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61. Preventive Diplomacy: Regions in Focus

Author:
Francesco Mancini
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Preventive diplomacy—conceived by Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold in the mid-1950s and revitalized in the early 1990s by Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali—is a vital instrument in the United Nations' conflict-prevention toolkit. While the responsibility for preventing conflict and its escalation ultimately lies with countries themselves, the UN has played an indispensable supporting role since its establishment and will continue to do so.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Political Violence, Diplomacy, United Nations, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
America, Israel, Latin America, and Southeast Asia

62. The United Nations Security Council and Civil War: First Insights from a New Dataset

Author:
James Cockayne, Christoph Mikulaschek, and Chris Perry
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
This report is the first publication produced by IPI's research project on Understanding Compliance with UN Security Council Resolutions. It provides fresh insights from the new IPI Security Council Compliance Database. The report examines trends in how the Security Council has engaged with civil wars since 1989, variations in where and when it chose to engage, and the gradual evolution of the Council's civil-war response strategies. Future analysis by this project will seek to provide answers to two questions: To what extent do civil-war parties comply with demands issued by the Security Council? And what factor or combination of factors best explains the variance in the level of compliance—e.g., conflict settings, conflict management strategies, or political dynamics within the Security Council?
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Civil War, United Nations, and Peacekeeping

63. Transnational Organized Crime and the Palermo Convention: A Reality Check

Author:
André Standing
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Ten years have passed since the adoption of the Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (the Palermo Convention) by the UN General Assembly on November 15, 2000. At the signing of the convention in Palermo, Sicily, in December 2000, many government delegations welcomed the Palermo Convention as an important step in the fight against organized crime. Some warned against viewing it as a final measure and stressed that the convention and its protocols should be considered as a starting point rather than an end in itself.
Topic:
Crime, Globalization, International Cooperation, Terrorism, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States

64. Peace Operations

Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Major reassessments of UN peacekeeping have tended to follow in the wake of large-scale failures of peacekeeping operations. Continued violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the inability to mount a UN operation in Somalia, and the lack of progress in Darfur may or may not count as major failures. However, it is clear that some kind of reassessment is required.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Peace Studies, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Somalia

65. A Workshop with the UN Working Group on Mercenaries

Author:
James Cockayne
Publication Date:
08-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
On July 29, 2009, the International Peace Institute convened a meeting of civil society, academic, and industry representatives to meet with the United Nations Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the rights of peoples to selfdetermination (the “Working Group”). The United Nations Human Rights Council has requested that the Working Group consult with a wide range of actors on the content and scope of possible legal instruments for regulation of private military and security companies.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, Human Rights, and United Nations

66. Global Terrorism: Task Forces on Strengthening Multilateral Security Capacity

Author:
Naureen Chowdhury Fink
Publication Date:
08-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The increasingly transnational and multifaceted nature of terrorism calls for a strong multilateral response. States have the primary responsibility for protecting their populations from the threats posed by terrorism. At the same time, given the often cross-regional nature of the terrorist threat, mechanisms for effective cooperation are needed at the global and regional levels. To this end, the United Nations (UN), by virtue of its universality and legitimacy, has an important role to play.
Topic:
Security, International Cooperation, Terrorism, and United Nations

67. Managing Complexity: Political and Managerial Challenges in UN Peace Operations

Author:
Adam Smith, editor and Caty Clement, editor
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
“Overstretched,” “underresourced,” and “overmatched” are terms commonly used to describe UN peacekeeping. The first is a result of the vast number of conflicts the Security Council has chosen to address with peace operations. The second is due to a lack of available specialized equipment, highly trained personnel, and funds—a constraint compounded by global recession. The final descriptor, “overmatched,” is, at least partly, a consequence of the challenging, complex environment in which the UN operates. The multiplicity of actors involved, the unpredictability of the environment, and the enormous obstacles to sustainable peace all suggest a complexity through which the UN—a large bureaucracy dependent on the will and capacity of its member states—is often unprepared to navigate.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Peace Studies, and United Nations

68. Issue Brief: Perspectives on the Peacebuilding Commission's Coordination Role

Author:
Jenna Slotin
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The founding resolutions of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) state that one of the main purposes of the commission is “to improve the coordination of all relevant actors within and outside the United Nations.” What does this mean for an intergovernmental advisory organ? Can the PBC really be expected to coordinate the many UN agencies, funds, and programs on the ground, let alone the many bilateral, multilateral, and nongovernmental actors that are present in a postconflict country? What does the PBC have to offer with respect to coordination?
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Peace Studies, and United Nations

69. Issue Brief: Perspectives on the Peacebuilding Commission and Mutual Accountability

Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Mutual accountability has become one of several principles that underpin the PBC's work. The commission has facilitated the articulation of mutual commitments as part of the peacebuilding frameworks developed in Burundi, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, and the Central African Republic. This has begun to fill an important gap. But, the PBC has so far not fulfilled the full promise of this principle: to serve as a forum where national and international actors can hold each other to their commitments. This brief reflects on the PBC's experience with mutual accountability and puts it into a broader context to highlight why it is an area where the PBC can potentially add value.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Peace Studies, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Africa, Sierra Leone, and Burundi

70. Global Terrorism: Multilateral Institutional Responses to an Extraordinary Threat

Author:
Eric Rosand
Publication Date:
04-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
In recent years, the traditional tendency to treat non state actors that resort to terrorist violence as a domestic issue has given way to an increasing focus on international—and multilateral—responses Nationalist/ separatist terrorist groups such as the Kurdistan Peoples Party (PKK) in Turkey, the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) in Sri Lanka, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) generated only limited responses at the multilateral level. The emergence of transnational terrorism in the 1970s led to a spate of international law-making to facilitate inter-state cooperation in response to hijacking, hostage-taking and other forms of terrorism. But only with the emergence of Al Qaeda, with its extraordinary global reach, has the transnational threat moved to the top of the agenda of international for a such as the United Nations and G8.
Topic:
International Relations, Globalization, International Law, Terrorism, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Turkey, Sri Lanka, Colombia, and Kurdistan