Rethinking youth bulge theory in policy and scholarship: incorporating critical gender analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 711-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley Pruitt
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
Gender Analysis ◽  
Accurate Analysis ◽  
Public Media ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Youth Bulge

Abstract For decades ‘youth bulge’ theory has dominated understandings of youth in mainstream International Relations. Youth bulge theory has also become part of some public media analyses, mainstream political rhetoric, and even officially enshrined in the foreign policy of some states. Through the ‘youth bulge’ lens, youth—especially males—have been presented as current or future perpetrators of violence. However, this article argues that the youth bulge thesis postulated in mainstream IR is based on flawed theoretical assumptions. In particular, supporters of youth bulge theory fail to engage with existing research by feminist IR scholars and thus take on a biological essentialist approach. This has led to theoretical and practical misunderstandings of the roles youth play in relation to conflict, peace and security. These partial and biased understandings have also resulted in less effective policy-making. In critically reflecting on the ‘youth bulge’ thesis, this article argues that applying gender analysis is crucial to understanding the involvement of young people in general—and young men in particular—in conflict. Doing so will contribute to advancing more accurate analysis in scholarship and policy-making.

scholarly journals A Critical Feminist Approach to Implementing Vancouver Principle 11

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 58-74
Author(s):  
Dustin Johnson
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Child Soldiers ◽  
Feminist Research ◽  
Gender Analysis ◽  
International Peace ◽  
Gender Dynamics ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Critical Feminist

In this paper I aim to provide a critical analysis of how Vancouver Principle (VP) 11 on the Contribution of Women to preventing the recruitment and use of child soldiers addresses gender and women’s involvement in peacekeeping. Critical feminist research on gender and war, the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, and international relations has examined and critiqued the important ways in which gender underlies, informs, and helps give meaning to matters of international peace and security. I draw on this diverse literature to discuss how VP 11 approaches gender and peacekeeping in a way that is at times problematic and at others nuanced and progressive, and provide concrete recommendations for how critical feminist insights can improve the implementation of the Vancouver Principles. The importance of understanding gender dynamics for peacekeeping in general, and for preventing the recruitment and use of children as soldiers in particular, necessitates more nuanced approaches to gender analysis and women’s participation. The implementation of VP 11 can support both of these areas.

Disarmament

2008 ◽  
pp. 286-299
Author(s):  
Keith Krause
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Arms Control ◽  
Land Mines ◽  
International Peace ◽  
Small Arms ◽  
The World ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
World Organization ◽  
Light Weapons

This article evaluates the achievements and limitations of the world organization in the field of disarmament. It stresses the role of the UN as part of the efforts to control arms as a way to achieve international peace and security. It also notes specific cases where progress was achieved or not, as well as the more recent efforts to handle the problems of anti-personnel land mines and small arms and light weapons. The article also tries to draw out some of the broader implications for international relations of the UN experience with formal multilateral arms control, among others.

Why Talk Tough? Explaining Japanese Prime Ministers’ Proactiveness in National Defense Rhetoric

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Liu
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
National Security ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
Threat Perception ◽  
National Defense ◽  
National Security Policy ◽  
Prime Ministers ◽  
Dependent Variables ◽  
External Threat

Abstract What explains variations in the proactiveness of Japanese Prime Ministers (PMs) toward national defense? Although the Japanese Constitution renounces the use of force, leaders sometimes speak assertively over national security. Drawing on competing international relations and Japanese foreign policy theories, this study seeks to quantitatively model and analyze predictors of political rhetoric in PMs’ speeches and statements from 2009 to 2019. Each statement is coded into four sets of binary dependent variables through content analysis and tested against five competing hypotheses. The main finding reveals that leaders become more likely to advocate for specifically assertive national security policy when Chinese vessel intrusion increases, but not when North Korea missile tests and aircraft scrambles increase. Instead of a diversionary use of words, an emboldening effect is evident in rhetoric that evokes responsibility in international defense, moderated by ruling government strength. The findings advance academic understandings of Japanese national security policy messaging and highlight the effect of external threat perception on political rhetoric.

scholarly journals THE APPEARANCE OF THE PENAL INTERNATIONAL LAW AS A BRANCH OF THE PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-126
Author(s):  
Daniel Ştefan Paraschiv ◽  
Elena Paraschiv
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Human Values ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
The Law

From the oldest times, there appeared certain norms of penal international law meantto prevent the committing of serious offenses, as well as for sanctioning them. This distinctbranch of the public international law is called upon to protect - by sanctioning personsguilty of committing serious offenses - peace and security of the whole humanity, thedevelopment in conformity with the norms of the law and moral of the international relations,the existence and perenniality of fundamental human values.

scholarly journals The Utilization of Business-Track Diplomacy: The Hyundai Group's Mt. Kumgang Tourism under the Kim Dae-Jung Government

2004 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-87
Author(s):  
Jeong-Yong Kim
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Economic Cooperation ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Korean Economy ◽  
The North ◽  
Economic Engagement

This article presents the model of 'business-track diplomacy' to test a state's utilization of economic engagement strategy as security policy. The model provides ways to think around security issues and alternative security options that go beyond the traditional military containment approach to security in international relations. As a case study, the article investigates Hyundai Group's Mountain Kumgang tourism with North Korea. In this case study, it demonstrates that not only the Kim Dae-Jung government's strong policy-making will of business-track diplomacy towards North Korea but also the Hyundai Group's business will and vulnerability of the North Korean economy played important roles in realizing the tour project and thus, enhanced inter-Korean economic cooperation.

scholarly journals “Salus Populi Suprema Lex”: Considerations on the Initial Response of the United Kingdom to the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evaldo Favi ◽  
Francesca Leonardis ◽  
Tommaso Maria Manzia ◽  
Roberta Angelico ◽  
Yousof Alalawi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Initial Response ◽  
Primary Reaction ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Accurate Analysis ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Public Media ◽  
The Uk

In several countries worldwide, the initial response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been heavily criticized by general public, media, and healthcare professionals, as well as being an acrimonious topic in the political debate. The present article elaborates on some aspects of the United Kingdom (UK) primary reaction to SARS-CoV-2 pandemic; specifically, from February to July 2020. The fact that the UK showed the highest mortality rate in Western Europe following the first wave of COVID-19 certainly has many contributing causes; each deserves an accurate analysis. We focused on three specific points that have been insofar not fully discussed in the UK and not very well known outside the British border: clinical governance, access to hospital care or intensive care unit, and implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions. The considerations herein presented on these fundamental matters will likely contribute to a wider and positive discussion on public health, in the context of an unprecedented crisis.

scholarly journals The Role of the UN Security Council in COVID-19 Crisis Management

2020 ◽  
pp. 105-122
Author(s):  
Svetlana Cebotari ◽  
Selena Stejaru
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Crisis Management ◽  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
Dynamic Evolution ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

Currently, we experience a conditional reality imposed by the COVID19 pandemic, with both immediate and long-lasting repercussions on the international system and the behavior of each state. For this reason and because the new virus has a dynamic evolution in time and space, research of the impact of the new virus is needed not only from a biogenetic perspective but also in the context of other fields, including the international relations realm. The events we are witnessing at the present challenge to keep up with transformations taking place in the international arena, especially those in the field of virology. As epidemics over time, viruses that cause them to change and occur constantly remain only the fact that they will always influence not only interpersonal relations but impose conditions for new realities in the system of international relations. This article aims to highlight the main gaps in the work of the institution responsible for maintaining peace and security in the international arena, especially in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.

Het profiel van de lokale politiek

Res Publica ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-26
Author(s):  
Rudolf Maes
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Government Expenditure ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Will ◽  
Government Organization ◽  
Cultural Sector ◽  
Total Government Expenditure

In Belgian political rhetoric municipalities are described as the cornerstone of a well-balanced government organization. However, this is not noticeable in the administrative language: municipalities are described as 'subordinate' administrations or 'administrations under tutelage'. Their share in total government expenditure is alarmingly low, 10.8%.The importance of local politics is determined by:- the political will to recognise the municipality as a 'civil society'- the interest in the democratic content of government and the necessity of policy differentiation- the recognition of local government as a laboratory for policy and as a voice of the place community in the national politics.From the perspective of policy-making Belgian municipalities have a mixed profile. First of all, they are 'cultural municipalities': 28.5% of the expenditures are in the educational and cultural sector. Other important expenditures are: roads and utilities (17%) and security (12.8%). Compared to different West-European countries, expenditures for social matters are rather limited (11 %).

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