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852. An EU Outlook on the Future of the Kyoto Protocol
- Author:
- Thomas Legge
- Publication Date:
- 03-2007
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The International Spectator
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- The European Union has low expectations for the international climate regime after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol effectively expires. The United States is not thought likely to sign up to new binding international commitments, whereas EU countries have experienced unexpected difficulties in implementing existing commitments. As a consequence, the European Union may be prepared to settle for a surprisingly weak follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol. At the same time, the European Union will pursue bilateral and regional climate agreements with like-minded countries, parallel to the UN framework and possibly independently of it. Collectively, such agreements could produce an international climate regime that is more robust than what could be agreed at the consensus-based UN level. Nevertheless, the European Union will continue to support the UN process as the only legitimate forum for international negotiations on climate change.
- Topic:
- United Nations
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
853. The United Nations: Between Shadow and Light
- Author:
- Natalino Ronzitti
- Publication Date:
- 09-2007
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The International Spectator
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- Review of: The parliament of man : the past, present, and future of the United Nations, Paul Kennedy, Random House, 2006.
- Topic:
- United Nations
854. Declining Poverty in Latin America? A Critical Analysis of New Estimates by International Institutions
- Author:
- Ann Helwege and Melissa B.L. Birch
- Publication Date:
- 09-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
- Abstract:
- Indicators of progress in overcoming poverty in Latin America have been heralded recently by international institutions. Yet a closer look at data from the World Bank and the United Nations reveals contradictions that are not easily resolved by reference to the underlying methodologies. This paper provides an introduction to how poverty is measured, what the data indicate about trends in poverty, and reasons to tread cautiously in interpreting it as evidence of progress or stagnation. While significant progress has been achieved in a few large countries, the poorest countries are still very poor, and some countries have even seen increases in their poverty rates despite economic growth.
- Topic:
- International Political Economy, Poverty, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
855. Making Sense of a Senseless War
- Author:
- J. Peter Pham
- Publication Date:
- 04-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
- Abstract:
- In a report on the United Nations-supervised disarmament process in Sierra Leone, veteran Washington Post correspondent Douglas Farah described the pathos of the ragged Revolutionary United Front (RUF) fighters: many were barely into their teens, straggling into a processing center in the diamond-rich eastern district of Kono with little more than ill-fitting rags draped over their emaciated bodies (Farah 2001). There was little evidence that these broken youths had, just a short while earlier, been part of one of the most brutal and effective insurgencies in the world, one whose strategy was predicated on terror in its most primordial expression. Farah's piece was headlined, “They Fought for Nothing, and That's What They Got,” a succinct description of a conflict that struck many as senseless, despite its heavy toll in lives and property.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, United Nations, and War
- Political Geography:
- Iraq and Middle East
856. Poverty Reduction and the Poverty Reduction Facility at the IMF: Carving a New Path or Losing its Way?
- Author:
- Ramesh C. Kumar
- Publication Date:
- 02-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- Since 1999, all concessional lending by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) must be targeted at poverty reduction. The paper critically examines the design and implementation of the IMF's poverty reduction initiative by focusing on the operations of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF). The data relating to the lending activity of the facility, coupled with an econometric explanation of the size of a PRGF arrangement in terms of key macro-economic variables, reveal some surprises. Not only does the lending activity of the new facility not appear to be much different-in frequency, size or total lending-than that under the Structural Adjustment Facility or Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (SAF/ESAF), but the average lending to individual countries over the period 2000-2004 is also inversely related to the human poverty index. At a time when IMF is quickly losing its traditional clientele, such findings raise doubts about the fund's efficacy in administering development finance.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, International Cooperation, Poverty, and United Nations
857. Peacebuilding in Haiti: Including Haitians from Abroad
- Publication Date:
- 12-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- The UN mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) will not stay forever and, in any case, cannot be made responsible for solving Haiti's manifold and deep-seated problems. The absence of adequate professional staff, sufficient financial resources and efficient management at all levels of government has delayed structural reforms and economic and social programs. The country needs institutional strengthening prior to its transition from President René Préval to his successor after the elections in 2011 – also the likely outside limit for MINUSTAH's mandate. Otherwise, political polarisation along traditional cleavages will reappear, as will the risk of conflict. Training civil servants and increasing their salaries are important but insufficient to produce the advances Haitians are demanding. A serious and sustained initiative to include three million Haitians living abroad could overcome historic nationalistic mistrust of outsiders, bring a missing middle class within reach and help Haiti escape its “fragile state” status.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Development, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Haiti
858. Kosovo Countdown: A Blueprint for Transition
- Publication Date:
- 12-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Kosovo's transition to the status of conditional, or supervised, independence has been greatly complicated by Russia's firm support of Serbia's refusal to accept that it has lost its one-time province. Recognition of conditional independence has broad international, and certainly European Union (EU) and American, support. Under threat of Moscow's veto, the Security Council will not revoke its Resolution 1244 of 1999 that acknowledged Serbian sovereignty while setting up the UN Mission (UNMIK) to prepare Kosovo for self-government pending a political settlement on its future status. Nor will the Council be allowed to approve the plan for a conditionally independent Kosovo devised by the Secretary-General's special representative, Martti Ahtisaari, earlier this year and authorise the EU-led missions meant to implement that plan.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Development, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Kosovo, Moscow, and Serbia
859. Haiti: Prison Reform and the Rule of Law
- Publication Date:
- 05-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Haiti's overcrowded, understaffed and insecure prisons are powder kegs awaiting a spark. Any explosion of violence or mass prisoner escape could undermine recent steps by the government and UN peacekeepers (MINUSTAH) to combat urban gangs and organised crime. The immediate needs are to ensure that the most dangerous prisoners, including newly arrested kidnap suspects, are held in maximum security cells; there are more guards to protect and ensure minimum care for prisoners; and a fast-track government/donor-financed plan to build more secure prisons begins. As President René Préval's government nears the end of its first year, failure to respond with greater urgency and resources to the prison crisis not only would complicate police and justice reform but could add to national insecurity.
- Topic:
- Government, Peace Studies, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Haiti
860. Abkhazia: Ways Forward
- Publication Date:
- 01-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Fourteen years of negotiation, led alternately by the UN and Russia, have done little to resolve the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. There have been some successes on the ground: ceasefire violations are rare, approximately 45,000 internally displaced (IDP) Georgians have returned to homes in the Gali region, the two sides cooperate on operating the Inguri power plant, and a strategic railway through Abkhazia may restart. But the sharp deterioration in Russian-Georgian relations and a Georgian military adventure in the Kodori valley have contributed to a freeze in diplomacy over Abkhazia since mid-2006. In the absence of a new initiative, new violence is a real possibility. Because prospects are bleak for an early comprehensive settlement of the key political issues, in particular final status, the sides and international facilitators should shift their focus in 2007 to building confidence and cooperation in areas where there are realistic opportunities.
- Topic:
- Security, Economics, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Asia, Georgia, and Abkhazia