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1732. Peacekeepers at risk: the lethality of peace operations
- Author:
- Jaïr van der Lijn and Jane Dundon
- Publication Date:
- 02-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
- Abstract:
- Over the past two decades, personnel contributions from European and North America countries to United Nations peacekeeping operations and to missions deployed in Africa have reduced significantly. This is partly explained by the common assumption in Western governments and security establishments that missions in Africa are more dangerous than missions in other regions of the world, and that contributing to UN peacekeeping operations is more risky than to those conducted by ad hoc coalitions or regional organizations such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
- Topic:
- Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, North Atlantic, United Nations, and North America
1733. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Monitoring and Realizing Indigenous Rights in Canada
- Author:
- Terry Mitchell and Charis Enns
- Publication Date:
- 04-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- The Government of Canada endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as a tool for protecting indigenous rights in 2010, but has made very little progress toward its implementation. James Anaya, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNSRRIP), recently declared that Canada faces a crisis when it comes to the human rights situation of indigenous peoples, ranging from adverse living conditions on reserve to unaddressed violence against indigenous women. The Government of Canada should implement targeted measures to address the UNSRRIP's concerns and improve the human rights situation of indigenous peoples in Canada.
- Topic:
- Human Rights and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Canada, United Nations, and North America
1734. China's Long March Toward Economic Rebalancing
- Author:
- Hongying Wang
- Publication Date:
- 04-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- China's role in the global imbalance is closely linked to its domestic imbalance. Chinese policy makers have long been aware of the dual imbalance and the imperative to shift to economic growth driven by domestic consumption. They have taken limited steps in changing the development model, but political obstacles have slowed the pace of reform. The new leadership seems serious about deepening economic reform despite political resistance, but without political reform, the prospect of success remains dim.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, Monetary Policy, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
1735. Dangerous Space Incidents
- Author:
- Micah Zenko
- Publication Date:
- 04-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- As space systems increasingly perform and support critical operations, a variety of plausible nearterm incidents in outer space could precipitate or exacerbate an international crisis. The most grave space contingencies—viewed from the perspective of U.S. interests and international stability—are likely to result from either intentional interference with space systems or the inadvertent effects of irresponsible state behavior in outer space. The threats to U.S. space assets are significant and growing, as potential adversaries continue to pursue and could soon acquire counterspace capabilities. The United States has strategic interests in preventing and mitigating dangerous space incidents, given its high reliance on satellites for a variety of national security missions and unparalleled global security commitments and responsibilities. Like other technology-driven global governance challenges, the longer the United States delays preventive and mitigating efforts, the less dominant its position will be in shaping rules of the road for space.
- Topic:
- Science and Technology and Governance
- Political Geography:
- United States and North America
1736. Handle with care: crowd-sourcing and non-proliferation
- Author:
- Christian Dietrich
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- European Union Institute for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- States do not spread weapons of mass destruction - people do. It takes individual proliferators, collaborators, and the acquiescence of bystanders for sensitive materials to change hands illicitly. Yet, the rigid national and international means deployed to counter proliferation are juxtaposed with the limitless amounts of information people produce in our digitally connected world.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, International Cooperation, Nuclear Weapons, Science and Technology, and Terrorism
1737. The EU and its (cyber) partnerships
- Author:
- Patryk Pawlak and Catherine Sheahan
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- European Union Institute for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- The benefits of an open and accessible internet for growth and development have been acknowledged on numerous occasions. But as the potential of the digital economy for fostering innovation and creating new business opportunities grows, so too do the difficulties with protecting it. In February 2014, the European External Action Service presented the Friends of the Presidency on Cyber Issues with a Food for Thought Paper ('Further Strengthening European Cyber Diplomacy'). According to the document, 'the EU and its Member States should be in a position to present a coherent and comprehensive suite of policies which keep pace with the ever shifting international landscape, taking into account the strategic policy goals of other actors in the field'.
- Topic:
- Regional Cooperation, Science and Technology, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Europe
1738. EU cyber-defence: a work in progress
- Author:
- Neil Robinson
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- European Union Institute for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- The EU's cyber defence agenda provides an opportunity to ask questions about what the EU could do in terms of setting security priorities. Furthermore, as a possible area for cooperation, cyber defence shares with military air logistics the peculiarity of being a common capability which does not require explicit war-like conditions to demonstrate its utility. Indeed, the diversity and complexity of the threat environment – coupled with challenges of attribution – suggests the opposite: military cyber defence capabilities might offer better value for money in peacetime rather than in times of war.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Regional Cooperation, Science and Technology, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Europe
1739. The Eurasian Customs Union: the economics and the politics
- Author:
- Nicu Popescu and Iana Dreyer
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- European Union Institute for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- Long ignored by the West, the Eurasian Customs Union (consisting of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan) has recently been brought into the international limelight. The project – an attempt by the Kremlin to create a rival to the European Union and its Eastern Partnership project – attracted attention when Moscow, with its characteristic bluntness, began to pressure Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to join the grouping and drop their plans to sign Association Agreements with the EU. Although Russia has not succeeded in convincing all these states to join, it managed to do so with Armenia in September 2013, and the political tussle over the issue with Ukraine played a central role in triggering the country's current crisis.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, and Power Politics
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Eurasia, and Asia
1740. China's energy demands: are they reshaping the world?
- Author:
- Gerald Stang
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- European Union Institute for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- In 2012, China was the world's seventh biggest producer of natural gas, the fourth largest oil producer, and the biggest producer of hydroelectricity. It also produced almost as much coal as the rest of the world combined. Still, this is not enough. China's domestic energy bounty has long allowed the country to keep its overall import dependency relatively low but, as the country's economy continues to boom, its import dependency is growing quickly, particularly with regard to oil.
- Topic:
- Economics, Energy Policy, International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia