<p> The Nigerian government has emplaced counterterrorism policy measures to combat Boko Haram terrorism since the group became violent in 2010. However, there is a gap in the understanding of how these policies were developed and implemented. Such knowledge may offer suggestions as to how these policies can be improved. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore and describe the development and implementation of counterterrorism policy towards Boko Haram in Nigeria during 2009&ndash;2015. Scott&rsquo;s institutional theory and Baumgartner&rsquo;s punctuated equilibrium theory constituted the study&rsquo;s theoretical foundation. Interview data were collected from individuals selected using a purposive and criterion sampling strategy who played prominent roles in the development and implementation of the policy as well as those who were its beneficiaries. Data were analyzed using content analysis and coding. Key findings from this study provide an understanding of how the policy was developed and how it is being implemented and might be improved. Recommendations include the development of a holistic strategy involving both soft and hard approaches. Collaboration between stakeholders in the security sector and key community leaders in northeast Nigeria is crucial to active counterterrorism effort. The insights from the study on Nigeria&rsquo;s past counterterrorism policy development and implementation may assist policy makers in making improvements in their mechanisms and strategies for actively fighting Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria. Policy makers in other African countries may also find the outcomes of this study useful as they provide a potential blueprint for counterterrorism policy development and implementation.</p><p>

<p> Women living in northern Nigeria face a herculean challenge of overcoming direct and indirect violence. These include domestic violence, political instability, social inequality, and the threat of Boko Haram. Boko Haram is an extremist militant group that has been known to kidnap, rape, and torture women and young girls as means of terrorizing the Nigerian community. Northern Nigerian women have also faced challenges within their own community as they are barred from participating in public activities, are under-represented in government, forced into early marriages, and are often victims of domestic violence. This study examines the lived experiences of women peacebuilders living in northern Nigeria as they negotiate regional conflicts and manage the peacebuilding process. Seven northern Nigerian females between the ages of 30 to 60 were recruited to participate in this study. All came from diverse backgrounds but shared a commonality of peace building and conflict management within their respective communities. The goal of this study was to better understand the meaning of these experiences and to uncover how these women handle these daily challenges. Feminist standpoint and structural violence theories provide the theoretical framework to dissect the essence of their experiences. The study adopted Clark Moustaka&rsquo;s approach towards conducting transcendental phenomenological research methods and procedure. The results of the study will inform project design and policy formulation and serve as a source for future research and interventions by development agencies and other stakeholders interested in peace within the region.</p><p>

This dissertation looks into different aspects of women's lives in the aftermath of Nepal's ten-year long (1996–2006) Maoist insurgency. It consists of four essays, each focusing on the experience of Nepali women in a particular aspect of post-conflict development and reconstruction activity. The first essay undertakes an examination of the survival and coping strategies of widow-headed households (WHHs) in Nepal in the aftermath of the Maoist conflict. Using qualitative data from in-depth interviews, the chapter analyzes the material consequences of the conflict on such households, the strategies such households have adopted in the aftermath to cope with economic uncertainty and insecurity of livelihoods, and the role of social and cultural processes in determining these strategies. Social and cultural norms pertaining to widowhood emerge as salient determinants of the level of kin and non-kin support widow heads of household can muster, of their workday structure, of their choice of employment and of their children's welfare. Contradictory outcomes prevail in determining WHHs' actual outcomes, which are also dependent upon class, caste, location and ethnic background. The second essay is a case study of peacebuilding and reconstruction activities undertaken by women's savings and credit cooperatives in Nepal in the post-conflict period. Using secondary data from a peacebuilding project called the Developing Democracy in Nepal (DDN) carried out by the Canadian Cooperatives Association (CCA) and the Center for Microfinance (CMF) in Nepal in the cease-fire period (in 2009), the chapter examines "bottom-up" peacebuilding and the role of women's cooperatives in reducing violence, promoting reconciliation and building peace in their local communities. The case of the DDN becomes a starting point to scrutinize the nature of peacebuilding and reconstruction—including its gendered elements—undertaken by cooperatives, and the dilemmas and challenges that appear herein. Lessons from the Nepal case are distilled for future development and peacebuilding practice. The third essay draws examples from qualitative (interview) data on Nepal's Maoist conflict to illustrate the ways in which attention to women's lived experiences of violent conflict can be used to inform policies and programs of post-conflict reconstruction and development in war-torn societies. Using women's narratives from in-depth interviews, it is argued that such a feminist perspective complicates conventional understandings of the processes and effects of violent conflict and encourages a closer look at the definitions, concepts and assumptions employed in exercises of post-conflict reconstruction or peacebuilding. The crucial insights gained from women survivors' narratives suggest a reflexive approach to policy-making and program design in war-torn contexts. The final essay is a quantitative exploration of the hypothesis that the incidence of female headship increases after periods of violent conflict. Using district level data from the Nepal Livings Standards Surveys and conflict intensity data from a human rights organization in Nepal, the chapter uses regression analysis to trace the relationship between conflict intensity and female headship. While the hypothesis is not borne out in the case of Nepal, the role of migration and geographical terrain emerges as relevant for female headship in the case of Nepal. The findings of the dissertation support its initial premise that it is essential to view material life and economic phenomena through a gendered lens in order to uncover the social, cultural and institutional constraints that are in operation for particular groups, especially women. In looking at how these constraints are exacerbated, or may provide opportunities for agency and action, important insights can be afforded into social processes and development outcomes.

abstract: In this dissertation i argue that the internet has a positive impact on the likelihood of ethnic riots. To make this argument I put forward three major claims. First, ethnic riots are best understood as performances that aim to clarify ambiguities in the social order. Second, communication technologies structurally constrain the flow of information passing through them. Third, the internet is unique among modern Information Communication Technologies in its capacity for inducing ethnic riots. I provide two types of empirical evidence to support these claims: a cross-national analysis of internet penetration and a case study of India. The former provides evidence for the central claim, finding that the internet has a positive effect on the likelihood of ethnic conflict after a threshold of internet penetration is met. The latter sketches the limits of the proposed theory, finding that internet penetration decreased the likelihood of ethnic riots in India. I argue this is a result of welfare contextualization of the internet. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Political Science 2020

No description available.

No description available.

Yes

Countries emerging out of armed conflicts face immense challenges in their efforts to build electoral democracies. Contrary to our intuition that elections can transform violent competition to peaceful political contests, past research suggests that holding post-conflict elections only increases the chance of renewed violence. Why are elections unable to build sustainable democracies as expected? In this dissertation, I examine the question by focusing on two levels of analysis. First, I study the effects of violence on political behavior of mass publics at the individual level using the World Values survey Dataset. I argue that citizens are more inclined to support undemocratic leaders, when they are faced with threats from armed violence. Empirically, I find that presence of pre-election violence in post-conflict elections leads voters to prefer parties that are stronger in terms of their violence-wielding capacities over more moderate and peaceful parties. Second, I investigate how such an outcome might influence the risk of renewed conflicts in a country emerging out of armed conflict. The hypothesized mechanism can only be described as tragic. At individual level, fearful voters support violent parties mainly to maintain the status quo, fearing that parties with a violent reputation are likely to renew conflict if they lose the election. Tragically, however, placing undemocratic and violent parties in power only increases the likelihood of renewed conflicts. I test this expectation using an event history model to analyze all post-conflict countries from 1950 to 2010 and find that the presence of pre-election violence in a country increases its risk of renewed armed conflicts. The study has important implication for policymakers and election monitoring bodies. Rather than the current practice of observing only a single event Election Day, this study emphasizes the importance of creating a secure environment during the pre-election phase, about six months prior to the first election, in order to achieve a sustainable peace in post-conflict countries.

The protection of the emerging right of conscientious objection to military service is one of the most challenging questions in international human rights law. The primary objective of this doctoral thesis is to clearly identify the minimum international legal standards on the phenomenon of conscientious objection to military service as emerging from the jurisprudence of international human rights bodies. Furthermore, this study aims to explore and assess how the Member States of the Council of Europe are effectively implementing these standards within their domestic laws and practice. The implementation of legal standards on conscientious objection in the Council of Europe varies considerably between the 47 Member States of the organisation due to a rapidly transforming sociopolitical landscape that affects the speed in which legislative and procedural amendments take place. Some of the themes explored throughout this thesis include: the legal contours of the right to conscientious objection to military service, including the grounds legally accepted to justify a conscientious objection; procedural guarantees with regard to the application process to be granted conscientious objectors status; the provision of accurate information to members of the public affected by mandatory military service and the extension of these principles to professional members of the armed forces. The thesis is structured as a thematic presentation of applicable international human rights standards and State practice and explores common issues, best practices and future challenges between the Member States of the organisation. The study does not merely aspire to describe the present situation in the Council of Europe, but rather aims to contribute to academic know ledge by proposing the development of a more coherent framework of legal and procedural obligations, based on the need to review and adapt national legislation in accordance to indicators and benchmarks derived from the Council's standard-setting policies.

Orientadora: Raquel Cabral / Banca: Maximiliano Martin Vicente / Banca: Marcos Alan Shaikhzadeh Vahdat Ferreira / Resumo: O jornalismo para a paz (Peace Journalism) é um conceito que nasce a partir dos Estudos para a Paz (Peace Studies). Neste âmbito, são pensadas em maneiras pelas quais as práticas jornalísticas podem colaborar para a desconstrução das estruturas de violência, representando o interesse público e fortalecendo a democracia e uma cultura de paz. Neste estudo, tomando como objeto o caso das movimentações de refugiados sírios a partir do ano de 2015, foi conduzida uma análise de conteúdo de matérias dos sites de notícias G1 e Al Jazeera English (AJE) utilizando o jornalismo para a paz como suporte metodológico. As categorias de análise incluem tipologia de violência, contextualização sociopolítica, progressão temporal, utilização de fontes, terminologia, iniciativas de cultura de paz e adaptação e cultura dos refugiados. Os resultados das análises de 104 unidades de informação mostram que há, nos dois veículos jornalísticos, a presença tanto de elementos do jornalismo para a paz quanto do modelo do jornalismo de guerra ou violência, teoricamente oposto ao Peace Journalism. Por exemplo, ambos os sites dão destaque a matérias que têm a violência estrutural em primeiro plano e trazem informações sobre o contexto social e político relacionado ao tema dos refugiados. Em contrapartida, uma análise detalhada indica que essa contextualização é feita de maneira breve. Em relação às fontes, as matérias da AJE são as que mais incorporam depoimentos de autoridades políticas. No G1, apesar de es... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Within the context of Peace Journalism, as a concept that emerges from the Peace Studies, this research investigated in which ways the journalistic activity can assist in deconstructing the structures of violence, hence representing public interest and strengthening democracy and a culture of peace. The present study performed a content analysis of news websites Brazilian G1 and Qatari Al Jazeera English (AJE) based on the Peace Journalism framework. The case of the Syrian refugees movements from 2015 on was the main theme of the analyzed news stories. The categories of the content analysis were typology of violence, sociopolitical context, timeline, usage of sources, terminology; culture of peace initiatives, and adaptation and culture. The results of the analyses of 104 stories show that in both websites there are elements of Peace Journalism, as well as War Journalism's ones - the latter theoretically opposes the Peace Journalism framework. For instance, G1 and AJE prioritize news that foregrounds structural violence, and include in their content information on social and political conjuncture of the Middle Eastern refugees case. Nevertheless, a detailed analysis shows that this contextualization is not covered in a thorough manner. Regarding the sources, AJE stories are the ones that incorporate statements from political authorities the most. Although those sources are also frequent on G1, in this website there is a strategy to bring the displacement issue closer to the B... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Resumen: El periodismo para la paz (Peace Journalism) es un concepto que nace desde la Investigación para la Paz (Peace Studies). En este ámbito, son pensadas en las maneras por las cuales las prácticas periodísticas pueden colaborar para la deconstrucción de las estructuras de violencia, representando el interés público y fortaleciendo la democracia y la cultura de paz. En esta investigación se ha desarrollado un análisis de contenido del sitio web de noticias brasileño G1 y del catarí Al Jazeera English (AJE) basado en el modelo teórico del periodismo para la paz. El caso de los desplazamientos de los refugiados sirios desde 2015 fue el tema principal de las noticias analizadas. Las categorías del análisis incluyen tipología de violencia, contextualización sociopolítica, progresión temporal, utilización de fuentes, terminología, iniciativas de cultura de paz y adaptación y cultura de los refugiados. El resultado del análisis de 104 noticias muestra que hay en los dos sitios web tanto elementos del periodismo para la paz como del periodismo de guerra o violencia, modelo que se contrapone teóricamente al primero. Por ejemplo, ambos priorizan noticias que tiene la violencia estructural en primer plano y incluyen en sus contenidos informaciones sobre el contexto social y político relacionado al tema de los refugiados. Sin embargo, un análisis detallado indica que esta contextualización es hecha superficialmente. En relación a las fuentes, las noticias de AJE son las que más incorporan d... (Resumen completo clicar acceso eletrônico abajo) / Mestre