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9411. Owning Up: Options for Disclosing the Identities of Beneficial Owners of Extractive Companies

Author:
Aaron Sayne, Erica Westenberg, and Amir Shafaie
Publication Date:
08-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Global interest in ownership transparency is growing, with the G8 adopting principles on beneficial ownership; a dozen EITI countries participating in a beneficial ownership pilot; and the US, UK and EU taking steps toward making more beneficial ownership information available. The aim of such initiatives is to shed light on secret ownership structures that enable some extractive companies to evade tax payments or hide improper relationships with government officials. While a complex and opaque ownership structure is no sure sign that an extractives company is engaging in financial misconduct, the publication of beneficial ownership information can help to deter improper practices and enable detection. This briefing explores options open to countries for collecting, publishing and using information on the beneficial owners of oil, gas and mining companies. It provides background on how beneficial ownership works in the extractive industries and why it matters. The briefing also offers governments, companies and civil society members a framework for deciding what information to publish, and considers the critical question of what more disclosure could realistically achieve.
Topic:
Industrial Policy, International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, Oil, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
Global Focus

9412. From Reporting to Reform: Eleven Opportunities for Increasing EITI Impacts

Author:
Max George-Wagner and Erica Westenberg
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Under the EITI Standard, implementing countries are required to produce far more comprehensive reports than before; these go beyond revenue payments to include disclosures across the entire extractive industries decision chain. However, the objective of the Standard is not merely to generate more data, but rather that stakeholders will use the information to impact the governance of the sector. This EITI briefing note explores how countries are faring at meeting the EITI’s more ambitious requirements and what implementing countries can do to begin moving “from reporting to reform.” This briefing note is based on a review of the first 22 reports produced under the Standard; the review assesses both the quality of reporting, as well as the content. We found that in many respects countries have risen to the challenge and become more ambitious and comprehensive in their reporting. This has included highlighting critical deficiencies in license allocation processes, revealing politically affiliated owners of companies, and identifying significant local revenues that were never disbursed. However, a number of significant gaps remain and these are holding countries back from seeing meaningful impacts from their EITI processes. For instance, these reports have missed opportunities to inform major tax code revisions, ignored hotly debated issues of sector employment, and left stakeholders in the dark about individual extractive projects.
Topic:
Economics, Industrial Policy, Intelligence, Natural Resources, and Governance
Political Geography:
Global Focus

9413. NRGI Readers: A Primer Series About Resource Governance

Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
NRGI has created a series of short, illustrated overviews of key topics in NRGI's portfolio of work. Together they serve as a robust introduction for the lay reader to fundamental issues and concepts in resource governance. Most contain helpful figures and infographics, and each reader has a standard format: key messages, key concepts and case examples, and a final set of practitioner-orientated questions to ask. Each topic is explicitly linked to the relevant precepts of the Natural Resource Charter.
Topic:
Economics, Industrial Policy, Oil, Natural Resources, and Governance
Political Geography:
Global Focus

9414. National Dialogues: A Tool for Conflict Transformation?

Author:
Susan Stigant and Elizabeth Murray
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
National dialogue is an increasingly popular tool for conflict resolution and political transformation. It can broaden debate regarding a country’s trajectory beyond the usual elite decision makers; however, it can also be misused and manipulated by leaders to consolidate their power. This brief includes principles to strengthen national dialogue processes and considerations for international actors seeking to support these processes.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Diplomacy, Political Economy, and Governance
Political Geography:
Global Focus

9415. Reviving Afghanistan's Economy

Author:
William A. Byrd
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Some say reviving the Afghan economy in a time of intensifying violent conflict and declining external financial inflows will be impossible. Expectations need to be kept modest, and measures must go beyond conventional economic approaches in order to be effective. This brief puts forward some outside-the-box ideas, which, combined with greater government effectiveness and, hopefully, reductions in violent conflict, may help turn the economy around.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Central Asia

9416. Deradicalization Programming in Pakistan

Author:
Selina Adam Khan
Publication Date:
09-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
The December 2014 terrorist attack in Peshawar that killed 132 schoolchildren forced Pakistan to acknowledge the extent of its ongoing problem with radical Islamist militancy. Islamabad, however, has yet to implement a comprehensive deradicalization strategy. In January 2015, it took a formal step in this direction with its twenty-point National Action Plan in response to the Peshawar attack—a step, but only a first step. If deradicalization is to meet with any success in Pakistan, the national narrative itself needs to change.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Political Violence, Islam, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

9417. Overcoming Barriers to U.S.-China Cooperation

Author:
Maral Noori, Daniel Jasper, and Jason Tower
Publication Date:
08-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
In 2011, U.S. president Barack Obama announced plans to "pivot" toward Asia. In 2012, Chinese president Xi Jinping expressed his hope for "a new type of relationship" with the United States. A lack of strategic trust between the two countries, however, prevents critically needed productive cooperation. This Peace Brief addresses the misunderstandings behind this mistrust and a possible way to move beyond them.
Topic:
International Relations, Communism, Diplomacy, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
United States and China

9418. The Basque Conflict and ETA: The Difficulties of an Ending

Author:
Teresa Whitfield
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Violence at the hands of the Basque separatist organization ETA was for many years an anomalous feature of Spain’s transition to democracy. This report, which draws on the author’s book Endgame for ETA: Elusive Peace in the Basque Country (Hurst and Oxford University Press, 2014), explains why this was the case, examines both the factors that contributed to ETA’s October 2011 announcement of an end to violence and the obstacles encountered in moving forward from that announcement to disarmament and dissolution, and extracts lessons relevant for other contexts.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Armed Struggle, Territorial Disputes, and Counter-terrorism
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

9419. Afghan Economic Policy, Institutions and Society Since 2001

Author:
Paul Fishstein and Murtaza Edries Amiryar
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
The general expectation among Afghans after the fall of the Taliban was that the state, equipped with financial resources and technical assistance from the international community, would once again take the lead in the economic sphere. Instead, Kabul adopted a market economy. The move remains controversial in some quarters. This report, derived from interviews conducted in 2015 and 2010, takes stock of the competing ideologies in Afghanistan today with respect to the economy.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Development, Economics, and Markets
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Central Asia

9420. Ten Years in Afghanistan’s Pech Valley

Author:
Morgan Wesley
Publication Date:
09-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
The al-Qaeda presence in the Pech valley is greater now than when U.S. forces arrived in 2002, and counterterrorism efforts in the region continue. This report looks at U.S. military involvement in the Pech valley and the lessons it offers both the Afghan National Security Forces and the U.S. military. It is derived from interviews with some three hundred Americans and Afghans, including general officers, unit commanders, members of parliament, district and provincial governors, Afghan interpreters and U.S. and Afghan combat veterans.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Islam, Terrorism, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Central Asia