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2361. The Production of Insecurity by African Security Forces: Insights from Liberia and the Central African Republic

Author:
Andreas Mehler
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Little attention has been paid to the factual effect of the state's security forces on the security of African citizens. Reports about security forces' contribution to widespread insecurity are frequent: the protectors become violators and their appearance causes fear, not security. In many African crisis countries the realization of better security forces appears to be an elusive goal, either because violent conflicts are not definitively settled and therefore do not allow for decent reform or because a lack of capacity as a result of material constraints is not easy to remedy. The self‐help mechanisms used to compensate for the lack of state‐sponsored security need more attention. However, it has to be acknowledged that the ideal of a neutral and effective force loyal to the state is shared by a great majority of the population. This contribution compares the experiences of Liberia and the Central African Republic, two extreme cases of strong and weak international involvement, respectively, in post‐conflict security‐sector reform.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
Africa and Liberia

2362. What Role for the United Nations in Haiti?

Author:
Robert Maguire
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
On October 13, 2009, the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a one-year extension of the mandate for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). The sixth mission since 1995, MINUSTAH was first authorized in 2004. The mission, under Brazilian command, comprises 6,940 soldiers and 2,211 police. It also has unprecedented star power since the May 2009 appointment of former U.S. President Bill Clinton as U.N. special envoy to Haiti.
Topic:
Security, Political Violence, Democratization, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Brazil, Caribbean, and Haiti

2363. Bridging the Divide: The reform of global food security governance

Author:
Chris Leather
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Another World Food Summit is being held in Rome to discuss world food security, in the midst of a chronic global food crisis in which one billion (one in six) people go to bed hungry every day of their shortened lives. During the two-and-a-half days of the Summit, more than 60,000 people, 70 per cent of them children, will die of hunger-related causes.
Topic:
Security, Agriculture, Food, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Rome

2364. Report of the Transatlantic Security Symposium 2009 "US-Europe-Russia Security Relations: Towards a New Compact?"

Author:
Sofia Chiarucci and Sara Raffaelli
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Moved by the conviction that any serious reflection on the future of European security should take into consideration Russia's contribution to it, the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) of Rome organized a Transatlantic Symposium on US-Europe-Russia security relations.
Topic:
Security and NATO
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and Europe

2365. Report of the Conference "Addressing the Resurgence of Sea Piracy: Legal, Political and Security Aspects"

Author:
Emiliano Alessandri
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The resurgence of sea piracy has made headlines in recent months, becoming the object of intense debate, also among scholars and practitioners. Attention has concentrated particularly on piracy off the Horn of Africa (especially in the Gulf of Aden), where the phenomenon has reached critical levels. Reports speak of over a hundred attacks in 2008 alone and rising figures in 2009. Some 18 merchant ships are currently detained by Somali pirates together with a growing number of hostages. Ransoms paid in 2008 are estimated to be in the range of over a hundred million US dollars.
Topic:
Security and Maritime Commerce
Political Geography:
Africa and United States

2366. European Security and the Role of Italy

Author:
Stefano Silvestri and Michele Nones
Publication Date:
07-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Italy is a medium-sized power that is heavily exposed to security risks from both the Mediterranean basin/Middle East and the Balkans. Making its territory particularly permeable to them is the deeply rooted presence of criminal organisations.
Topic:
Security and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, Balkans, and Italy

2367. Deepening and widening in European foreign and security policy

Author:
Gianni Bonvicini and Michele Comelli
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The process of European integration has traditionally advanced through two distinct, although strictly interlinked processes: a) in institutional terms, either through a reform of the Treaties (formal deepening) or through pragmatic ways and ad hoc mechanisms (informal deepening), intended to consolidate and enhance integration among its members; b) via enlargement (widening), through the accession of new members into the EU and their integration of the policies and institutions of the Union. The impact of these two processes is not uniform and may actually greatly vary, according to the policy area that we consider. The aim of this report– that summarises the research work carried out within the framework of EU-Consent project, and notably within work package VII “Political and security aspects of the EU' external relations” - is to study the interplay between deepening and widening in the specific area of European foreign and security policy ( including both CFSP and ESDP) and more specifically the impact of widening on this area.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe

2368. Military and civilian ESDP Missions: Ever Growing and Effective?

Author:
Nicoletta Pirozzi and Sammi Sandawi
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Even if the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) seems for many observers a well-established field of activity of the European Union, it must not be overlooked that it is still a young and on many aspects quite unpractised endeavour of the EU. Only in 2003 – after a four-year period of institution building, strategic considerations and civil/military capability development – ESDP became officially operational, and started in Bosnia and Herzegovina its first field mission.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Europe, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Balkans

2369. Report of the workshop "Italy's Participation in EU Civilian Missions. Critical Aspects and Future Perspectives"

Author:
Valérie Vicky Miranda
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
2009 marks the tenth anniversary of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), formally launched at the Cologne European Council of June 1999 as an integral part of the European Union's (EU) Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Since then, political, civilian and military structures have been set up, capabilities development goals identified and we have witnessed a continuous evolution of the ESDP epitomised by the significant number of crisis management operations carried out by the EU since 2003. In these last ten years, the ESDP has become one of the most important instruments of European foreign policy. Indeed, the EU, thanks also to the launch of 23 missions in four continents, has built up its credibility as a global security actor.
Topic:
Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Europe and Italy

2370. Securing the Information Highway

Author:
Wesley K. Clark and Peter L. Levin
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
Cyberwarfare is not an abstract future threat. The United States' electronic defenses are vulnerable and Washington must act quickly to secure computer networks, software, and hardware before it is too late.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
United States and Washington