Modern Warfare in Former Yugoslavia and Ukraine

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-326
Author(s):  
R. Craig Nation
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Management ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Cooperative Security ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Peace Enforcement ◽  
Modern Warfare ◽  
External Actors ◽  
East West

The wars in former Yugoslavia from 1991–2001, and Ukraine from 2014 to the present, provide revealing examples of the ways in which contemporary armed conflict is evolving. Their origins lay in domestic rather than inter-state disputes, and they emerged as civil wars born of state failure. The belligerent factions were diverse, including established states, new national polities, and radicalized non-state actors. Operationally the wars were liquid conflicts where adversaries, lacking decisive combat power, often shunned conventional military objectives in favor of attacks on populations, terroristic posturing, and symbolic gestures. The conflicts were internationalized, with powerful external actors at odds over responsibility and preferred outcomes. They were European wars, with European and Euro-Atlantic institutions directly engaged in conflict management, peace enforcement, and post-conflict peace building. The conflicts have contributed to the break down of cooperative security in 21st century Europe and the re-opening of an East-West divide running through the heart of the continent. Managing and containing such clashes is and will remain a major strategic challenge.

scholarly journals Cyclical Youth-Led Conflict as an Early Warning Indicator

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-25
Author(s):  
Michelle Legassicke
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
World Bank ◽  
International Community ◽  
Weak State ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Sustainable Peace ◽  
External Actors ◽  
World Development

The dynamics of conflict are shifting. In the 2011 World Development Report, the World Bank stated that conflicts are now increasingly cyclical and intractable events; 90 percent of the civil wars that occurred in the 2000s were fought within countries that had experienced a domestic conflict in the past 30 years (World Bank, 2011). Countries are more likely to experience cycles of violence due to the persistence of weak state structures that cannot extend their reach into peripheral regions, leading to local instability (Kingston, 2004). Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the international community observed several states – in which external actors provided 50 percent of those states’ overall revenues – relapse into civil war (Call, 2012). Given the significant investment by the international community in peacebuilding projects in post-conflict states – whether democratic reforms, economic reforms, capacity building, or sustainable development – there needs to be a significant increase in research focused on civil war recurrence, as the trajectory of post-conflict states cannot be guaranteed without sustainable peace.

scholarly journals Notes from Belgrade: Social Anthropology for Archaeology Students in a Post-Conflict Society

Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-55
Author(s):  
Monika Milosavljević
Keyword(s):  
Civil Wars ◽  
Physical Anthropology ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Cultural Relativism ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Social Anthropology ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
New Challenges

Social anthropology courses, some elective and some mandatory, for archaeology students at the Department of Archaeology, University of Belgrade, commenced only after 2003.  Since Serbian society opened itself from its isolation, the key challenge has been to teach new generations who have grown up during the civil wars in Former Yugoslavia to recognize broader perspectives on human cultures, universalities, and differences. Anthropology has been consequently utilized as a prominent tool for cultural relativism, multiculturalism, ‘Otherness’, and reflexive thinking. However much these facets have all proved necessary, they seem to have fallen to the wayside in ‘post-truth’ world. It has therefore become unclear in teaching how to address the phenomenon. This paper aims to critically discuss anachronous traditions in social and physical anthropology in combination with new challenges of the biologisation of social identities in archaeology and social anthropology.

scholarly journals War veterans: Factor of instability or factor of peace (building)

Temida ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-37
Author(s):  
Jelena Grujic
Keyword(s):  
Social Group ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Entire Region ◽  
Positive Potential ◽  
War Veterans ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The Subject

It is the characteristic of the entire region of the former Yugoslavia that veterans of regional wars 1991-1999 are marginalized social group. Besides negative consequences for veterans, the marginalization strongly affects the whole communities, as well as very sensitive regional post conflict relations. Still, negative consequences that veterans suffer nowadays can be transformed into precious, positive potential for building of a good and healthy post-conflict societies and good neighborhood relationships as well. This paper is focused on the position of war veterans from Serbia, which recently became the subject of public debate on the occasion of the publication of the book "Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?".

The Role of External Actors in Incentivizing Post-Conflict Power-Sharing

2013 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne McEvoy
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Strategic Interaction ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Peace Agreement ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Structural Preferences ◽  
External Actors ◽  
External Incentives

External actors engaged in peace building often induce domestic elites to share power. This article explores the effectiveness of external incentives in establishing, maintaining or reforming power-sharing. Adopting a rationalist approach to socialization, the research investigates the strategic interaction between external and internal actors in two cases of contemporary power-sharing: Northern Ireland and Bosnia-Herzegovina. External incentives will probably be more effective when they uphold a peace agreement that satisfies groups’ structural preferences on constitutional issues. External incentives can, under certain conditions, lead to internalization and the potential ‘habitualization’ of power-sharing as norm-conforming behaviour. The strategy of external actors will be less effective when their socialization efforts are inconsistent and coercive, viewed as threatening to one or more of the contending groups.

scholarly journals Conflict Management in Indonesia: Policy Perspective and Analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Sugit Arjon
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Management ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Psychosocial Support ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Indonesian Government ◽  
Legal Advice ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Government

This article focuses to analyze the roots of violence and this article examines at case studies from Indonesia. This article also aims at answering the effectiveness of policy in the conflict management by analysing the critical factors that involved in violent conflicts and briefly seek alternative solution to prevent it to happen in the future. This article aims to answer two central questions, firstly, how effective the Indonesian government policy on security and conflict. Secondly, what are the roles of NGOs to support the effectiveness of the policy on security and conflict. To prevent the future conflicts, there are three effective strategies that can be implemented and it need the collaboration between the policymakers and society. First, to design an effective early warning mechanism which able to inform a potential friction that can escalate to bigger conflict. Second, an effective policy to prevent conflict, to manage conflict, and peace building mechanisms in post-conflict. Third, urge the participation of non-state actors in conflict management. The Indonesian government and house of representatives have passed the bill on social conflict management written as Law No. 7/2012 or known as UU PKS. However, UU PKS arguably leaves plenty of loopholes. Moreover, the activities of NGOs on the conflict management can be divided into two main categories: public engagement and advocacy. Public engagement activities focus on services to the public while on the advocacy focuses to maintain communication and put pressure to the government. In public engagement activities, the NGOs offer the service to provide psychological and legal assistance, consulting the victims rights, consulting, legal advice, psychosocial support to the victims. Moreover, in the advocacy approach, the NGOs maintain the discussion and lobby to the government to ensure the peace and justice in law enforcement.

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