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281. Owning Up: Options for Disclosing the Identities of Beneficial Owners of Extractive Companies

Author:
Aaron Sayne, Erica Westenberg, and Amir Shafaie
Publication Date:
08-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Global interest in ownership transparency is growing, with the G8 adopting principles on beneficial ownership; a dozen EITI countries participating in a beneficial ownership pilot; and the US, UK and EU taking steps toward making more beneficial ownership information available. The aim of such initiatives is to shed light on secret ownership structures that enable some extractive companies to evade tax payments or hide improper relationships with government officials. While a complex and opaque ownership structure is no sure sign that an extractives company is engaging in financial misconduct, the publication of beneficial ownership information can help to deter improper practices and enable detection. This briefing explores options open to countries for collecting, publishing and using information on the beneficial owners of oil, gas and mining companies. It provides background on how beneficial ownership works in the extractive industries and why it matters. The briefing also offers governments, companies and civil society members a framework for deciding what information to publish, and considers the critical question of what more disclosure could realistically achieve.
Topic:
Industrial Policy, International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, Oil, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
Global Focus

282. The 2015 Survey of Progress in International Economic Governance

Author:
Domenico Lombardi and Kelsey Shantz
Publication Date:
11-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Abstract:
The annual CIGI Survey of Progress in International Economic Governance assesses progress in five areas of international economic governance: macroeconomic and financial cooperation; cooperation on financial regulation; cooperation on development; cooperation on trade; and cooperation on climate change. In this year’s survey, 31 CIGI experts conclude that international economic arrangements continue to show a level of “status quo,” averaging a score of 50% across all five areas. The 2015 survey indicates a slight improvement to the result of last year’s survey, which suggested a minimal regression overall. The experts’ assessment of progress was most promising in the area of climate change cooperation, with an average score of 57%, whereas the least promising area was macroeconomic and financial cooperation, with a score of 44%, indicating minimal regression. The remaining three areas polled all fell within the “status quo” range, with trade at 46%, development at 48% and international cooperation on financial regulation at 53%. Interestingly, in the area of cooperation on development, CIGI’s experts provided a relatively mixed assessment. Responses varied based on experts’ perception of the effectiveness of current rhetoric, from 70% (indicating some progress) to 10% (suggesting major regression). Compared to last year, climate change governance has made the greatest improvement, but the remaining three areas (with the exception of development, which was not included in the 2014 survey) have all, on average, regressed further or remained stagnant. This trend is cause for concern.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Economics, International Cooperation, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Global Focus

283. Renewable Energy’s Coming of Age: A Disruptive Technology?

Author:
Robert A. Manning
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
The eyes of the world are on the United Nations Climate Conference, also known as COP21. Leaders from around the world are gathered in Paris in an effort to combat the effects of climate change. One of the best chances we have to mitigate these harmful effects are renewable technologies.
Topic:
Climate Change, Industrial Policy, International Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Global Focus

284. Crisis? What Crisis? The World Bank and Housing Finance for the Poor

Author:
Elisa Van Waeyenberge
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:
This paper provides a critical assessment of the Bank’s housing policies, against the backdrop of far- reaching transformations of the financial sector across the world and a persistently dire shelter situation in developing countries. It situates the Bank’s housing stance historically since its initial involvement in the sector in the early 1970s. This allows to shed light on systemic and analytical tendencies bearing on Bank housing policy with significant implications for the Bank’s current policy stance, including its response (or lack thereof) to the dramatic experience with housing finance laid bare through the global financial and economic crisis.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Poverty, World Bank, Finance, Housing, and Economic Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

285. Strengthening Implementation of the UN's Children and Armed Conflict Agenda

Author:
Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
Abstract:
on Children and Armed Conflict, and the Permanent Mission of Liechtenstein to the United Nations, convened a workshop, “Strengthening Implementation of the UN's Children and Armed Conflict Agenda,” on December 12-13, 2013, at Princeton University. The workshop brought together representatives of United Nations member states, members of the Security Council, United Nations offices, representatives of NGOs, and academics to discuss strengthening Security Council action toward perpetrators of violations against children in situations of armed conflict. The workshop produced recommendations for action to the Security Council and its Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, the Secretary-General and his Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, UN member states, regional and subregional organizations and arrangements, and donors.
Topic:
International Cooperation, United Nations, Children, and Armed Conflict
Political Geography:
Global Focus

286. Africa's Media Boom: The Role of International Aid

Author:
Mary Myers
Publication Date:
10-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
This year, 2014, marks 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the symbolic end of the Cold War in 1989. It also marks the anniversary of the beginning of an extraordinary proliferation of media outlets in sub-Saharan Africa, which swept across the continent, freeing Africa’s press and liberating the airwaves from monopoly by the state. Economics, technology, and socio-political forces all played major roles in this boom of Africa’s media. But one of the untold stories of these changes is the role of donor aid in this process. This is the subject of the Center for International Media Assistance’s latest report, Africa’s Media Boom: The Role of International Aid, by veteran international media consultant Mary Myers. It explores these questions: · How much of a catalyst were foreign donors in this mushrooming of Africa’s news media? · What were the motives and mechanisms of this aid? · What difference did it make at the time, and subsequently? · Was media proliferation necessarily a good thing–did it lead to pluralism and genuine freedom?
Topic:
International Cooperation, International Affairs, and Media
Political Geography:
Africa and Global Focus

287. Green Financing - International Panorama

Author:
Helena Gonçalves
Publication Date:
10-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI)
Abstract:
In this article, Helena Gonçalves presents some of the main economic instruments and financial incentives in effect today, emphasizing some examples of good international practices in applying these mechanisms. The author highlights the cross-cutting nature between social and environmental problems, as well as the necessary complementarity between society, market and State in order to solve this crisis.
Topic:
Environment, International Cooperation, International Affairs, and Climate Finance
Political Geography:
Global Focus

288. Global Financial Conditions, Country Spreads and Macroeconomic Fluctuations in Emerging Countries

Author:
Ozge Akinci
Publication Date:
08-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
This paper uses a panel structural vector autoregressive (VAR) model to investigate the extent to which global financial conditions, i.e., a global risk-free interest rate and global financial risk, and country spreads contribute to macroeconomic fluctuations in emerging countries. The main findings are: (1) Global financial risk shocks explain about 20 percent of movements both in the country spread and in the aggregate activity in emerging economies. (2) The contribution of global risk-free interest rate shocks to macroeconomic fluctuations in emerging economies is negligible. Its role, which was emphasized in the literature, is taken up by global financial risk shocks. (3) Country spread shocks explain about 15 percent of the business cycles in emerging economies. (4) Interdependence between economic activity and the country spread is a key mechanism through which global financial shocks are transmitted to emerging economies.
Topic:
Development, Emerging Markets, International Cooperation, Financial Crisis, and Global Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

289. Peace Agreement Drafter's Handbook

Author:
Public International Law Policy Group
Publication Date:
01-2012
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Public International Law Policy Group
Abstract:
The Public International Law & Policy Group’s (PILPG) Peace Agreement Drafter’s Handbook is a comprehensive guide on how to draft a peace agreement based upon comparative analysis of more than 60 peace agreements over a period of more than 30 years. This Handbook is intended to assist drafters, mediators, negotiators, and anyone else interested in the substantive and practical contents contained in peace agreements. PILPG designed this Handbook to facilitate drafting peace agreements quickly, efficiently, and effectively. The Handbook does not proffer advice on how to negotiate or otherwise reach an agreement. Rather, the Handbook is designed to facilitate the ability of parties and other actors to translate political agreements into legally-binding treaty language. Emphasis is placed on crafting provisions in such a way as to enhance their full and effective implementation, as well as the durability of the agreement itself. The Handbook sets out the essential components and core elements found in most peace agreements because approximately 60–70 percent of all peace agreements draw on similar components and language. However, every conflict is unique and drafters may have to adjust certain elements to enhance an agreement’s relevancy and applicability to a particular conflict situation or post-conflict environment. Therefore, each chapter should be considered as ad hoc, and reshaping the new agreement to address the nuances of each party’s needs will be necessary. Similarly, the comparative provisions and sample language provided in the Handbook are by no means exclusive, recommended, or mandatory. The purpose of the Handbook is to assist a drafter prepare a well-crafted agreement and enhance the durability of future agreements by drawing upon the best practices from prior agreements. The Handbook consists of several chapters, all of which follow the same basic format. Each chapter focuses on a particular section commonly found in peace agreements, such as ceasefires, economic restructuring, and property restitution. Each chapter first identifies the basic elements in that section of a peace agreement. For instance, in ceasefires, the basic elements include the identification and definition of prohibited acts, separation of forces, and verification, supervision, and monitoring. The primary notes found in each chapter provide a brief overview of a specific element. These elements are then addressed through comparative analysis. The analysis provides for the drafter language found in other peace agreements from which the most relevant to the drafter’s conflict can be selected. Each section then concludes with sample language.
Topic:
Diplomacy, International Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

290. From Washington to Seoul: Advancing Nuclear Security Objectives

Author:
Olexander Motsyk
Publication Date:
05-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
lexander Motsyk is Ambassador of Ukraine to the U.S. Being a career diplomat, Mr. Motsyk has worked for more than 30 years in the field of foreign relations. Prior to his assignment in the U.S. he served as Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey and Poland. His diplomatic career also includes such positions as First Deputy Foreign Minister as well as Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Ukraine. His work was marked by the Commander Cross and Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (2010), The Order of Merit, II Degree (2006) and The Order of Justice, I Degree, of the World Jurist Association (2005). In this op-ed Mr. Motsyk discusses Ukraine’s contribution to global nuclear safety and security and importance of international cooperation to make the world a safer place to live in.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, International Cooperation, Military Strategy, and Nuclear Safety
Political Geography:
Global Focus