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4142. Post-War and Post-Conflict Challenges for Development Cooperation
- Author:
- Sabine Kurtenbach
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Institute for Development and Peace
- Abstract:
- Conflict and violence have become an important context for development cooperation during the last decade. Donors not only have to cope with the consequences of conflict in their day-to-day work on the ground, but also need to develop strategies in the fields of early warning and prevention, as well as instruments for conflict analysis and conflic-sensitive approaches for cooperation. At the same time, external actors have been important supporters for many peace processes aiming at the termination of armed conflicts and violence. When wars or armed conflicts end (or at least when violence on the ground decreases) the hope for sustainable peacebuilding grows. UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon pointed out the importance of the immediate post-conflict/post-war period in a report to the Security Council on June 11, 2009: “The immediate post-conflict period offers a window of opportunity to provide basic security, deliver peace dividends, shore up and build confidence in the political process, and strengthen core national capacity to lead peacebuilding efforts.” This gives a first impression of the many challenges internal and external actors face; at the same time experiences on the ground show that liberal peacebuilding conceived as a profound transformation process is a difficult endeavour.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Development, War, and Armed Struggle
- Political Geography:
- United Nations
4143. Crossing Borders, Changing Landscapes: Land-Use Dynamics in the Golden Triangle
- Author:
- Jefferson Fox
- Publication Date:
- 12-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- Over the last half-century, public policy has affected land-use practices across the borders linking China, Thailand, and Laos. Political and economic reforms have facilitated labor mobility and a shift in agricultural practices away from staple grains and toward a diverse array of cash crops, rubber being one of the foremost. China has promoted the conversion of forests to rubber agroforestry in southern Yunnan--profitable for farmers, but a concern in terms of biodiversity and long-term viability. In Thailand, the response is at the other end of the spectrum as the government's concerns about land-use practices and watershed management have led to policies that dramatically constrain land-use practices and limit tenure rights. In Laos the future is not yet clear. Government policies provide weak support for both private land ownership and protected areas. In a global environment where national policy has such a dramatic effect on land use and land cover, the factors behind land-use change merit close examination.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Economics, Migration, and Labor Issues
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, Thailand, and Southeast Asia
4144. Forest Communities and REDD Climate Initiatives
- Author:
- Mark Poffenberger and Kathryn Smith-Hanssen
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- Loss of the world's forests contributes an estimated 17 percent to all global greenhouse gas emissions, creating both a major challenge and an opportunity for international climate change agreements. In response, global policymakers have proposed that new carbon agreements include rewards for reducing forest-based emissions, an initiative known as REDD–Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. By creating financial incentives to reduce forest-sourced greenhouse gases, REDD projects could generate funding from developed countries to reduce deforestation in developing countries. In addition, some climate change specialists believe that REDD projects could benefit forest-dependent communities, whose participation is key to controlling the local forces that drive deforestation. Some communities are already learning about the new REDD carbon projects. As one villager from Cambodia explains, "We are going to sell our air to the people who are polluting in the city."
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Climate Change, and Environment
- Political Geography:
- Cambodia
4145. The New ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights: Toothless Tiger or Tentative First Step?
- Author:
- Michelle Staggs Kelsall
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- In late 2008 the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) committed to creating a human rights body, which emerged as the Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (ICHR), the terms of reference (TOR) for which have since been adopted. Although the TOR for the commission currently outlines a primarily advisory rather than an enforcement role, the very existence of the ICHR has the potential to act as a trigger to further discussion on human rights issues in member states and open avenues for further action. To take maximum advantage of this opportunity to further the human rights agenda in ASEAN member states, it is essential that critical early decisions are made carefully so as to leave the most latitude for future action. While some observers are concerned that the ICHR lacks teeth, the fact that all ten ASEAN governments have agreed to implement a human rights commission is remarkable and is an essential first step toward ASEAN's stated goal of respecting and protecting human rights.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Organization, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Israel, Asia, and Southeast Asia
4146. Are the Farmers Always Right? Rethinking Assumptions Guiding Agricultural and Environmental Research in Southeast Asia
- Author:
- A. Terry Rambo
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- Southeast Asia faces enormous challenges in managing its agricultural and environmental resources, from global warming to biodiversity loss. But chances for effectively addressing these issues may be hampered by the wide acceptance of four basic assumptions that guide the way we think about problems of managing agriculture and the environment. These assumptions form an interlinked system of thought that privileges the traditional and local over the modern and cosmopolitan. When taken to an extreme they lead to the view that traditional farmers are always right and that modern science is the cause, rather than a possible cure, of the serious environmental problems associated with agricultural development in Southeast Asia. Although when first proposed these assumptions were a radical alternative to the conventional thinking, in recent years they have themselves become the new conventional wisdom.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Development, and Environment
- Political Geography:
- Southeast Asia
4147. North Korean Shipping: A Potential for WMD Proliferation?
- Author:
- Hazel Smith
- Publication Date:
- 02-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- The possibility that North Korean ships may be smuggling weapons of mass destruction is a matter of intense concern in the Asia Pacific region and beyond. The few reported incidents of North Korean ships involved in WMD transport are ambiguous; some ships have been engaged in legal weapons trade and some carried "dual-use" goods suitable for use in nonmilitary applications, like agriculture. Ownership of the North Korean merchant fleet is largely private and highly fragmented; most of its ships are small, old, and in poor repair, and are often subject to rigorous scrutiny in foreign ports. The inability of the government to effectively regulate the low-cost, substandard shipping industry creates the risk and incentives to smuggle goods, including WMD. Anti-proliferation efforts should abandon the divisive and unsuccessful Proliferation Security Initiative and concentrate on negotiating North Korea's entry into international arms control treaties, maintain stringent port controls, and negotiate technical assistance to reduce the vulnerability of the North Korean shipping industry.
- Topic:
- International Trade and Finance, Nuclear Weapons, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- North Korea
4148. Haiti: the challenge of ending the transition to democracy
- Author:
- Tone Faret and Eduardo Colindres
- Publication Date:
- 12-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
- Abstract:
- The political scene in Haiti will be dominated by elections in 2010. The challenge is significant for the international community, which plays a prominent role and has a notable presence in the country, and for national actors, especially the much disputed Provisional Election Council (CEP).
- Topic:
- Democratization, Poverty, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Caribbean and Haiti
4149. Water challenges in Central-South Asia
- Author:
- Michael Renner
- Publication Date:
- 12-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
- Abstract:
- Water issues play a crucial role in Central-South Asia, both in the quantity of water available and its quality. Access to clean drinking water is a major, though largely unmet, objective. While much of the region is experiencing water shortages, poor water management lies at the heart of many problems. Climate change — in the form of glacier melt, drought, rising temperatures, and changes to the monsoon cycle — will increasingly exacerbate water scarcity. Although the region's water challenges do not necessarily or inevitably lead to armed conflict, they increasingly threaten to undermine human security. Cooperation will be critical for the region to meet its water challenges in the years and decades ahead.
- Topic:
- Climate Change and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- South Asia, Central Asia, and Asia
4150. Central Asia: Living in Afghanistan's shadow
- Author:
- Martha Brill Olcott
- Publication Date:
- 11-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
- Abstract:
- The absence of a functional government in Afghanistan has been creating economic and security challenges for the Central Asian states since their founding in 1991. Long frustrated by the international community's failure to end the Afghan civil war through negotiation, the 2001 September 11 attack created the expectation among these countries that the US would intervene successfully in Afghanistan, leading to an economic recovery that would advance the development of all the states in the region.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, and Economics
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Central Asia