https://bittencourt.net/en/ Recent content on Bittencourt Notes Hugo en Wed, 06 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0200 https://bittencourt.net/en/rethinking-counterterrorism/ Wed, 06 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0200 https://bittencourt.net/en/rethinking-counterterrorism/ <figure class="bn-figure bn-figure--wide"> <img src="https://bittencourt.net/img/posts/us-soldiers-in-iraq.jpeg" alt="US and Iraqi Army soldiers at Camp Ramadi, in 2009. (Source: “The U.S. Army” | Public domain)" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2000" height="1333"> <figcaption><strong>US and Iraqi Army soldiers at Camp Ramadi, in 2009.</strong> (Source: “The U.S. Army” | Public domain)</figcaption> </figure> <h2 id="a-personal-narrative">A personal narrative</h2> <p><strong>It’s Friday afternoon and</strong> you’re in a well-known stadium, enjoying a football match between your national team and another one. It’s likely that you acknowledge the arbitrariness of the concept of “nation”. You probably know a “nation” represents nothing but a politically forged bound. There is no real relationship between you and your compatriots — you share a country with peoples of various ethnicities, religions, ideologies and cultures. Yet you cheer for the national squad alongside fellow countrymen. You wish your country’s team — <em>your team</em> — wins the match. It’s a struggle against a historical adversary. For all intents and purposes, you’re immersed in a classic. Some of the players ahead of you have been lauded as the world’s best. They are vying to score a goal. Meanwhile, you keep waiting for the sight of the ball inside the net, followed by the booming voices of an ecstatic crowd.</p> https://bittencourt.net/en/the-2014-crimean-crisis/ Thu, 01 May 2014 00:00:00 -0300 https://bittencourt.net/en/the-2014-crimean-crisis/ <figure class="bn-figure bn-figure--wide"> <img src="https://bittencourt.net/img/posts/protest-against-russian-operations-in-the-black-sea-compressed.jpeg" alt="March of Peace” in Moscow, a gathering of anti-Putin demonstrators begging for the ending of the military moves in the Black Sea. (Source: “Bogomolov.PL” | Licence)" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2000" height="817"> <figcaption><strong>March of Peace” in Moscow, a gathering of anti-Putin demonstrators begging for the ending of the military moves in the Black Sea.</strong> (Source: “Bogomolov.PL” | <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en">Licence</a>)</figcaption> </figure> <p><strong>Contemporary International Relations discourse</strong> has been fuming over the ongoing annexation of Crimea by Russian authorities. Since the end of the French Revolution, much has been said about the right to self-determination. The revolutionaries are considered the main supporters of this concept, which would constitute one of the basis of the international system. Especially following the onset of the Cold War, decolonisation processes championed the idea of a nation-state. At that particular period, self-determination triumphed over a state’s sovereignty — if need had arisen, a country could have been split in two, or even more than two, in order to uphold the notion of “one nation, one state”. The United Nations even had a body called the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Committee_on_Decolonization">Special Committee on Decolonization</a>, in charge of monitoring the ending of the colonial era.</p>