scholarly journals A question of faith? Islamists and secularists fight over the post-Mubarak state

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjørn Olav Utvik
Keyword(s):  
Transition Process ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Transitional Period ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
Deep State ◽  
Open Debate ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Military

Since the military coup of July 3, 2013, guns and batons have, broadly speaking, taken the place of open debate and elections in deciding the political future of Egypt. How can the political struggle be understood with regard to the shape and content of the reformed post-Mubarak state that took place during the period of relative free debate and of tentative steps towards a democratic system between February 11, 2011 and July 3, 2013. In light of the deepening polarization between the Muslim Brothers and the more secular political tendencies that characterized the period, the conflict is often portrayed by the media and by some researchers as between a project of Islamization and a secularist agenda. To what extent does this hold true? In this article I will argue (1) that what took place was rather a power struggle involving competing elites as well as what is sometimes termed the ‘deep state’, i.e., the entrenched power holders from Mubarak’s time, especially in the military, the police and the judiciary; and (2) to the extent that secularization was at stake, in some important aspects Islamists turned out to be, if anything, more secularizing than their secularist competitors. What follows is nothing near a full treatment of the transitional period. Neither is it a formal study of constitutional issues, although it does dwell on some important aspects of the new constitution finalized in 2012. The primary interest here is what the struggle over the new constitution, and more broadly over the path to be followed in the transition process, can tell us about the main forces at work at the heart of the intense political conflict that developed.

scholarly journals The Role of ASEAN in Political Conflict Resolution in Myanmar

2021 ◽  
pp. 28-37
Author(s):  
N. Rogozhina
Keyword(s):  
Action Plan ◽  
Fundamental Principle ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Internal Affairs ◽  
The Military

The article analyzes the ASEAN policy to resolve the political crisis in Myanmar, the main means and directions of its implementation. The confrontation in society as a result of the military coup on February 1, 2021 is accompanied by violence and threatens to escalate into a civil war. The threat of losing its central role in the regional security system and the regionalization of the conflict prompts ASEAN to look for ways out of it in accordance with the adopted action plan. However, its implementation is difficult both due to the fact that ASEAN remains hostage to the fundamental principle of its activities, non-interference in the internal affairs of its members, and the unwillingness of all parties to the conflict in Myanmar to seek ways of reconciliation. ASEAN's interaction with the military leadership accused of mass repression is asymmetric, with the success or failure of the ASEAN peacekeeping mission almost entirely dependent on the political will of the military. Nevertheless, ASEAN remains today the only force capable of influencing the development of the political situation in Myanmar. The best option for the international community to participate in resolving the conflict in Myanmar is to assist ASEAN in the implementation of peacekeeping activities. The most realistic ASEAN initiative today is to provide humanitarian assistance to Myanmar, which is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. Considering the negative trends in socio-economic development, Myanmar for many years to come will need humanitarian support, in the provision of which ASEAN has advantages over Western states and associations. Giving preference to the methods of soft diplomacy, dictated by the need to observe the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of Myanmar, ASEAN as an institution demonstrates its functional weakness, which the military who seized power use to delay the implementation of the measures proposed by the bloc to resolve the conflict. ASEAN continues to act with great caution, and this may cause it losing the influence on the development of the situation when China, which is not interested in prolonging the conflict, seizes the initiative.

To ‘midwife’ – and abort – a democracy: Mauritania's transition from military rule, 2005–2008

2009 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boubacar N'Diaye
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Political System ◽  
Third Republic ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
Military Rule ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Electoral Outcomes ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
The Military

ABSTRACTThe 3 August 2005 military coup was Mauritania's best opportunity to turn the page on decades of the deposed quasi-military regime's destructive politics. This article critically analyses relevant aspects of the transition that ensued in the context of the prevailing models of military withdrawal from politics in Africa. It also examines the challenges that Mauritania's short-lived Third Republic faced. It argues that the transition process did not escape the well-known African military junta leader's proclivity to manipulate transitions to fulfil suddenly awakened self-seeking political ambitions, in violation of solemn promises. While there was no old-fashioned ballot stuffing to decide electoral outcomes, Mauritania's junta leader and his lieutenants spared no effort to keep the military very much involved in politics, and to perpetuate a strong sense of entitlement to political power. Originally designed as an ingenious ‘delayed self-succession’ of sorts, in the end, another coup aborted Mauritania's democratisation process and threw its institutions in a tailspin. This only exacerbated the challenges that have saddled Mauritania's political system and society for decades – unhealthy civil-military relations, a dismal ‘human rights deficit’, terrorism, and a neo-patrimonial, disastrously mismanaged economy.

scholarly journals The anniversary of the military coup attempt in Turkey, July 15–16, 2016. The evolution of a political system

2017 ◽  
pp. 63-68
Author(s):  
Y. S. Kudryashova
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Authoritarian Regime ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Military ◽  
Ruling Party ◽  
Coup Attempt

During the government of AK Party army leaders underprivileged to act as an exclusive guarantor preserving a secular regime in the country. The political balance between Secular and Islamite elites was essentially removed after Erdogan was elected Turkish President. Consistently toughening authoritarian regime of a ruling party deeply accounts for a military coup attempt and earlier periodically occurred disturbance especially among the young. The methods of a coup showed the profundity of a split and the lack of cohesion in Turkish armed forces. Erdogan made the best use of a coup attempt’s opportunities to concentrate all power in his hands and to consolidate a present regime. The mass support of the population during a coup attempt ensured opportunities for a fundamental reorganization of a political system. Revamped Constitution at most increases political powers of the President.

scholarly journals Rumours in a Situation of Political Conflict: Catalonia and Its Referendum of Self-Determination

2021 ◽  
Vol 84 ◽  
pp. 25-48
Author(s):  
Emili Samper ◽  
◽  
Carme Oriol ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Conflict ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
The Political ◽  
Independent State ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Media

Catalonia is in a situation of political conflict with the Spanish State regarding its right to self-determination, a conflict that has been exacerbated in recent years by the growing demand from a part of Catalan society for an independent state. Throughout this situation rumours have appeared in relation to events as they unfold. One of the key moments in the conflict was the referendum on self-determination, which was approved, prepared, and held on 1 October 2017, in the face of continuous opposition from the Spanish State. The tensions, uncertainties, and fears experienced by those in favour of the referendum were fuelled by rumours that in many cases were ultimately proven to be false. The present paper will analyse the rumours that emerged in relation to the referendum and the political atmosphere at that time. The study will analyse the rumours relating to aspects such as the logistics required to hold the referendum, the key figures in the process, the organizations that support it and the actions of the media, among others.

scholarly journals Peculiarities of Professional Media Education in 1920s: Methods of Training Military Correspondents (On the Example of the Magazine “Education and Upbringing”, 1924–1926)

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 74-84
Author(s):  
E. V. Evdokimova
Keyword(s):  
Media Education ◽  
The Political ◽  
Educational Approach ◽  
Educational Work ◽  
Information Functions ◽  
Red Army ◽  
New Type ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Military

The studies of the specialized military-political publications of the 1920s usually consider only approaches to organizing the political and educational work of commanders with personnel. Filling the gap, this article focuses on the media educational approach to the analysis of print media that examines the activities of newspapers and magazines as a kind of media platform for the training of regional workers and village correspondents (rabsel'cors), and military correspondents (voencors).The article reveals the main methods of training military correspondents by the specialized magazine “Education and upbringing”. Voencors were supposed to participate in creating a mass press, perform information functions and be propagandists, agitators, and organizers of the movement of military correspondents.Based on the analysis of the journal publications the author identifies the main approaches to rabsel'cors and voencors’ training: the introduction of special headings that attracted the Red Army soldiers to read periodicals and create wall newspapers; recommendations for establishing connections between military correspondents and village correspondents; publication of articles by the main authors of the journal on the organization of wall newspapers; analysis of military correspondents’ publications; responses to letters from readers.As a result, the author comes to the conclusion that the military-political magazine “Education and upbringing” should be considered not only as a means of ideologically educating the serviceman of a new type but as a necessary guide for novice correspondents of specialized and universal media.

New Gambian president will re-engage the West

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
The Political ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
The West ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Security Services ◽  
The Military

Significance If Barrow is inaugurated, it will mark the first peaceful transfer of power since the country gained independence. Incumbent Yahya Jammeh, who seized power in a 1994 military coup, was widely expected to claim victory, despite widespread frustration. With the economy stagnant and the unemployment rate among the highest in West Africa, Barrow successfully united much of the political opposition. Jammeh's concession was unexpected given the repression that his security services employed prior to the election. Impacts A new administration will look to draw prominent figures from across The Gambia's ethnic groups. Security will remain taut ahead of the upcoming inauguration and legislative elections scheduled for April. The new government could renew its commitment to the International Criminal Court (ICC). There could be widespread calls for the prosecution of Jammeh, which may provoke unrest within the military and new coup fears.

scholarly journals O GOLPE DE 1964 E O REGIME DE 1968: ASPECTOS CONJUNTURAIS E VARIÁVEIS HISTÓRICAS

2004 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriano Nervo Codato
Keyword(s):  
Explanatory Variable ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Military Dictatorship ◽  
Historical Process ◽  
Political Events ◽  
Political Problem ◽  
Particular Solution ◽  
The Military

O trabalho trata da evolução política do Brasil num período determinado de seu desenvolvimento. Discute-se o processo de conversão do “regime autoritário” no pós-1964 em regime ditatorial-militar no pós-1968. O objetivo do artigo é examinar a causa da edição do Ato Institucional n.º 5, logo, da vitória da extrema-direita militar, e, portanto, do fracasso político do movimento oposicionista nessa conjuntura. A questão central que informa a análise é a seguinte: é possível encontrar uma variável explicativa na interpretação desse processo histórico que dê conta do porquê da supremacia do “grupo palaciano” (a corrente ideológica militar então mais influente), e da sua solução para a crise do regime, bem como da derrota das “oposições”? O problema teórico de fundo aqui é o das determinações de um evento político, isto é, a articulação dos nexos causais que explicam determinado resultado histórico. São examinadas duas explicações correntes da literatura de Ciência Política e História Política e proposta uma terceira, que enfatiza, principalmente, variáveis de tipo ideológico. The 1964 Military Coup and the Regime of 1968: conjunctural aspects and historical variables Abstract This paper analyses Brazil’s political evolution during a specific moment. It discusses the processes of conversion of the post-1964 “authoritarian regime” to the post-1968 regime of military dictatorship. The article’s principal aim is to examine the reasons for the issuing of Institutional Act 5, which meant the victory of the military’s extreme right-wing and therefore the political defeat of opposition forces. The central issue informing the analysis is the question of whether it is possible to find an explanatory variable for the interpretation of this historical process that could account for the supremacy of the “grupo palaciano” (the most influential ideological current within the military corporation at that time) and their particular solution for the military crisis, as well as for the defeat of “opposition” forces. The underlying political problem here regards the factors that determine political events, that is, the articulation of causal links that can explain a particular historical result. Two common explanations in Political Science’s and Political History’s literature are explored and a third explanation is proposed, one that places particular emphasis on ideological variables.

The AKP’s Rhetoric of Rule in Turkey: Political Melodramas of Conspiracy from “Ergenekon” to “Mastermind”

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erdağ Göknar
Keyword(s):  
State Power ◽  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Political Movements ◽  
Military Alliance ◽  
Deep State ◽  
The Media ◽  
Illegal Activities ◽  
State Organization ◽  
The Military

In 2008 the Turkish Constitutional Court was one vote shy of banning the ruling AKP for “anti-secular activity.” In response, the AKP began articulating a series of political conspiracy narratives, amplified through the media. Blurring the line between representation and reality, these political melodramas set the stage for the exercise of state power through the weaponization of investigations and judicial retaliation against the military and the opposition. From 2008 to 2013, the “Ergenekon” conspiracy depicted an anti-Islamist deep state organization and its involvement in illegal activities including military coups and assassinations—as if it actually existed. The Ergenekon conspiracy (and attendant trials) initiated a profound change in Turkish politics by breaking the power of the traditional secular-military alliance. In 2014, Ergenekon led to a spin-off called “Mastermind”, which targeted the AKP’s erstwhile ally and political rival the Gülen Hizmet (or “Service”) Movement, a transnational Islamic educational and media network led by imam Fetullah Gülen. Gülenists, with their strong presence in the police and judiciary, had been instrumental in the Ergenekon prosecutions. Mastermind was later credited with the anti-AKP Gezi protests and a corruption investigation into then Prime Minister Erdoğan in 2013 as well as for the 2016 failed coup. Relying on a literary-cultural analysis of the political field, this chapter argues that conspiracism in Turkey has functioned to prefigure and legitimate authoritarian governance, whether secular or Islamist. I redefine conspiracy theories as popular fictions indexed to political movements that can instrumentalize legal and electoral processes for the accumulation of state power and the undermining of democratic pluralism.

An International Perspective on Strikes and Strike Threats by Physicians: The Case of Chile

1975 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Belmar ◽  
Victor W. Sidel
Keyword(s):  
Medical Profession ◽  
International Perspective ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
The Political ◽  
Government Program ◽  
Delivery Of Care ◽  
Salvador Allende ◽  
The Government ◽  
Early Effects ◽  
The Military

The program for health services developed by the government of Dr. Salvador Allende Gossens in Chile is outlined, as well as its early effects. A review of this development is necessary to an understanding of the systematic opposition of the organized medical profession to this program in particular, and to the broad socialist goals of the government in general. Three periods of activity by the medical profession are traced, beginning in September 1970 and culminating in September 1973 with the military coup and overthrow of the democratically elected government of Chile and the murder of its president, a physician. While the medical profession was opposed to the government program for community participation in health care and to changes in the models for delivery of care, and feared a changed status for the physician, clearly there were broader political links between the organized medical profession and the political opponents of the government which sought its overthrow.

Potholes in the Democratic Road, 1936–1958

Iraq ◽  
2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeed Dawisha
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
The Political ◽  
Military Government ◽  
Martial Law ◽  
Army Officers ◽  
The Military ◽  
Political Scene ◽  
Ideas And Institutions

This chapter analyzes political developments in Iraq from 1936 to 1958. Any growth of democratic ideas and institutions that had been achieved earlier came to an abrupt halt in 1936 following the military coup. Army officers, custodians of political power between 1936 and 1941, cared little, if at all, about democratic institutions and practices. They were succeeded by civilian governments, openly abetted by the Palace, which systematically interfered in the workings of the country's supposed representative institutions. Political parties and groupings operating within the straitjacket of military government and martial law had all but disappeared from the political scene. And successive governments made certain to emasculate Parliament of even the flimsiest pretense of independence and impartiality.

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