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421. Constitution Writing and Conflict Resolution

Author:
Jennifer Widner
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Over 1975-2003 nearly 200 new constitutions were drawn up in countries at risk of conflict, as part of peace processes and the adoption of multiparty political systems. The process of writing constitutions is considered to be very important to the chances of sustaining peace, and The Commonwealth and the US Institute for Peace have developed good practice guidelines in this area. These emphasize consultation, openness to diverse points of view and representative ratification procedures. But assessing the impact of constitution-writing processes on violence is methodologically difficult, since there are many channels of influence in the relationship. This paper reports on preliminary findings from an ongoing research project into the effects of processes in constitution-writing. Regression analysis is used to control for important contextual features such as differences in income levels and ethnic diversity across countries. A key finding is that differences in the degree of participation in the drafting of constitutions has no major effect on post-ratification levels of violence in some parts of the world, such as Europe, but does make a difference in Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific together.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Peace Studies, and Politics
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, America, and Europe

422. Transforming Conflict with an Economic Dividend: The Sri Lankan Experience

Author:
Saman Kelegama
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Peace can generate an economic dividend, which can be further increased by appropriate economic reform. This dividend can in turn be used to raise popular support for conflict resolution measures along the road to achieving a final political settlement, a strategy that characterizes the recent period in Sri Lanka. However, despite an increase in economic growth following the cessation of hostilities between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the government, no substantial dividend materialized for either government supporters in the South or LTTE supporters in the war-torn Northeast. The causes of this failure include delays in disbursing aid which would have eased adjustment to economic reforms—resulting in cuts to public spending that affected Southern households—and weak institutions that impeded the effective use of aid in the Northeast. The Sri Lankan experience highlights some important lessons for both government and donors on making use of an economic lever for consolidating a peace process and conflict resolution. It also highlights some of the dangers in relying too much on economic levers to consolidate a peace process when levels of mistrust are very high.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Economics, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Asia and Sri Lanka

423. Distributional Conflict, the State, and Peacebuilding in Burundi

Author:
Léonce Ndikumana
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This paper examines the causes of conflict in Burundi and discusses strategies for building peace. The analysis of the complex relationships between distribution and group dynamics reveals that these relationships are reciprocal, implying that distribution and group dynamics are endogenous. The nature of endogenously generated group dynamics determines the type of preferences (altruistic or exclusionist), which in turn determines the type of allocative institutions and policies that prevail in the political and economic system. While unequal distribution of resources may be socially inefficient, it nonetheless can be rational from the perspective of the ruling elite, especially because inequality perpetuates dominance. However, as the unequal distribution of resources generates conflict, maintaining a system based on inequality is difficult because it requires ever increasing investments in repression. It is therefore clear that if the new Burundian leadership is serious about building peace, it must engineer institutions that uproot the legacy of discrimination and promote equal opportunity for social mobility for all members of ethnic groups and regions.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Economics, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Africa and Burundi

424. Resolving the Boundary Dispute in Sudan's Abyei Region

Author:
Dorina Bekoe, Kelly Campbell, and Nicholas Howenstein
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
The Arab Misseriya and the Ngok Dinka ethnic groups have long held competing claims for access to the cattle grazing pastures and resources of the oil-rich Abyei region in Sudan. Unable to resolve the dispute during negotiations on the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the government and southern representatives agreed to the establishment of the Abyei Boundary Commission (ABC) and tasked it with evaluating historical and conflicting claims to the land and demarcating a border between the groups. The final report of the ABC was completed in July 2005, but the Government of Sudan has yet to publicly release the document or accept its findings, as stipulated in the CPA. The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), in contrast, supports the release of the ABC's findings. While the decision by the Government of Sudan to remain silent on the ABC report is unlikely to derail the peace process, releasing the findings of the ABC, one of the first steps in the CPA's implementation process, is an important component of the government's credibility to abide by its commitments in the peace agreement.
Topic:
Ethnic Conflict, Government, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Africa and Sudan

425. Belarus : Is a Peaceful Turn Towards Democracy Possible?

Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Described as the last remaining dictatorship in Europe, Belarus is scheduled to have a presidential election in 2006 that could prove crucial to the future of the country. After nonviolent democratic revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine, questions arise about similar changes in Belarus: Is a peaceful transition to democracy in Belarus possible? And if so, what would be needed to make that happen?
Topic:
Democratization, Development, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Europe, Ukraine, and Georgia

426. Strategies for Peace in the Niger Delta

Author:
Dorina Bekoe
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
The Niger Delta, an area of dense mangrove rainforest in the southern tip of Nigeria, comprises nine of Nigeria's thirty-six states: Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo, and Rivers. The region's oil accounts for approximately 90 percent of the value of Nigeria's exports, but the Niger Delta remains one of Nigeria's least developed regions.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

427. Lessons for the Future of Civic Resistance: Georgia and Ukraine

Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Following the successes of the peaceful revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine, experts are examining these movements for insights into future prospects for nonviolent civic resistance. They hope to find lessons in these successes that might hold significance for nonviolent political change in other non-democratic countries.
Topic:
Development, Government, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Ukraine, Eastern Europe, and Georgia

428. Peace, Aid Renewed Anti-Colonial Resistance: The Development of Secular Palestinian NGOs in the post-Oslo Period

Author:
Michael Irving Jensen
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Soon after the signing of the Declaration of Principles (DoP) in Washington on September 13, 1993 some forty donor states and organisations met and pledged to donate US$ 2.4 billion over a five-year period (i.e. coinciding with the transitional five year (1994-1999) period of the Oslo process). As the peace process during the late 1990s was characterised by stalemate, the donor community in October 1998 (coinciding with the signing of the Wye River memorandum) decided to extend their aid and to support the Palestinians with another US$3.3 billion for the period of 1999-2004 (Sayigh Shikaki, 1999). Although not all the promised aid has been disbursed, the PNA has during the past decade become increasingly dependent on foreign aid, and today the Palestinians are among the most receiving entities per capita worldwide.
Topic:
Development, Human Welfare, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Washington, Middle East, and Palestine

429. Global Governance Initiative

Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
In September 2000, at the Millennium Summit of the United Nations, the world's leaders gathered to commit themselves and their countries to a vital global agenda. In the Millennium Declaration adopted that month, and in a host of other widely accepted treaties and declarations, nearly every government pledged to devote serious efforts to ending the scourge of war, reducing the dire poverty and hunger that afflict hundreds of millions, stabilizing the global environment and ensuring the basic rights of all. Such steps are not mere pious aspirations. They are the fundamental building blocks of global stability in what has become a tightly interconnected world.
Topic:
Civil Society, Diplomacy, International Cooperation, and Peace Studies

430. Greater Middle East Initiative Off to a False Start

Author:
Marina Ottaway and Thomas Carothers
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
The Bush administration is preparing to launch a “Greater Middle East Initiative” at the G-8 summit meeting in June. The plan is to bring the United States, Europe, and the Middle East together around a set of commitments to help transform the region politically and economically. The time is indeed opportune for engagement on regional reform, but as planned, the initiative fails to establish a basis for genuine partnership and does little to address the real challenges of Arab democratization. The administration should rethink its approach and start a new process of genuine consultations to come to an agreement on how all three sides can work cooperatively to address the regional problems that threaten the security of Arab societies and the West.
Topic:
Democratization and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Middle East, and Arabia