Tuesday 18 July The Government of South Sudan (GoSS) has reported an outbreak of fall armyworm pest in parts of the Equatoria, Northern Bahr el Gazal and Jonglei regions. President Salva Kiir declared a three-month state of emergency in parts of Gogrial, Tonj, Wau and Aweil East due to increased clashes between clan-based militias. GoSS… Read more »
Month: July 2017
Performing Grief
As we discuss the relationship between public and private mourning and grief, consider the emotional handling of the Newtown school shooting in 2012, where twenty children were killed at Sandy Hook elementary school. Such a traumatic event destabilizes people, creating a felt deficit in emotional support. When President Obama visited the community, his role was… Read more »
Private Loss and Public Mourning
After dehumanizing events – such as the 2011 Norway terror attacks – emotions play a significant role in the public sphere. Let me offer a couple of examples: On August 21, only one month after Anders Behring Breivik killed a total of 77 people, Norway’s King Harald held a deeply emotional speech at the national… Read more »
Rudy Rummel – a Many-Faceted Scholar
From mathematics to democide Rudolph J Rummel always published just as RJ Rummel but was well known in the profession as Rudy. He was a man of many talents, and to some of his readers he may also have seemed to present many different faces. He came from a broken home, yet became a devoted… Read more »
Sovereignty™
In addition to states, a wide range of actors are involved in the performance of sovereignty today, including private security companies, civil society movements, militant groups, multinational corporations, international non-governmental organizations, and multilateral agencies. Terms such as popular, hybrid, public-private, graduated, shared, parallel and social sovereignty have been used to describe their state-like practices. As people, citizens and consumers, we are more sovereign, though at the same time… Read more »
This Week in South Sudan – Week 28
Monday 10 July The United States’ position on, and continued support for South Sudan remains unclear amid proposed budget cuts and major restructuring of USAID operations. International Crisis Group: “China’s Foreign Policy Experiment in South Sudan” Tuesday 11 July More than 20 people were killed in a cattle raid carried out by suspected armed youth… Read more »
US-Jordanian military collaboration and the politics of commercial security
While Jordan – also in light of the threat posed by the so-called ‘Islamic State’ in neighbouring Iraq and Syria – has become one of the largest recipients of US military aid worldwide, research on the nature and effects of US-Jordanian military collaboration remains scarce. Funded through US$ 99 million in US military assistance, the… Read more »
This Week in South Sudan – Week 27
Monday 3 July Al Jazeera: “South Sudan’s Wau: Fear and displacement one year on” Tuesday 4 July A new report by Amnesty International, focused on the escalating conflict in the Equatoria region, describes grave human rights violations, including using hunger as a weapon of war, against the civilian population. Wednesday 5 July Unidentified gunmen abducted… Read more »
Jihadi Brides or Female Foreign Fighters? Women in Da’esh
Da’esh has stunned the world with its gross human rights abuses, gendered violence, and practices of sexual slavery, and yet, the organization has attracted a large amount of female recruits. Women who have joined Da’esh have been met with a storm of disbelief and gendered commentary, and have even been designated their own term – ‘jihadi brides’. A recent policy brief explores agency and women in… Read more »
This Week in South Sudan – Week 26
Wednesday 28 June The Government of South Sudan (GoSS) denies closure of embassies abroad, saying it has routinely recalled the heads of diplomatic missions in seven countries as the period of their assignments have ended. Thursday 29 June GoSS said it could deny humanitarian aid workers access to rebel-held areas due to security concerns. The… Read more »