NATO, Russia and the Discourse of Danger: Analysing the Rhetoric of NATO Secretary General A.F. Rasmussen

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tadas Ališauskas
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
International System ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
The Political ◽  
Official Discourse ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
Discursive Representations

Abstract This article examines the political rhetoric of NATO Secretary General Anders F. Rasmussen during his term in office (2009–2014). The officially conducted public diplomacy of A. F. Rasmussen is analysed based on the poststructuralist theoretical assumptions in order to detect the manifestations of discourse of danger in NATO-Russia relations during the years 2009–2014. The empirical data under review (official discourse of A. F. Rasmussen) is interpreted in the light of NATO–Russia relations by determining the main stages, dominating themes and discursive representations of these relations during the analysed period. Based on the tendencies in articulating dangers to NATO, this paper examines the Alliance’s position and its alternation vis-à-vis Russia in international system.

On the Will of the People: Notes on the Political “Theory” of Populism

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claus Offe
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
The Political ◽  
The People ◽  
National People ◽  
The Will

The “will of the (national) people” is the ubiquitously invoked reference unit of populist politics. The essay tries to demystify the notion that such will can be conceived of as a unique and unified substance deriving from collective ethnic identity. Arguably, all political theory is concerned with arguing for ways by which citizens can make e pluribus unum—for example, by coming to agree on procedures and institutions by which conflicts of interest and ideas can be settled according to standards of fairness. It is argued that populists in their political rhetoric and practice typically try to circumvent the burden of such argument and proof. Instead, they appeal to the notion of some preexisting existential unity of the people’s will, which they can redeem only through practices of repression and exclusion.

“There is such a situation that Comrade Svoboda is under pressure”. The Soviet leadership and the settlement of relations with Czechoslovakia. May 1969

2019 ◽  
pp. 512-519
Author(s):  
Teymur Dzhalilov ◽  
Nikita Pivovarov
Keyword(s):  
Central Committee ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Soviet Government ◽  
Soviet Leadership ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
The World ◽  
The Common

The published document is a part of the working record of The Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee on May 5, 1969. The employees of The Common Department of the CPSU Central Committee started writing such working records from the end of 1965. In contrast to the protocols, the working notes include speeches of the secretaries of the Central Committee, that allow to deeper analyze the reactions of the top party leadership, to understand their position regarding the political agenda. The peculiarity of the published document is that the Secretariat of the Central Committee did not deal with the most important foreign policy issues. It was the responsibility of the Politburo. However, it was at a meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee when Brezhnev raised the question of inviting G. Husák to Moscow. The latter replaced A. Dubček as the first Secretary of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia in April 1969. As follows from the document, Leonid Brezhnev tried to solve this issue at a meeting of the Politburo, but failed. However, even at the Secretariat of the Central Committee the Leonid Brezhnev’s initiative at the invitation of G. Husák was not supported. The published document reveals to us not only new facets in the mechanisms of decision-making in the CPSU Central Committee, the role of the Secretary General in this process, but also reflects the acute discussions within the Soviet government about the future of the world socialist systems.

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.

Department of Political Affairs

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herman T. Salton
Keyword(s):  
Secretary General ◽  
The Political ◽  
Leadership Change ◽  
Member States ◽  
Political Analysis ◽  
Peace Agreements

This chapter assesses the role of the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) in the Rwanda genocide. It situates DPA within the Secretariat of the early 1990s, explains the importance given to it by Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali, and analyses the department’s reaction to the crisis. The DPA’s role in monitoring the Arusha Peace Agreements and in providing the ‘political’ analysis of the Rwandan context is also reviewed, as is Boutros-Ghali’s desire for a powerful ‘political’ department to be juxtaposed to member states’ preference for peacekeeping and DPKO. The chapter also considers the leadership change of March 1994 when, a month before the genocide, Marrack Goulding took over the whole of DPA.

The Crisis of Minorities in Ethnic States: The Case of Palestinian Citizens in Israel

1998 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naditn Rouhana ◽  
Asʿad Ghanem
Keyword(s):  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
International System ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Structure ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Group Rights ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Ethnic Affiliation ◽  
Democratic State

The vast majority of states in the international system, democratic and non-democratic, are multi-ethnic (Gurr 1993). A liberal-democratic multi-ethnic state serves the collective needs of all its citizens regardless of their ethnic affiliation, and citizenship—legally recognized membership in the political structure called a state—is the single criterion for belonging to the state and for granting equal opportunity to all members of the system. Whether a multi-ethnic democratic state should provide group rights above and beyond individual legal equality is an ongoing debate (Gurr & Harff 1994).

Working Less, Not More in a Workfare Programme: Group Solidarity, Informal Norms and Alternative Value Systems Amongst Activated Participants

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
LASSE SCHMIDT HANSEN ◽  
MATHIAS HERUP NIELSEN
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
Welfare Recipients ◽  
Value Systems ◽  
The Political ◽  
Modus Operandi ◽  
Apparent Paradox ◽  
Group Solidarity ◽  
Manual Labour ◽  
Informal Regulation

Abstract This article uses extensive ethnographic methods to explore the lived reality of a Danish workfare programme. The programme requires social assistance recipients to perform manual labour for their benefits at municipal work sites. The contrast between the political rhetoric that justifies the workfare programme and the lived reality of it is striking. While the programme is justified as a means to put the passive unemployed to work, there is a norm of working less, not more at the site. The participants spend most of their time waiting or conducting seemingly meaningless work assignments. However, over time, the majority of the participants begin to embrace this modus operandi at the site. This article answers this apparent paradox by turning to concepts from the anthropology of industrial work. Such concepts allow us to analyse how camaraderie exists amongst participants as well as work supervisors at the site. Particularly, the camaraderie is based on group solidarity, an informal regulation of work efficiency and an alternative system of value. Hereby, the article adds to previous findings on the ‘lived experiences’ of welfare recipients.

General Assembly

1950 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 614-630
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Atomic Energy ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
The Political ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Political Integrity ◽  
Regular Session

The fifth regular session of the General Assembly, meeting at Lake Success on September 19, 1950, had before it an agenda of 70 items. The Assembly was expected to discuss, in particular, questions concerning Palestine, the former Italian colonies, the Balkans, threats to the political integrity of China, the problem of the independence of Korea, observance of human rights, international control of atomic energy, technical assistance for under-developed areas, freedom of information, refugees and stateless persons, matters concerning trusteeship and non-self-governing territories, administrative and budgetary matters, reports of the specialized agencies, and reports of the Secretary-General on activities of the organization during the year.

The Political Culture and Political Rhetoric of County Feasts and Feast Sermons, 1654–1714

1994 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Newton E. Key
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
The Political ◽  
Common Cause ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Public Lecture

In December 1655, four stewards for the Worcestershire feast wrote to the eminent divine Richard Baxter regarding possible worthy charities for money collected at their recent London feast. Baxter, elated by their offer, suggested that they set up a public lecture in a dark corner of their native county. He later recalled how well the charitable concerns of this first Worcestershire feast tied in with his concurrent actions to establish a clerical association in the county. Almost thirty years later, in 1682, Roger L'Estrange noted the same phenomenon of annual county feasts in London. Like Baxter, L'Estrange defended what he termed the “innocent county feasts,” and hisObservatoradvertised both tickets and published sermons for more than a dozen county or city feasts during its brief run between 1681 and 1687. Such common cause between Baxter and L'Estrange is remarkable. Moreover, the “innocent” county feasts, which flourished for fifty years from the late 1650s, were often controversial and were the setting for feast sermons which often heaped vitriol on “parties,” whether religious or political. This article examines the rise of the county feasts in the 1650s and their peak in the 1680s in order to assess their significance in the development of late Stuart society, culture, and politics.The county feast was in fact an urban phenomenon: natives of a county met annually, usually in London, for a sermon, dinner, and a subscription to a charity. The phenomenon has long been noted, though rarely analyzed.

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