Navigating between Pragmatism and Principle: Australia’s Foreign Policy Response to the 2017 Rohingya Crisis

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Cecilia Jacob
Keyword(s):  
Humanitarian Aid ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Policy Response ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Pragmatic Approach ◽  
Human Rights Council ◽  
The Government ◽  
Defence Cooperation ◽  
Fact Finding

Abstract The escalation of violence by Myanmar’s military forces against ethnic Rohingya populations in Rakhine State in 2017 served as a test case for Australia’s commitment to R2P, and its capacity to protect populations from widespread and systematic atrocities in its own regional neighbourhood. Australia’s response to the crisis in Myanmar was mixed; it co-sponsored a UN Human Rights Council resolution to establish the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar that was instrumental in determining the extent and nature of violence committed by Myanmar’s armed forces during the so-called ‘clearance operations’, and provided substantial humanitarian aid for affected Rohingya populations. Australia has, however, been criticised for not doing enough to pressure the government of Myanmar on the issue, for maintaining defence cooperation with Myanmar throughout the crisis, and for its reluctance to accept Rohingya refugees fleeing the violence. This article examines Australia’s response to the Rohingya crisis in the areas of international, regional, and bilateral diplomacy, humanitarian assistance, and defence cooperation. It asks why Australia did not take a more proactive role in confronting atrocities committed by the Myanmar government, and identifies lessons learnt and recommendations for strengthening Australia’s atrocity prevention architecture that is consistent with Australia’s pragmatic approach to regional assistance and its principled international advocacy.

scholarly journals Humanitarian Assistance of Italy to Ukraine in 2014-2018 рр.

2019 ◽  
pp. 107-124
Author(s):  
Olga Sukhobokova
Keyword(s):  
Public Information ◽  
Humanitarian Aid ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Strong Ties ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Humanitarian Organizations ◽  
Italian Government ◽  
The Government

The article deals with the provision of humanitarian aid to Ukraine by the government and society (citizens) of Italy during the period of Russian armed aggression against Ukraine (2014-2018). Among them are the efforts of the large Ukrainian community in Italy (according to official figures in Italy, there are more than 230 thousand Ukrainians registered). The directions, volumes and methods of relief assistance for Ukrainian military and population in war-affected areas in eastern Ukraine and settlers were analyzed. It was determined that government financial assistance (over 3 million euros was allocated for 2014-2018) during this period came through international humanitarian organizations, which deal with the civilian people affected by the armed conflict and the program of demining of ukrainian territories. The Ukrainian community in Italy provides individual assistance (from individuals) and from organizations (for example, the Congress of Ukrainians in Italy, “EuroMaydan-Rome” and others). Ukrainian communities of entire cities and regions may be involved in collecting a large sum (the most active are Ukrainians in Rome, Brescia, Milan, Naples).Mostly Ukrainians provided cars for units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and volunteer groups in the area of fighting, equipment, clothes and funds for the needs of Ukrainian defenders, as well as food and gifts for them to holidays, organized humanitarian cargoes for the victims of the war of the population. At the same time, the Ukrainian community in Italy tried to hold public information events in support of Ukraine in the early years of the Russian-Ukrainian War and inform the Italian society and authorities about the events in it.The third source of humanitarian aid for Ukraine in Italy is Italian voluntary associations such as “Italy-Ukraine-Maidan”, which independently delivers the largest humanitarian cargo to the east of Ukraine. Italy’s assistance to Ukraine is considered in the context of the socio-political processes and the foreign policy line of the Italian government. It is determined how the traditional strong ties between Italy and Russia affect for the attitude and assistance to Ukraine.

Assessment of corruption in the humanitarian assistance in Puntland State of Somalia

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-118
Author(s):  
Abdinur Abdirisak Sofe
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Humanitarian Aid ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fear Of Victimization ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The Government

Purpose Corruption in humanitarian aid is one of the most worried and worst problems around the world. The existence of corruption acts in humanitarian aid delivery can endanger the already susceptible lives of the neediest individuals in the community. Amid serious humanitarian allegation in the country, this study aims to capture meaningful insights in humanitarian aid corruption in Puntland State of Somalia. Design/methodology/approach The study applied qualitative method and used interview as a technique of data collection. The information obtained through the interview was analyzed by quoting and narration forms. Findings The findings indicated numerous acts of corruption in all project stages including corruption in project granting and humanitarian staff employment, distortion of project targets and diversion of humanitarian project from targeted communities. The research also found that governmental and non-governmental actors are involved in the humanitarian corruption such as project managers and support staffs in addition to line ministries, parliament and community representatives. Research limitations/implications Corruption is a taboo and is difficult to research; people do not want to share the information for fear of victimization. Concerned institutions were not willing to provide necessary materials which led to shortage of secondary data. Another problem encountered during the study has been that the humanitarian stakeholders (for instance, government, non-government and private institutions) acted reluctantly to cooperate because of suspicion that disclosing information may lead to negative effect on their business. To overcome the challenges, the study assured the confidentiality of the members and that information collected would be used for research purposes only. The study further combined various tools of data collection so that the weakness of one tool becomes the strength of the other; while the researcher made efforts to build rapport with the research participants. Originality/value This study will contribute to the literature on corruption in the humanitarian aid. Specifically, the findings of this study will benefit academicians/researchers by giving empirical insights of corruption in the humanitarian aid in Puntland. It will benefit the government policymakers in the formulation of policies to combat corruption in the sector. Donors and aid agencies may also find the findings useful as they are key stakeholders who are interested in corruption in the humanitarian sector and finally the findings will benefit the wider society that is the primary victim of corruption in the humanitarian sector.

scholarly journals Sweden’s Collective Defence Obligations or this is Not a Collective Defence Pact (or Is It?): Considerations of International and Constitutional Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-160
Author(s):  
Inger Österdahl
Keyword(s):  
Armed Forces ◽  
Constitutional Rule ◽  
Binding Force ◽  
International Obligation ◽  
Defence Policy ◽  
Collective Self ◽  
The Government ◽  
Defence Cooperation ◽  
Self Defence ◽  
The Eu

Abstract This article analyses the content of the mutual defence obligation contained in the EU Treaty Article 42(7) in relation to the Swedish constitutional rule on the sending of armed forces abroad and the emerging ’deepened defence cooperation’ between Sweden and Finland. The article tries to understand the prevailing Swedish position in legal terms and suggests an alternative flexible way on Sweden’s part of conceiving the binding force of Article 42(7). The question is whether the EU Treaty contains an international obligation of a quality to activate a provision in the Swedish Constitution entitling the government to decide on its own, without having to seek the otherwise necessary approval by Parliament, to send Swedish armed forces to other countries for instance on a mission of collective self-defence. The possibility of looking at the EU Treaty and the Swedish Instrument of Government in this way is not considered in any of the Swedish official inquiries into the Swedish security and defence policy of which there have been quite a few recently.

scholarly journals Syrian «Chemical War»

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-39
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Chemical Weapons ◽  
Information Warfare ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Chemical Attack ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
Fact Finding

This article shows that the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR) was doomed for destruction by the «collective West» at least since 2002 within the framework of the process of fragmentation of the states of the Greater Middle East and bringing the Muslim Brotherhood to power in these countries. Later this process was called the Arab Spring. The analysis of the alleged «facts» of the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian Armed Forces made it possible to establish that they were nothing more than primitive artificial performances. No «chemical attack» in Syria, attributed to the Syrian army, pursued military objectives. The basic principles of the use of chemical weapons in combat were ignored. Not a single case of the use of factory-loaded chemical munitions has been recorded. Information attacks of the Western media and non-governmental organizations, as well as their claims about the «Asad's regime»'s «chemical war against its own people» were carried out to support the Syrian anti-governmental forces at the time of their offensive on the government-controlled territory, or when they were defeated by the Syrian army. Since 2013 the opposition has been practicing mass abductions and murders of children in order to obtain more convincing «pictures». But these crimes did not attract any attention of the Western governments or human rights organizations. The article also presents the evidence of systemic failures and shortcomings in the work of the OPCW - UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) and the OPCW Fact Finding Mission (FFM), formed to establish the facts surrounding allegations of the use of toxic chemicals for hostile purposes in Syria. Considering staged fake chemical attack in Syria within the context of modern geopolitics, we can assume that it is possible to talk about the new «crusade» on Russia and its allies, but with the use of weapons of mass destruction. After the retrospective analysis of the mechanisms of information warfare, we may also note the deep intellectual degradation of its organizers in comparison with the similar information operations of the 1990s. This circumstance poses a serious threat not only to Syria and Russia, but to other countries as well, because the organizers of these operations are unable to assess even the immediate impacts of their actions

Overcoming Stereotypes

2008 ◽  
pp. 110-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Yakovlev
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Pragmatic Approach ◽  
Economic Problems ◽  
Conventional View ◽  
The Government ◽  
High Uncertainty

Using the data of SU-HSU enterprises surveys and internal statistics of KPMG company the paper provides a non-conventional view on three economic problems which have recently been in the center of expert discussions in Russia: competitiveness of firms, corruption in the government and level of taxation. The paper argues the necessity of pragmatic approach to economic phenomena, especially under conditions of high uncertainty caused by the increasing global financial crisis.

scholarly journals The effects of armed conflict on forest cover changes across temporal and spatial scales in the Colombian Amazon

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar V. Bautista-Cespedes ◽  
Louise Willemen ◽  
Augusto Castro-Nunez ◽  
Thomas A. Groen
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Peace Negotiations ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Forest Cover Changes ◽  
The Government ◽  
Colombian Amazon

AbstractThe Amazon rainforest covers roughly 40% of Colombia’s territory and has important global ecological functions. For more than 50 years, an internal war in the country has shaped this region. Peace negotiations between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) initiated in 2012 resulted in a progressive de-escalation of violence and a complete ceasefire in 2016. This study explores the role of different deforestation drivers including armed conflict variables, in explaining deforestation for three periods between 2001 and 2015. Iterative regression analyses were carried out for two spatial extents: the entire Colombian Amazon and a subset area which was most affected by deforestation. The results show that conflict variables have positive relationships with deforestation; yet, they are not among the main variables explaining deforestation. Accessibility and biophysical variables explain more variation. Nevertheless, conflict variables show divergent influence on deforestation depending on the period and scale of analysis. Based on these results, we develop deforestation risk maps to inform the design of forest conservation efforts in the post-conflict period.

No umbrella for the rain: Canadian implications following the global revolution in reconnaissance–strike technologies

2021 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-237
Author(s):  
Marc Kieley
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Gulf War ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Canadian Armed Forces ◽  
Ballistic Missiles ◽  
Defence Policy ◽  
Revolution In Military Affairs ◽  
The Government ◽  
Government Of Canada

Global conflicts in 2020 have highlighted the unexpected employment of advanced ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles by developing military powers. The development of ballistic missiles by Iran, or the export of advanced drones by Turkey, are ultimately the result of the American-led revolution in military affairs that, during the Gulf War, established the potential of precision guided weapons and reconnaissance systems. In response, America’s competitors have adapted their military doctrines and developed weapons designed to both counter and copy the West’s technological advantages. As the Government of Canada implements its defence policy—Strong, Secure, and Engaged—it has promised to procure a ground-based air defence system for the Canadian Armed Forces. Careful consideration and analysis are required, however, to ensure that Canada procures the best possible solution given limited funding and a wide array of potential threats.

The Impact of the Nicaragua Case on Matters of Evidence and Fact-Finding

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-156
Author(s):  
PAUL S. REICHLER
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pulp Mills ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
The Government ◽  
Fact Finding ◽  
Day To Day Operations ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe Nicaragua case demonstrates the Court's competence in receiving and interpreting evidence, and in making reasoned findings of fact, even in the most complicated evidentiary context, as is often presented in cases involving use of force and armed conflict. The Court applied well-established standards for evaluating the conflicting evidence presented to it. In particular, the Court determined that greater weight should be given to statements against interest made by high-level government officials than to a state's self-serving declarations. The Court also determined that statements by disinterested witnesses with first-hand knowledge should receive greater weight than mere statements of opinion or press reports. In applying these guidelines, the Court found, correctly, that (i) the United States had used military and paramilitary force against Nicaragua both directly and indirectly, by organizing, financing, arming, and training the Contra guerrillas to attack Nicaragua; (ii) the evidence did not support a finding that the United States exercised direct control over the Contras’ day-to-day operations; and (iii) there was no evidence that Nicaragua supplied arms to guerrillas fighting against the government of El Salvador during the relevant period, or carried out an armed attack against that state. While Judge Schwebel's dissent criticized the last of these findings, in fact, the evidence fully supported the Court's conclusion. In subsequent decisions during the past 25 years, the Court has continued to rely on the approach to evidence first elaborated in the Nicaragua case and has continued to demonstrate its competence as a finder of fact, including in cases involving armed conflict (Bosnia Genocide) and complex scientific and technical issues (Pulp Mills).

Civil–Military Relations and Russia’s Post-Soviet Military Culture: A Belief System Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 0095327X2110629
Author(s):  
Kirill Shamiev
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
Belief System ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Military Culture ◽  
Institutional Autonomy ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
The Government ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
The Military

This article studies the role of military culture in defense policymaking. It focuses on Russia’s post-Soviet civil–military relations and military reform attempts. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia’s armed forces were in a state of despair. Despite having relative institutional autonomy, the military neither made itself more effective before minister Serdyukov nor tried to overthrow the government. The paper uses the advocacy coalition framework’s belief system approach to analyze data from military memoirs, parliamentary speeches, and 15 interviews. The research shows that the military’s support for institutional autonomy, combined with its elites’ self-serving bias, critically contributed to what I term an “imperfect equilibrium” in Russian civil–military relations: the military could not reform itself and fought back against radical, though necessary, changes imposed by civilian leadership.

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