Historicising intervention: Strategy and synchronicity in British intervention 1815-50

Copyright @ 2013 British International Studies Association.This article identifies three key themes in British intervention for purposes of liberal reordering in the period 1815–50, namely the ‘opening-up’ of new market spaces (discussed in relation to Uruguay/the Argentine Confederation in the 1840s), a cosmopolitan humanitarianism evident in the campaign for the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade that ran throughout this period, and the political-ideological contest between constitutionalist and absolutist forces and represented here by intervention in the Iberian Peninsula in the late 1820s to1830s. In developing a strategic perspective upon military/naval intervention the analysis shows its utility to have been subordinate to more fundamental sociopolitical, cultural, and institutional determinants. With regard to understanding the outcomes of specific intervention the analysis shows the importance of systematically evaluating developments in the domestic political environments of both intervening and target state as well as the military campaign itself and the need for sufficient general alignment or synchronisation in the timeline of developments in each of these three domains. This model helps to explain that whilst liberal interventions are not necessarily bound to fail, they frequently prove more difficult, complex, and protracted than the interveners expect

Doing Biopolitics Differently? Radical Potential in the Post-2015 MDG and SDG Debates

Post print On institutional repository or subject-based repository after a 18 months embargo, withdraw

A critical evaluation of international development and poverty: the case of microfinance and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency in Zambia

International development aid has been under increasing pressure and scrutiny for various reasons. Many scholars and policy makers have called into question its effectiveness to increase economic growth, alleviate poverty, or indeed promote social development in recipient countries (Crewe and Harrison, 1998; Easterly, 2002; Tsikata, 2008; Tuozzo (2009; Vetterlein, 2012; World Bank, 1998; Yusuf, 2008). Within an array of development aid, microfinance has risen to become one of the ‘most important policy and programme interventions in the international development community’ (Bateman, 2010: 1). The case in many parts of the developing world is that of microfinance being hyped and regarded as a best development strategy not only to help reduce poverty but also to empower women (Dichter, 2007; Geleta, 2013; Ito, 2003; Mayoux, 2001; Sharma and Nagarajan, 2011). Although microfinance is talked about so much, it hardly has one agreed meaning. However, it is believed in development literature that, it is aimed at helping the ‘active poor’ bring about own economic and social development-i.e ‘bottom-up’ and locally owned. It is promoted as a market based approach of giving the poor a ‘hand up’ and not a ‘hand-out’. It is also thought to make a significant contribution towards poverty reduction by enabling women become economically active through their participation in managing borrower groups and through exchange of information with each other (Dowla, 2006; Siwale and Ritchie, 2012). That microfinance gets around many of the political barriers that plagued government subsidised credit scheme and other forms of neo-liberal interventions into poverty reduction warrants critical attention. This paper examines the dominant economic discourse at different stages of global capitalism regarding poverty and ‘helping the poor help themselves’ and the narratives behind ‘making markets work for the poor’ as articulated by the World Bank and other international institutions like the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and Department for International development (DFID). It uses microfinance, viewed as an effective bottom-up development strategy to highlight the language of intervention and argue that much of international development has failed the poor, especially in Africa

Myths and lessons of liberal intervention: The British campaign for the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade to Brazil

This is the Pre-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2012 Martinus NijhoffThis article takes issue with recent references to the British nineteenth century campaign for the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade to Brazil that serve to bolster interventionist or imperialist agendas. In particular, such accounts reproduce two and a half myths about the campaign: that it can serve as a model for the present age; that the success of the campaign can be explained through the actions of the intervening party alone (with a corresponding neglect of those of the ‘target’ state); and the half-myth that the campaign’s success was due to military action (at the expense of institutional (legal) and normative factors and the capacity of the target state). I argue instead that this case – and interventions more generally – would benefit from an analysis that considers the role of force in relation to a series of residual institutional and cultural constraints within the liberal state and to political conditions in the target state. In light of the complexities and contingencies that these factors present the underlying lesson is that military force should be used sparingly, if at all

Myths and lessons of liberal intervention: The British campaign for the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade to Brazil

This is the Pre-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2012 Martinus NijhoffThis article takes issue with recent references to the British nineteenth century campaign for the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade to Brazil that serve to bolster interventionist or imperialist agendas. In particular, such accounts reproduce two and a half myths about the campaign: that it can serve as a model for the present age; that the success of the campaign can be explained through the actions of the intervening party alone (with a corresponding neglect of those of the ‘target’ state); and the half-myth that the campaign’s success was due to military action (at the expense of institutional (legal) and normative factors and the capacity of the target state). I argue instead that this case – and interventions more generally – would benefit from an analysis that considers the role of force in relation to a series of residual institutional and cultural constraints within the liberal state and to political conditions in the target state. In light of the complexities and contingencies that these factors present the underlying lesson is that military force should be used sparingly, if at all

Making Sense of Public Policy in a Fragmented World: the Search for Solutions and the Limits of Learning

This paper explores innovation, learning and change in an environment where the historical moment of ‘New Public Management’ (NPM) has given way to unprecedented fluidity in public policy and decision making. To begin, we examine key elements of the post-NPM environment, where foundational approaches (in theory and practice) can be challenged either by innovation or by default to previous positions: both trends are evident in the incoherence of policy responses to the global economic crisis. We then consider the search for meaning and sense-making by policy actors who seek new solutions to cope with intractable problems. This can generate innovative responses, including the growth of Third Sector (voluntary organisation) involvement in public policy and public services, or the rediscovery of a public service ethic amidst the banking crisis, including citizen withdrawal from multi-national banks in favour of ethical or mutual providers. We will then suggest that although there is a certain inevitability to the process of change in an era which has moved beyond modernist and foundationalist solutions, this does not necessarily generate positive and desirable innovation. Change may instead involve a retreat to failed responses of a previous era. It is as though a familiar script is still recited by policy actors even though the overall storyline has fundamentally changed. In this sense, entrenched learning may produce negative results even though ‘reverse organisational learning’ (ie organisational amnesia) may accord a superficial appearance of novelty. This may be readily illustrated by examples from recent European public policy. Finally, in an era where the modernist conception of gradual mastery (of the world, and of theory) has fallen away, the discussion considers the kind of analytical tools that may assist in the theoretical understanding of a changed public policy environment

Peacebuilding After Civil War

Book Summary: This comprehensive new Handbook explores the significance and nature of armed intrastate conflict and civil war in the modern world. Civil wars and intrastate conflict represent the principal form of organised violence since the end of World War II, and certainly in the contemporary era. These conflicts have a huge impact and drive major political change within the societies in which they occur, as well as on an international scale. The global importance of recent intrastate and regional conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia, Nepal, Cote d\u27Ivoire, Syria and Libya – amongst others – has served to refocus academic and policy interest upon civil war. Chapter Summary: This chapter provides an assessment of current theories regarding peacebuilding efforts following civil war, evaluates UN peacebuilding efforts over the past 20 years, and offers suggestions regarding future research on the topic