Shaheen Rafi Khan – författare

This volume addresses the growth of regional trade agreements (RTAs) which have mushroomed since the 1990s, and considers their potential as a tool for reducing inter- and intra-state conflict. Exploring the links between trade, conflict and peace in different and varying contexts, this book maps the extant RTAs in the region, analyses the factors which hinder or promote regional trade integration and considers their economic and political impacts. Presenting a series of case studies in four regions: South America; the southern African region; South Asia and South East Asia, the authors consider three key questions: What is the significance of the recent and rapid development of RTAs for peace building both within and between countries? To what extent do RTAs engender inter and intrastate conflict? To what extent are trade and RTAs hostage to conflict and is regional political stability a precondition for economic integration? Regional Trade Integration and Conflict Resolution will be of interests to students and scholars of trade, international relations and conflict studies. It will also be of interest to policy makers and NGOs.

This book distinguishes conceptually between indigenous and constructed social capital and the associated spontaneous and induced collective action for rural development and natural resource preservation. While some of the case studies in this book show that induced collective action can lead to cost-effective, community-centric and empirically grounded rural development initiatives, other case studies show that spontaneous collective action, based on indigenous social capital, can result in resource preservation, positive development outcomes, and resistance to the excesses engendered by conventional development. The authors also explore a hybrid form whereby spontaneous collective action is given a more effective and sustainable shape by an outside organization with experience of induced collective action.Exploring alternative community-centric paths to development, especially those attuned with sustainability imperatives, is part of a global search for solutions. While the volume draws on the Pakistani case, the problem with conventional development approaches and the need for complementary alternatives is not unique to only this country; and the volume has broader relevance to students and researchers across the fields of social policy and development.