India and the Current Concerns of UN Peacekeeping: Issues and Prospects
Peacekeeping opera tion is amongst the volatile issues in the contemporary debate on the role and activities of United Nations. The United Nations uses the peacekeeping operation as a fire-fighting device, sent to the crisis situations in various corners of the world. It was an innovative method devised by accident rather than by design to deal with the impasse created by the Cold War between the two Superpowers. It began as an unambitious system in 1948 to deal with inter-state conflicts and by late 20th century, it has become a much sought after means to contain, calm and resolve intra-state disputes. The changed circumstances provided a conducive opportunity to finish the unfinished task of resolving some of the remaining inter-state conflicts of the Cold War period. Meanwhile, ethnic cleavages that remained suppressed during the cold-war period erupted, leading to civil war situations and secession movements.
Third World Perspectives on Humanitarian Intervention and International Administration
Abstract This article makes three central arguments. First, Third World perspectives about the international administration of war-torn territories cannot be separated from Third World perspectives about humanitarian intervention. Second, although Third World states share certain views regarding humanitarian intervention and international administration, there are significant differences in their approaches depending on their geographic location, their position in the international and regional pecking orders, their human rights record, and the legitimacy deficit from which individual states and regimes suffer. Third, many Third World states, but especially those in the Middle East, have been extremely perturbed by the double standards that the major states have used in choosing where to intervene and which states or territories to place under international administration.
Indonesia: A failed state?
If the crises Indonesia has been facing drag on for another 5–10 years, could the country become a failed state? Multiple problems must be perceived as resolvable in the near future. Otherwise, Indonesia may be in danger of becoming a failed state in the longer term.