Bewaffnete Eingriffe in innerstaatliche Konflikte sind in den letzten Jahren immer wieder als Ultima Ratio genannt worden, um der internationalen Schutzverantwortung oder dem Recht auf Selbstverteidigung nachzukommen. Sie stehen jedenfalls im Spannungsfeld zwischen dem prinzipiellen Gewaltverbot und aktuellen Realitäten, die ihren Ausdruck im Konzept der Responsibility to Protect (R2P) finden. AutorInnen aus unterschiedlichen wissenschaftlichen Richtungen und Ländern setzen sich mit diesen und anderen Fragen auseinander und versuchen die Thematik aus mehreren Perspektiven und Blickwinkeln zu diskutieren.

This volume is driven by the conviction that the key to the establishment of stable liberal democracy anywhere in the world and, in this case, in Kosovo lies in the completion of three interrelated tasks: first, the creation of effective political institutions, based on the principle of the separation of powers (including the independence of the judiciary); second, the promotion of the rule of law; and, third, the promotion of civic values, including tolerance or ethnic/religious/sexual minorities, trust, and respect for the harm principle. In fact, there are problems across all three measures, including with judicial independence, with the rule of law, and with civic values. On the last of these, research findings show that the citizens of Kosovo rank extremely low on trust of other citizens, low on engagement in social organizations, and tolerance of gays, lesbians, and atheists, but high on trust in the political institutions of their country and in pride of their newly independent state.

This book investigates the extent to which traditional international law regulating foreign interventions in internal conflicts has been affected by the human rights paradigm. Since the adoption of the Charter of the United Nations, foreign armed interventions in internal conflicts have turned into a common practice. At first sight, it might seem that state practice has developed in a chaotic fashion, however on closer examination, specific patterns emerge. The book charts these patterns by examining the traditional doctrines of intervention and testing them against state practise. The book has two aims. Firstly, it seeks to clarify the current legal framework regulating interventions in internal conflicts. Secondly, it plots the emergence of new trends and investigates whether they are becoming part of positive international law. By taking this dual focus, it offers the first truly comprehensive examination of foreign interventions in internal conflicts.

This handbook examines the study of international relations (IR) in Russia, giving a comprehensive analysis of historical, theoretic-conceptual, geographical, and institutional aspects. It identifies the place and role of Russia in global IR and discusses the factors that facilitate or impede the development of Russian IR studies. The contributors represent diverse Russian regions and IR schools and offer an overview of different intellectual traditions and key IR paradigms in the post-Soviet era. Filling the vacuum in international understanding of the Russian perspective on pivotal international issues, they demonstrate the continuity and change in Russia’s international policy course over the past three decades and explain how different foreign policy schools and concepts have affected Russian foreign policy making and the decision-making process. Providing a unique contribution to the discussion on non-Western IR theory, this handbook will appeal to scholars and students of international relations, Russian studies, world politics, and international studies.

There are various opinions on the relevance of the United Nations concerning the authorisation of the use of force. Idealists demand UN authorisation for any type of intervention and strict adherence to a narrow interpretation of international law. Realists have a more sceptical stance, arguing that international law and international institutions are only successful under specific circumstances. Neoconservatives defy international law and international institutions. These arguments are compared and then applied to several case studies. It is explained why unilateralist thinking is not viable; why the use of force in circumvention of the UN framework is never legal; and that cases where intervention is illegal but legitimate necessitate reform of international laws and institutions.

Based on extensive archival research and fieldwork and the culmination of more than two decades of study, The Three Yugoslavias is a major contribution to an understanding of Yugoslavia and its successor states.

In Only the Dead, Bear Braumoeller assesses the claim that armed conflict is in decline and finds it wanting. In the course of his assessment, he also develops a powerful explanation for trends in warfare over time. His central finding is that, although there has been a drop in the rate of international conflict following the end of the Cold War, that drop followed nearly two centuries of steady increases in the rate of conflict initiation.

The Negev desert occupies most of the territory of Israel. It has a strategic importance for the existence of the center of the country and at the same time is considered as a natural wild periphery. Since the 1920s, there was a tendency to conquer and flourish the desert, while since the 1980s, the ecological values gained importance. This manuscript reveals the relationship between man and his environment, employing texts analysis according to the ecocriticism approach. The study shows how as part of globalization processes, the status of collectivism in Israeli society was declined whereas the ability of social groups to influence the spatial identity construction has increased. Dr. Ilanit Ben-Dor Derimian, lecturer specialized in Israel and Jewish culture and history studies, member of the Research Center of Foreign Cultures, Languages and Literatures (CECILLE), University of Lille, France.

Countries rarely disappear off the map. In the 20th century, only a few countries shared this fate with Yugoslavia. The dissolution of Yugoslavia led to the largest war in Europe since 1945, massive human rights violations and over 100,000 victims. Debating the End of Yugoslavia is less an attempt to re-write the dissolution of Yugoslavia, or to provide a different narrative, than to take stock and reflect on the scholarship to date. New sources and data offer fresh avenues of research avoiding the passion of the moment that often characterized research published during the wars and provide contemporary perspectives on the dissolution. The book outlines the state of the debate rather than focusing on controversies alone and maps how different scholarly communities have reflected on the dissolution of the country, what arguments remain open in scholarly discourse and highlights new, innovative paths to study the period.

Both a learning platform and a pedagogical experiment, Urban School Ruhr is built upon the foundational belief that experts and amateurs can, together, build a space of critical exchange and knowledge transfer. USR prioritises exchange and dialogue that is not necessarily attached to specific outcomes, results or interventions in built reality, instead understanding conversation as the first step to co-producing cities. Explorations in Urban Practice, the first edition in the Urban School Ruhr Series, draws from and reflects upon USR’s experiences to date whilst also looking to the future of urban practice in contemporary cities. The book presents the reader with key current questions in the field: how can we learn city making? How should we understand the political concept of commoning for this purpose? And how can we discuss intervention as a strategy for enacting urban change?