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671. The Nuclear Terrorism Threat: How Real Is It?

Author:
Michael Brian Jenkins and John Lauder
Publication Date:
08-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Nonproliferation Policy Education Center
Abstract:
NPEC Working Paper 1602, “The Nuclear Terrorism Threat: How Real Is It?” presents two opposed views on the threat of nuclear terrorism. Brian M. Jenkins, a Rand analyst and a leading expert on nuclear terrorism, argues that the threat is overblown. John Lauder, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Nonproliferation Center, argues the opposing case that the threat is growing and we need to be hedging against it now.
Topic:
Terrorism, International Affairs, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Global Focus

672. How Dark Might East Asia’s Nuclear Future Be?

Author:
Henry D. Sokolski
Publication Date:
08-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Nonproliferation Policy Education Center
Abstract:
NPEC Working Paper 1601, “How Dark Might East Asia’s Nuclear Future Be?” contains detailed projections of what the future holds for a more nuclear-armed China, Japan, North Korea and South Korea. None are predictions. The volume’s purpose is to encourage deeper debate about the security implications of nuclear proliferation in East Asia.
Topic:
International Affairs and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Global Focus

673. Alternative North Korean Nuclear Futures

Author:
Shane Smith
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Nonproliferation Policy Education Center
Abstract:
On February 12, 2013, North Korea’s state media announced that it had conducted a third nuclear test “of a smaller and light A-bomb unlike the previous ones, yet with great explosive power…demonstrating the good performance of the DPRK's nuclear deterrence that has become diversified.”[1] Since then, there has been renewed debate and speculation over the nature and direction of North Korea’s nuclear program. Can it develop weapons using both plutonium and uranium? How far away is it from having a deliverable warhead and how capable are its delivery systems? How many and what kind of weapons is it looking to build? These are not easy questions to answer. North Korea remains one of the most notoriously secret nations, and details about its nuclear program are undoubtedly some of its most valued secrets. Yet, the answers to these questions have far reaching implications for U.S. and regional security.
Topic:
International Affairs and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Global Focus

674. 25 Years of Election Observation at The Carter Center A Retrospective

Author:
The Carter Center
Publication Date:
02-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
Founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, The Carter Center is guided by a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of suffering. To this end, the Center has sought to wage peace, advance freedom and democracy, and improve health worldwide. As part of these efforts, The Carter Center has enhanced the quality of democratic governance by conducting activities in several areas, including strengthening human rights institutions, combating political corruption, advancing transparent governance, and observing elections
Topic:
International Affairs and Democracy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

675. Monitoring and Evaluating the Rule of Law in Serbia

Author:
Andrej Stefanovic
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Belgrade Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
Serbia checked most of the boxes that were warranted by its accession process to the EU in 2015, a fact which was recognised on 18 July when negotiations on Judiciary and Fundamental Rights (Chapter 23) and Justice, Freedom and Security (Chapter 24) were opened. The opening of these two chapters was a result of a long process that was characterised by several rounds of consultations regarding drafting of corresponding Action Plans, producing Negotiating Positions, and coordination efforts on the part of line ministries hitherto never seen before. The Belgrade-Pristina dialogue continued, despite the fact that the implementation of the already reached agreements was lagging. Finally, early elections were organised on April 24, when the incumbent Prime Minister’s coalition won by a landslide and formed a new, decidedly pro-European Government. Despite the fact that the new parliamentary convocation now gathers parties sceptical toward or against the EU, there seem to be no obstacles when it comes to either support or legitimacy of the Government’s pro-EU agenda.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

676. Libya, Extremism and the Consequences of Collapse

Author:
The Soufan Group
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Soufan Group
Abstract:
COMMENTARY NEWS ARTICLES INTELBRIEFS TV & RADIO OPINION PIECES PUBLICATIONS Libya, Extremism and the Consequences of Collapse January 27, 2016 RESEARCH TSG_Libya Report_cover Libya Extremism and the Consequences of CollapseJanuary 27, 2016.In a new, in-depth report, The Soufan Group (TSG) examines the security implications of continued instability in Libya. Four years after the revolution that toppled Muammar Qadhafi, the security situation in Libya remains volatile. The lack of centralized control has allowed criminal and violent extremist groups to flourish, including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Continued instability in Libya will only see these criminal and violent extremist elements entrench themselves further. The expansion of these networks poses a serious security threat to the region, as well as to the broader international community. .
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

677. European Union Boarders in the Face of Insecurities

Author:
Mira Kaneva
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Abstract:
The associative definition of borders implies the separation or the connection between two contrasting units (even in terms of their coloring on the geographic map). Thus the inherent intermediate position of borders has always marked the bordering practices between and within political communities. In international relations studies, though, despite the centrality of borders in policy-making, border studies are reduced to a marginal position. Ironically, border studies are driven to the periphery of academic research due to the prevailing misconception of them as epiphenomena at the expense of core phenomena such as state, sovereignty, and territory
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

678. The Contagiousness of Regional Conflict: A Middle East Case Study

Author:
Graeme P. Auton and Jacob B. Slobodien
Publication Date:
03-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
Several factors contribute to or inhibit the “contagiousness” of regional conflict and irregular warfare, whether conducted at the interstate, extrastate, or intrastate level. Five broad drivers of the diffusion of regional conflict are (1) weak states, (2) anticipated power shifts, regional and domestic, (3) unstable and poorly controlled border regions, (4) large refugee flows, and (5) the religiously-based non-state militant campaign against the state as an organizing principle of world politics. These factors are both endogenous and exogenous to particular states and societies, and must be considered alongside the standard factors considered in international relations literature to be the basis of “dangerous state dyads:” geographic contiguity, absence of alliances, absence of an advanced economy, absence of a democratic polity, and absence of a regionally preponderant power. Two case studies illustrate this argument: the rise of Islamic State, and the awareness of the causes of contagion in regional conflict implicit in Israeli security policy.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Regional Cooperation, International Affairs, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Global Focus

679. Morals in International Politics

Author:
A. Orlov
Publication Date:
03-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
The world is changing fast; it is changing by leaps and bounds which makes it next to impossible to explain what is going on and to foresee possible repercussions.1 An unsophisticated observer in the West and elsewhere in the world where Western propaganda is heard and believed might imagine that the forces of freedom and democracy are waging an uncompromising struggle against despotism and tyranny (in the widest sense of the terms). It is implied that the United States and the rest of the civilized West are on the side of the forces of good confronted by an obscure conglomerate of the forces of evil, of which Russia is part if according to President Obama and certain other Western leaders. Former President of France Valéry Giscard d’Estaing has written in his memoirs that according to this interpretation the forces of good insist on democratic elections, human rights, and freedom of trade; America does not hesitate to use its might to defend good and oppose the forces of evil interfering with the fulfillment of these ideals.
Topic:
Democratization, Politics, International Affairs, Elections, and Ethics
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America

680. Peacebuilding and Institution-building

Author:
Sarah Hearn
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Ambassadors Review
Abstract:
This short paper provides an overview of the evidence on why institution-building is central to successful peacebuilding, and aims to stimulate fresh thinking on ideas for improving international institution-building efforts. The international community is moving at a slow pace to improve its performance in this area, despite a range of international commitments to building national institutions and ownership in conflict-affected countries. I argue that the UN could pursue more innovation, especially in the areas of south-south and triangular cooperation, setting norms for institution-building, and sustaining long-term attention to institution-building, as well as championing the development of a wider range of aid instruments and partnerships. Finally, I point to major data and evidence gaps, and suggest generating more north-south knowledge partnerships on the subject as a matter of priority – especially around building national ownership and supporting inclusive institution-building processes.
Topic:
Development, Regional Cooperation, United Nations, International Affairs, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Global Focus