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162. Development Cooperation, Climate Change and Conflict
- Author:
- Signe Marie Cold-Ravnkilde and Mikkel Funder
- Publication Date:
- 04-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Development cooperation cannot entirely eliminate the risk of climate change aggravating climate-related conflict. But it can help address some of the root causes, and support frameworks for managing and resolving them before they escalate into violence. Addressing climate-related conflict prevention and resolution in development cooperation will: reduce the impact of conflict in terms of increasing poverty and marginalisation. Conflict prevention and resolution can help minimise conflict as a risk factor for the poor, and thereby improve the options and resources for livelihood improvement. contribute to macro-economic development. Preventing and resolving conflicts can help provide more stable environments for production and investment. contribute to good governance and institutional development. Institutional frameworks can help sustain and develop spaces for risk-free expression of interests and grievances, and thereby contribute to open and democratic governance. enhance the results of development interventions. Conflict prevention and resolution can help ensure that the outcomes of interventions across the full range of sectors are more effective and sustainable. ensure that development cooperation does not in itself contribute to conflict. Conflict-sensitive programmes can ensure that development interventions do not lead to increased tensions and conflicts of interest.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Climate Change, Development, and International Cooperation
163. Should Greenland Mine its Uranium?
- Author:
- Cindy Vestergaard and France Bourgouin
- Publication Date:
- 05-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The world uranium industry has been undergoing a resurgence since 2002, and current supplies are not meeting demand. This increase in energy demand, coupled with concerns about energy security, is fuelling commercial interests in mining uranium. In 2010 the Greenland Government decided to relax its zero-tolerance uranium policy and allowed mining companies to explore prospects for potential uranium mining. With Greenland having the potential to become a uranium supplier, there are a range of domestic and international policy challenges that need to be addressed.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Natural Resources, and Nuclear Power
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Greenland
164. Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook 2012
- Author:
- Hans Mouritzen (ed) and Nanna Hvidt (ed)
- Publication Date:
- 06-2012
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The Permanent Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs analyses Danish foreign-policy priorities in 2011. The troublesome situation for the global econ-omy, including an uncertain outlook for the future, was the most impor-tant backdrop for Danish foreign policy in that year. Low growth prospects, combined with high levels of public debt, had wide foreign-policy implica-tions, amongst other things for the agenda of the EU and as a result also for the preparations for the Danish EU Presidency in the first half of 2012. This article therefore takes its point of departure in the state of the global economy, the state of the European economies and the challenges that this presented to the EU. It then goes on to discuss the emerging world powers, the Arab Spring, the world's conflict areas, security policy, Denmark's north-ern neighbours and various global issues, such as development cooperation, green growth and human rights. Finally, some reflections are offered on the core tasks of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs at a time when there is increased pressure on Denmark's public finances and the world influence of Denmark's traditional partners and allies is waning.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, and Diplomacy
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Arab Countries, Denmark, and North Africa
165. Growing but not transforming: Fragmented ruling coalitions and economic developments in Uganda
- Author:
- Anne Mette Kjær and Mesharch Katusiimeh
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- When the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and its leader, Yoweri Museveni, came to power, they had an explicit agenda of industrializing the economy (Kjær and Muhumuza, 2009). Improved infrastructure and increased production and productivity were the focus. Indeed, Uganda enjoyed a period of sustained economic growth of about 7 percent annually between 1990 and 2006 (Piron and Norton, 2004; Kjær and Muhumuza, 2009), made possible by a stable ruling coalition, macro-economic stability, low inflation (until recently), and relative peace. Poverty declined from 56 percent in 1991 to 25 percent in 20101 However, there has been limited structural transformation in terms of a shift from agriculture to industry. A number of explanations for this could be put forward, whether institutional, policy-oriented or geographical (Selassie, 2008; van de Walle, 2001). None of them, however, explains fully how Uganda, in spite of an initially highly dedicated ruling elite, did not succeed in transforming its economy. For example, Uganda is a landlocked country, but so is Zimbabwe, which is far more industrialized. Similarly, while Uganda certainly has weak institutions, so did other countries that have succeeded in industrializing (Selassie, 2008).
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Development, Economics, Industrial Policy, and Post Colonialism
- Political Geography:
- Uganda, Africa, and Zimbabwe
166. Continuity and change in Tanzania's ruling coalition Legacies, crises and weak productive capacity
- Author:
- Ole Therkildsen and France Bourgouin
- Publication Date:
- 06-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper presents analyses of the current composition of Tanzania's ruling coalition, comprised mainly of the ruling party (the CCM), the bureaucracy and the military, of how it has changed over time and of how its funding has evolved. Specifically, it discusses how historical legacies, structural changes in the economy and specific crises have influenced the composition of the ruling coalition, the holding power of its factions and the strategic use of resources to maintain its power. The paper concludes that Tanzania's ruling coalition is presently characterised by conflicts and bargaining among strong factional elites within the ruling coalition and by the increasing power of its lower level factions. Opposition parties are largely excluded from influence and remain weak. Economic entrepreneurs in the formal productive sectors are few and poorly organised. Their relations with the ruling coalition are ambiguous and largely informal, although exchanges of money and rents are of increasing importance in the relationship. Moreover, informal sector entrepreneurs and smallholders in agriculture are largely excluded from the ruling coalition. There is little evidence that the ruling coalition – despite decades of political stability – has used its position to build and strengthen the productive capacity of domestic entrepreneurs.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Democratization, Development, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Tanzania
167. Bahrain and the global balance of power after the Arab Spring
- Author:
- Lars Erslev Andersen
- Publication Date:
- 06-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The global balance of power is changing, and the role of the US as the only superpower is being challenged by emerging new powers and a still more powerful China. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Persian Gulf. This Working Paper by DIIS researcher Lars Erslev Andersen argues that if we are fully to understand the developments in the Persian Gulf we need to analyze the Persian Gulf as a regional security complex in its own right. The argument is developed empirically with reference to the case of Bahrain.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, International Trade and Finance, International Affairs, and Power Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, Middle East, Arabia, and Bahrain
168. Is it all about territory? Israel's settlement policy in the occupied Palestinian territory since 1967
- Author:
- Leila Stockmarr
- Publication Date:
- 06-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Changing with rapid speed, the current political geography of the occupied Palestinian territory has de facto come to undermine a two-state solution and is turning the official aim and end point of international negotiations at best into a naïve mirage for policymakers and at worst into a façade for a very different political game playing out in the occupied territory of the West Bank and Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem: that of Israel's ongoing territorial expansion into Palestinian land. The study shows how the settlement policies inside what are internationally-recognised Palestinian territories are not merely undermining the realisation of the two-state solution: the territorial claims put forward and pursued in practice and their anchoring in strategies of legitimisation reach far beyond international legal standards. This reveals a very different political narrative embedded at the core of the conflict from that projected by those images often appearing in the mainstream media and policy circles: a narrative of an ongoing struggle over land detached from any 'Peace Process' measures.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Treaties and Agreements, and Territorial Disputes
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Arabia
169. Europeanising labour migration policies and pursuing national objectives
- Author:
- Katrine Borg Albertsen
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The EU Blue Card scheme offers skilled labour migrants access to, and onward mobility within, the EU labour market. Due to its justice and home affairs opt-out Denmark is cut off from participation, and instead pursues national schemes for high-skilled labour migration. It is in the best interests of both Denmark and the EU to pursue fully integrated strategic goals aimed at producing a competitive joint policy on economic migration.
- Topic:
- Economics, Industrial Policy, Migration, and Labor Issues
- Political Geography:
- Europe
170. Biometrics as security technology: Expansion amidst fallibility
- Author:
- Katja Lindskov Jacobsen
- Publication Date:
- 07-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Biometric technology has been afforded a central role in the security architecture that Western governments have forged since the events of 9/11 2001. With biometrics the body becomes the anchor of identification. In a security architecture centred on identification of persons of interest and determination of their status as friend or foe, biometrics has come to be praised for its supposedly exceptional capacity to identify reliably.
- Topic:
- Security, Government, Science and Technology, and Biosecurity