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| 2. |
- Angerbrandt, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
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Above Politics? : Ex-Military Leaders in Nigerian Electoral Politics
- 2021
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Ingår i: Democratization. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1351-0347 .- 1743-890X. ; 28:4, s. 782-800
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In countries transitioning from military to democratic rule, authoritarian legacies often continue to influence politics. Whereas previous research has focused on the institutional causes of such deficiencies, there is a lack of studies examining the role ex-military leaders who re-emerge as civilian presidents have in sustaining authoritarian tendencies. In this article, we begin to fill this lacuna by investigating the question: how and under which conditions do ex-military leaders' political identity constructions affect their tendency to place themselves above politics (i.e. expressing the attitude and behaviour of being superior to democratic rules)? The literature on neo-patrimonialism and post-civil war politics points to the importance of the political identities of ex-militaries, and we propose a theory that highlights the role identity construction plays in shaping elites’ decision-making processes. Based on a comparison of two Nigerian presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, we find that ex-generals' tendency to engage in politics from above is largely a function of to what extent they have diversified their political identities beyond their role as “militaries”. In this process, the degree of democratic consolidation also seems to play a role; ex-militaries operating in newly established democracies appear to have more opportunities to place themselves above politics.
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| 3. |
- Bangura, Ibrahim, et al.
(författare)
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Patrimonial Truth-Telling : Why Truth Commissions Leave Victim and Ex-Combatant Participants Aggrieved
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding. - : Routledge. - 1750-2977 .- 1750-2985. ; 17:4, s. 371-393
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is a growing awareness that truth commissions (TCs) often leave victim and ex-combatant participants aggrieved. This is problematic since it can undermine support for peace processes. When attempting to explain such shortcomings, previous research has not paid sufficient attention to the patrimonial sources of TC-participants’ frustration. We argue that such forms of disenchantment are largely caused by internationalised TCs’ patrimonial mode of working, utilising tactics such as motorcades as manifestations of power and brokers to mobilise witnesses. To highlight the relevance of our argument, we use the work of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission as an example.
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| 4. |
- Brosché, Johan, 1978-
(författare)
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Masters of War : The Role of Elites in Sudan’s Communal Conflicts
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Why do communal conflicts turn violent in some regions but not in others? Communal conflicts pose a severe threat to human security and kill thousands of people each year, but our understanding of this phenomenon is still limited. In particular, we lack knowledge about why some of these conflicts become violent while others are resolved peacefully. This study addresses this knowledge gap and has a novel approach by addressing subnational variations that are unexplained by previous research. The theoretical framework combines insights from three different perspectives focusing on the role of the state, elite interactions, and conditions for cooperation over common resources. Empirically, the research question is investigated by combining within- and between-region analyses of three Sudanese regions: Darfur, Eastern Sudan, and Greater Upper Nile. Despite sharing several similar characteristics, communal conflicts have killed thousands in Darfur and Greater Upper Nile but only a few dozen in Eastern Sudan. The empirical analysis builds on extensive material collected during fieldwork.This study generates several conclusions about the importance of government conduct and how state behavior contributes to the prevalence of violent communal conflicts. It finds that when governments act in a biased manner – favoring certain communities over others – interactions between central and local elites as well as among local elites are disrupted. Unconstructive elite interactions, in turn, have negative effects on three mechanisms that are crucial for communal cooperation. First, when the regime is biased, communal affiliation, rather than the severity and context of a violation, determines the sanctions that are imposed on the perpetrators. Second, government bias leads to unclear boundaries, which contribute to violent communal conflicts by creating disarray and by shifting power balances between the communities. Third, regime partiality distances rules from local conditions and restricts the influence of local actors who have an understanding of local circumstances. The study also reveals why a regime acts with partiality in some areas but not in others. The answer to this question is found in the complex interplay between the threats and opportunities that a region presents to the regime. Taken together, the findings have important implications for the prevention and management of communal conflict.
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| 5. |
- Brosché, Johan, 1978-, et al.
(författare)
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Nio punkter för global fred (Nine Points for Global Peace)
- 2015
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Annan publikation (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Insatserna för global fred måste stärkas skriver tolv företrädare för institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning apropå att världens ledare samlas i dag i New York för att anta 17 nya globala mål för en bättre värld och mer hållbar utveckling.
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| 6. |
- Grech-Madin, Charlotte, 1992-
(författare)
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The Water Taboo : Restraining the Weaponisation of Water in International Conflict
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Why do nation states in conflict with one another refrain from weaponising water? Water has long been a standard weapon of armed conflict. In the post-World War II period, however, nation states in international conflict have made concerted efforts to restrain its weaponisation. This is puzzling given the absolute vitality of water to an adversary, a long historical record of water weaponisation, and water’s heightened military utility in the face of rising scarcity. Distinct from existing scholarship, this study contends that water has become embedded in a global normative inhibition – a “water taboo” – that denounces its weaponisation as morally unacceptable. Through qualitative case research involving elite interviewing and historical analysis, this study examines the water taboo. Three focal points include its existence, how it evolved over time, and most importantly, how it influences states’ decisions on whether or not to weaponise water. The study first outlines the water taboo. Next it analyses the taboo’s historical origins, and later its strengthening from the 1950s to the present via a confluence of broader humanitarian and environmental protection movements. It then examines the taboo’s influence in a “hard” case of India in the 1999 Kargil War, and “deviant” case of the US in the 1991 Gulf War. Altogether, the study contributes that: (i) a moral aversion to weaponising water exists; (ii) it has evolved through multiple phases of norm strengthening in the past seventy years; and (iii) it influences state behaviour at an instrumental level and, in some cases, more internalised level of compliance. Where the taboo is not fully internalised, this study finds that the taboo’s influence is mediated by levels of military necessity, operational dependence of the military on politicians, and embeddedness of belligerents in the international community. These findings firmly extend IR and Peace and Conflict literature into the domain of water, and suggest future avenues for research and policy to charter long-term peace and security around water.
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| 7. |
- Lindgren, Mathilda, 1983-
(författare)
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Peacemaking Up Close : Explaining Mediator Styles of International Mediators
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Scholarly work on international mediation suggests that how third parties mediate influences the resolution of armed conflicts. However, our understanding of what explains mediator style is limited. This dissertation addresses this gap by offering the first systematic study on explanations for mediator styles at the level of the individual. It explores the research question: what explains mediator styles of individuals mediating for peacemaking organizations in armed conflicts? Mediator style is studied as themes in goals and behaviors along two dimensions: directiveness and orientation. Directiveness covers a mediator's use of leverage and varies from non-directive to directive, while orientation covers a mediator's prioritized type of outcome and varies from relationship-oriented to settlement-oriented. The dissertation develops a theoretical framework on the effects of conflict context and mediator characteristics on mediator style. It formulates a set of theoretical expectations concerning how context in the form of conflict intensity, and characteristics such as the mediator's background profile and personality, influence mediator style. The framework is evaluated and developed based on the findings of a mixed-method design combining a survey experiment and 46 semi-structured in-depth interviews with a broad variety of IGO and NGO mediators. The results on context suggest that high-intensity conflicts make mediators on average more directive than low-intensity conflicts as a result of heightened humanitarian concerns. Furthermore, on characteristics, high-profile mediators are shown to be overall more settlement-oriented than low-profile mediators as a result of their views on conflict causes and mediator accountabilities. These findings are complemented with evidence for contingent relationships between conflict intensity, mediator personality and directiveness as well as conflict intensity, mediator profile and orientation. The study thus contributes with a refined understanding of the mediator styles of international mediators that both facilitates its further scholarly exploration and provides input to the practice of peacemaking.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Sjöstedt, Roxanna, et al.
(författare)
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Demagogues of Hate or Shepherds of Peace? : Examining the Threat Construction Processes of Warlord Democrats in Sierra Leone and Liberia
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of International Relations and Development. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1408-6980 .- 1581-1980. ; 22:3, s. 560-583
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- How are threat images framed and constructed by the so-called warlord democrats (WDs)? Societies that have suffered from large-scale civil wars are commonly permeated by inter-group fear and hate. In these contexts, former military or political leaders of armed groups sometimes become involved in post-war politics. These WDs can act as reconciliation spoilers by making securitising moves, i.e. they construct threat images that are potentially very costly for fragile post-conflict democratisation processes. It is therefore crucial to explore WDs’ speech acts. Yet, the literature on post-war politics has largely overlooked these individual aspects. This article argues that the central components of securitisation theory can be useful in understanding this phenomenon if adjusted to the contextual circumstances of post-war societies. By analysing speech acts by seven WDs in post-war Liberia and Sierra Leone, two forms of framing strategies stand out as particularly relevant. First, WDs’ securitising moves are often framed as veiled threats of violence, as it is often deemed too risky for these individuals outside formal power positions to overtly express threats in a generally de-securitised setting. Second, when WDs construct threats, they often chose to frame themselves or their constituencies or followers as the referent object of security.
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| 10. |
- Sjöstedt, Roxanna, et al.
(författare)
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Socializing Warlord Democrats: Analyzing Violent Discursive Practices in Post-Civil War Politics
- 2024
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Ingår i: International Studies Review. - 1521-9488. ; 26:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Across the world, so-called warlord democrats (WDs) – former military or political leaders of armed groups who subsequently enter formal electoral politics – strongly influence the dynamics and trajectory of post-civil war politics. However, scholarship on war-to-peace transitions and post-conflict politics have often failed to pay attention to the agency of these important actors. This article rectifies this oversight, and thereby adds to the overarching scholarly debate on what enhances or hampers democratic processes after violent conflict. It makes two main contributions. First, by putting an explicit focus on the individual level of analysis and on the agency of WDs, the article opens up an avenue of research that previously has been black-boxed. Second, it demonstrates that the assumptions of socialization theory are particular suitable for enhancing our understanding of variations in the agency of WDs and their impact on post-conflict electoral politics. A novel analytical framework that refines the concept guides the empirical examination of the socialization processes of two WDs over time: Julius Maada Bio, the ex-junta leader who became President of Sierra Leone and Prince Johnson, the ex-warlord in Liberia who became Senator and presidential candidate. The findings suggest that the socialization theory holds promise as a new perspective on the study of WDs, but the theory may also need additional conceptual development and adjustment when applied outside its traditional empirical context and at the individual levels of analysis. Specifically, we find that the democratic socialization of our selected WDs display the characteristics of hybrid socialization, where conflicting normative frameworks result in lopsided socialization processes. But more research is needed on how to empirically distinguish between cost-benefit calculations and a logic of appropriateness, the long-term implications of hybrid socialization, and how to theoretically reconcile individual level socialization processes with that of states or groups.
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