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Begin New Search Topic Conflict Prevention Publication Year within 25 Years

491. Can Rich Countries Afford to Grow Old?

Author:
Gary Burtless
Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Observers in many industrialized countries believe population aging represents a serious economic threat. Increases in the percentage of the population past retirement age may impose unsustainable burdens on future workers. Either taxes or government debt will have to rise substantially to pay for old-age income support. This paper considers the extent of these burdens and corrects the widespread impression that the burdens are unsupportable. Population aging means that contributions needed to support the retired elderly must rise. But this extra burden will be at least partly offset by a reduced need to support the dependent young, who will become relatively less numerous. The extra burden of an aging population would be smaller still if labor force participation rates among the working-age and elderly populations increased. Indeed, employment rates among the nonaged have risen in nearly all the industrialized countries as a growing percentage of women has entered the work force. Many countries, including the United States, have adopted policies to encourage work among people past the traditional retirement age.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, International Relations, Economics, Government, and Population
Political Geography:
United States

492. After Intervention: Public Security Management in Post-Conflict Societies - From Intervention to Sustainable Local Ownership

Author:
Anja H. Ebnöther and Philipp H. Fluri
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Austrian National Defence Academy
Abstract:
The transition from interventionist (military) peace-keeping to local (civilian) ownership of public security management has proved not only to be a severe challenge for most peace-keeping operations and their civilian administrators, but also a reason for such operations being prolonged at tremendous cost. In many cases, peace-keeping operations and/or other international agents rapidly became part of the local economy, and thus contributed to the preservation of the status quo rather than to a sustainable process leading toward local governance; meanwhile local police organs - often remnants of the winning force in the antecedent conflict - remained tribal or clannish in their approaches and interests. They could thus hardly be seen as enforcement agencies of a law which remains equally applied to all citizens.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Security, Development, International Organization, and War
Political Geography:
Iraq, Middle East, and Balkans

493. Iran's Security Challenges and the Region

Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
Abstract:
The following summary addresses key aspects that emerged from the discussion at the Ninth Liechtenstein Colloquium on European and International Affairs held in Triesenberg, Principality of Liechtenstein on March 17-20, 2005. The colloquium focused on Iran and included an in-depth discussion of the nuclear issue. Since the LCM is conducted under strict off-the-record rules, no attribution is provided. Attending participants included high-level Iranian offi cials involved in the ongoing negotiations with the EU, as well as representatives and experts from the United States, the EU, Russia, and India.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Nuclear Weapons, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, Iran, Middle East, and India

494. Housing, Land, Property and Conflict Management: Identifying Policy Options for Rule of Law Programming

Author:
Agnes Hurwitz, Kaysie Studdard, and Rhodri Williams
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Housing, land and property (HLP) policies should, as far as possible be addressed in conjunction to ensure that residential and land rights are dealt with more comprehensively by domestic and international actors.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Development, Economics, and Government

495. Police Reform in Post Conflict Societies: What We Know and What We Still Need to Know

Author:
William G. O'Neill
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Police reform is one of the most important and complex challenges in any environment. It is particularly challenging, however, in post-conflict situations where the police have often perpetrated serious human rights violations. Often cut off from the populations they are meant to serve and protect, many operate more like military contingents than public security officers. Transforming such police forces into rights-respecting police services that simultaneously provide protection and fight crime has challenged local and international reformers.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Development, and United Nations

496. Controlling Corruption In Post-Conflict Countries

Author:
Emil Bolongaita
Publication Date:
01-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:
Controlling corruption in post-conflict environments is a critical but largely underestimated challenge. The chances that corruption will distort and demolish the intentions and plans of post-conflict peace agreements or settlements are relatively high. Depending on the severity of the conflict, post-conflict settings are marked by governance environments that are worse than before the onset of conflict. Weak post-conflict institutions are hardly conducive to tackling practices of deception and dishonesty cultivated during the conflict. The dilemma of recurrence of conflict looms large. Indeed, if the postwar record of post-conflict countries is any indication, the description of "post-conflict" does not hold for long, as the parties to peace agreements return to violent confrontation.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Civil Society, and Development

497. Early Intervention with Violent and Racist Youth Groups

Author:
Yngve Carlsson and Tore Bjørgo
Publication Date:
01-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The present book provides insights into the processes and motivations invol-ved in group formation and joining, as well as into group cohesiveness and dis-integration, and the processes whereby individual members disengage or are unable to do so. Various forms of interaction between the group and the social environment will also have great impact on the fate of the group and its members. These are all processes and mechanisms that can be infl-uenced through prevention and intervention measures – and more effectively so if action is based on knowledge of both the general phenomenon as well as of the local situation.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Civil Society, Crime, and Development

498. Ways Forward for Conflict Prevention and Development in GPKT

Author:
Andrew Sherriff
Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
Violent conflict primarily between ethnic Albanian armed groups and Serbian and Macedonian security forces has been a feature of the recent history of Kosovo, southern Serbia and fYR Macedonia and also the municipalities of Gjilan/Gnjilane, Kumanovo and Presevo. Violent conflict has also indirectly affected the municipality of Trgoviste.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Kosovo, Balkans, Macedonia, and Albania

499. Waging Nonviolent Struggle: 20th Century Practice and 21st Century Potential

Author:
Gene Sharp
Publication Date:
01-2005
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Columbia International Affairs Online
Abstract:
We live in a world of many conflicts, and we have a responsibility to face many of them. Not all conflicts are equal. Some are much more important than others, and in some conflicts the issues at stake are more difficult to resolve in acceptable ways than are those in other conflicts.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, and Peace Studies

500. Security Sector Governance in West Africa: Turning Principles to Practice

Author:
Alan Bryden, Boubacar N'Diaye, and 'Funmi Olonisakin
Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Abstract:
While other regions of Africa have had their share of crises, the challenge of meeting numerous security threats has been particularly arduous in West Africa. Nevertheless, there are unmistakable signs that the sub-region is beginning to fully awaken to the need to tackle its security crisis. This article argues that although the creation of democratic spaces in democratising states or complete rebuilding of collapsed states provides greater opportunities for security sector reform (SSR), democratisation does not necessarily lead to democratic governance of the security sector. To illustrate these points, a categorisation is proposed, classifying each West African state against a number of 'signposts' linked to security sector governance. A combination of norm-setting at the sub-regional level as well as activism in the non-governmental sector across the region is driving the move (even if slow and seemingly uncoordinated) toward improved governance, including in the security sector at the national level. However, the commitment of states to principles of good governance at the inter-governmental level does not naturally lead to corresponding change within the state. There is therefore a clear need to promote a security sector governance (SSG) agenda at both sub-regional and national levels in order to expand the space for meaningful SSR processes in West Africa.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Africa