Nonrelativistic and quasirelativisticab initio pseudopotentials substituting the M(Z−28)+-core or... more Nonrelativistic and quasirelativisticab initio pseudopotentials substituting the M(Z−28)+-core orbitals of the second row transition elements and the M(Z−60)+-core orbitals of the third row transition elements, respectively, and optimized (8s7p6d)/[6s5p3d]-GTO valence basis sets for use in molecular calculations have been generated. Additionally, corresponding spin-orbit operators have also been derived. Atomic excitation and ionization energies from numerical HF as well as from SCF pseudopotential calculations using the derived basis sets differ in most cases by less than 0.1 eV from corresponding numerical all-electron results. Spin-orbit splittings for lowlying states are in reasonable agreement with corresponding all-electron Dirac-Fock (DF) results.
Examination of the speeches, writings and editorials by the Putin Administration in the aftermath... more Examination of the speeches, writings and editorials by the Putin Administration in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks showed a consistent storyline that equated Russia’s war against Chechen terrorists with the subsequent US attack on the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The storyline made a strong case for a Russian alliance with the US and the West against those who were attacking the ‘civilized world’. Two alternative storylines also emerged. The centrist-liberal storyline was skeptical of the benefits accruing to Russia from its support of the Bush Administration’s policy, while the national patriotic-Communist storyline concentrated on the ‘imperialist’ drive of the United States to control the resources of Eurasia. The resonance of the dominant Putin storyline and its skeptical and suspicious alternatives among the Russian public is tested by analysis of the responses to a representative national survey of 1800 adults conducted in April 2002. Significant socio-demographic differences appear in responses to eight questions. The Putin storyline is accepted by the rich supporters of the Edinstvo party, males, ‘Westernizers’, residents of Siberia, singles and young adults, while the oppositional storylines are supported by Communist party supporters, the elderly, Muslims, women, the poor, and residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
I construct a genealogy of the principle of distinction; the injunction to distinguish between co... more I construct a genealogy of the principle of distinction; the injunction to distinguish between combatants and civilians at all times during war. I outline the influence of a series of discourses-gender, innocence, and civilization-on these two categories. I focus on the emergence of the distinction in the 17 th century text, On the Law of War and Peace, authored by Hugo Grotius and trace it through the 20 th century treaties of the laws of war-the 1949 Geneva Protocols and the 1977 Protocols Additional. I draw out how the practices of and referents for our current wars partially descend from, are governed by, the binary logics of Christianity, barbarism, innocence, guilt, and sex difference articulated in Grotius' text. These binaries are implicated in our contemporary distinction of 'combatant' and 'civilian,' troubling any facile notion of what 'humanitarian' law is or what 'humanitarian' law does, and posing distinct challenges to theorizations of the laws said to regulate war.
There is mounting evidence that the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is associate... more There is mounting evidence that the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is associated with heroin trafficking routes. The relationship between the two is best illustrated by the routes leading from the two primary regions for the illicit opium poppy cultivation and heroin manufacture: the Golden Triangle of South-East Asia and the Golden Crescent of Central Asia. The producers in the Golden Triangle are the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Myanmar, and those in the Golden Crescent are Afghanistan and Pakistan. Together, those States accounted for perhaps 80–90 percent of the world heroin supplies in 2007. HIV outbreaks resulting from unsafe injection practices among injecting drug users (IDU) in trafficking zones have been documented in Myanmar itself, in Belarus, China, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Thailand, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and in several States in Eastern Europe. Heroin trafficking in those States has led to serial epidemics: first of heroin use, then of injection, then of blood-borne pathogens, including hepatitis C and HIV. Ethnic and trade relationships in heroin trafficking zones appear to facilitate such epidemics, as does drug testing by petty traders in market nodes. Policy responses, or the lack thereof, have increased the vulnerability of users and their communities, as have the limited drug treatment options available in those zones. While “supplyside” approaches, including interdiction and policing, are likely to continue, those HIV epidemics will require improved drug treatment, access to HIV prevention services, including harm reduction, and new approaches to the prevention of HIV in areas where heroin trafficking occurs.
This study presents what we believe to be the first formal evaluation of the Taliban crackdown ag... more This study presents what we believe to be the first formal evaluation of the Taliban crackdown against opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. Afghanistan was the main source of the world's illicit heroin supply for most of the 1990s. From late 2000 and the year that followed, the Taliban enforced a ban on poppy farming via threats, forced eradication, and public punishment of transgressors. The result was a 99% reduction in the area of opium poppy farming in Taliban-controlled areas. The evaluation uses multiple comparison areas: the non-Taliban area of Afghanistan, neighbouring countries, the non-contiguous comparison area of Myanmar (Burma), and, the rest of the world. Alternative possible causes of the reduction such as drought, migration or changes in global opium markets are reviewed and excluded. It is concluded that the reduction in Afghan poppy cultivation was due to the enforcement action by the Taliban. Globally, the net result of the intervention produced an estimated 35% reduction in poppy cultivation and a 65% reduction in the potential illicit heroin supply from harvests in 2001. Though Afghan poppy growing returned to previous levels after the fall of the Taliban government, this may have been the most effective drug control action of modern times.
This paper describes the evolution of the opium economy in Afghanistan and examines the factors b... more This paper describes the evolution of the opium economy in Afghanistan and examines the factors behind its resurgence since the fall of the Taliban regime. The historical roots of poppy cultivation are analysed with particular reference to the role of borderlands and processes of state formation and collapse. This is followed by an examination of the contemporary dynamics of the opium economy. It is argued that micro-level opium production lies at the intersection of three economies of production, namely the ‘combat’, ‘shadow’ and ‘coping’ economies.
Masculinity has always occupied a central position in Afghan culture and identity. Historically i... more Masculinity has always occupied a central position in Afghan culture and identity. Historically it has expressed itself through the designation of female behaviour as standards by which to judge male honour and social status. Under the Taliban, women were perceived as inferior and their status as rights-bearers was continuously challenged. The rights of women are further imperilled by the crisis in male masculinity that has resulted from the protracted episodes of male-targeted violence. At present, with the Taliban ousted and Afghanistan undergoing a period of reconstruction, it is important to consider how Afghan men will attempt to reassert their masculinity after a long period of extreme violence and oppression, and how such practices may impinge on the human rights of women within Afghanistan. This paper argues that because traditional means by which masculinity is asserted in most societies have been rendered virtually devastated or severely restricted by the long episodes of conflict, men will attempt to reclaim their masculinity through the use of violence. Using traditional theories of masculinity, the article argues that remasculinisation in Afghanistan will occur through the use of violence, particularly in the private sphere, where women will often become the most accessible targets.
This article argues that women’s human rights were and are being violated in Afghanistan regardle... more This article argues that women’s human rights were and are being violated in Afghanistan regardless of who governs the country: Kings, secular rulers, Mujahideen or Taliban, or the incumbent internationally backed government of Karzai. The provisions of the new constitution regarding women’s rights are analysed under three categories: neutral, protective and discriminatory. It is argued that the current constitution is a step in the right direction but, far from protecting women’s rights effectively, it requires substantial revamping. The constitutional commitment to international human rights standards seems to be a hallow slogan as the constitution declares Islam as a state religion which clearly conflicts with women’s human rights standards in certain areas. The Constitution has empowered the Supreme Court to review whether human rights instruments are compatible with Islamic legal norms and, in case of conflict, precedence will be given to Islamic law. Keeping this in view, it is argued that Afghanistan’s ratification of the Women’s Convention without reservations has no real significance unless Islamic law dealing with women’s rights is reformed and reconciled with international women’s rights standards.
International Journal of Transitional Justice, Jan 1, 2009
... Hakim, for example, notes that since the Commission enjoys a good level of support from the i... more ... Hakim, for example, notes that since the Commission enjoys a good level of support from the international community it is supposed to have a huge budget, but is not willing to provide [local NGOs] with ... [Lakhdar] Brahimi had said, first we get the peace, then we work on justice. ...
Nonrelativistic and quasirelativisticab initio pseudopotentials substituting the M(Z−28)+-core or... more Nonrelativistic and quasirelativisticab initio pseudopotentials substituting the M(Z−28)+-core orbitals of the second row transition elements and the M(Z−60)+-core orbitals of the third row transition elements, respectively, and optimized (8s7p6d)/[6s5p3d]-GTO valence basis sets for use in molecular calculations have been generated. Additionally, corresponding spin-orbit operators have also been derived. Atomic excitation and ionization energies from numerical HF as well as from SCF pseudopotential calculations using the derived basis sets differ in most cases by less than 0.1 eV from corresponding numerical all-electron results. Spin-orbit splittings for lowlying states are in reasonable agreement with corresponding all-electron Dirac-Fock (DF) results.
Examination of the speeches, writings and editorials by the Putin Administration in the aftermath... more Examination of the speeches, writings and editorials by the Putin Administration in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks showed a consistent storyline that equated Russia’s war against Chechen terrorists with the subsequent US attack on the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The storyline made a strong case for a Russian alliance with the US and the West against those who were attacking the ‘civilized world’. Two alternative storylines also emerged. The centrist-liberal storyline was skeptical of the benefits accruing to Russia from its support of the Bush Administration’s policy, while the national patriotic-Communist storyline concentrated on the ‘imperialist’ drive of the United States to control the resources of Eurasia. The resonance of the dominant Putin storyline and its skeptical and suspicious alternatives among the Russian public is tested by analysis of the responses to a representative national survey of 1800 adults conducted in April 2002. Significant socio-demographic differences appear in responses to eight questions. The Putin storyline is accepted by the rich supporters of the Edinstvo party, males, ‘Westernizers’, residents of Siberia, singles and young adults, while the oppositional storylines are supported by Communist party supporters, the elderly, Muslims, women, the poor, and residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
I construct a genealogy of the principle of distinction; the injunction to distinguish between co... more I construct a genealogy of the principle of distinction; the injunction to distinguish between combatants and civilians at all times during war. I outline the influence of a series of discourses-gender, innocence, and civilization-on these two categories. I focus on the emergence of the distinction in the 17 th century text, On the Law of War and Peace, authored by Hugo Grotius and trace it through the 20 th century treaties of the laws of war-the 1949 Geneva Protocols and the 1977 Protocols Additional. I draw out how the practices of and referents for our current wars partially descend from, are governed by, the binary logics of Christianity, barbarism, innocence, guilt, and sex difference articulated in Grotius' text. These binaries are implicated in our contemporary distinction of 'combatant' and 'civilian,' troubling any facile notion of what 'humanitarian' law is or what 'humanitarian' law does, and posing distinct challenges to theorizations of the laws said to regulate war.
There is mounting evidence that the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is associate... more There is mounting evidence that the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is associated with heroin trafficking routes. The relationship between the two is best illustrated by the routes leading from the two primary regions for the illicit opium poppy cultivation and heroin manufacture: the Golden Triangle of South-East Asia and the Golden Crescent of Central Asia. The producers in the Golden Triangle are the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Myanmar, and those in the Golden Crescent are Afghanistan and Pakistan. Together, those States accounted for perhaps 80–90 percent of the world heroin supplies in 2007. HIV outbreaks resulting from unsafe injection practices among injecting drug users (IDU) in trafficking zones have been documented in Myanmar itself, in Belarus, China, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Thailand, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and in several States in Eastern Europe. Heroin trafficking in those States has led to serial epidemics: first of heroin use, then of injection, then of blood-borne pathogens, including hepatitis C and HIV. Ethnic and trade relationships in heroin trafficking zones appear to facilitate such epidemics, as does drug testing by petty traders in market nodes. Policy responses, or the lack thereof, have increased the vulnerability of users and their communities, as have the limited drug treatment options available in those zones. While “supplyside” approaches, including interdiction and policing, are likely to continue, those HIV epidemics will require improved drug treatment, access to HIV prevention services, including harm reduction, and new approaches to the prevention of HIV in areas where heroin trafficking occurs.
This study presents what we believe to be the first formal evaluation of the Taliban crackdown ag... more This study presents what we believe to be the first formal evaluation of the Taliban crackdown against opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. Afghanistan was the main source of the world's illicit heroin supply for most of the 1990s. From late 2000 and the year that followed, the Taliban enforced a ban on poppy farming via threats, forced eradication, and public punishment of transgressors. The result was a 99% reduction in the area of opium poppy farming in Taliban-controlled areas. The evaluation uses multiple comparison areas: the non-Taliban area of Afghanistan, neighbouring countries, the non-contiguous comparison area of Myanmar (Burma), and, the rest of the world. Alternative possible causes of the reduction such as drought, migration or changes in global opium markets are reviewed and excluded. It is concluded that the reduction in Afghan poppy cultivation was due to the enforcement action by the Taliban. Globally, the net result of the intervention produced an estimated 35% reduction in poppy cultivation and a 65% reduction in the potential illicit heroin supply from harvests in 2001. Though Afghan poppy growing returned to previous levels after the fall of the Taliban government, this may have been the most effective drug control action of modern times.
This paper describes the evolution of the opium economy in Afghanistan and examines the factors b... more This paper describes the evolution of the opium economy in Afghanistan and examines the factors behind its resurgence since the fall of the Taliban regime. The historical roots of poppy cultivation are analysed with particular reference to the role of borderlands and processes of state formation and collapse. This is followed by an examination of the contemporary dynamics of the opium economy. It is argued that micro-level opium production lies at the intersection of three economies of production, namely the ‘combat’, ‘shadow’ and ‘coping’ economies.
Masculinity has always occupied a central position in Afghan culture and identity. Historically i... more Masculinity has always occupied a central position in Afghan culture and identity. Historically it has expressed itself through the designation of female behaviour as standards by which to judge male honour and social status. Under the Taliban, women were perceived as inferior and their status as rights-bearers was continuously challenged. The rights of women are further imperilled by the crisis in male masculinity that has resulted from the protracted episodes of male-targeted violence. At present, with the Taliban ousted and Afghanistan undergoing a period of reconstruction, it is important to consider how Afghan men will attempt to reassert their masculinity after a long period of extreme violence and oppression, and how such practices may impinge on the human rights of women within Afghanistan. This paper argues that because traditional means by which masculinity is asserted in most societies have been rendered virtually devastated or severely restricted by the long episodes of conflict, men will attempt to reclaim their masculinity through the use of violence. Using traditional theories of masculinity, the article argues that remasculinisation in Afghanistan will occur through the use of violence, particularly in the private sphere, where women will often become the most accessible targets.
This article argues that women’s human rights were and are being violated in Afghanistan regardle... more This article argues that women’s human rights were and are being violated in Afghanistan regardless of who governs the country: Kings, secular rulers, Mujahideen or Taliban, or the incumbent internationally backed government of Karzai. The provisions of the new constitution regarding women’s rights are analysed under three categories: neutral, protective and discriminatory. It is argued that the current constitution is a step in the right direction but, far from protecting women’s rights effectively, it requires substantial revamping. The constitutional commitment to international human rights standards seems to be a hallow slogan as the constitution declares Islam as a state religion which clearly conflicts with women’s human rights standards in certain areas. The Constitution has empowered the Supreme Court to review whether human rights instruments are compatible with Islamic legal norms and, in case of conflict, precedence will be given to Islamic law. Keeping this in view, it is argued that Afghanistan’s ratification of the Women’s Convention without reservations has no real significance unless Islamic law dealing with women’s rights is reformed and reconciled with international women’s rights standards.
International Journal of Transitional Justice, Jan 1, 2009
... Hakim, for example, notes that since the Commission enjoys a good level of support from the i... more ... Hakim, for example, notes that since the Commission enjoys a good level of support from the international community it is supposed to have a huge budget, but is not willing to provide [local NGOs] with ... [Lakhdar] Brahimi had said, first we get the peace, then we work on justice. ...
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