Foreign Aid as a Counterterrorism Tool

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (8) ◽  
pp. 1607-1635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burcu Savun ◽  
Daniel C. Tirone
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Recipient Country ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
Domestic Terrorism ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Aid ◽  
Political Conditions ◽  
Continued Use

Is foreign aid effective in reducing terrorism? The existing evidence is mostly negative. We argue that this pessimistic outlook on the efficacy of aid as a counterterrorism tool is partly a function of focusing on only one type of aid: economic aid. Governance and civil society aid can dampen the participation in and support for terrorism by altering the political conditions of a country. We expect countries that receive high levels of governance and civil society aid to experience fewer domestic terrorist incidents than countries that receive little or none. Using a sample of aid eligible countries for the period from 1997 to 2010, we find that governance and civil society aid is effective in dampening domestic terrorism, but this effect is only present if the recipient country is not experiencing a civil conflict. Our findings provide support for the continued use of democracy aid as a counterterrorism tool.

Do Donor Motives Matter? Investigating Perceptions of Foreign Aid in the Conflict in Donbas

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 748-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ala’ Alrababa’h ◽  
Rachel Myrick ◽  
Isaac Webb
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Recipient Country ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
Foreign Assistance ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
Donor States ◽  
The Impact

Abstract How do the perceived motives of donor states shape recipient attitudes toward foreign aid in a conflict zone? This research note evaluates the impact of two frames that characterize the motives of foreign powers involved in a civil conflict in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. These frames portray foreign actors as providing aid either to alleviate suffering during conflict (humanitarian frame) or to increase their power and influence in the recipient country (political influence frame). We demonstrate how framing impacts attitudes toward foreign assistance from the European Union and the Russian government among potential aid recipients in the Donbas. The results show that frames impact support for foreign aid from the European Union but have no effect on views of Russian aid. Counter to conventional expectations, aid provided for geopolitical, strategic reasons may be viewed as a positive, stabilizing force—even more than foreign aid provided for humanitarian reasons.

scholarly journals Democratization in Malawi: Responding to International and Domestic Pressures

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 415-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolas G. Emmanuel
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Political Conditionality ◽  
Aid Dependency ◽  
Political Conditions ◽  
Donor Coordination

Abstract Donors hope that their foreign aid can be influential, far beyond the development projects that they fund. Frequently, aid providers attach political conditions to their monies in the hope that these demands can serve as catalysts to improve the governance in the recipient. This is called a political conditionality approach. Few countries have felt the weight of conditionality as much as Malawi did in the 1990s. Here, donors were able to use aid sanctions to successfully encourage democratization, while strengthening the demands of domestic opposition forces. This paper argues that three factors were critical in this process: 1) aid dependency, 2) donor coordination, and 3) a strong and persistent domestic opposition. With their combined weight, foreign donors and Malawian civil society were able to change the tide in this once highly authoritarian country.

Civil society and the political economy of foreign aid in Uganda

1997 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Oloka‐Onyango ◽  
J.J. Barya
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Foreign Aid ◽  
The Political

Tenacity, Perseverance, and Imagination in the ‘Private International Prosecution’ of Hissène Habré

2020 ◽  
pp. 39-47
Author(s):  
Reed Brody
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
The Political ◽  
African Union ◽  
Political Conditions ◽  
Silver Platter

This chapter focuses on Human Rights Watch’s strategy, challenges, the role played by civil society, and the strokes of fate that accompanied the twenty-year effort to convict Hissène Habré. The Habré trial was the fruit of what has been called ‘one of the world's most patient and tenacious campaigns for justice’. This campaign was waged over two decades by Habré's victims and their supporters, who improbably succeeded in creating the political conditions to bring a former African president to justice in Africa, with the support of the African Union. The victims' coalition ‘essentially served the case to the EAC on a silver platter’, determining the contours of the prosecution and dictating the nature of the trial itself, thereby contributing to its emancipatory impact. Ultimately, the Habré case shows how a ‘private international prosecution’ can allow victims to achieve criminal justice on their own terms.

Publicity, Civil Liberties, and Political Life in Princely Hyderabad

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (04) ◽  
pp. 1248-1277
Author(s):  
RAMA SUNDARI MANTENA
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Princely State ◽  
Political Conditions

AbstractIn the 1930s, there were two glaring questions confronting the princely state of Hyderabad's Administration: the question of sovereignty (or the political future of the Hyderabad) and the problem of civil liberties. This article explores the complex socio-political conditions in the early decades of the twentieth century that gave rise to the formation of dynamic civil-society institutions in the princely state of Hyderabad. In particular, it asks how and why the discourse of civil liberties was taken up by these institutions and assesses the response of the Hyderabad Administration with respect to safeguarding civil liberties for its subjects. What the historical record reveals is that the early decades of the twentieth century in Hyderabad became a battleground between the Hyderabad Administration and the burgeoning public sphere that the Administration could not control nor manage.

ISLAM DAN PANCASILA DALAM PEMIKIRAN MOHAMMAD NATSIR

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 82
Author(s):  
Mhd Alfahjri Sukri
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Political Socialization ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Research Data ◽  
The Political ◽  
Direct Influence ◽  
Childhood Environment ◽  
Political Conditions ◽  
The Relationship

This research was conducted to see how Mohammad Natsir thought about the relationship between Islam and Pancasila. This study also explains the causes of Natsir's change of mind which initially supported Pancasila as part of Islam and later turned into an opponent of Pancasila in Konstituante on 11 November to 6 December 1957. The methodology used was a qualitative method by describing the results of the analysis carried out. The research data is obtained through a review of documents and scientific literature. The results of the study show that Mohammad Natsir's change of mind regarding the relationship between Islam and Pancasila was influenced by Mohammad Natsir's political socialization which began from Natsir's view of Islam influenced by the childhood environment (conditional and socio-cultural) in Minangkabau; direct influence from national figures such as Ahmad Hassan, H. Agus Salim, Sheikh Ahmad Syurkati and H. O Tjokroaminoto; the indirect influence of international figures throughout reading book such as Hassan Al-Banna, Amir Syakib Arselan, Rashid Ridha and Muhammad Abduh; the influence of Natsir's organization and political parties, namely Jong Islamieten Bond (JIB), Islamic Unity (Persis), and Masyumi political parties; and the influence of the political conditions at that time which made Natsir's views change, which initially accepted Pancasila and then became an opponent of the Pancasila. This research shown there are two patterns of Natsir's relationship with Pancasila, namely (1) Natsir accepted Pancasila and, (2) Natsir opposed Pancasila.

Kyrgyzstan

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica Marat
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
The Political ◽  
Lethal Force ◽  
State Actors

This chapter, on Kyrgyzstan, demonstrates how diverse and dynamic civil society mobilized in support of police overhaul following the state’s use of lethal force against civilian demonstrators in central Bishkek in 2010. The political leadership pledged to overhaul the police to avoid a repetition of bloodshed. Engaging with a range of NGOs, civic activists, and MPs, the Interior Ministry has addressed reform in a chaotic and unpredictable manner. Civil society actors representing NGOs bickered among themselves, while their demands to depoliticize the Interior Ministry differed altogether from those of the ministry. Nevertheless, the concept paper that emerged following numerous forums was driven by a consensus between a range of nonstate and state actors.

Playing with Positionality?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Kingston
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Civil War ◽  
The Political ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Associational Life ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
Research Site ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions

The chapter outlines how researchers take on different roles and positionalities as they adapt to the field, moving, for instance, from that of an “outsider” laden with externalized theoretical assumptions and having few contacts with and knowledge of the research site to one approaching, to varying degrees, that of a “pseudo-insider.” Indeed, the argument here is that researchers make choices when moving from outsider to insider roles (and between them), contingently adapting their positionality in the hope to better understand the political dynamics that underlie research projects. The setting is post-civil war Lebanon and the research project revolves around an examination of the micropolitics of civil society and associational life in this re-emerging but fragmented polity.

Peace Above the Glass Ceiling: The Historical Relationship between Female Political Empowerment and Civil Conflict

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 879-893 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sirianne Dahlum ◽  
Tore Wig
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
Reverse Causality ◽  
Political Empowerment ◽  
Strong Link ◽  
Participation Of Women ◽  
Historical Relationship ◽  
Global Data

Abstract We investigate whether female political empowerment is conducive to civil peace, drawing on global data on female political empowerment over a 200-year period, from the Varieties of Democracy database. We augment previous research by expanding the temporal scope, looking at a novel inventory of female political empowerment measures, attending to reverse-causality and omitted variable issues, and separating between relevant causal mechanisms. We find a strong link between female political empowerment and civil peace, which is particularly pronounced in the twentieth century. We find evidence that this relationship is driven both by women’s political participation—particularly the bottom-up political participation of women, e.g., in civil society—and the culture that conduces it. This is the strongest evidence to date that there is a robust link between female political empowerment and civil peace, stemming from both institutional and cultural mechanisms.

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