The Philites Stele from Erythrai

Author(s):  
David A. Teegarden

Alexander's conquest of western Asia Minor marked a dramatic turning point in Erythraian politics. For the previous fifty-four consecutive years (386–332) and for seventy-two of the previous eighty years (412–394 and 386–332), oligarchs controlled that polis. By the end of the 330s, however, the democrats were in control. What many Erythraians likely considered to be the natural and immutable political order had been completely upended. This chapter analyzes the Erythraian democrats' efforts to maintain control of their polis in the face of efforts by their anti-democratic opponents to reinstate the pre-Alexander status quo. Based on an analysis of the events referred to in the Philites stele and their likely historical contexts, it argues that the creation and subsequent manipulation of the statue of Philites played an important role in the foundation, contestation, and ultimate securement of the democracy that was established in Erythrai in the wake of Alexander's conquest of western Asia Minor.

2019 ◽  
pp. 15-56
Author(s):  
Aneurin Ellis-Evans

This chapter considers the human factors which promote regional integration by examining the regional identity of Hellenistic Ilion from three distinct perspectives. Firstly, I consider the narrative of the city’s history embedded in Strabo’s account of the Troad. This has been highly influential on modern scholarship, but needs to be treated with considerable scepticism given Strabo’s intellectual priorities in the Geography. Secondly, I look at the phenomenon of cities producing coinages with the posthumous types of Alexander and Lysimachos in the first half of the second century BC. This indicates that the Troad was not, as Strabo wanted to believe, a natural unity, but rather divided between a northern half orientated towards the Bosporos (to which Ilion belonged) and a southern half orientated towards the coast of western Asia Minor. Finally, I examine the koinon of Athena Ilias, a religious confederation which organized the annual Panathenaia festival for Athena Ilias at Ilion from the late fourth century BC down to the second century AD. The creation of this institution not only greatly benefited Ilion, but also served to stitch together the northern and southern halves of the Troad into a more coherent whole.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 330-347
Author(s):  
Hugo Agra

O artigo analisa um tema pouco abordado na literatura brasileira de relações internacionais: a atuação das políticas externas do Brasil e do México para a criação do Grupo de Contadora (1983), Grupo de Apoio à Contadora (1985) e do Grupo do Rio (1987). Esses grupos tiveram papéis importantes nas tentativas de estabilização dos problemas políticos, econômicos e sociais da América Central a partir dos anos 1980. O artigo está dividido em quatro partes: i) compreensão da criação do Grupo de Contadora, do Grupo de Apoio à Contadora e a atuação do Brasil e do México, ii) destaque aos principais objetivos desses dois grupos, iii) explica o “dilema” das políticas externas do Brasil e do México diante das ações estadunidenses para a América Central e iv) e descreve a criação e os objetivos do Grupo do Rio. Por meio de uma pesquisa explicativa, onde é fundamental reunir informações sobre vários assuntos para entender de forma mais abrangente um tema específico, o artigo faz uso de fontes secundárias que analisam as relações internacionais da América Latina e os processos decisórios das políticas externas do Brasil e do México na década de 1980, além de algumas fontes primárias, como documentos oficiais dos acordos celebrados e declarações presidenciais disponíveis em arquivos dos sites eletrônicos da presidência ou chancelaria dos países. Conclui-se mostrando que os dois países foram fundamentais para o processo de estabilização política, principalmente na região centro-americana, não só pela importância histórica, política e econômica de cada um, mas também pelo fato de que a formação desses grupos foram importantes para dirimir litígios, acelerar a resolução de conflitos entre os países do continente, além de ter sido um período de aproximação e fortalecimento da relação bilateral Brasil-México.         ABSTRACT: The article analyzes a theme little addressed in the Brazilian literature of international relations: the performance of the foreign policies of Brazil and Mexico for the creation of the Contadora Group (1983), the Contadora Support Group (1985) and the Rio Group (1987). These groups played important roles in attempts to stabilize the political, economic and social problems of Central America from the 1980s onwards. The article is divided into four parts: i) an understanding of the creation of the Contadora Group, the Contadora Support Group and the actions of Brazil and Mexico, ii) highlighting the main objectives of these two groups, iii) explaining the "dilemma" of the foreign policies of Brazil and Mexico in the face of US actions for Central America, and iv) describing the creation and objectives of the Rio Group. By means of an explanatory survey, where it is essential to gather information on various subjects in order to understand more comprehensively a specific theme, the article makes use of secondary sources that analyze the international relations of Latin America and the decision-making processes of the foreign policies of Brazil and Mexico in the 1980s, in addition to some primary sources, such as official documents of the agreements signed and presidential declarations available on the archives of the electronic sites of the presidency or chancellery of the countries. It concludes by showing that both countries were fundamental to the process of political stabilization, especially in the Central American region, not only because of their historical, political and economic importance, but also because the formation of these groups was important to settle disputes, accelerate the resolution of conflicts between the countries of the continent, and was a period of rapprochement and strengthening of the bilateral relationship between Brazil and Mexico. Keywords: International Relations; Latin America; Contadora Group; Rio Group.       Aprovado em: setembro/2019. Recebido em: agosto/2020.


Author(s):  
Nimer Sultany

This chapter argues that revolution is not separate from the very discourse and arrangements it responds to. Rather, it is subsumed in a legitimation discourse, and it is engulfed by similar tensions. Although revolution may erupt because of a perceived legitimacy deficit, it does not solve the conceptual deficiency of legitimacy. This is because revolution vacillates between an event that inaugurated it and a process that seeks to complete it. This duality makes revolution a contradictory concept that includes its own negation because different protagonists deploy it in contradictory ways. The very qualities that enable the designation of the Arab Spring as a revolution enable the counter-revolution. In other words, revolution does not provide a stable, unambiguous framework within which the new political order can be established. Consequently, the revolution’s attempt to delegitimate the status quo and legitimate the new order re-enacts the incoherence and instability of other legitimation devices.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Rachel A. Schwartz

ABSTRACT The coexistence of predatory informal rules alongside formal democratic institutions is a defining, if pernicious, feature of Latin America’s political landscape. How do such rules remain so resilient in the face of bureaucratic reforms? This article explicates the mechanisms underlying the persistence of such rules and challenges conventional explanations through process-tracing analysis in one arena: Guatemala’s customs administration. During Guatemala’s period of armed conflict and military rule, military intelligence officers introduced a powerful customs fraud scheme that endured for more than 20 years, despite state reforms. Its survival is best attributed to the ability of the distributional coalition underwriting the predatory rules to capture new political and economic spaces facilitated by political party and market reforms. This illustrates that distributional approaches to institutional change must attend to how those with a stake in the status quo may continue to uphold perverse institutional arrangements on the margins of state power.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Ruth Schmidt ◽  
Katelyn Stenger

Abstract Despite widespread recognition that behavioral public policy (BPP) needs to move beyond nudging if the field is to achieve more significant impact, problem-solving approaches remain optimized to achieve tactical success and are evaluated by short-term metrics with the assumption of stable systems. As a result, current methodologies may contribute to the development of solutions that appear well formed but become ‘brittle’ in the face of more complex contexts if they fail to consider important contextual cues, broader system forces, and emergent conditions, which can take three distinct forms: contextual, systemic, and anticipatory brittleness. The Covid-19 pandemic and vaccination rollout present an opportunity to identify and correct interventional brittleness with a new methodological approach – strategic BPP (SBPP) – that can inform the creation of more resilient solutions by embracing more diverse forms of evidence and applied foresight, designing interventions within ecosystems, and iteratively developing solutions. To advance the case for adopting a SBPP and ‘roughly right’ modes of inquiry, we use the Covid-19 vaccination rollout to define a new methodological roadmap, while also acknowledging that taking a more strategic approach may challenge current BPP norms.


1997 ◽  
Vol 66 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 273-300 ◽  
Author(s):  

AbstractThis article aims to throw a light on the problems relating to the proposed enlargement of the composition of the UN Security Council at present by studying the creation of four non-permanent seats in the Security Council in 1963 from the British and the French perspectives. The examination is based on the author's research of original documents in the archives of the British and French foreign ministries and upon information provided to the author by British, French and Finnish diplomats. The author concludes that, as between 1946 and 1963, British and French short term interests are still best served by maintaining the status quo in the Security Council. However, in a long term perspective it is not clear where the interests of these two States lie.


Elements ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Nista

For a slave living under the system of chattel slavery in the American South during the nineteenth century, avenues of self-expression were extremely limited. One of the few ways slaves could exert control over their own lives was through singing and dancing. These arts gave slaves a chance to relieve stress and establish a culture through the creation of musical instruments, songs, and dances. All of these contained hints at the true nature of slaves’ feelings towards the system that oppressed them, feelings that they had to frequently repress. However, despite slaves’ efforts to make this culture entirely their own, masters tried to find ways to use it to their advantage instead of to the slaves’ benefit. The resulting covert power struggle sometimes ended in favor of the masters, taking the form of regulations on slaves’ dances, requirement of the performance of songs and dances for the masters’ entertainment, and even abuse of slaves by using their own arts. Ultimately, however, slaves emerged victorious because of the hidden messages in their songs and dances. Though this method of coping could not erase all the masters did, it was at least one glimmer of hope.


1990 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Austin

The word ‘tyrant’ was not originally Greek, but borrowed from some eastern language, perhaps in western Asia Minor. On the other hand, tyranny as it developed in the Greek cities in the archaic age would seem to have been initially an indigenous growth, independent of any intervention by foreign powers. It then became a constantly recurring phenomenon of Greek political and social life, so long as the Greeks enjoyed an independent history.


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