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72. Emerging Security Challenges: A Glue for NATO and Partners?
- Author:
- Ioanna-Nikoletta Zyga
- Publication Date:
- 11-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- When the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) formed as a defensive military alliance more than six decades ago, one of its fundamental tasks was to deter Soviet aggression against Western Europe. Since the end of the Cold War, the Allies have come to understand that their security depends on their ability to face threats emerging from well beyond the Euro-Atlantic space. NATO has thus broadened its focus from collective defense to security management beyond its borders: its numerous operations in this capacity have included peace support, peacekeeping, disaster relief and counter-piracy missions. These operations have taken place not only in NATO's traditional areas of intervention such as the Balkans, but also as far afield as the Gulf of Aden, the Horn of Africa, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, NATO, International Security, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, Africa, Europe, and North Atlantic
73. 'We are entirely exploitable': The lack of protection for civilians in eastern DRC
- Publication Date:
- 07-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Each year Oxfam undertakes a far-reaching survey of unheard, conflict-affected people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Three-quarters of the 1,705 people polled in 2011 said that they felt their security had not improved since last year. In areas affected by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), this figure rose to 90 per cent, with communities telling Oxfam that they felt abandoned, isolated, and vulnerable. Communities everywhere painted a grim picture of continued abuse of power by militias, the Congolese army, and other government authorities, wearing away their livelihoods and ability to cope.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Civil War, Armed Struggle, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo
74. Renewing MONUSCO'S Mandate: What Role Beyond the Elections?
- Author:
- Arthur Boutellis and Guillaume Lacaille
- Publication Date:
- 05-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute
- Abstract:
- As they prepare to discuss the renewal of MONUSCO's mandate six months ahead of general elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the members of the UN Security Council are facing a dilemma. Should they limit the role of MONUSCO to the continued protection of civilians in eastern Congo, as agreed with President Joseph Kabila, or should they expand its mandate in an attempt to enforce democratic principles before the elections at the risk of confronting the incumbent regime? This issue brief argues that MONUSCO should be limited to a technical role in the election—as requested by the Congolese authorities—but only on the condition that the international community reengages President Kabila in a frank political dialogue on long term democratic governance reforms.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Democratization, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo
75. Microfinance on the Ground in Post-Conflict Juba, South Sudan
- Author:
- Crystal Murphy
- Publication Date:
- 10-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Wilson Center
- Abstract:
- Though microfinance is championed in “typical” underdeveloped societies, its appropriateness for societies in the wake of conflict is not certain. Through in-depth field interviews and subsequent narrative analysis, this essay details lived realities of microfinance in Juba, South Sudan since the 20 05 Comprehensive Peace Agreement. It describes how repatriates navigate the complex new economy, credit, and income opportunities to secure livelihoods after war. It finds that microfinance in Juba does serve some worthwhile ends in the post-conflict economy, which, however, complicate the industry's success narratives.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa, South Sudan, and Juba
76. Prioritizing Protection from Mass Atrocities: Lessons from Burundi
- Author:
- Gregory Mthembu-Salter, Elana Berger, and Naomi Kikoler
- Publication Date:
- 09-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- Over the course of the past forty years, waves of interethnic conflict in Burundi have killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced over a million more. In 1993 the assassination of Melchior Ndadaye, the country's first Hutu president, by paratroopers from Burundi's Tutsi dominated armed forces, set off another round of violence with Hutu militias attacking Tutsi civilians and the armed forces retaliating by attacking Hutu communities. The situation ultimately devolved into a civil war that lasted for more than ten years.
- Topic:
- Ethnic Conflict, Genocide, Human Rights, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Burundi
77. Enhancing Civilian Protection in Peace Operations: Insights from Africa
- Author:
- Paul D. Williams
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- The protection of civilians is a critical issue in African security. Nearly 600,000 civilians in 27 African countries have been massacred in the past two decades. Tens of millions more have been killed in battles, displaced, or perished from indirect causes of such attacks and the continent's armed conflicts. Not only are civilians the main victims of Africa's wars, but also an increasing number of United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions have called upon peacekeepers to protect them. For many, civilian protection is the very essence of peacekeeping. This is a driving rationale behind the unanimously endorsed and UN-mandated “responsibility to protect” principle—the idea that governments have a responsibility to prevent and curtail genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing. Civilian protection is also a crucial part of forging durable political settlements because any peace agreement that tolerates continued violence against civilians will not provide a solid foundation on which to build legitimate governance structures.
- Topic:
- Security, Human Rights, Human Welfare, War, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa and United Nations
78. Somalia: Line in the Sand--Identification of MYM Vulnerabilities
- Author:
- Eloy E. Cuevas and Madeleine Wells
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- The influence of Islam on governance and clan politics has both negatively and positively affected the people of Somalia. It has facilitated justifying the removal of national, regional, and grassroots or clan leadership, especially if socioeconomic conditions and quality of life standards have been degraded or the leadership failed to ensure the safety of the people. Additionally, charismatic clan leaders have leveraged the low level of education among the Somali population to incite leadership changes. On a positive note, enforcement of Islamic law (Sharia) has been a major factor in helping to stabilize the lawlessness that has gone unchecked throughout the ungoverned parts of Somalia. By establishing courts and increasing the appointment of judges, Islamic leaders have attempted to bring normalcy to people's daily lives, amid all the street-level battles, clan intra and interconnected struggles for leadership and influence, and the presence of foreign fighters on both sides of the conflict.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy, United Nations, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa
79. Congo : Pas de stabilité au Kivu malgré le rapprochement avec le Rwanda
- Publication Date:
- 11-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Le plan de résolution du conf lit au Kivu consistant à pri-vilégier la solution militaire s'avère être un échec. Deux années après le début du rapprochement entre le président Congolais Joseph Kabila et son homologue rwandais Paul Kagame, les soldats gouvernementaux sont encore aux prises avec des miliciens pour le contrôle des terres et des zones minières. Bien qu'aucune des deux parties n'ait réellement les capacités de pr endre un ascendant définitif, elles ont toutes deux les ressources suffisantes pour prolonger la lutte. Dans le même temps, les civils subissent des violences extrêmes et la situation humanitaire se dété-riore. Les tensions ethniques se sont aggravées à l'annonce des plans de rapatriement de dizaines de milliers de réfu-giés congolais qui ont fui au Rwanda durant les années 1990. Le Conseil de Sécurité des Nations Unies a observé la situation se dégrader à l'est du Congo sans s'opposer aux décisions de Kagame et Kabila.
- Topic:
- Civil War, Diplomacy, Economics, Peace Studies, Treaties and Agreements, War, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo
80. Caught in the Middle: China and India in Sudan's Transition
- Author:
- Daniel Large and Luke Patey
- Publication Date:
- 11-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Sudan is at an important, historic moment. The upcoming referendum vote may very likely result in the South becoming an independent state. Since the landmark signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, China, and to a lesser extent India, have become even more important political and economic partners of the ruling National Congress Party in Khartoum. Generally, commentaries and studies covering China and India's relations with Sudan focus on their interactions with the central government in Khartoum. However, this paper finds that both have also followed a necessary hedging strategy by establishing quasi-diplomatic relations with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-run Government of Southern Sudan in Juba. Both have expanded economic and political relations beyond investment in Sudan's oil sector and beyond merely engaging Khartoum. Chinese and Indian engagement with the GOSS in Juba marks a major shift in policy from dealing exclusively with the central government. The adaptation of both to political developments, however, does not leave them invulnerable to present uncertainties revolving around Sudan's potential split. Due to its economic role in Sudan, China in particular is in a unique position to promote a peaceful transition.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Diplomacy, Peace Studies, Treaties and Agreements, Territorial Disputes, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa, China, Sudan, and India