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241. Think twice before engaging in Yemen

Author:
Peter Albrecht
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Yemen has caught the eye of the international community above all because it has been portrayed as a hotbed of radicalisation and a training ground for al-Qaeda. As a state, Yemen is broadly considered to be both fragile and on the brink of failure. This Policy Brief argues that for a variety of reasons – largely relating to the political system and dynamics within the country – support from Europe and North America will have limited effect. There are limited, if any, technical solutions to the challenges that confront the country; only political ones. International actors from outside the regional context must therefore think twice before engaging and, above all, have a good understanding of the political system that they will be engaging with.
Topic:
International Relations and Islam
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, Yemen, and Arabia

242. Reforming Global Banking Rules: Back to the Future?

Author:
Ranjit Lall
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
One of the most significant casualties of the recent financial crisis has been the Basel II Accord, a set of proposals to regulate the international banking system drawn up by a committee of G10 banking supervisors between 1999 and 2004. Whether or not they view Basel II as a direct contributor to the crisis, policymakers agree that the fundamental tenets of the accord have been decisively discredited by recent events. In this paper, I ask why Basel II's creators fell so short of their aim of improving the safety of the international banking system – that is, why Basel II failed. Drawing on recent work on global regulatory capture, I present a theoretical framework which emphasizes the importance of timing and sequencing in determining the outcome of rule-making in international finance. This framework helps to explain not only why Basel II failed, but also why the latest set of proposals to regulate the international banking system – the so-called 'Basel III' Accord – is likely to meet a similar fate.
Topic:
Financial Crisis

243. Reforming Global Banking Rules-how the G20 Can Save the Global Economy

Author:
Jakob Vestergaard, Ranjit Lall, and Martin Hojland
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
At the September 2009 Pittsburgh Summit the leaders of the G20 set out a series of far reaching regulatory reforms to “tackle the root causes of the crisis and transform the system for global financial regulation”. The centrepiece of the reform effort was Basel III, a new set of capital adequacy rules to be drawn up by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), a group of international banking regulators, by the end of 2010. As the G20 convenes in Toronto almost one year later, Basel III is entering a critical phase in the reform process – a phase which will determine whether we see fundamental reform of the international banking system or merely a return to 'business as usual'. Drawing on the experience of the previous attempt to overhaul global capital standards, Basel II, this DIIS policy brief proposes a set of institutional and structural reforms to the BCBS to ensure that it succeeds in realizing the G20's vision for a sounder and more resilient financial system.
Topic:
Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Canada

244. Conflict and cooperation in local water governance–Inventory of local water-related events in Tiraque District, Bolivia

Author:
Vladimir Cossio, Rocío Bustamante, and Thomas Skielboe
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Recent years have witnessed an increasing focus on water as a source of conflict. So far, much of the focus has been on the risk for transboundary water conflicts. Our current knowledge on local water conflicts is however more limited, and tends to be based on sporadic accounts of local water conflicts rather than on systematic empirical evidence. At the same time, the extent and nature of local water cooperation is often overlooked, just as we know little about the particular role of the poorest in water conflict and cooperation.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Regional Cooperation, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
Latin America

245. Conflict and cooperation in local water governance – Inventory of local water-related events in Douentza District, Mali

Author:
Signe Marie Cold-Ravnkilde, Moussa Djiré, Abdoulaye O. Cissé, Amadou Keita, and Anna Traoré
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Recent years have witnessed an increasing focus on water as a source of conflict. So far, much of the focus has been on the risk for transboundary water conflicts. Our current knowledge on local water conflicts is however more limited, and tends to be based on sporadic accounts of local water conflicts rather than on systematic empirical evidence. At the same time, the extent and nature of local water cooperation is often overlooked, just as we know little about the particular role of the poorest in water conflict and cooperation.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
Africa and Mali

246. Cooperación y Conflicto en torno a la Gestión Local del Agua en el municipio de Condega, Nicaragua

Author:
Helle Munk Ravnborg, Roberto Rivas Hermann, Tania Paz Mena, and Ligia Gómez
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
La investigación internacional “Competencia por el agua: Entendiendo el Conflicto y la Cooperación en torno a la Gestión Local del Agua” llevaba a cabo en los países de Bolivia, Mali, Vietnam, Zambia y Nicaragua, tiene como objetivo principal “Contribuir a la gestión local sostenible del agua, en beneficio de los pobres rurales y otros grupos en desventaja en los países en desarrollo, a través de un mayor conocimiento de la extensión y la intensidad de los conflictos y la cooperación local por el agua”. Como resultado de la investigación se pretende la elaboración de recomendaciones de políticas internacionales, nacionales y locales para la mejora en la gestión del agua para lo cual se realizan diferentes esfuerzos investigativos en el tema como el caso del presente documento.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
Latin America

247. Conflict and cooperation in local water governance – Inventory of local water-related events in Con Cuong District, Nghe An Province, Vietnam

Author:
Thomas Skielboe, Yen Thi Bich Nguyen, Phuong Thi Thanh Le, and Huong Thi Mai Pham
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Recent years have witnessed an increasing focus on water as a source of conflict. So far, much of the focus has been on the risk for transboundary water conflicts. Our current knowledge on local water conflicts is however more limited, and tends to be based on sporadic accounts of local water conflicts rather than on systematic empirical evidence. At the same time, the extent and nature of local water cooperation is often overlooked, just as we know little about the particular role of the poorest in water conflict and cooperation.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Natural Resources, and Water
Political Geography:
Asia, Vietnam, and Southeast Asia

248. Conflict and cooperation in local water governance – Inventory of local water-related events in Namwala District, Zambia

Author:
Mikkel Funder, Carol Emma Mweemba, Imasiku Nyambe, and Barbara Van Koppen
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Recent years have witnessed an increasing focus on water as a source of conflict. So far, much of the focus has been on the risk for transboundary water conflicts. Our current knowledge on local water conflicts is however more limited, and tends to be based on sporadic accounts of local water conflicts rather than on systematic empirical evidence. At the same time, the extent and nature of local water cooperation is often overlooked, just as we know little about the particular role of the poorest in water conflict and cooperation.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Natural Resources, and Water
Political Geography:
Africa and Zambia

249. Values Promotion and Security Management in Euro-Mediterranean Relations: 'Making Democracy Work' or 'Good-Enough Governance'?

Author:
Fabrizio Tassinari and Ulla Holm
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
EU policy towards the southern Mediterranean remains painfully fragmented across different lines: member state initiatives vs. EU initiatives; bilateral EU policies vs. multilateral frameworks. Underpinning these tensions is an ongoing 'securitization' of the Mediterranean debate which centres on threats emanating from the South, including Islamic fundamentalism, terrorism and immigration–or on challenges such as energy. On the other hand, the stated European goal in the region remains the advancement of EU norms and values–to be attained primarily through governance reforms aimed at improving the rule of law. This article will exemplify these discourses by focusing on the case of Italy's Mediterranean policy. In conclusion it sets out two competing scenarios for the future development of Euro-Mediterranean discourse: one based in normative logic termed 'making democracy work'; the other rooted in security logic and termed 'good enough governance'.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Europe

250. Cargo Cult in Africa: Remittances and the State in Tanzania

Author:
Peter Hansen
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper examines remittance and diaspora policy formation in Tanzania as cargo cult. Both migration-development policy formation and cargo cults express the belief in the miraculous transformation of the local by the arrival of wealth emanating from the outside. The paper is based on ethnographic research in Dares Salaam, and adds to our understanding of the links between migration and development in Tanzania, and to our understanding of the relationship between remittances and the state, where the underlying cultural values, ideas and imaginaries expressed in remittance policies and thinking have been ignored.
Topic:
Development and Economics
Political Geography:
Africa and Tanzania