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101. Sharing Best Practices on Conflict Resolution

Author:
John Packer, Augustine Toure, Albrecht Schnabel, and Chandra Lekha Sriram
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The UN does not act alone in conflict prevention. It is important for the UN to identify other actors with comparative advantages in certain aspects of conflict prevention, and to partner wisely with them. These may include regional and subregional organizations as well as local actors such as states or civil society organizations. Increased coordination between the UN and regional, subregional and civil society organizations might enable better linkages between national, regional and international conflict prevention efforts and improve planning at the field and headquarters level. Regional and subregional organizations offer important opportunities for partnering for the UN, but are quite varied in terms of resources, the political will that they can mobilize, and institutional capacity. Development of institutional capacity within nations to manage conflict peacefully can be assisted and encouraged by regional organizations and others. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's High Commissioner on National Minorities may be one example; the work of Organization of African States in democratization and human rights is also instructive. UN and World Bank development activities are increasingly being viewed through a conflict-prevention lens; their evaluations may help in not only identifying early warning signs, but also in developing strategies that mitigate the potential for violent conflict. Such analyses and approaches could be usefully adapted by regional and subregional organizations. The UN Staff College training course in early warning and preventive measures has sought to develop analytic skills in staff such that early warning can be translated into specific policy guidance. Such training will be available to some regional organization staff; the courses might usefully be adapted by such organizations for their own use.
Topic:
Civil Society, International Cooperation, Peace Studies, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Africa and Europe

102. Zimbabwe: The Politics of National Liberation and International Division

Publication Date:
10-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Despite the rising humanitarian costs of the crisis in Zimbabwe, the international community remains deeply divided about its response, allowing President Mugabe to believe that he can exploit the policy fissure between – broadly – the West and Africa. The foreign media's emphasis on the plight of white commercial farmers plays into the regime's liberation rhetoric, reinforcing the erroneous but widespread belief in Africa that the West is concerned about Zimbabwe only because white property interests have been harmed. What is happening in Zimbabwe and the lack of a continental response have damaged perceptions of Africa in the wider international community, weakening in the process the promising but still embryonic New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and the African Union (AU).
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Civil War, International Cooperation, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
Africa and Zimbabwe

103. The Burundi Rebellion and the Ceasefire Negotiations

Publication Date:
08-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Prospects are still weak for a ceasefire agreement in Burundi that includes all rebel factions. Despite the Arusha agreement in August 2000 and installation of a transition government on 1 November 2001, the warring parties, the Burundi army and the various factions of the Party for the Liberation of the Hutu People/National Liberation Forces (PALIPEHUTU-FNL) and of the National Council for the Defense of Democracy/Defense Forces of Democracy (CNDD-FDD), are still fighting. Neither side has been able to gain a decisive military advantage, although the army recently claimed several important victories.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Africa and Burundi

104. Zimbabwe: What Next?

Publication Date:
06-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
In the aftermath of the deeply flawed March 2002 presidential election, Zimbabwe has dropped off the radar screen of most policy-makers and media but its crisis is deepening: the ruling ZANU-PF party and the government are systematically using violence to intimidate the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and civil society in order to punish and compel them to accept the results; the economy is further deteriorating as foreign investment and food both become scarce commodities; with regional drought compounding the land seizure crisis, UN agencies warn of possible famine; and as the opposition considers mass protests, the prospect of serious internal conflict is becoming imminent, with grave implications for the stability of the wider Southern African region.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Cooperation, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
Africa and Zimbabwe

105. Burundi After Six Months Of Transition: Continuing The War Or Winning Peace?

Publication Date:
05-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Fourteen months after the signing of the Arusha framework agreement, the Burundi transition government was sworn in on November 1, 2001, in the presence of the leaders of Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia, Nelson Mandela and a host of other African and international delegations. The new government comprised twenty-six ministers representing majority Hutu (G7) and majority Tutsi (G10) political parties, all signatories to the Arusha accords of August 2000 in Tanzania. A few days before the swearing-in ceremony, several political leaders, including Jean Minani, president of the FRODEBU party, returned from exile to join the government, after guarantees for their protection were provided by the presence of seven hundred South African soldiers. The deal struck between Minani's FRODEBU and Pierre Buyoya's UPRONA, which was formalised by the accord on the transition government of 23 July 2001, made the two parties by far the biggest beneficiaries of power-sharing. The transition phase was slated to last 36 months, with a mid-term transfer of power in May 2003, when the current vice-president, Domitien Ndayizeye of FRODEBU, will replace the president of UPRONA PIERRE Buyoya.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Ethnic Conflict, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Africa, Tanzania, Nigeria, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, and Malawi

106. Storm Clouds Over Sun City: The Urgent Need To Recast The Congolese Peace Process

Publication Date:
05-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
After seven weeks of negotiations at Sun City, a partial agreement was reached on 19 April 2002 between Jean-Pierre Bemba's MLC (Mouvement pour la libération du Congo) and the government of Joseph Kabila. The agreement represents the end of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue in the context of the Lusaka peace accords. However confusion reigns. The negotiations are not complete and the future of the Democratic Republic of Congo remains uncertain.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Ethnic Conflict, International Cooperation, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo

107. Zimbabwe At The Crossroads: Transition Or Conflict?

Publication Date:
03-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Despite broad international condemnation and a tremendous thirst among the people of Zimbabwe for change, the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) government succeeded in systematically manipulating the March 2002 election process to ensure another six-year term for President Robert Mugabe. The strategic use of state violence and extra-legal electoral tinkering authorised by President Mugabe effectively thwarted the will of the people from being heard.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Cooperation, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
Africa and Zimbabwe

108. No Future for SADC? Perspectives for Regional Integration in Southern Africa after the Mauritius Summit

Author:
Heribert Dieter and Henning Melber
Publication Date:
04-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Development and Peace
Abstract:
Regional integration in southern Africa, although frequently regarded as a useful and necessary project, seems to have come to a standstill since 1998. After South Africa had joined SADC in 1994, many observers had hoped that the integration project would be seeing rapid progress. When, in August 1996, SADC agreed on the establishment of a free trade area, many observers regarded this as an important step forward (cf. Gibb 1998, p. 303). However, the developments since 1996 are characterised by too few steps forward and too many back. We are witnessing a combination of economic decline and lack of responsible leadership in the region.
Topic:
International Cooperation and International Organization
Political Geography:
Africa and South Africa

109. The Southern African Development Community: Regional Integration in Ferment

Author:
David Simon and Alexander Johnston
Publication Date:
12-1999
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
Shortly before he became President of the 'new South Africa' in May 1994, Nelson Mandela stressed that his country's relations with the region's poorer and weaker neighbours would be characterized by 'sensitivity and restraint'. This declaration of intent was welcome given South Africa's traditional dominance as the hegemonic power during the apartheid era and the resulting crude and at times violent exploitation of its neighbours' dependence, in varying degree, on the Republic's economy for a wide range of goods and services, for transport links and a market for employment. Indeed, South Africa's accession to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in 1994 offered the promise of a new deal in regional relations, with the new member acting as an 'engine of growth' and as a cooperative and enthusiastic supporter of purposeful and sustained regional integration.
Topic:
Development, Economics, International Cooperation, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Africa

110. Regional Burden-Sharing for Humanitarian Action

Author:
David O'Brien
Publication Date:
04-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
The emergence of an international humanitarian system, the codification of international humanitarian law and the corresponding creation of supportive organizations, is arguably one of the most welcomed forms of multilateralism in the 20th century. At the close of this century, billions of dollars are raised annually by the UN system to alleviate the suffering caused by natural disasters and war but this financial support is declining and increasingly unable to meet humanitarian needs. This declining resource base, along with a search to diversify sources of funding and the recognition that some emergencies receive adequate attention while others do not, raises question for the need for new burden-sharing arrangements.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Development, Ethnic Conflict, International Cooperation, International Organization, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Africa