A Conceptual History of International Relations
In this lecture, I discussed why we need a conceptual history of international relations, and how we can go about writing it.
Theory Seminar: Global History and International Relations
Dr George Lawson from the London School of Economics and Political Science will present a paper on ‘Global History and International Relations’.
How UN Peacekeeping Operations Can Adapt to a New Multipolar World Order
How will United Nations peacekeeping operations adapt to the transition from a unipolar to a multipolar world order? The paper considers emerging dynamics in three areas that may suggest how UN peacekeeping are likely to be affected by a changing world order, namely strategic political coherence, the employment of force, and the outer limits of peace operations. It points out that one of the enduring characteristics of UN peacekeeping has been the resilience of its identity. Another has been the continuous evolution of the specific manifestations of that identity into practice. UN peacekeeping have thus shown a remarkable capacity to continuously adapt to new challenges over the past 70 plus years, and there is no evidence to suggest that it will not continue to do so into the future.
Expectations of Change: Development Partnerships in Faith-Based Forest Conservation in Ethiopia
Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Ethiopia, this paper explores how local faith communities, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC), and international development organizations cooperate to define knowledge and practices of forest conservation. By following a church forest conservation-project in Ethiopia, in which both faith-based organizations, and the EOC are central stakeholders, this paper explores the intersections of local and international articulations of partnership and development. The church forests of Ethiopia represent some of the last enclaves of Highland and Afromontane forests types in the country, making them an important source of biodiversity. While increasing land cultivation and human settlement have reduced the scope of the forests, the EOC and its monastic communities have long been part of preserving the remaining green areas. As larger global forest conservation initiatives - such as the UN-REDD – emerge, local practices of conservation and development are now faced with the logics of professionalized development organizations. The forest conservation initiative in question aims to integrate theological reflections, technologies for agroforestry and biodiversity conservation, as well as livelihoods-projects. What happens when historically and theologically rooted practices of forest conservation meet the agendas of NGOs driven by narratives of innovation and sustainable development? And more generally, how can we understand how global and local commitments shape different stakeholders’ perceptions of “development” - and how do these connections impact their perceptions of each other as development partners?
Fieldwork on/with/through non-governmental organizations: navigating NGO ethnography
Ethnographic fieldwork among non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can provide rich data on the practices and micro-level processes of civil society actors, as well as mechanisms of cooperation or implementation. But ‘doing’ fieldwork is not an analogous process of entering a ‘field’ and collecting data through conversation or observation; as the researcher searches for information and connections, answers and access are likely to be shaped by how she is perceived by other actors in the field. Especially in contexts where the researcher gains access to informants or field sites through the facilitation of an organization – such as the case can be in humanitarian or development research – the researcher must regularly navigate and (re)assert her role in the eyes of both organizations and surrounding communities. The dialectics of perception, role assertion and legitimacy are constant processes. This paper draws lessons from long-term ethnographic fieldwork conducted among faith-based NGOs in Ethiopia, as well as interviews with other scholars who have conducted research on and with NGOs. Through this, I seek to critically explore what it means to be researching for, with, and through organizations. Is, for instance, the distinction of doing 'research of development', as compared to doing 'research for development', a viable distinction, or merely a heuristic? And how do researchers navigate this divide, in a context where they often risk being perceived as the organization they are researching, or may take upon themselves smaller tasks in the host organizations, in order to gain further understanding and access to ‘the field’?
Is there an extremist personality? – The link between personality characteristics and violent extremism
Milan Obaidi presents research that highlights individual personality characteristics as important when trying to understand the process of radicalization.
The Zelensky phenomenon: From where did it come and where will it lead
Adrian Karatnycky will give a talk about Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian comedian-turned-president, and how his electoral triumph was possible.
The Political Economy of Policy Vacuums: The European Commission on Demographic Change
Supranational organisations can only confront politico-economic issues that are recognised as important. Typically, issues gain recognition either when they provide an external shock to the system, shaking political actors into action, or when they are framed as important in policy networks concerned with developing the appropriate scientific approach. Ideally political and scientific actors align in creating pressures to recognise the issue as salient and to mobilise organisational responses. Issues differ in their capacity to be driven by both political and scientific pressures, creating crisis management, technocratic, and reform agenda outcomes. Here we explore a further variation, where pressures around an issue are insufficient, creating a policy vacuum. We examine one such policy vacuum in Europe: demographic change. This issue belongs to no particular Directorate-General in the European Commission, but is subject to policy frames from DG EMPL and DG ECFIN. Without sufficient political and scientific pressures, no particular policy position is occupied and advocated despite recognition of the issue’s importance. We discuss the role of policy vacuums and the need for their identification in political economy research.
Theory Seminar: Cyber Conflict in the study of International Relations
Max Smeets will take a closer look at the academic literature on analysing cyber conflict.
The U.S. Cyber Strategy of Persistent Engagement
How does the U.S. Cyber Command wish to position itself in cyberspace?