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1111. Building Blocks for Citizenship and a Peaceful Transition in Sudan

Author:
Kelly Campbell, Linda Bishai, and Jacki Wilson
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Sudan's upcoming elections in 2009 raise hopes and concerns for the country's future. According to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed in 2005 between the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), Sudan is scheduled to hold national and state level elections in 2009. (Elections are to take place for president of the Government of National Unity, president of the Government of Southern Sudan, members of the National Assembly and the South Sudan Legislative Assembly, and governors and state legislatures in all of Sudan's 25 states) However, delays in each phase of electoral preparation—including the passage of the electoral law, the appointment of the nine National Election Commission members responsible for overseeing elections, and the census—have raised doubts about whether the elections will be held within the timeframe outlined in the CPA.
Topic:
Political Violence, Civil Society, Democratization, Government, Peace Studies, and War
Political Geography:
Africa, Sudan, and South Sudan

1112. The Resilience of Authoritarian Rule in Syria under Hafez and Bashar Al-Asad

Author:
Annette Büchs
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This paper seeks an explanation for the resilience of the Syrian authoritarian regime under Hafez and Bashar Al-Asad. It will be argued that this resilience is to a relevant extent caused by the fact that the regime's “material” as well as “ideational” forms of power share a common element, if not an underlying principle. This generates their compatibility and congruency and thus produces a convergence of forces which manifests in the regime's ability to exceed the mere sum of its individual forms of power. It will be demonstrated that this common principle can be conceptualized as a “tacit pact” between unequal parties, with the weaker party under constant threat of exclusion and/or coercion in the event of noncompliance. It will be argued that inherent in the pact is a high level of ambiguity; this, paradoxically, renders it more effective but at the same time also more instable as a tool of domination.
Topic:
Government, Post Colonialism, and Political Theory
Political Geography:
Middle East, Arabia, and Syria

1113. Confronting reality: responding to war criminals living in Australia

Author:
Fergus Hanson
Publication Date:
02-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:
It was as recently as 1994 that 800,000 Rwandans were systematically slaughtered and the world was reminded that genocide is still possible. July the following year it happened again, when more than 7,000 men were murdered in the Srebrenica massacre. Today, the killing continues in places like Darfur where the death toll now stands in the hundreds of thousands and the Democratic Republic of Congo where the toll stands in the millions. The crimes committed in these and the many other conflicts of recent decades – the mass killing of civilian populations, the rape of countless women and widespread use of torture – have shaken the conscience of the world.
Topic:
Crime, Government, International Cooperation, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Australia/Pacific

1114. Somalia's New Government and the Challenge of Al-Shabab

Author:
David H. Shinn
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
CTC Sentinel
Institution:
The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:
After the september 11 attacks, the Bush administration's foreign policy toward Somalia focused primarily on counterterrorism. This focus was a result of Somalia's proximity to the Middle East, U.S. concern that al-Qa'ida might relocate to the country, a history of terrorist bombings targeting Western interests in nearby Kenya and Tanzania and early contact between al-Qa'ida and individuals in Somalia. Although ties exist between al-Qa'ida and Somalia's al-Shabab militant group, the overwhelming objective of U.S. policy in Somalia should not be confronting international terrorist activity. Instead, the United States should contribute to creating a moderate government of national unity in Somalia, which offers the best hope of minimizing Somali links to international terrorism. Long-term U.S. interests in the Horn of Africa will not be served by a policy that is consumed with military action to the detriment of supporting economic development and a broad based Somali government.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, Middle East, Tanzania, and Somalia

1115. Alan Greenspan Explains "Mistake" behind Global Meltdown

Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
European Affairs
Institution:
The European Institute
Abstract:
The American economic guru explains how he missed the signs that the economy was going off a cliff during the decade he was chairing "the Fed," the body that functions as the U.S. central bank. A strong believer that markets can self-regulate thanks to the enlightened self-interest of the players, he failed to recognize the danger signals of the U.S. financial collapse that also engulfed Europe.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Europe

1116. Europe Should Tackle Gazprom Monopoly

Author:
C. Boyden Gray
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
European Affairs
Institution:
The European Institute
Abstract:
Europe's worst energy vulnerability - natural gas - has environmental implications. Without more supplies, power for growth is likely to be fueled by coal and accelerate global warming. Russia could export more gas (and flare less) if the Kremlin broke up the domestic pipeline monopoly enjoyed by Gazprom. Europe could use its "competition authority" to challenge it.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Germany

1117. Gazprom: The Octopus in Europe's Energy Market

Author:
Stuart Weaver
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
European Affairs
Institution:
The European Institute
Abstract:
Gazprom, the Russian monopoly, has been on a shopping spree to acquire commercial interests (and political leverage) in "downstream" gas and energy companies and distributors in Europe. Here is a partial list of those European holdings gleaned from the chapter entitled "Buying Europe: Purchase as Politics" in a new book on this monopolistic strategy by Janusz Bugajski.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and Europe

1118. Talking Business Facts about Europe's Gas Problems

Author:
J. Robinson West
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
European Affairs
Institution:
The European Institute
Abstract:
A practitioner in the oil and gas business warns that Europe's worst weakness regarding natural gas supplies comes from the absence of a free internal market in natural gas among the EU nations. Freeing up the flows in Europe would drastically reduce the rigidities that Gazprom exploits. A good investment would be gas storage facilities, but such infrastructure is costly.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

1119. Baltic, Arctic and Atlantic Surveillance: Nordic Maritime Cooperation Comes In Out of the Cold

Author:
Valentina Pop
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
European Affairs
Institution:
The European Institute
Abstract:
Responding to the emergence of a "new" sea as ice recedes in the Arctic, the Nordic Council has started planning for broader and more integrated systems that can monitor traffic and provide early-warning of accidents. Politically, this will be a precedent in bringing together NATO nations, EU countries and neutrals - with the potential for wider links that might include Russia.
Topic:
NATO and Government
Political Geography:
Europe and Norway

1120. Can "Obama Net" Become a Tool of Presidential Rule?

Author:
Andrew Rasiej
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
European Affairs
Institution:
The European Institute
Abstract:
Obama's dazzling digital success is often reduced to his use of the web to mobilize voters. That was simply using new technology for an old process. The real innovation is much more radical, involving new forms of social networking and bottom-up pressures for "participatory democracy." Leaders need a new mind-set. The paradigm shift should be grasped in Europe, too.
Topic:
International Relations and Government
Political Geography:
Europe