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411. Developing a Decision-making Model for Security Sector Development in Uncertain Situations

Author:
Marianne Tracy and Dr. Ann M Fitz-Gerald
Publication Date:
07-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Security Sector Management
Institution:
Centre for Security Sector Management
Abstract:
This paper recognises the many difficulties facing SSR practitioners operating on the ground in terms of their capacity to make strategic decisions which inform wider SSR planning. It evaluates many models and methodologies based on key criteria which – according to the SSR literature – significantly impacts on decisions taken regarding SSR programmes. The authors recognise that the most effective decisionmaking in uncertain environments is often supported by strong leadership, intuition and expeditious – but measured – approaches. Whilst this paper does not advocate for a more academic approach to be taken to SSR decision-making it illustrates the conceptual and academic thinking supporting the framework of the adapted and more simplified model chosen. The practical value of the decision-making model is discussed in the final section of the paper which overviews a notional model using defence reform and police as two relatively straightforward SSR programme areas. Whilst this paper forms the basis of the model's development, the real value of the model can be realised in the initial strategic planning phases of an SSR programme. In addition, the model can be used in a number of further simplified and 'short cut, forms which offer practitioners a simple methodology for establishing initial SSR related decisions. In parallel to this initial publication of the model – and in addition to the national SSR programmes used to trial the initial ideas - the authors will be producing a series of case studies which illustrate more simple and practical approaches to using the model in a number of national and thematic examples.
Topic:
Development and Reform
Political Geography:
United Nations

412. Approaching or Avoiding Cooperative Security? The Western Balkans in the Aftermath of the Kosovo Settlement Proposal and the Riga Summit 14thWorkshop of the Study Group „Regional Stability in South East Europe”

Author:
Dennis J.D. Sandole, Predrag Jureković, Ernst M. Felberbauer, Franz-Lothar Altmann, Jolyon Naegele, Amadeo Watkins, Sandro Knezović, Plamen Pantev, Dušan Janjić, Matthew Rhodes, Sonja Biserko, Nina Dobrković, John F. Erath, Dragana Klincov, Lulzim Peci, Denisa Saraljić-Maglić, Heinz Vetschera, and Frederic Labarre
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Austrian National Defence Academy
Abstract:
In this article, I examine the prospects and challenges for co-operative security in the Balkans in the wake of recommendations for Kosovo's final status offered recently to the UN Security Council by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari. On the assumption that Ahtisaari's proposals represent a zero-sum gain for the Kosovar Albanians and corresponding loss for the Serbs, I recommend a reframing of his plan that may be more likely to lead to sustainable peace, security, and stability in the Balkans, with implications for similar conflicts elsewhere.
Topic:
NATO, Democratization, Development, Regional Cooperation, and International Security
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, United Nations, and Balkans

413. Recommended Best Practices for Regional Fisheries Management Organizations: Technical Study No. 3 -- The Relevance of Bioeconomic Modelling to RFMO Resources: A Survey of the Literature

Author:
Trond Bjørndal and Sarah Martin
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
According to the UN Fish Stocks Agreement, the management of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks is to be carried out through Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs), composed of relevant coastal states and distant water fishing nations with a 'real interest' in the fishery. An important objective in the management of such fish stocks under the governance of RFMOs is that the resources should provide through time the maximum flow of economic rents to the members of the RFMO. The purpose of this report is to provide a survey, and an assessment, of bioeconomic modelling exercises pertaining to straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Economics, and Environment
Political Geography:
United Nations

414. A Beginner's Guide to Security Sector Reform (SSR)

Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:
This guide serves as an introduction to SSR and suggests some key sources for further reading. It is available as a downloadable document from www.ssrnetwork.net along with a database of key UK and international actors in SSR and a comprehensive SSR acronyms list, which form useful complementary reading to this guide.
Topic:
Security and Crime
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, and United Nations

415. Building Consensus on Principles for International Election Observation

Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
International election observation is conducted by dozens of organizations around the world. As election observation activity has grown and the number of organizations involved has proliferated, several critical challenges have emerged. Foremost is the need for greater coordination and standards of professionalism among election observation organizations. To this end, The Carter Center, the United Nations Electoral Assistance Division (UNEAD), and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), launched a collaborative project to build consensus on best practices in this field.
Topic:
Democratization, Human Rights, International Cooperation, and International Law
Political Geography:
United Nations

416. Kosovo: No Good Alternatives to the Ahtisaari Plan

Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The debate on Kosovo's future status has reached a crucial point. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has begun to consider elements of a draft resolution to determine the entity's future, which could be put to a vote in the coming weeks. The best way of ensuring regional peace and stability and lifting Kosovo out of an eight-year-long limbo, with a tired, temporary UN administration and an undeveloped, low-growth economy, is a resolution based squarely on the plan of UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. This would supersede UNSC Resolution 1244 (1999), define Kosovo's internal settlement and minority-protection mechanisms, mandate a new international presence and allow for supervised independence.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Kosovo, and United Nations

417. Nepal's Constitutional Process

Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
With the formation of an interim legislature incorporating mainstream parties and Maoists, Nepal's peace process hinges on writing a constitution that permanently ends the conflict, addresses the widespread grievances that fuelled it and guards against the eruption of new violence. Most political actors have accepted the Maoist demand for a constituent assembly (CA) tasked with framing a new dispensation, although royalists are worried over the future of the monarchy, which has in effect been suspended. The major challenge is to maintain leadership-level consensus while building a broad-based and inclusive process that limits room for spoilers and ensures long-term popular legitimacy. Recent unrest in the Tarai plains illustrates the dangers of ignoring popular discontent. Key political actors need to prepare more seriously for the CA. Led by the newly established United Nations mission in Nepal (UNMIN), the international community should pressure all sides to abide by their stated commitments and global norms and provide technical assistance to the electoral process.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Peace Studies, and Politics
Political Geography:
Asia, Nepal, and United Nations

418. Côte d'Ivoire: Ensuring a Peaceful Political Transition

Author:
Dorina Bekoe
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
The March 2007 Ouagadougou Political Accord (OPA), signed by Laurent Gbagbo, president of Côte d'Ivoire, and Guillaume Soro, leader of the Forces Nouvelles (FN) rebel movement, holds great promise for ending the current political stalemate and reuniting the country. The political crisis began in September 2002 with an attack by military officers protesting the government's decision to demobilize them; according to some, it was also, an attempted coup d'état. The uprising generated other rebel groups, which took control over the northern part of the country and ignited a civil war. Even after the brunt of the fighting ceased, the country remained divided, with northern Côte d'Ivoire devoid of public services and the state's administration. The OPA is the sixth peace agreement directed at ending the political crisis; the previous five were never fully implemented due to, among other factors, disagreements about the selection of the mediator, the absence of political will among the signatories, and the tense relationship between the government of Côte d'Ivoire and the United Nations. Blaise Compaoré, president of Burkina Faso, mediated the negotiations leading to the signing of the OPA. Burkina Faso remains the facilitator of the agreement's implementation.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Development, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Africa and United Nations

419. Protracted Refugee Situations and Peacebuilding

Author:
Gil Loescher, James Milner, Edward Newman, and Gary Troeller
Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Despite the need for a multifaceted approach to protracted refugee situations, the overall response of policy makers remains compartmentalised. Security, development and humanitarian issues tend to be discussed in different forums, each with their own institutional arrangements and independent policy approaches. Meaningful comprehensive solutions for protracted refugee situations must overcome these divisions and instead incorporate the recent policy initiatives of a wide range of actors. This type of broader engagement—with a catalytic role by UNHCR—cannot occur without the sustained engagement of all branches of the UN system. In this way, the establishment of the UN Peacebuilding Commission provides both a timely opportunity and a possible institutional context for this type of cross-sectoral approach.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Disaster Relief, and Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:
United Nations

420. State Sovereignty, Popular Sovereignty and Individual Sovereignty: from Constitutional Nationalism to Multilevel Constitutionalism in International Economic Law?

Author:
Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Research Papers Archive
Abstract:
This paper discusses the basic constitutional problem of modern international law since the UN Charter: How can the power-oriented international legal system based on “sovereign equality of states” be reconciled with the universal recognition of “inalienable” human rights deriving from respect for human dignity and popular sovereignty? State representatives, intergovernmental organizations, international judges and non-governmental organizations often express different views on how far the universal recognition of human rights has changed the subjects, structures, general principles, interpretative methods and “object and purpose” of international law (e.g. by the emergence of erga omnes obligations and jus cogens limiting state sovereignty to renounce human rights treaties, to refuse diplomatic protection of individuals abroad, or domestic implementation of international obligations for the benefit of domestic citizens). The paper explains why effective protection of human rights at home and abroad requires multilevel constitutional protection of individual rights as well as multilevel constitutional restraints of national, regional and worldwide governance powers and procedures. While all European states have accepted that the European Convention on Human Rights and EC law have evolved into international constitutional law, the prevailing paradigm for most states outside Europe remains “constitutional nationalism” rather than “multilevel constitutional pluralism.” Consequently, European proposals for reforms of international economic law often aim at “constitutional reforms” (e.g. of worldwide governance institutions) rather than only “administrative reforms”, as they are frequently favoured by non-European governments defending state sovereignty and popular sovereignty within a more power-oriented “international law among states.”
Topic:
Economics, Nationalism, Politics, and Sovereignty
Political Geography:
Europe and United Nations