RE-CONCEPTUALIZING GLOBAL CONFLICTS: FROM US VERSUS THEM TO US VERSUS THEN

Kevin L. Dooley & S.P. Udayakumar

Much of the contemporary literature in the field of international relations attempts to explain Muslim/Western relations in an adversarial context. Arguments are defined in hostile rather than helpful terms that perpetuate a widening rather than a narrowing view of the potential for peace. By continually dividing contemporary world politics into a conflicting narrative, these scholars have proclaimed that Islam and the West are distinctive and incompatible. Scholars who contribute to this conflicting narrative deny individuals (and their respective societies) the opportunity to reach favorable outcomes. In this paper, we will attempt to reformulate this adversarial agenda by eliminating the Us vs. Them mentality that has dominated much of the scholarship. Instead, we will argue that an examination of Islamic/Western relations must be re-examined according to an Us vs. Then discussion, which will allow the actors the opportunity to formulate peaceful rather than hostile conclusions.

PDF

PAKISTAN’S FATA, TRANSNATIONAL TERRORISM AND THE GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT MODEL

Anita Demkiv

The concerns regarding Pakistan’s instability—the increasing influence of the Taliban and radicals, and an fragile nuclear country—have led to debate as to the optimal, systematic approach to simultaneously bolstering the Zardari government and also stymieing the encroachment of the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In particular, the unrest in the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) has called into question whether or not Pakistan is a failed state, or simply plagued by an authority vacuum in the FATA that has implications beyond Pakistan’s border that include providing a safe haven to global terrorist organizations. Through an overview of the ongoing challenges in the FATA region, and Pakistan in general, a development model is proposed to at least partially thwart the expanding influence of the Taliban in Pakistan and enable the Zardari government to reassert its legitimacy.

PDF

GREEN SPIN EVERYWHERE: HOW GREENWASHING REVEALS THE LIMITS OF THE CSR PARADIGM

Igor M. Alves

The article argues that the volunteer-led corporate social responsibility (CSR) paradigm of the last decade has both coddled and promoted the proliferation of “green spin.” The paper proceeds from two assumptions: that we, humanity, wish to promote our survival; and that our socio-economic activities, particularly during the past two centuries, have endangered our future on this planet. It discusses the theory of natural capitalism, which is central to the ideals of CSR, and which seeks to “fix” capitalism by assigning measurable value to ecological resources, or “natural capital,” many which have traditionally been treated as public goods, such as air, water, and forests.

PDF

CAN IRAQ SURVIVE AS A SINGLE-STATE, OR IS A “THREE-STATE” SOLUTION MORE LIKELY TO BRING PEACE?

Georgios Bardis

PDF