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Summer 2008: Table of Contents
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Double Interpretation of History and “The War of the Monuments”: Estonia’s Case I and The War of the Monuments: Estonian Case II
Aurika Meimre and
Irina Belobrovtseva
Abstract
The 2007 April events broke up Estonia’s national groups into two opposing powers. The reason of the split was directly related to differences in the Second World War understandings resulting in dissimilar reactions to the decision to move the monument called the Bronze soldier from its original location to the War cemetery. The government’s intentions were not properly explained to the Estonian Russians, and looked extremely provocative on the eve of the Victory Day (May 9), which Russians used to celebrate by this monument. Estonians celebrate the victory over fascism on May 8. Double standards exposed in the course of these events could have been overcome if the society’s opinion and the program of actions had been better prepared. In this paper we shall examine the preparation stage of the April 2007 events, their succession, and consequences.
Abstract
Not long before the April events 2007, on March 14, 2007, a competition was announced. This competition aimed at creating the Vabadusesõja monument (Liberty War Monument or Monument of the War of Independence) that was meant to symbolize Estonia’s victory in the War of Independence (1918-1920) against the Soviet Russia and Germany. Soon after the April events related to the relocation of the so-called Bronze Soldier monument, on August 15, 2007 seven of twelve members of the jury voted for the project of the new monument called „Libertas”. On January 28, 2008 the government of Estonia decided the Liberty Monument was to be erected by November 28, 2008 (the 80-th anniversary of the War of Independance). The very jury staff and its decision resulted in another split (this time within the ethnic majority). However, the ongoing split originated from aesthetic and ethic—not ethnic—differences, protests of architects, sculptors, artists and other professionals, as well as a note of protest from the public. Despite of all even this time there were powers, which did their best to turn the conflict into the ethnical and political one.
Remaking the World: Personal Diplomacy of Franklin D. Roosevelt with the Allies during the Second World War
Keith Huxen
Abstract
This investigation examines visions, goals and realities facing the Great Powers in rebuilding the states of Europe at the end of the Second World War. The paper proposes to focus on the victorious Allied leaders, in particular Franklin Roosevelt’s interaction with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin, but may also bring in other perspectives (both winners and losers) as appropriate.
This exploration proposes to focus upon Roosevelt’s personal efforts to shape 1) the political and economic models which were considered by Allied leaders; 2) how the military situation upon the ground affected the shifting and overall political settlement; 3) what role the historical context played amongst the thinking of Allied leaders; 4) how important the development of international organizations were in Roosevelt’s diplomacy; 5) the differing viewpoints of the Allies towards traditional European diplomacy, especially regarding Eastern Europe; 6) how technology, particularly the development of the atomic bomb, affected conceptions of state-building; 7) how Roosevelt’s early death affected the course of history regarding the settlement of the war and the rise of the Cold War.
Lastly, the paper will attempt to apply or comment upon the lessons of state-building and charismatic personal political leadership from the time period to the challenges of our modern world.
State Building in the Government of Tang Taizong
Lily Hwa
Abstract
Tang Taizong (r. 626-649) was one of China’s most admired rulers. Chinese historians of traditional and modern times praised him for exemplifying the Confucian “benevolent” rule. His reign of the Zhengguan period was noted for prosperity and fine administration. Moreover, he laid down the foundation for a strong Tang dynasty and an empire. However, the nature of his Confucian benevolent rule and the great success of his reign remain unexplored.
Tang Taizong exercised self-restraint, established a government for the well-being of the people, recruited the best civil and military officials into positions that matched their talents, demanded group wisdom in policies and encouraged remonstrance to check for his possible mistakes. He established a transparent court in which the emperor and officials were all held accountable for their actions and no abuses were tolerated.
While building a strong military force, he was reluctant to use force and used marriage alliance and diplomacy, allowing nomadic leaders to retain their power or absorb them into his administration. He was revered by the nomad as their “Heavenly Khan,” and he treated them with benevolence as his Han Chinese subjects. With relatively few efforts, he built an empire and acquired strong allegiance to him from most of the neighboring nomadic tribes and kingdoms.
Genocide and Reconciliation in Rwanda: From Complicity to Credibility
Stephen D. Lowe
Abstract:
The 1994 genocide in Rwanda divided Hutu from Tutsi and involved the complicity of the Christian church. Reconciliation efforts sponsored by the government of Rwanda, NGOs, and other similar organizations have been underway since1995. Churches, church groups, denominations, and religious organizations are part of this reconciliation effort but the church needs to do more if it hopes to regain credibility and witness. Churches that target reconciliation between Hutu and Tutsi among street children and youth may go a long way in achieving justice, reconciliation, forgiveness, and unity while restoring their credibility.
Fear, Flight, Frustration and Dedicated Service: A Brief History of International Disease Control Activities, 1918-2008
Heather MacDougall
Abstract
Comparing and contrasting the history of local, national and international efforts to control pandemic influenza in 1918-20 and SARS in 2003 provides an opportunity to assess the impact of disease on international order. The great flu pandemic of 1918-20 occurred at the end of the First World War and highlighted the lack of well-organized public health services around the world. It also prompted sustained scientific research to determine the viral nature of influenza. In 1948, the World Health Organization was created as an international data collection agency whose role was to provide information in advance of disease outbreaks as well as to work to eradicate malaria, smallpox, polio and HIV/AIDS. But persuading member states to report outbreaks of communicable diseases was never easy. The SARS epidemic in 2003 illustrated the speed with which an unknown disease could travel around the world and the different approaches that nation states took to control and eradicate it. In Canada, history was used as a guide to choosing specific control measures. But Internet links to experts in Hong Kong, Atlanta and Geneva were also vital in stemming the outbreak. The lessons learned demonstrate the profound impact of disease on international order.
John Dewey’s Philosophy of History as a Guide to the International Order
George C. Stone
Abstract:
John Dewey, dean of American philosophers, never wrote a neat essay entitled, “Philosophy of History.” Yet, he did write about history and he did address all of the elements of any philosophy of history at different places in his voluminous writings. If history can be a guide to international order then Dewey’s philosophy of history is at the center of that discussion. He wrote to Americans in his book, German Philosophy and Politics during World War I in Europe before the Americans entered the war in 1917 the following: "An American philosophy of history must perforce be a philosophy for its future, a future in which freedom and fullness of human companionship is the aim, and intelligent cooperative experimentation the method." Although he was specifically addressing Americans in that important period in world history, his words have the potential of ringing true for all people across the planet, particularly those people living in democracies and those people hoping to live in democracies. To that end, the title of this essay is as follows: “John Dewey’s Philosophy of History as a Guide to International Order.”
The Moral of Virginia: On Her Majesties’ Solemn Obligations to the Virginia Indian Nations
Jay Hansford C. Vest
Attending the theme of this conference—“Religion: The Politics of Peace and Conflict”—it may be duly noted that a central tenet of religion has always been morality. Certainly the morality of war weighs heavily today upon our collective societies as they presently engage the pursuits of empire abroad. Least we forget such questionable morality has long guided the imperial ventures of Western societies. Indeed, nowhere in the world are these impositions of selective morally more prominently manifest than in the occupation, conquest and colonialization of the Americas. Acknowledging that modern America—the USA—is itself the imperial offspring of colonial occupation and conquest, there is ample reason to question her moral credibility in the modern world. For more than two hundred years, the United States of America has officially ignored and, though her colonial inheritance, abused the surviving aboriginal population of present-day Virginia. As a country born of recalcitrant rebels, it might be expected that the USA would fail to acknowledge the Native peoples who treated with the original British colonials at Jamestown some four hundred years ago. Notwithstanding this adolescent behaviour, there remains solemn treaty engagement between the Natives of Virginia and the Lords of the British Isles on behalf of Her Majesties’ government. To the extent that those treaties retain force in today’s world is a measure of moral investigation that weighs upon the theme of this conference.
Dead Men Walking: Soviet Elite Cemeteries and Social Control
Katya Vladimirov
Abstract
The article analyses the Soviet elite cemeteries and their structure and questions the impact of the communist ideology on the Soviet society. Contrary to the Soviet law that proclaimed principles of equality, the Soviet state rigidly maintained social hierarchies. This social stratification remained the rule even beyond the grave. Soviet elite cemeteries, a replica of the society of the living, sanctified the political power of the Soviet leadership and preserved a social order in which the elite had a superior status vis-à-vis the mortal commoners for eternity. This structure did not respond to the wishes of the departed. In fact, the deceased were “powerless” in the scheme and had no need to justify their status. While Russian revolution meant to impose the proletarian equality as a rule, the living used the dead as means of social control within new society following traditional mores.
The Attitude of Liberal Clergymen in Hungary to Politics in 1848/49
Péter Zakar
Abstract
In historical research into the Hungarian Civil Revolution and War of Independence of 1848 there has so far been no interpretation of liberal tendencies in different church communities. Marxist historians tended to emphasise the role of the Churches in supporting feudal counter-revolutionary movements. The aim of this presentation is to deal with the liberal changes in the various Churches in 1848 and to summarise the attitude of liberal clergymen to politics at that time.
By 1848, within the denominations an appreciable stratum of priests and ministers had come into being that provided substantial support for preservation of the peaceful nature of the transformation into a civil society, but also for continuation of the defensive struggle. This stratum was influenced by three factors: their religious training, their liberal convictions and their devotion to their nation. In their interpretation, the transition into a civil society was not the mark of upheaval, but that of the provident goodness of God. In their preaching they paid increasing attention to eliminating the abuses of this world. The real importance of the liberal clerical interpretation of the Revolution and War of Independence in 1848/49 lies in the fact that a population that had previously never or only weakly engaged in politics was won over to the cause of transition into a civil society.
The Activity of the Islamic Order al-Sanūsīyah at the Turn of the 19th Century
Zygmunt Stefan Zalewski
Ever since the Suez Canal was opened in 1869, North-Eastern Africa and the Middle East have attracted a great deal of attention,. As a consequence of this event the unavoidable process of rivalry has emerged; mainly between France, Great Britain, Italy and then Germany, after this country had been unified in 1871. The purchasing by the British government 44% shares of the Suez Canal from Egyptian khedive Isma‘īl in November 1875 brought another significant factor which accelerated the challenge for these regions of the world. However, having established its domination over Egypt in 1882, Great Britain intensified the creation of its famous ‘Imperial route’, which facilitated better connections of the Mother country with her vast and remote colonies in India, Australia and the Far East. Having achieved a political domination over the Suez Canal region, the British initiated another significant process, a new stage of rivalry over the African territories. Thus, the so called “scramble for Africa” had begun.
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