Search

Begin New Search Publication Year within 25 Years

18001. Integrating Approaches to Food, Water, Energy, and the Environment

Author:
Katherine E. Bliss and Katryn F. Bowe
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
On October 27, 2010, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the federal Subcommittee on Water Availability and Quality (SWAQ) cohosted a participatory workshop on domestic and international water issues entitled “Bridging Knowledge Gaps in Water Management.” The event convened federal agency experts and influential thinkers from academia, nonprofit organizations, and local communities to share insights across sectors and develop practical, actionable recommendations regarding the management of and access to food, water, and energy both domestically and abroad. A keynote address, two expert panels, and a break-out session structured the day's discussion. David Zetland, senior water economist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, delivered the keynote address. In his remarks, Zetland critiqued the political process through which water and other resources are managed in the United States. His speech set the stage for a rigorous assessment of the challenges in conserving and using water resources efficiently. The first panel focused on identifying research and education gaps that pertain to water, as it relates to food, energy, and the environment. Allan Hoffman of the U.S. Department of Energy moderated the session, which featured speakers Piet Klop of World Resources Institute (WRI), David Reed of World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and Ed Link of the University of Maryland. On the second panel, representatives of the energy industry, academia, and think tanks shared their perspectives on bridging the knowledge gaps identified during the first session. Katherine Bliss of CSIS moderated the second panel, which included Reagan Waskom of Colorado State University, Kirsten Thorne of Chevron, and Paul Faeth of CNA.
Topic:
Security, Agriculture, Energy Policy, Environment, Natural Resources, and Food
Political Geography:
United States, Netherlands, and Colorado

18002. The Academia and Foreign Policy Making: Bridging the Gap

Author:
Stephan de Spiegeleire, Pertti Joenniemi, Alyson J. K. Bailes, and René Dinesen
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The paper aims at probing the way the social distance between research and practice has been unfolding in the spheres of foreign and security policies. It is noted that the landscape has been changing considerably during the last two decades, and further changes seem to be in train. While inevitably non-exhaustive and idiosyncratic, the paper still attempts to capture some key features of a shifting and rather complicated picture by looking at the demand as well as supply of research. In conclusion, the paper also comments on the frequently used concept of a 'gap' by pointing out that the two spheres relate extensively to each other despite their dissimilarity in regard to the underlying principles and departures. The relationship appears to have grown increasingly tense and so close that rather than discussing and pointing to an alleged gap, there are reasons to focus on the very nature of the relationship, discuss the terms to be applied in devising it, but also to map and outline it far better than has been the case so far.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, International Affairs, and Political Theory

18003. Is there a shared European memory? Politics of Memory and Holocaust Remembrance in the European Parliament 1989-2009

Author:
Anne Wæhrens
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper analyses how the memory of the Holocaust has been addressed in the European Parliament from 1989 to 2009. I identify two major changes that occurred in the 1990s and after the 2004 enlargement of the European Union respectively. In the 1990s the war in Bosnia and the question of restitution universalised the memory of the Holocaust and made it present. The 2004 enlargement brought the memory of Soviet Communism into the Union and made it a central task to construct a community of memory that includes both the memory of the Holocaust and of Soviet Communism. The analysis also identifies what seems to be a political memory split between Left and Right; and it shows that the time might not be ripe for a shared European memory.
Topic:
Genocide
Political Geography:
Europe, Bosnia, and Balkans

18004. Coping with Poverty and Institutionalised Practices: Tank-Irrigated Cultivation in Kolar District, Karnataka

Author:
Lars Engberg-Pederesen
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Though in decline, tank irrigation is still an important characteristic of rural social life in many parts of South India. It is of particular importance to the poor being dependent on agriculture, while rich landowners increasingly concentrate their investments and income on non-rural activities. Based on fieldwork in two communities, this paper explores the strategies of the poor and the management of tank irrigation. It establishes the main concerns and priorities of the poor and describes why the poor regard well-managed tank irrigation as a significant asset. Moreover, it studies two sets of institutionalised practices in relation to tank management, namely those related to the distribution of water from the tank and those related to the use of water when water is scarce. Both sets of practices have stable and disputed elements, and given the particular circumstances they are the object of more or less intense negotiations. Furthermore, the practices are influenced by contextual changes including the changing caste relations. Overall, the paper argues that different and equally legitimate logics can be applied to the distribution of water and this provides some opportunities for the poor to influence tank management to their advantage.
Topic:
Agriculture, Poverty, Natural Resources, and Food
Political Geography:
South Asia and Karnataka

18005. Video-recorded Decapitations: A seemingly perfect terrorist tactic that did not spread

Author:
Martin Harrow
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Video-recorded decapitations have an enormous impact, they are cheap and easy, and they allow the terrorists to exploit the potential of the Internet. With these advantages, the tactic would have been expected to quickly spread across the globe as a favored tactic. Yet, years after its invention in 2002, this has not happened. This paper using evolutionary theory finds that video-recorded decapitations have not caught on for locally specific reasons: in the West because the tactic is less accessible than one might expect; in Iraq because of the unwillingness to be associated with Zarqawi, and in the Afghan context, it has not spread because it is mainly relevant for mobilizing resources from abroad, which is not a priority for the Taliban. These are however situational variables, and just as suicide bombings took years to spread, there may be campaigns of video-recorded decapitations as conditions change.
Topic:
Terrorism, Armed Struggle, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Iraq, Middle East, and Taliban

18006. Somewhere to Turn? MINURCAT and the Protection of Civilians in Eastern Chad and Darfur

Author:
Benjamin de Carvalho, Jon Harald Sande Lie, and Randi Solhjell
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The United Nations Mission in Eastern Chad and the Central African Republic (MINURCAT) was established to protect civilians and contribute to rule of law and regional peace in the conflict-prone region bordering Darfur. The mission was dismantled towards the end of 2010. This report, based on fieldwork undertaken in Chad in 2009, addresses the situation of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) in eastern Chad and difficulties MINURCAT encountered in its response to such violence.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Civil War, Human Rights, and Refugee Issues
Political Geography:
Africa and United Nations

18007. Local and National Ownership in Post-Conflict Liberia Foreign and Domestic Inside Out?

Author:
Niels Nagelhus Schia and Benjamin de Carvalho
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The paper takes as its starting point the difficulties encountered in implementing policies aimed at fostering local and national ownership in peacekeeping activities. Especially important in this respect are training programmes aimed at sensitizing people working in peacekeeping operations to the inherent difficulties of local ownership in post-conflict environments. The account offered here is an ethnography of local ownership in a specific context. Through such accounts, we argue, training programmes can go beyond emphasizing the difficulties relating to local ownership, and instead emphasize how these can be solved in different contexts, on a case-bycase basis. By offering an ethnographical account of practices of local ownership in Liberian ministries, problematizing the role played by international embedded experts, we argue that where you stand may actually depend on where you sit. In a difficult post-conflict environment, local ownership in the initial phases may not be possible without borrowing capacity from the outside. In the end, the important question may be not who does the work, but whose perspectives underlie the policies that are adopted and implemented.
Topic:
Climate Change and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Liberia

18008. Global fiscal consolidation

Author:
Warwick McKibbin
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:
The build up in government debt in response to the 'great recession' has raised a number of policy dilemmas for individual countries as well as the world as a whole. Where the government fiscal stimulus was seen as necessary to restore confidence to markets and stimulate deteriorating economies in the aftermath of the 'great recession' by 2010 the massive fiscal stimulus programs and associated run-up in debt had, for many economies, become a confidence sapping exercise. This need for a change of fiscal policy stance has fuelled another debate that has two related aspects. One is the impact of fiscal consolidation on economies that are tightening and the flow-on effects to the world economy. The other debate is how much tightening there should be and how quickly.
Topic:
Debt, Economics, Global Recession, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Asia and Australia/Pacific

18009. Policy overboard: Australia's increasingly costly Fiji drift

Author:
Jenny Hayward-Jones
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:
What is the problem? Australia's tough-love policy towards Fiji has failed to persuade the government of Voreqe Bainimarama to restore democracy to Fiji and may even be helping to entrench his regime. The Fiji government, resistant to external pressure, has instead developed new allegiances and partnerships which undermine Australia's influence. Australia's reputation as a major power in the South Pacific and as a creative middle power more broadly may be diminished by the Fiji government's continued intransigence. Over time the Fiji people's once-strong connections with Australia may dwindle and Australia's relevance to Fiji gradually diminish unless the Australian government takes decisive action now.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Democratization
Political Geography:
Asia and Australia/Pacific

18010. China in the Pacific: the new banker in town

Author:
Fergus Hanson and Mary Fifita
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:
What is the problem? China is now one of the Pacific\'s major donors. An analysis of its aid program in the region from 2005 to 2009 suggests it is reducing the grant component of its aid and increasing the soft loan proportion. China has pledged over $US 600 million to the Pacific since 2005 and debt burdening will become increasingly pressing as Chinese loans accumulate and the five-year grace periods expire. There appears to have been limited progress improving transparency.
Topic:
Economics and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
China, Asia, and Australia/Pacific