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1. On Iran: Don’t Snap Back, Step Up

Author:
Alistair Millar
Publication Date:
08-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Fourth Freedom Forum
Abstract:
The Trump administration was handed a resounding defeat in the United Nations Security Council at the end of last week when it offered a new resolution to indefinitely extend the UN arms embargo on Iran… Not only is the outcome of this vote embarrassing for the United States, it was the first salvo in a dangerous game of brinksmanship that is likely to be the biggest test of the Security Council’s resolve in the 75-year history of the United Nations.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Diplomacy, United Nations, UN Security Council, and Donald Trump
Political Geography:
Iran, Middle East, North America, and United States of America

2. Friend not Foe: Opening Spaces for Civil Society Engagement to Prevent Violent Extremism

Author:
David Cortright, Alistair Millar, Linda Gerber-Stellingwerf, George A. Lopez, Eliot Fackler, and Joshua Weaver
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Fourth Freedom Forum
Abstract:
One of the less known aspects of the tragic 9/11 events and the subsequent global war on terror is the chilling impact counterterrorism measures have had on civil society and citizens’ agency. Ten years later the phrase ‘war on terror’ is no longer used officially, but measures that curtail the operational and political freedoms of civic organizations worldwide in the name of countering terrorism continue to be real, tangible, and strongly counterproductive.The report by David Cortright et al, Friend not Foe: Opening Spaces for Civil Society Engagement to Prevent Violent Extremism, gives a comprehensive and vivid account of the challenges that civil society groups continue to face worldwide in protecting and expanding their political voice and operational space. The first edition of this report focused primarily on the e8ects of counterterrorism measures on civil society in the Global South. This updated version places the closing of civil society space in a wider global context of securitization of aid, de-funding of civil society, and civil military cooperation. It gives a crystal clear account of the persistent shift in international cooperation policy from sustainable development as an intrinsic public good to development as an instrument for national and geopolitical security and economic goals.
Topic:
Civil Society, Gender Issues, Terrorism, Violent Extremism, Sustainable Development Goals, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3. Overdue Process: Protecting Human Rights while Sanctioning Alleged Terrorists

Author:
David Cortright, Alistair Millar, George A. Lopez, and Linda Gerber-Stellingwerf
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:
Practices used by the United Nations Security Council in the name of countering terrorism have led to serious concerns about violations of human rights and limitations on the work of civil society groups. The use of blacklisting has eroded due process rights and discredited elements of the international fight against terrorism. Enhanced efforts to create clear and fair listing procedures are urgently needed and long overdue.
Topic:
Civil Society, Human Rights, International Organization, Terrorism, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Europe and Taliban

4. Overdue Process: Protecting Human Rights while Sanctioning Alleged Terrorists

Author:
David Cortright, Alistair Millar, George A. Lopez, and Linda Gerber-Stellingwerf
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Fourth Freedom Forum
Abstract:
Practices used by the United Nations Security Council (the “Council”) in the name of countering terrorism have led to serious concerns about violations of human rights and limitations on the work of civil society groups. The use of blacklisting has eroded due process rights and discredited elements of the international fight against terrorism. Enhanced efforts to create clear and fair listing procedures are urgently needed and long overdue.
Topic:
Human Rights, Terrorism, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:
United Nations

5. Oversight or Overlooked? Civil Society's Role in Monitoring and Reforming Security Systems and the Practice of Counterterrorism

Author:
Alistair Millar
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Fourth Freedom Forum
Abstract:
This report considers civil society's role in monitoring Security System Reform (SSR) and counterterrorism both in policy and in practice. The report argues that civil society engagement, particularly with local actors, is central to ensuring proper civilian oversight and the overall effectiveness of both SSR and counterterrorism efforts and examines how efforts to engage civil society may be improved.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, Terrorism, United Nations, and Counterinsurgency

6. The UN Security Council's Counterterrorism Program: What Lies Ahead?

Author:
Alistair Millar, Eric Rosand, and Jason Ipe
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Since September 2001, the Security Council and its various counterterrorism-related subsidiary bodies have made significant contributions to the global counterterrorism campaign, primarily through norm setting and institution building and by keeping terrorism on the political agenda while engaging in dialogue with—and stimulating the activities of—states and multilateral bodies. Yet, rather than together constituting a comprehensive strategy to address the global terrorist threat, each Council initiative has had an improvisational, ad hoc quality. Following each major terrorist attack—often against one of its own members—the Council's response has extended well beyond the specific incident at hand with little regard to its relation to the already existing Council program.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Peace Studies, Terrorism, United Nations, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and International Security

7. Recommendations for Improving the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee’s Assessment and Assistance Coordination Function

Author:
Alistair Millar, Jason Ipe, George A. Lopez, Tona Boyd, Linda Gerber, and David Cortright
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Fourth Freedom Forum
Abstract:
The effectiveness of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) depends on its ability to keep pace with transformations in the global security environment. When the CTC was established in the wake of the September 2001 terrorist attacks, the primary target was understood to be Al Qaeda and its international network of related terrorist groups. In order to secure its central role and relevance among multilateral counter-terrorism efforts, the CTC must find more creative ways to collect, assess, and disseminate information about current counter-terrorism capacities and to facilitate the provision of needed technical assistance by potential donors in a timely and sustainable manner.
Topic:
Security, United Nations, and Counter-terrorism
Political Geography:
Global Focus

8. An Action Agenda for Enhancing the United Nations Program on Counter-Terrorism

Author:
David Cortright, George A. Lopez, Alistair Millar, and Linda Gerber
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Fourth Freedom Forum
Abstract:
The project examines how the CTC and the CTED can more effectively implement the mandates of Security Council Resolutions 1373, 1377, 1456, 1535, and other relevant measures. The project addresses the following specific research topics: financial asset controls; technical assistance to enhance member state implementation capacity; international, regional, and subregional coordination; linkages between counter-terrorism assistance and development aid; and the need to respect human rights while implementing counter-terrorism mandates.
Topic:
International Cooperation, United Nations, Counter-terrorism, and UN Security Council
Political Geography:
Global Focus

9. Toward a More Secure America: Grounding U.S. Policies in Global Realities

Author:
David Cortright, Alistair Millar, George A. Lopez, and Linda M. Gerber
Publication Date:
10-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Fourth Freedom Forum
Abstract:
This policy brief grew out of discussions with a team of former national security and foreign policy officials held at the Washington office of the Fourth Freedom Forum in the summer of 2003. The brief was written by the staff of the Fourth Freedom Forum and the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, who are solely responsible for the report's specific content. The authors incorporated numerous comments and suggestions from the policy advisers. The policy advisers listed below endorse the general thrust of this report and generally agree with the findings presented. Each participant may not, however, be in full agreement with every specific point and detail. The policy advisers listed extend their endorsement as individuals, not as representatives of any organization.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Peace Studies, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Washington

10. Unproven: The Controversy over Justifying War in Iraq

Author:
David Cortright, Alistair Millar, George A. Lopez, and Linda M. Gerber
Publication Date:
06-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Fourth Freedom Forum
Abstract:
The failure of U.S. and British forces in Iraq to find evidence of weapons of mass destruction has sparked controversy on both sides of the Atlantic and in the wider international community. Two contending explanations have been offered for why the Bush administration made apparently questionable claims about weapons of mass destruction. The first alleges an intelligence failure. The best analysts in the CIA simply had no foolproof way of discerning what Saddam had. They gave the administration a wide-ranging set of estimates, from benign to worst-case, and, given the way bureaucracies behave, the president's advisors adopted the worse case scenario. The second claim, more odious in form and substance, is that the administration inflated and manipulated uncertain data, possibly even requesting that material sent to it be redone to fit preconceived notions. The Bush administration has gone to great pains to reassert that it stands by its previous pronouncements that prohibited weapons will be located in due time.
Topic:
International Relations, War, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, and Middle East