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1921. Intervention hangovers in stabilisation operations: Case studies from Afghanistan and Iraq

Author:
Dr. Ann M Fitz-Gerald and Christian Dennys
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper argues that the emergence of stabilisation as a concept out of peace-building, state- building and counter-insurgency theories has carried with it some of the key weaknesses of international intervention, in particular the idea that imposing western liberal systems on non- western societies will contribute towards stability. With reference to two case studies, the Wheat Seed project in Afghanistan and a gas cylinder distribution project in Iraq, the paper argues that stabilisation activities do not engage fully with the underlying premise that stabilisation must support and engender local political legitimacy, in part because of the conceptual baggage that stabilisation has adopted from other areas. The paper concludes by arguing that greater use should be made of the knowledge and histories of non-western state formation, characterized as being non- Weberian, as a counter to the overuse by interveners of the desire to support rational Weberian state structures in other countries.
Topic:
Security, Development, Foreign Aid, and Neoimperialism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Iraq, and Arabia

1922. Côte d'Ivoire: Continuing the Recovery

Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Despite a marked improvement, the situation in Côte d'Ivoire remains fragile. The transfer to The Hague of former President Laurent Gbagbo – indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) – only twelve days before the parliamentary elections of 11 December 2011, has stoked political tensions. After a vote characterised by low turnout, the country remains deeply divided and still faces grave threats. The weakness and imbalance of the security apparatus and the two-tiered justice system, both of which reinforce the convictions of extremists, are the two main challenges the government must overcome in the months ahead. Although voting itself was peaceful, an electoral campaign marred by incidents serves as a reminder that political violence is still an everyday reality. The installation of a new Assembly marks a further step towards normalisation, but the country has yet to escape trouble.
Topic:
Security, Democratization, and Fragile/Failed State
Political Geography:
Africa

1923. The Problematic Fields in European Neighborhood Policy: Human Security and Neighborhood Relations

Author:
Murat Necip Arman
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
With the enlargements of 2004 and 2007, the EU reached at borders with new neighbors stretching from Northern Africa, to Middle East and Southern Caucasus. Despite their structural instability, those three regions possess rich energy resources. The EU promulgated the blue prints of the Union's future relations with the new neighbors in March 2003 with the paper on "Wider Europe Neighborhood: a New Framework for Our Relationships with the Eastern and Southern Neighbors." The framework redefined the basic parameters of the so-called neighborhood policy. The major difference that differs the neighborhood policy from the rest of the Union policies with non-member countries is its unique approach to the concept of human security. Human security is a distinct security approach distancing "the state" from being the major subject of security and instead individuals have been placed gradually in the center of relations between the EU and Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. This study which tries to lure attention to the symbiotic bonds between human security and security community approaches, unfolds the problematic aspects of the neighborhood policy which is based on human security and offers some solutions to those problems.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, and North Africa

1924. MacArthur Asia Security Initiative Dissemination Meeting on Non-Traditional Security

Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
Over the last three years, the Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) coordinated cluster three of the MacArthur Asia Security Initiative, which focused on internal challenges in Asia. The Centre developed an active research agenda that drew on its own resources as well as that of its network partners around the region to deliver policy-relevant outputs. The research addressed many of the most pressing challenges faced by Asia's policymaking communities, from climate change, natural disasters, and energy, to internal and cross-border conflict.
Topic:
Security, Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
Asia and Australia

1925. Global Warming and Security: The Security Implications for NATO and the EU of a Melting Polar Ice Cap in the High North.

Author:
Udo Michel
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
Environmental changes will have an impact on global and regional security communities.This article will examine the security challenges posed by the melting of the polar ice cap in the High North. Many NATO and EU members have manifest interests in this region, and parts of the Arctic belong to the NATO treaty area. Offi cial documents, political statements, and actions already taken show that the most of the Nordic countries address the effects of climate change on their region's security in specifi c policies and national security concepts. Moscow has sparked concerns in the West with displays of its will and capabilities-for example, fl ying strategic bomber patrols over the Arctic, or the hoisting the Russian fl ag on the sea bed below the North Pole. Despite a high degree of media awareness and intensive public discussions about spheres of infl uence and a possible return to classical geopolitics, both NATO and the EU try to avoid sending signals that would indicate that they regard regional security questions in the Arctic as a matter of deep concern or urgency. The motivation behind this article is to investigate this disconnect, to explain it, and todraw conclusions that argue for or against changes in the present posture. If their affected members states do not securitize the threats and vulnerabilities related to themelting polar ice cap in the High North within the organizations, NATO and the EUwill lack the incentive and legitimacy to adapt their security policies and strategies inorder to address the evolving situation.
Topic:
Security and NATO

1926. The Essence of Crosscultural Security Education

Author:
Andrzej Pieczywok
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
This article presents the main factors that affect the preservation of peace andsecurity among human beings. It treats these categories as the most important goal of the education of modern man, as the basis of its performance in the world today. The core values that most signifi cantly affect human existence are structured around three basic concepts: security, peace, and education.
Topic:
Security

1927. A Governmentality Approach to Peace Operations

Author:
Elisa Lucia
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
In this book, Laura Zanotti uses Foucault's governmentality theory and genealogical method to trace the formation of the political rationale of the post-Cold War international security regime. Interestingly, she goes beyond the literature focusing on the capacity and legitimacy of international organisations to question how the legitimisation of discourses of international order developed. She convincingly demonstrates that, in the 1990s, discourses of democracy converged with discourses of collective security: democratisation became a means to create a peaceful world and non-democratic states were constructed as ''political monsters'' to be ''normalized''. Democracy was operationalised through the doctrine of ''good governance'', which became the organising principle for UN intervention as a universalised technical solution to achieve peace, democracy and development. In addition, at the beginning of the 2000s, the concept of ''human security'' emerged and converged with these previous discourses. It expanded the definition of international threat and shifted ''the referent and source of legitimacy of international organizations from states to population'' (19). As a consequence, political monsters endangering the human rights of their own population s lost, to a certain extent, their right to full sovereignty, and this opened the way for legitimizing forcible intervention through the ''responsibility to protect'' concept.
Topic:
Security

1928. Women in Afghanistan: A Human Rights Tragedy Ten Years after 9/11

Author:
Hayat Alvi
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
Abstract:
Ten years after the September 11th attacks in the United States and the military campaign in Afghanistan, there is some good news, but unfortunately still much bad news pertaining to women in Afghanistan. The patterns of politics, security/military operations, religious fanaticism, heavily patriarchal structures and practices, and ongoing insurgent violence continue to threaten girls and women in the most insidious ways. Although women's rights and freedoms in Afghanistan have finally entered the radar screen of the international community's consciousness, they still linger in the margins in many respects.
Topic:
Security, Gender Issues, Human Rights, Human Welfare, War, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and United States

1929. Zimbabwe's Militarized, Electoral Authoritarianism

Author:
Eldred Masunungure
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
Authoritarianism in Zimbabwe survives because a coalition of political and military elites stands ready and willing to employ violence to execute the Machiavellian vision of President Robert Mugabe and perpetuate his control of the state. Several variables reinforce the durability of this regime—chief among them the mass out-migration and the large inflow of remittances that has decimated the middle class and dampened the political voice of those who remain in the country. Beginning in 2000, Zimbabwe's authoritarianism became militarized with the overt intrusion of the security sector into the political arena, a process that reached its peak before the June 2008 presidential runoff election. The electoral dimension of its authoritarianism stems from the fact that the regime unfailingly holds elections in search of popular legitimacy but then manipulates them for its own ends. This article dissects Zimbabwe's militarized form of electoral authoritarianism with specific reference to the 2008 reign of terror. It concludes that the factor that best explains the regime is the symbiosis between the party and the security sector, with Mugabe providing the glue that binds them together in pursuit of regime survival.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
Zimbabwe

1930. Interparliamentary scrutiny of the CFSP: avenues for the future

Author:
Corine Caballero-Bourdot
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:
This report examines a number of possible future orientations with regard to the interparliamentary scrutiny of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). It sets out the democratic challenges facing European integration and the new context surrounding the CFSP in the wake of the Lisbon Treaty, focusing in particular on the existing legal provisions for the interparliamentary scrutiny of the CFSP. The paper surveys previous initiatives as well as current discussions regarding the future interparliamentary scrutiny of the CFSP. The author analyses the various options on the table and makes a number of recommendations for the best possible organisation of such interparlamentary scrutiny in the future.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Regional Cooperation, International Affairs, and Governance
Political Geography:
Europe