Critique internationale - Content
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[The State, Communities and Dissident Fringes in Iraq]
In order to address the issue of the State and of communitarianization in Iraq in the long term, we must reexamine the past. In this respect, we must abandon simplified causal explanations, and attempt to understand Iraqi history through a series of contradictions and paradoxes. This approach then allows us to consider the current fragmentation of Iraqi society, which is both a cause and a consequence of the impossibility of rebuilding the state. Finally, starting from the notion of fringes of society, we suggest that behind the banal aspect of day-to-day events, and behind the multifarious phenomenon of violence, new configurations are being shaped, and their implications may be far broader than the Iraqi context itself.
[Dynamics of the Iraqi Conflict]
The Iraqi civil war is the result of both the legacy of the former regime, and of American preconceptions. Saddam Hussein’s regime was characterized by systematic deconstruction of the nation, which pushed Iraqis to retreat into the private sphere. This explains the weak capacity for political mobilization exiled political protagonists proved to have; when they returned to Iraq, they sought to monopolize resources rather than implement any political project. This general state of anomie enabled the Americans to impose their interpretation of Iraqi society, which they viewed as being divided into three ethno-religious units. Thus, the violence that was initially directed against Coalition troops quickly evolved toward conflicts between religious groups, though this must not lead us to overlook the equally significant phenomenon of the privatization of violence. The fact that the Americans have been unable to manage the transition has also undermined the credibility of democracy, eventually leading to a depoliticization of politics.
[Iraq, or the Promised Land of the Jihadists]
The study of sources from inside the armed opposition in Iraq provides a detailed picture of the military and ideological realities on the ground. On the basis of the various publications of the Sunni rebel groups, we can identify the protagonists of the Jihadi movement in Iraq and trace the evolution of Jihadism since the beginning of the war. This inside view also allows us to understand the conflict dynamics driving the different militia forces and contributing, therefore, to the extension of violence between religious groups. The analysis of the ideological arguments used by the main groups involved shows that armed struggle essentially feeds upon the notion of “jihad”, which appears to be the main source of legitimization of blind violence at present. To the Jihadi movement, the Iraq war represents an ideological and historic turning point.
[Beyond the “Land of the Two Rivers”: A Regional Conflict Formation?]
The “network wars”, or “Regional Conflict Formations” (RCFs) model is no more than the first step toward understanding the complex relationships between the conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Admittedly, the levels of analysis that this model offers regarding cross-border trafficking of people and goods are certainly an essential prerequisite to the study of the ties between the different conflicts in the region. But a description limited to that would simply fuel the shortsightedness of the American government’s current policies vis-à-vis the Middle East. Therefore, the notion of regionalization of symbolic capital must be integrated into this approach as soon as possible. Indeed, it is the only concept that allows one to understand that the West is not an exogenous actor in Middle Eastern conflicts, and to reformulate analysis and policies accordingly. Furthermore, given the importance of symbolic capital and foreign intervention in the region, the static and excessively simplistic view of identity politics developed in the RCFs model must be reviewed, in order to integrate three elements: material cross-border ties, regional symbolic capital, and foreign intervention.
[Forced Marriages: A Study of Legislation and Political Action in the European Union]
The analysis of official data collected from member states of the Council of Europe, and from semi-directive interviews conducted with social, political and judicial actors, allows us to shed some light on the problems caused by forced marriages. What legal instruments can be used to prevent or annul such marriages, and to punish those who decide them or are an accessory to them? What systems and plans of political action have been implemented to prevent and counter these practices? Finally, to what degree are the means available in keeping with the experience of persons confronted with a forced marriage? In this study, comparative analysis is limited to five European countries: Belgium, France, Norway, the United Kingdom and Sweden
[The Return of the Leviathan: Re-centralization Policy in Russia since 2000]
During a television appearance on September 13, 2004, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a series of political reforms including the cancellation of elections for representatives of the executive branch of government in the regions of the Russian Federation. This return to the appointment of governors concludes the re-centralization policy initiated in 2000, in response to the spontaneous regionalization process of the 1990s, which had proved difficult to control. What are the sources of this re-centralization policy, and the principles and fundamental interests behind it? How have these factors influenced its evolution and its effects? How important is this re-centralization process in Russian political development, and what are its prospects today? To answer these questions, we re-examine the regionalization process of the 1990s. Next, we consider what ideologies and interests were driving Russian political protagonists during the re-centralization process that followed, as well as their influence upon the course of federal reform, which we can describe as “new centralism” (as opposed to Soviet-style “old centralism”). Finally, we analyze the implementation of this new policy and its effects on the process of State refor
[The Righteous Among the Nations and Public Remembrance Policy in Poland (1945-2005)]
The title of “Righteous Among the Nations,” which was created by the state of Israel, refers to non-Jews who helped Jews during the Second World War. Since the early 1990s, this title has been adopted by different European countries that were occupied during the war. By analyzing the integration of the Righteous in Polish historical memory, and reviewing previous occurrences of this since 1945, we can elaborate a new approach to transition phenomena. Mobilization of the figure of the Righteous in Polish historical memory is largely understood in terms of foreign policy, and reflects the marginality and social exclusion of the Jews in this country. Thus, it seems that its recent evolution can be linked to an ongoing transformation in the Polish public sphere.
[After the Mar del Plata Summit Meeting: The Americas More Divided than Ever]
Analysis of the results of the fourth summit meeting of the Americas, held in Mar del Plata in November of 2005, reveals the factors that have led to the formation of two antagonistic groups of countries, during the hemispheric negotiation process. There is a widespread belief that these negotiations are leading to the formation of two trade blocs, based on NAFTA and MERCOSUR. This article, however, emphasizes the fact that the summit results have opened the door to a network of trade agreements anchored to the USA, and to the isolation of opponents of North American regionalism. Since Brazil has little to offer its South American neighbors, the US will take advantage of these circumstances to extend the NAFTA model to the entire continent. This goes against the principles chosen to structure the process leading to a potential Free Trade Zone of the America
Ian Shapiro, The State of Democratic Theory, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2003, XI-183 pages.
Archon Fung, Empowered Participation : Reinventing Urban Democracy, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2004, 278 pages.
Nicolas Guilhot, The Democracy Makers : Human Rights and International Order, New York, Columbia University Press, 2005, 288 pages.
Anne Applebaum, Goulag : une histoire, Paris, Grasset, 2005, 716 pages.
