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    Canadian Political Science Association
    2020 Annual Conference Programme

    Confronting Political Divides
    Hosted at Western University
    Tuesday, June 2 to Thursday, June 4, 2020
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    Presidential Address:
    Barbara Arneil, CPSA President

    Origins:
    Colonies and Statistics

    Location:
    Tuesday, June 2, 2020 | 05:00pm to 06:00pm
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    KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
    Ayelet Shachar
    The Shifting Border:
    Legal Cartographies of Migration
    and Mobility

    Location:
    June 04, 2020 | 01:30 to 03:00 pm
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    Keynote Speaker: Marc Hetherington
    Why Modern Elections
    Feel Like a Matter of
    Life and Death

    Location:
    Wednesday, June 3, 2020 | 03:45pm to 05:15pm
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    Plenary Panel
    Indigenous Politics and
    the Problem of Canadian
    Political Science

    Location: Arts & Humanities Building - AHB 1R40
    Tuesday, June 2, 2020 | 10:30am to 12:00pm

CPSA/ISA-Canada section on International Relations



C21(b) - The UN, International Intervention and Human Security

Date: Jun 4 | Time: 03:15pm to 04:45pm | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Chuck Thiessen (Coventry University)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Tanya Narozhna (University of Winnipeg)

Agenda-Setting, Framing and Public Opinion: International Interventions in Libya, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and the Central African Republic, 2011-2014: Walter Soderlund (University of Windsor), Tanja Collet (University of Windsor), Tom Najem (University of Windsor)
Abstract: UN Security Council-authorized R2P-type military interventions into what are essentially domestic conflicts are not easily accomplished. In addition to likely vetoes by sovereignty-sensitive permanent members of the Security Council, countries with the military capability to deploy air and ground forces quickly to far off lands appear increasingly reluctant to respond. The proposed paper deals with the second impediment- specifically the role of the press in countries able to do so, either to support or oppose a decision to intervene in such conflicts. Focused on the interventions in Libya, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and the Central African Republic (CAR) between 2011 and 2014, the paper examines both “Agenda-Setting” and “Framing” in key newspapers in major intervening power/s during the active phases of the interventions. In Libya these powers and newspapers were France- Le Monde, Great Britain- The Guardian, the United States- The New York Times and Canada- The Globe and Mail. In Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and the CAR there was but one major intervening power France, their previous colonial ruler. In addition, “Public Opinion” in the major power/s is examined for possible correlations between media framing of the interventions and positive and negative public attitudes towards them. For Agenda-Setting, total volume of intervention coverage is reported, while for Framing, in addition to direct support for or opposition to the intervention, assessments of ultimate success or failure are reported. Framing of international motivation for the interventions is also examined, including humanitarianism (R2P), democracy (regime change), neo-colonialism and an Islamist threat.


Organizational Dysfunction in the Mitigation of Civilian Casualties in Alliance Warfare: Jeffrey Rice (Carleton University)
Abstract: July 2019 marked the deadliest year for civilians since the war in Afghanistan began nearly twenty years ago. Particularly distressing amid the deteriorating security situation is that, for the first time, civilian deaths attributed to pro-government forces exceed those caused by anti-government elements. One might expect that the involvement of multiple international organizations, which share a common goal in achieving sustainable peace, would lead to a reduction in civilian deaths, or at least a plateau. Yet cooperation on the issue remains minimal. The absence of cooperation is all the more surprising given that, in the context of coalition warfare, civilian casualties are one of the most salient indicators of a conflict’s progress, or lack of progress, towards a sustainable peace. Furthermore, researchers have also shown that high civilian deaths can spoil peace efforts, lead to a loss of legitimacy both within the host country as well as have wider regional implications, while also undermining domestic support for the mission. Given the significance of the issue for all allied organizations, why are civilian casualties so high? This paper argues that the absence of cooperation on mitigating civilian deaths in Afghanistan is a partial consequence of institutional dysfunction between allied organizations, such as NATO, the United Nations, and the United States’ Freedom Sentinel. Organizations often employ different methods for reporting and employ different tools to quantify civilian casualty events, partially as a result of limitations surrounding access to local populations.


United Nations Peacebuilding and Local Conflict Resolution: A Survey Experiment in Kyrgyzstan: Chuck Thiessen (Coventry University)
Abstract: What UN peacebuilding can and cannot achieve is the subject of intense debate. This paper contributes to this debate by asking: What is the potential of UN peacebuilding to impact the relationship between citizens and local conflict resolution structures inside conflict-affected countries? Using a new dataset from a large-N community survey in Kyrgyzstan (baseline: 2014; endline: 2016) accessing areas that experienced a strong UN project intervention and comparable ‘control’ areas, this paper explores the impact of UN projects that aim to build trust in local governance following the ethnic civil violence and displacement of 2010. This paper analyses the perceived trustworthiness of local formal and informal conflict resolution processes by exploring two antecedent factors to trustworthiness – perceptions of competence and integrity (Mayer et al., 1995). Data analysis reveals a curious phenomenon. While project-inspired reforms to conflict resolution processes are perceived to be yielding little change in terms of perceptions of competence (effectiveness and providing suitable assistance), survey respondents in areas targeted by UN projects (unlike control areas) perceive deepening integrity in terms of gender, age, and ethnic equality in the service provision of these same arrangements. This paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the scholarly understanding of the scope, limits and sustainability of UN peacebuilding in Kyrgyzstan and other conflict-affected countries.


Dominators Usually Go in Packs: International Society as Organized Oppression: Antonio Franceschet (University of Calgary)
Abstract: In recent article on the concept of domination, Christopher McCammon (2015: 1048) observes, “In the real world, dominators usually go in packs”. Exploring domination as a form of power that constitutes certain paradigmatic social relations, we can see how slavery, colonialism, dictatorship and patriarchy rely on coordination, shared interests, and goals by the dominators. This paper asks the question: Are the purposes and functions of international society meant to facilitate domination? Existing literatures conceive of sovereign states as a civilized group, and not exactly an arrangement of predatory animals. Yet this literature acknowledges the reality of socially coordinated domination, achieved within and through institutional norms, rules, and underlying common interests and values of states. International society is viewed as an outgrowth of civilized peoples, but also as an association that outgrows uncivilized modes of politics. In a critical overview of this literature, this paper argues that the metaphor dominators behaving in predatory, hunting packs is useful for investigating and questioning certain assumptions about the politics of international society. Concepts of civilization have been used to mask domination, but also to question and limit practices of domination; concepts of animal savagery have been used to justify domination, but also to alter shared conceptions of legitimacy undergirding sovereignty and authority in international society.




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