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611. One Year after a Rigged Election: Iran's Introverted Politics

Author:
Mehdi Khalaji
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
Although the United Nations Security Council has now voted for new sanctions against Tehran, the Iranian regime and opposition -- preoccupied this week with the anniversary of last year's fraudulent presidential election -- seem more concerned about domestic political struggles. To outsiders, it is an often-confusing contest, with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei continuing to support President Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad while leaders of the opposition Green Movement choose their battles carefully.
Topic:
Politics and United Nations
Political Geography:
Iran

612. Eritrea: The Siege State

Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Eritrea has been deeply troubled since independence in 1991. Following the devastating war with Ethiopia (1998-2000), an authoritarian, militarised regime has further tightened political space, tolerating neither opposition nor dissent. Relations are difficult with the region and the wider international community. At African Union (AU) behest, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions in 2009 for its support of the Somali Islamic insurgency. It has become, in effect, a siege state, whose government is suspicious of its own population, neighbours and the wider world. Economically crippled at birth, it is a poor country from which tens of thousands of youths are fleeing, forming large asylum-seeking communities in Europe and North America. But Eritrea is an extreme reflection of its region's rough political environment, not its sole spoiler. More effort to understand the roots of its suspicions and greater engagement rather than further isolation would be a more promising international prescription for dealing with the genuine risks it represents.
Topic:
Islam, United Nations, Insurgency, Fragile/Failed State, and Sanctions
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, North America, Ethiopia, and Eritrea

613. National Implementation of the United Nations Small Arms Programme of Action and the International Tracing Instrument: An Analysis of Reporting in 2009–10

Author:
Sarah Parker
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Small Arms Survey
Abstract:
This report is divided into three parts. The first part provides a statistical overview of reporting by states from January 2002 to May 2010. It also reports on the findings of a survey conducted by the Small Arms Survey to verify the existence of and contact details for National Points of Contact (NPCs), as well as the status of National Coordination Agencies (NCAs) and National Action Plans (NAPs). The second part provides an overview of states' implementation of the following BMS4 themes: (a) preventing and combating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons across borders; and (b) international cooperation and assistance. Since national reports under review contain almost no specific information on the third theme identified by Ambassador Macedo—strengthening of PoA follow-up mechanisms—consideration of this theme will be included in the final report, pending discussion at BMS4 and the submission of additional national reports that address the issue in detail. The third part of the report is dedicated to states' reporting on the International Tracing Instrument; only information provided by states that made specific reference to the International Tracing Instrument is included and analysed. Key observations and discussion points arising from the analysis of the national reports are included at the end of each section. All cited texts are drawn from relevant 2010 national reports unless otherwise indicated.
Topic:
Political Violence, Arms Control and Proliferation, United Nations, and War

614. The United Nations Security Council and Civil War: First Insights from a New Dataset

Author:
James Cockayne, Christoph Mikulaschek, and Chris Perry
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
This report is the first publication produced by IPI's research project on Understanding Compliance with UN Security Council Resolutions. It provides fresh insights from the new IPI Security Council Compliance Database. The report examines trends in how the Security Council has engaged with civil wars since 1989, variations in where and when it chose to engage, and the gradual evolution of the Council's civil-war response strategies. Future analysis by this project will seek to provide answers to two questions: To what extent do civil-war parties comply with demands issued by the Security Council? And what factor or combination of factors best explains the variance in the level of compliance—e.g., conflict settings, conflict management strategies, or political dynamics within the Security Council?
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Civil War, United Nations, and Peacekeeping

615. Reservations and the Effective Protection of Human Rights

Author:
Johanna Fournier
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
Already since the first United Nations (UN) human rights treaties have been signed in 1966, it has been contested whether signatory states should be allowed to make reservations to different articles of the treaties. Many argue that reservation undermine the treaties and are not compatible with the universal application of human rights. One might hence ask whether reservations are compatible with human rights at all. Without disagreeing with these demurs, this essay will reverse the question: Is an effective protection of human rights possible without reservations? To answer this question, this essay will outline the current legal and practical framework on making reservations to UN human rights treaties in Part A. and will present a possible modification to this framework. In Part B. it will then demonstrate how reservations can be used to actually advance the effective protection of human rights. By being used as a starting point for the dialogue between the treaty bodies and the signatory state, reservations do not undermine human rights treaties, but support their purpose: the effective protection of human rights.
Topic:
United Nations

616. Secession in Theory and Practice: the Case of Kosovo and Beyond

Author:
Ioana Cismas
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Institution:
The Goettingen Journal of International Law
Abstract:
Since 17 February 2008 - the day of Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia - it has become rather pressing to understand whether this act has legal precedential value and hence what its consequences are. This article carves out the place of secession in international law by appeal to fundamental principles and legal doctrine. It also explores major sociopolitical aspects in Kosovo's history, from the battle of Kosovo Polje in 1389 to Security Council resolution 1244 (1999) that set up the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). By following these two analytical paths Kosovo is exposed as a case of remedial secession and thus as a potential legal precedent. While the elements of remedial secession are gathered, it is argued that states deprived this instance of practice of its precedential value and made it a legally insignificant act. In other words, the international community missed a rare opportunity to clarify the concept of remedial secession and to reassert its preventive force as a non-traditional human rights protection mechanism.
Topic:
United Nations
Political Geography:
Kosovo and Serbia

617. Cartography and Geopolitics in the Arctic Region

Author:
Jeppe Strandsbjerg
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper discusses the relationship between geography and politics; and more specifically, the relationship between sovereign claims and cartography. I introduce the term 'cartopolitics' to describe a particular way of making space real and corresponding with politics that defines contemporary bordering practices in the Arctic region. The paper argues that too often boundary studies assume that socio-political space arises as a result of boundary practices. In contrast, this paper proceeds from a notion that space should precede boundaries in the analysis because, unless space is taken as a natural given and constant background, its 'construction' conditions how boundaries can be established in the first place. In sequence, I argue how the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea builds on–and requires–a particular spatiality epitomised by so-called modern cartography. This has implications for the way in which sovereignty over space is transferred from a political to a scientific domain, and essentially, it tends to mask the constructed nature of the spatiality given objectivity through the law of the sea.
Topic:
International Law, Politics, United Nations, and Maritime Commerce

618. Haiti: The Stakes of the Post-Quake Elections

Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Haiti votes in a month's time – on 28 November 2010 – for a new president and nearly an entire legislature in perhaps the most important elections in its history. The government that emerges will need to manage a major part of the decade of recovery from the worst disaster ever in the Western Hemisphere. To do so, it requires the legitimacy that can only come from credible elections. But the historical obstacles – such as low turnout, suspicion of fraud and campaign violence – not only persist but have been greatly exacerbated by the 12 January earthquake that killed a quarter million people and left the capital in ruins and its government in disarray, as well as by the current outbreak of cholera. Polarising politics and a body organising the balloting that lacks full public confidence in its integrity add to the challenge. If the electoral process is to be as transparent, non-violent and widely participated in as it needs to be, the government must meet a higher standard than ever before, and the UN, regional organisations and donors like the U.S., Canada, the EU and Brazil must urgently press for this and expand support.
Topic:
Democratization, United Nations, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Canada, Brazil, and Caribbean

619. United Nations Justice: Legal and Judicial Reform in Governance Operations

Author:
Scott N. Carlson
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
Calin Trenkov-Wermuth's "United Nations Justice" provides a thoughtful and useful contribution to the understanding of how UN governance operations have evolved.
Topic:
United Nations
Political Geography:
United States

620. "The Gender of Reparations: Unsettling Sexual Hierarchies While Redressing Human Rights Violations" Edited by Ruth Rubio-Marin

Author:
Debra L. DeLaet
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
This edited collection provides a gender-sensitive analysis of reparations programs in transitional and postconflict societies, examining the gendered nature of violence during armed conflict and political repression, and reparations as an approach to promoting postconflict justice.
Topic:
Human Rights and United Nations