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761. Covid-19 prompts the EU and the Netherlands to rethink global health

Author:
Louise Van Schaik and Remco van de Pas
Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Clingendael Netherlands Institute of International Relations
Abstract:
The Covid-19 pandemic prompted a strong re-engagement in global health. Because the pandemic coincided with geopolitical rifts between the US and China, but required a global response, the EU and its member states took responsibility to safeguard the World Health Organization (WHO) and initiated global arrangements for vaccine sharing for developing countries. Within the EU, mandates and global health functions have traditionally been underdeveloped and divided between the development and health sectors. For the Netherlands, this is perhaps the case to an even larger extent. Development funding has focused primarily on sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the health ministry has had limited interest and capacity on international health issues, with the exception of certain specific issues such as Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) and medicine prices. Spending on global health by both the EU and the Netherlands has been fragmented, with mainly ad hoc budgets being made available for the international pandemic response. This policy brief calls for a structural response and more coherent outlook on global health.
Topic:
Development, European Union, COVID-19, and Global Health
Political Geography:
Europe and Netherlands

762. ‘If you want to go far, go together’ Community engagement and infrastructure development in fragile settings

Author:
Guido Lanfranchi
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Clingendael Netherlands Institute of International Relations
Abstract:
In fragile and conflict-affected settings (FCAS), infrastructure development is a sharp double-edged sword: it can foster sustainable and inclusive development, but it can also exacerbate fragility and conflict. This brief argues that a substantial engagement of local communities has the potential to improve the conflict sensitivity of infrastructure efforts in FCAS. To ensure that these efforts have a positive impact on fragility dynamics, however, due attention should also be paid to the specific choices made in terms of project design and implementation. The brief offers a set of pragmatic considerations aimed at supporting practitioners navigating such choices. In addition, to ensure a proper tailoring of project choices to the specific context, practitioners should also rely extensively on conflict sensitivity analyses, monitoring the interaction between the project and the context’s underlying drivers of fragility throughout the whole project cycle. While so far CDD projects have mostly focused on small-scale infrastructure, efforts should be devoted to explore whether and how CDD approaches can be applied to larger infrastructure projects.
Topic:
Development, Infrastructure, Conflict, and Fragility
Political Geography:
Global Focus

763. The Power of Law and Justice: The Contribution of Latvia to the Global Development and Defense of Democracy

Author:
Egils Levits
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
In May 1985, I wrote the following statement in a Canadian Latvian maga- zine: “In 5-, 20- or 50-years’ time the Soviet Union will be gone from Latvia.”1 Back then, I was just a young lawyer and political scientist—a researcher at the University of Kiel in Germany—having emigrated from the USSR-occupied Latvia 13 years earlier. I took an active part in the political life of Latvians in exile. Most believed that the bipolar world in which the nuclear superpowers of the West and East faced off would never change. So, why was I convinced that the Soviet Empire would collapse?
Topic:
Defense Policy, Development, Law, Democracy, Justice, and Post-Soviet Space
Political Geography:
Latvia and Baltic States

764. The USSR and its Influence on Developments in the Right to Self- Determination

Author:
Robert McCorquodale
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
On a cold day in early March 1990, a phone call was made from the office of an economics minister in the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithu- anian SSR) to a junior academic at the University of Cambridge. The question was asked: what laws should the government of Lithuanian SSR pass to declare itself independent from the Soviet Union? After a few days, the junior academic proposed a potential course of action to the Lithuanian caller. His proposal, combined with other, more expert opinions, was adopted by the government of the Lithuanian SSR as part of its declaration of (renewed) independence proclaimed on 11 March 1990.1
Topic:
Development, Independence, Post-Soviet Space, and Self-Determination
Political Geography:
Soviet Union

765. Iraqi Police: A Hard Place Between State and Society

Author:
Afzal Ashraf
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
Experts suggest that a police force should closely reflect its state’s constitution and its societal fabric.1 It follows, therefore, that the design of a new policing system or the reform of an old one will be affected by the ideas and the realities of power within the state and by the nature of its society. Nowhere are these principles more visible than in the reconstruction of a post–conflict country. The underlying assumption in such situations is that police reform is a fundamental element of conflict management because a police force, supported by society, can mitigate insecurity and play a significant part in the economic and political development of a country.2 This assumption has one fundamental flaw. For a police force to help deliver security and development in a post–conflict situation, there should exist at least a modicum of security and economic and political development. This “chicken and egg” situation is most starkly evident in the attempts to reform the police service following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The security sector reform programs in Iraq, of which police reform is a component, not only challenge some assumptions upon which international development is based, but also provide potential insights into the relationship between the police, power, economic security, and society in general. These relationships could also apply to developed countries as their political and eco- nomic systems are challenged or changed by global events.
Topic:
Development, State, Police, Society, and Post-Conflict
Political Geography:
Iraq and Middle East

766. Employment effects of R&D and innovation: Evidence from small and medium-sized firms in emerging markets

Author:
Rajeev K. Goel and Michael Nelson
Publication Date:
08-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
Abstract:
This paper studies the impact of research and development (R&D) and innovation on employment growth, focusing on small and medium-sized firms. Employment effects of R&D and innovation are unclear a priori as process innovation may be labor-saving or labor might have complementarities with other inputs. Employing firm-level data from 125 nations, results show that both R&D and innovation increased employment growth, suggesting that innovation was either capital-saving or labor had strong complementarities with other inputs. Upon splitting the sample into growing and contracting firms showed that contracting firms benefit from innovation but not from R&D. In other findings, sole proprietorships, larger firms, firms with relatively more experienced managers, firms with females as top managers, and firms facing the threat of informal competition had lower employment growth, while foreign-owned and government-owned enterprises have positive influences on employment growth. Finally, employment growth in shrinking firms was boosted in nations with greater economic freedom, but this growth is undermined by informal sector competition.
Topic:
Development, Emerging Markets, Research, Innovation, and Research and Development
Political Geography:
Global Focus

767. Green gifts from abroad? FDI and firms' green management

Author:
Peter Kannen, Finn Ole Semrau, and Frauke Steglich
Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
Abstract:
Improvements of firms' environmental performance crucially determine the speed of a country's green economic transformation. In this paper, we investigate whether firms with foreign ownership are more likely to adopt 'green' management practices, which determine the capability to monitor and improve a firm's impact on the environment. By using multi-country firm-level data, we show that foreign ownership increases the likelihood of implementing green management practices. Considering country heterogeneity, we reveal that only firms based in more developed economies and in countries with better environmental performance benefit from foreign direct investment, while this is not the case for firms based in less developed economies or countries with weak environmental performance. In addition, we find that the effect is more robust for manufacturing sector firms than for service sector firms. Overall, our results suggest that foreign ownership can contribute towards a country's green economic transformation.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Environment, Green Technology, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
Global Focus

768. Increasing Access to Affordable Agricultural Microinsurance in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author:
Brenden McKinney
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University (ISID)
Abstract:
The effects of climate change are causing risk management to become an increasingly essential tool to help farmers anticipate and react to weather-related shocks like droughts and floods. When an efficient risk management system is implemented, it improves the standard of living of those who depend on farming, strengthens agricultural businesses, and supports investment; such a system can decrease the overall risk profiles of individuals and increase the confidence of farmers in their ability to take on risks that could improve their income. 1 While risk mitigation plays a key role in socio-economic development, the system must be affordable in order to successfully reduce poverty levels for those at the base of the economic pyramid.
Topic:
Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, and Microinsurance
Political Geography:
Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa

769. Pax Caucasia: Prospects of Peace and Cooperation in South Caucasus

Author:
Farid Shafiyev
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Caucasus Strategic Perspectives
Institution:
Center of Analysis of International Relations (AIR Center)
Abstract:
The current issue of the Caucasus Strategic Perspectives (CSP) journal entitled “Pax Caucasia: Prospects of Peace and Cooperation in South Caucasus” is dedicated to the possible cooperation opportunities in the aftermath of latest 44-days war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the fall of 2020 with focus on different views from various countries. The CSP’s new issue includes 5 articles, 2 commentaries and 1 book review. In the framework of post-war cooperation situation, the CSP’s current authors analysed the economic difficulties of Armenia, Azerbaijan’s enhancing role in the region and existing geopolitical confrontations, performance of peacekeeping activities, as well as economic cooperation opportunities emerged in the post-war period.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Development, War, Peacekeeping, Geopolitics, Economy, Strategic Competition, and Regional Politics
Political Geography:
Russia, Eurasia, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, South Caucasus, United States of America, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Guam

770. ECOWAS' Efforts in Promoting South-South Cooperation Between its Member States and Global South Countries

Author:
Sidnoma Nita Belemsobgo
Publication Date:
10-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Conjuntura Austral: Journal of the Global South
Institution:
Conjuntura Austral: Journal of the Global South
Abstract:
South-South Cooperation (SSC) is an innovative, forthright, and ambitious means to expand collaboration between countries with a similar economic profile. Over the past decade, it straightforwardly imposes within West African states’ practices. Indeed, as time passes, many countries have developed significant technical capacities and know-how that they can share. To formalise such sharing of experiences and best practices and raise it to another and higher level, it was essential to hand over this role to a supranational organisation with more tools and experience to coordinate the exchange. In that effect, In West Africa, states leaned towards the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which gathers 15 member states and which is the main catalyst for promoting exchanges and sharing within the sub-region. The study provides an overview of the South-South partnership promoted by ECOWAS on the economic and social aspects through an exploratory documentary study while providing the levers of development for this partnership. The study's main aim is to assess the importance of SSC for ECOWAS member states sustainable development. The specific objectives are: assess ECOWAS initiatives promoting SSC; provide some cases of success stories of good practices.
Topic:
Development, International Cooperation, Partnerships, Economy, and ECOWAS
Political Geography:
Africa and West Africa