The democratic nature of a state has been rightly assumed to be ‘quintessentially contested’ (1). The Lebanon (Jumihyeirah)  and Turkey (Turkeiye Cumhuriyeti) accommodate both democratic and non-democratic  elements, ranging from proportional representation to censorship. They show the success and failure of democracy in a region that has little democratic precedent. What makes these two self-proclaimed
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The privatisation of security generates significant political and conceptual implications. Security is commoditised and contracted within the open market, undermining the state monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force. This in turn entails a normative shift away from the traditional conception of the state as the sole internal and external security actor, and concurrently
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On November 25, NATO aircraft hit two Pakistani border posts between Kunar Province in Afghanistan and Mohmand in Pakistan. The incident occurred when a joint Afghan-ISAF operation in Kunar called in NATO air support against insurgents which inadvertently hit the posts killing 24 Pakistani troops. In retaliation, Pakistan has closed the trans-border routes to NATO
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Detainees from Libya’s war against supporters of the late dictator are reportedly facing torture in their thousands as the provisional NTC government endeavours to assert its authority. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has expressed extreme concern for the fate of these detainees, urging the NTC to bring these detention centres under
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Pakistan’s Supreme Court has begun its inquiry into the controversial ‘Memogate’ scandal, which has pitted the ruling government against the military. The controversy stems from an unsigned memo warning Washington of a possible coup by the military following the Osama Bin Laden raid in May, and urging the Obama Administration to assist the civilian government
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NATO free-hand in the former Libyan Jamahiriya (1977-2011) marked the culmination of a series of duel-tier interventions designed to safeguard civilian populations and stabilise the international climate. Comprising Kosovo (1999), Afghanistan (2003) and now Libya (2011), the alliance has expanded its security coverage over an array of state and sub-state elements as part of an
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From the outset of the uprising in Syria, Russia has taken a dispassionate and often confounding stance towards the civil unrest and continued bloodshed. It has remained staunchly against sanctions aimed at debilitating the vehement Assad government, and filibustered countless efforts by the UN and other international bodies to castigate the violence, often to the
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Since the first round of international sanctions against the Syrian regime in May, many observers have raised doubts about the relevancy and efficiency of economic sanctions. A frequent argument has been that sanctions not only hit the regime leaders, but that they hit hard on the working classes, “making people poor and hungry”[1]. Moreover, looking
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As Italy slides towards the edge, threatening to drag the euro and who knows what else over with it, it’s been easy to be a little Europe-centric this week. However, to do so would be to miss momentous events throughout the Middle East and forget that in Syria, a country in which many Brits happily
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The word ‘state’ conjures up many associations including sovereignty, territory, self-determination and institutions as well as a monopoly over the use of force. Dating back to the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the principles of sovereignty, non-intervention in the affairs of other states and the right to self-determination have become firmly entrenched in the global
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