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411. Congo: Four Priorities for Sustainable Peace in Ituri

Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Le risque d'une reprise des violences en Ituri est aujourd'hui limité du fait de la présence de la Mission des Nations unies (MONUC), du démantèlement de la plupart des groupes armés et de la lassitude de la population après des années de souffrance et de destructions. Cependant, les problèmes de fond à l'origine des violences extrêmes qu'a connu le district pendant la guerre – un accès équitable à la terre et une gestion transparente des revenus issus de l'exploitation des ressources naturelles et minières – restent entiers. L'absence de réconciliation intercommunautaire et l'impunité pour la grande majorité des crimes commis pendant la guerre sont également extrêmement inquiétants en perspective d'élections locales en 2009. Afin d'éviter toute reprise de la violence, dont les femmes seraient les premières à souffrir, les éléments fondamentaux d'une paix durable doivent être urgemment mis en place dans le cadre d'une stratégie intégrée impliquant les institutions nationales et provinciales avec le soutien actif de la MONUC et des bailleurs de fonds du Congo.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Civil War, Human Rights, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo

412. Save the Arms Embargo

Author:
Peter Wallensteen
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:
One of the first measures contemplated by the United Nations when confronting a new security crisis is to institute an arms embargo. Since the end of the Cold War – which liberated international action from the constraints of major power confrontation – there have been 27 such embargoes. In addition to these UN embargoes, there are also unilateral measures: The United States imposes its own arms sanctions on some countries (including Cuba), as does the European Union, sometimes directed at the same targets, notably Burma/Myanmar and Zimbabwe. Are they used at the right moment, and do they have the effects the UN would want? The list of failures is, indeed, long. The most striking is the arms embargo on Somalia, which has been in place since 1992 without any settlement in sight. Is it time to forget about this measure? Or is it time to save the embargo? If it is time to save the embargo, as this brief contends, what lessons can be drawn about the optimal use of embargoes, and under what conditions can they work?
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States and Somalia

413. Transparency in transfers of small arms and light weapons

Author:
Paul Holtom
Publication Date:
07-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
Intergovernmental and public transparency in international transfers of small arms and light weapons (SALW) lags behind transparency levels for other conventional weapons. In recent years, intergovernmental organizations, export control regimes and states have worked to provide more information to other states and the public on SALW transfers. In December 2003 the United Nations General Assembly invited member states to provide information on SALW transfers to the UN Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA).
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Arms Control and Proliferation, and War

414. The Impact on Domestic Policy of the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports The Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Spain

Author:
Mark Bromley
Publication Date:
08-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
In the 17 years since the European Union (EU) first formulated common standards to be applied in arms export decision making, there has been a rapid expansion in the EU's role as a coordinator and generator of policy in an area that was previously the exclusive domain of national governments. Most relevant to this change has been the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports (EU Code of Conduct), which was adopted by the Council of the EU in June 1998 and will celebrate its 10th anniversary in June 2008. The Code takes the form of a Council declaration— it contains political commitments but is not legally binding. Under the Code, EU member states commit themselves to set 'high common standards which should be regarded as the minimum for the management of, and restraint in, conventional arms transfers' and 'to reinforce cooperation and to promote convergence in the field of conventional arms exports' within the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). It lists eight criteria that member states agree to take into account when assessing applications for arms export licences. More importantly, the Code outlines reporting procedures and consultation mechanisms intended to ensure consistent interpretation of the criteria.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Arms Control and Proliferation, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Spain, and Netherlands

415. How irresponsible arms transfers undermine development goals

Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Irresponsible arms transfers are undermining many developing countries' chances of achieving their Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets. This paper shows new evidence of how this is happening in parts of Asia, Latin America, and Africa - either by draining governments' resources or by fuelling armed violence or conflict.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, Treaties and Agreements, War, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Africa, Asia, and Latin America

416. The Defense Monitor, Volume XXXVII - November/December 2008

Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
In their January 2007 Op-Ed , George Shultz, William Perry, Sam Nunn and Henry Kissinger advocated "A World Free of Nuclear Weapons." To imagine a world without nuclear weapons means that the United States and the other nuclear powers can find a way to get rid of them. In other words: "Getting to zero." But, how to reach "zero" is usually where the debate stalemates. With characteristic candor, Shultz himself admits he doesn't know how to get to zero, and doubts if his colleagues do.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Arms Control and Proliferation
Political Geography:
United States

417. The Defense Monitor, Volume XXXVII, No. 5 - September/October 2008

Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
In early 2001, the Pentagon anticipated an approximate budget of $900 billion for the Navy and Marines for the period 2001 to 2009. Not counting $95 billion subsequently received for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Navy/Marine Corps "base" (nonwar) budget was increased by $174 billion to $1.074 trillion. The data used for these calculations are displayed in the table on this page.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, War, and Maritime Commerce
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Iraq

418. Defense Monitor, Volume XXXVII, No. 3 - May/June 2008

Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
On July 1, 2008 when France assumes the European Union (EU) presidency for six months, one of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's top priorities will be the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). According to Le Monde, Sarkozy is planning a "Saint-Malo (B)" – a reference to the Anglo- French declaration signed on Dec. 4, 1998, relaunching movement towards an EU defense capacity, and leading eventually to the birth of ESDP.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, War, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:
Europe and France

419. Defense Monitor, Vol. XXXVII, No. 2 - March/April 2008

Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
The new 2009 defense budget has just been released. The more you look into the numbers, the more things become unclear, very unclear. Most of the numbers that have been released are inaccurate or incomplete, or both. Other numbers will change as the year progresses, but we do not know if they will go up or down.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Debt, Nuclear Weapons, and Weapons of Mass Destruction

420. Defense Monitor, Vol. XXXVII, No. 1 -January/February 2008

Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
Until Dec. 27, the "success" of U.S. President George Bush's defiant rejection of the American public's repudiation of his Iraq and Afghanistan war policies – evidenced by the November 2006 congressional election – looked to be the most significant aspect of major armed conflicts around the world during 2007.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Defense Policy, and Arms Control and Proliferation
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, and America