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21. The Way Forward for WTO Dispute Settlement after the Eleventh Ministerial Conference

Author:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Abstract:
In December 2017, trade ministers met in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the Eleventh Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), against the backdrop of crisis in the WTO dispute settlement system. After the meeting achieved only modest outcomes, and none related to dispute settlement, the Centre for International Governance Innovation convened a group of experts in Ottawa for a round table discussion of the way forward to restoring and improving the dispute settlement system. The round table discussion addressed three issues: ideas for reforming the operation of the WTO dispute settlement system; US concerns over the operation of the WTO dispute settlement system and the US decision to block appointments to the Appellate Body; and solutions to break the deadlock on WTO Appellate Body appointments and what to do if members are unable to reach an agreement. There was broad agreement that, while the WTO dispute settlement system has made an important contribution to maintaining the security and predictability of the rules-based trading system, there is still room for improvement in its operation. Participants discussed a number of procedural, systemic and substantive issues that could be addressed through reform, some of which might be easily agreed on and implemented, whereas others would require further consideration. It was agreed that the most pressing challenge to the system is the refusal of the United States to allow new appointments to the Appellate Body. While there was sympathy for some of the concerns raised by the United States, participants agreed that the ultimate objectives of the United States remain unclear, and, therefore, participants cautioned against making hasty concessions that might undermine the integrity and independence of the dispute settlement system.
Topic:
International Trade and Finance, World Trade Organization, and Settlements
Political Geography:
United States, Canada, and North America

22. EU Funding of Illegal Palestinian Settlement in Area C

Author:
Edwin Black
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies (BESA)
Abstract:
“Area C,” which makes up about 60% of the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria (known as the West Bank since their 1950 annexation by Jordan), is making news these days. This time, the hot button issue is the illegal Palestinian settlements that are sprouting up across the region. These settlements shred the last scraps that remain of the Oslo Accords, which propelled the idea of the “two-state solution” for a generation. The funding for these illegal Palestinian settlements, which amounts to hundreds of millions of euros annually, comes from the EU. According to the Oslo Accords, only Israel can issue construction permits in Area C. In joining forces to promote the rapid expansion of illegal Palestinian settlement in Area C, the EU and the PA have dispensed entirely with any coordination with Israel, in direct contravention of the Accords.
Topic:
International Law, Treaties and Agreements, and Settlements
Political Geography:
Palestine, European Union, and West Bank

23. DO REFUGEE ENCAMPMENT POLICIES CONTRIBUTE TO COMMUNAL CONFLICT?

Author:
Kerstin Fisk
Publication Date:
02-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Political Violence @ A Glance
Abstract:
Placing refugees in formal encampments remains the preferred policy solution for most host states in the developing world, where about 90 percent of the world’s forcibly displaced are settled. Although UNHCR and other aid agencies increasingly call for alternatives to camps, host states’ preference for camp settlement is driven by perceptions that refugees are threats to national security, and that encampment policies minimize their economic and security impacts on host populations. Encampment can, for instance, increase tensions between refugees when camps concentrate refugee populations from different sides of the same conflict—such as Sudanese Dinka and Sudanese Nuer—together. Tensions between local hosts and refugees are likely to worsen when camps become militarized and are targeted for forced recruitment by militants—host populations often blame refugees for the militants’ infiltration. Refugee encampment has also been shown to worsen host-refugee relations by contributing to environmental degradation in areas surrounding camps.
Topic:
Refugees, Displacement, Conflict, Settlements, and UNHCR
Political Geography:
Africa and South Sudan

24. Post-Conflict Peace-Building in a Contested International Border: The Nigeria-Cameroon Border Conflict Settlement and Matters Arising

Author:
Kenneth Chukwuemeka Nwoko
Publication Date:
06-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Institution:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Abstract:
The political solution under the Green Tree Agreement which led to the handover of the contested Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon by Nigeria following the International Court of Justice (2002) ruling signaled the end of the protracted Nigeria/Cameroon border conflict, at least on the surface. However, some analysts believed that it marked the beginning of what may result into a future conflict (Agbakwuru 2012; The Guardian 2006). From the analysis of the verdict of the Court, it would appear that while the interests of the two states involved in the conflict appeared to have been taken into cognizance, the interest of the indigenes and inhabitants of Bakassi was not. Apart from alienating these local people from their ancestral homes, cultural sites and livelihood opportunities, activities such as fishing; interstate water transportation, trading etc, which were operated as early as the precolonial days by the local inhabitants, appear to have been disrupted, thus, endangering their means of livelihood and survival. The Anglo-German agreement of March 1913 which the ICJ ruling relied on for its verdict on the Nigeria-Cameroon border conflict represents the earliest milestone in the process of alienation of the inhabitants of the Bakassi Peninsula, the causus bellum; especially since the kings and chiefs of Old Calabar exercised sovereignty over the Bakassi3 , a title which was subsumed in that part of Nigeria as the sovereign state during the period of this conflict. While the ICJ ruling gave precedence to contemporary western constructions of the notions of boundaries and sovereignty to the detriment of the historical consolidation (Sama & Johnson-Ross 2005-2006, 111), “protectorate treaty made without jurisdiction should not have taken precedence over a community title rights and ownership existing from time immemorial” (Nigerian Information Service Centre 2002; The Guardian 2002, 1-2) In other words, Germany transferred to Cameroon what it did not derive from Britain, since the right to title ownership lay with the kings and chiefs of Old Calabar. The focus of this article is not to delve into the juridical issues relating to legal ownership of the territory since the ICJ ruling had put that to rest. Rather the objective is to analyse matters arising from the settlement that could jeopardise the “cold peace” between the two countries; issues relating to psychological, socio-economic and political fallouts which the method of settlement of the conflict and its application brought on the indigenes and inhabitants of the Bakassi Peninsula as well as proffer recommendations for lasting peace in this troubled region.
Topic:
Territorial Disputes, Border Control, Conflict, Peace, and Settlements
Political Geography:
Africa, Nigeria, and Cameroon

25. WHY DOES COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION AROUSE OUR INTEREST? AN APPROACH TO THE ORGANIZATIONAL MODES DEVELOPED BY RINGUELET SETTLEMENT NEIGHBORS DURING THEIR RELOCATION

Author:
Sofia Bernat
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs
Abstract:
This first version of our essay is part of the doctoral dissertation “Socio-urban transformations and everyday life: relocation of Ringuelet’s settlement (2013-2017). Inhabiting (after) the flood”. Its aim is to analyze -from a qualitative and ethnographic perspective- a relocation process (in a settlement located in Ringuelet, La Plata, Argentina) to thoroughly understand the modes in which socio-urban transformations can modify structures of meanings and, thus, produce shared meanings as well as stressed meanings, as far as modes of inhabiting the territory are concerned. The neighborhood chosen is located on the banks of the El Gato stream and, after the flooding disaster which stroke the city of La Plata on April 2nd 2013, a relocation project began to take shape as it was deemed necessary to implement major hydraulic works at said site location so as to prevent another similar catastrophe from happening again. It should be emphasized that in this essay we will address the modes of organization and participation of the inhabitants of Ringuelet settlement before their move as we consider community intervention fundamental – though often disregarded – for implementing urban public policies as well as having a strong influence upon results; we also consider that processes are as important as products and that space appropriation depends, to a large extent, on this. Therefore, the question from which we start is: How do these neighbors participate in building their territories and commit themselves to belonging (or rather not to cease belonging) to the city? In the end, we will also explore the type of subject and the type of society we promote -and we long for- to constitute in such processes.
Topic:
Social Stratification, Urbanization, Local, and Settlements
Political Geography:
Argentina, South America, La Plata, and El Gato

26. Mind-Blowing European Union Chutzpa

Author:
David M. Weinberg
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS)
Abstract:
Israel shouldn’t pay the EU one red cent of “compensation” for dismantling illegally-built EU settlements in Area C.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Territorial Disputes, European Union, and Settlements
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, Israel, and Palestine

27. A Marshall Plan for Gaza is a Bad Idea

Author:
Efraim Inbar
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS)
Abstract:
Prof. Efraim Inbar argues that Israel should adhere to its longstanding approach of using sticks and carrots in the Palestinian arena.
Topic:
Military Strategy, Territorial Disputes, Conflict, and Settlements
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Gaza

28. URBAN CONFLICTS IN NORTHERN AMAZON REGION: DISORDERED GROWTH OF WETLANDS/RESSACAS IN MACAPÁ

Author:
Bianca Moro de Carvalho
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs
Abstract:
Internationally recognized for its immense wealth of natural resources, the Brazilian Amazon Region and its enormous forest are characterized by significant urban conflicts. The growth of illegal settlements in Amazon cities is a sad reality that has transformed the region’s space. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate part of my doctorate investigation in which I present the squatter-settlement development process (called favelização) of wetlands in the city of Macapá where there is intense occupation of environmental protection areas for precarious housing construction. Also by virtue of such phenomenon, the Federal University of Amapá, via its extension project called “Planning with the Community,” has been seeking to answer some questions relating to informal urbanization processes and their effects on communities living in ressaca areas.
Topic:
Environment, Urbanization, Conflict, and Settlements
Political Geography:
Brazil, South America, and Amazon Basin

29. Promoting inclusion in political settlements: a priority for international actors?

Author:
Clare Castillejo
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
There is growing evidence of the importance of inclusive political settlements in enabling a sustainable exit from conflict, particularly in contexts where exclusion has been a major conflict driver. Similarly, at the policy level many international actors working in fragile contexts are seeking to strengthen their work on political settlements, including by promoting greater inclusion in political settlement bargaining processes and outcomes. This report seeks to draw out some key lessons for international engagement on political settlements in fragile contexts. The report summarises the current evidence about the importance of inclusive political settlements in different types of fragile context. It also discusses what forms, levels, and processes of inclusion are both desirable and possible. It goes on to explore lessons from three countries – Rwanda, Guatemala and Nepal – where exclusion was a key driver of conflict and inclusive political settlements have been a central element of peacebuilding, albeit in very different ways. Finally, the report examines the role international actors can and do play in shaping political settlements in fragile states and discusses some of the main entry points, dilemmas and challenges they may face in promoting greater inclusion in political settlements.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Treaties and Agreements, Settlements, and Inclusion
Political Geography:
Africa, South Asia, Nepal, Central America, Rwanda, and Guatemala

30. A Resolvable Frozen Conflict? Designing a Settlement for Transnistria

Author:
Stefan Wolff
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Abstract:
The conflict over Transnistria is a territorial dispute in which one of the conflict parties (Transnistria) seeks independence while the other (Moldova) aims to restore its full sovereignty and territorial integrity. For close to two decades, the situation has been stagnant: a ceasefire agreement signed in 1992 in Moscow between the Russian and Moldovan presidents at the time—Yeltsin and Snegur—established a trilateral peacekeeping mission (Russia, Moldova, Transnistria) and a buffer zone along the Dniestr/Nistru River. Protected by these arrangements and an additional Russian military presence, Transnistria has developed into a de-facto state of its own, albeit without international recognition and heavily dependent on Russia.
Topic:
Territorial Disputes, Minorities, Ethnicity, Conflict, Settlements, Independence, and Identity
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Moldova, and Transnistria