On September 17, the United Nations (UN) report on the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri is due to be handed to UN secretary-general Kofi Annan. It may be delayed by a few months, however, to allow the international community to insist that Syrian officials be questioned and, if suspected, held for trial.
Warnings by Sunni politicians of even greater violence if Sunni Arab concerns are not addressed in the draft Iraqi constitution raise the question: could the insurgency get worse? The answer can be found by examining the insurgency's demographic dimension.
Topic:
International Relations, Politics, Religion, and United Nations
The report analysis the UN's role in the provision of four different forms of security – national, societal, human and environmental security – both in general terms and with regard to Africa. It also contacins brief surveys of the UN's collaboration with regional and subregional organisations and of envisaged UN reforms.
This report will first describe the present status of Kosovo, and then review relevant considerations of its future status, on the one hand focussing on international law – the de jure status, and on the other hand focussing on sustainability – the de facto stat us. This approach of de jure versus de facto is primarily an analytical tool, chosen because it sheds light on a number of considerations relevant to the negotiation process that will determine the future status of Kosovo. Second, this approach reflects the fact that while the Kosovo Albanian s want maximum self-determination, they realize that they are dependent on international assistance. In contrast, the Serbs believe that international legal considerations of a conservative or conservationist nature are essential, but they admit that they cannot take responsibility for Kosovo's security or economy. To put it briefly, the Albanians want independence de jure but not de facto, while the Serbs want independence de facto but not de jure.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and United Nations
This document is based on a forthcoming book that examines the feasibility of creating an institution known as the “L20”, a summit of twenty world leaders whose objective would be to break the international deadlock over some of the most pressing problems facing the world. In a climate of despondency over the achievements of existing global institutions such as the G7/8, the United Nations, the World Bank and others in dealing with these major issues—which include terrorism, HIV/AIDS, globalization and the “global apartheid” between the developed North and the developing South —this document asks what is new and unique about the L20 that might enable it to make the breakthrough where others are deemed to have failed. Is the L20 destined to be the defining institution of the 21st century, or is it doomed to remain merely an idea?
Topic:
Development, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and United Nations
Alistair Millar, Jason Ipe, George A. Lopez, Tona Boyd, Linda Gerber, and David Cortright
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Fourth Freedom Forum
Abstract:
The effectiveness of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) depends on its ability to keep pace with transformations in the global security environment. When the CTC was established in the wake of the September 2001 terrorist attacks, the
primary target was understood to be Al Qaeda and its international network of related terrorist groups. In order to secure its central role and relevance among multilateral counter-terrorism efforts, the CTC must find more creative ways to collect, assess, and disseminate information about current counter-terrorism capacities and to facilitate the provision of needed technical assistance by potential donors in a timely and sustainable manner.
Christian Reus-Sumit, Marianne Hanson, Hilary Charlesworth, and William Maley
Publication Date:
11-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Australian National University Department of International Relations
Abstract:
The first half of the twentieth century saw multiple crises in the expanding international system, characterised most tragically and dramatically by two world wars, the Great Depression, and the Holocaust. In response, the international community engaged in history's most ambitious program of international institution building, a program that centred on the creation of the United Nations, the Bretton Woods institutions, and a plethora of functional regimes governing everything from arms control to the prohibition of genocide. Despite the impediments imposed by four decades of Cold War, these institutions have evolved into a complex global architecture of institutions which can claim partial yet significant credit for the decline in traditional interstate warfare, the containment of nuclear proliferation to a handful of states, management of the world economy, and the prosecution of an ever more comprehensive humanitarian agenda.
Topic:
Security, Development, Economics, and United Nations
In theory it seems quite straightforward. All United Nations humanitarian and development agencies have a role to play in ensuring respect for the human rights of persons who have become, or are at risk of becoming, displaced within the borders of their own country as a result of armed conflict and human rights violations.
Topic:
Development, Human Welfare, Third World, and United Nations
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
To appreciate Afghanistan's predicament, it is essential to understand that all Afghan politics are tribal. Thus, while Afghans share a genuine national identity, their immediate concern in any political process is to advance or preserve the welfare of their ethnic or extended family group. Further, since the Russians and British artificially imposed the country's international borders, the tribes are not wholly contained within Afghanistan. They straddle the borders with surrounding nations. Thus, tribal politics are also international politics.