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11. PolicyWatch #1258: U.S. Support for the Iranian Opposition

Author:
Mehdi Khalaji
Publication Date:
07-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
Directly reaching the Iranian people can be achieved in two ways: (1) supporting political opposition groups that explicitly advocate regime change, and (2) empowering human rights and other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that do not directly engage in political action but support issues such as women and children's rights, labor rights, and religious freedom. Although the latter groups do not pursue political goals, the Iranian regime considers them subversive entities seeking to overthrow the Islamic Republic.
Topic:
Diplomacy and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:
United States, Iran, and Middle East

12. Freeing All God's Children

Author:
Clifford Bob
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Human Rights and Human Welfare - Review Essays
Institution:
Josef Korbel Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver
Abstract:
Each year since 1999 the U.S. State Department has issued a lengthy report on violations of religious freedoms around the world. In recent years, Human Rights Watch and other major rights organizations have made religious persecution one of their major foci. And the world media now pays significant attention to violations of worship rights. As a result, countries such as Sudan, China, North Korea, Uzbekistan, and others have faced international pressure for their repression of various faiths, especially Christianity.
Topic:
Non-Governmental Organization and Religion
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, China, Sudan, North Korea, and Uzbekistan

13. Troubling Trafficking: why I am worried about motherhood and apple pie but don't endorse slavery

Author:
Bridget Anderson
Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Trafficking in persons is currently viewed as a serious problem by a wide range of different agencies, organisations and lobby groups. And yet different groups identify trafficking as a problem for very different reasons and often have very different political agendas with regard to the issue. I examine three types of "stakeholders" with a view to identifying the key challenge for each in using the language of trafficking. These stakeholders are feminist "abolitionist" NGOs and their supporters; migrants'/ workers/human rights organisations; and states.
Topic:
Civil Society, Crime, Economics, and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:
United States

14. Democratizing Globalization? Impacts and Limitations of Transnational Social Movements

Author:
Jackie Smith
Publication Date:
12-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
This paper examines the organizational foundations for global democracy that have been developed through the efforts of generations of activists who have conceptualized their struggles in transnational or global terms. A broad look at the history of transnational activism shows that the “battle of Seattle” against the World Trade Organization had its origins well before the fall of 1999. It also shows that activists from poor countries have played strong roles in shaping the course of past global activism, and they are likely to play central roles in defining the future course of global struggles for democracy and social justice. Finally, we see that transnational activism has helped cultivate skills, collective identities, and perspectives on global interdependence that affect the possibilities for social movement activism today. At the same time, anti-democratic forces led mainly by the U.S. government have sought to preserve existing relations of domination and exploitation against the latest movement challenges. The current “war on terror” serves to mask a longer-term effort by proponents of economic globalization to restrict public opposition to their agenda. I outline some of the key reactions that the U.S. and other Western governments have taken in response to movement challenges, and I suggest several lessons this analysis uncovers for how activists—primarily those in the U.S. and other Western countries—can work to enhance the struggle for a more democratic global system.
Topic:
Globalization, Government, Human Rights, and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:
United States

15. The Spatial Distribution of Entrepeneurial Support Networks: Evidence from Semiconductor Initial Public Offerings from 1996-2000

Author:
Martin Kenney and Donald Patton
Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Theory and recent research demonstrates that entrepreneurship is a spatially and socially embedded activity. In certain regions, dense support networks of institutions dedicated to assisting entrepreneurial start-ups have been established and a wide variety of authors have given credit to these networks for supporting regional entrepreneurship (Kenney and von Burg 1999; Saxenian 1994; Bahrami and Evans 2000). As Marshall (1890) recognized many, but not all, industries exhibit a strong clustering effect (see also, e.g., Storper and Walker 1988; Porter 1990; 1998). Research on these networks has been hampered by a lack of empirical data that contains spatial variables and identifies the relationship between various actors (i.e., venture capitalists, law firms and investment bankers) and the start-up firm. Thus research has been qualitative and anecdotal or when quantitative limited to certain industries usually biotechnology.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:
United States

16. War in Iraq: Managing Humanitarian Relief

Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The impassioned controversy that surrounded the decision to invade Iraq had the unfortunate consequence of impeding coordination of humanitarian relief operations. Now that the war has begun, it is important to deal with the urgent task of meeting the needs of the Iraqi people. That will require steps by those who were opposed to the war, in particular European governments and NGOs, to agree to work in close coordination with the United States and put their plans and their funding on the table. And it will require steps by the United States to eschew a dominant role in the post-conflict humanitarian effort and hand coordination over to the United Nations.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Human Welfare, Non-Governmental Organization, Politics, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Europe, and Arabia

17. Humanitarian NGOs: Challenges and Trends

Author:
Abby Stoddard
Publication Date:
07-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
Non-governmental humanitarian organisations have evolved into a crucial pillar of the international humanitarian architecture. This Briefing Paper reviews the issues and trends affecting the humanitarian non-governmental sector in the wake of the sea-change in the geopolitical agenda after 11 September. Events since threaten to change the landscape of non-governmental humanitarian action in important ways, and are likely to widen the rift between US and European NGOs. Old questions, to do with relations with governments or armed forces or the shape and proper place of advocacy, have become sharper, while new challenges, such as the consolidation of the aid oligopoly, have emerged. While humanitarian agencies have to a surprising extent carried on 'business as usual', they are steeling themselves for uncertain times ahead.
Topic:
International Cooperation and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

18. External Review of the Inter–Agency Standing Committee on Humanitarian Affairs

Author:
Abby Stoddard and Bruce Jones
Publication Date:
12-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
In interpretation of the mandate provided by General Assembly Resolution 46/182 and subsequent, related resolutions, the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) has set for itself the following core objectives: To allocate responsibilities among agencies in humanitarian programmes; To identify areas where gaps in mandates or lack of operational capacity exist; To resolve disputes or disagreement about and between humanitarian agencies on system-wide humanitarian issues. To advocate common humanitarian principles to parties outside the IASC; To develop and agree on system-wide humanitarian policies; and To develop and agree on a common ethical framework for all humanitarian activities.
Topic:
International Cooperation and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

19. The Cost of Multilateral Action

Author:
Shepard Forman, Maurizio Iacopetta, Charles Grayboy, and Yoram Wurmser
Publication Date:
06-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
This explanatory note accompanies five tables developed and prepared over the past two years by graduate assistants at the Center on International Cooperation (CIC), New York University. Together, the tables describe CIC's preliminary efforts to aggregate the costs of international public goods and services provided through intergovernmental organizations. It does not account for bilateral funding nor for expenditures from non-governmental and other private actors. While the data is partial and subject to methodological deficiencies, it does provide a framework for estimating annual expenditures associated with the provision of goods and services through intergovernmental organizations as well as an indication of their distribution across sectors and regions. Reporting our findings at this early stage of the work is intended to encourage commentary on both the methodology employed and the findings to date, as well as to stimulate further research on the costs and financing of the international public sector.
Topic:
Government, International Cooperation, and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:
United States and New York

20. The Community Capacity Fund: Understanding its Role in Strengthening the Washington, D.C. Region After 9/11

Author:
Rachel Mosher-Williams
Publication Date:
09-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
The Community Capacity Fund (CCF), a program of Washington Grantmakers, is acknowledged as a new model of national funding for local, collaborative grantmaking. In the face of serious community needs and concerns post–September 11, 2001, as well as many potential ways to address those needs, the Fund developed a framework for strengthening the ability of nonprofits to respond to the terrorist attacks. An investment by the Ford Foundation (and, ultimately, several other funders) in the Washington, D.C., region's recovery enabled a large group of experienced local grant makers and nonprofit leaders to jointly translate that framework into action. Within less than a year, CCF awarded $1,400,055 in grants to organizations advocating for and reemploying workers dislocated by September 11, as well as to organizations developing cross-jurisdictional efforts to respond to future disasters.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:
United States and Washington