Search

Begin New Search Topic International Organization

21. 919-2019: How to Make Peace Last? European Strategy and the Future of the World Order

Author:
Sven Biscop
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
Abstract:
The commemorations of the Great War have come to and end. 2019 will see the centenary of the peace treaties that concluded the war, starting with Versailles, and of the founding of the League of Nations, the predecessor of the United Nations. These failed to establish a stable rules-based world order, but they deserve to be commemorated nonetheless, as well as analysed, for we might learn something from them. This policy brief offers four insights from the Interbellum to help us avoid a collapse of the world order today: (1) A world order that is created for the express purpose of keeping one of the great powers outside the system, is bound to fail. (2) If breaking the rules carries no consequences, the world order will be hollowed out and, eventually, collapse. (3) A great power who refuses to invest in the world order, cannot expect the others to do so. (4) No state voluntarily submits to another: a world order that is only imposed and not accepted, will not last long.
Topic:
International Cooperation, International Organization, United Nations, Military Strategy, Peace, and League of Nations
Political Geography:
Europe

22. People’s Republic of the United Nations: China’s Emerging Revisionism in International Organizations

Author:
Kristine Lee and Alexander Sullivan
Publication Date:
05-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for a New American Security
Abstract:
China is increasingly using its economic, political, and institutional power to change the global governance system from within. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under President Xi Jinping has become more proactive in injecting its ideological concepts into international statements of consensus and harnessing the programmatic dimensions of global governance to advance its own foreign policy strategies, such as “One Belt, One Road.”1 These efforts demand the attention of the United States, its allies and partners, and civil society. If unchecked, they will hasten the export of some of the most harmful aspects of China’s political system, including corruption, mass surveillance, and the repression of individual and collective rights. This report examines China’s approach to seven organs and functions of the United Nations (U.N.): the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Human Rights Council, Peacekeeping Operations, Accreditation for Non-Governmental Organizations, the International Telecommunication Union, UNESCO, and the Office of Drugs and Crime.
Topic:
Economics, International Organization, Politics, United Nations, and Governance
Political Geography:
China and Asia

23. Mosaics of Power: Fragmentation of the Syrian state since 2011

Author:
Helle Malmvig
Publication Date:
08-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
After years of war, the Syrian state apparatus has fragmented into a loosely knit network of overlapping and competing authorities that hold sway over different areas. Multiple groups are enacting and performing what are perceived to be key state tasks, sometimes living side by side, and sometimes fighting, competing and negotiating in overlapping networks of power. These cross-cutting ties defy any easy dichotomies between rebels and government of the sort we have become all too familiar with from military control maps. This does not imply that theSyrian state is on the verge of collapse or sectarian ethnic division. Rather the Syrian government has continued to function internationally as a sovereign state, and it has been able to draw on its administrative and institutional capacities, and even to nurture new and old local power elites in the form of prominent families, business leaders, clans and sheiks. In order to survive, the Assad regime has paradoxically outsourced or co-shared key state functions – the means of violence, border control, taxation and service provision – to or with a multiplicity of foreign and local actors, whether foreign Shia militias, the Kurdish YPG or Local Defense Forces. Many of these foreign powers and militias are likely to remain in Syria after the war in order to secure so-called strategic depth, and they thrive on a certain degree of ‘controlled state chaos’. Similarly, the multiplicity of local actors and intermediaries that have been empowered during the war will not easily relinquish their new found autonomy, and may, just like the Syrian opposition, push the Syrian state towards greater localization and decentralization.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Diplomacy, International Organization, Politics, Science and Technology, Terrorism, Power Politics, Non State Actors, and Fragile States
Political Geography:
Middle East and Syria

24. The 2018 Medicare Trustees Report: Fiscal and Policy Challenges

Author:
Joseph Antos and Robert Moffit
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Medicare’s financial outlook has deteriorated in the past year, according to the latest annual report by the program’s trustees. The Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund is projected to be depleted in 2026, three years earlier than estimated in last year’s report. That understates the policy challenge. Every year, the program relies more on general revenues to cover its costs. In total, Medicare will receive $324 billion in general revenues this year. That will more than double by 2026. Prompt action is needed to put Medicare on a sound financial footing.
Topic:
International Organization
Political Geography:
Global Focus

25. Transforming the Global Refugee System: Solidarity, Humanity and Accountability

Author:
CIGI
Publication Date:
04-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
The World Refugee Council (WRC) was created to build on the momentum generated by UN meetings in New York in September 2016, which saw the unanimous adoption of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, and to develop bold approaches to transform the current refugee system, focusing on the issues of accountability, responsibility sharing and governance, and finance. The WRC offers this interim report, and other discussion and research papers, to raise awareness of these issues and to stimulate ideas for reform that will transform lives.
Topic:
International Organization and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

26. Governing Cooperative Approaches under the Paris Agreement

Author:
Michael A Mehling
Publication Date:
11-2018
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
Parties to the Paris Agreement can engage in voluntary cooperation and use internationally transferred mitigation outcomes towards their national climate pledges. Doing so promises to lower the cost of achieving agreed climate objectives, which can, in turn, allow Parties to increase their mitigation efforts with given resources. Lower costs do not automatically translate into greater climate ambition, however. Transfers that involve questionable mitigation outcomes can effectively increase overall emissions, affirming the need for a sound regulatory framework. As Parties negotiate guidance on the implementation of cooperative approaches under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, they are therefore considering governance options to secure environmental integrity and address the question of overall climate ambition. Drawing on an analytical framework that incorporates economic theory and deliberative jurisprudence, practical case studies, and treaty interpretation, this Working Paper maps central positions of actors in the negotiations and evaluates relevant options included in the latest textual proposal.
Topic:
Climate Change and International Organization
Political Geography:
Global Focus

27. The Future of the Balkans Will Depend on Itself

Author:
Mehmet Ugur Ekinci
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
The decline in the speed of the EU enlargement and in the EU’s transforming power has led to the rise of alarmism among international commentators regarding the future of the Balkans. The argument is usually twofold: if the EU integration of the Balkans is delayed further, not only will ominous third actors jump in and bring instability, but also the Balkan people will start grabbing each other’s throats. This is obviously a hegemonic discourse based on the immutable assumption that the EU is and will be the only legitimate international actor to be present in the region and ensure peace and prosperity there. It also assumes, by disregarding the historical contexts of the earlier conflicts in the region, that the Balkan societies are inherently violent and immature.
Topic:
International Organization
Political Geography:
European Union

28. Permanent Deterrence: Enhancements to the US Military Presence in North Central Europe

Author:
Philip Breedlove
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
In September 2018, the Atlantic Council established a Task Force on US Force Posture in Europe to assess the adequacy of current US deployments, with a focus on North Central Europe. The Task Force is co-chaired by General Philip Breedlove, former supreme allied commander Europe, and Ambassador Alexander Vershbow, former NATO deputy secretary general. A full report will be completed in January 2019. This paper is a summary of the task force’s conclusions and recommendations.
Topic:
International Organization, International Political Economy, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

29. Conference Proceedings 8: Human Rights and Security Sector Governance

Author:
Philipp H. Fluri, Oleksiy Melnyk, Nazli Yildirim, Oleksandr Lytvynenko, Alexander Vinnikov, Philipp Fluri, Svitlana Voitsekhovska, Svyatoslav Stetsenko, Oleksandr Banchuk, Hennadiy Tokarev, Graziella Pavone, Dmitry Poletayev, Karina Priajina, and Jenny Lindqvist
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Razumkov Centre
Abstract:
This publication offers the proceedings of Conference 8 on Human Rights and Security Sector Governance in Ukraine. The 8th conference had a special focus on Gender among other HR-related challenges in Ukraine. It has been noted that further engagement in this area is needed from all the relevant stakeholders, especially in terms of encouraging active participation of women in this and other civil society events. As a result of the working groups, the conclusions and recommendations of last years’ conference on Civil Society (held in March 2016) touching upon similar issues have been revisited. It has been noted that some of the already outlined issues remain a year later and that further persistence in building and coordinating civil society and the media is necessary.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, Gender Issues, Human Rights, International Organization, and Media
Political Geography:
Ukraine, Eastern Europe, and Global Focus

30. Key Issues and Policy Recommendations Compilation

Author:
Philipp H. Fluri, Oleksiy Melnyk, and Nazli Yildirim Schierkolk
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Razumkov Centre
Abstract:
This publication provides an overview of the key issues discussed and policy recommenda- tions proposed during the series of conferences for the project “Monitoring Ukraine’s Security Governance Challenges”. The project was implemented jointly by DCAF and the Razumkov Centre with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. This report compiles key issues and recommendations for all 9 conference and is intended to serve as a reference point for future needs assessments, as well as for further consultations with Ukrainian and international stakeholders. The key issues are categorised thematically, rather than by conference, since certain issues were discussed in several events. Each sub-section concludes with respective policy recommendations.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, Corruption, International Organization, Governance, Democracy, Media, Legislation, and Institutions
Political Geography:
Geneva, Ukraine, Switzerland, and Global Focus