scholarly journals The Economics of Peacebuilding: International Organizations for Dealing with Victor and Vanquished

2020 ◽  
pp. 33-46
Author(s):  
Vera Songwe
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Special Reference ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Economic Dimension ◽  
Internal Conflicts ◽  
Economic Imbalances

Abstract This chapter draws on the sharply contrasting experiences of both the League of Nations and the United Nations in the twentieth century in order to highlight the importance of the economic dimension to peace building. In doing so, this chapter questions the conventional wisdom and practice that only after peace is fully restored in a conflict environment can the focus shift to economic development. With special reference to the cases of Guinea Bissau, Cote d’Ivoire and Sudan, it suggests that the insistent, quasi-dogmatic priority given to sequencing actions in this way has served to undermine many peace-building processes before they even begin. At the heart of most of Africa’s largely internal conflicts are the economic imbalances and weaknesses evident in all states on the continent. Just as peace was built in war-shattered Europe through a massive reconstruction plan, the chapter argues that peace-building solutions in Africa must give much greater weight to the economic dimension.

Forging a British World of Trade

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Thackeray
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Collaboration ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Trade Relations ◽  
Historical Role ◽  
The Eu

Brexit is likely to lead to the largest shift in Britain’s economic orientation in living memory. Some have argued that leaving the EU will enable Britain to revive markets in Commonwealth countries with which it has long-standing historical ties. Their opponents argue that such claims are based on forms of imperial nostalgia which ignore the often uncomfortable historical trade relations between Britain and these countries, as well as the UK’s historical role as a global, rather than chiefly imperial, economy. This book explores how efforts to promote a ‘British World’ system, centred on promoting trade between Britain and the Dominions, grew and declined in influence between the 1880s and 1970s. At the beginning of the twentieth century many people from London, to Sydney, Auckland, and Toronto considered themselves to belong to culturally British nations. British politicians and business leaders invested significant resources in promoting trade with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa out of a perception that these were great markets of the future. However, ideas about promoting trade between ‘British’ peoples were racially exclusive. From the 1920s onwards colonized and decolonizing populations questioned and challenged the bases of British World networks, making use of alternative forms of international collaboration promoted firstly by the League of Nations and then by the United Nations. Schemes for imperial collaboration amongst ethnically ‘British’ peoples were hollowed out by the actions of a variety of political and business leaders across Asia and Africa who reshaped the functions and identity of the Commonwealth.

The League of Nations between Scientific Knowledge and Political Dependence

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-202
Author(s):  
Dimitar Tyulekov ◽  
Ilko Drenkov ◽  
Jani Nikolla
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
Border Dispute ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Post War

The League of Nations sets strict professional frameworks that are subordinate to scientific knowledge and international law and respect, without any differences between small and big powers. The first chairman, Eric Drummond, who headed up to 1934, established a huge international prestige of the organization and achieved a number of successes in peace building. The League’s policy in the Balkans is revealed mainly through its relations with Albania and Bulgaria, which both joined the League in December 1920. The two countries rely on the international organization for the peaceful resolution of their political, minority and social problems. Under the supervision of the League of Nations, a number of agreements for voluntary and mutual exchange of people between Greece and Bulgaria are being concluded, which aims to soothe the Macedonian problem in Aegean Macedonia. Under her patronage are the agreements between Greece and Albania regulating the protection of Greek minorities and schools, as well as settling the border dispute between the Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom and Albania in 1921. The rapid intervention of the United Nations suspended the Greek aggression on Bulgarian territory in the autumn of 1925 and prevented a possible new war. Dimitar Shalev's petitions from Skopje to the United Nations aim to achieve the Yugoslav state's humane treatment towards Bulgarian minorities within its borders, but political dependencies and overlapping contradictions are an obstacle to peaceful and sustainable political outcomes. In the second half of the 1930s, the League lost its initial prestige, and in the course of the emerging new global conflict it fell into political dependence, marking its collapse. Unresolved issues and contradictions, along with the harsh political post-war realities, quickly bury the League’s noble impetus.

scholarly journals Gender, Peace, and the New Politics of Humanitarianism in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

2020 ◽  
pp. 560-584
Author(s):  
Glenda Sluga
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
International Norms ◽  
Peace Movement ◽  
Intergovernmental Organizations ◽  
New Politics ◽  
History Of ◽  
International Humanitarianism

This chapter examines the changing ideas of peace and their connections with the longer history of humanitarianism in the first half of the twentieth century, using gender as an analytical focus. In particular, it explores the international and internationalist contexts of the emerging peace movement and international humanitarianism and their changing character; the gender dimensions of peace-thinking and policies, especially in the context of the League of Nations and the United Nations; and the ways in which feminism was a significant influence on the development of these two international bodies, even as women were sidelined in their operations. In the first half of the twentieth century, these international, intergovernmental organizations had as their central rationale the taming of warfare. The chapter analyzes the extent to which, in each case, they contributed to the institutionalization of new gendered international norms of pacifist and humanitarian activism.

18. Governance and Organizations in Global Politics

Politics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Ferdinand ◽  
Robert Garner ◽  
Stephanie Lawson
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
United Nations ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Global Order ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations

This chapter examines the ways in which governance and organizations influence global politics. It first provides an overview of what an international organization is, focusing on intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations, before discussing the rise of organizations in the global sphere from the nineteenth century onwards. It then takes a look at the major intergovernmental institutions that emerged in the twentieth century and which have played a major role in shaping global order, including the League of Nations and its successor, the United Nations (UN). The chapter concludes with an analysis of ideas about social movements and civil society, along with their relationship to contemporary governance and organizations.

21. International Organizations in Global Politics

2020 ◽  
pp. 486-507
Author(s):  
Stephanie Lawson
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations

This chapter examines the nature of international organizations and their role in global politics. It first explains what an international organization is before discussing the rise of international organizations from a historical perspective, focusing on developments from the nineteenth century onwards. It then considers the major intergovernmental institutions that emerged in the twentieth century and which have made significant contributions in shaping the global order, including the League of Nations and its successor, the United Nations. It also looks at non-governmental organizations and concludes with an analysis of ideas about social movements and global civil society, along with their relationship to the contemporary world of international organizations.

Riding with the Devils: China’s Role in the Cambodian and Sri Lankan Conflicts

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Hein
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Military Aid ◽  
Critical Moment ◽  
Building Models ◽  
External Scrutiny

Cambodia and Sri Lanka are two tiny states where China has no major strategic stakes. Yet China has been a key regime ally to both regimes at a critical moment during the alleged genocides of 1975–1979 in Cambodia and of 2009 in Sri Lanka. While the failure of Western interventionist peace-building models has been widely discussed, the patterns and outcomes of Chinese non-intervention have not. How did China’s scrupulous respect for non-intervention affect the alleged genocides? The article supports the viewpoint that Chinese non-interference in both states was built on the notion that the building of an independent nation was a top priority in securing sovereignty, order and unity. Hence, China focused on bilateral military aid and economic development, whilst shielding both governments from external scrutiny and international accountability during and after the alleged genocides. China has since made efforts to address and resolve national conflicts through concerted United Nations (UN) procedures and mechanisms.

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