This volume presents an anthropological perspective on the hidden continuities between corruption and law. The authors argue that the two opposites, corruption and law, are inextricably linked - with the possibility of the former already inscribed into the latter. Taking a critical stance towards the normative good governance agenda spearheaded by institutions such as Transparency International and the World Bank, this volume argues that by uncritically depicting corruption as an absolute ...

Transition and Justice examines a series of cases from across the African continent where peaceful ‘new beginnings’ were declared after periods of violence and where transitional justice institutions helped define justice and the new socio-political order.Offers a new perspective on transition and justice in Africa transcending the institutional limits of transitional justiceCovers a wide range of situations, and presents a broad range of sites where past i...

In the aftermath of an armed conflict in Africa, the international community both produces and demands from local partners a variety of blueprints for reconstructing state and society. The aim is to re-formalize the state after what is viewed as a period of fragmentation. In reality, African economies and polities are very much informal in character, with informal actors, including so-called Big Men, often using their positions in the formal structure as a means to reach their own goals.

The Trouble with the Congo suggests a new explanation for international peacebuilding failures in civil wars. Drawing from more than 330 interviews and a year and a half of field research, it develops a case study of the international intervention during the Democratic Republic of the Congo's unsuccessful transition from war to peace and democracy (2003–6). Grassroots rivalries over land, resources, and political power motivated widespread violence. However, a dominant peacebuilding cultur...

Everyone knows: wars are getting worse, more civilians are dying, and peacemaking achieves nothing, right? Wrong.Despite all the bad-news headlines, peacekeeping is working. Fewer wars are starting, more are ending, and those that remain are smaller and more localized. But peace doesn’t just happen; it needs to be put into effect. Moreover, understanding the global decline in armed conflict is crucial as America shifts to an era of lower military budgets and operations.

The multi-billion dollar business of the international conventional arms trade involves virtually every country in the world. Around the globe, people's lives are being irrevocably changed by the effects of guns, tanks, and missiles. These weapons have the potential to cause a deadly and current threat - one responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths a year.This succinct and accessible new book explores the complexities and realities of the global conventional weapons trade. T...

Locating Africa on the global stage, this book examines and compares external involvement in the continent, exploring the foreign policies of major states and international organizations towards Africa. The contributors work within a political economy framework in order to study how these powers have attempted to stimulate democracy, peace and prosperity in the context of neo-liberal hegemony and ask whom these attempts have benefited and failed.

A singular development in the post-Cold War era is the use of military force to protect human beings. From Rwanda to Kosovo, Sierra Leone to East Timor, and Libya to Côte d�Ivoire, soldiers have rescued civilians in some of the world's most notorious war zones. But what about Syria? Why have we observed the Syrian slaughter and done nothing? Is humanitarian intervention in crisis? Is the so-called responsibility to protect dead or alive?In this fully revised and expanded third edit...

This book analyses the deeply political context of how foreign policy is made in Canada. Taking a broad historical perspective, it provides the key foundations for the analysis of Canadian foreign policy. It argues that foreign policy is forged in the nexus of politics at three levels-the global, the domestic, and the governmental-and that to understand how and why Canadian foreign policy looks as it does, one must look at the interplay of all three.The fourth edition of this widel...

""Never again!"" the world has vowed time and again since the Holocaust. Yet genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other mass atrocity crimes continue to shock our consciences-from the killing fields of Cambodia to the machetes of Rwanda to the agony of Darfur.Gareth Evans has grappled with these issues firsthand. As Australian foreign minister, he was a key broker of the United Nations peace plan for Cambodia. As president of the International Crisis Group, he now works on the prevention...

This open access book on the state of peacebuilding in Africa brings together the work of distinguished scholars, practitioners, and decision makers to reflect on key experiences and lessons learned in peacebuilding in Africa over the past half century. The core themes addressed by the contributors include conflict prevention, mediation, and management; post-conflict reconstruction, justice and Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration; the role of women, religion, humanitarianism, gras...

As peace operations become the primary mechanism of conflict management used by the UN and regional organizations, understanding their problems and potential is essential for a more secure world. In this revised and updated second edition, Paul Diehl and Alexandru Balas provide a cutting-edge analysis of the central issues surrounding the development, operation, and effectiveness of peace operations. Among many features, the book:Traces the historical development of peace ope...