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191. Multilateral Peace Operations and the Challenges of Irregular Migration and Human Trafficking

Author:
Jaïr van der Lijn
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
The third phase of the New Geopolitics of Peace Operations (NGP) initiative seeks to enhance understanding of how peace operations interact with non-traditional security challenges such as terrorism and violent extremism, irregular migration, piracy, organized crime and environmental degradation. It aims to identify the various perceptions, positions and interests of the relevant stakeholders. By engaging key stakeholders and mapping the policy space for the potential role of peace operations in addressing non-traditional security challenges, it also aims to stimulate open dialogue, cooperation and mutual understanding. Four dialogue meetings organized by SIPRI and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) will focus on a different non-traditional security challenge. Each will be preceded by a background paper that sets the baseline for the meeting: giving an overview of the main developments and discussions regarding peace operations and the specific challenge to be discussed. The initiative will conclude with a final report based on the outcomes of these meetings that will advance the discussion on peace operations and non‑traditional security challenges. This phase of the NGP initiative is supported by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, co-sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, and in continued partnership with FES.
Topic:
Security, Conflict, Multilateralism, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

192. Narratives in the Russian Media of Conflict and Cooperation in the Arctic

Author:
Ekaterina Klimenko, Jan Nilsson, and Miyase Christensen
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
The Arctic has been narrated as both a region of cooperation and a region of conflict. This paper presents an analysis of how three Russian newspapers (Rossiyakaya Gazeta, Izvestiya and Novaya Gazeta) reported on the Arctic region between 2007 and 2016. The aim of the analysis is to provide a foundation for a discussion of Russian perceptions of conflict and cooperation in the Arctic in a decade when the desecuritization and peaceful cooperation that began in the late 1980s and early 1990s was challenged by a combination of changes to the physical environment and a shifting geopolitical landscape. The paper also explores how Russia’s narratives of conflict and cooperation fit into narratives about the region that have emerged in the international media. Last, the paper discusses what Russian media narratives can tell us about the priorities and future trends of Russia’s Arctic policy.
Topic:
Security, Media, Conflict, and Peace
Political Geography:
Russia, Eurasia, and Arctic

193. Climate-related Security Risks and Peacebuilding in Somalia

Author:
Karolina Eklöw and Florian Krampe
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
Climate-related security risks are transforming the security landscape in which multilateral peacebuilding efforts take place. This policy paper offers a glimpse into the future of peacebuilding in the time of climate change by providing an in-depth assessment of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). Climate-related change in Somalia has reduced livelihood options and caused migration. It has also left significant parts of the population in a vulnerable condition. These climate-related security risks contribute to grievances and increase inequality and fragility, which in turn pose challenges to the implementation of UNSOM’s mandate. The impacts of climate change have hindered UNSOM in its work to provide peace and security in Somalia and in its efforts to establish functioning governance and judicial systems. UNSOM has responded to the growing impact of climate-related change. It has learned lessons from previous failed responses—notably the 2011 drought—and has created innovative initiatives that have been effective. While there is still room for improvement, UNSOM’s new initiatives may help to deliver a set of responses that meet the short-term need for a rapid humanitarian response and the long-term objective of achieving a sustainable and resilient society. The challenges faced by UNSOM and its responses to them have wider implications. They suggest that there is a need for synergetic policy responses that can turn the responses to climate-related security risks into opportunities for UN efforts to sustain peace.
Topic:
Security, Climate Change, Migration, Governance, Risk, and Peace
Political Geography:
Africa and Somalia

194. The Socio-economic Impact of Anti-vehicle Mines in Angola

Author:
Yeonju Jung
Publication Date:
11-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
The humanitarian and developmental impact of anti-vehicle mines (AVMs) is particularly relevant in immediate post-conflict reconstruction efforts. However, the comprehensive analysis of how AVMs hamper the socio-economic and sustainable development outlook of communities in the medium and long term has often been overlooked. This pilot study depicts the impact of AVM contamination on socio-economic development and the benefits of AVM clearance on sustainable development. To do so, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) serve as a framework to measure the impact of AVM clearance on agriculture, infrastructure, and access to social services.
Topic:
Development, Conflict, Peace, and Landmines
Political Geography:
Africa and Angola

195. A Human Rights Approach to Conflict Resolution

Author:
Claudia Fuentes-Julio and Raslan Ibrahim
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
The role of human rights abuses in the causes, dynamics, and consequences of conflict illustrate the importance of a human rights approach to conflict resolution:1 if human rights are part of the problem, they must be part of the solution. This essay aims to show how a human rights perspective can improve the odds of transforming violent conflicts into sustainable peace by enhancing the design and implementation of peace processes and conflict resolution practices. In doing so, we will clarify the main characteristics of a human rights approach to conflict resolution and identify a set of human rights standards to guide its implementation. We will then briefly analyze the Colombian and the Israeli-Palestinian peace processes, each through the lens of the human rights approach. These two cases illustrate opposite ends of the spectrum when considering the inclusion of human rights in conflict resolution. At one end, the Colombian peace process illustrates how negotiations and a final agreement can recognize peace as a human right, highlighting the need to transform the structural conditions of injustice and human rights violations that give rise to armed conflict. At the other end, in the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, human rights are virtually absent despite the fact that systematic abuses are among the main underlying causes and consequences of the conflict. In the conclusion, we address one of the main criticisms and challenges of a human rights–based approach to conflict resolution.
Topic:
Human Rights, Conflict, and Peace
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, Colombia, Palestine, and South America

196. Trump and Palestine: The Crowning of an American Approach

Author:
Dan Tschirgi
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Revista UNISCI/UNISCI Journal
Institution:
Unidad de investigación sobre seguridad y cooperación (UNISCI)
Abstract:
The American approach to the problem of Palestine long rested on several recognizable pillars: a basic sympathy with the Zionist program, a sincerely felt belief that Palestinian Arabs had largely been victimized by historical forces that the United States itself had found it necessary to serve, and an unstated—but real—feeling of guilt over the key role Washington played in the 1948 birth of the Jewish state. Donald Trump’s presidency upended the long-held US posture on the Palestine issue, making Washington far more amenable to Israel’s growing appetite for Arab Lands taken in 1967. In his first two years in office Trump instituted a series of administrative and economic measures apparently designed to force the PLO’s acceptance of a still-unannounced peace plan. This article suggests that Trump’s strategy will fail.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Geopolitics, Peace, and Donald Trump
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Jerusalem, and United States of America

197. Negotiating Toward a Denuclearization-Peace Roadmap on the Korean Peninsula

Author:
Duyeon Kim
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for a New American Security
Abstract:
This report examines pathways toward denuclearization and peace on the Korean peninsula by offering a conceptual framework and principles for a political roadmap informed by a technical understanding of nuclear issues, to guide Washington as it navigates a range of options in negotiations until 2020. Recognizing the inevitable linkages between denuclearization and the peace process and the effects the two issues have on each other, this report proposes and emphasizes the need for a comprehensive denuclearization-peace roadmap. The task and key challenge for the United States is to configure the right tradeoffs to create incentives for North Korea to take denuclearization steps without giving away too many vital rewards too soon, to maintain negotiating leverage. It is important to prevent Pyongyang from pocketing early gains and walking away from the process without making significant progress on denuclearization. Value-based metrics should be used in determining appropriate bargains.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Negotiation, Peace, and Denuclearization
Political Geography:
South Korea and North Korea

198. Building and Sustaining Peace from the Ground Up: A Global Study of Civil Society and Local Women’s Perception of Sustaining Peace

Author:
Agnieszka Fal Dutra Santos
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP)
Abstract:
The promise of “maintaining international peace and security”1 is one of the most important commitments of the United Nations (UN), and securing peace one of its most central tasks. Yet, it is also a promise that has proven to be the most elusive. Conflict and instability continue to be widespread across the world. According to the Global Peace Index, in 2018, “global peacefulness declined for the fourth straight year (...) as a result of growing authoritarianism, unresolved conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, and increased political instability across the world.”2 The recent years witnessed major security crises, such as the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria; the Rohingya crisis, with over a million fleeing from persecution in Myanmar; and further security deterioration in 92 countries.3 Even in countries where peace agreements have been signed – such as Colombia, the Philippines, and South Sudan – their implementation remains slow and challenging, and high levels of violence and insecurity persist. In countries that do not experience armed conflict, peace is often disrupted by other forms of insecurity – such as the shrinking of the democratic space, and the persecution, arrests, torture and murder of human rights activists. The failure to achieve and sustain peace has devastating impacts on the lives of thousands of people. As of December 2018, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees documented 68.5 million individuals forced to flee their homes, primarily because of violent conflicts.4 The negative impact of armed conflict on the achievement of development goals has also been documented.5
Topic:
Gender Issues, Women, Conflict, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

199. JUST THE FACTS: A SELECTED ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY TO SUPPORT EVIDENCE-BASED POLICYMAKING ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY

Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Our Secure Future
Abstract:
On March 8, 2000, Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury remarked in his International Women’s Day statement at the United Nations Security Council, …members of the Security Council recognize that peace is inextricably linked with equality between women and men. They affirm that the equal access and full participation of women in power structures and their full involvement in all efforts for the prevention and resolution of conflicts are essential for the maintenance and promotion of peace and equality.i Later that year, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed the landmark resolution (UNSCR 1325) on Women, Peace and Security. UNSCR 1325 is the first formal recognition of the critical role of women in effective conflict resolution and peacebuilding. The mandate requires attention to gender equality in all aspects of international peace and security decisionmaking. The vision of UNSCR 1325 is to fundamentally change often exclusionary peace and security approaches so that they are fully inclusive and sensitive to the needs and capacities of the entire population. Historically, gender inequality has remained outside the sphere of consideration for many security actors and policymakers. Unlike any other foreign policy agenda, Women, Peace and Security (WPS) originated from a global constituency of non-state actors—women. As a result, WPS promotes nonviolent, human rights–based approaches to peace and security decision-making. This approach explicitly acknowledges equality between men and women as intrinsic to achieving lasting peace.
Topic:
Security, Women, Peace, and WPS
Political Geography:
United States and Global Focus

200. WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION AND THE FATE OF NONVIOLENT CAMPAIGNS: A REPORT ON THE WOMEN IN RESISTANCE (WIRE) DATA SET

Author:
Erica Chenoweth, Conor Seyle, and Sahana Dharmapuri
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Our Secure Future
Abstract:
The Women, Peace and Security agenda is a transformative policy mandate with a global constituency. It provides policymakers with the tools to end cycles of violent conflict, create more equitable peace processes, and promote gender equality on a global, national, and local scale. Passed in October 2000, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (UNSCR 1325) underscores women’s agency, voice, and capacities as intrinsic to creating more effective international peace and security–related policies. Since 2000, more than 80 countries have adopted national action plans and policies to robustly implement the Women, Peace and Security agenda. In 2017, the US Congress adopted the Women, Peace, and Security Act to incorporate the principle of gender equality into US foreign policy. As the global agenda on Women, Peace and Security is increasingly implemented, the transformational role of women as direct actors in issues of peace and security is becoming more obvious. This is certainly true in the case of formal institutions, where women are increasingly represented in higher positions internationally. It is also true in less formal, official domains: women have been at the forefront of civil resistance movements throughout history, and they have been visible leaders in contemporary nonviolent resistance movements from Sudan to Algeria and beyond.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Women, Peace, and Nonviolence
Political Geography:
United States and Global Focus