Security sector reform and peacebuilding in Africa with special reference to the case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

This essay is a preliminary research note on “Security Sector Reform (SSR)" as part of peacebuilding in African countries. It looks at the cases of UN peacekeeping missions in Africa and identifies elements of SSR in them. First of all, this essay starts with recalling UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan's Report in 1998 on conflict causes in Africa, while arguing that the theoretical foundation of SSR in Africa was prepared in the Report. Next, the essay summarizes the record of SSR related UN peacekeeping missions in Africa and finds that its elements evolved conspicuously after 1997, the year Annan became the Secretary-General. The essay then focuses on the case of the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is the largest UN peacekeeping mission at the moment

Re-considering the Concept of Peace-building from Strategic Perspectives on International Peace Operations

This essay aims to reconsider and refine the concept of peace building in light ofpractical and strategic interests of international peace operations. Peace-buildinggenerally refers to activities to solidify structures for stable peace in conflict riddensociety. As it is understood to include so many divergent activities conducted byinternational organizations, governments, NGOs and so on, it tends to lack coherentperspectives. As a result, the contents of peace-building remain ambiguous. The essay- 22 -does not attempt to provide a philosophical definition of peace-building; instead, itseeks to identify a logic according to which practitioners as well as researchers cancoordinate and comprehend various peace-building activities in a “strategic" manner.The essay first looks at the development of discussions on the concept ofpeace-building in the past 10 years, mainly focusing on documents of the UnitedNations. In so doing, it identifies the background of recent modifications of the concept.Then it seeks to clarify some “strategic " ways of understanding peace-building. As thisessay is part of the author 's ongoing project on “the rule of law approach ofpeace-building," it finally indicates a conceptual road map leading refinement of theconcept of peace-building to broader issues of international peace operations

The Rule of Law in International Peace-building Activities : The Case of Bosnia and Herzegovina

This paper aims to illuminate how the rule of law is understood in international peace-building activities by looking at the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The case is selected since the European countries and the United States that are leading peace-building in Bosnia and Herzegovina have a distinct tendency to emphasize the rule of law in the context of peace-building. While there are more various international rganizations that are given peace-building tasks by the Dayton Peace Agreement of 1995, the paper focuses on the Office of High Representative, the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, the UN's and EU's police missions, as they have leading roles in rule-of-law related activities. The paper finds that the rule of law is now recognized more important than before. The paper argues that it is because democracy has lost importance as a peace-building strategy. In Bosnia and Herzegovina where ethnicity-based forces have kept power through the post-conflict elections, democracy does not appear to be an effective tool for peace-building. The rule of law is understood as a strategy to develop the remedies which democracy may fail to create and is expected to pave the way for more solid peace

On the role of rule of law in conflict and post-conflict societies : An analysis of peace-building in Bosnia and Herzegovina with special reference to the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Report

This essay seeks to look at the case of “rule of law approach" of peacebuilding in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the perspective of the Report by the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan concerning the rule of law in conflict and post-conflict societies. The first section of the essay carefully examines the contents of the Annan's Report issued in 2004. The second section provides an overview of “rule of law" related peacebuilding activities in Bosnia. The third section contemplates the implications of peacebuilding activities in Bosnia, given the issues raised by Annan's Report. The essay finds two characteristics in Bosnia that would explain the arguments in Annan's Report. One is a growing demand for domestic reforms in justice sectors. The other is growing recognition of strategic importance of the rule of law in comparison with other principles like democracy

The UN High-level Independent Panel Report and the Current State of UN Peace Operations: Implications of “Primacy of Politics” and “Partnership Peace Operations”

This essay is intended to analyze the current state of UN peace operations by looking at the Report of the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO). The essay argues that the key messages of the HIPPO Report, primacy of politics and stronger partnership, even if less innovative, should be regarded as important reflections of contemporary international peace operations in the 21st century, the age of the War on Terror. In the end UN peace operations need to find their roles in international society by carefully examining their possible functions in reality

International Assistance in Domestic Elections in the Post-Cold War Era

This paper seeks to examine international assistance in domestic elections thathas rapidly grown since the end of the Cold War. The phenomenon reflects theinternational environment in which state sovereignty does not hinder the spreadof liberal values across borders. The first section of this paper describesthe historical development of international electoral assistance in the modernage and identifies its rapid rise in the last decade. The paper next examinesvarious international organs of electoral assistance ranging from electoralassistance bodies of the United Nations to major international NGOs. Finally,the paper provides a theoretical discussion on international electoralassistance. In so doing, it argues that the rise of international electoralassistance in the post-Cold War signifies the values of peace, human rightsand democracy that are combined as a set of international normative standards

Nuclear Weapons and International Humanitarian Law as Jus Cogens: The Problem of jus in bello and jus ad bellum or Law and Politics in the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legality of the Use and the Threat of Nuclear Weapons

The Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legality ofthe use and the threat of nuclear weapons on July 8, 1996, was a historic achievement inthe history of debates on the legality of nuclear weapons. It drew great attention ofacademics, governments, and civil society organizations and is now recognized as animportant milestone for those who are interested in the issue of nuclear weapons.However, this does not mean that the Opinion concluded the debate on the legality ofnuclear weapons. Rather, it stimulated further discussions and created new problems onthe issue of the legality of nuclear weapons. This article is intended to examine theOpinion in order to identify the polemics that concern the very normative framework ofcurrent international society. The main focal point is the jus cogens character ofinternational humanitarian law, which the Court avoided. In so doing, this articleidentifies the confusion in the Opinion and among the Judges about the relationshipbetween jus in bello and jus ad bellum applied to the use and the threat of nuclearweapons. The article also argues that the notorious concept of “an extreme circumstanceof self-defence, in which the very survival of a State would be at stake" was anunfortunate result of sterile understanding of the relationship between law and politics

Conflicting notions of national and constitutional sovereignty in the discourses of political theory and international relations: A genealogical perspective.

This thesis presents unexplored aspects of the problematic notion of sovereignty, a major issue in ongoing theoretical debates in international relations. Deploying a 'genealogical' perspective, it clarifies the transformation of ideas of sovereignty which reflect political changes in domestic and international society. Focussing primarily on Anglo-American discourses, it explores the hidden conceptual struggles involved in theories of sovereignty by illuminating its encounter with nationalism and constitutionalism. The national and constitutional forms of sovereignty are used to trace the trajectories of concepts of sovereignty in the fields of political, legal and international studies. This thesis opens with an explication of the genealogical tools derived from Nietzsche and Foucault and a survey of existing accounts of sovereignty within the international relations literature. The historical research begins by identifying the nature of notions of sovereignty within 'constitutional' traditions in seventeenth and eighteenth century Britain and America. After looking into major Continental theories of national sovereignty in the nineteenth century, the thesis examines the rise of nationalistic theories of state-sovereignty in nineteenth century Britain and America. This thesis argues that a strong strand of 'international constitutionalism' appeared as a result of the Anglo-American victory over Germany in the First World War. In consequence, during the initial inter-war period sovereignty was understood as a principle compatible with 'the international rule of law'. The thesis then explores the dramatic decline of this tendency in the thirties which eventually led to the intrusion of national sovereignty in tandem with the rise of political realism. In the midst of the Cold War and the processes of decolonisation, vigorous advocates of national sovereignty in socialist and Third World countries pushed Anglo-American intellectuals to abandon projects of international constitutionalism in the final quarter of this century. It argues that while old-fashioned international constitutionalism based on an anthropomorphic domestic analogy is no longer valid, it is possible to identify in academic debates and political practices values of constitutionalism such as the protection of human rights which are compatible with international society and the concept of sovereignty

Political Implications of the “Withdrawal Strategy” of African States from the International Criminal Court (ICC)

This essay is intended to analyze the debate on the withdrawal from the ICC by African states. First, it examines the background of the debate. Second, it carefully looks at the contents of the Withdrawal Strategy Document by the AU. In so doing, this essay illustrates the nature of the issue as the dilemmas between politics and law, peace and justice, and regionalism and universalism. There is a general growing trend of multi-layered security structures of international society in relation to the principles of local ownership, empowerment and partnership. The essay argues that there is room for the ICC’s endeavors to advance “positive complementarity.

A Strategic Analysis of Activities relating to “the Rule of Law Approach of Peace-building

This essay aims to explore the functions of what it calls “the rule of law approach of peace-building." Following a conceptual exploration of “peace-building" in an article of this journal's last issue, the author further discusses activities relating to “the rule of law approach of peace-building" by classifying them into four categories.First, the essay illuminates the importance of peace agreements that are usually intended to set up a de fact constitutional framework of peace processes. Then it argues that electoral assistance constitutes a crucial phase of the rule of law approach, since a post-conflict election establishes legitimacy for a peace process and a new government and also paves the way for democratic peace. Third, the essay discusses the function of law enforcement activities such as assisting or rebuilding international or local police and military personnel. The fourth category is judiciary. Various international and local war crimes tribunals as well as truth and reconciliation commissions have become indispensable factors in peace-building