The exploitation and extermination of people in the context of internal conflict in the
former Yugoslavia is a grave injustice and the result of a systematic policy of war by an
unconventional state. Internal conflict requires investigation by international relations
scholars because it is evidence of the changing nature of war. Given that both the
methods of violence (ethnic cleansing, systematic/genocidal rape, and sexual torture) and
(ethno)nationalism are gendered, a 'new' approach to war is needed. Traditional
international relations theoretical approaches to the state, anarchy, and war/peace prove
unable to analyze: one, the unconventional state (structure); two, the dichotomous
separation of the public/international/external/formal/masculine/autonomous from the
private/domestic/internal/informal/feminine/vulnerable; three, unconventional war policy;
and four, the 'new' actors, the external and internal 'Others,' the 'Invisibles,' the noncombatants/
civilians, the 'women' (women and men; people with identities). Thinking that
will lead to solutions for the dilemma of war, inclusively defined, will be - to employ Joy
Kogawa's word - merciful; it will not exclude people and, while critical, it will be hopeful
that the protection of both human dignity and community is in the 'national interest,' in 'our
and their interest' as political/social/economic/etc. beings. Because it analyzes dichotomies
and deals with the role of identity in the various aspects of (changing) war, a feminist or
gendered/identity-deconstructivist approach is advanced as a means to more effectively
examine internal/international conflicts, such as the former Yugoslav wars - i.e.,
unconventional wars whose character challenges the rigid traditionalist international
relations definition of war.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/9824 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Zupanec, Nives |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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