Search

Begin New Search Topic Security Political Geography Balkans

51. Critical Discourse Analysis (De-) Constructing EULEX Discourse

Author:
Violeta Ferati
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
Abstract:
This report is focused on critical discourse analysis to identify trends in the language used by EULEX based on official statements and reports. In this context, the main aim of this research consists of detecting the invisible relationship between EULEX and the Kosovo institutions., considering that until now this kind of research has not been conducted regarding the international civil and military presence. The report presents a statistical annex which reflects frequencies of the terminology used by EULEX in the period of 2009-2012. This research has revealed the most frequent terms, including: multi-ethnicity, non-majority communities, accountability, transparency, compliance, local authorities, political interference, etc., during the above mentioned period.
Topic:
Security, Institutions, and Discourse Analysis
Political Geography:
Europe, Kosovo, and Balkans

52. Kosovo Security Barometer

Author:
Armend Muja
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
Abstract:
Kosovo Centre for Security Studies (KCSS) launched the Kosovo Security Barometer survey in December 2012. The report provides a summary of people’s perceptions about security in Kosovo, the performance of judicial institutions, the nature of external and internal threats, political stability, economic and environmental security. The Barometer is carried out through face-to-face interviews conducted around Kosovo, and using a questionnaire developed by KCSS. All questions are close-ended, and the majority is in the form of five-point Likert scales. Sampling, piloting and interviews were conducted by KCSS team involving 20 researchers. A national sample was drawn that is representative of the Kosovo population that is 18 years and above and includes 1067 households. The ethnic breakdown of the interviewed respondents is: K-Albanian 89%, K-Serbian 7%, and other K-minorities 4%. The poll revealed that the respondents were most satisfied with the work of Kosovo Security Force, followed by KFOR and firefighters. People generally reported no major concerns of any potential military threat from abroad but instead portraying the consequences of economic crisis as the main external threat facing Kosovo. Serbia, Greece and Russia are seen as the least friendly countries. Respondents held higher regards towards Albania, USA and Turkey. When asked about their opinion over Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, respondents were almost equally split. People maintain concerns regarding the unresolved issue of northern Kosovo but did not see major risks of inter-ethnic conflicts in Kosovo in the future. Generally, people saw economic concerns, corruption and the issue of the northern Kosovo as the paramount threats to Kosovo’s political stability. Most of the respondents viewed the electoral system with doubts.
Topic:
Security, Public Opinion, Institutions, and Survey
Political Geography:
Europe, Kosovo, and Balkans

53. Refugees and IDPs after Conflict: Why They Do Not Go Home

Author:
Patricia Weiss Fagan
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Programs to return refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their homes after conflict, implemented by national authorities with international support, frequently leave far too many without viable futures. The measures are often inadequate for three reasons: a widely shared but flawed assumption that the need to create a future for returnees is satisfied by restoring them to their prior lives; a lack of long-term engagement by implementing authorities; and a focus on rural reintegration when many refugees and IDPs are returning to urban areas. These arguments are illustrated in four country cases—Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Burundi. In each case, the places that refugees and IDPs were forced to flee have been greatly reshaped. They often lack security and economic opportunities; governance is weak and services are inadequate. Returnees have made choices about their futures in large part on the basis of these factors. While reclaiming land or receiving compensation for losses is important, the challenge for many returnees is to settle where they can maintain sustainable livelihoods; find peaceful living conditions; have access to health care, education, and employment opportunities; and enjoy full rights of citizenship. This may mean a move from rural to urban areas and a change in the source of income generation that has to be accounted for in the design of reintegration programs. Returning refugees and IDPs should be assisted for a sufficient amount of time to determine which location and livelihood will suit them best. For international organizations, this may involve greater creativity and flexibility in supporting returnees in urban settings. To accommodate inflows of returnees and their general mobility, national and local governments should develop urban planning strategies to manage the growth of their cities, coupled with regional development plans in rural areas that may involve investment in commercial agriculture. Linking rural and urban areas by strengthening government institutions can also provide returnees with more livelihood options and promote development.
Topic:
Security, Economics, Refugee Issues, and Labor Issues
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Middle East, Balkans, and Burundi

54. The new politics of protection? Côte d'Ivoire, Libya and the responsibility to protect

Author:
Alex J Bellamy and Paul D Williams
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
The international responses to recent crises in Côte d'Ivoire and Libya reveal a great deal about the UN Security Council's approach to human protection. The Council has long authorized peacekeepers to use 'all necessary means' to protect civilians, in contexts including Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burundi and Côte d'Ivoire. But Resolution 1973 (17 March 2011) on the situation in Libya marked the first time the Council had authorized the use of force for human protection purposes against the wishes of a functioning state. The closest it had come to crossing this line previously was in Resolutions 794 (1992) and 929 (1994). In Resolution 794, the Council authorized the Unified Task Force to enter Somalia to ease the humanitarian crisis there, but this was in the absence of a central government rather than against one—a point made at the time by several Council members. In Resolution 929 (1994), the Security Council authorized the French-led Operation Turquoise to protect victims and targets of the genocide then under way in Rwanda; this mission enjoyed the consent of the interim government in Rwanda as well as its armed forces. In passing Resolution 1973, the Council showed that it will not be inhibited as a matter of principle from authorizing enforcement for protection purposes by the absence of host state consent. Although its response in Libya broke new ground, it grew out of attitudes and processes evident well before this particular crisis. Most notably, the Council had already accepted—in Resolutions 1674 (2006) and 1894 (2009)—that it had a responsibility to protect civilians from grave crimes, and this was evident in a shift in the terms of its debates from questions about whether to act to protect civilians to questions about how to engage.
Topic:
Security, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
Paris, Libya, United Nations, Balkans, Netherlands, Rwanda, Alabama, Ninewa, and Lower Dir

55. Striking a Balance Between Norms and Interests in Italian Foreign Policy: The Balkans and Libya

Author:
Valérie Vicky Miranda
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
To what extent is foreign policy driven by norms and/or by interests? Considering the main trends of Italian foreign policy after World War II and two case studies, the Balkans and Libya, this paper investigates the role played by norms and interests and the interconnection between the two in Italian foreign policy. In the Balkans, norms and interests have neatly dovetailed: supporting democratization and the rule of law has also meant furthering Italian security and economic interests in the region. By contrast, Libya was the theatre of an essentially interest-driven foreign policy. Nevertheless, the Italian government's response to the Libyan crisis between March and May 2011 has interestingly marked a rupture from the recent past.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Bosnia, Libya, Kosovo, Balkans, North Africa, and Italy

56. Brčko Unsupervised

Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
It is time to close international supervision of Bosnia's Brčko District. Once seen as a model of post-war reconciliation and good government, it is drowning in corruption and mismanagement that flourished despite its supervisors' best efforts. The territory is vital to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)'s stability: it links the two halves of both Republika Srpska (RS) and the BiH Federation (FBiH), and belongs technically to both entities but is independently governed and multi-ethnic. Many of its former leaders are under suspicion in a corruption probe that may have only scratched the surface; several high profile development projects are collapsing in bankruptcy and litigation. RS has a strong influence on the district but is not threatening to undermine its status. Nevertheless, the international community should ensure that Serb leaders of that entity are left in no doubt that any move to take Brčko over would meet a strong reaction. Stability is now dependent on whether local politicians, law enforcement and the judiciary can take responsibility. International supervision is no longer helping, and a new strategy is needed.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Balkans

57. The Western Balkans and the EU: 'the hour of Europe'

Author:
Jacques Rupnik (ed)
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:
Today, more than fifteen years after the end of the wars of Yugoslavia's dissolution, the 'Balkan question' remains more than ever a 'European question'. In the eyes of many Europeans in the 1990s, Bosnia was the symbol of a collective failure, while Kosovo later became a catalyst for an emerging Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). In the last decade, with the completion of the process of redrawing the map of the region, the overall thrust of the EU's Balkans policy has moved from an agenda dominated by security issues related to the war and its legacies to an agenda focused on the perspective of the Western Balkan states' accession to the European Union, to which there has been a formal political commitment on the part of all EU Member States since the Thessaloniki Summit in June 2003. The framework was set, the political elites in the region were – at least verbally – committed to making Europe a priority and everyone was supposedly familiar with the policy tools thanks to the previous wave of Eastern enlargement. With the region's most contentious issues apparently having been defused, the EU could move from stability through containment towards European integration.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Ethnic Conflict, Political Economy, Sectarian violence, and Self Determination
Political Geography:
Europe, Bosnia, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, and Balkans

58. Re-Establishment and Reform of the Justice System in Kosovo (1999-2011)

Author:
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
Abstract:
While the research describe the development of justice system in the pre-independence period, the research team paid particular attention for the post-independence justice system focusing on the legal mandate of EULEX and problems in the North. Nevertheless, having in mind the complex sector and the diverse mechanisms, it was not the intention of the researchers to deepen the analysis in some specific areas of justice but rather to provide a broader overview. In fact, this research is expected to serve as the basis for upcoming research papers of KCSS aiming to address more specifically the important aspects in the broader field of rule of law.The paper shall serve as reliable source for the students, researchers and the policy makers willing to have a general picture on the developments in this sector. The original version is in English language and translated into Albanian Language.
Topic:
Security, Reform, Rule of Law, and Justice
Political Geography:
Europe, Kosovo, and Balkans

59. Lawful Interception of Telecommunications in Kosovo: Security Implications

Author:
Shpend Kursani
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
Abstract:
Building upon the current multitude security actor environment and legislative set-up, this paper assesses the interception of telecommunications in Kosovo as a sensitive, yet very effective measure of investigation. It elaborates in detail the current problems pertaining to interception of telecommunications which include the legislative gaps, the overlap created by poorly defined authority over the execution of orders of interception of telecommunications and the lack of cooperation not only between the domestic and international security institutions present in Kosovo but within the domestic security institutions as well. The analysis is not limited to the security institutions per se; the paper further extends on to the procedures and cooperation that exist between the security institutions and the telecommunications operators as well as their capabilities and infrastructural set-up which are important in preventing misuse of private data throughout the process of lawful interception of telecommunications. Based on the policy objectives that this paper draws, policy recommendations are provided which in general and among other things include the enhancement of the current legislation, the establishment of a central system that would boost cooperation between all the security actors, the introduction of new and advancement of current inspection and monitoring mechanisms. The implementation of the recommendations would ensure an effective lawful interception of telecommunications on the one hand and protection of privacy as a fundamental human right on the other hand.
Topic:
Security, Human Rights, Privacy, Institutions, and Telecommunications
Political Geography:
Europe, Kosovo, and Balkans

60. The Contribution of Turkish-Serbian Relations Towards Improving Security in the Western Balkans

Author:
Athina Tesfa-Yohannes
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
BILGESAM (Wise Men Center for Strategic Studies)
Abstract:
In recent years, economic relations between the two countries have been on the rise with renewed Turkish investment in Serbia, free trade agreement, and a visa-free regime. Turkey’s relations with Serbia have gained momentum and will have likely positive effects on three particular integration issues that pose significant security risks within the Western Balkans, given the fragility of the region. These issues are the integration of ethnic Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska, the integration of ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo, and integration of ethnic Bosniaks and Albanians in southwestern Serbia. Turkey and Serbia’s strengthening relations will mitigate security risks which may arise as a result of these integration-related issues.
Topic:
Security, Bilateral Relations, Free Trade, and Integration
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Serbia, and Balkans