bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lost and Found
Authors: Kennedy John James , Shi Yaojiang
Published: June 2019

Between 1979 and 2010 local leaders and rural families across China concealed the existence of millions of girls from government officials and the national census. The single child policy (1979–2015) was introduced in 1979, and the central government’s goal was to reduce population growth through strict birth control. Yet, at the same time, many rural parents had strong incentives not to comply with the birth control policy because under economic reforms in the 1980s and 1990s, larger families meant increased labor and income. However, most journalists and scholars reported that the combination of a strictly enforced central policy and a historical preference for sons had led to a stark gender imbalance, with an abnormally higher number of males being born than females. The result was an estimated 20 million “missing girls” in the population from 1980 to 2010. Most demographers have believed that this dearth of girls has been due to widespread sex-selective abortion and infanticide. Yet quantitative analysis of China census data and qualitative interviews with rural parents and local leaders suggest that at least half of the “missing girls” were hidden in China. This was due to two key factors. First was the discretion to implement central policy that street-level bureaucrats and local leaders have. There was mutual noncompliance between rural families and village leaders, such that rural parents did not immediately register additional children and local leaders underreported illegal births to higher authorities. Second is the increasing value of daughters and equal preference for sons and daughters over the last several decades.
Historical Underreporting and the Identification of the “Missing Girls”
Authors: Kennedy John James , Shi Yaojiang
Published: June 2019

There are three distinct time periods in which the social and political environments influenced incentives to hide or not hide infants, children, and young adults: the pre-PRC period before 1949, the Maoist era (1949–1976), and the reform era, after 1979. Rural families and local officials avoided census counts and registration for males and females from the late Qing Empire in the 1800s right up through modern times. After 1979 came the most critical outcome of the state birth control policy: the country’s abnormally high sex ratio at birth statistic. According to an assessment of the 2010 population census, the number of girls truly missing from the population between 1980 and 2010 was estimated to be about 20 million. However, an examination of the two key assumptions behind these skewed statistics shows the number of hidden girls to be closer to 10 million, or about half of the estimated number of “missing girls.”
Villagers, Daughters, and the Voices of the “Missing”
Authors: Kennedy John James , Shi Yaojiang
Published: June 2019

The general assumption has been that rural residents prefer sons and that under the single child policy and cultural constraints, daughters are valued less. This desire is assumed to be based on a traditional preference for sons and a virilocal marriage system that goes back more than a millennium. Given this cultural assumption and the central government’s push for birth control, a number of journalists and scholars have suggested that villagers hold continuous and unchanging attitudes toward daughters. However, national surveys and local interviews suggest that the value of daughters has changed over the last 30 years, with equal preference for sons and daughters increasing. As a result, mutual noncompliance and the change in rural attitudes has contributed to a greater number of hidden girls than previous studies have suggested.
Chelsea Manning and the Politics of Truth-Telling
Authors: Maxwell Lida
Published: June 2019

This chapter argues that reading Chelsea Manning as an outsider truth-teller, and developing a defense of outsider truth-telling, is important to our understanding of the relationship between democracy and truth more generally. Outsider truth-telling reveals problems with, and offers an important alternative to, our dominant understanding of truth and democracy, namely, that democracy is dependent on truth because it offers prepolitical stability for a society of diverse viewpoints. The chapter argues that this dominant view actually grew out of particular historical circumstances and is tied to a raced, classed, and gendered conception of truth-telling. In this context, outsider truth-tellers should be understood as crucial yet vulnerable figures in democracy, revealing from a position of social illegibility an unsettling reality that their societies need to see. This chapter calls democratic theorists to raise, thematize, and address, as central concerns for democracy, the predicaments and problems surrounding outsider truth-telling.
Introduction
Authors: Nail Thomas
Published: June 2019

This chapter introduces the historical importance of the image, provides a methodological framework for studying moving images, lays out the two major problems the book aims to overcome, describes the limitations of the book, and offers its plan of organization. As such, it redefines the image as fundamentally mobile and thus proposes to investigate all images as mobile images. It argues for a new materialist aesthetics distinct from representational and constructivist theories. That is, the image is not a copy nor a movement relative to an object or subject; it is not even a copy of a copy without an original. All these structures have to be accounted for, starting from the historical mobility of the image, and not from any metaphysical or ontological position. Therefore, the book is an attempt to develop a theory and a history of the logic and structure of the moving image.
The Prehistoric Image
Authors: Nail Thomas
Published: June 2019

This chapter argues that the kinesthetic shift occurs increasingly from less ordered and gathered images to more and larger gatherings of images on new and larger fields of sensation. This is done by looking closely at the kinetic patterns produced by six major aesthetic fields that define the prehistoric image: the body, the hearth, the cave, the vessel, the wind instrument, and the house. The argument of this chapter is that each of these major fields is defined predominately by a distinctly centripetal pattern of motion and a functional aesthetics. The prehistoric field gathers the flows of matter and images toward a central or hollowed-out region and begins to distribute them across the body, the hearth, the cave, the house, and so on. All this attests to the predominantly centripetal and functional nature of prehistoric aesthetic fields.
The Modern Image, I
Authors: Nail Thomas
Published: June 2019

The argument in this chapter and the next is that the aesthetic field during the modern period is defined by an elastic and differential regime of motion. These two chapters marshal support for this thesis by looking closely at major arts of the modern age: steel, photographic image, and the novel in Chapter 13, and meter, the action arts, and molecular arts in the next chapter. Although empirically quite different and distributed over hundreds of years, each follows a similar kinetic pattern or regime. This chapter looks at the way in which steel architecture, photography, and the novel move elastically by expanding and contracting and open series of frames (steel frames, photographic frames, and print frames).
The Modern Image, II
Authors: Nail Thomas
Published: June 2019

Over the course of the modern period, a kinesthetic shift occurred in the arts from a tensional to a more elastic pattern of motion. The argument of this chapter is that meter, action art, and molecular art are also defined predominately by a distinctly elastic pattern of motion and a differential aesthetics. This chapter concludes the book’s historical analysis of the moving image and provides a material and historical foundation for interpreting the hybrid kinetic structure of contemporary arts in the next part of the book. Art history is not dead. It all returns and resurfaces in the present, forming hybrid combinations. Although their name and appearance might have changed, the same regimes are still at work today.
The Digital Image
Authors: Nail Thomas
Published: June 2019

This chapter looks at the material and kinetic structure of the electromagnetic field itself and considers the way in which it has hybridized contemporary aesthetics.
Divinatory Practices and Palpability of the Gods
Authors: Eyl Jennifer
Published: June 2019

Chapter 2 demonstrates that divinatory practices were ubiquitous in antiquity, and that such practices indicate a widespread religious and epistemological disposition. These related dispositions are best expressed by Xenophon: “The gods know everything, and in sacrifices, omens, prophetic voices, and dreams they provide forewarnings to whomever they want” (On the Cavalry Commander, 9.9). Thus, the religious disposition is that gods and other divine beings are present in the world and take an interest in human affairs. The epistemological disposition is that there is important knowledge to be gained from observing and interpreting gods’ physical impact on the world. This chapter explores a wide range of methods for Greeks, Romans, and Judeans to ascertain information from gods, and provides the groundwork for arguing that Paul shared in this basic religious and epistemological disposition.
A Taxonomy of Paul’s Divinatory Practices
Authors: Eyl Jennifer
Published: June 2019

Chapter 3 examines three broad types of Paul’s divinatory practices: (1) the interpretation of nonverbal divine signs [sēmeia], or communications, (2) the channeling of divine information by means of the speech faculty of a human agent, and (3) the use of literary texts or written symbols to discern divine messages. These categories include what Paul calls the interpretation of signs, speaking in tongues, and (oral and literacy-based) prophecy. Drawing on widely available ancient comparanda, the chapter cuts across our modern categories to redescribe Paul’s divinations and to normalize them in their historical environment. Paul does not invent his practices from whole cloth, but repackages and innovates upon practices that have long been part of ancient religiosity.
A Taxonomy of Paul’s Wonderworking
Authors: Eyl Jennifer
Published: June 2019

Chapter 4 examines Paul’s performance of wondrous feats, divine abilities, and transformations through ritual power. First, the chapter considers his use of the terms dunameis [powers] and terata [wonders]. While some scholars have argued that Paul (begrudgingly) discusses wondrous powers only with his Corinthian followers, the chapter shows that he mentions such powers also in 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, and Romans. The chapter then looks at his claims to heal the diseases, illnesses, and pains of others, utilizing no expertise beyond the power invested in him from a deity. Finally, Pauline baptism is treated not as an initiation or purification ritual, but in light of ritual powers that purport to change the material nature of bodies. The ritual transformation of material bodies is a sorely overlooked aspect of Paul’s baptismal claims, and one that locates the practice among those frequently called mageia and goēteia.
Paul, Pistis, and Divine Powers
Authors: Eyl Jennifer
Published: June 2019

Chapter 6 explores how Paul relates this array of divine abilities to the ethic of pistis, or faithfulness. In essence, Paul suggests that divinatory and wonderworking powers are extended in proportion to gentile faithfulness; he does not say that such gifts are offered “in exchange for,” but rather, “in proportion to” faithfulness. The reciprocal relationship between pistis and his divinatory powers hinges on the mechanism of empowerment—the pneuma of Christ. The chapter departs from the task of comparison, as we lack sufficient ancient data with which we may compare Paul’s construction of the pistis–pneuma–gift relationship (as Paul provides almost our only first-person account of the inner working of his type of religious specialist in the early Roman Empire, we are sorely lacking another figure with whom we may compare him on this level of detail). The chapter explores forms of reciprocity thought to be critical to religions in the ancient Mediterranean, and challenges scholarship that reduces ancient religiosity to do ut des [I give so that you will give].
Conclusion
Authors: Eyl Jennifer
Published: June 2019

This Conclusion reiterates the central argument of the book and ties each chapter to that argument: Paul’s practices of divination and wonderworking are easily and naturally contextualized within his ancient Mediterranean milieu. This milieu includes widespread practical understandings of the gods’ interest in human affairs, the human ability to discern divine messages, the human ability to channel divine power, and reciprocity as a central feature of the human–divine dynamic. The chapter observes that the mode of religiosity favored by most New Testament scholars has generated a kind of blind spot toward the evidence that contextualizes Paul in this milieu. That is, the mode of the literate cultural producer looks askance at practical, mundane attitudes toward reciprocity and divination. Thus, Paul’s emphasis on reciprocity and his consistent participation in forms of divination and wonderworking have largely gone ignored.
The International Community
Authors: Ware Anthony , Laoutides Costas
Published: June 2019

This chapter concludes the book by offering a discussion of the role the international community has played, and could play, in both the conflict and conflict resolution. It summarizes the most important findings from the analysis throughout the book, and explores them in the context of the recommendations made by the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State. These recommendation are widely recognized as the best proposals to date towards resolution of the underlying issues and long-term drivers of the conflict, although they were handed down just before the latest violence so do not deal with the latest injustices and human flight. This chapter explore the Commission’s recommendations, how these would affect underlying conflict drivers and grievances, and any further factors or actions required for any peaceful resolution. It discusses the need for a complete reframing of the issues away from race and indigeneity, pointing to the pathway for this, and highlighting the opportunity it poses for the wider Myanmar peace process. The chapter concludes with a grave warning of the moral hazard posed by international community action or advocacy, signaling the need for far more informed and strategic international responses.
Hume’s Moral Psychology
Authors: Garfield Jay L.
Published: June 2019

This chapter concludes the discussion of Book II as the theoretical foundation for the Treatise as a whole. It addresses the role of the passions in moral psychology, showing how they ground our accounts of virtue and vice. Virtue and vice are in fact defined in relation to the passions. It also shows how the account of the passions grounds Hume’s moral and political reflections. That is, Hume argues that civil society is initially grounded on certain innate moral psychological dispositions, but also that civil society enables the cultivation of the range of passions that preserve our social unity and that enable us to constitute ourselves as persons in a social context.
Ethics
Authors: Garfield Jay L.
Published: June 2019

This chapter shows that in the moral domain, as in epistemology, Hume’s task is to provide a naturalistic explanation of our moral conventions and explain why we so often misunderstand the structure of our own moral thought. He aims to explain how custom grounds, and is not grounded by, the moral universe we inhabit. Although many of the components of Hume’s account of morality derive from Hutcheson, Shaftesbury, and Mandeville, the structure into which he places these components—constituted by his naturalism and Pyrrhonism—together with the understanding of custom based in legal theory, gives rise to something entirely new. Hume offers an account of ethics grounded in the union of natural sentiment and a natural propensity to artifice, reflecting the seamless integration of distinct instances of custom as it is manifest both as habit and as convention, as a foundation for the normativity we seek in morality.
Estimative Intelligence after the Cold War: 1993–1994
Authors: Nye Jr. Joseph S.
Published: June 2019

In the immediate aftermath of the Cold War, the National Intelligence Council faced two kinds of challenges: coping with sectarian conflicts that emerged after the Cold War, and the helping to imagine and shape a post–Cold War order. This latter challenge was complicated by the collapse of the bipolar world order that had shaped US thinking for 40 years. As a leading Soviet official put it at the time, “We are going to do a terrible thing: we are going to deprive you of an enemy.” Accordingly, new chairman Joseph Nye put a high priority on refocusing the intelligence community for a new set of challenges. As a leading scholar of international relations, he worked to improve the art and discipline of estimative intelligence. With strong connections to senior policymakers, he also focused on strengthening the intelligence-policy relationship and improving relevance by producing shorter, more focused estimates.
Controlling Controversy: 1995–1997
Authors: Cooper Richard N.
Published: June 2019

As a leading international economist with prior high-level policy experience, Richard Cooper brought to the National Intelligence Council chairmanship an unusual level of authority on economic issues. This proved valuable in internal policy disputes over Japan’s financial situation, in which the NIC successfully challenged the Treasury Department’s assessment. His tenure also saw the challenges of dealing with the former Yugoslavia after the Dayton Accords brokered a tenuous peace, as well as the NIC’s first foray into nontraditional security issues such as climate change. Finally, the NIC published an influential report called Global Trends 2010, looking out 15 years to anticipate future challenges—and initiating a series of reports issued by the NIC every four years thereafter.
New Missions, New Challenges: 2005–2008
Authors: Fingar Thomas
Published: June 2019

Thomas Fingar’s chairmanship began with two overriding challenges: to implement the intelligence reforms of 2004–5 and to repair the damage to the National Intelligence Council’s credibility in the aftermath of the Iraqi WMD debacle. The reforms had created the position of director of national intelligence (DNI), with a large mandate but no staff, and much of the day-to-day analytic support that formerly would have been done by CIA now fell to the NIC—a major shift from its traditional role in strategic analysis. Ironically, in seeking to restore the NIC’s credibility, Fingar found himself in another controversy—this time over an NIE on Iranian WMD that seemed to downplay the threat. Fingar offers a detailed rebuttal of those charges and examines the larger question of the often-fraught relationship between the intelligence community and the Congress. Finally, the NIC produced both a path-breaking analysis of the security implications of climate change, and Global Trends 2025, which took the series to a higher level.
Conclusion
Authors: Treverton Gregory
Published: June 2019

The story of the National Intelligence Council is also the story of strategic analysis, and so a number of themes recur. One is relevance. Especially before the NIC acquired the current intelligence support mission, NIC chairs sought to make national intelligence estimates and other products more readable and timely, and looked for other ways to reach out to policy officials. Credibility has been relevance’s twin, and NIC chairs have not been strangers to criticism—not least over the 2002 Iraq and 2007 Iran nuclear estimates. Over time, the NIC’s focus and method evolved to include more concentration on terrorism and China, and reaching out to expertise outside the government for work on climate, values, food, water, and more, and in preparing Global Trends. As this story concludes, the need for strategic intelligence to tell truth to power is at least as great as in Truman’s time.
Cold War in the Islamic World
Authors: Hiro Dilip
Published: June 2019

For four decades Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran have vied for influence in the Muslim world. At the heart of this ongoing Cold War between Riyadh and Tehran lie the Sunni-Shia divide, and the two countries’ diverse histories, socio-economic compositions, and claims to exceptionalism. Saudis present their rivalry with Iran stemming from conflict between Sunnis and Shias. But, according to Iran's ruling clerics, their republic is founded on Islamic precepts whereas Saudis’ dynastic rule lacks legitimacy in Islam. This foundational schism has played out in a geopolitical competition for dominance in the region and beyond: Iran has acquired influence in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, while Saudi Arabia's hyperactive crown prince, Muhammad bin Salman, has intervened in the Yemeni civil war against the Tehran-backed Houthis, and tried to destabilize Lebanon and isolate neighboring Qatar.. In his lucid narrative, peppered with penetrating analysis, Dilip Hiro examines the toxic rivalry between the two nations, tracing its roots to the eighteen-century Arabia, and examines whether the current Cold War in the Islamic world is likely to end in the near future.
Introduction
Authors: Hiro Dilip
Published: June 2019

The Introduction outlines the four-pillar foundation on which the main text of the volume rests. These are Sunni-Shia differences in doctrine, ritual, law, and religious organization; the singular role of Sunni Islam’s Wahhabi doctrine in the rise of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, occupying four-fifths of the Arabian Peninsula, starting with the small First Saudi State (1744-1818), followed by the Second Saudi State (1824-1891); the salience of Saudi Arabia as the birthplace of Islam and the site of the Kaaba, the centerpiece of the Hajj pilgrimage; and the social, economic and demographic differences between Iran and Saudi Arabia; and their reasons for claiming exceptionalism. Overall, the Introduction serves the function of a framing chapter.
The Gulf Rivals’ Eastward March
Authors: Hiro Dilip
Published: June 2019

As de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah aided the Taliban, a hard line Islamic fundamentalist party in Afghanistan, created by Pakistan in 1994 during the civil war. Assisted by Islamabad and Riyadh, the Taliban captured Kabul in September 1996. In their spring and summer 1998 offensives, they seized more territory. During their capture of Mazare Sharif, eleven diplomats from Iran’s consulate “disappeared”. The subsequent tensions between Iran and the Taliban escalated to the point when Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards carried out military exercises near the Afghan border. Thus pressured, the Taliban handed over the Iranian diplomats’ corpses. President Khatami was quick to condemn the 9/11 attacks masterminded by Osama bin Laden based in Afghanistan. In contrast, the widely shared view of senior Saudi princes was that 9/11 was part of the Zionist conspiracy to get Washington fired up to launch a worldwide campaign against Islamic terrorism. Iran clandestinely supplied intelligence on the Taliban on the eve of Washington’s anti-Taliban campaign in October 2001. Yet in January 2002, President George W. Bush included Iran along with Iraq in his “Axis of Evil.” Ignoring Abdullah’s opposition to aggression against any Arab country, Bush ordered invasion and occupation of Iraq in March 2003.
Iran’s Nuclear Saga; And Iraq Averts an Inter-Sectarian War
Authors: Hiro Dilip
Published: June 2019

Alarmed by the news in August 2002 that Iran was hiding a uranium enrichment facility from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Riyadh strengthened its ties with Pakistan, a declared nuclear power. With the election of radical conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iran’s president in 2005, the issue of Tehran’s nuclear program turned into a crisis which was referred to the United Nations Security Council. This reassured Riyadh. On the other hand, it refused to face the reality that once the US, as the occupying power in Iraq, had introduced free and fair elections in post-Saddam Hussein era, the long-suppressed Shia majority would gain power through elections. This happened in late 2005. The alienated Sunni militants, forming Al Qaida in Mesopotamia, bombed a sacred Shia shrine in Samarra in February 2006, and triggered low-intensity warfare between Shias and Sunnis. Washington and Baghdad worked jointly to dampen sectarian violence, and succeeded by buying Sunni tribal leaders’ loyalties with cash. In his secret cable to the State Department in September 2009, the US ambassador in Baghdad conceded that Iran’s influence in Iraq was pervasive. In other words, the balance of power in the Saudi-Iranian Cold War had shifted in Tehran’s favor.
Efficacy
Authors: Rajczi Alex
Published: June 2019

Some people express concern that social minimum programs might be ineffective, inefficient, counterproductive, or unnecessary. This chapter focuses on three specific worries about efficacy that are often expressed in real-world debates about universal health insurance: the worries that universal health insurance systems would not improve aggregate national health, that they would reduce medical innovation, and that they would produce waiting lists. The first is best addressed using purely factual information, but concerns about innovation and wait lists require philosophical analysis. The chapter argues that concerns about innovation and wait lists are philosophically misguided.
Fiscal Issues
Authors: Rajczi Alex
Published: June 2019

Some people cite fiscal concerns as a reason to oppose expansions of the health safety net. This chapter develops and examines those fiscal concerns. The opening sections lay out some information on government debt and the fiscal risks it can create. After that the chapter analyzes how considerations about fiscal risk could most plausibly figure into assessments of universal health insurance. It is argued that in some instances, there are legitimate fiscal objections to expansions of the health safety net but that fiscal objections cannot ground opposition to well-designed universal health insurance systems.
Towards A Westphalia for the Middle East
Authors: Milton Patrick , Axworthy Michael , Simms Brendan
Published: June 2019

It was the original forever war, which went on interminably, fueled by religious fanaticism, personal ambition, fear of hegemony, and communal suspicion. It dragged in all the neighboring powers. It was punctuated by repeated failed ceasefires. It inflicted suffering beyond belief and generated waves of refugees. No, this is not Syria today, but the Thirty Years' War (1618-48), which turned Germany and much of central Europe into a disaster zone.
The Thirty Years' War is often cited as a parallel in discussions of the Middle East. The Peace of Westphalia, which ended the conflict in 1648, has featured strongly in such discussions, usually with the observation that recent events in some parts of the region have seen the collapse of ideas of state sovereignty--ideas that supposedly originated with the 1648 settlement.
Axworthy, Milton and Simms argue that the Westphalian treaties, far from enshrining state sovereignty, in fact reconfigured and strengthened a structure for legal resolution of disputes, and provided for intervention by outside guarantor powers to uphold the peace settlement. This book argues that the history of Westphalia may hold the key to resolving the new long wars in the Middle East today.
Introduction
Authors: Milton Patrick , Axworthy Michael , Simms Brendan
Published: June 2019

The introductory chapter addresses some of the main themes of the book. These include the importance of using history to inform current debates and possibly provide solutions to geopolitical security challenges today. The parallels that exist between the Thirty Years War and current conflicts in the Middle East are also addressed. The chapter outlines the project and events series out of which the book arose, and describes the achievements of Westphalia, while also explaining why it is well suited as an inspiration for a possible new peace settlement in the Middle East. The chapter also debunks the widespread myths surrounding the treaties of Westphalia inherent in the concept of the ‘Westphalian system’, and explains what the Holy Roman Empire was – the main focus of the Thirty Years War.
Challenges and Crises in the Middle East
Authors: Milton Patrick , Axworthy Michael , Simms Brendan
Published: June 2019

This chapter addresses the nature of the Middle East crisis of recent years, the set of conflicts that require a fresh perspective towards a solution. It is argued that the geopolitical security problems in the Middle East can be grouped under three headings: a crisis of legitimacy; Saudi-Iranian dualism and great power rivalry; sectarianism.
From Religious Peace to the Thirty Years War
Authors: Milton Patrick , Axworthy Michael , Simms Brendan
Published: June 2019

This chapter delves into the European historical background in depth, while highlighting the relevant parallels to the Middle East. It addresses the causes of the outbreak of the Thirty Years War and the origins of the war’s incremental escalation. It will outline the interventions by Denmark and Sweden (1625 and 1630) into the war, as well as the French intervention against Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor in 1635, after which the war became irreversibly internationalised
Parallels and Analogies
Authors: Milton Patrick , Axworthy Michael , Simms Brendan
Published: June 2019

This chapter shifts towards the explicitly applicatory part of the book. The parallels and analogies between the Thirty Years War and the contemporary Middle East are systematically expounded. The similarities include structural parallels (such as the complexity and multiple typologies of conflict; contested sovereignty leading to civil war; sequences of escalation with proxy wars escalating to direct military intervention; overarching great power rivalry and realpolitik; state-building wars and the absence of declarations of war), the role of religion and sectarian animosity, the role of monarchy and dynasty, refugees, communications technology, and general atmospheric parallels
Lessons for the Middle East
Authors: Milton Patrick , Axworthy Michael , Simms Brendan
Published: June 2019

The analogies and parallels outlined in the preceding chapter for the basis of the application of lessons from the Thirty Years War and the Peace of Westphalia to the Middle East. This chapter outlines in detail the two main kinds of lessons that can be drawn for the benefit of peace in the Middle East, namely diplomatic techniques and mechanisms on the one hand, and treaty content on the other. Finally, the broad outlines of a new Westphalian regional order for the Middle East are suggested.
Reconciliation in Somalia
Authors: Abdi Aden , Ramsbotham Alexander
Published: June 2019

Rivalries and tensions in Somalia exist on several levels: within and between Federal Member States (FMS); between FMS and the Federal Government of Somalia; and in the wider region. This chapter argues that reconciliation should be incorporated into all reform and state-building efforts, including initiatives that relate to decentralization, federalism, and the constitution. A comprehensive and inclusive framework for national reconciliation should be developed. Within this framework, there should be mechanisms to hold leaders accountable, including for past crimes, for which a truth and reconciliation commission should be established. The application of xeer has helped build peace in Somaliland and could play an important role in promoting national reconciliation.
Challenges and Opportunities
Authors: The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue
Published: June 2019

Somalia and Somaliland had parallel colonial experiences under Italian and British rule, respectively. In 1960, both gained independence and entered into a union. However, in 1969, the civilian government of the Somali Republic in Mogadishu was overthrown in a coup organized by the military, precipitating a brutal civil war. With the collapse of the military government in Mogadishu in 1991, Somaliland declared its independence from the Somali Republic. Since then, the two sides followed quite different trajectories. This chapter takes a detailed look at the recent history of dialogue between the two parties and offers recommendations on how best to establish an effective process. It suggests that the political stalemate will be resolved by the agreement of some form of mutually acceptable political association or official recognition of Somaliland as an independent state.
Beyond Principles
Authors: Gardner Judith
Published: June 2019

This chapter challenges the conventional understanding of the roles of men and women in the Somali conflict. It suggests that women are involved in intra‐ and inter-clan conflict in many different ways, including in financing, mobilization, logistics, intelligence, and active fighting. The roles they take are closely connected with clan affiliation and the current situation of the clan. It appears that kinship and clan are often exploited for elite interests. However, women have also taken action to end conflict. In Kismayo, women have worked for peace through a range of means, including persuasion, mobilization, fundraising, organizing demonstrations, or advocacy. These findings underscore the importance of women's full and meaningful involvement in peace-building.
Women in Al-Shabaab
Authors: Khadija  , Harley Stephen
Published: June 2019

This chapter discusses the results of interviews with six women in Al-Shabaab who are or were married to Al-Shabaab fighters. These women lead a privileged existence both in terms of the quality of life that is accorded to them by Al-Shabaab's Executive Council, especially in comparison to the civilian population living under Al-Shabaab's control, and also the freedoms they are allowed. The women were permitted, and apparently encouraged, to run businesses and in support of that activity they were allowed access to smartphones and could travel relatively freely around Lower and Middle Jubba. The women occasionally participated in Al-Shabaab operations, taking advantage of the lax security that is applied to women to support intelligence gathering and fundraising for the organization.
From the Margins to the Centre
Authors: Mohamed Hamdi
Published: June 2019

Using data collected from in-depth interviews with 13 Somali women, this chapter re-examines the dominant assumptions about women and peace-building. It explores how women's participation in peace-building manifests itself in Somali politics; identifies distinctive gender dimensions of peace-building; and explores the particular ways women negotiate and influence peace. It makes the case for a new recognition of women's roles in peace-building and argues that Somali women are already employing successful strategies to negotiate space within the political domain and build peace within their families and communities. As such, the chapter goes beyond the false dichotomy of formal/informal peace-building activities, and contends that the current narrative, which is based on simplistic explanations of women and politics, fails to take into account the historical context of women's agency and the vastly changing political and community dynamics that impact how women participate in peace-building.
Women in Peacebuilding in Somalia
Authors: Koshin Sahro Ahmed
Published: June 2019

Somali women's participation in peace-building and conflict resolution in Somalia has been very limited, and they have been marginalized in all aspects of decision-making and governance. However, their political participation is closely linked to peace-building and state-building in Somalia, hence the need to study the various factors which promote or inhibit women's involvement in mainstream peace and reconciliation in Somalia. This chapter summarizes broader research conducted in Galkayo (South and North) and Kismayo, and a focus group discussion conducted in Garowe. The study addressed four research objectives: (1) levels of women's participation in peace-building; (2) factors constraining women's participation; (3) policies, frameworks, rules, and regulations encouraging women's participation; and (4) UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and an agenda to catalyse action and bring about positive change.
Addressing the Gap
Authors: Deria Sagal Aziz , Gillette Erin , Henshaw Katherine , Simons Savannah
Published: June 2019

This chapter discusses the results of field research on Somalian youth carried out in Baidoa, Kismayo, and Hargeisa. The study found that young people in Somalia are looking for ways to contribute meaningfully to their society but feel frustrated and disenfranchised by the lack of opportunities available to them. Although young people constitute around two-thirds of the population, youth unemployment may be as high as 80 per cent or 90 per cent in some areas. Two areas for positively engaging young people are sports, supported by 56 per cent of respondents, and social media, used by over 60 per cent of respondents on a daily basis. With the right support and investment, these areas could offer possibilities for young people to fulfil their potential, act as agents of change, and contribute to social reconciliation.
Somalia’s Southern War
Authors: Besteman Catherine , Lehman Daniel Van
Published: June 2019

This chapter discusses the Al-Shabaab's policies and activities in the Jubba River Valley, based on research with 41 people who were either recently displaced from the Valley or have relatives living there. Since the collapse of the Siad Barre regime in 1991, powerful militias tied to major clans have vied for control of the Valley, often exploiting and predating marginalized groups, especially the farming communities known as Somali Bantus. Al-Shabaab has done likewise, extorting considerably higher levels of harvests, ‘taxes’, and remittances from Somali Bantus than from Somalis from the major clans. Al-Shabaab also imposes stringent penalties for non-compliance with their rules, sometimes resulting in eviction from long-held farmland. This marginalization demonstrates that a just and sustainable peace in Somalia will depend on far more effective efforts to protect the rights of Somalia's oppressed populations.
Motivations and Drivers of Al-Shabaab
Authors: Marchal Roland
Published: June 2019

This chapter considers the motivations and drivers of Al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab has built itself on a clear agenda: ridding Somalia of foreign forces, portrayed as Christians, and implementing the Sharia. These goals implied the need for reform and discipline of Somali society using all means: dawa (preaching) as well as violence. While the goals fit well with Somali nationalistic and Salafi agendas, more fluidity or even flexibility is shown by Al-Shabaab in a situation of weakness. However, there is no doubt that Al-Shabaab eventually intends to monopolize the religious arena and curb the political and social influence of any contenders. Somali viewpoints are not always antagonistic towards Al-Shabaab, which throws light on some of the mistakes or weaknesses of its enemies.
Al-Shabaab’s Youth Recruitment Project
Authors: “Ingiriis” Mohamed Haji Abdullahi
Published: June 2019

This chapter examines the extent to which the push and pull factors of youth recruitment in Al-Shabaab have reinforced radicalization in Somalia. Whereas the push factors are facilitated by negative dynamics, such as the hostile environment and indoctrination, the pull factors are reinforced by issues of identity, ideology, and economic exclusion. Methodologically, the chapter is based on intensive one-on-one and group interviews with former Al-Shabaab defectors. Understanding Al-Shabaab from various angles through an empirically grounded analysis is crucial for two reasons. First, it will help the Somali government to find ways of tackling the threats posed by ongoing insurgency activities. Second, it will contribute to the efforts of creating peace and stability in southern Somalia.
Anatomy of Counter-Jihad
Authors: Hansen Stig Jarle , Gelot Linnéa
Published: June 2019

This chapter considers how Al-Shabaab messaging can be best countered, drawing on field research in Mogadishu and Baidoa, focusing on the area of Bay/Bakool. It shows that lack of security, opportunity, and justice, combined with clan conflicts create conditions that Al-Shabaab can exploit. In Bay/Bakool, the group is seen as having semi-territorial control; in other words, a fairly regular presence despite intermittent deployments or patrols by forces of the Federal Government of Somalia and African Union Mission in Somalia. Thus, the involvement of sheikhs and clan elders is all the more important as they wield considerable influence in communities and can strengthen efforts of countering violent extremism (CVE). A wide, inclusive approach is recommended, drawing upon a combination of different types of religious leaders, in which Sufi, Shafi'i, and Quietist/non-political Wahhabism are represented.
Travelling for an Idea
Authors: Meservey Johusa
Published: June 2019

This chapter considers Al-Shabaab's Western foreign fighters. Members of the Somali diaspora in the West were the major source of Al-Shabaab's Western foreign fighters. Previously, a considerable number of members of the diaspora joined or attempted to join Al-Shabaab (referred to as ‘travellers’), and while the group's attractiveness for potential travellers has waned, the risk remains that it could revive. The chapter suggests that alienation plays a role in radicalization, such that travellers' acceptance of Al-Shabaab's violently anti-Western rhetoric demonstrates they were not deeply assimilated into the mainstream values of their host countries. However, it was Al-Shabaab's ideology that primarily attracted travellers. Thus, governments must try to delegitimize Al-Shabaab's worldview while promoting the attractions of their own ways of life in order to ensure travellers will not again seek out Al-Shabaab in large numbers.
Al-Shabaab Attitudes Towards Negotiations
Authors: Botha Anneli , Abdile Mahdi
Published: June 2019

Finding a lasting peaceful solution to the conflict in Somalia has eluded both national and international actors since the fall of the Siad Barre regime. This chapter assesses the possibilities for negotiations with Al-Shabaab. It draws on two separate field research missions conducted in 2016 to see whether there is interest on the part of Al-Shabaab leaders to disengage and pursue political dialogue with the Somali Federal Government. It also considers the conditions in which they will negotiate, where negotiations could take place, and who could participate in negotiations. Analysis of the research findings suggests that Al-Shabaab's leadership is willing to pursue conditional political dialogue with the Somali government as long as certain conditions are met. These conditions are perhaps better considered as political demands, which appear to be quite far-reaching. These include the withdrawal of foreign forces and a general amnesty for Al-Shabaab members.
Collaborating for Peace
Authors: Balthasar Dominik , Osei Anja
Published: June 2019

In recent years, Somalia has witnessed an increasing range of activities involved in state-building and peace-building. The success of these efforts requires cooperation among and between national and international actors. This chapter assesses the forms, patterns, and levels of cooperation. The results suggest that networks remain sparsely connected and that a decentralized core of international organizations is surrounded by less connected national counterparts. African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) emerges as important to coordination among international actors; whereas the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and Federal Member States (FMS) emerge as central to networks of cooperation between international and national actors. Overall, the findings suggest that there is considerable scope and potential for greater cooperation among and between international and national actors. Increased collaboration could enhance the prospects for peace and reconciliation in Somalia, given that denser networks contribute to the flow of information, trust-building, and more effective problem-solving.
The Problem of the Divine Law in Christian Ethics
Authors: Grobien Gifford A.
Published: June 2019

This chapter begins with an overview of the meaning of the term “law,” in order to give background to Lutheran disputes over the term. Starting with the work of J. C. K. von Hofmann, scholars have disagreed over Luther and later Lutherans view of the law. Many suggest that Luther understood the law as God’s call to repentance, existentially experienced, so that it could not be used to teach the good will of God, but only to accuse people of sin, excluding the law from ethics. In spite of the efforts of other scholars such as Werner Elert, who argued that Luther and the Lutheran Confessions are in agreement, resolving the underlying tension over whether the law may be used for instruction requires clarification of the meaning of Christian righteousness, and how the law relates to righteousness.
Character Formation
Authors: Grobien Gifford A.
Published: June 2019

This chapter engages Stanley Hauerwas’ work on the justification–sanctification distinction and character formation. Hauerwas argues that when we recognize the converting and regenerative character of justification, we may understand conversation to grant new agency or character. The life of sanctification begins with this new character, which continues to be formed through narratives and practices of virtue, especially those found in the church. Lutheran Joel Biermann builds on this argument by comparing character with the active righteousness of a Christian. Biermann’s paramount narrative for Christian character formation is the creedal narrative of the Church. Biermann’s and Hauerwas’ claims lead to further questions to be resolved: the anthropology and ontology of a Christian with new character, the operation of the specifically Christian narrative, and the distinctiveness of Christian character.
Union with Christ and Its Bearing on New Character
Authors: Grobien Gifford A.
Published: June 2019

Research in the area of union with Christ by the Finnish Luther School in recent decades provides a way of understanding the new character given in justification. The Finnish school has criticized recent Luther research as overlooking Luther’s teaching on union with Christ. Instead, reception of Christ’s grace and gifts requires participation in Christ’s body. While the Finns may be criticized for weaknesses in articulating forensic justification, their emphasis on union serves in the explanation of a new Christian character. Other elements of union are described to develop an anthropology of union. Union is relational, such that both Christ and the Christian retain their identity. Participation emphasizes a Christian’s share in Christ’s benefits and qualities. Adoption serves to emphasize the gracious nature of union, yet the full effect of union in making a Christian a child of God. Incorporation expresses the ecclesiastical and corporate character of union with Christ.