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51. Policies and Practices for Regulating Resource Flows to Armed Conflict

Author:
Jake Sherman
Publication Date:
05-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The aim of the Bellagio conference was twofold: first, to sharpen our understanding of the critical dimensions of local, regional, and global financial and material flows to and from conflict zones; and, second, to critically review extant and emerging legal and policy frameworks, and the potential for strengthening their enforcement or extending the applicability of other legal and regulatory tools to stem those flows, with an eye to producing a coherent set of practical recommendations for decision-makers and policy practitioners in the field of international peace and security.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Economics, International Cooperation, International Law, and United Nations

52. The Political Economy of War and Peace

Author:
Charles Cater
Publication Date:
05-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The focus of the International Peace Academy's annual New York seminar, held at West Point on May 6-10, 2002, was “The Political Economy of War and Peace.” The aim of this policy development seminar was to introduce policymakers and practitioners to the emerging analytical and policy agenda of the political economy of war and peacemaking so that peace missions may be better equipped to deal with the economic legacies of conflict and the resulting challenges for building sustainable peace.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Peace Studies, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
New York

53. Options for Promoting Corporate Responsibility in Conflict Zones: Perspectives from the Private Sector

Author:
Jake Sherman
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The objective of this meeting was to examine private sector actors' perceptions of and experiences with select existing and prospective measures, both voluntary and regulatory, to promote responsible business behavior in conflict zones. The discussions explored the costs and benefits that several emerging initiatives might entail for the private sector, the likely tradeoffs of binding regulation, and the sorts of institutional, financial, and political resources which would be needed to expand the coverage of both existing codes of conduct and binding regulations.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Political Economy, and United Nations

54. Sustainable Peace as Democratization: The Experiences of Haiti and Guatemala

Author:
Sara Lodge, Chetan Kumar, and Karen Resnick
Publication Date:
03-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
This comparison of international efforts to encourage and sustain peace in Guatemala and Haiti derives from the heavy involvement of the international community in peacebuilding in both countries during the 1990s. Civil conflict in both countries has resulted from a combination of exclusionary politics and domination by predatory economic elites. The conclusions advanced below should assist in the assessment of international strategies for addressing political and economic turmoil in similarly distressed countries in the future.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Haiti and Guatemala

55. Discussions at the Release of The Responsibility to Protect

Author:
Simon Chesterman
Publication Date:
02-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Canadian Foreign Minister William Graham and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan were keynote speakers at a seminar in New York on 15 February to discuss the final report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS). Entitled The Responsibility to Protect, the report was released at UN Headquarters last December. The seminar was organized by the International Peace Academy with the support of the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to allow a frank discussion of the Commission's findings and recommendations. Although journalists were invited to the event, all statements except the keynote speeches were off the record.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Canada

56. From Promise to Practice: Strengthening UN Capacities for the Prevention of Violent Conflict

Author:
Chandra Lekha Sriram
Publication Date:
01-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
In the fall of 2000, the International Peace Academy commissioned a series of nine case studies examining the practice of preventive action. This study builds on earlier work by IPA identifying important issues for further examination in preventive practice. The cases examined were representative of the broad and increasing scope of preventive action geographically and in terms of approaches deployed—from structural prevention to post conflict peacebuilding as prevention. These cases were Kenya, Fiji, Tanzania (Zanzibar), Tajikistan, Burundi, Georgia (Javakheti), East Timor, Liberia, and Colombia. The cases are being edited and compiled for publication in a subsequent book; this report seeks to draw out central policy lessons for preventive action by the United Nations (UN). Important lessons can be drawn out with implications for each specific situation; more cross-cutting lessons for the UN and other preventive actors can also be derived from the collected cases.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States

57. Empowering Local Actors: The UN and Multi-Track Conflict Prevention

Author:
Ben Rawlence
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The International Peace Academy convened an international policy workshop in New York on 10 December 2001 in the conference room of Chadbourne and Parke LLP bringing together approximately fifty members of the UN system and civil society representatives from around the world. The purpose of the workshop was to follow up on the June 2001 report of the United Nations Secretary-General on the Prevention of Armed Conflict and address some of the opportunities and challenges involved in working to prevent the outbreak of armed conflict in tandem with relevant local actors.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations
Political Geography:
New York

58. The Economics of War

Author:
Jake Sherman
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Greed and grievance, or “need, creed and greed,” are all important sources of conflict, though the relative weight of each factor varies across cases and across time. Poverty, social inequality, rapid economic decline, large numbers of young unemployed males, and polarized identity politics may all provide the necessary catalyst for conflict, particularly when accompanied by repressive, illegal or extralegal behavior on the part of governments. Yet, as World Bank economist Paul Collier cautions, what motivates conflict and what makes it feasible are separate issues. In general, the existence of some form of grievance, whether economic, political, or social in nature, appears to be the most persuasive motivation for conflict. Greed, or, more broadly, economic motivations — whether the pursuit of resources for war-financing or for elite self-enrichment—appear more significant in sustaining, prolonging, and transforming conflict.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations

59. Kosovo in Limbo: State-Building and "Substantial Autonomy"

Author:
Simon Chesterman
Publication Date:
08-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Complex peace operations that involve state-building functions are difficult even when the political outcome is clear, as it is in East Timor. In situations such as Kosovo, where the final status of the territory under administration remains unclear, every aspect of state-building is more politically sensitive and more operationally complex. When this occurs in a highly militarized environment and in an unstable region, any departure from a supposedly “interim” solution becomes more difficult still. The Dayton Accords in Bosnia show the dangers of a difficult peace agreement evolving into a constitutional framework that is both unworkable and impossible to change. The conclusion of hostilities may provide the best incentive for belligerents to compromise, but it may subsequently become impossible to reopen such questions without the threat of renewed violence. Future peace agreements are therefore likely to contain state-building provisions that international institutions will assume the task of overseeing, in some situations without a clear political endpoint and exit strategy. In Kosovo, the elections slated for November 17, 2001, reflect a desire for measurable progress and an indication of when the mission will end. An April 2001 report by the UN Secretary-General on this topic was entitled “No exit without strategy”, warning that the UN has too often withdrawn or dramatically altered a peacekeeping operation, only to see the situation remain unstable or sink into renewed violence. Unfortunately, the attitude of lead actors within the Security Council is too often “no strategy without an exit”. State-building after a war will always take years, perhaps decades, and it is disingenuous to suggest otherwise to domestic publics. Elections and limited devolution notwithstanding, the international community will remain in Kosovo and Bosnia for the foreseeable future, certainly with a strong military presence and with at least a supervisory civilian authority. This is an undesirable outcome of what NATO styles as humanitarian interventions, but it is better than all the alternatives. The fact that UNMIK will remain in control of Kosovo for the foreseeable future raises the question of how it should govern. Within UNMIK, there is an increasing tension between those who regard respect for human rights and the rule of law as central to the institution-building aspect of UNMIK's mandate, and those who see this as secondary to the over-riding concerns of peace and security.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Europe, Bosnia, and Kosovo

60. Managing Security Challenges in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding

Author:
Sheila Coutts and Kelvin Ong
Publication Date:
06-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
While a functioning security sector provides the cornerstone for stable and democratic post-conflict societies, the record of the international community in establishing this critical function is mixed. Despite repeatedly having to manage the immediate post-conflict situation in various peace operations in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America, the international community still fails to take the state of the local security sector adequately into account when planning its own intervention.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Asia, and Latin America