables. This time lag may be as long as three years. Further, there are a number of countries where internal civil strife or external wars may make the collection of data impossible, and these countries are ignored by the collection agencies. As a result there are discontinuities in the publication of data and other breaks in time series. Further, there is the problem of incomparability between data published by different agencies that use different definitions, techniques of collection, and tools of analysis. Statistical data are therefore subject to numerous qualifications and are only intended to be used cy pres, or as approximations and estimates. They are, however, valid within limits and may be safely used as indicators of trends.

INFORMATION CLASSIFICATION

Information on each country has been arranged according to a standard, but not rigid, pattern. This classification system is central to this work and has been adhered to throughout except where the need for clarity of presentation or the nature or absence of information required modification in the scheme. The classification system has been devised not only for ease of consultation but also to provide a framework of comparison essential in international studies.

Each country chapter has 29 sections preceded by a Basic Data Sheet that encapsu­lates the most important data. Some sections have both text and tables; some have only text; and some have only tables.

1. Geographical Features Text and Tables 2. Climate and Weather Text and Table 3. Population Tables Only 4. Ethnic Composition Text Only 5. Languages Text and Table 6. Religions Text and Table 7. Historical Background Text for All Countries from Earliest Historical Times 8. Constitution Text and Organization Chart 9. Local Government Text and Table 10. Parliament Text 11. Political Parties Text and List for Major Countries; List Only for Others 12. Legal System Text 13. Law Enforcement Table Only 14. Human Rights Text 15. Foreign Policy Text 16. Defense Text and Table for Major Countries; Table Only for Others 17. Economy Text and Tables 18. Education Text and Table 19. Science and Technology Table Only 20. Media Text and Table 21. Culture Table Only 22. Status of Women Text and Table 23. Health, Food, and Nutrition Tables Only 24. Environment Text and Table 25. Chronology 26. Bibliography 27. Official Publications 28. Contact Information 29. Internet Resources
Recommended for high school and college library reference sections.

 

 

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