British penetration into and subjugation of Isokoland in South Central Nigeria, 1896–1911: A narrative

The Isoko, like other peoples of Nigeria, played significant roles in the historical process and evolution of Nigeria and should be acknowledged as such. The paper teases out much more clearly—and, more importantly, the multiple stages of the British expansion into Isoko. That is, how does that multi-stage, multi-phase process affect how we think more broadly about British colonial expansion in Africa in the 19th century? The paper deposes that the Isoko as a people did not accept British rule until the “punitive expedition” to the area in 1911 brought the whole of the Isoko country under British control. This is done within the context of the military conquest and subjugation of the people, colonial prejudices, and the resulting social economic, and political changes. The paper deploying both primary and secondary data highlights the role played by the Isoko in resisting British penetration into and subjugation of their country between 1896 and 1911. The year 1896 marked the beginning of British formal contact with the Isoko when the first treaty was signed with Owe (Owhe), while 1911 was when the Isoko were conquered by the British and brought under British control.

The new equation of South Asia region: The rising role of China in Nepal's foreign policy

China's rising role in South Asia has contributed significantly to the changing geopolitics and geo-economics of the region. Nepal is one of the countries where relations with China have dramatically changed from 2015 till pre-pandemic. This study focuses on analyzing Nepal's foreign policy shifts towards neighboring China and India through a framework of neoclassical realism. It argues that Nepal's foreign policy against neighboring countries has changed since the India-Nepal conflict in 2015, where China has become a key option within Nepal's new foreign policy context. Changes in China's foreign policy and the victory of the Nepal Communist Party are among the key factors in enhancing relations between the two countries. However, it doesn't mean that Nepal took side with China and abandoned India. The article suggests that China's rise has a positive effect on Nepal as an option to balancing intra-regional power and opportunities for infrastructure development within the country.

The effect of social identity on integration of social minorities: The case of North Korean refugees in South Korea

This paper investigates the effect of a shared social identity on social behaviors of a marginalized population by focusing on North Korean refugees in South Korea. The findings of a behavioral experiment with North Korean refugees show that the common Korean identity can promote their integration in South Korea, despite considerable differences caused by seven-decade long separation between the two countries. Perceiving ethnic unity shared with South Koreans stimulates North Koreans’ socially desirable behaviors and attitudes such as trust, cooperation, confidence, and life satisfaction in South Korea, as well as their self-confidence about North Korean origin. In addition, the effect of the shared identity is greater for women and better educated persons – the finding that stresses the importance of education and gender-specific policy to accelerate social integration of North Korean refugees.

Interstate Rivalries and Expansions in Military Capacity

This article addresses the scholarly debate on the relationship between interstate rivalry and military capacity. We draw on Tilly's bellicist theory of state formation in early modern Europe and Thies’ modifications to predatory theory, which prioritizes the role of interstate rivalry on state building, to explain variation in military capacity. We unpack the rivalry mechanism into spatial and positional rivalries and test how these two types of rivalry affect military capacity, and how positional rivalries affect military capacity in the long-term. Using time-series cross-sectional data analysis, we find that positional rivalries increase military capacity in the long term. Also, we find that spatial rivalry influences military capacity in the long-term, but its effects are uneven across indicators of military capacity, and it has a smaller effect on military capacity in comparison to positional rivalries. We conclude that not all types of rivalries have a uniform effect on military capacity and that competition over regional dominance, that is, positional rivalries, are the most impactful on military capacity. This study offers a more nuanced test of Tilly's bellicist theory and Thies’ modified predatory theory on state capacity.

Chosen trauma and saffronization of India

The research undertakes the structural transformation of India by the ideology of Hindutva embodied by the contemporary government of the Bhartiya Janata Party. This study is a first of its kind as it attempts to decipher the genesis of this metamorphosis from a psychoanalytical perspective. India has been accredited as a stalwart of democracy and an uploader of an inclusive multicultural and multireligious society. The interplay of Hindu nationalist elements and reinvigoration of past experiences supplemented by historical myths and present ontological insecurities has consequently plagued the secular fabric of India. The study further explicates all the undercurrents and nuances that underscore the ideology of Hindutva, the proselytized culture of victimization and indigenization in society resultantly impacting the society and relations of state in the region.

The changing political trends in erstwhile FATA: a study of the last three elections

This study investigates the changing political trends in erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Analysis of the last three elections (2008, 2013, 2018) shows a substantial change in the region. The tribal structure, local traditions, power arrangement and electoral practices have changed significantly over a decade. The extension of the Political Parties Order to the region and its merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stimulated political activities in the area that increased the political awareness of tribal people. The results of the 2013 and 2018 elections highlight the changes. Electoral activities, women participation and voter turnout increased with every election. Tribal youth joined existing political forums to demand their democratic rights. A significant percentage of the young, educated Pashtuns joined the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement in its demand for improved governance.

An ex-post analysis of trade effects of the ASEAN–Korea Free Trade Area (AKFTA) from Korea’s Perspective

This paper empirically analyzes the effectiveness of the ASEAN–Korea Free Trade Area (AKFTA) focusing on the ex-post trade creation and diversion effects with controlling related intra-bloc and extra-bloc regional trade agreements (RTAs) and economic characteristics of interconnected economies. The quantitative analysis applies a gravity model regression analysis by specifying standard pooled ordinary least squares and fixed effects regression models. We observe that the AKFTA turned out to be more favorable for Korea in terms of trade balance with ASEAN. We find that the AKFTA is a desirable trade creating RTA strongly driven by intra-bloc export activities between members and does not divert but generates more export to and import from non-members. Thus, we strongly support that the AKFTA facilitates trade between intra-bloc members and their trade with extra-bloc non-members as well. Besides which, we find that the trade creation effects of the AKFTA are industry-specific and sector-specific. For the manufacturing industry, the trade creation effects of the AKFTA are generated by both intra-bloc and extra-bloc import activity but not from extra-bloc export activity. However, for the services industry, all the intra-bloc and extra-bloc export and import activities contribute to the trade creation effects. Interestingly, we find that the trade creation effects of the manufacturing industry are smaller than those of the services industry. Considering restrictive service schedules of specific commitments in the AKFTA agreement on trade-in services compared to trade-in goods provisions, rearranging the trade-in services provisions is necessary to generate more trade gains in the future.

Factors affecting loan repayment rate among smallholder farmers got loans from the Amhara Credit and Saving Institution: In the case of Habru District, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia

The aim of this paper was to examine factors affecting loan repayment rate among smallholder farmers in the Habru District, Ethiopia, who had taken loans from the Amhara Credit and Saving Institution. In this study, both primary and secondary sources were used. The study employed a combination of multi-stage purposive and stratified sampling techniques in the selection of 384 borrowers from smallholder farmers in the study area. The Tobit model result found that a total of 10 out of the total 15 explanatory variables involved in the model were found to be statistically significant. According to the result demographic factors (age and household size), socio-economic factors (educational level, land size, livestock size, nonfarm income, purpose of borrowing), and institutional factors (road distance, contact with development agents, training received on loan use) were among the factors that influenced loan repayment rate of smallholder borrowers in the study area. Education level, land size, livestock size in tropical livestock unit, nonfarm income, purpose of borrowing, contact with agricultural extension agents, and training received on loan use were found to determine loan repayment rate of borrowers positively and significantly, while age, family size, and road distance were found to negatively and significantly determine loan repayment rate in the study area. Therefore, the overall results of this study underlined the great importance of the significant factors to profoundly achieve high repayment rate on borrowed funds from the Amhara Credit and Saving Institution in the studied area.

Issues and contentions in the incursion of Islam and Christianity into Ilé-Ifè, southwestern Nigeria

The late ninetieth century marked the period when Ilé-Ifè, the reputed cradle of the Yoruba people, witnessed the penetration of Christianity and Islam. Specifically, from the 1890s, both religions established a few years apart through several actors and factors, operated concurrently within Ilé-Ifè. However, the accounts surrounding the periods, initiators and several issues associated with the establishment of these religions have, in the history of Ilé-Ifè, become themes of contention that should be further interrogated from a historical perspective. This study employed primary and secondary data in examining the contested arguments in the narratives surrounding the incursion of these religions in Ilé-Ifè within the context of identifying pitfalls and providing a guide for future studies related to this theme. This study discovered that the issues and contentions include the primordial projection of narratives; and the conflation of the identities of the initiators of the religions, to mention a few. The study is concluded by drawing some lessons from the early peaceful coexistence between the adherents of the two religions in Ilé-Ifè.

Democratization and Authoritarianism in the Information Age

The outbreak of the Arab Spring in the Middle East and North Africa reignited the debate over the possibilities of democratization, with much attention paid to the roles of the internet. This paper attempts to answer the questions of whether the expansion of the internet leads to democratization and how calls for democratization during the Arab Spring produced contrasting results in Tunisia and China. The time-series cross-sectional analysis based on data of 166 countries suggests that the annual change of internet penetration is positively associated with a country’s Polity score and that the existing level of the penetration has a slightly negative effect on democratization, though the inclusion of the internet does not visibly improve the explanatory power of the models. The case study comparing Tunisia and China closely examines the multifaceted relationship between the internet and democratization and shows that the internet alone cannot determine the direction of political change. Rather, it is spatially and temporally situated state and societal actors who collectively determine the process and outcome of politics.