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742. Autonomy and Domination within the Global Trade System: Developing Countries in the Quest for a Democratic WTO
- Author:
- Anna Lanoszka
- Publication Date:
- 10-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
- Abstract:
- Power relations shape the world economy. The system of international economic transactions has been persistently asymmetrical as it consists of highly industrialized states as well as of many poorer countries at different levels of economic development. The dominant position of the rich developed countries cannot be simply assumed away, even in the rules-based World Trade Organization (WTO) guided by the principles of international law.
- Topic:
- International Relations, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, Treaties and Agreements, and World Trade Organization
743. Afghans, International Community Chart A Joint Path Forward
- Author:
- Emily Hsu and Beth DeGrasse
- Publication Date:
- 02-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- The Afghan government and international community have charted out a joint strategy to tackle the country's most pressing challenge: building state institutions. Approved earlier this month at a conference in London, the Afghanistan Compact maps out the country's way ahead and reaffirms the shared commitment of the international community. USIP held a Current Issues Briefing in early February 2006 to review the Afghanistan Compact. The speakers at the briefing were Barnett Rubin, director of studies at the Center on International Cooperation at New York University, and Alex Thier, senior advisor in USIP's Rule of Law program. Beth DeGrasse, coordinator of USIP's Afghanistan Working Group, moderated the discussion.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Government, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, New York, and Asia
744. The Impact of Spoilers on Peace Processes and Peacebuilding
- Author:
- Edward Newman and Oliver Richmond
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Many ceasefires and peace agreements in civil wars are initially unsuccessful and give way to renewed violence. In other cases, peace processes have become interminably protracted: lengthy and circular negotiations in which concessions are rare and even if agreements are reached they falter at the implementation phase. State-building and peacebuilding processes are also often subject to outbreaks of violence, as recent experience in Afghanistan, Haiti, Iraq, Kosovo and East Timor illustrate. Given the huge material and human costs of a failed peace process, the consolidation of conflict settlement and dealing with threats to peacebuilding are critical challenges for the international community. After a history of painful experience in cases such as Angola and Bosnia, the importance of this was finally addressed in December 2005 by the UN Security Council in Resolution 1645 which calls for the creation of a UN Peacebuilding Commission. Th is new organ is expected to improve coordination amongst, and effectiveness of, all agencies involved in peacebuilding, peacekeeping, disarmament and demobilization, development, human rights issues, and the administration of former conflict zones.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Peace Studies, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Kosovo
745. How Not to Make Peace: "Conflict Syndrome" and the Demise of the Oslo Accords
- Author:
- Robert L. Rothstein
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- The failure of the Oslo Accords has been attributed to a variety of factors, including deficiencies in the accords themselves, failures of implementation, and the play of domestic politics. These are all critical factors that describe what happened, but they do not explain why each side behaved as it did—that is, why each side made choices that would only increase the likelihood of the accords' failure. To understand why each side behaved as it did, we must first understand the “conflict syndrome” that affected the negotiating and decision-making process—a syndrome that is, to varying degrees, present in many protracted conflicts. While the conflict syndrome is never the sole cause of failure in any given peace process and does not affect every conflict in the same way, the significant role it often plays in perpetuating conflict is frequently ignored or undervalued.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Peace Studies, Politics, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Oslo
746. Northern Ireland: Prospects for Progress in 2006?
- Author:
- Stephen Farry
- Publication Date:
- 09-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- The British and Irish governments have declared that talks in 2006 will be “make or break” for reestablishing the political institutions that have been suspended since 2002. There is a serious prospect that the Assembly, the agreement's key institution, could be dissolved. Political polarization has created a new context for mediators, in which the relatively extreme Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin have overtaken their more moderate unionist and nationalist rivals in the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), respectively. Having historically based their efforts on trying to build an agreement primarily around the moderates, the governments are in uncharted waters in trying to reach a renewed accommodation. Furthermore, the package of incentives and disincentives available to the governments may not be sufficient to persuade the DUP and Sinn Féin to reach accommodation. The key issues in forthcoming negotiations will be the Independent Monitoring Commission's verification of the end to all Irish Republican Army (IRA) activity, agreement on the modalities for the devolution of policing and criminal justice powers, and some changes to the details of the political institutions under the fundamental principles of the agreement. Northern Ireland's Good Friday Agreement has been held up internationally as a model for successful peacekeeping. It has had many successes, most notably the end of republican and loyalist terrorist violence, although some residual paramilitary activity and involvement in organized crime remains a problem. However, the agreement has a number of flaws, many linked to its consociational character. Furthermore, major mistakes have been made during the attempts to achieve its full implementation. The prolonged suspensions of the political institutions are its most visible failure. However, the persistence of deep communal divisions and increased political polarization have been unintended consequences. Peace has come at the price of reconciliation. No fresh accommodation is likely to prove sustainable unless the wider flaws within the agreement are addressed and the lessons from past mistakes with implementation are learned. The British and Irish governments, with the close support and advice of the Bush administration, must avoid the temptation to seek another “quick fix.” If negotiations fail this fall, a return to mass terrorism is unlikely, and the region will remain superficially “normal” in many respects, but Northern Ireland risks emerging as a dysfunctional political entity.
- Topic:
- Development, Government, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom, Europe, and North Ireland
747. The Real Budget Battle: Une crise peut en cacher une autre
- Author:
- Richard E. Baldwin
- Publication Date:
- 06-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The failure to reach a budget deal at the June summit may prove a blessing in disguise. The spectacular failure of the European Council to agree the last-minute compromise on the 2007-2013 Financial Perspective generated massively negative media coverage. In the short run, it will create huge difficulties for the EU, but things might have been even worse had they agreed.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Organization, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe
748. Should ratification proceed? An Assessment of Different Options after the Failed Referenda
- Author:
- Sebastian Kurpas
- Publication Date:
- 06-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- After the resounding Dutch no-vote of 62%, ratification of the Constitutional Treaty has become even less likely than it already was after the political earthquake caused by the French referendum three days before. While the German Chancellor and the French President encourage other countries to continue with the ratification process, the British message is clear: Any attempt to proceed at this point would be pointless. British Foreign Minister Jack Straw found rather subtle words in the House of Commons to describe the situation, but other sources suggest that instead of wasting their time on a lengthy and useless exercise that would cost the EU even more support, European leaders should bury the Constitution at the upcoming European Summit on 16-17 June (or soon afterwards) and then settle for something 'more modest'.
- Topic:
- Government and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe and France
749. Plan B
- Author:
- Richard Baldwin
- Publication Date:
- 06-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The resounding French 'non' will have important consequences for French domestic politics. It may also change the way EU leaders proceed with future Treaties. But I do not believe that it will be the 'political tsunami' for the EU that many observers have predicted. Two reasons buttress this belief.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe and France
750. CATO Institute: Don't Resurrect the Law of the Sea Treaty
- Author:
- Doug Bandow
- Publication Date:
- 10-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- For more than 20 years, the United States has refused to become a party to the Law of the Sea Treaty. Advocates of the treaty, a comprehensive measure governing navigational rights on the sea and mineral rights on the seabed, claimed that U.S. failure to join the convention would result in chaos on the high seas. It has not. Very few Americans know anything about the treaty, and even advocates are hard-pressed to explain how the United States would benefit from its adoption.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, International Law, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- United States