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52. Liberia: Uneven Progress in Security Sector Reform
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Since independence and for fourteen years of war, Liberia's army, police and other security agencies have mostly been sources of insecurity and misery for a destitute people. The internationally driven attempt to radically reform the security sector since the war's end in 2003 is a major chance to put this right and prevent new destabilisation. Security sector reform (SSR) programs have been unprecedented in ambition but with mixed results. Army reform, entailing complete disbanding of existing forces, has made significant progress despite lack of proper oversight of private military companies (PMCs) and of consensus on strategic objectives. But police and other security reforms are much less satisfactory. The bold approach to army reform was possible due to strong national consensus and the presence of a large, liberally mandated UN presence. Government and donors must sustain their support to maintain hard-won momentum in army reform and, once clear benchmarks are set, give a floundering police force more resources. The drawdown of the UN force, begun in the second half of 2008, underlines the urgency.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Security, Development, Government, and War
- Political Geography:
- Africa, United Nations, and Liberia
53. Post-War and Post-Conflict Challenges for Development Cooperation
- Author:
- Sabine Kurtenbach
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Institute for Development and Peace
- Abstract:
- Conflict and violence have become an important context for development cooperation during the last decade. Donors not only have to cope with the consequences of conflict in their day-to-day work on the ground, but also need to develop strategies in the fields of early warning and prevention, as well as instruments for conflict analysis and conflic-sensitive approaches for cooperation. At the same time, external actors have been important supporters for many peace processes aiming at the termination of armed conflicts and violence. When wars or armed conflicts end (or at least when violence on the ground decreases) the hope for sustainable peacebuilding grows. UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon pointed out the importance of the immediate post-conflict/post-war period in a report to the Security Council on June 11, 2009: “The immediate post-conflict period offers a window of opportunity to provide basic security, deliver peace dividends, shore up and build confidence in the political process, and strengthen core national capacity to lead peacebuilding efforts.” This gives a first impression of the many challenges internal and external actors face; at the same time experiences on the ground show that liberal peacebuilding conceived as a profound transformation process is a difficult endeavour.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Development, War, and Armed Struggle
- Political Geography:
- United Nations
54. Bridging the North-South Divide on Climate Post Copenhagen
- Author:
- John Whalley and Sean Walsh
- Publication Date:
- 12-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- The United Nations climate change negotiations currently underway and now seemingly likely to conclude only six to 12 months after the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) hosted meeting at Copenhagen in December 2009, are beset by a series of obstacles, the most fundamental of which reflect the North-South divide, largely between the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and non-OECD economies. In this brief we argue that movement across this divide is the single most important element in a successful conclusion to the negotiation. Current obstacles reflect asymmetries between developing and developed countries both in terms of growth in carbon emissions — and hence the costs of reducing emissions proportionately relative to some base date level, but also in terms of historical emissions as a source of damage. These are compounded by the imprecision of the negotiating mandate — a lack of a clear definition of the basic principles involved, particularly in the case of the original UNFCCC principle of common yet differentiated responsibilities, which accepts but does not clearly delineate differentiated responsibilities for developing and developed countries on climate change. Significant movement in the negotiating position of either side (or both) is likely a necessity for a climate deal to be reached even in post-Copenhagen negotiations. However, the recent unilateral commitment by China to reduce emissions by 40-45 percent per unit of GDP from a 2005 base year by 2020 is a positive first step.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Development, Environment, Treaties and Agreements, and Third World
- Political Geography:
- China and United Nations
55. Timor-Leste: Security Sector Reform
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Four years after Timor-Leste gained independence, its police and army were fighting each other in the streets of Dili. The April-June 2006 crisis left both institutions in ruins and security again in the hands of international forces. The crisis was precipitated by the dismissal of almost half the army and caused the virtual collapse of the police force. UN police and Australian-led peacekeepers maintain security in a situation that, while not at a point of violent conflict, remains unsettled. If the new government is to reform the security sector successfully, it must ensure that the process is inclusive by consulting widely and resisting the tempation to take autocratic decisions. A systematic, comprehensive approach, as recommended by the UN Security Council, should be based on a realistic analysis of actual security and law-enforcement needs. Unless there is a non-partisan commitment to the reform process, structural problems are likely to remain unresolved and the security forces politicised and volatile.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, International Relations, and Development
- Political Geography:
- United Nations, Australia, and Southeast Asia
56. 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
57. 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
58. 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
59. 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
60. 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