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35121. Russia's Southern Neighbors

Author:
Aleksandar D. Jovovic
Publication Date:
03-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The Institute for the study of Diplomacy hosted the spring 2001 meetings of the Schlesinger Working Group on the topic of Russian foreign policy towards its neighbors in Central Asia and the Caucasus. The potential for further conflict along Russia's periphery is real. Russia (experiencing an economic upswing and more assertive political leadership) is mired in a series of border problems as well as unresolved internal security challenges in Chechnya and continues to be a central actor in the entire Caucasus region. The civil war in Afghanistan continues to export Islamic extremism to Russia's important Central Asian neighbors. If a dramatic security downturn took shape in any of these borderlands, it would test the competence, political will, and strategic common sense of Putin and his team. Russia's government has already demonstrated its willingness to charge headlong into an internal conflict, and Putin's initial popularity has soared as a result. To provide a starting point for the discussion, the working group examined the following issues: External political and security challenges facing Russia in the near to medium term. Russia's interests and willingness to remain engaged in developments along its frontier. Prospects for strategic surprises and unanticipated events along Russia's southern border. Implications of Russia's behavior and region- al developments on US interests and capabilities.
Topic:
Security and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Russia, Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and Chechnya

35122. Post-Conflict Peace Operations and Governance in Afghanistan

Author:
Jeff Fischer
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
Over the last two decades, post-conflict military and civilian interventions have occurred with increasing frequency and scope. By illustration, the first UN peacekeeping mission in 1948, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), was mandated to supervise the truce of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, and initially deployed 93 military observers. By contrast, the current international interventions in Kosovo (UNMIK) and East Timor (UNTEAT) are de facto governments, employing thousands of international and local staff with police and military services included in the portfolio.
Topic:
Government, International Cooperation, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, South Asia, Israel, Arabia, and Kosovo

35123. Empowering Local Actors: The UN and Multi-Track Conflict Prevention

Author:
Ben Rawlence
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The International Peace Academy convened an international policy workshop in New York on 10 December 2001 in the conference room of Chadbourne and Parke LLP bringing together approximately fifty members of the UN system and civil society representatives from around the world. The purpose of the workshop was to follow up on the June 2001 report of the United Nations Secretary-General on the Prevention of Armed Conflict and address some of the opportunities and challenges involved in working to prevent the outbreak of armed conflict in tandem with relevant local actors.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations
Political Geography:
New York

35124. The Economics of War

Author:
Jake Sherman
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Greed and grievance, or “need, creed and greed,” are all important sources of conflict, though the relative weight of each factor varies across cases and across time. Poverty, social inequality, rapid economic decline, large numbers of young unemployed males, and polarized identity politics may all provide the necessary catalyst for conflict, particularly when accompanied by repressive, illegal or extralegal behavior on the part of governments. Yet, as World Bank economist Paul Collier cautions, what motivates conflict and what makes it feasible are separate issues. In general, the existence of some form of grievance, whether economic, political, or social in nature, appears to be the most persuasive motivation for conflict. Greed, or, more broadly, economic motivations — whether the pursuit of resources for war-financing or for elite self-enrichment—appear more significant in sustaining, prolonging, and transforming conflict.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations

35125. Kosovo in Limbo: State-Building and "Substantial Autonomy"

Author:
Simon Chesterman
Publication Date:
08-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Complex peace operations that involve state-building functions are difficult even when the political outcome is clear, as it is in East Timor. In situations such as Kosovo, where the final status of the territory under administration remains unclear, every aspect of state-building is more politically sensitive and more operationally complex. When this occurs in a highly militarized environment and in an unstable region, any departure from a supposedly “interim” solution becomes more difficult still. The Dayton Accords in Bosnia show the dangers of a difficult peace agreement evolving into a constitutional framework that is both unworkable and impossible to change. The conclusion of hostilities may provide the best incentive for belligerents to compromise, but it may subsequently become impossible to reopen such questions without the threat of renewed violence. Future peace agreements are therefore likely to contain state-building provisions that international institutions will assume the task of overseeing, in some situations without a clear political endpoint and exit strategy. In Kosovo, the elections slated for November 17, 2001, reflect a desire for measurable progress and an indication of when the mission will end. An April 2001 report by the UN Secretary-General on this topic was entitled “No exit without strategy”, warning that the UN has too often withdrawn or dramatically altered a peacekeeping operation, only to see the situation remain unstable or sink into renewed violence. Unfortunately, the attitude of lead actors within the Security Council is too often “no strategy without an exit”. State-building after a war will always take years, perhaps decades, and it is disingenuous to suggest otherwise to domestic publics. Elections and limited devolution notwithstanding, the international community will remain in Kosovo and Bosnia for the foreseeable future, certainly with a strong military presence and with at least a supervisory civilian authority. This is an undesirable outcome of what NATO styles as humanitarian interventions, but it is better than all the alternatives. The fact that UNMIK will remain in control of Kosovo for the foreseeable future raises the question of how it should govern. Within UNMIK, there is an increasing tension between those who regard respect for human rights and the rule of law as central to the institution-building aspect of UNMIK's mandate, and those who see this as secondary to the over-riding concerns of peace and security.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Europe, Bosnia, and Kosovo

35126. Managing Security Challenges in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding

Author:
Sheila Coutts and Kelvin Ong
Publication Date:
06-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
While a functioning security sector provides the cornerstone for stable and democratic post-conflict societies, the record of the international community in establishing this critical function is mixed. Despite repeatedly having to manage the immediate post-conflict situation in various peace operations in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America, the international community still fails to take the state of the local security sector adequately into account when planning its own intervention.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Asia, and Latin America

35127. The Challenges of Strategic Coordination: Containing Opposition and Sustaining Implementation of Peace Agreements in Civil Wars

Author:
Bruce D. Jones
Publication Date:
06-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
“Strategic coordination” is shorthand for efforts to respond to three common challenges facing thirdparty implementers of peace agreements: incoherence between the mediation and the implementation phases; conflicting approaches within a given phase; and fragmented, contradictory efforts to implement a given strategy. At worst, failure to deal with these challenges can undermine a peace process; at best, they add costs, reduce effectiveness, and slow success.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations

35128. Private Sector Actors in Zones of Conflict: Research Challenges and Policy Responses

Author:
Jake Sherman
Publication Date:
04-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Increasing attention is being paid to the involvement and the relative influence of international private sector actors in the political economy of countries and regions experiencing violent conflict. This expert workshop was convened in order to assess the nature of business activity as it relates to violent conflict, to delineate areas where further research is needed, and to consider what policy responses may be needed to mitigate the potentially destabilizing effects of private sector activity in war-torn countries.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations

35129. Refashioning the Dialogue: Regional Perspectives on the Brahimi Report on UN Operations

Publication Date:
02-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
There is no single “developing world” perspective on UN peace operations — nor, indeed, a single perspective from each of the regions that took part in the consultation. Nevertheless, some broad themes emerged in the course of discussion, conditioned by particular regional experiences with such operations. Each of the meetings emphasized the importance of the Brahimi Report and took note of the timing and resource constraints that limited the scope of the Report essentially to peacekeeping. All meetings in the developing world, where people feel marginalized from UN decision-making, rued the lateness of the consultative process, noting that building a constituency for UN peace operations requires more extensive, deeper, and earlier consultation with a broad range of regional and local actors. At the New York meeting one permanent representative observed that, returning to the organization after a fifteen-year absence, he saw that the UN, too, was now being affected by the global demand for transparency and accountability.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations
Political Geography:
New York

35130. The Rapid Reaction Force: The EU takes stock

Author:
Catriona Gourlay, Jamie Woodbridge, Lorraine Mullally, Annalisa Monaco, and Natalie Pauwels
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Security Information Service
Abstract:
On 19 November EU Foreign and Defence Ministers gathered in Brussels for the Capability Improvement Conference (CIC) to assess progress made in filling the capability gaps to meet the Helsinki Headline Goal (being able to deploy 60 000 men in less than 60 days and to sustain them for at least one year). The CIC confirmed that the EU should be able to carry out the whole range of crisis management tasks by 2003, but cautioned that further efforts must be made if it is to be able to carry out complex operations without undue risk. In response to the shortcomings identified, Member States have agreed on a European Capability Action Plan to gradually advance national and multinational solutions.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Europe