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35181. Kashmir and the "War on Terrorism"

Author:
Cynthia Mahmood
Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:
Kashmir is one of the conflicts implicated in the current "war" of the U.S. and its allies against certain forms of radical Islam. A long-term solution to the conflict in Kashmir cannot be found without consideration of the wishes of the Kashmiri people. The three-option plebiscite, giving Kashmiris a choice among accession to India, accession to Pakistan, or full sovereignty, is an avenue that must be explored. The United Nations should serve as the organizer of such a plebiscite and should be the ultimate guarantor of its results. Convincing Pakistan and India of the ultimate wisdom of such a course can be part of current negotiations around the events in Afghanistan that now demand our attention.
Topic:
Diplomacy and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Pakistan, United States, Middle East, Asia, and Kashmir

35182. U.S. Opposition to the International Criminal Court: Unfounded Fears

Author:
Robert C. Johansen
Publication Date:
06-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:
U.S. opposition to creating a permanent international criminal court arises from unwarranted fears that U.S. officials might be wrongly prosecuted. Opposition also rests on a mistaken belief that the United States can protect legitimate national sovereignty only by rejecting international legal constraints on criminal abuses of sovereignty. However, the proposed court would serve U.S. interests by investigating the world's worst international crimes and assigning individual responsibility for them, reducing collective blame for the criminal acts of individuals, discouraging atrocities, and upholding international law while protecting against politically motivated prosecutions.
Topic:
Government, International Law, and International Organization
Political Geography:
United States

35183. Israel under Sharon: The Tunnel at the End of the Light

Author:
Alan Dowty
Publication Date:
06-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:
The election of controversial Likud leader Ariel Sharon as Prime Minister of Israel resulted more from the disillusionment of the left than the triumph of the right. Sharon's efforts to end the second intifada through stronger military responses are a recipe for escalation. The international community should support the recommendations of the Mitchell Committee, which proposes that the Palestinians renounce the use of violence as a tool in exchange for an Israeli reversal of punitive measures taken since the intifada began, accompanied by a freeze on further settlement growth.
Topic:
Security and Human Rights
Political Geography:
United States and Israel

35184. Toward Smart Sanctions on Iraq

Author:
George A. Lopez
Publication Date:
04-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:
The United States should seek to limit Iraqi designs to develop weapons of mass destruction by supporting a UN-sponsored 'smart' sanctions mechanism. Smart sanctions would involve a tightened system of border monitoring and verification with an eye toward control of dual-use technologies. Financial controls through the UN escrow account should be retained to limit Iraq's purchasing abilities in the global marketplace. Private accounts of Iraqi elites should also be frozen to limit purchases of dual-use goods or expertise. The elimination of the blunt general trade sanctions, which are already leaking, would lift a considerable burden off the Iraqi people.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States and Iraq

35185. Conflict, Conflict Resolution and the Children of Northern Ireland: Towards Understanding the Impact on Children and Families

Author:
Erin L. Lovell and E. Mark Cummings
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:
This review employs a multidisciplinary approach to consider the effects of conflict and conflict processes on children in the case of Northern Ireland. Conflict process is likely to effect children at multiple and different levels of societal functioning, with each level capturing a unique element of the effects of conflict processes on children. Thus, understanding each part of the process is likely to contribute towards a more complete understanding than is possible by focusing only on any one level of analysis. Various levels of analysis (e.g., economic, political, institutional, educational) of the effects of communal conflict on adults and children in Northern Ireland have been considered elsewhere (INCORE, 1995). The specific gap addressed in this paper is to further the conceptualization of the psychological, sociological, and familial processes in children that may be affected by communal conflict in Northern Ireland. A related goal is to place these conceptualizations in terms of a broader framework for understanding the complexity of the processes underlying the impact of the conflict.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Peace Studies, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Europe and North Ireland

35186. Youth as Social and Political Agents: Issues in Post-Settlement Peace Building

Author:
Siobhán McEvoy-Levy
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:
There is a growing body of literature dealing with the roles of children and young people in armed conflict and the effects of such conflict on their development (Brett McCallin, 1996; Cohn Goodwin-Gill, 1994; Klare, 1999; Machel, 1996; Wessells, 1998). This literature based on extensive field case work has provided important evidence of intensive child and youth involvement in warfare, the reasons for that involvement, the processes of induction into armed groups, the activities of children in these groups - as fighters, cooks, spies, couriers, and in providing sexual services - and their immediate - term rehabilitation needs once a war has been ended. Many of these studies make recommendations about demobilization, reintegration and prevention with an emphasis on economic, social, and psychological measures and the effective implementation of relevant international law. Although much has been discovered and is actively utilized in the domain of advocacy, most studies recognize that much more needs to be done to develop research and good practice particularly in the area of healing war - torn societies across a range of social, psychological, economic and security interests and needs and using indigenous beliefs and rituals as peace building resources (Wessells 2000).
Topic:
Conflict Resolution
Political Geography:
United States, Middle East, and Arabia

35187. The Guatemalan Peace Process: The Accords and Their Accomplishments

Author:
Luis Pásara
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:
Guatemala, one of the poorest countries in Latin America, suffered an internal armed conflict for 36 years. A long and difficult peace negotiation process ended in 1996 with the signing of the most comprehensive and ambitious peace accords in the history of peace agreements. Five years later, the accomplishments of the accords are limited. This article examines the social context in which the accords were negotiated and implemented. It also explores some of its accomplishments and shortcomings, and suggests the first lessons learned.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Law, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Latin America and Central America

35188. Biotechnology and the Future of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention

Publication Date:
11-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
The spectre of the deliberate use of disease in war has long haunted humankind. The biological warfare threat became more realistic after the terrorist attacks against New York and Washington on 11 September 2001. Not only did the terrorists demonstrate that they were prepared to murder large numbers of people indiscriminately, they also exposed the vulnerability of many societies. The sense of vulnerability was increased by attacks in the United States with letters containing anthrax bacteria, which killed several people and infected many more. Against this background the Fifth Review Conference of the States Parties to the 1972 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (BTWC) convened in Geneva on 19 November 2001. One of its main tasks was to evaluate the functioning of the treaty in the light of scientific and technological developments. Biotechnology has expanded rapidly in the past three decades–offering the prospect of a better quality of life–but it can be applied to design new types of biological weapons (BW). This raises concern as to whether the BTWC is sufficiently comprehensive to cover these developments.
Topic:
Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, Science and Technology, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
New York and Washington

35189. The New Security Dimensions: Europe after the NATO and EU Enlargements

Author:
Adam Daniel Rotfeld
Publication Date:
04-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
One decade after the end of the cold war and the fall of the bipolar system, the enlargements of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) reflect the fundamental changes that have taken place in Europe's security environment. The processes of enlargement are of essential importance to the states which belong to the two organizations and the applicant states. It is also essential that the security interests of the states beyond the borders of the EU and NATO be taken into account. The European Union faces the challenge of determining its new role in the security dimension. This calls for both further institutionalization of its relationship with NATO and redefinition of its relations with the United States. The decisions adopted by the Nice European Council meeting represent a new stage in overcoming the political division of Europe that was established at Yalta in 1945. The reform launched by the December 2000 Intergovernmental Conference opened the way for further enlargement of the EU. It remains an open question whether and, if so, to what extent the new institutional solutions in the security dimension—the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP)—will shape the future political and military reality in the Union and outside it, in particular in transatlantic relations.
Topic:
Security and NATO
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

35190. Department of the Navy: Two-Level Performance Management Program

Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The National Academy of Public Administration
Abstract:
To gauge the effectiveness of its Two - Level Program, the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Civilian Personnel/Equal Employment Opportunity) of the Department of the Navy (DON) engaged the services of the National Academy of Public Administration's (NAPA) Center for Human Resources Management (CHRM). The NAPA review focused on the extent to which implementation of the DON Two - Level Program fosters adherence to critical program elements including system requirements, awards and recognition, career development and advancement, a more productive environment, and improved communication and feedback. Data were analyzed to determine compliance with program requirements, identify successful approaches, document significant program outcomes, and examine best practices.
Topic:
Civil Society, Government, Industrial Policy, and International Organization