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162. Time to Move from Tactics to Strategy on Iran
- Publication Date:
- 04-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- President Barack Obama faces a relatively short timeframe in which to peacefully address the most significant near-term foreign policy and security challenge for his second term. Due to Iran's persistent nuclear advances, Obama's repeated pledge that the United States would stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons could well be tested in the coming months, requiring intensified diplomatic engagement and careful calculation of the repercussions (regionally and globally) of a military response.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Economics, Humanitarian Aid, Sanctions, and Nuclear Power
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iran, and Atlantic Ocean
163. The UN Security Council and Iraq
- Author:
- David M. Malone and Poorvi Chitalkar
- Publication Date:
- 11-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- The UN Security Council, largely handicapped by the Cold War until the late 1980s, has become considerably more proactive over the last twenty-five years. The results are mixed. One constant for the Council since 1980 is that it has been at grips with conflicts involving Iraq — conflicts with Iraq's neighbours and also internal strife prior to and particularly since 2003. Every instrument at the Council's disposal, including all the coercive ones, have been invoked at one time or another against authorities in Iraq or to assist them. After a promising beginning in helping to end the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), and in mandating the expulsion of Iraqi forces from Kuwait, which Baghdad had sought to annex in 1990, the Council's silent tolerance of intrusive international humanitarian activities in Iraq's Kurdish provinces as of 1991 was ground-breaking. Nevertheless, the Council's post-war strategy for Iraq outlined in Resolution 687 of 1991 wound up over-reaching, involved serious unintended consequences arising from an overzealous sanctions regime (and a related humanitarian program the UN did not possess the administrative machinery to oversee effectively), and eventually sundered relations among the Permanent Five (P-5) members of the Council through a series of fractious episodes from 1988 to 2003. This working paper outlines a three-decade span of Security Council resolutions, actions and impasses on Iraq, investigating closely the period of diplomatic confrontation in 2002–2003 culminating in unilateral military action to remove Saddam Hussein from power by the US, the UK and a very few others without a mandate from the Council to do so. The UN was subsequently mostly side-lined in and on Iraq. The paper considers damage to perceptions of the Council legitimacy stemming from the events of 2002–2003 and assesses its evolving approach to international security in Iraq and beyond since then.
- Topic:
- Security, Cold War, Humanitarian Aid, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Iraq
164. National R2P Focal Points Recommendations
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- In 2005 at the United Nations World Summit, states unanimously committed to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity by adopting the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). R2P affirms an individual state's primary responsibility to protect its population from these four crimes along with the collective international responsibility to take appropriate measures to help protect populations at risk.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Political Violence, Arms Control and Proliferation, Human Rights, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, and War
- Political Geography:
- United Nations
165. Putting the pieces together: Haiti's path to a working state
- Author:
- Blanca Antonini
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
- Abstract:
- The earthquake of 2010 brutally exposed the vulnerabilities of Haiti's people, as well as confronting an already weakly governed country with massive humanitarian and logistical dilemmas. While progress has been made towards reconstruction, the underlying fragility of the country remains. Even as certain donors reconsider their aid to the country, Haiti continues to suffer from economic dependence, environmental risk, an institutional vacuum, a heavily fragmented political landscape, and a continuing cycle of poverty and violence.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Development, Humanitarian Aid, and Natural Disasters
- Political Geography:
- Caribbean and Haiti
166. Relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic
- Author:
- Blanca Antonini
- Publication Date:
- 02-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
- Abstract:
- Haiti and the Dominican Republic (DR), the two adjacent countries that comprise the island of Quisqueya, have wide asymmetries and similarities. Due to poverty, nearly a third of Haitians migrate in search of work, including to the DR, and Haiti relies on foreign assistance for food security. The DR's economy exhibits considerable dynamism, but depends on cheap labour from Haiti and remittances from its own expatriates. Both countries have a common habitat and ecosystem, and their populations have a large proportion of youth.
- Topic:
- Security, Economics, Humanitarian Aid, Migration, Poverty, Bilateral Relations, Labor Issues, and Food
- Political Geography:
- Caribbean, Haiti, Island, and Quisqueya
167. Food Crisis in the Horn of Africa: Progress Report, July 2011 - July 2012
- Author:
- Sophie Mack Smith
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- The 2011 drought across the Horn of Africa was, in some places, the worst to hit the region for 60 years. It was first predicted about a year beforehand, when sophisticated regional early warning systems began to alert the world to the possibility of drier-than-normal conditions in key pastoral areas of Ethiopia, Somalia and Northern Kenya, linked to the effects of the climatic phenomenon La Niña.
- Topic:
- Security, Development, Humanitarian Aid, Food, and Famine
- Political Geography:
- Kenya, Africa, Ethiopia, and Somalia
168. L'Est du Congo: pourquoi la stabilisation a échoué
- Publication Date:
- 10-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Depuis la mutinerie de Bosco Ntaganda en avril 2012 et la formation du Mouvement du 23 mars (M23), les Kivus sont en proie à une nouvelle spirale de violence. Cette crise révèle que les problèmes d'aujourd'hui sont les problèmes d'hier car le cadre de résolution du conflit défini en 2008 n'a pas été mis en oeuvre. L'application de l'accord du 23 mars 2009 entre le gouvernement et le Conseil national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP) a été un jeu de dupes au cours duquel les autorités congolaises ont fait semblant d'intégrer politiquement le CNDP tandis que celui-ci a fait semblant d'intégrer l'armée congolaise. Faute de réforme de cette dernière, la pression militaire sur les groupes armés n'a eu qu'un impact éphémère et la reconstruction post-conflit n'a pas été accompagnée des réformes de gouvernance et du dialogue politique indispensables. Pour sortir de la gestion de crise et résoudre ce conflit qui dure depuis presque deux décennies dans les Kivus, les bailleurs doivent exercer des pressions sur Kigali et Kinshasa.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Ethnic Conflict, Human Rights, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, and Fragile/Failed State
- Political Geography:
- Africa
169. Pakistan: No End to Humanitarian Crises
- Publication Date:
- 10-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- With three years of devastating floods putting the lives and livelihoods of at least four million citizens at risk, and military operations against militants displacing thousands more in the conflict zones of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Pakistan's humanitarian crises need urgent do-mestic and international attention. Since the democratic transition began in 2008, some progress has been made, but much more is needed to build the federal and provin-cial governments' disaster and early recovery response. Efforts to enhance civilian ownership and control have also had mixed results, particularly in the conflict zones, where the military remains the dominant actor. To effectively confront the challenges, the most urgent tasks remain to strengthen the civilian government's capacity to plan for and cope with humanitarian crises and to prioritise social sector and public infrastructure development. It is equally important that all assistance and support be non-discrimi-natory and accompanied by credible mechanisms for citi-zens to hold public officials accountable.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, Disaster Relief, and Humanitarian Aid
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan and South Asia
170. Post-2015 Development Agenda: Goals, Targets and Indicators
- Author:
- Barry Carin, Nicole Bates-Eamer, Min Ha Lee, Wonhyuk Lim, and Mukesh Kapila
- Publication Date:
- 10-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- In September 2000, world leaders at the United Nations Millennium Summit recognized a collective responsibility to work toward “a more peaceful, prosperous and just world” (UN, 2000). The MDGs reaffirmed this vision and launched an ambitious global partnership for development, setting specific targets to be met by 2015 and using numerical indicators to measure progress. The MDGs recognized the stark reality of widespread human deprivation and environmental degradation, and galvanized support to reduce poverty, achieve basic education and health, and promote gender equality and environmental sustainability.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Humanitarian Aid, United Nations, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment