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12. Not Just in Transit: Drugs, the State and Society in West Africa
- Publication Date:
- 06-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- This report examines the increase in drug trafficking and consumption in West Africa and their impact on the state and on society. It concludes with recommendations on how the region can respond humanely, effectively and preemptively to these problems.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Economics, War on Drugs, and Law Enforcement
- Political Geography:
- Africa
13. Pathways to Security Council Reform
- Author:
- Richard Gowan and Nora Gordon
- Publication Date:
- 05-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- In this paper, New York University's Center on International Cooperation (CIC) seeks to explore potential pathways to United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reform. We begin with an overview of the current context, which has been characterized by increasing international pressure for Security Council reform. The Council's abysmal performance in the Syrian crisis has fueled the mounting pressure for reform, which includes the French proposal to limit use of the veto and Saudi Arabia's rejection of a non-permanent seat. We then offer a brief history and analysis of previous reform attempts; an explanation of global perspectives on the issue of UNSC reform; background on the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on UNSC reform in New York; and an analysis of discussions on reform in and around the African Union.
- Topic:
- Security, International Security, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Africa, New York, and Saudi Arabia
14. UN Peacekeeping: The Next Five Years
- Author:
- Richard Gowan and Megan Gleason
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- This paper, commissioned by the Permanent Mission of Denmark to the United Nations, analyzes current trends in United Nations peacekeeping and makes predictions about the development of UN operations over the next five years (to 2017). It covers (i) the changing global context for UN operations and efforts to enhance the organization's performance over the last five years; (ii) trends in troop and police contributions; (iii) projections about potential demand for UN forces in various regions, especially the Middle East and Africa, in the next five years and (iv) suggestions about the types of contributions European countries such as Denmark can make to reinforce UN missions in this period.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, International Relations, International Cooperation, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Middle East
15. Resources, risk and resilience: scarcity and climate change in Ethiopia
- Author:
- Alex Evans
- Publication Date:
- 08-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- Ethiopia's resource scarcity context presents a daunting challenge, but also a significant opportunity. The country's current scarcity context includes: Low agricultural yields and farm sizes: Even if farm productivity were to increase by a factor of three, the average farm would still not produce enough food for a family of five. With 83% of Ethiopia's people directly dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods, the country has a major food security challenge; 7.5 million people depend on food safety nets. Major exposure to drought: Ethiopia has erratic rainfall, and acutely limited water storage capacity: the country has only 43m3 of reservoir storage per person, compared to 750m3 in South Africa and 6,150m3 in North America. Levels of irrigation are also low: the World Bank estimates that only 5% of irrigable land in Ethiopia is actually irrigated. Limited access to energy: Ethiopia's total primary energy supply is less than 60% of the African average, and only just over a fifth of the global average. The country depends on waste and biomass for 90 of its energy needs – leading to consequences including deforestation, and soil degradation as a result of biomass not being returned to the soil. High dependence on imported oil and food: Ethiopia currently imports all of its liquid fuels and a significant proportion of its food. This creates major exposure to global commodity price volatility, with the attendant risk of balance of payments problems, inflation and outright supply interruptions.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, Economics, Poverty, Natural Resources, and Food
- Political Geography:
- Africa, South Africa, North America, and Ethiopia
16. Security Council Working Methods and UN Peace Operations: The Case of Chad and the Central African Republic, 2006-2010
- Author:
- Richard Gowan and Alexandra Novosseloff
- Publication Date:
- 04-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- This paper, the second in a series on Security Council working methods and the performance of peace operations, addresses the Council's engagement in Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR) from early 2006 to the end of 2010. While the Council explored options for deploying some sort of UN peacekeeping presence to these countries from mid-2006 onwards, these discussions were secondary to much higher-profile debates about the possibility of a large-scale force in Darfur. After Chad had stated its initial opposition to a UN military deployment, France initiated proposals for the deployments of an EU military mission linked to a UN police presence to Chad and CAR in mid-2007.
- Topic:
- Security, International Cooperation, United Nations, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, and France
17. Dilemmas of Regional Peacemaking: The Dynamics of the AU's Response to Darfur
- Author:
- A. Sarjoh Bah
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- The African Union's (AU) peacemaking efforts in Darfur exposed the limits of implementing its ambitious peace and security agenda, and the absence of an effective international system to support regional peacemaking efforts. This paper contends that the AU's efforts brought to the fore three critical issues: first, the gap between the AU's mandate to intervene in situations involving war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide as provided for in its founding charter, the Constitutive Act, and its capacity to do so; second, the absence of an international system to support regional peacemaking, especially when it involves deploying complex multidimensional peace operations; finally, it brought into sharper focus the inherent tensions and contradictions surrounding existing norms and emerging concepts such as sovereignty, the responsibility to protect (R2P) and internationalized justice through the International Criminal Court (ICC). The paper focuses on the AU's two pronged strategy in Darfur: Political and Military/peacekeeping.
- Topic:
- Security, Genocide, Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, and Peace Studies
- Political Geography:
- Africa
18. A Field Based Review of the Peacebuilding Commission in Burundi
- Author:
- Shepard Forman, Rahul Chandran, and Gigja Sorensen
- Publication Date:
- 01-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- Burundi was placed on the Peacebuilding Commission's (PBC) agenda in June 2006, as the peacekeeping mission (ONUB) was drawing down and the Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Burundi (BINUB) was starting up.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Burundi
19. Independent Oversight for Mining in the Eastern Congo?
- Author:
- Jason Stearns and Steve Hege
- Publication Date:
- 01-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- The Center on International Cooperation (CIC) convened a group of leading non-governmental experts, on 3-4 December 2009, in a two-part discussion entitled: “Practical Mechanisms to Combat the Militarization of Natural Resources in the DR Congo.” This workshop aimed to facilitate constructive dialogue on the issue of natural resources and conflict in the DRC. Participants sought to identify common ground regarding existing and potential measures to combat the militarization of mining in the short to medium term. Over the course of these discussions, a clear consensus emerged surrounding the added value of independent oversight in order to both prevent mining from fuelling conflict as well to strengthen state capacity in the eastern Congo. In their most recent report, released days after this CIC event, the United Nations Group of Experts also included a recommendation for the establishment of such a mechanism. Through this concept note, CIC seeks to further develop how to operationalize this idea within the complex political and economic context of the eastern Congo.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and War
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo
20. The African Union in Darfur: Understanding the afro-arab response to the crisis
- Author:
- A. Sarjoh Bah
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- Darfur, an arid region in western Sudan, has become synonymous with genocide, though many have been reluctant to describe the situation there in such terms, not least the African Union (AU). As the conflict between Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) raged on for over two decades, long-standing tensions in Darfur were neglected. Meanwhile, negotiations led by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) culminated in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in January 2005, marking the end of Africa's longest running civil war; a conflict that had claimed the lives of approximately two million people and displaced millions more. However, the marginalisation of Darfur meant that the celebrations marking the end of the north-south conflict were short-lived, as news of mass murder involving government soldiers and their infamous militia allies, the Janjaweed, eclipsed the much celebrated deal. In Darfur, the Government and Janjaweed were pitted against the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the two groups that had taken up arms against the Islamist government in early 2003.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Civil War, Peace Studies, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Sudan, Middle East, and Arabia
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