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3091. South Caucasus: What Prospects after Twenty Years of "Managed Instability"?

Author:
Alain Guidetti
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
Twenty years after the fall of the Soviet Union and the independence of the three Caucasian Republics of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, the region remains characterized by a state of “managed instability” due to the absence of solutions to the conflicts between Armenia and Azerbaijan (over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh) and between Georgia and Russia (over territorial issues and political differences). Negotiation mechanisms aimed at solving these issues exist (since 1992 for Nagorno-Karabakh, and since 1991 for Georgia), but they do not appear to produce meaningful results, raising questions on the purpose of these mechanisms and the future of the region beyond the lasting status quo. A movement toward deeper instability in the region, which cannot be excluded, would pose a direct security threat to Europe, as well as to Russia.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Cold War, Territorial Disputes, and Self Determination
Political Geography:
Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia

3092. Chinese FDI in the United States is taking off: How to maximize its benefits?

Author:
Daniel H. Rosen and Thilo Hanemann
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
China's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) grew rapidly in the past decade, but flows to developed economies have been limited. Now China's direct investment flows to the United States are poised to rise substantially. This new trend offers tremendous opportunities for the U. S., provided policymakers take steps to keep the investment environment open and utilize China's new interest productively.
Topic:
Climate Change and Economics
Political Geography:
United States and China

3093. Scraping the Barrel: The Trade in Surplus Ammunition

Author:
Pierre Gobinet and Claudio Gramizzi
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Small Arms Survey
Abstract:
Small arms and light weapons need ammunition. Government forces and armed groups cannot wage battle or train their troops without a sustained supply of ammunition, and its availability determines the type of weapons used in most of the conflicts around the world.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Terrorism, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:
Europe

3094. Alternative Dispute Resolution in Africa: Preventing Conflict and Enhancing Stability

Author:
Ernest Uwazie
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Abstract:
Backlogged court dockets in Africa, often requiring claimants to wait years, are common. The resulting perception that justice cannot be attained through official channels is a potential catalyst for intergroup violence and political instability. Alternative Dispute Resolution is an increasingly popular complement to official legal channels to resolve less serious disputes in a timely manner through mediation while enhancing claimants' sense of justice. Establishing legislation supporting Alternative Dispute Resolution as well as broadening the number and caliber of mediators can expedite the adoption of this mechanism.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Political Violence, and Law
Political Geography:
Africa

3095. Research Capacity Development for Environmental Management in Cambodia: Outlining a Multi-Sector Approach

Author:
Kei Otsuki and Shimako Takahashi
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Research capacity development at the higher education level in order to improve environmental planning and management has been considered invaluable in ensuring the sustainable development of developing countries. In least developed countries (LDCs), such as Cambodia, people are especially vulnerable to environmental changes and advanced knowledge is urgently needed to enhance their socio-ecological resilience; however, governments lack both the financial and human resources needed to ensure adequate academic infrastructure for knowledge generation and dissemination. Furthermore, the international aid community has rarely placed emphasis on investing in higher education in developing countries; instead, producing basically skilled labourers through primary and secondary education was considered more effective in bringing return on investment and enhancing economic development. Neither national nor international development agendas have so far resulted in a substantial commitment to research capacity development of academic institutions in LDCs.
Topic:
Development, Education, and Environment
Political Geography:
Cambodia and Southeast Asia

3096. Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries

Author:
Wim Naudé, Adam Szirmai, and Micheline Goedhuys
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Nobody can be left in any doubt as to the importance of innovation for prosperity upon reading that “people living in the first decade of the twentieth century did not know modern dental and medical equipment, penicillin, bypass operations, safe births, control of genetically transmitted diseases, personal computers, compact discs, television sets, automobiles, opportunities for fast and cheap worldwide travel, affordable universities, central heating, air conditioning . . . technological change has transformed the quality of our lives.”
Topic:
Development, Economics, Globalization, and Markets

3097. Speculative Attacks within or outside a Monetary Union: Default versus Inflation (what to do today)

Author:
Daniel Gros
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
Is a high level of public debt inherently more dangerous within a monetary union? During the 1990s it was often argued that only by entering the EMU could Italy (or Spain) protect itself from the high interest rates it had to pay on its large public debt. The argument was that by joining the single currency, Italy could convince financial markets that it would not inflate away the value of its debt and hence benefit from lower risk premia.
Topic:
Debt, Economics, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe, Spain, and Italy

3098. A Call to Members of the European Parliament: Take transparency seriously and enact the 'legislative footprint'

Author:
Lukas Obholzer
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
The code of conduct that was agreed by a cross-party working group of the European Parliament (EP), the EP Bureau and Conference of Presidents, is a watered-down compromise that lacks provision for the introduction of the 'legislative footprint' that the plenary requested the Bureau to set up. The legislative footprint is a document that would detail the time, person and subject of a legislator's contact with a stakeholder. Published as an annex to legislative reports, it would provide insight into who gave input into draft legislation. Unfortunately, the Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) Committee with Carlo Casini (EPP) as Chair and Rapporteur has so far failed to improve the draft in this respect. Against a backdrop of past scandals and recent criticism of early agreements negotiated in trilogues behind closed doors, the EP is about to miss an opportunity to show that it has learnt its lesson, and that it takes seriously its role as guarantor of legitimacy in EU decision-making. Transparency means proactive action: by adding a provision for a legislative footprint that identifies the interest representatives with whom key actors met and from whom they received advice, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have a chance to turn the EP into a role model for parliamentary transparency in a pluralistic democracy.
Topic:
Climate Change, International Organization, and Law
Political Geography:
Europe

3099. Measuring the Quality of Aid: QuODA Second Edition

Author:
Nancy Birdsall, Homi Kharas, and Rita Perakis
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
As demonstrated by the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and Accra Agenda for Action, the development community has reached a broad consensus on what constitutes good practice for the delivery of development assistance. But since these high-level agreements were made, there has been almost no independent quantitative analysis of whether donors are meeting the standards they have set for themselves.
Topic:
Development, Humanitarian Aid, Poverty, Treaties and Agreements, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Paris

3100. Where Is the Virtue in the Middle Class?

Author:
Charles Kenny
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
It is widely agreed by economists and political scientists that the middle class is vital to progress because of its many virtues. But it is difficult to define a middle class by income in a manner that does not either include a lot of very poor people or suggest that most countries have no middle class to speak of. Survey evidence suggests the middle class is not culturally unique, particularly socially progressive, or entrepreneurial. When the middle of the income distribution sides with poor people in demanding equitable access to quality government services (instead of siding with the wealthy for small government and unequal access), pro-poor policies are far more likely to emerge. But this necessary role should not be confused with virtue.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Education, Poverty, and Social Stratification