In the aftermath of the Cold War, intervention in internal conflicts has taken on new characteristics: it is often driven by a humanitarian imperative; it is usually a combination of civilian and military efforts; and, it is usually a multilateral, rather than a unilateral, endeavor. This last characteristic, driven by international politics, represents a complex set of requirements: coalitions must be both politically and militarily viable, able to take decisions and act on them effectively. In this paper, the intervention in Liberia (1990Liberia ( -1997 by the Economic Community of West Africa' s Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) is examined for insights into the potential for effective regional, coalitional, peace operations. The factors that determined the coalition' s political and military viability are examined, and broader implications are drawn for future regional coalitions. Perhaps predictably, this case study suggests political viability can exist only when the coalition members have strong mutual interests and that military viability is relative only to the requirements of the operation at hand.
The foreign-born population in the United States has reached new heights, and experts predict that the country will be “majority minority” by 2042, possibly earlier. Despite its growing ethnic, racial, national, and other forms of diversity, the fundamental location of Blackness at the bottom of the pyramid of structural racism endures. In attempts to overcome the real and perceived tensions that characterize relationships between immigrants and African Americans, efforts to create space for interpersonal connection and shared structural analysis have proliferated in organizations across the country. Drawing from seventy-five interviews with individuals leading these initiatives and the review of over fifty different pedagogical resources they have developed and used, this article presents a classification and assessment of these programs. We consider these programs using an anti-racist, African Americanist framework reflected in Steinberg’s “standpoint of [the] black figure, crouched on the ground as others pluck fruit off the tree of opportunity” (2005, p. 43), and analyze their successes and shortcomings. Successes include the creation of spaces for interaction across difference and the building of a shared analysis. We find evidence of transformative effects at the intra- and interpersonal levels. The greatest limitations include immigrant-centricity in relationship-building efforts and a reluctance to engage immigrants in conversation about their relationships to Whiteness, Blackness, and racial hierarchies in the United States and in their countries of origin.
A new report by Harvard University researchers Eric Torres and Richard Weissbourd digs into the reasons why most privileged White parents make choices that fuel school segregation. Most important, according to their survey data, are parents’ assumptions about school safety, quality, and prestige, as well as the fear that their own children will be ignored while teachers attend to students with greater needs. Torres and Weissbourd’s policy recommendations are not convincing, argues Andrew Grant Thomas. But there are hopeful signs that grassroots support for diverse schools does lead to greater integration.
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