Radical: Advocate of extreme change of political and social institutions. Today, the term ‘radical’ usually connotes extreme liberalism, and ‘reactionary’ is the term used to indicate extreme conservatism. The labels, ‘left’ and ‘right’, respectively, have been attached to these viewpoints. Communism is an example of radical, leftist extremism, and fascism exemplifies the extreme rightist views. (Microsoft Corporation 1997-1999: http://encarta.msn.com/)
Rebellion: A concerted campaign of violent action used by organizations claiming to represent an ethnic (or other) group to make claims against the state. (Gurr & Haxton, 1996: http://www.bsos.umd.edu/cidcm/mar/minrept1.htm)
Reconciliation: The process through which conditions that lead to conflict are addressed and adversarial relationships are transformed into more harmonious ones. Sustainable peace is maintained as communities use nonviolent channels to resolve conflict, a sense of nationhood is established or restored, and social capital is enhanced.
A) The permanent reconstruction or replacement of severely damaged physical structures, the full restoration of all services and local infrastructure, and the revitalization of the economy. (UNDHA 1995: http://www.reliefweb.int/library/mcda/refman/glossary.html)
B) Economic, political and social re-building of post-conflict state and society, including de-mining, disarmament, reintegration of combatants, return of refugees, resettlement of internally displaced persons, reviving political processes, restoring physical infrastructures, re-starting economic life, conversion to civilian production, re-establishing civilian authority, and conducting new (supervised) elections. (Schmid 1998: http://www.fewer.org/pubs/thes/htm)
Re-emerging infectious diseases: Pathogen-induced human illnesses that were previously controlled or declining in range and/or incidence, but are now expanding in range, incidence, drug resistance, and increasing transmissibility and/or lethality. (Price-Smith 1999: 6)
Refoulement: A state forcibly returning a refugee or asylum-seeker to a country where his or her life or freedom is threatened. Refoulement is prohibited under Article 33 of the UN Refugee Convention and other international instruments, yet many states violate this obligation and return refugees to countries where they are at grave risk. (Amnesty International 1997: 6-7)
A) A person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, or membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country. (UN 1951; cited by UNHCR 1997: http://www.unhcr.ch/refworld/pub/state/97/ch2.htm#THE REFUGEE DEFINITION AND REFUGEE REGIME)
B) Every person who, owing to external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disturbing public order in either part or the whole of his country of origin or nationality, is compelled to leave his place of habitual residence in order to seek refuge in another place outside his country of origin or nationality. (OAU 1969; cited by UNHCR 1997: http://www.unhcr.ch/refworld/pub/state/97/ch2.htm#THE REFUGEE DEFINITION AND REFUGEE REGIME)
Regime: A method or system of government. (Fast Times 1999: http://www.fast-times.com/political.html)
Regime duration: The number of years since the last major, abrupt change in regime. Abrupt shifts toward or away from democracy count as regime changes and reset the duration time to zero. Regime changes that follow state breakdowns and civil war also reset the count to zero. Non-violent transitions from one authoritarian regime to another are considered as a continuation of the same regime. (Baker & Weller, 1998: 10)
Rehabilitation: Assistance provided to victims of disaster to restore affected individuals and communities to self-reliance. (USAID 1998: 6)
Reintegration: The process of facilitating the transition of refugees and internally displaced persons back into their communities of origin. In the context of ex-solders, it is the process of facilitating their return to civilian life. (USAID 1998: 6)
Relief: Dispatch of vital material goods and services (clean water, blankets, tents, medicine, food etc.) to victims of disaster. (Schmid 1998: http://www.fewer.org/pubs.thes.htm)
Repatriation: The sending back of a person to his or her country of origin, as in the repatriation of prisoners of war. (Fast Times 1999: http://www.fast-times.com/political.html)
A) Actions, usually taken by a regime or vigilantes, to restrain a political opponent from mobilizing. It involves both non-lethal and lethal coercive measures. Repression is not the exclusive prerogative of state actors; national liberation movements, resistance groups and terrorist actors also use it for internal discipline. (Hess 1976; cited by Schmid 1998: http://www.fewer.org/pubs.thes.htm)
B) Government policies that forcefully restrict the movement and political activities of most or all members of a group. (Harff and Gurr 1997: http://www.bsos.umd.edu/cidcm/mar/pubs.htm)
Residual discrimination: The result of discrimination policies and/or practices of the past. (Gurr & Haxton, 1996: http://www.bsos.umd.edu/cidcm/mar/minrept1.htm)
Resistance movement: An organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to resist the legally established government or occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. (US DOD: http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/)
Retrodictive analysis: Analysis focused on predicting past events and therefore working from outcomes to antecedents (Schmeidl and Jenkins 1998)
Revolution: Forcible, pervasive, and often violent change of a social, political, or economic order. Revolution is the most extreme political option of a dissenting group, a course taken generally when more moderate attempts to achieve reform have failed. A revolution is distinguished from a coup d'état, which is a sudden seizure of state power by a small faction that does not necessarily change the social system, and a revolt or
rebellion, which may be either a failed attempt at revolution or a violent expression of grievances. (Microsoft Corporation 1997-1999: http://encarta.msn.com/)
Revolutionary war: A sustained military conflict between insurgents and central governments aimed at displacing the regime. (Esty et al 1995: 2)
A) A states that, for one reason or another, does not feel it should cooperate with the rules established by other nations of the world (Albright 1997: http://secretary.state.gov/www/statements/970918.html)
B) Where once the term meant something specific – a state that had failed to adhere to the rule of law– it has become an elastic catch phrase. Until the 1970s, "rogue" was used to describe regimes whose internal actions – how they treated their own people–were viewed as abhorrent. After 1979, with the advent of the State Department's annual report on state-sponsored terrorism, the criterion for rogue-state status shifted from internal to external behavior. The Clinton administration further developed this theme. North Korea, Iran, Iraq, and Libya are the countries that most consistently made the administration's list of rogue states. Although the term ostensibly refers to violations of accepted international norms, because it is analytically soft and quintessentially political, its use has been selective and at times contradictory. (Litwak 2000: B3)