Demographic Change, Pluralism, and Ethno-cultural Diversity: Implications for Civil-Military Co-operation

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Authors

Leuprecht, Christian

Date

2006

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book part

Language

en

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Research Projects

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Abstract

The “war on terrorism” has “securitarized” many visible-minority diasporas in advanced democracies. I make a case for inverting this paradigm. Rather than marginalizing them as security threats, I posit diasporas as a rich human-resource potential waiting to be tapped for the skills and talents it has to offer in support of peace, stability, and security operations. After some introductory remarks about demographic trends in advanced liberal-democracies and the relationship between these trends and regions on which the national-security interests of these countries converge, I advance some propositions as to why diasporas should be harnessed more systematically in support of the national interest and how this might be done. I then proceed to examine how to operationalize this proposition. What do we know about whether a member of a diaspora group is likely to make a successful contribution to a peace and stability operation? From a survey of the literature and research on diasporas, I extrapolate seven criteria according to which prospective candidates from diaspora groups may be assessed. In addition, I extrapolate three criteria according to which the group from which an individual is drawn may be evaluated. Finally, I distill three qualifications of overriding importance in determining just how effective a contribution an individual is likely to make to a peace and stability operation. The conclusion reflects on some of the further research that is needed to hone in on answers to these questions.

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Leuprecht, C. 2006. Demographic Change, Pluralism, and Ethno-cultural Diversity: Implications for Civil-Military Co-operation. In: Cornwallis Group Meeting (Kingston, Ont.) 2005 :, George Rose, Alexander Woodcock, and Lester B. Pearson Canadian International Peacekeeping Training Centre. 2006. The Cornwallis Group X: Analysis for New and Emerging Societal Conflicts . Clementsport, NS: The Canadian Peacekeeping Press, pp. 288-304.

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The Canadian Peacekeeping Press

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