Iraq's March 2010 elections delivered a surprising virtual tie in the ethnically mixed and strategically important province of Kirkuk, making it an opportune time for fresh thinking on how to address persistent disputes over its status.
Concerns about the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Haiti's development have been present for decades. However, these issues have gained increasing prominence following the January 12, 2010 earthquake that destroyed much of Port-au-Prince.
The January 12th earthquake in Haiti shook the justice system. Prior to the earthquake, Haiti had been making steady progress towards improving access to justice.
Recent incidences of ethno-religious violence in northern Nigeria have alarmed the international community to the point where Nigeria is now perceived as a potential breeding ground for transnational terrorism and violent religious extremism.
Topic:
Ethnic Conflict, Islam, Terrorism, Governance, and Sectarian violence
The next seven months leading up to the December policy review will be crucial for Afghanistan's future; at that time the Obama administration—and the citizens of Afghanistan, the United States and ISAF nations—will make a judgment about progress towards stability there.
Three crises in 2009 revealed the inadequacy of global health governance. The outbreak of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) found countries scrambling for access to vaccines, an unseemly process that led the World Health Organization to call for a new “global framework” on equitable influenza vaccine access. The global economic crisis damaged efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, most of which involve health problems or address policy areas affecting health. The year ended with the fractious Copenhagen negotiations on global climate change, a problem with fearsome portents for global health.
Topic:
Globalization, Health, Human Welfare, and Governance
In the wake of the Lisbon Treaty, it is important to review the present arrangements for the institutional representation of the European Union in international organisations, and more broadly, in the processes of international negotiations and the way the EU acts as contracting party to conventions of international law.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Globalization, Regional Cooperation, and Governance
Before the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon, the several crisis management tools at the European Union's disposal were divided between two institutions: the European Commission and the European Council. The commission represented the community (the first pillar), and the council the intergovernmental systems (the second pillar). The creation of a new post of High Representative of the Union and the institution of a new External Action Service are intended to put an end to this commission-council dualism. The target of the reforms is clear: providing the EU with the capacity to adopt a comprehensive approach linking its several assets (including the military one) under a common, coherent, crisis management approach.
Topic:
Security, Regional Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, and Governance
Good governance is key to improving peoples' lives; but the Arab world falls short on many governance indicators. Most Arab states remain highly authoritarian, although there is a growing dynamism in civil society and among opposition parties, both secular and Islamist. Problems in governance have impeded development in the Arab world and limited the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC)
Abstract:
Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, China's defense science, technology, and innovation (DSTI) system has been vigorously developing a comprehensive set of innovation capabilities that will eventually allow it to join the world's top tier of military technological powers. Ample access to financial, human, and research resources; strong political support; inflows of foreign technologies and know-how; and the introduction of advanced modes of governance, market competition, and management are producing significant progress, although from a low base. But long-term success is far from assured as daunting structural bottlenecks stand in the way, not the least of which is the struggle to overcome a long history of debilitating Socialist central planning.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Economics, Markets, Science and Technology, and Governance