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261. Robust Peacekeeping: The Politics of Force

Author:
Jean-Marie Guéhenno
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
Robust peacekeeping and, in particular, protection of civilians garnered significant attention in 2009. In January, the Australian and Uruguayan governments hosted a conference on civilian protection designed to convince wary member states. In November, the Security Council's open debate on protection of civilians in armed conflict consid-ered the findings of an independent panel on implementing protection mandates. Looking ahead, the Council's mandate renewal for the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC), scheduled for December 2009, is expected to strengthen the mission's protection capacity. Furthermore, in April 2010, the International Forum for the Challenges of Peace Operations in Australia will also focus on protection issues. These discussions have taken place against the backdrop of a number of reform efforts, including the Department of Peacekeeping/Department of Field Support “New Horizon” project and the French/UKinitiative in the Security Council – itself motivated by the siege of Goma in 2008.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Security, Peace Studies, and War

262. A Conversation with Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland and Nobel Laureate

Author:
Martti Ahtisaari
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Columbia University World Leaders Forum
Abstract:
This program features a conversation between Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland and Nobel Laureate, and Ambassador Alvaro de Soto.
Topic:
Human Rights and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Europe and Finland

263. The Future of the CFE Treaty

Author:
Jeffrey D. McCausland
Publication Date:
07-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
The future of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, widely considered to be the cornerstone of European security, was thrown into stark question when the Russian Federation announced in December 2007 that it would suspend its participation in the treaty. The 1990 treaty, considered the most ambitious and far ranging conventional arms control treaty in history, established limits on the numbers of conventional military hardware deployed in Europe, required substantial reductions in conventional arsenals, and created an intrusive regime of inspections and verification. In many ways, the treaty changed the face of European security by establishing new, cooperative political-military relationships.
Topic:
Peace Studies, Treaties and Agreements, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe

264. Annual Review of Global Peace Operations 2008

Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
Global demand for peacekeepers continued to rise in 2007. By the end of the year, there were over 160,000 peacekeepers in the field. The UN remained the centerpiece of the international peacekeeping system, providing nearly 50 percent of all peacekeepers in the field. In 2007, the UN's deployments of uniformed personnel grew by 10 percent to 83,000 personnel. In addition, there were nearly 20,000 civilian staff serving in UN peace operations.
Topic:
Security, International Cooperation, Peace Studies, and United Nations

265. In Pursuit of Sustainable Peace: The Seven Deadly Sins of Mediation

Author:
Lakhdar Brahimi and Salman Ahmed
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
One of the most important roles played by the civilian leadership of a peace operation is to help the parties to a conflict resolve their fundamental political differences through dialogue and compromise, rather than through violence. This role can be described in various ways: diplomatic efforts, mediation, peace-making, political facilitation, political process management or, simply, as the “political role” of the operation. It is an extremely difficult undertaking by any name, where success is difficult to achieve, but mistakes come easily. Some of these mistakes can have fatal consequences for the peace process in which the operation is embedded, and are referred to here as “the seven deadly sins.” These are: ignorance; arrogance; partiality; impotence; haste; inflexibility; and false promises.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, International Organization, and Peace Studies

266. How Soon Can Donors Exit From Post-Conflict States?

Author:
Satish Chand and Ruth Coffman
Publication Date:
02-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
When can a donor (successfully) exit from an on-the -ground presence in a post-conflict state? The answer, according to the analysis presented here, is in decades: figures well beyond what was originally envisioned when peacekeeping troops were first deployed. In the specific cases of Liberia, Mozambique, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste considered here, the best case scenario for successful exit ranges from 15 to 27 years. Successful exit, for the purposes of this paper, entails the creation of the necessary fiscal space to fund the recurrent budget from internally generated revenues. This is a necessary, albeit, not sufficient condition for donor exit. Of essence, however, is the time rather than the dollar value of support provided. An extended donor presence, it is argued, provides the space for the creation, sustenance, and maturation of institutions that are finally able to undergird the state from rolling back into state failure on donor exit.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Development, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Africa, Asia, Liberia, Mozambique, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste

267. Germany, Afterwards

Author:
Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Human Rights and Human Welfare - Review Essays
Institution:
Josef Korbel Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver
Abstract:
Do human rights scholars need to learn more about the minutiae of the Nazi period, or the immediate post-war period? One wonders whether there is any benefit, other than one of historical interest, to learning about the way African-American soldiers and their children with white German women were treated under the American occupation of Germany. Similarly, one might wonder whether the study of continued German and American Catholic anti-Semitism after 1945 can be of any benefit, when the largest question concerning Jews in the 21st century is the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Moreover, in an age when mass rape in warfare is common, it may be mere prurience to read about mass rapes of German women by Russian soldiers. And since the fall of the Berlin Wall, do we need to know that East German Communists were often as corrupt as their Nazi predecessors?
Topic:
Civil Society and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Africa, America, Europe, Palestine, and Germany

268. Enforcing Peace Agreements through Commitment Technologies

Author:
S. Mansoob Murshed and Philip Verwimp
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This paper models the instability of peace agreements, motivated by the empirical regularity with which peace agreements tend to break down following civil war. When war provides opportunities for profit to one side, or when other difficulties such as historical grievances exist, peace may become incentive incompatible. The party that has something to gain from surprise warfare may agree to peace, but will later renege on it. It is shown that the levels of conflict chosen by this group are an increasing function of both grievance and greed, but decreasing in the direct costs of war. Peace is achievable via externally devised mechanisms that enhance commitment to peace. Aid and direct military peacekeeping intervention (sanctions) can reduce or eliminate conflict. These sanctions, however, need to be credible. Finally, the independent provision and finance of international sanctions are considered. When these arrangements yield little benefit to financial sponsors, or are very costly to them, the bite of the sanctions can become ineffective.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Economics, Peace Studies, and Treaties and Agreements

269. A Comprehensive and Inclusive Peace Process for Chad

Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
Analysts, policy makers and experts are now accepting that the conflicts in Chad and Sudan have mutually reinforcing dynamics. Chad's internal political instability is having devastating consequences on the peace processes in Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR). The U.N. Security Council Sanctions Committee Panel of Experts on Sudan stated that Chad supports Sudanese insurgent groups with arms, ammunition, vehicles, food, training and safe haven Violations of humanitarian law and international human rights continue unabated in the region and violators in eastern Chad operate in an environment of almost total impunity. A new U.S. Government strategy must be created to stabilize Chad and bring to an end the continued degradation of conditions in the region. This strategy must work in parallel with the peace process for Sudan and with the efforts led by the “Contact Group” to normalize Chad-Sudan relations.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Health, Human Rights, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, Peace Studies, United Nations, and War
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, and Sudan

270. Resource Scarcity: Responding to the Security Challenge

Author:
Richard A. Matthew
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
For over two centuries, the social effects of natural resource scarcity have been the subject of lively debate. On one side are those who contend that the planet's resource endowment cannot support increased consumption indefinitely. In 1798, for example, Thomas Malthus wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population, in which he argued “that the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man.” The imbalance between human needs and food availability, Malthus predicted, would lead to famine, disease, and war. Writing 150 years later, Fairfield Osborn (1948: 200-201) reiterated this concern: “When will it be openly recognized that one of the principal causes of the aggressive attitudes of individual nations and of much of the present discord among groups of nations is traceable to diminishing productive lands and to increasing population pressures?” More recently, updated versions of the “scarcity conflict thesis,” developed by scholars such as Paul Ehrlich (1968), Donella Meadows (1972) and Thomas Homer-Dixon (1999), have been influential in both academic and policy circles around the world.
Topic:
Security, Agriculture, Demographics, Globalization, and Peace Studies