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281. Global Leadership in the 21st Century

Author:
Jan Eliasson and Vishakha N. Desai
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Columbia University World Leaders Forum
Abstract:
Former UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson and Professor Vishakha N. Desai discuss the demands facing great leaders among the 2017 Tällberg Global Leaders, an event of the Columbia University World Leaders Forum at the Italian Academy / Casa Italiana.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Cooperation, United Nations, and Sustainable Development Goals
Political Geography:
United States of America and New York

282. Women, Gender, and Terrorism Policies and Programming

Author:
Chantal de Jonge Oudraat and Jeannette Gaudry
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Women In International Security (WIIS)
Abstract:
In recent years, policymakers and international actors have begun to recognize the important role of women and women’s organizations in preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE). In October 2015, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2242, which linked the women, peace and security (WPS) and the P/CVE agendas and called for synergies between efforts aimed at countering violent extremism and those furthering the WPS agenda. In 2016, the US government incorporated P/CVE in its National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. The idea that women can be powerful allies in the fight against violent extremism is based primarily on two interrelated observations. First, women often function at the heart of their communities and are thus best placed to recognize early warning signs of radicalization. Effective P/CVE programs will capitalize on this. Second, a community that hopes to address extremism effectively must include the broadest possible range of perspectives in its programming. Because society, economies, and war affect them in gender-specific ways, women bring different perspectives to discussions and plans affecting security. That said, women-centric P/CVE programming is in its infancy. An initial review of these programs points to five main problems, which are explored in this policy brief.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Terrorism, United Nations, Counter-terrorism, and Women
Political Geography:
United States and Global Focus

283. State of Human Rights in India: A Case Study of Muslim Minority Oppression

Author:
Abdul Majid
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
South Asian Studies
Institution:
Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:
India adopted a democratic parliamentary constitution in January 1950. This constitution enumerates all fundamental civil and political rights irrespective of religion, caste, language or region. However, in practice these rights are denied to religious minorities and low caste and out caste Hindus called Dalits. The Muslims being the largest religious minority have faced more discrimination than any other minority. Their religious cultural identity has been under pressure and they are underrepresented in the parliament or state assembly. The rise of Hindu revivalist movements under the BJP has made the Muslims more vulnerable to Hindu extremism and intolerance. Pakistan has raised the issue of India’s atrocities in Kashmiri at the international level. It supports the Kashmiri struggle for political and civil rights and their right to decide on their own about their political future. The UN and the international community must restrain India from resorting to “state terrorism in Kashmir”.
Topic:
Human Rights, Religion, United Nations, Territorial Disputes, and Self Determination
Political Geography:
Pakistan, South Asia, India, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir

284. Impact of Social, Political and Economic Globalization on Gender Inequality Index in Pakistan: A Time Series Analysis

Author:
Nabila Asghar, Tanveer Ahmed Naveed, and Shaista Saleem
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
South Asian Studies
Institution:
Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:
This study is designed to calculate the newly introduced Gender Inequality Index for Pakistan according to the formula mentioned in technical notes of United Nations Development Report (2010) and then finding the impact of Social, Political and Economic Globalization on Gender Inequality Index. Time series data from 1980 to 2014 is used for Gender Inequality Index, Social, Political and Economic Globalization. Johnsons Co-integration technique is applied to investigate the impact of social, economic and political globalization on gender inequality index in Pakistan. The results of study show negative and significant relationship between economic globalization, social globalization and gender inequality index, while a negative but insignificant relationship is found between political globalization and gender inequality index. The results of the study are consistent with various theoretical and empirical studies. The policies related to globalization promotion are recommended to enrich the country with development through gender balances. To increase impact of political globalization, Pakistan needs to put more emphasis in following the spirit of treaties which target gender disparity of which she is the signatory.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Globalization, United Nations, Women, and Inequality
Political Geography:
Pakistan, South Asia, and Punjab

285. The challenges of supplying the frontline in Mali

Author:
Signe Marie Cold-Ravnkilde, Peter Albrecht, and Rikke Haugegaard
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Peacekeepers in the UN stabilization mission in Mali (MINUSMA) operate under very difficult conditions, especially in the outskirts of the mission. The recent jihadist attack on a military base in Gao in northern Mali, killing 60 and wounding more than 100, is the latest example of how dangerous working in this part of the country is. This policy brief, based on fieldwork in Mali, analyses the challenges to the mission of supplying fuel, food and water to these areas. In doing so, it describes the inequality that exists between African and non-African soldiers.
Topic:
United Nations, International Security, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Mali

286. Inequality hampers intelligence gathering in Mali

Author:
Peter Albrecht, Signe Marie Cold-Ravnkilde, and Rikke Haugegaard
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
n 2014, the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) established an intelligence capability that is unprecedented for how peacekeeping operations are organized. An All Sources Information Fusion Unit (ASIFU) was set up to assist MINUSMA in countering asymmetric threats faced by mission personnel and the local population. This policy brief focuses on how inadequate collaboration and lack of trust between European and African forces in the mission impede sharing of intelligence. Insight is provided on why and how the intelligence capability could benefit from the cultural knowledge and language skills of African troops. The policy brief is one of the outputs of a project that has explored the plight of African peacekeepers in MINUSMA. The project is a collaborative effort between DIIS and the Royal Danish Defence College. It is funded by the Danish Ministry of Defence.
Topic:
United Nations, International Affairs, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Mali

287. When Peacekeepers Do Damage: Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in the Democratic Republic Of Congo

Author:
Signe Marie Cold-Ravnkilde and Thomas Mandrup
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Despite that South Africa deploys the highest numbers of female soldiers in the United Nations Organisation Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), significant challenges to changing a military culture that tacitly accepts sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) of local populations in the DRC remain. A new DIIS policy brief discusses the measures taken to adress SEA in MONUSCO. In the South African contigent in MONUSCO, 18% of the military personnel are women compared to the average of 3.8% for UN peacekeeping missions. The brief argues that strengthening in-mission gender training and investigtative capacities will be small, yet realistic, steps forward. Furthermore, the UN the should put more pressure on troop contributing countries to hold their defence leadership accountable for effective command and control enforcement. The policy brief is based on a collaborative research between DIIS and the Royal Danish Defence College, RDDC.
Topic:
United Nations, International Affairs, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Democratic Republic of the Congo

288. Freedom of the Press as a Human Right

Author:
Morgan McDonald
Publication Date:
02-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
According to Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers”, meaning that freedom of expression is guaranteed globally by international human rights laws. Therefore, journalists and news sources are, or rather, should be protected by these international laws to form opinions and report stories to share publicly. Both globally and nationally freedom of the press is threatened daily as journalists and news outlets are continually reprimanded for their reporting. In the US, journalists and the media are protected by the First Amendment, a right that allows individuals and institutions to freely report and present the news. This freedom of the press is essential to a democracy, contributing to a transparent, accountable government, giving the press the right to produce high-quality stories, without fear of retribution from the government. But what does this mean for the responsibility of journalists and what role does, or should, the government play in this freedom of the press?
Topic:
Human Rights, United Nations, Journalism, and Freedom of Press
Political Geography:
United States and North America

289. Revisiting the Dismissal of the UNMISS Force Commander in South Sudan

Author:
Charles Ukeje and Kizito Sabala
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Social Science Research Council
Abstract:
This policy briefing note examines the implications of the altercation between the United Nations (UN) and Kenya following the dismissal of the Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Lieutenant General Johnson Ondieki, a Kenyan citizen. An Independent Special Investigation established by the UN blamed poor leadership and judgment for the attacks on Terrain camp—a UN facility in Juba, the capital of South Sudan—in July 2016, which led to several deaths. Although the UN promptly requested that Kenya appoint a replacement, the country considered the dismissal of its citizen unnecessarily punitive and refused.
Topic:
United Nations, Leadership, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Africa, Sudan, and South Sudan

290. We’ve Been Here Before: The Durability of Multilateralism

Author:
David Bosco
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
Several of the Trump administration’s opening foreign policy salvoes have been aimed directly at the world’s multilateral structures. The president and his nominees lambasted the UN Security Council for its December resolution declaring Israeli settlements illegal. A draft executive order reportedly called for funding cuts of up to 40 percent to the United Nations and an end to new multilateral treaties. The administration withdrew funding from the UN Population Fund and hinted that it might spurn its Human Rights Council as well. “A wave of populism … is challenging institutions like the United Nations and shaking them to their foundations,” said UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. The United Nations is far from the only multilateral target. The president quickly pulled the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and demanded changes to the longstanding North American Free Trade Agreement. His team floated the idea of tariffs on Mexico that could violate World Trade Organization rules. He pledged to review U.S. participation in the Paris Agreement on climate change. Just days before taking office, Trump called NATO “obsolete” and predicted that more members would abandon the European Union. In a sign of displeasure at what he perceives as freeloading NATO members, Trump reportedly presented German Chancellor Angela Merkel with a “bill” for underinvestment in her country’s military. The president’s apparent aversion to key alliance structures and multilateralism has fed growing alarm that the administration plans to abandon the post-World War II international order. In this publication, scholar and former Obama administration official Anne-Marie Slaughter warned that “the next four to eight years may well see the end of the United Nations as a serious forum for global decisionmaking about peace and security.” Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard Law professor who worked in the Bush Justice Department, called Trump’s early moves “the beginnings of the greatest presidential onslaught on international law and international institutions in American history.” Others have argued that China may now be more committed to key global institutions than Washington. Major multilateral organizations like the UN, WTO, and EU and multilateral treaties are not, of course, the whole of the international order. Informal norms, habits of cooperation, and embedded power realities arguably play an even greater role in maintaining a modicum of order in the international system. But formal organizations and treaty regimes undoubtedly play an important role, which has become more prominent since the end of the Cold War. The prospect of an American administration actively undermining these instruments is unnerving. As with much else in the administration’s troubled first months, however, there’s confusion about what exactly lies beneath the smoke and steam. The draft order on UN funding has been delayed for further review. Senior U.S. officials have repeatedly toned down (or openly contradicted) several of the president’s most outlandish comments. Both Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Vice President Mike Pence sought to reassure European allies that Washington does in fact value NATO and the EU. So how serious and unprecedented is the Trump administration’s challenge to multilateralism?
Topic:
International Cooperation, United Nations, Military Strategy, and Multilateralism
Political Geography:
United States and North America