On November 2, 2022, the Ethiopian federal government and representatives of the Tigrayan rebels concluded an agreement intended to end the devastating civil war in the region. What some consider to be the world’s deadliest active conflict has caused tens of thousands battle-related fatalities and even more civilian victims due to famine and lack of medical service during the last two years. This Spotlight discusses the prospects of the current peace agreement and potential pitfalls that may undermine its stability.
Schlagwort: innerstaatlicher Konflikt
Bolivia: A New Battle over the Census. The 36-day Strike of the Santa Cruz Civic Movement against the Arce Government
In November, President Luis Arce in Bolivia faced one of the most turbulent moments of his government. In response to the postponement of the Population and Housing Census (initially scheduled for 2022) to 2024, mass protests in the country’s lowland region and the economic powerhouse of Santa Cruz effectively shut down Bolivia’s largest city. The strike was promoted by Governor Luis Fernando Camacho, who in 2019 led the movement that overthrew Evo Morales. The demand was to carry out the census in 2023 and request the redistribution of economic resources and parliamentary seats before the 2025 elections.
The Tricky Politics of Recognizing Armed Non-State Actors
The new volume “Armed non-state actors and the politics of recognition” by editors Anna Geis, Maéva Clément, and Hanna Pfeifer discusses armed non-state actors and their strategic pursuit of being recognized as political actors. It includes methodological considerations as well as case studies from China, Ireland, Lebanon, Nigeria and, Sudan among others. The contributions study the strategic choices that state leaders, citizens, international organizations, and others make in granting such recognition, denying it, or recognizing on their own terms.
Kanadas Genozid an den First Nations: Der Aufarbeitungskonflikt braucht Recht und Politik
Erst legten Trauernde Kinderschuhe vor das kanadische Parlament, für jedes der über 1000 Kinderskelette eines. Danach brannten Kirchen. Nachdem in Kanada in der Nähe von christlichen Umerziehungsschulen sterbliche Überreste indigener Kinder gefunden wurden, wird erneut über die kanadische Kolonialpolitik diskutiert. Bereits 2015 hat eine Untersuchungskommission festgestellt, dass ein kultureller Genozid an den First Nations des heutigen Kanadas begangen wurde. Wie kann der Staat das begangene Unrecht aufarbeiten? Welche Möglichkeiten bietet das internationale Recht zur Konfliktbewältigung? Das kürzlich gewählte kanadische Parlament steht jetzt in der Verantwortung, konkrete politische Aussöhnungsmaßnahmen zu ergreifen und zugleich juristische Wege der Aufarbeitung weiterzuentwickeln.
„The Future is Bright“ – A Way Forward for the Tigray Conflict
Since a few weeks, we observe violent clashes between government forces and local authorities in Tigray, a region in Northern Ethiopia. The Central Government under the rule of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has sent military troops into the region in order to implement law enforcement measures. To understand the conflict and to discuss ways forward, Samantha Ruppel talked with Dr. Yonas Adaye Adeto, Director and Assistant Professor of Peacebuilding and Security Governance in Africa at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) at Addis Ababa University. In the interview, Dr. Adeto argues that ethnic politics is the root cause of the conflict and describes the most important aspects of a successful conflict resolution.
Nagorno-Karabakh: Why did the Second Armenia-Azerbaijan War Start?
The “frozen” Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan existed for 26 years being neither at war nor at peace, with no diplomatic relations. What has changed over the past years so that a new all-out war erupted unexpectedly between the conflict parties in late September: military balance, geopolitical balance – or what else?
Bergkarabach – vom kalten Frieden zum heißen Krieg
Nun ist es also passiert, was die nicht eben zahlreichen Beobachter des Konflikts um Bergkarabach seit Jahren prognostiziert haben: Ohne einen ernsthaften Verhandlungsprozess wird es früher oder später zu einem neuen Krieg zwischen Armenien und Aserbaidschan kommen. Dass dieser lange Jahre „eingefrorene“ Konflikt dauerhaft ruhiggestellt werden könnte, war und ist eine große Selbsttäuschung – der Armenier, aber auch der drei Vorsitzenden der sogenannten Minsker OSZE-Verhandlungsgruppe Russland, USA und Frankreich.
Friedenserhaltung nach Bürgerkriegen: Wie die Merkmale eines Konflikts über den Erfolg mitentscheiden
Friedenserhaltende Missionen sollen verhindern, dass beendete Bürgerkriege erneut ausbrechen. Oft schaffen sie das, doch kommt es in einer bedeutenden Zahl von Fällen innerhalb weniger Jahre zum Rückfall in den Bürgerkrieg. Das wirft die Frage auf, unter welchen Bedingungen Missionen der Friedenserhaltung tatsächlich den Frieden wahren. Laut prominenter Analysen der Vereinten Nationen entscheidet vor allem das […]
Xenophobic violence and spatial inequality in South Africa
In recent violent attacks against African foreigners living in South Africa 12 people were killed. While xenophobic rhetoric has become increasingly normalised in the country’s political discourse, the latest violence has had domestic and international implications. Importantly, this violence must be seen in context of the continuation of South Africa’s colonial and apartheid era structures, which still play a crucial role in most South Africans’ everyday lives. Given that land reform is an unfinished and hotly discussed political project, we argue that intense economic and spatial inequality as remnants of the past are important contributors to recent violence, specifically against foreigners in South Africa.
How the Chilean government deals with the Mapuche conflict
The 14th of November 2018, the Chilean police shot the 24-year-old Mapuche activist Camilo Catrillanca in the municipality of Ercilla in the south of Chile. This incident received international media attention, but it is only one chapter in a long-lasting dispute over territory and autonomy between the indigenous Mapuche community and the Chilean state. Mapuche communities in Chile are demanding the restitution of territories, which were taken from their ancestors by the state. In order to defend and recover their land, some Mapuche organizations use arson attacks and land occupations. The Chilean government is responding with special operations units to ’control’ the conflict.
