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241. The Myanmar Economy: Tough Choices

Author:
Lex Rieffel
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The new Government of Myanmar has astonished the world since it took office at the end of March 2011 by the pace and scope of policy changes it has introduced in a country that has underperformed most other Asian countries for decades. Not a single analyst inside or outside Myanmar before President Thein Sein’s inaugural address predicted the changes that many now label “breathtaking.” The global policy community and the media have focused heavily on the political changes and challenges, giving less attention to the economic changes and challenges than they probably deserve. This paper focuses on 21 high-priority economic issues facing the Thein Sein administration in mid-2012.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Diplomacy, Human Rights, and Sanctions
Political Geography:
Southeast Asia and Myanmar

242. The Use of Force, Crisis Diplomacy and the Responsibilities of States

Publication Date:
05-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
The papers included in this report relate to a conference co-hosted by the New York University Abu Dhabi Institute, the NYU Center on International Cooperation (CIC) and the Brookings Institution on 21-22 February in Abu Dhabi on “The Use of Force, Crisis Diplomacy and the Responsibilities of States.”
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Civil Society, Democratization, Islam, and Regime Change
Political Geography:
Middle East, Arabia, and North Africa

243. Public procurement and organized crime – illustrated with examples from Bulgaria, Italy and Norway

Author:
Jens Chr.1 Andvig
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The paper provides a semi-popular exposition of the formulation of public procurement and privatization mechanisms and how they may be influenced by organized crime units. A number of possibilities are outlined using examples from Bulgaria, Italy and Norway.
Topic:
Civil Society, Crime, Governance, and Law Enforcement
Political Geography:
Europe, Norway, Bulgaria, and Italy

244. Arab Spring, Turkish "Summer"? The trajectory of a pro-Western "moderate Islam"

Author:
ees van der Pijl
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
The “moderate Islam” that has developed in Turkey could play a role in shaping the outcome of the Arab revolt that began in 2011. The modern Turkish state established by Atatürk after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire had to find ways to integrate Islam politically. Turkey was a late-industrialising country and the Islamic political current tended to have an anti-Western, antiliberal profile on this account. Two tendencies within Turkish political Islam are distinguished: one connecting religion to economic nationalism, the other primarily cultural and willing to accommodate to neoliberalism. The 1980 military coup geared the country to neoliberalism and cleared the way for this second tendency to rise to power through the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of R.T. Erdo ˘gan. For the West and the Gulf Arab states the export of this model to the Arab countries destabilised in the popular revolt would amount to a very favourable outcome. Gulf Arab capital was already involved in the opening up of state-controlled Arab economies, including Syria. Although the situation is still in flux, by following the Turkish model Muslim Brotherhood governments could potentially embrace political loyalty to the West and neoliberal capitalism.
Topic:
Political Violence, Civil Society, Democratization, Development, and Regime Change
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, Arabia, and North Africa

245. Mozambique Synthesis Analysis: Between Pockets of Efficiency and Elite Capture

Author:
Lars Buur, Obede Baloi, and Carlota Mondlane Tembe
Publication Date:
01-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Since the General Peace Accord (GPA) in 1992 ending the civil war and the first democratic elections in 1994, Mozambique has experienced a peaceful transition towards democracy, underpinned by successive rounds of local and national elections, which have been, if not totally free, then at least sufficiently free to be accepted by the international community. This, combined with sustained economic growth (Sousa and Sulemane 2007), a substantial decline in people living below the poverty line, relatively high levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) and very high and continued levels of foreign donor support has made Mozambique 'a success story' for the international donor community where few such stories seem available (Renzio and Hanlon 2006: 3). This has triggered continuous and generous levels of assistance and made Mozambique the ultimate 'donor darling'. But with the opening up of the rich natural resource endowment in energy, gas, oil and minerals to exploitation after Frelimo's election victory in 2009, the country stands at a critical juncture, with the potential to become donor-independent within the foreseeable future.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Political Economy, Politics, and Governance
Political Geography:
Africa

246. Human Rights Obligations of Non-State Actors in Areas of Limited Statehood

Author:
Bernd Ladwig, Daniel Jacob, and Andreas Oldenbourg
Publication Date:
01-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700
Abstract:
The idea of a natural duty of justice expresses our cosmopolitan duty to ensure that everyone's human rights are institutionally protected and promoted. The state system is one way to specify this duty: Within a moral division of labor, states have an obligation to protect their citizens' human rights, and the community of states as a whole has subsidiary obligations if states fail to do so. In areas of limited statehood, however, both the remains of the state and the international community often do not fulfill their obligations. Without relieving them of their obligations, this raises the question as to whether it is possible to assign human rights obligations to non-state actors operating in areas of limited statehood, such as TNCs or NGOs. Our core argument is that these non-state actors do indeed have specific human rights obligations, which can be specified by examining their special relations to their social environment. Making use of criteria prominent in the global justice debate, we propose to distinguish four types of special relations: membership, cooperation, negative impact, and power. The relation between a non-state actor and society, then, determines the social scope of its human rights obligations.
Topic:
Civil Society, Human Rights, International Law, Non-Governmental Organization, and Governance

247. An Explosion of News: The State of Media in Afghanistan

Author:
Peter Cary
Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
After the ouster of the Taliban from power by U.S.-led coalition troops in November 2001, the media scene in Afghanistan exploded. Under the Taliban, only one government radio station was allowed to operate, and there were no independent media. Ten years later, the Afghan media scene is a lively place, with more than 175 FM radio stations, 75 TV channels, four news agencies, and hundreds of publications including at least seven daily newspapers. Internet cafes can be found in major cities, and 61 percent of Afghans have mobile phones, which some use to listen to radio.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Development, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Central Asia, and Taliban

248. Renewing Federalism by Reforming Article V: Defects in the Constitutional Amendment Process and a Reform Proposal

Author:
Michael B. Rappaport
Publication Date:
01-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The constitutional amendment procedure of Article V is defective because the national convention amendment method does not work. Because no amendment can be enacted without Congress's approval, limitations on the federal government that Congress opposes are virtually impossible to pass. This defect may have prevented the enactment of several constitutional amendments that would have constrained Congress, such as amendments establishing a balanced budget limitation, a line-item veto, or congressional term limits. The increasingly nationalist character of our constitutional charter may not be the result of modern values or circumstances, but an artifact of a distorted amendment procedure. Article V should be reformed to allow two-thirds of the state legislatures to propose a constitutional amendment which would then be ratified or rejected by the states, acting through state conventions or state ballot measures. Such a return of power to the states would militate against our overly centralized government by helping to restore the federalist character of our Constitution. Moreover, a strategy exists that would allow this reform to be enacted.
Topic:
Civil Society, Government, Law Enforcement, and Law
Political Geography:
United States

249. Lebanon's Palestinian Dilemma: The Struggle over Nahr al-Bared

Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
2012 marks the fifth anniversary of one of Lebanon' s bloodiest battles since the end of the civil war: the deadly, three - month war pitting a jihadi group against the army in the Nahr al - Bared Palestinian refugee camp. Since then, the camp ' s displaced and resident population has suffered from slow reconstruct ion of their residences, a heavy security presence that restricts their movement and livelihood as well as the absence of a legitimate Palestinian body to represent their interests. Today, there are bigger and more urgent fish to fry, none more so than dealing with the ripple effects of Syria ' s raging internal conflict on inter - sectarian relations in Lebanon and the risk that the country once again could plunge into civil war. But it would be wrong to toss the refugee camp question aside, for here too resides a potential future flare - up.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, Bilateral Relations, and Governance
Political Geography:
Middle East, Arabia, and Syria

250. Dallying with Reform in a Divided Jordan

Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Something is brewing in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. It is not so much that protests have been spreading since 2011; the country has experienced these before and so far they remain relatively small. It is, rather, who is behind them and from where dissatisfaction stems. East Bankers – Jordanians who inhabited the area before the arrival of the first Palestinian refugees in 1948 – have long formed the pillar of support for a regime that played on their fears concerning the Palestinian-origin majority. That pillar is showing cracks. The authorities retain several assets: popular anxiety about instability; U.S. and Gulf Arab political and material support; and persistent intercommunal divisions within the opposition. But in a fast-changing region, they would be reckless to assume they can avoid both far-reaching change and turmoil. Ultimately, they must either undertake the former one or experience the latter.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Civil Society, Democratization, Regime Change, and Political Activism
Political Geography:
United States, Middle East, Arabia, and Jordan