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141. Global Peace Index 2019: Measuring peace in a complex world

Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)
Abstract:
This is the thirteenth edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), which ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness. Produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the GPI is the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness. This report presents the most comprehensive data-driven analysis to date on peace, its economic value, trends, and how to develop peaceful societies. The GPI covers 99.7 per cent of the world’s population, using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources, and measures the state of peace using three thematic domains: the level of Societal Safety and Security; the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict; and the degree of Militarisation. In addition to presenting the findings from the 2019 GPI, this year’s report includes analysis of trends in Positive Peace: the attitudes, institutions, and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies. It looks at the relationship between the actual peace of a country, as measured by the GPI, and Positive Peace, and how a deficit of Positive Peace is often a predictor of future increases in violent conflict. It also looks at the dynamic relationship between changes in Positive Peace and changes in the economy.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Peace Studies, Peacekeeping, Military Affairs, Political structure, Conflict, Violence, Institutions, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

142. The Regime for Protecting Cultural Property during Armed Conflicts: An Analysis of the Historical Development

Author:
Elvan Çokişler
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:
This research deals with the historical development of the regime for protecting cultural properties during armed conflicts. The historical development is addressed in three sections: The first section explains the process from antiquity through the 18th century in light of the views that form the philosophical background of the regime. The second section discusses the initial tangible efforts which appeared in the 19th century with regard to the establishment of customary law, while the third section handles the 20th century endeavors in terms of the codification of the regime. The research has shown that, throughout history cultural property has been open for strategic use, efforts for protecting it accelerated particularly after great wars and codification efforts improved as a reaction to big damages stemming from changing nature of armed conflicts. These findings may be interpreted as indicating that today’s protection efforts are bound to be insufficient for the future strategic uses of cultural property that are unpredictable from today’s vantage point.
Topic:
International Law, Treaties and Agreements, Culture, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Global Focus

143. Opportunity and Willingness as a Pre-Theoretical Framework in Explaining Wars

Author:
Burak Bilgehan Özpek
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:
Grand theories of international relations seek to produce general patterns, which are supposedly valid across time and space, yet fail to address particular actors and cases. According to Benjamin Most and Harvey Starr “general” and “universal” models, which only operate under certain explicitly prescribed conditions, do not suffice to generate a systemic understanding of foreign policy decisions and international phenomenon. The pre-theoretical framework of “opportunity and willingness,” which Most and Starr develop, produces a general model to analyze world affairs in a consistent way. This framework does not highlight any concrete factor such as power preponderance, regime type, and composition of elite or polarity as a condition for an international phenomenon. Instead, “opportunity and willingness” is more interested in what these factors represent and how these factors shape state behaviors. In other words, the “opportunity and willingness” framework suggests a model that still enables generalizations but also has power to explain particular cases.
Topic:
International Relations, War, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Global Focus

144. Armed Non-Satate Actors Need to be Included in Pragmatic Peacebuilding

Author:
Lise Philipsen
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Armed non-state actors (ANSAs) often act as important security-providers in conflict environments but are typically excluded from long-term strategies for peace. To succeed, pragmatic routes to peace should consider how to incorporate ANSAs into longer term frameworks for peace. RECOMMENDATIONS International peace operations should: ■ Build diplomatic skills to interact with ANSAs who provide security locally and consider what role they can play in building peace. ■ Establish dialogue with local actors on all levels using track 1, 2 and 3 diplomacy. ■ Expand the ‘local agreements strategy’ that has been used successfully in MINUSCA, the UN’s stabilization mission in the CAR.
Topic:
Democratization, Diplomacy, International Organization, Non State Actors, Fragile States, Conflict, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

145. Making Conflict Prevention a Concrete Reality at the UN

Author:
Adriana Erthal Abdenur
Publication Date:
02-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Development and Peace
Abstract:
The idea of conflict prevention is makiong a comeback. Though at the heart of the United Nations charter, previous attempts to make conflict prevention a concrete reality within the UN system had limited success and were restricted primarily to the prevention of imminent or recuring conflict via mediation and good offices.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Human Rights, United Nations, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Global Focus

146. Progress on implementing the Briefing note Hague Declaration on Climate and Security

Author:
Susanne Wolfmaier and Janani Vivekananda
Publication Date:
02-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Clingendael Netherlands Institute of International Relations
Abstract:
The Hague Declaration is a six-point plan covering a call for an institutional mechanism on climate and security within the UN system, for a process to develop a climate security risk assessment in Lake Chad, and for concrete action in two of the most vulnerable post-conflict countries: Mali and Iraq. It is also a commitment by a growing community of practice to systematically address security risks related to climate change - from analysis to action, built on the conviction that everyone must work together to address and manage risks and threats before they arise. This briefing note by Susanne Wolfmaier and Janani Vivekananda presents the outcome of a survey by the Planetary Security Initiative on the objectives with the Hague Declaration, its achievements so far, and the gaps in and challenges to progress that still need to be overcome.
Topic:
Security, Climate Change, Treaties and Agreements, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Iraq, Mali, Global Focus, and The Hague

147. Systems Thinking for Peacebuilding and Rule of Law (French) (Penseé Systémique Pour la Consolidation de la Paix et L’état de Droit en Soutien de Réformes Complexes dans des Environnements Touchés par les Conflits)

Author:
Philippe Leroux-Martin and Vivienne O'Connor
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Ce rapport invite les spécialistes oeuvrant à la consolidation de la paix à intégrer les principes de la pensée systémique et de la théorie de la complexité dans la façon dont ils conçoivent, mettent en oeuvre et évaluent leurs interventions. En se fondant sur les études réalisées au cours des dix dernières années à l’USIP et en s’appuyant sur la littérature d’autres domaines – comme le développement organisationnel, le management situationnel, la gestion du changement et la psychologie – les auteurs prônent des approches plus personnalisées et flexibles dans la consolidation de la paix et de l’État de droit.
Topic:
Conflict, Rule of Law, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

148. Injecting Humanity: Community-Focused Responses for People Exiting Violent Extremist Conflict

Author:
Chris Bosley
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Communities worldwide face the challenge of reintegrating people exiting violent extremist conflicts. This report draws on established programs and the recommendations of authoritative bodies to examine community-based approaches to their rehabilitation. Given that criminal justice responses may not always be possible or appropriate, recovery-focused approaches such as resocialization and reconciliation are recommended to minimize risk and foster resilience.
Topic:
Violent Extremism, Islamic State, Conflict, Criminal Justice, Risk, and Resilience
Political Geography:
Middle East and Global Focus

149. Participation in Warfare: Are we Witnessing Paradigmatic Change?

Author:
Ash Rossiter
Publication Date:
05-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
Conflict today is defying traditional conceptions about the conduct of war and, more specifically, who makes up its identifiable contestants. This article examines how the established practice of warfare is undergoing radical change partly as a consequence of a tremendous shift in participation. Better understanding who might participate in war and, as a corollary, the particular tools and methods used to carry out violence (in pursuit of political goals), is of acute importance for those charged with figuring out how best to employ destructive and/or disruptive force. The aim of this article is to therefore make a contribution to this broad debate. It advances the argument that a major shift in warfare’s participation is happening; and, that it is both a consequence of wider changes in warfare as well as a cause of change itself.
Topic:
Military Strategy, Conflict, and Violence
Political Geography:
Global Focus

150. Oral History And The Rwandan Genocide

Author:
Erin Jessee
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
Erin Jessee is Lord Kelvin Adam Smith Research Fellow in History at the University of Glasgow. She has over a decade of experience conducting oral historical and ethnographic fieldwork in confict-afected settings, particularly in Rwanda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Uganda. She is the author of Negotiating Genocide in Rwanda: Te Politics of History, which was published in Palgrave Macmillan’s Studies in Oral History series in 2017. She has also published several articles in notable journals such as Memory Studies, Conflict and Society, History in Africa, Oral History Review, and Forensic Science International, among others.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Genocide, International Cooperation, International Law, Humanitarian Intervention, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Rwanda and Global Focus