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192. Regional Dynamics of the Syrian Uprising: The Impact on Lebanon and Hezbollah
- Author:
- Mona Yacoubian
- Publication Date:
- 10-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Lebanese society is starkly divided on Syria, but all sides fear the country's potential descent into a sectarian civil war and seek to insulate Lebanon from its fallout. Lebanon's key political actors hold vastly different views on their definitions of interests, threat perceptions and desirable outcomes in Syria. Lebanon has already witnessed some negative Syrian spillover. Going forward, key concerns will center on both directed threats and uncontrolled fallout from worsening instability inside Syria. Lebanon's ability to influence the conflict dynamics inside Syria is limited.
- Topic:
- Islam, Armed Struggle, Regime Change, and Insurgency
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Arabia, and Syria
193. Gaza's new Islamists: The atomization of Palestinian Islamism since 2006
- Author:
- Leila Stockmarr
- Publication Date:
- 10-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The emergence of new Islamist groups challenging Hamas from within is demarcating a new tendency towards inter-Islamist rivalry in Gaza. Based on original empirical data this report maps the Islamist milieu in Gaza. It offers a critical examination of how Hamas has governed Gaza since 2007 and why new Islamist groups in Gaza have emerged. The report argues that the phenomenon of new Islamists is diffuse and intangible. It does, however, relate to the question of the ideological price of governing in Palestine, and the repercussions of Hamas' rule and external policies upon the Islamist milieu in Gaza where, for the first time, an Islamist political body is in power. Two major aspects are motivating the emergence of new Islamist agendas: people's ideological grievances towards those in power and the instrumentalisation of ideology and religion in the midst of a power struggle between an increasingly authoritarian political body and its dissidents and challengers. In the face of governments which are failing to deliver, non-organised religious activity has become political power in Gaza.
- Topic:
- Islam, Terrorism, Armed Struggle, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Palestine, Arabia, and Gaza
194. From Militants to Policemen: Three Lessons from U.S. Experience with DDR and SSR
- Author:
- Alison Laporte-Oshiro
- Publication Date:
- 11-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Consolidating the legitimate use of force in the hands of the state is a vital first step in post-conflict peacebuilding. Transitional governments must move quickly to neutralize rival armed groups and provide a basic level of security for citizens. Two processes are vital to securing a monopoly of force: disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration and security sector reform. Disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) involve disbanding armed groups that challenge the government's monopoly of force. Security sector reform (SSR) means reforming and rebuilding the national security forces so that they are professional and accountable. U.S. experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, Liberia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo yielded three crosscutting lessons: go in heavy, tackle DDR and SSR in tandem, and consolidate U.S. capacity to implement both tasks in a coordinated, scalable way.
- Topic:
- Security, Political Violence, Armed Struggle, and Insurgency
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, Haiti, and Liberia
195. Countering the Lord's Resistance Army in Central Africa
- Author:
- Andre Le Sage
- Publication Date:
- 07-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is one of Africa's most brutal militia forces. It has plagued Central Africa, particularly northern Uganda, for over two decades. The group's tactics provide textbook examples of war crimes and crimes against humanity. When attacking civilians, the LRA instills fear by selecting random individuals for brutal executions. Children are abducted to serve as porters, sex slaves, and new militia. In order to indoctrinate child soldiers, young abductees are routinely forced to kill their own family members and other children, or be murdered themselves. Anyone caught trying to escape from the LRA is summarily executed. By contrast with other African rebel groups, which occasionally adopt such brutal tactics, the LRA has conducted such atrocities on a systematic and prolonged basis.
- Topic:
- Crime, Human Rights, Terrorism, Armed Struggle, and Insurgency
- Political Geography:
- Africa
196. Conflict Minerals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Aligning Trade and Security Interventions
- Author:
- Ruben de Koning
- Publication Date:
- 06-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
- Abstract:
- Mineral resources have played a crucial role in fuelling protracted armed conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Resource revenues obtained by looting, illegal levies and more sophisticated entrepreneurial involvement help foreign rebels and Congolese militia to finance violence and to withstand military defeat and pressure to lay down arms. However, the regular armed forces are becoming equally involved in illegal exploitation of mineral extraction and trade. The thirst for resource revenues spurs rivalry between regular army units and undermines effective command and control.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Armed Struggle, and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo
197. Reporting to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms
- Author:
- Paul Holtom, Lucie béraud-Sudreau, and Henning Weber
- Publication Date:
- 05-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
- Abstract:
- The key international mechanism for states to report on international arms transfers is the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA). UNROCA was established to build confidence and cooperation between states. The information provided by states to UNROCA is used in analyses of states' intentions and capabilities and in bilateral or regional consultations to help avoid misinterpretations, miscalculations and the exaggeration of threats that can influence arms races and armed conflicts. Information reported to UNROCA is made publicly available. Therefore parliamentarians and interested citizens can use UNROCA to help monitor their government's compliance with its national and international legal obligations regarding the prevention of conflict, human rights violations and, to a degree, illicit arms transfers.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, United Nations, and Armed Struggle
198. The Philippines: Indigenous Rights and the MILF Peace Process
- Publication Date:
- 11-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- The indigenous peoples of the southern Philippines known as the Lumad are in a precarious position as the peace process between Muslim rebels and the government moves forward. If and when a settlement is reached, thorny questions about protecting their distinct identity and land will have to be addressed. Many of the tribes fear that because they lack titles for their traditional territory, they will be unable to claim the resources and exercise their right to self-governance after a deal is signed. The question is what can be done now to reassure them that they will retain control of their land. While the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) may be ill-suited to advancing indigenous rights because its structure and content do not prioritise these issues, the government and the MILF should take steps both within and outside the parameters of formal negotiations to respond more concretely to the concerns of the Lumad.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Islam, Poverty, Armed Struggle, and Insurgency
- Political Geography:
- Israel and Philippines
199. The Lord's Resistance Army: End Game?
- Publication Date:
- 11-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) remains a deadly threat to civilians in three Central African states. After a ceasefire and negotiations for peaceful settlement of the generation-long insurgency broke down in 2008, Uganda's army botched an initial assault. In three years since, half-hearted operations have failed to stop the small, brutally effective band from killing more than 2,400 civilians, abducting more than 3,400 and causing 440,000 to flee. In 2010 President Museveni withdrew about half the troops to pursue more politically rewarding goals. Congolese mistrust hampers current operations, and an African Union (AU) initiative has been slow to start. While there is at last a chance to defeat the LRA, both robust military action and vigorous diplomacy is required. Uganda needs to take advantage of new, perhaps brief, U.S. engagement by reinvigorating the military offensive; Washington needs to press regional leaders for cooperation; above all, the AU must act promptly to live up to its responsibilities as guarantor of continental security. When it does, Uganda and the U.S. should fold their efforts into the AU initiative.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, Religion, Torture, Armed Struggle, and Insurgency
- Political Geography:
- Uganda, Africa, and United States
200. The Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (PKS) in the landscape of Indonesian Islamist Politics: Cadre-Training as Mode of Preventive Radicalisation?
- Author:
- Farish A. Noor
- Publication Date:
- 11-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
- Abstract:
- The Partai Keadilan Sejahtera PKS is one of the younger parties in Indonesia today, yet it has established itself as a national party with branch offices all over the Indonesian archipelago and representation in government at all levels. When it first came onto the scene of Indonesian politics it was criticized by Indonesian liberal intellectuals as a 'Trojan horse' for further Islamisation of Indonesia. However some of Indonesia's more radical and militant Islamist groups have in turn criticized the PKS for 'selling out' by joining the democratic political process.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Government, Islam, Politics, and Armed Struggle
- Political Geography:
- Indonesia and Southeast Asia