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Begin New Search Topic Conflict Resolution Publication Year within 25 Years

1531. Opportunities and Pitfalls in the Migration-Development Nexus: Somaliland and Beyond

Author:
Ninna Nyberg Sorensen
Publication Date:
12-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Against the background of increased human mobility over the last three decades, resurgent interest in the migration-development nexus has stimulated new lines of academic inquiry and pushed policy considerations in new directions. This paper outlines current discussions around the links between migration, development and conflict. It also considers the complex nature of 'mixed flows', the difficulties in distinguishing between forced/political and voluntary/economic migration, and the links to development from these various–and often overlapping–types of flows. The paper uses migration from Somalia/Somaliland as the main example. This case–like the cases of most other sending countries–is of course specific. Still lessons can be drawn that are useful in other contexts, and may provide a basis for constructive discussion of potential opportunities in the current migration and international cooperation regimes.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Development, and Migration
Political Geography:
Africa

1532. Dynamics of Return and Sustainable Reintegration in a 'Mobile Livelihoods'-Perspective

Author:
Finn Stepputat
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
This Paper was prepared by the Department of Globalisation and Governance Research at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) for the Danish International Development Assistance (Danida) entity of the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and forms part of the Migration-Development Nexus Follow-up Study. It was discussed at a workshop in Copenhagen March 9, 2004, and subsequently revised for publication.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Development, and Education

1533. Human Rights and Post-Conflict Transitional Justice in East Timor

Author:
Taina Järvinen
Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA)
Abstract:
The theme of this paper is human rights in East Timor during the United Nations Transitional Administration UNTAET and the first years of the independent Democratic Republic of Timor Leste. Following a brief background on the history of the conflict in East Timor this study focuses on three topics: human rights in institution building, post-conflict environment and human rights, and transitional justice. The term 'human rights' refers here to internationally recognized human rights standards and principles, including the principle of the indivisibility and equal importance of all hum an rights. However, the emphasis is on the rights related to political participation that are often categorized as civil and political rights, whereas economic, social, and cultural rights will not be specifically addressed. This is not to reinforce the ideological divisions concerning human rights left over from the Cold War period, or to suggest that economic, social, and cultural rights are less significant. Indeed, economic, social, and cultural rights are crucial in post-conflict conditions. The focus reflects the definition of human rights used in UN peace operation mandates, where economic, social, and cultural rights have largely been left out, albeit the importance of the promotion of economic and social well-being is recognized in recent UN peacebuilding strategies.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Government, Human Rights, Peace Studies, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Indonesia, Asia, and Timor-Leste

1534. The Moro Conflict: Landlessness and Misdirected State Policies

Author:
Eric Gutierrez and Jr. Borras
Publication Date:
08-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
The conflict in the southern Philippines is becoming increasingly complex, and untangling the knots for a greater understanding of the problem is no easy task. Yet underlying the many manifestations of a complex conflict is a straightforward political-economic explanation. This study represents a step toward a more systematic inquiry into the problem by developing a political-economic explanation of the conflict. It starts from two observations: first, the geographic areas in the southern Philippines where there is a significant if not a majority presence of Muslims are marked by a high incidence of poverty and social exclusion; second, there has been an alarming surge of "entrepreneurs in violence" in these areas determined to enforce their own nonstate systems of property relations. The study contends that these two observations result, to a significant degree, from the highly skewed distribution of ownership and control over land resources in the southern Philippines that should be traced back in the country's colonial history. Thus we argue that the continuing war, the persistence of poverty and landlessness, and the emergence of entrepreneurs in violence are mere symptoms of something that has not yet been sufficiently addressed by a succession of Philippine governments or even by mainstream Moro revolutionary organizations: the highly skewed distribution of land-ownership and control in the southern Philippines. Doctoral candidate at the Institute of Social Studies at The Hague.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Philippines and Caribbean

1535. The Tibet-China Conflict: History and Polemics

Author:
Elliot Sperling
Publication Date:
08-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
This paper is a guide to the historical arguments made by the primary parties to the Tibet-China conflict. Given the polarization that has characterized this issue for decades, it is surprising that little has been done to analyze or at least disentangle the strands of historical argumentation that the parties have been using. This paper attempts to do this by relying as much as possible on the key assertions as they have been framed in Chinese and Tibetan sources. Chinese- and Tibetan-language materials dealing with the historical status of Tibet are often more detailed and better documented, and hew more closely than English-language materials do to the thinking of the people most directly concerned with (and affected by) the Tibet-China conflict.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
China, Asia, and Tibet

1536. Cyprus Settlement Initiative Project. Addressing the Settlement of Self-Determination Conflicts through Complex Power Sharing: The case of Cyprus. Antalya, Turkey.

Author:
Tove H. Malloy and Tankut Soykan
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Abstract:
With negotiations on the basis of the Annan Plan, complex power-sharing mechanisms were again on the agenda for the re-unification of Cyprus. Complex power-sharing mechanisms constitute an alternative approach which seeks to go beyond the traditional juxtaposition of consociational or integrative models and provide a more open approach in terms of a matrix of tools. This matrix covers multilevel governance, political representation, autonomy regimes, special rights for communities, moderating conflicts of authority, executive representation and generating equal opportunities. However, complex power-sharing arrangements cannot be achieved, nor will they take root in a society, unless they are understood, supported, and most crucially, developed further by local constituents. Hence, the parties directly involved in an attempted settlement must be enabled to take ownership of their own process and settlement. Putting the Northern Cypriot negotiation teams in this position was the overall aim of the FIRST Technical Expert Seminar on Complex Power-Sharing Mechanisms in Cyprus.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and Government
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe and Balochistan

1537. Between Integration and Resettlement: The Meskhetian Turks

Author:
Tom Trier and Oskari Pentikäinen
Publication Date:
08-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Abstract:
The Meskhetian Turks is a population, which was deported to Central Asia, along with seven other ethnic groups in the Soviet Union during World War II. Whilst other deported people, Chechens, Ingush, Balkars, Karachais and Kalmyks were rehabilitated after Stalin's death and allowed to resettle in their pre-deportation territories, three groups were not permitted to return. These included the Crimean Tatars, who were only to be rehabilitated with the demise of the Soviet Union, and have subsequently returned in significant numbers to Crimea in Ukraine over the past 15 years. Another group, the Volga Germans, originally deported from the Soviet Volga German Republic, have largely emigrated to Germany in the post Soviet Era, and do not have territorial aspirations in the Volga region. Hence, the Meskhetian Turks are the last of the 8 deported peoples, for whom rehabilitation and resettlement remains unresolved.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Europe and Central Asia

1538. Russian-Speaking Minorities in Estonia and Latvia: Problems of Integration at the Threshold of th European Union

Author:
Peter Van Elsuwege
Publication Date:
05-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Abstract:
The restoration of the Baltic states' independence, back in 1991, brought about a number of political and legal challenges. The presence of large nontitular communities in Estonia and Latvi has proven to be the most pressing of these. Notwithstanding the fact that the European Commission already in 1997 concluded that 'on the whole the rights of the Russian-speaking minorities are observed and safeguarded', the legal status of these living relics of the Soviet period remains controversial. A resolution of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, adopted on 13 June 2002, criticised the protection of national minorities in Estonia. In the lead-up to the December 2003 parliamentary elections, the Russian Duma adopted a resolution 'on gross violations of human and minority rights in the Republic of Latvia'. Dmitry Rogozin, chairman of the Parliamentarian Committee on International Relations, announced that Russia should consider the weapon of economic sanctions to put pressure on the Baltic state, which he described as 'a land of hooligans' where 'Nazis have come to power'. Whereas these statements have to be situated within the context of the ongoing election campaign, the remarks of Alvaro Gil-Robles, European Council Commissioner for Human Rights, are to be taken more serious. During his visit to Riga in October 2003, the High Commissioner criticized the lack of citizenship for more than twenty per cent of Latvia's population and recommended the granting of voting rights to non-citizens in municipal elections. On the other hand, Günter Verheugen, EU Commissioner responsible for enlargement, declared that Latvia fulfils all the criteria in the field of societal integration and has complied with all international requirements regarding its ethnic minorities.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe

1539. Institutionalizing Ethnicity in the Western Balkans: Managing Change in Deeply Divided Societies

Author:
Florian Bieber
Publication Date:
02-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Abstract:
Ethnic politics continue to dominate political discourse and institutions in the post-conflict regions of former Yugoslavia (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia). This has rendered these regions dependent on external intervention and blocked or delayed political and economic development, including the process of integration into European and Euroatlantic structures. Some of the post-conflict arrangements have rightfully come under criticism—both from within and outside the region—as obstacles in the normalization of ethnic relations. While the status quo needs revision and a different approach to institutional design is required, this paper argues against abandoning groupbased institutions altogether. Instead, it argues for a more dynamic and processoriented approach to accommodate ever-changing interethnic relations.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Ethnic Conflict, and War
Political Geography:
Europe, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Macedonia

1540. From Warlords to Peacelords - Local Leadership Capacity in Peace Processes

Author:
Gordon Peake, Cathy Gormley-Heenan, and Mari Fitzduff
Publication Date:
12-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Initiative on Conflict Resolution and Ethnicity
Abstract:
The starting point for the research upon which the report is based has been our interest in the phenomenon of political leaders in conflict and peace building. In particular, this report has considered leadership in three countries that have attracted infamy for the protracted nature of their brutal conflicts - Afghanistan, Kosovo and Sierra Leone. Each country is now considered to have emerged from conflict and to be at formal 'peace'.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Peace Studies, and Politics
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Middle East, Kosovo, and Sierra Leone