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312. Retooling U.S. Policy For Peace In Colombia
- Author:
- Milburn Line
- Publication Date:
- 02-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace Justice, University of San Diego
- Abstract:
- It is time to reconsider U.S. policy in Colombia, including adding a peace agenda to our strategy. Following problematic and inconclusive results of more than a decade of support known as Plan Colombia, which is largely directed to the Colombian military, the Obama administration should retool U.S. policy. Adding support for a peace process offers specific policy benefits , including: protecting civilian populations by reducing violations of human rights and humanitarian law; strengthening democratic practice and creating consensus on a post-conflict Colombia; improving relations between Colombia and its neighbors; creating clearer policy channels for other U.S. priorities, including free trade and efforts to control the illicit narcotics trade; and renewing respect for American leadership in the region.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Cold War, Armed Struggle, and Territorial Disputes
- Political Geography:
- United States, Colombia, and Latin America
313. Growing Jasmines: What should the EU do in Tunisia now?
- Author:
- Fabrizio Tassinari, Ulla Holm, and Helle Malmvig
- Publication Date:
- 01-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The EU misread the situation in Tunisia. However, the fact that the EU approach did not work as expected should not lead now to a hasty overhaul of the existing policy framework. But the EU will have to be clearer, smarter and stricter about how its policy instruments are implemented.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Regime Change, and Bilateral Relations
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Arabia, and North Africa
314. Central Asia: Decay and Decline
- Publication Date:
- 02-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Quietly but steadily Central Asia's basic human and physical infrastructure – the roads, power plants, hospitals and schools and the last generation of Soviet-trained specialists who have kept this all running – is disappearing. The equipment is wearing out, the personnel retiring or dying. Post-independence regimes made little effort to maintain or replace either, and funds allocated for this purpose have largely been eaten up by corruption. This collapse has already sparked protests and contributed to the overthrow of a government.
- Topic:
- Political Violence, Government, Fragile/Failed State, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Central Asia
315. Somalia: The Transitional Government on Life Support
- Publication Date:
- 02-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has squandered the goodwill and support it received and achieved little of significance in the two years it has been in office. It is inept, increasingly corrupt and hobbled by President Sharif's weak leadership. So far, every effort to make the administration modestly functional has come unstuck. The new leaner cabinet looks impressive on paper but, given divisive politics and the short timeframe, is unlikely to deliver significant progress on key transitional objectives, such as stabilising Somalia and delivering a permanent constitution before August 2011, when the TFG's official mandate ends. Although the Transitional Federal Parliament unilaterally has awarded itself a further three-year-extension, urgent attention needs to be given to the government's structural flaws that stymie peacebuilding in central and south Somalia. If the TFG does not make serious progress on correcting its deficiencies by August, the international community should concentrate its support on the more effective local entities, until a more appropriate and effective national government is negotiated.
- Topic:
- Political Violence, Government, Insurgency, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Africa
316. Cutting Bread or Cutting Throats? – Findings from a New Database on Religion, Violence and Peace in Sub – Saharan Africa, 1990 to 2008
- Author:
- Matthias Basedau, Johannes Vüllers, and Georg Strüver
- Publication Date:
- 02-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Global and Area Studies
- Abstract:
- Despite the religious diversity in sub–Saharan Africa and the religious overtones in a number of African conflicts, social science research has inadequately addressed the question of how and to what extent religion matters for conflict in Africa. This paper presents an innovative data inventory on religion and violent conflict in all sub–Saharan countries for the period 1990–2008 that seeks to contribute to filling the gap. The data underscore that religion has to be accounted for in conflict in Africa. Moreover, results show the multidimensionality (e.g. armed conflicts with religious incompatibilities, several forms of non‐state religious violence) and ambivalence (inter‐religious networks, religious peace initiatives) of religion vis–à–vis violence. In 22 of the 48 sub–Saharan countries, religion plays a substantial role in violence, and six countries in particular—Chad, Congo‐Brazzaville, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sudan and Uganda— are heavily affected by different religious aspects of violence.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Post Colonialism, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Africa
317. Nigeria's Elections: Reversing the Degeneration?
- Publication Date:
- 02-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- The April 2011 general elections – if credible and peaceful – would reverse the degeneration of the franchise since Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999, yield more representative and legitimate institutions and restore faith in a democratic trajectory. Anything similar to the 2007 sham, however, could deepen the vulnerability of West Africa's largest country to conflict, further alienate citizens from the political elite and reinforce violent groups' narratives of bad governance and exclusion. Flawed polls, especially if politicians stoke ethnic or religious divides, may ignite already straining fault lines, as losers protest results. Despite encouraging electoral preparations, serious obstacles remain. Many politicians still seem determined to use violence, bribery or rigging to win the spoils of office. In the remaining weeks, national institutions, led by the Independent National Election Commission (INEC), should redouble efforts to secure the poll's integrity, tackle impunity for electoral crimes, increase transparency and bolster safeguards, including by publicising results polling station by polling station and rejecting bogus returns.
- Topic:
- Political Violence, Civil Society, Democratization, Human Rights, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Nigeria
318. Popular Protest in North Africa and the Middle East (I): Egypt Victorious?
- Publication Date:
- 02-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- It is early days, and the true measure of what the Egyptian people have accomplished has yet to fully sink in. Some achievements are as clear as they are stunning. Over a period of less than three weeks, they challenged conventional chestnuts about Arab lethargy; transformed national politics; opened up the political space to new actors; massively reinforced protests throughout the region; and called into question fundamental pillars of the Middle East order. They did this without foreign help and, indeed, with much of the world timidly watching and waffling according to shifting daily predictions of their allies' fortunes. The challenge now is to translate street activism into inclusive, democratic institutional politics so that a popular protest that culminated in a military coup does not end there. The backdrop to the uprising has a familiar ring. Egypt suffered from decades of authoritarian rule, a lifeless political environment virtually monopolised by the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP); widespread corruption, cronyism and glaring inequities; and a pattern of abuse at the hands of unaccountable security forces. For years, agitation against the regime spread and, without any credible mechanism to express or channel public discontent, increasingly took the shape of protest movements and labour unrest.
- Topic:
- Political Violence, Democratization, and Insurgency
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Arab Countries
319. Risk and Resilience in Three Southeast Asian Cross-Border Areas: The Greater Mekong Subregion, the Heart of Borneo and the Coral Triangle
- Author:
- Fitrian Ardiansyah and Desak Putu Adhityani Putri
- Publication Date:
- 02-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
- Abstract:
- This paper investigates the security impacts of climate change in three Southeast Asian cross-border areas– the Greater Mekong Subregion, the Heart of Borneo and the Coral Triangle – through an examination of the ways in which climate change results in human insecurity and possibly social unrest, tension and conflict. The three cross-border areas are significant in that they host unique but threatened large-scale freshwater, terrestrial forest, coastal and marine ecosystems. In addition, they are home to more than 400 million people and provide important ecosystem goods and services to many countries in the region. This paper explores and evaluates regional agreements and actions in each of the three areas, with an emphasis on the mainstreaming of climate adaptation as well as mitigation in the development agenda. The analysis also points to the importance of reaching out to other actors beyond state and intergovernmental ones if adaptation and mitigation efforts were to succeed. There is a need to identify other actors, such as the business sector, local communities and the public, with the aim of getting them involved in these important issues.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Political Violence, Climate Change, Territorial Disputes, and Water
- Political Geography:
- Asia
320. Le Nord-ouest du Tchad: la prochaine zone à haut risque ?
- Publication Date:
- 02-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Depuis plus de cinq ans, alors que la rébellion armée de l'Est du Tchad et la crise du Darfour focalisent l'attention, le Nord-ouest du pays a suscité peu d'intérêts. Cependant, l'ampleur de plus en plus grande du trafic international de drogues et du terrorisme dans la bande sahélo-saharienne, l'émergence d'un islamisme combattant dans les pays voisins, l'intensification des ressentiments intercommunautaires et l'érosion des mécanismes de justice traditionnelle, la sous-administration et l'abandon qui caractérisent la politique gouvernementale à l'égard de cette région, risquent de devenir des facteurs de déstabilisation. Les autorités tchadiennes doivent changer de mode de gouvernance dans cette région et désamorcer les différentes sources de tensions ou les risques de déstabilisation avant que ceux-ci n'atteignent un seuil critique.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Islam, Insurgency, and Narcotics Trafficking
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Nigeria