Browsing by Subject "Peace-building"

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Open Access
New solution for old problem : reviewing the international peace-building experiment in Kosovo
(2005) Sejdiu, Bekim Enver
This thesis analyzes the prospects for solution of the protracted Kosovo problem, through the international peace-building mission launched in 1999. It confronts the basic premises upon which is constructed the peace-building concept, the latter viewed in the context of peace operation techniques, with the nature of the ethnic conflict of Kosovo. The thesis argues that implementation of socioeconomic and political transformations along the model of capitalist liberal democracy, which is the underlying strategy of peace-building missions, is not sufficient condition for the solution of the Kosovo problem. This assumption is based on two arguments. First, the international peace-building operation in Kosovo does not tackle the very root of the Kosovo problem, namely the question of political/legal status of the territory, nor it offers any clear prospect for solving this issue. Second, this operation leaves intact the direct cause of the violent expression of the Kosovo problem, namely the aggressive Serbian nationalism and the particular sociopolitical context which gave rise to it. The thesis argues that there can be no viable solution for the final status of Kosovo, which would contradict the will of the majority of its population. Finally, the thesis suggests that the stability and prosperity of the Western Balkans, including the democratic transformation of Serbia, which is of crucial importance in this regard, are indivisibly dependent from the incorporation of this region under the umbrella of Euro-Atlantic political, economic and security structures.
Open Access
Unveiling the unknown face: the role of the united nations in promoting democracy
(T.C. Dışişleri Bakanlığı Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi, 2014) Sejdiu, Bekim; Önsoy, M.
The general tendency in academic writing about the UN is to highlight its contribution to the maintenance of international peace and security, as well as its role in boosting economic, social and other forms of cooperation among states. One aspect that has been left rather in the shadow is the UN’s role in democracy promotion. This article explores the UN’s engagement in promoting democracy around the world through theoretical, legal, historical and conceptual lenses. The major question it addresses is whether the UN is engaged in promoting democracy, and, if yes, how this role has manifested itself on normative and institutional grounds. This article identifies fundamental ways in which the UN contributes to the globalisation of the norm of democracy. The major argument underlined by the article is that the UN has a long history of involvement in democracy promotion, although it has done so more spontaneously than in pursuit of a clear objective and strategy. Democracy promotion, United Nations, post- Cold War era, transitional democracy, electoral assistance, democratic institutions, peace- building, norm-making, Arab Spring.