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151. Protecting Civilians in Disasters and Conflicts

Author:
Elizabeth Ferris
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Protection of people from oppressive governments, civil conflict and disasters has moved to the top of the international agenda. The United Nations Security Council authorized all measures necessary to protect civilians in Libya as the airstrikes began. Humanitarian agencies—working in more places and under more difficult conditions than ever before—are grappling with the aftermath of Japan's massive earthquake even as they are also working with displaced people in Haiti and Ivory Coast and responding to hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Libya. And increasingly these agencies are not only trying to assist people through provision of relief items, but also trying to protect them. But with so many global organizations mobilizing to protect civilians when disasters strike and conflicts break out, the concept of protection has begun to lose its distinctive meaning.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation, United Nations, War, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
Japan and Libya

152. The UN Security Council and the Responsibility to Protect: Policy, Process, and Practice

Author:
Susan E. Rice, Gareth Evans, Alan Doss, Adonia Ayebare, Edward C. Luck, Patrick Cammaert, Thomas Mayr-Harting, Christoph Mikulasche, Mona Rishmawi, Rima Salah, and Michael Spindelegger
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
We are proud to host the International Peace Institute Vienna Seminar on Peacemaking and Peacekeeping for many y ears now, organized by the International Peace Institute together with the National Defence Academy and the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, in cooperation with the Austrian Ministry for European and International Affairs and the Austrian Ministry for Denfence.
Topic:
Genocide, Human Rights, Human Welfare, United Nations, War, and Peacekeeping

153. Human Security

Author:
Sakiko Fukuda-Parr and Carol Messineo
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs
Abstract:
This paper reviews the concept of human security, its use in policy debates and the academic literature on the concept as an idea in international relations. We argue that in spite of the controversy, human security is an important concept that should not be ignored as a significant discourse in contemporary debates about the world order. It opens up new lines of analysis, gives voice to new actors. Its value added in the security field is that it focuses attention on human beings and integrates non-military mechanisms as means to security. Its value added in the development field is to focus attention on downside risks.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Human Rights, and Human Welfare

154. Corruption and Human Trafficking

Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Transparency International
Abstract:
Human trafficking is a 'high profit – low risk' venture. This cost-benefit equation results because the perpetrators of the crime have sizable monetary gains compared to the limited risk of getting caught and being brought to trial. Corruption allows this perverse incentive to continue.
Topic:
Globalization, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Sex Trafficking

155. The Relationship between the Responsibility to Protect and the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict

Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Abstract:
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) holds an open debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict (POC) twice yearly. Following the UNSC's reaffirmation of the World Summit agreement on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) populations from genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Resolutions 1674 (2006) and 1894 (2009) on POC, discussion of R2P has been an important component of these debates. This is reflected in government statements, presentations by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, and in the Secretary-General's 2007 report on POC where he referred to the agreement on R2P as a "cardinal achievement."
Topic:
Political Violence, Genocide, Human Rights, Human Welfare, War, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
United Nations

156. Worldwide Cost of Living 2011 Which city is the most expensive to live in? Which city is the cheapest?

Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
Tokyo holds the dubious honour of once again being the world's most expensive city. Until 2006, Tokyo had been at the top of the global cost-of-living ranking for 14 uninterrupted years before low inflation, weak consumer confidence and a declining Japanese yen reduced the cost of living. Between 2006 and 2009 Oslo and then Paris were the costliest cities in the survey, with Tokyo pushed down to fifth place in the ranking.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Paris, Tokyo, and Oslo

157. Protection of civilians under international humanitarian law: trends and challenges

Author:
Camilla Waszink
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
This paper examines challenges faced in ensuring the adequate protection of civilians during armed conflict in accordance with international humanitarian law (IHL). While IHL establishes a comprehensive legal framework to protect civilians from the effects of military operations, this stands in stark contrast to the situation that civilians in conflict-affected areas face on the ground. Civilians account for a high proportion of the victims in most contemporary armed conflicts, whether as an unintended result of the fighting or because they are deliberately targeted by belligerents. Even in situations where the parties are seemingly committed to implementing their obligations under IHL, military operations often result in high numbers of civilian casualties and widespread destruction of civilian property.
Topic:
Political Violence, Human Rights, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, International Law, and War

158. Are Drugs Made in Emerging Markets Good Quality? A Preliminary Assessment of Product Consistency by Use of Raman Spectra

Author:
Roger Bate
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Increasing competition generally decreases product prices. But in the case of pharmaceuticals, this is only beneficial if competitor products are therapeutically equivalent (bioequivalent). One measure of quality control is a consistently made product, examined in detail in this paper. A comprehensive study of drug samples in African and Asian countries--assessed for variability by spectrometer--suggests that registered products perform notably better than unregistered products. As all of the sampled drugs are used to treat potentially lethal infections, this product variability (particularly of unregistered drugs) could prove detrimental to public health. Future analysis will assess how significant these spectral differences are in terms of drug quality and hence how important changes in policy should be to limit quality variability.
Topic:
Emerging Markets, Health, Human Welfare, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Africa, China, and Asia

159. Bankrupt: Entitlements and the Federal Budget

Author:
Michael Tanner
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The U.S. government is about to exceed its statutory debt limit of $14.3 trillion. But that actually underestimates the size of the fiscal time bomb that this country is facing. If one considers the unfunded liabilities of programs such as Medicare and Social Security, the true national debt could run as high as $119.5 trillion.
Topic:
Debt, Economics, Human Welfare, Financial Crisis, Governance, and Health Care Policy
Political Geography:
United States

160. R2P: Perceptions and Misperceptions

Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Abstract:
The core underlying idea that states have an obligation to protect men and women from the worst atrocities is well established. Basic human rights principles were adopted in the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and there is a substantial body of international human rights law. The United Nations adopted the Convention on Genocide in 1948. The protection of civilians during armed conflict is well established in international humanitarian law. But with the advent of R2P, the international community accepted for the first time the collective responsibility to act should states fail to protect citizens from genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, or crimes against humanity. R2P thus imposes two obligations—the first upon each state individually, the second on the international community of states collectively. With the embrace of the responsibility to protect, a long and unresolved debate over whether to act became, instead, a discussion about how and when to act.
Topic:
Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, Treaties and Agreements, and United Nations