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201. Building Civil Servant Capacity in South Sudan

Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
'Coaching and mentoring for capacity' has become a popular approach to civil servant capacity building in fragile states. in South Sudan, the 'IGAD initiative' is currently deploying 200 coaches and mentors to South Sudan from Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. this brief recaps on some main tenets of the initiative and presents a number of policy recommendations.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Sovereignty, Governance, and Self Determination
Political Geography:
Uganda, Kenya, Africa, Ethiopia, and South Sudan

202. Disaster Risk Reduction – Fundamental to saving lives and reducing poverty

Author:
Debbie Hillier
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
East Africa is facing the worst food crisis of the 21st Century. Across Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya, over 12 million people are in dire need of food, clean water, basic sanitation and shelter. Suffering and death are already happening on a massive scale, and the situation will worsen over the coming months.
Topic:
Security, Agriculture, Humanitarian Aid, Food, and Famine
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, Ethiopia, and Somalia

203. The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted

Author:
Jon B. Alterman
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Washington Quarterly
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:
Judging by the popular press, in January 2011 Twitter and Facebook went from being simply engaging social diversions to become engines of political change that upended decades of Arab authoritarianism. It is tempting to be swept away by this narrative, which suggests that social media prompted hundreds of thousands, and then millions, of Tunisians and Egyptians to pour into the streets and peacefully demand change. Brittle authoritarian regimes had little choice but to comply, and in this way, social media irrevocably changed the future of the Middle East. Following the logic to its conclusion, it would suggest that the Middle East is on the brink of a period of democratic consolidation, as the ideals and tools of revolutionaries lead the region forward into a period of anti-sectarianism, liberalism, and hope.
Political Geography:
Kenya, Middle East, Arabia, and Egypt

204. Why Did Abolishing Fees Not Increase Public School Enrollment in Kenya?

Author:
Tessa Bold, Mwangi Kimenyi, Germano Mwabu, and Justin Sandefur
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
A large empirical literature has shown that user fees signicantly deter public service utilization in developing countries. While most of these results reflect partial equilibrium analysis, we find that the nationwide abolition of public school fees in Kenya in 2003 led to no increase in net public enrollment rates, but rather a dramatic shift toward private schooling. Results suggest this divergence between partial- and general-equilibrium effects is partially explained by social interactions: the entry of poorer pupils into free education contributed to the exit of their more affluent peers.
Topic:
Education, Government, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

205. Ali A. Mazrui, postcolonialism and the study of international relations

Author:
Seifudein Adem
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Relations and Development
Institution:
Central and East European International Studies Association
Abstract:
First as intellectual ally and then as adversary, Kenyan political scientist Ali A. Mazrui was embraced by the North American discipline of international relations (IR) in the 1960s and 1970s; he was virtually neglected in the 1980s; and a measure of interest in his scholarship revived in the 1990s and beyond. But Mazrui has not found a place in postcolonialism ever since that school emerged in the critical margins of IR. This essay argues that the estrangement between Mazrui and IR was primarily due to the changing nature of the discipline and his unchanging approach to it. Mazrui became the methodological 'Other' in the mainstream discipline. The essay also claims that Mazrui's marginalisation in postcolonialism is ultimately attributable to his image as the cultural and ideological 'Other'.
Political Geography:
Kenya and North America

206. Ukrainian arms supplies to sub-Saharan Africa

Author:
Paul Holtom
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
Abstract:
Ukraine has consistently been among the 10 largest arms exporters in the world during the past two decades. An estimated 18 per cent of Ukrainian arms exports during 2005–2009 were for recipients in sub-Saharan Africa, specifically to Kenya (or Southern Sudan), Chad, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Ukraine has supplied surplus aircraft, tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery, SALW and ammunition to armed forces in sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, Ukrainian companies and individuals have supplied other services related to arms transfers and participated in combat missions for African armed forces.
Topic:
Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, Ukraine, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Guinea, and South Sudan

207. The High Return to Private Schooling in a Low-Income Country

Author:
Tessa Bold, Mwangi Kimenyi, Germano Mwabu, and Justin Sandefur
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
Existing studies from the United States, Latin America, and Asia provide scant evidence that private schools dramatically improve academic performance relative to public schools. Using data from Kenya—a poor country with weak public institutions—we find a large effect of private schooling on test scores, equivalent to one full standard deviation. This finding is robust to endogenous sorting of more able pupils into private schools. The magnitude of the effect dwarfs the impact of any rigorously tested intervention to raise performance within public schools. Furthermore, nearly two thirds of private schools operate at lower cost than the median government school.
Topic:
Development, Education, Government, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Kenya, United States, Asia, and Latin America

208. The UN Security Council and Conflict Prevention: A Primer

Author:
Paul Romita
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Peace Institute (IPI)
Abstract:
At a recent conference on conflict prevention attended by over fifty UN member states, a UN official remarked, “we are living in a conflict prevention moment.” In recent years, there has been a surge of interest and activity related to conflict prevention in the UN system, at the regional level and among member states. While the UN has made great strides in refining peacekeeping doctrine and strategy, it has also made significant progress in its political response and preventive activities in recent times. In 2007, the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) established a mediation support unit “to plan and support mediation efforts in the field.” In late 2008, DPA also secured member-state support to create forty-nine additional posts; it now has approximately 270 staff members. While this was less than half of the number of new posts requested by the department, it did help desk officers to more substantially engage on conflict prevention and good-offices work in their portfolio countries. The UN Office in West Africa (UNOWA) has played a critical preventive role in recent crises in Mauritania and Guinea. A UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) was also established in March 2011 to “assist member States and sub-regional organizations in consolidating peace and preventing future conflicts.” In recent years, the African Union (AU) has been an influential mediator in high-profile cases, notably in Kenya (2008) and Sudan (2010–2011). Among the UN membership, especially among African member states, statements calling for the need to strengthen conflict-prevention tools are now consistently voiced. The Security Council, which now holds monthly “horizon scanning” sessions to discuss emerging and ongoing crises, appears to be a part of this trend.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Political Violence, Diplomacy, Peace Studies, United Nations, and War
Political Geography:
Kenya, Guinea, and Mauritania

209. Termites at Work: Transnational Organized Crime and State Erosion in Kenya

Author:
Peter Gastrow
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Peace Institute (IPI)
Abstract:
The threat posed by organized crime is not confined to serious crimes such as racketeering, the global drug trade, or human trafficking. For many developing countries and fragile states, powerful transnational criminal networks constitute a direct threat to the state itself, not through open confrontation but by penetrating state institutions through bribery and corruption and by subverting or undermining them from within. Governments that lack the capacity to counter such penetration, or that acquiesce in it, run the risk of becoming criminalized or “captured” states. This paper examines whether Kenya faces such a threat.
Topic:
Corruption, Crime, Government, and Fragile/Failed State
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

210. Editor's Note

Author:
Michael McKeon and Imani Tate
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
Espionage and intelligence-gathering activities have evolved significantly since the end of the Cold War. State governments are no longer the only actors to make use of these practices, and information collection methods range from covert surveillance activities to monitoring financial transactions. Espionage plays an ever-greater role in the operations of states, non-state actors, and corporations, and has, as a result, created a host of new challenges to U.S. interests. The authors in this issue's Forum provide a glimpse into the ubiquity and complexity of espionage and intelligence-gathering, and offer insight into the implications of their use in finance, industry, and national security. Other contributions to this issue include articles about the end of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan, constitutional reform in Burma, anti-human trafficking policies, and power politics in Kenya's Mau Forest Complex. We are proud to remain a source of information on a wide range of topics, and to give voice to leading academics, policy experts, and practitioners in the field of international affairs. We thank our staff, advisers, supporters, and the School of Foreign Service for their tireless work and dedication to this publication.
Topic:
Cold War and Government
Political Geography:
Kenya, United States, and Burma