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51. Making Operational Decisions in Humanitarian Response: A Literature Review

Author:
Leah Campbell and Paul Knox Clarke
Publication Date:
04-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
ALNAP: Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance
Abstract:
During a crisis, humanitarian leaders must make a range of decisions including whether, when and how to intervene; how to address technical, logistical, political and security constraints; when and how to cease operations; and the list goes on. Many of these decisions are made in urgent circumstances, have life-saving implications, and take place in a context of uncertainty. The importance of effective decision-making in operational humanitarian response has emerged as a theme in ALNAP’s previous work on humanitarian leadership and coordination. However, little academic attention has been given to this subject so far. This literature review considers the context in which humanitarian leaders are asked to make decisions, explores the range of decision-making approaches which exist, and considers how effective these approaches might be in humanitarian environments. The paper draws from existing humanitarian literature and evaluations, and also from the wealth of experience which exists from the world of emergency management decision-making (including fires and public health emergencies). In doing so, it gathers existing knowledge, identifies gaps in understanding and proposes areas for future research. ALNAP is undertaking a new piece of research to better understand how humanitarians can make effective decisions in situations of urgency and/or uncertainty. To find out more about the research and how you can get involved read the Infosheet.
Topic:
Leadership, Crisis Management, Coordination, and Humanitarian Response
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Global Focus

52. 2018 Guide to Women Leaders in International Affairs

Author:
Women's Foreign Policy Group (WFPG)
Publication Date:
08-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Women's Foreign Policy Group (WFPG)
Abstract:
WFPG's Guide to Women Leaders in International Affairs highlights women shaping foreign policy around the world and the role that they play as leaders, diplomats, and policymakers. The Guide provides an index of prominent women from across the international community, including heads of state and government, government ministers and diplomats, and leaders of international organizations and corporations.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Government, United Nations, Women, Leadership, and NGOs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

53. Where Nothing is Felt, Nothing Matters: Facilitating Healing in an Era of Global Violenc

Author:
Stan Amaladas and Ray Becvar
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Studies of Changing Societies Journal (SCS)
Institution:
Studies of Changing Societies Journal (SCS)
Abstract:
In our era of global violence and counter-violence, where acts of violence are received with further acts of violence that are motivated by the malice of rage, we appear to be prisoners trapped in a cage. Does it have to remain this way? Beginning with the premise that the fundamental act of leadership is to influence people to be aware of what they feel so that they can be moved to purposeful action, we speak to the urgent and important work of leaders and followers to feel the need to terminate ongoing cycles of global violence, for the sake of lifting people above the conflicts that tear a society apart and unite them in pursuits of objectives worthy of their best efforts. Why? Because where nothing is felt, nothing matters. Where nothing is felt, there will be no real change. For the sake of real change, we also argue that we will be better served, if we intentionally attend to the patterns that connect, rather than divide, Western and non-Western/African/Indigenous ways of thinking. Within the context of violence, we offer a way to listen to the healing power of stories which cuts across time and cultures. For the sake of pursuing objectives that are worthy of our best efforts, we also focus on the stories of public/ political apologies and the madness of forgiving the unforgivable atrocities of humankind.
Topic:
History, Leadership, Transitional Justice, and Violence
Political Geography:
Global Focus

54. Global Leadership Competencies for Undergraduate Students

Author:
Sabrena O'Keefe
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Studies of Changing Societies Journal (SCS)
Institution:
Studies of Changing Societies Journal (SCS)
Abstract:
Global leadership has been a growing area of research as our world becomes interconnected. Employers have also expressed a skill crisis regarding students graduating from college without the necessary global leadership skills. However, there are often not enough resources at institutions of higher education to add specific co-curricular programs around global leadership. At the same time, many institutions have begun to use the Student Leadership Competencies (Seemiller, 2013) as learning outcomes for their co-curricular programs. This research study aimed to combine the concepts of global leadership and the Student Leadership Competencies so that students have the opportunity to develop global leadership competencies on their own. This was done through the use of subject matter experts and results of an exploratory factor analysis. There were six constructs discovered through this process: Adapting (Responding to Change & Self-Development), Diversity, Interpersonal Impact (Productive Relationships & Positive Attitude), Perspective-taking (Self-Understanding, Empathy, & Others’ Perspectives), Resiliency, and Responding to Ambiguity. A global leadership self-assessment instrument was also created as a tool to utilize this framework.
Topic:
Education, Leadership, Higher Education, and Skills
Political Geography:
Global Focus

55. A Better Process, a Stronger UN Secretary-General: How Historic Change Was Forged and What Comes Next

Author:
Yvonne Terlingen
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
When on October 13, 2016, the General Assembly appointed by acclamation António Guterres of Portugal as the United Nations’ ninth secretary-general, there was a sense of excitement among the organization’s 193 members. For once, so it seemed, they felt they had played an important role not only in choosing the secretary-general but also in appointing a man generally considered to be an outstanding candidate for a position memorably described as “the most impossible job on this earth.”1 The five permanent, veto-wielding members of the Security Council (Perm Five) still exercised the greatest power in the selection process, as they always had in the past. Yet the candidate chosen appears, surprisingly, not to have been the first choice of either the United States or Russia, two of the Perm Five that until then had effectively chosen the secretary-general between them in an opaque and outdated process. It is doubtful that António Guterres would have been appointed if the General Assembly had not embarked on a novel process to select him. All previous secretaries-general were chosen on the basis of a haphazard and secretive process that occurred behind closed doors and was not merit based. The method to select the UN secretary-general is laid down in a few words in the UN Charter. Article 97 allocates responsibility for appointing the secretary-general to all members of the General Assembly acting on the recommendation of the Security Council. However, for the last seventy years—with one circumstance-specific exception2—the General Assembly has had no say in the selection: its member states merely rubber-stamped the decision of the Perm Five, which recommended just one candidate each time for the General Assembly to appoint. All previous secretaries-general were chosen on the basis of a haphazard and secretive process that occurred behind closed doors and was not merit based. The process was geared toward appointing the lowest common denominator candidate,3 but nevertheless produced a few outstanding secretaries-general. There has never been a female secretary-general, and until 2016 only three women had ever made it on a Security Council shortlist.4 The entire process lacked transparency and accountability and fell far short of the UN’s own standards and ideals, let alone the current recruitment practices for top international positions. Selections of all previous secretaries-general were made without appointment criteria, without a call for nominations or for CVs, without a timeline for nominations, and without public hearings or other effective methods of public scrutiny. In recent selections, candidates were often pushed into horse trading with the Security Council’s permanent members to gain their support in exchange for making promises of senior UN posts for their nationals. This has led to some countries holding monopolies over key posts.5 Moreover, the tradition of appointment for a five-year, once-renewable term, with reappointment controlled by the Perm Five, has effectively secured a secretary-general beholden to the Council’s most powerful members. The whole process “would be rejected as a bad joke by any serious institution in the private sector,” noted one senior UN authority who worked under multiple secretaries-general.
Topic:
United Nations, Leadership, Diversity, and Transparency
Political Geography:
Global Focus

56. Trade under Attack And Necessary Remedies for Dislocation from Economic Change

Author:
Research and Policy Committee of the Committee for Economic Development
Publication Date:
08-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Conference Board
Abstract:
Research shows that engaging in global trade increases economic prosperity. Policymakers should aid U.S. workers adversely impacted by global trade instead of working to protect U.S. jobs. Trade Under Attack details trade’s immense contribution to the U.S. economy and warns that America risks forfeiting its leadership position if it retreats from trade.
Topic:
Leadership, Trade, and Economic Development
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America

57. A Proposal for U.S. Leadership on International Climate Finance During the Trump Administration

Author:
Gwynne Taraska
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for American Progress - CAP
Abstract:
Finance for low-carbon and climate-resilient international development accounts for only a small fraction of the U.S. federal budget: an estimated 0.04 percent of overall spending per year from 2010 to 2015.1 Nevertheless, it is a key means for the United States to advance the global climate effort. In fact, because of its role in addressing the climate challenge worldwide, U.S. climate aid rivals or exceeds the U.S. emissions reduction target in international importance. Climate finance is also integral to domestic interests given the economic and security effects of climate change. Accordingly, investment in clean energy and disaster preparedness in developing countries has a long history of bipartisan support in the United States. The current administration, however, has proposed dramatically reducing the international climate budget. This is consistent with its general abdication of climate leadership to date. Regardless of whether the administration nominally participates in international climate initiatives and forums, it is likely to continue undermining domestic climate policies and environmental protections.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, International Cooperation, and Leadership
Political Geography:
North America, Global Focus, and United States of America

58. Transforming Change

Author:
Paul Knox Clarke
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
ALNAP: Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance
Abstract:
As humanitarians we spend a lot of time debating what needs to change in our sector and why. But do we look enough at how that change happens? Humanitarians, willingly or not, usually find themselves surrounded by change in some shape or form. It can come as an unexpected shift that escapes any plans or structure, or it can happen as a planned programme such as Humanitarian Reform, The Transformative Agenda (TA), and now the Grand Bargain. Yet despite the ubiquity of change, and the time, money and energy that is spent on change initiatives, very little attention has been paid to the processes that make change happen in the humanitarian system. This new ALNAP study looks at how change can be effectively achieved, and captures the ideas and insights around change processes from the panels, presentations and discussions at the 31st ALNAP Annual Meeting in Stockholm this past February.
Topic:
Governance, Leadership, Performance Evaluation, Decision-Making, Organizational Learning, and Organizational Change
Political Geography:
Global Focus

59. Local Humanitarian Leadership and Religious Literacy: Engaging with Religion, Faith, and Faith Actors

Author:
Carleigh Berinot, Robert Brodrick, Tara R. Gingerich, and Diane L. Moore
Publication Date:
03-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Local humanitarian leadership is built upon the premise that humanitarian action should be led by local humanitarian actors whenever possible, yet this research finds that secular humanitarian INGOs do not engage systematically with local faith actors in their local leadership work. Based primarily on interviews with humanitarian INGO staff, this research also found that neither secular nor faith-inspired international humanitarian organizations have a sufficient level of religious literacy to enable them to understand the religious dimensions of the contexts in which they work and to effectively navigate their engagement with local faith actors.
Topic:
Religion, Leadership, NGOs, Humanitarian Crisis, and Faith
Political Geography:
Global Focus

60. Defining Down Sovereignty: The Rights and Responsibilities of Nations

Author:
Amitai Etzioni
Publication Date:
03-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Defining down sovereignty" refers to the normative thesis that sovereignty should not grant a state absolute protection against armed intervention in its internal affairs by other states, and that instead the international community should condition such immunity on states living up to particular standards. This essay suggests two modifications to this thesis. First, the international community should spell out the kinds of failures to protect civilians that can justify armed interventions by other states, as well as which agency has the authority to determine when such failures have occurred. In other words, the international community should determine how low to set the bar for intervention, and who makes the rules. Second, the international community needs to establish an additional international responsibility, namely, a responsibility to prevent international terrorism. The essay treats both of these modifications as shared international normative understandings; it does not attempt to translate these changes into international law.
Topic:
Sovereignty, Terrorism, Leadership, State Building, and Armed Conflict
Political Geography:
Global Focus