By supporting pro-austerity parties in Greece the EU has forgotten its founding values

Is the EU still a force for democracy? In the lead up to the recent elections in Greece, the EU has supported the pro-austerity PASOK and New Democracy parties, both well known for cronyism and corruption when in government. Ioannis Tellidis argues that rather than delegitimising anti-austerity parties in Greece, the EU should have had a more negotiated approach to Greece by supporting policies that would improve governance and governability

From paramilitarism to peacebuilding in Northern Ireland: an interview with Noel Large

The articles in this special issue are drawn from papers presented at a conference titled Terrorism and Peace and Conflict Studies: Investigating the Crossroad. The conference was organised by the Conflict Analysis Research Centre at the University of Kent and the Critical Studies on Terrorism Working Group of the British International Studies Association and was held at the University of Kent from 10 to 11 September 2012. The conference aimed to highlight and explore the empirical, methodological, ontological and epistemological points of interjection of the two fields through the engagement of scholars, postgraduate students, national and international policy and civil society actors. The articles in this issue reflect those aims

Preventing terrorism? conflict resolution and nationalist violence in the Basque Country

This study examines the debates on nationalism, terrorism and conflict resolution, and intends to identify, on the one hand, the reasons why and the instances in which nationalist discourses usurp the notions of political violence and present it as a legitimate option for opposing a State, and on the other, whether there exist circumstances where conflict resolution techniques and approaches can be useful in isolating terrorist discourses from the nationalist ones, without necessarily criminalising the latter. The study employs a critical and discourse analysis approach to explaining ethno-nationalist and terrorist phenomena, arguing that a contextualisation of the nationalist and terrorist objects of study is necessary in order to comprehensively analyse the relationship between the two, and the instances where the former gives rise to the latter. The purpose of the study is to develop a theoretical framework for the understanding of nationalism and terrorism as interconnected practices, and looks into ways in which conflict resolution can intervene and prevent the infusion of the two. In order to test this framework, the thesis examines the Basque conflict and discusses how the discriminatory practices of the Francoist dictatorship towards the Basques played a catalytic role in their acceptance of violence as a legitimate vehicle of pursuit of the nationalist aim of independence, and how the radicalisation of counter-terrorist practices after the democratic transition further distanced the civil society from both the State and the militant group. The study analyses the role of the Basque civil society, and how it became the primary actor in the transformation of the conflict by rejecting violent practices from both the State and ETA, while at the same time promoting a more civic aspect of the Basque nationalist discourse. This attitude allows the thesis to conclude that, contrary to theories of conflict resolution, the State can combat terrorism most effectively when it allies with civil society in the alteration of perceptions that perpetuate violence, but instead favour a strictly political approach to the pursuit of political objectives, like self-determination

Editors' introduction: Terrorism and peace and conflict studies: investigating the crossroad

The articles in this special issue are drawn from papers presented at a conference titled Terrorism and Peace and Conflict Studies: Investigating the Crossroad. The conference was organised by the Conflict Analysis Research Centre at the University of Kent and the Critical Studies on Terrorism Working Group of the British International Studies Association and was held at the University of Kent from 10 to 11 September 2012. The conference aimed to highlight and explore the empirical, methodological, ontological and epistemological points of interjection of the two fields through the engagement of scholars, postgraduate students, national and international policy and civil society actors. The articles in this issue reflect those aims

Emerging actors in international peacebuilding and statebuilding:Status quo or critical states?

Emerging actors in peacebuilding are generating a slow transformation of the norms and praxes of international peacebuilding, statebuilding, and development. Although each of the emerging donors have different contexts, approaches, motives, and methodologies, their power, influence, and—crucially— their nonadherence to the principles of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have attracted scepticism and criticism from traditional donors. This article highlights the nuances of donors’ engagement with peacebuilding and statebuilding. It examines whether they are critical or status quo states and what the implications are for practices of intervention.</p