Bücher von Sebastian Erckel

Essay from the year 2008 in the subject Politics - Region: South Asia, grade: good, University of Kerala (Department of Political Science), course: Politics of South Asia, language: English, abstract: This essay analyses the chances for democracy in Nepal after the declaration of the Republic of Nepal. This is done by examining earlier experiments with democracy and the reasons for their failure. The main actors of Nepali politics, namely the so- called democratic parties (Nepali Congress and the Left), the Monarchy and the Maoists, receive special attention. South Asia is widely considered to be one of the most volatile regions in the world. In the roughly60 years since the end of the colonial era the region has witnessed almost all possible types ofinternal and external conflicts- from wars between states to military takeovers, ethnicinsurgencies and social uprisings. While every country was affected, the distinct geographicaland cultural features of South Asia contributed to a dangerous interrelatedness of these conflicts.The situation has become even more threatening after both India and Pakistan successfullytested nuclear weapons in 1998.However, the year 2008 has seen some remarkable developments in South Asia that givereason to look at least cautiously optimistic into the future. In Pakistan, elections marked thereturn to civilian rule, Bhutan experienced its first elections ever, and in Nepal a ConstituentAssembly was elected that shortly afterwards abolished the world¿s last Hindu monarchy bydeclaring the country a federal and secular republic. Furthermore, the caretaker government inBangladesh has announced its plans to hold elections at the end of the year.Nonetheless, history indicates that a reversal of these developments cannot be ruled out. It istherefore necessary to evaluate the prospects of democratisation in the light of past events. Thispaper attempts to assess the chances of a successful democratisation process in Nepal on thebasis of an analysis of the factors responsible for the failure of democracy in the past.

Essay from the year 2008 in the subject Politics - Region: South Asia, grade: 80%= good, University of Kerala (Department of Political Science), course: India's Foreign Policy, language: English, abstract: This essay presents an outline of the evolution of India's Nuclear Policy with a special reference to the India- US Nuclear Deal.However, more recent developments such as the passing of the Deal, withdrawal of Left support and the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha are not included. On April 8th 2008 The Hindu published an article titled ¿Potential consequences of a regionalnuclear conflict¿ in which the author convincingly illustrates the dangers a nuclear- armedSouth Asia presents.1 The fact that both India and Pakistan, but of course also China,possess nuclear weapons has been an alarming reality since 1998. The relative progressthat has been achieved in India- Pakistan relations should not lead one to forget that twoconflicts in 1999 and 2001 could easily have escalated into a nuclear confrontation.India had embarked upon a civilian nuclear program right after her independence but the¿weapon option¿ has always been present. Indiäs nuclear policy has been an evolutionary,sometimes painful process equally shaped by domestic and international factors. This paperattempts to analyse some of these factors and argues that the development of nuclearweapons was a logical, albeit not planned, consequence of them. It is interesting that eventhose in India fiercely opposed to nuclear weapons subconsciously seemed to have realisedthat Indiäs nuclear program could not be limited to civilian application forever.A constant in Indiäs nuclear policy is the strong wish to become and remain as independentas possible. For this independent nuclear policy India had to pay a high price. Isolated frominternational nuclear cooperation, confronted with sharp criticism and even sanctions, Indiahad to rely on herself. While Indiäs success has been a great source of national pride Indiäsisolation in nuclear issues also contributed to a lack of strategic planning regarding Indiäsplace in both the region and the world, and the role the nuclear weapons should or shouldnot play in this. The (possible) India- US nuclear deal has provoked an intense debateamong Indian actors that creates the chance that India will finally come to terms with itsnuclear potential as she prepares for assuming the status of a world power.

Master's Thesis from the year 2009 in the subject Politics - Political systems in general and in comparison, grade: very good, University of Kerala (Department of Political Science), course: MA Political Science, language: English, abstract: The late 20th century has witnessed a confusing and seemingly also threatening diversification of world politics, especially after the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. While shortly after these events the victory of democracy was celebrated or even the ¿end of history¿ proclaimed (Fukuyama), it soon became clear that these rather optimistic assumptions could not be sustained. Huntington (1993) predicted conflicts along cultural lines and Alvin and Heidi Toffler (1994) assumed these conflicts would take the form of asymmetric warfare leading to the phenomenon of ¿failed states¿ which, according to Chomsky (2006), present a threat to democracy. Asymmetric warfare, cultural conflicts and failed states have all already left their impact on the young 21st century.Yet the same period of time has also seen unprecedented global integration, in the economy, but in terms of human personal exchange as well, largely fueled by new communication technologies. However, the emerging ¿global village¿ seems to bear more characteristics of a Hobbesian state of nature than of a global civilization. Furthermore, as there are an ever increasing number of issues which can obviously only be addressed on a transnational basis, it becomes necessary to supplement global economic integration with an adequate political framework.Both India and the European Union are prime examples of political integration, the former for national and the latter for regional integration. However, one of the presumptions of this dissertation is that in both cases complementary forms of political integration can be identified: while in India national integration necessitated regional integration, the European Union may well be on its way toward a European super- state. The term ¿model¿ has two connotations: (1) it describes a distinguishable set of characteristics, and (2) it contains a (usually positive) qualitative aspect, something that could/ should be followed or imitated. While in the case of India and the European Union the first connotation is rather obvious as two distinctive types of integration can be identified, this dissertation not only attempts to analyse these different types but also to verify whether the second connotation can be applied or not. As the hypothesis is that in both types elements of the other will be identifiable, the focus rests upon discovering certain patterns of integration while at the same time appreciating the differences.