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351. Beyond the crisis in Ukraine. Russian and EU perceptions of European security and potential implications for Europe and Norway

Author:
Pernille Rieker and Kristian Lundby Gjerde
Publication Date:
11-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
Recent developments in European security have shown the growing need for a better understanding of the dynamics that may both threaten and ensure security and stability on the European continent. This policy brief is based on the analysis made in a recent NUPI working paper (Rieker & Gjerde 2015) where we present in more detail the differing Russian and European perceptions of European security. In addition to providing an overview of the different perceptions, we also study what happens when the two collide like we have been witnessing in Ukraine. As much of the literature on these issues has been normatively driven, our aim has been to provide an objective presentation and analysis of the dominant Russian and EU discourses. This we see as essential for investigating the potential for constructive dialogue between Russia and the EU.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, United Nations, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Global Focus

352. The Normative Terrain of the Global Refugee Regime

Author:
Alexander Betts
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The global refugee regime encompasses the rules, norms, principles, and decision-making procedures that govern states' responses to refugees. It comprises a set of norms, primarily those entrenched in the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, which defines who is a refugee and the rights to which such people are entitled. It also comprises an international organization, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which has supervisory responsibility for ensuring that states meet their obligations toward refugees.
Topic:
United Nations, Refugees, Displacement, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

353. Global Report: Civil Society Organization (CSO) Survey for the Global Study on Women, Peace and Security CSO Perspectives on UNSCR 1325 Implementation 15 Years after Adoption

Author:
Danielle B. Goldberg
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP)
Abstract:
When the idea of the Global Study on UNSCR 1325 was proposed, some members of civil society did not welcome the concept. There were already countless studies and recommendations on the implementation of UNSCR 1325, so what would be the value of another study? Moreover, we knew where most of the gaps existed—both internationally and in national contexts. The Global Study was, called by UN Security Council Resolution 2122 “to highlight examples of good practice, implementation gaps and challenges, and priorities for action.” Yet, we also understood that the Global Study could be an important platform for highlighting persistent problems, such as underrepresentation of women in official peace negotiations, lack of local level action and the perennial lack of funding, particularly for women’s peacebuilding work at the community level. To participate in the Global Study process, we set two conditions: that it be totally independent and that it accurately reflect the voices of civil society, given that activists—working at grassroots, national and international levels—have been the driving forces in making sure the resolution and its agenda remain active and relevant. It was in this spirit that the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP), Cordaid, the International Civil society Action Network (ICAN) and the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (NGOWG) embarked on a civil society survey to inform the Global Study. We also believed it was extremely important that there be a mechanism built into the Global Study to formally capture the experiences, challenges and recommendations of civil society around the world working on WPS.
Topic:
Security, Gender Issues, United Nations, Women, Peace, WPS, and Civil Society Organizations
Political Geography:
Global Focus

354. Focus Group Discussion Report for the Civil Society Organization (CSO) Survey: Civil Society Input

Author:
Agnieszka Fal
Publication Date:
05-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP)
Abstract:
The Focus Group Discussion (FGD) Report is based on findings from 17 FGDs and one international 1325 expert conference, held in 16 countries with over 200 participants.1 The report informs the Global Study on Women, Peace and Security, called by UNSCR 2122 to "highlight examples of good practice, implementation gaps and challenges, and priorities for action," to ensure that civil society voices are adequately reflected in the study. The promise of UNSCR 1325 cannot be realized without the full participation of civil society activists—a view shared at the global and local level alike. Just as the Global Study team coordinated by UN Women has explicitly sought input from women’s groups around the world through this initiative and others, so have participants of the FGDs echoed their fervent desire to have their views, concerns and recommendations feed into the Global Study. Civil society lobbied for the adoption of UNSCR 1325, contributed to its drafting and has stood at the forefront of its implementation, so its voice is a powerful contribution to the Global Study. This report consolidates and presents the results of the FGDs. The FGDs also raised awareness among CSOs around the world of the High-Level Review on the Implementation of UNSCR 1325, the Global Study and the CSO Survey. Furthermore, they provided a safe and collaborative experience for CSOs to exchange views on issues related to their work on Women, Peace and Security. Finally, the focus group discussions served as a tool to recognize and galvanize women’s groups doing important work on women, peace and security on the ground, despite the many challenges they face.
Topic:
Security, Gender Issues, United Nations, Women, Peace, WPS, and Civil Society Organizations
Political Geography:
Global Focus

355. What defines a “city”?

Author:
Ammar A. Malik and Julia Hagen
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Readers love lists, especially city rankings. There are lists that rank the world’s leading cities of opportunity, the most sustainable cities, the bike-friendliest cities, the top shopping cities, and even the most competitive cities in the future. What they all share is an attempt to measure cities. But what defines a city? The answer isn’t as clear-cut as it seems. Every year, leading corporations fund the publication of an increasingly large number of benchmarking studies, which generate significant interest in the media. Even the UN has jumped on this bandwagon by adapting, for the first time, an urban goal within the Sustainable Development Goals framework. However, the basic question of what constitutes a city is often defined inconsistently across rankings. This could leave general-interest readers and policymakers, confused, or worse—misled.
Topic:
United Nations, Urbanization, Sustainable Development Goals, and Cities
Political Geography:
Global Focus

356. Addressing Child Protection in Conflict Mediation

Author:
Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
Abstract:
The Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination at Princeton University and the non-governmental organization Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, with support from the Permanent Mission of Liechtenstein to the United Nations, convened a workshop, “Addressing Child Protection in Conflict Mediation: Charting a Way Forward,” on July 15, 2014, at the Princeton Club of New York. The workshop brought together representatives of United Nations member states, including members of the Security Council, United Nations Offices including the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG-CAAC), Department of Political Affairs (DPA), Department for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), NGOs, and academics to discuss specific strategies and concrete actions that can be taken to promote child protection in peace processes.
Topic:
United Nations, Children, Peace, Mediation, and Armed Conflict
Political Geography:
Global Focus

357. Evaluating Project Aim 2020: Preparing to Transform the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Author:
Robert Shea
Publication Date:
03-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA)
Abstract:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has experienced significant changes over the last five years. NRC developed Project Aim 2020 (Project Aim) to improve the agency’s planning and operational functions. Project Aim set out to identify key strategies and recommendations to transform the agency during the next five years to enhance the NRC’s ability to plan and execute its mission in a more effective, efficient, and agile manner. The NRC requested the National Academy of Public Administration (the Academy) to conduct an independent assessment of Project Aim. The Academy’s review of Project Aim consisted of two reports: an evaluation of Project Aim processes; and an assessment of the Project Aim final report. The Academy reports were prepared by a professional Study Team, in consultation with an experienced Focus Group of five Academy Fellows and one non-Fellow. The Study Team and Focus Group utilized their knowledge of strategic planning and organizational change management in their evaluation of the NRC’s efforts, providing the NRC with several pragmatic recommendations as the agency pursues an important organizational transformation.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Nuclear Weapons, United Nations, Military Strategy, Nuclear Power, and Denuclearization
Political Geography:
Global Focus

358. For Human Dignity: The World Humanitarian Summit and the challenge to deliver

Author:
Edmund Cairns
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The UN Secretary-General has called the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 'to make humanitarian action fit for the future'. Tens of millions of people receive humanitarian aid every year, but millions more suffer without adequate help and protection, and their number is relentlessly rising. One summit cannot change everything. But the key tests of its integrity and success are that the World Humanitarian Summit: €¢ demands that states are held to account for their international obligations on assistance and protection; and €¢ sets out genuinely new ways to support local humanitarian action, to reverse the growing gap between the amount of aid needed and given, and to reduce the risk of future disasters
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, United Nations, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

359. NATO and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda: Time to Bring It Home

Author:
Marriet Schuurman
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
The year 2015 is a year of global reflection: celebrating the seventy years of the United Nations, the twenty years of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action for gender equality and women’s empowerment, the end year of the Millennium Development Goals, and the fifteenth anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325). Together, these milestones urge us to reflect on what difference these groundbreak­ing international institutions and collective efforts have actually made.
Topic:
Gender Issues, United Nations, Feminism, and Diversity
Political Geography:
Global Focus

360. Meta-Governance of Partnerships for Sustainable Development - Actors’ Perspectives on How the UN Could Improve Partnerships’ Governance Services in Areas of Limited Statehood

Author:
Marianne Beisheim and Nils Simon
Publication Date:
09-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700
Abstract:
In the context of negotiations on the Post-2015 or 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the process of formulating Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nations (UN) (again) assigns an important role to multi-stakeholder partnerships. But how do actors view these partnerships more than ten years after the UN’s engagement with them? Our previous research found that transnational multi-stakeholder partnerships for sustainable development are neither as successful as their proponents claim nor as ineffective as their critics argue (Beisheim/Liese 2014). In light of these findings, we ask whether relevant actors argue that lessons learned with regard to partnerships’ success conditions should be translated into rules and standards that guide the operations of existing and the development of new partnerships. This kind of meta-governance of partnerships could be exerted by state or non-state actors at the national or international level. Moreover, we distinguish between two broad functions of meta-governance: enabling and ensuring. In this paper, we present first insights into actors’ views on the meta-governance of partnerships. We focus on the actors in the UN-context, where reforms of the framework for partnerships are under debate.
Topic:
United Nations, Governance, Reform, and Sustainable Development Goals
Political Geography:
Global Focus