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Menschenrechte in Vietnam
No full textIm Sommer 2017 wurde ein ehemaliger vietnamesischer Politiker mitten in Berlin entführt. Dahinter steckt nach allen Indizien die vietnamesische Regierung.Der Fall ist eines der zahlreichen Beispiele für Menschenrechtsverletzungen im südostasiatischen Staat. Gerade Meinungsfreiheit, aber auch die Versammlungs- und Religionsfreiheit sind massiv eingeschränkt. Wichtiger als Menschenrechte sind der vietnamesischen Führung das Wachstum der Wirtschaft und die Sicherung ihrer Macht – internationalen Protesten zum Trotz
August Wilhelm Schlegel als Indienforscher
No full textAugust Wilhelm Schlegel zählt mit Bopp, Kosegarten, Bernstein und Frank zu den Begründern der indischen Studien an deutschsprachigen Universitäten, doch hinsichtlich der Breite seiner indologischen Interessen sowie der Qualität seiner Editionsphilologie ragt er mit seiner »Bonner Schule« in der ersten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts heraus. Denn während in indischen, englischen und französischen Textausgaben Werke noch unkritisch auf der Basis oft nur einer einzigen Handschrift gedruckt wurden, machte die Bonner Schule in Übereinstimmung mit der sich ausbildenden Edirionswissenschaft in der klassischen Philologie bereits die Sammlung und Sichtung der handschriftlichen Quellen zur Voraussetzung von Textausgaben
Waging Jihad by Other Means: Iran’s Drug Business and its Role within the International Crime-Terror Nexus
No full textSince the Islamic revolution in 1979, Iran has been a state sponsor of terrorism worldwide. The production and trade of narcotics has been a key to this enterprise. The respective logistics function as a main infrastructure for Iran’s global export of Jihadism and is an early example of the growing crime-terror nexus. On behalf of the country’s clerical regime, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in particular its Quds Force (QF), as well as the Niruyeh Moghavemat Basij (or Basiji) and its international proxies, are running Iran’s global drug business. Its focus is on the Middle East and the US, but it is not geographically limited, as it also includes regions such as South and Central Asia and Europe. For some time now, Latin America has also become a launch pad for subversive activities in the US. Illegal drug trade is not managed by stray members of Iran’s state apparatus it is a core interest and a central element of its policy. Research shows that the so-called anti-drug campaign promoted by Iran’s security agencies is not aimed at eradicating drug trade production and consumption; it is used to ruthlessly eliminate competing actors in the drug business, and sometimes to eliminate political opposition and to suppress ethnic and religious minorities. Whereas the international community has been fixated with delaying the completion of Iran’s nuclear programme, the survey argues for a reinforced emphasis on Iran’s involvement in illegal drug trade and connected crime
Genocide, exodus and exploitation for jihad: the urgent need to address the Rohingya crisis
No full textThe Rohingya people represent an ethnic minority group in Myanmar, where the main causes for the greatest regional exodus in contemporary Southeast Asia originate. Suffering from various kinds of state persecutions and discrimination by society in general, Rohingya are often forced to flee their homes. This situation is worsened by the fact that most of the potential host states in the region are not able to take care of all the refugees and/ or are not willing to accept further waves of immigration. Moreover, regional governments start to identify Rohingya not as a sole humanitarian and refugee issue, but rather as a threat towards internal security and as a critical determinant in international relations and regional cooperation. Today, the Rohingya population is one of the most oppressed groups in the world. This paper argues that the dramatic dimension of the Rohingya’s refugee crisis is a clear result of several intermingling factors which are deeply embedded in negative historical trajectories enforced by contemporary unfortunate circumstances. In general terms, the Rohingya crisis is a politically and economically driven religious conflict. Following this rationale, it is considered that the vulnerable situation of the forcefully displaced persons is getting increasingly exploited by local and global acting jihadist groups trying to destabilise the region by hijacking the cause of Rohingya
Russia-China Engagement in post-9/11 Afghanistan and its Impact on the South Asian Regional Security Complex
No full textThe 9/11 catastrophe had a profound impact on the security dynamics of South Asia. After this event, new actors and parties started to actively involve themselves in the region. Subsequently, the Global War on Terror (GWOT), as pursued by the United States (US), resulted in the loss of Afghanistan’s traditional buffer status, making it a chief concern of South Asian regional security. Moreover, Kabul’s admission in April 2007 to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) contributed to this change of status. Given the complex nature of the security undercurrents, developments in Afghanistan increasingly affected the internal power dynamics of Pakistan. Some pressing issues, as well as newly emerging geopolitical and geostrategic interests, motivated both Russia and China to engage in this volatile region. In the case of China, its involvement in Afghanistan led to regional commercial development in South Asia and increased its geopolitical influence in the region. Russia, on the other hand, has taken a different approach. It focused more on terrorism and drug trafficking than on commercial development. Russia is interested in maximising its geopolitical influence in the Central Asian Region mostly to stem terrorism and crime emanating from Afghanistan. This paper analyses the comparative strategies behind Chinese and Russian engagement with the help of Barry Buzan’s theoretical model for security analysis, as modified in Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT) and using the notion of securitization. The study underscores that this engagement in the post 9/11 period has had a number of implications, both for Afghanistan’s security and for South Asian security mechanisms at three different levels, i.e., domestic, regional, and global
Universals of tone rules and diachronic change in Japanese
No full textThe paper examines two competing theories on the historical development of Japanese tone (Kindaichi's theory or the standard theory and Ramsey's theory), in light of universals of tone rules. It is argued that many developments that must have occurred widely, according to the standard theory, are unnatural when compared to developments in other languages.
Rightward tone shift plays an important role in the standard theory, and the naturalness of rightward tone shift is beyond doubt. However, many other developments that form part of the standard theory are problematic, as they involve complicated changes for which no phonological motivation can be offered.
The alternative theory, and its reconstruction of the Middle Japanese tones, explains the wide geographical distribution of the Tokyo type tone systems, as this type is closest to proto- Japanese. Two relatively simple changes (assimilation of the tone of the particles in some dialects, followed by a tone reduction in all dialects) account for the different merger patterns in the modern Tokyo type dialects. Furthermore, the well-established fact that long vowels offer stronger support for contour tones than short vowels, explains the geographical distribution of the Nairin type versus the other types.
The radical tone reduction after the Middle Japanese period is the historical change in Japanese tone that was most far-reaching, and the polarizing effect of a HL interval explains why only H followed by L in Middle Japanese was preserved in the modern dialects. This phonological explanation may also account for the very similar tonal development known in Bantu linguistics as 'Reverse Meeussen's Rule', for which no phonological motivation has been proposed so far.
The leftward shift of H tone, which according to Ramsey's theory, took place in the Kyoto type dialects, has parallels in Bantu languages that went through a similar tone restriction as Japanese. Bantu languages tend to be rich in productive prefixes, so that word-initial H tones, when shifted, will be realized on the prefix. In a predominantly suffixing language like Japanese, leftward shift of word-initial H tone had a different result, namely the development of word- initial L tone
Phoenix Pakistan? Putting claim and realities in the right equation
No full textThe current statements of Pakistani authorities make it seem like the country is finally experiencing a shift towards a comprehensive improvement after decades of endemic violence, political turmoil, as well as declining social and economic conditions. Several indicators are put forward to backup this proclaimed ‘turnaround’: Firstly, there are trends pointing towards an apparently overall positive economic development. The Pakistani Stock Exchange (PSX) provided a performance of 46 per cents in return last year. It is expected that the GDP will grow by 4.7 per cent in 2017. Furthermore, the inflation rate is on a ‘moderate level’ of 3.66 percent in January this year (the average rate during the last 6 decades was 7.85 percent); the consumer spending will be boosted by a burgeoning middle class and there is a ‘staggering fall’ of Pakistani living in poverty. Most importantly, the country is witnessing the launch and implementation of numerous Chinesesupported energy and infrastructure projects within the framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion dollar development initiative. Said Economic Corridor is getting heralded as a ‘game changer’ away from Pakistan’s past unfortunate economic and social trajectories. Secondly, due to the fact that two-thirds of the CPEC-related projects are energy related, Pakistani officials are announcing that the country solved its energy crisis. Until now, the shortages in energy supply resulted in longlasting power cuts which severely hampered the country’s economic development
Vishuvat Chalana (Procession of Equinoxes): a brief and authentic journey from Vedic times to the present
No full textThe aim of the booklet is to present a summary of extracts from ancient Indian Astronomy relating to Vishuvat Chalana popularly known as AYANAMSA with a view to test the validity and authenticity of Calendar Reform Committee's recommendations in 1955 and reconcile with evidence available on record in various published literature. For the benefit of interested readers, information available is collected and presented in a logical manner
»Seid unbesorgt, dieser Krieg ist nicht gefährlich« Die Verkündung des Kriegsrechts in Mindanao
No full text»Wir haben alles im Griff.«, so beruhigte Duterte die Bürger*innen im Süden der Philippinen, als er am am späten Abend des 23. Mai 2017 das Kriegsrecht über die ganze Insel Mindanao verhängte. 60 Tage lang soll so der Terrorismus bekämpft werden. Ausschlaggebend war ein Militärangriff auf islamistische Terroristen, der gewaltsame Auseinandersetzungen mit der islamistischen Maute-Gruppe in der Stadt Marawi, im Nordwesten Mindanaos, zur Folge hatte
Indien: Durchregieren an den Unis - Der hindu-chauvinistische Kampf gegen Kritik
No full textNarendra Modi ist ein identitärer Überzeugungstäter. Seit 2014 regiert er Indien mit einer absoluten Mehrheit seiner Bharatya Janata Party (BJP). Unter der Safran-Flagge als Symbol des Hindu-Chauvinismus betreibt Modi eine autoritäre Politik der Gleichschaltung öffentlicher Institutionen und ihrer Säuberung von kritischen und alternativen Kräften. Ein Schwerpunkt liegt dabei auf den Universitäten