Can America Nation-Build?

2007 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 314-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Brownlee
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Prior Experience ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
New Democracies ◽  
Antecedent Conditions ◽  
Local Political Institutions ◽  
External Intervention ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Invasion Of Iraq

Post-9/11 security concerns and the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq have renewed scholarly interest in nation-building as a form of externally fostered democratization. The selected works assess Iraq and its precursors, seeking general lessons for establishing new democracies. They principally conclude that successful nation-building depends on sustained commitments of time, materiel, and manpower. Although this thesis improves upon earlier studies of democracy promotion, which often treated intentions as determinative, it does not fully reckon with the effect of antecedent conditions on external intervention. As this review addresses, American efforts at nation-building have historically been enabled or constrained by local political institutions. Rather than autonomously reengineering the target society, nation-builders have buttressed bureaucracies and parliaments where they were already available (Germany, Japan) and foundered in countries that lacked such institutions (Somalia, Haiti). In sum, nation-building has been most effective when pursued least ambitiously, amid functioning states with prior experience in constitutional government.

scholarly journals HIGH VISIBILITY, LOW PROFILE: THE SHIʿA IN OMAN UNDER SULTAN QABOOS

2010 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 268a-268a
Author(s):  
Marc Valeri
Keyword(s):  
Nation Building ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Special Relationship ◽  
Ruling Elite ◽  
Socioeconomic Changes ◽  
Low Profile ◽  
Middle East Politics ◽  
Building Project ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Invasion Of Iraq

Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, one of the most popular reading grids of Middle East politics has been the increased impact of the Shiʿi issue on the national political agendas of Arab states. This article focuses on the place of one of the less studied Shiʿi groups, the Shiʿa of Oman, who represent around three percent of the national population, in the nation-building project initiated by Sultan Qaboos since 1970 to maintain political stability and legitimize his power. I argue that the special relationship the Shiʿa have maintained with the ruling elite in Oman and the prominent role some of them are enjoying in the Omani economy help explain their weak insertion into transnational Shiʿi networks in the Gulf and the fact that they have never questioned the validity of the Omani nation under Qaboos as a political framework. But the socioeconomic changes caused by the end of the rent-based welfare-state model has led recently to an increase in mutual prejudices and social grievances. The Shiʿa, because of their high socioeconomic visibility, are likely to find themselves at the center of other groups’ complaints.

22. Iraq

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadje Al-Ali ◽  
Nicola Pratt
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Failed State ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Favourable Environment ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Invasion Of Iraq

This chapter examines whether Iraq is a failed state and how it drew such characterization. It focuses on the period since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein. The chapter considers three areas: the reconstruction of Iraq’s political institutions; post-invasion violence and security; and human and economic development. It shows how the failure to reconstruct political institutions capable of reconciling Iraq’s different political groupings has weakened central government, exacerbated corruption within state institutions, and contributed to ethnic/sectarian violence, thereby creating a favourable environment for the emergence of the Islamic State. The chapter argues that the Iraqi state is failing to provide necessary services and infrastructure for economic and human development and even basic security for much of the population.

Syria under Pressure

2004 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 53-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDERS STRINDBERG
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Economic Sanctions ◽  
Weapons Of Mass Destruction ◽  
Mass Destruction ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Wrong Side ◽  
Military Presence ◽  
Sharp Criticism ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Invasion Of Iraq

Syria's sharp criticism of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 opened a particularly tense phase in Syrian-American relations, culminating in the May 2004 imposition of U.S. economic sanctions under the Syria Accountability Act. While accusing Damascus of being on the ““wrong side”” in the wars against terror and Iraq, Washington has raised a number of other issues, including Syria's military presence in Lebanon, its support for Hizballah and various Palestinian factions, its alleged ““interference”” in Iraq, and its possible possession of weapons of mass destruction. This report, based on numerous interviews with government officials, analysts, opposition figures, and ordinary citizens, examines Syria's reactions to these allegations, gradual changes in Syrian political culture, and various domestic developments.

Influence of hosting a major sports event on patriotic attitudes: The EuroBasket 2013 competition in Slovenia

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-383
Author(s):  
Simon Ličen
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Public Service ◽  
High School Graduates ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
New Democracies ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Major Event ◽  
Physical Activity Levels ◽  
Sport Events ◽  
Event Based

Countries with short histories of nationhood often resort to sport to (re-)invent a national identity. This study uses the nationalizing nationalism and social identity frameworks to examine whether hosting a major event such as the European basketball championship for men influenced national identification in Slovenia. Readers of the Slovenian public service website were surveyed at three points in time to determine changes in patriotism, nationalism, internationalism, and smugness in relation to the EuroBasket 2013. Results indicate the almost complete absence of influence on the population as a whole. Nationalistic attitudes did not change after the event based on the respondents’ gender and physical activity levels, and only high school graduates displayed an increase in smugness in the week following the competition. Significant differences were found with regard to live and televisual exposure to the event as spectators scored significantly higher on patriotism, nationalism (only TV viewers), and smugness, but not internationalism scales. While hosting this tournament did not contribute to nationalizing nationalism or nation-building, despite the national government’s assertion otherwise, even moderate exposure to it fed patriotism. Links between sport events and nationalistic attitudes are discussed in further detail and should inform researchers of sport events and patriotism especially in new democracies.

“A Factious, Seditious and Unruly Multitude”

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Tony McAleavy
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Intellectual Development ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Thomas Hobbes ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Early Experiences ◽  
The Social ◽  
Local Political Institutions ◽  
Political Vocabulary

Abstract As a child in Malmesbury, Thomas Hobbes had an opportunity to observe many of the social and political phenomena that he considered in his later work. Contemporary sources reveal that Hobbes lived in a community that was wracked by marked animosity between different social groups, frequent disorder and a lack of consensus about the legitimacy of local political institutions. There was tension between the town’s elite and a proletariat of impoverished workers. Different members of the elite clashed, sometimes violently, as they competed for local ascendancy. Hobbes’s extended family was heavily involved in these events. His hometown was deeply troubled. It was also a place where people had access to some “political” vocabulary which they used when describing their discontents and conflicts. The possible influence of Hobbes’s early experiences on his intellectual development has attracted little previous attention.

The Ties That Bind: Building Civic Capacity for the Tennessee Achievement School District

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 928-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua L. Glazer ◽  
Cori Egan
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Market Orientation ◽  
Local Control ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Disadvantaged Students ◽  
Underperforming Schools ◽  
Civic Capacity ◽  
Educational Failure ◽  
Local Political Institutions

The Tennessee Achievement School District (ASD) is among several state-run districts established to turn around underperforming schools. Like other such districts, the ASD removes schools from local control and is not accountable to local political institutions. Despite its authority, the ASD has encountered opposition within Memphis where its schools reside. For those inclined to its market orientation and suspicious of traditional districts, the ASD is an innovative effort to improve outcomes for disadvantaged students. For those that see educational failure in Memphis as the result of social and economic isolation, the ASD appears motivated by profit, paternalism, and racism. A third narrative, largely hidden from view, encompasses people who reject state takeover but seek to confront structural causes of poor performance.

Did the Defeat of Saddam Hussein Reduce Suicide Bombing Casualties and Attacks in Israel? A Statistical Analysis

2004 ◽  
Vol 95 (3) ◽  
pp. 831-834 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter R. Schumm
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Suicide Bombing ◽  
Saddam Hussein ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Invasion Of Iraq

It was hypothesized that one of the reasons for the U.S. invasion of Iraq was to stop the payments being made by Saddam Hussein to the families of suicide (homicide) bombers in Israel. The consequences of suicide (homicide) bombing attacks against Israel between March 2001 and August 2004 were evaluated as related to the time of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. On average per month during this period, there were fewer overall casualties after the invasion than before it. As many as nearly 1,100 casualties may have been prevented in Israel as a consequence of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, suggesting that at least one possible goal of the U.S. invasion may have been achieved, at least as averaged over the first 17 months after the invasion.

scholarly journals Origins and Resolution of Financial Crises: Lessons from the Current and Northern European Crises

2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 178-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Finn Østrup ◽  
Lars Oxelheim ◽  
Clas Wihlborg
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Housing Market ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Financial Crises ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Credit Crunch ◽  
Original Strain ◽  
Northern European ◽  
The World ◽  
The U.S

Since July 2007, the world economy has experienced a severe financial crisis that originated in the U.S. housing market. Subsequently, the crisis has spread to financial sectors in European and Asian economies and led to a severe worldwide recession. The existing literature on financial crises rarely distinguishes between factors that create the original strain on the financial sector and factors that explain why these strains lead to system-wide contagion and a possible credit crunch. Most of the literature on financial crises refers to factors that cause an original disruption in the financial system. We argue that a financial crisis with its contagion within the system is caused by failures of legal, regulatory, and political institutions.

Nations, Nationalism, National Identity: New Dimensions in Academic Discourse

2015 ◽  
Vol 59 (11) ◽  
pp. 91-102
Author(s):  
I. Semenenko
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Academic Discourse ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Russian Science ◽  
Interethnic Relations ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Nation States

Analyzing discourses on interethnic relations can contribute to a clearer understanding of the focal points of tensions in contemporary political communities sharing a common territory and common political institutions. These discourses represent the complex of problems related to nation-building and are generated both in the public sphere and in academic discussion. As such, they often develop separately one from the other. Assessing the current academic discourse on nations and nationalism, on nation-building and the nation-state, on citizenship, cultural diversity and interethnic conflict can contribute to the formation of the agenda of a politics of identity aimed at building a civic nation. Memory politics deserve special attention in this context, as the interpretation of historic memory has today become a powerful instrument that political elites can use to consolidate the nation and, in different contexts, to politicize ethnicity and deepen cleavages in existing nation-states. The affirmation of a positive civic (national) identity is a reference framework for modern democratic societies, and it is in meeting the challenges of politicizing ethnicity that political priorities and academic interests meet. However, the current domination of politics over academia in this conflict prone sphere contributes to its radicalization and to the formation of negative and exclusive identities that can be manipulated to pursue elitist group interests. Evaluating models of political organization alternative to the ones known today (such as “the nation-state”) does not aspire to “write off” the nation, but this can help to come up with visions and ideas politics can take up to overcome the conflict potential that contemporary societies generate over ethnic issues. Acknowledgements. This article was prepared with financial support provided by the Russian Science Foundation [research grant № 15-18-00021, “Regulating interethnic relations and managing ethnic and social conflicts in the contemporary world: the resource potential of civic identity (a comparative political analysis)”]. The research was conducted at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), RAS.

America and the World

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mugambi Jouet
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
United Nations ◽  
American Exceptionalism ◽  
Manifest Destiny ◽  
Original Analysis ◽  
The World ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Western Democracies ◽  
Invasion Of Iraq

America has long been much more inclined than other Western democracies to defy norms of diplomacy, international law, and human rights deemed against its interests, although these stances have at times profoundly divided the U.S. public. Americans were bitterly divided over the Bush administration’s use of torture, its aim to detain alleged terrorists forever without trial at Guantanamo, and its catastrophic invasion of Iraq on grounds later revealed to be false. The Obama administration’s rather different approach to foreign policy proved divisive too. The chapter explores why Americans are far more polarized than Europeans over fundamental issues like war, diplomacy, the United Nations, and human rights. From the ideal of Manifest Destiny to America’s relative geographic isolation, superpower status, and the idea that God chose it to lead the world, Mugambi Jouet’s original analysis explains the interrelationship between the different aspects of American exceptionalism shaping U.S. foreign policy.

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