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6622. Mapping the Russian Blogosphere
- Author:
- Anand Varghese
- Publication Date:
- 12-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Analysis of more than 11,000 Russian-language blogs reveals an active political blogosphere comprising internationally linking bloggers; Russian media-focused bloggers; nationalists; members of the democratic opposition; bloggers focused on business, economics, and finance; and social and environmental activists. Russian bloggers tend to be less politically polarized than their counterparts in the American blogosphere, and they prefer to blog about political issues from a nonpartisan position. Future research should focus on the offline outcomes of online political blogging, the effect of blogging platforms on polarization, the responses of the Russian government, and mapping the effects of newer social networking platforms.
- Topic:
- Globalization, Science and Technology, and Mass Media
- Political Geography:
- Russia and America
6623. Conflict and Post-Conflict Governance: The Stakeholder Perspective
- Author:
- Jacleen Mowery, Demis Yanco, and Ryan McClanahan
- Publication Date:
- 12-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Post-conflict governance requires simultaneous and complementary action on three levels. national governance, local governance, and civil society. Norbert Mao, a parliamentary leader from Uganda, offered this progression for managing the trade-off between short-term stabilization and long-term capacity building: "In the emergency phase, you should do it for us. In the reconstruction phase, you should do it with us. And in the development phase, you should do it through us." Efforts to develop the capacity of local governments to deliver services may be more responsive to external assistance than programs aimed at overcoming systemic dysfunctions in the central government, in part because municipal officials are more accountable to their communities. Civil society should be a prominent player in transitioning to “local ownership,” which may erroneously be conceived in terms of ownership by national and perhaps local governments. Building the capacity of civil society entails connectivity with international partners and ideas, not just financing. There are trade-offs involved among the three stakeholders. Among the most salient, when a legacy of abuse of power by the national government and repression of opposition groups must be confronted, an active civil society is essential. An invigorated civil society can fundamentally challenge illicit structures of power that profited from conflict.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Civil Society, Government, Peace Studies, War, Governance, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Uganda
6624. Transcending the Past to Build Haiti\'s Future
- Author:
- Robert Maguire
- Publication Date:
- 12-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Efforts to build a better Haiti following the catastrophic earthquake of January 2010 are complicated by the challenges of addressing urgent needs, including elections and the cholera outbreak, that run parallel to the rebuilding process and that present an enormous challenge to Haiti\'s under-resourced and weakened government. Enactment of the Haitian government\'s internationally-endorsed and ambitious action recovery plan is hindered by the apparent lack of an over-riding operational framework that will help to ensure not only implementation, but also coherence. Donors and other international actors would be wise to embrace Haiti as a country that has highly propitious fundamentals for successful economic growth, and to build on them. Without important shifts in political, economic and social paradigms, the prospect for Haiti\'s future as a better country that can sustain and expand progress and can improve prospects for all its citizens is clouded.
- Topic:
- Humanitarian Aid, Migration, Poverty, and Natural Disasters
- Political Geography:
- Caribbean and Haiti
6625. Chad's 2007 Peace Agreement Plagued by Poor Implementation
- Author:
- Delphine Djiraibe
- Publication Date:
- 12-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Political crises and armed opposition movements have plagued Chad for several years. After several failed peace initiatives, the August 13 Agreement was reached in 2007. The agreement is the most viable framework for bringing peace to Chad. It calls on the Chadian government to reform critical electoral institutions, undertake a credible electoral census and demilitarize politics in order to ensure fair and transparent elections. To date, the agreement has been poorly implemented. It jeopardizes the credibility of the upcoming legislative elections, currently scheduled for February 2011. Only comprehensive reform that addresses the development and governance challenges facing Chad will definitively end its political crisis.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Peace Studies, Treaties and Agreements, War, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa
6626. Pakistan: dealing with peace in the tribal areas?
- Author:
- Laila Bokhari
- Publication Date:
- 11-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
- Abstract:
- The six Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along Pakistan's western border have long been seen as a hub for militants, some with sympathies to the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The region has increasingly come to the world's attention as a recruitment and training base for groups responsible for attacks on Pakistani soil and as a launch pad for attacks on US troops and their allies in Afghanistan. Even though the various groups comprising the Pakistani Taliban have been around for a number of years, it was only in December 2007 that they formally established themselves as a united force.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Islam, Terrorism, Armed Struggle, and Insurgency
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, and Taliban
6627. International responses to Pakistan's water crisis: opportunities and challenges
- Author:
- Michael Kugelman
- Publication Date:
- 11-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
- Abstract:
- Pakistan faces a multidimensional water crisis that claims hundreds of thousands of lives every year. The root causes of the crisis are twofold: circumstantial, which are linked to poor water-resource management policies (including water-wasting flood irrigation) structural, tied to factors deeply ingrained in politics and society such as the obsession with India, inequitable rural land-ownership and endemic water misgovernance (for example, exploitation of the rotational irrigation system to the detriment of the poor). To resolve the crisis, both types of cause will need to be tackled, and the international community can play an invaluable role.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Water
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan and India
6628. The NBRIC Revolution and International Relations?
- Author:
- Dr Graeme P. Herd and Mr Dale A. Till
- Publication Date:
- 12-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- We live in the “Anthropocene” era – the Age of Humans: human activity impacts earth's at-mosphere, its climate system, and is the driver of one of the biggest mass extinctions in history.The rapid advancement and application of NBRIC technologies (Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Robotics, and Information and Communications technology) both enable and exacerbate the global impact of human activity. The rise in speed and fall in the cost of computational analysis and the force multiplying convergence of NBRIC clusters have led revolutions in these inter-enabling technologies. Such technologies are located in biological systems where biotechnology and genetics, post-genomics, and epigenetics try and bridge the gulf between the genome and the or-ganism, and material systems, where advances in nanotechnology, robotics and information and communications technologies are ground-breaking.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Debt, Genocide, Politics, Science and Technology, and Power Politics
6629. The European External Action Service: Implications and Challenges
- Author:
- Gustav Lindstrom
- Publication Date:
- 11-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- The 2009 Lisbon Treaty is considered by many a turning point for the EU as it encourages a more coherent and effective use of existing civilian, military, economic, and military instruments. Among its better known innovations is the new post of President of the European Council (currently Mr. Herman van Rompuy) and modified post of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (presently Baroness Catherine Ashton).
- Topic:
- International Organization and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe
6630. The Kosovo Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice and its Political Consequences
- Author:
- Pál Dunay and Steven Haines
- Publication Date:
- 10-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- Ever since NATO's Operation Allied Force in 1999 resulted in a withdrawal of Serb forces from Kosovo and the establishment of governance arrangements for the province that included an important external presence (with UN, EU, NATO and OSCE missions) as well as Kosovo's own Provisional Institutions of Self Government, the precise future status of Kosovo has been in doubt. Two extreme options were favoured by Serbia and Kosovo, respectively: either for Kosovo to continue as a part of Serbia or for it to achieve independent status (most likely by attaining statehood). On 17 February 2008, a group of Kosovo leaders issued a Declaration of Independence. Serbia responded with a request that the UN General Assembly seek an opinion on the legality of Kosovo's action from the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The Court delivered its Opinion on 22 July 2010. What did the Court say and what are the political consequences of its Opinion?
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, International Law, and Sovereignty
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Kosovo, United Nations, and Balkans
6631. Why Didn't the Global Economic and Financial Crisis Have More of an Impact on International Migration?
- Author:
- Khalid Koser
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- Economic and financial crises have always impacted on international migration patterns, processes, and policies. The Great Depression (1929- 33) resulted in massive repatriations of Latin Americans from the United States and the introduction of highly restrictive immigration policies in a number of industrialized countries, including France and Canada. The Oil Crisis (1973) resulted in severe restrictions on labour migration, a concomitant growth in asylum applications and irregular migration in Europe, and the emergence of new flows of labour migration to emerging industrial centres in Asia and Latin America. As a result of the Asian financial crisis (1997-99) several South-East Asian countries introduced policies of national preference and sought to expel migrant workers. The Russian financial crisis (1998) accelerated rates of emigration from Russia, in particular of Russian Jews and the highly-skilled. The gravity of the Latin American financial crisis (1998- 2002) also resulted in a significant exodus, in particular from Argentina.
- Topic:
- Economics, Migration, Global Recession, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Asia, and Latin America
6632. Not Beyond Limits: The Prospects of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
- Author:
- Pál Dunay
- Publication Date:
- 08-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was created in 2001, and it is the first regional integration attempt in the post - Soviet space that has spread beyond the boundaries of the former Soviet Union, and has included the People's Republic of China. Since its inception the organization has gone through breathtaking developments, simultaneously broadening and deepening its agenda. Its international surrounding has also changed fundamentally. Following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 the strategic importance of the area where the SCO has been operating increased enormously, with particular reference to Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the last two being SCO members. The organization's special relationship with Afghanistan is another factor that has contributed to the SCO's increasing stature. The importance of natural resources (primarily oil and gas) has steadily increased, and this is likely to be a prolonged point of contention between all the major powers, among others, in Central Asia.
- Topic:
- International Trade and Finance and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, China, and Israel
6633. Kyrgyzstan's Regime Change: Causes and Possible Consequences
- Author:
- Graeme P. Herd
- Publication Date:
- 07-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- On 10 June 2010 in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh violence erupted, spreading to Jalalabad two days later, with reports of armed gangs, inter - ethnic violence, rape, and stampedes at border crossings into Uzbekistan. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as well as Rosa Otunbayeva the acting interim government Prime Minister and President, stated that over 200 people had been killed, over 2000 wounded, with 400,000 (8% of the Kyrgyz population) displaced – 300,000 internally, 100,000 as refugees into Uzbekistan's neighbouring Andizhan province. China, India, Turkey, South Korea, Germany and Russia amongst others, airlifted their foreign nationals to Bishkek and beyond (see Map: Kyrgyzstan's Complex Emergency).
- Topic:
- Political Violence and Regime Change
- Political Geography:
- Central Asia and Kyrgyzstan
6634. A Bright Future for International Law?
- Author:
- Steven Haines
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- During the period of the Bush presidency, from 2001-2009, there was much concern expressed, both domestically within the United States and internationally, about Washington's apparently cavalier attitude towards international law. 1 Much of this – though by no means all – was prompted by the US reaction to the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington (the so-called 'global war on terrorism'), and the decision in 2002/3 to opt for regime change in Iraq. For many commentators it seemed as though US policy in that period provided solid evidence that law within the international system was of little influence in the face of determined power. This perception reflects realist assumptions about the pre-eminence of national interest and power as determinants of policy. Of particular moment is the power of those states that fall within the category of 'great power' – and 'superpower' has a special quality all its own.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Law, International Affairs, and Power Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States
6635. Building Partnerships in Peace Operations: The Limits of the Global/Regional Approach
- Author:
- Thierry Tardy
- Publication Date:
- 05-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- A consensus seems to exist on the need to tackle contemporary intra-state conflicts through a multiplicity of actors who display different comparative advantages and levels of expertise. For the United Nations as well as for the regional organisations that, since the end of the Cold War, have emerged as crisis management actors, working together is the way forward. The UN and the EU run or have run simultaneous operations in Africa (Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chad) and Kosovo and have largely institutionalised their cooperation; the UN took over operations initially deployed by the African Union in West Africa and in Burundi and the two institutions have created a hybrid UN-AU mission in Darfur; the EU is assisting the AU in the building-up of its Stand-by Force and finances AU operations; the EU, the OSCE and NATO have for some time shared the burden of security management in the Balkans. As noted in a UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) document, “reinforcing interoperability with key partners […] can enhance cooperation and ensure that we maximise finite global peacekeeping resources”. Indeed, given the scope of crisis management needs, not least the UN overstretch, burden-sharing has become an imperative and its corollary, inter-institutional partnerships, equally central. Yet, the establishment of partnerships among international institutions is facing important political and technical difficulties that make the prospect for an interlocking system unlikely.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Globalization, International Cooperation, Peace Studies, Regional Cooperation, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kosovo, and United Nations
6636. Russia's Strategic Choice
- Author:
- Graeme P. Herd
- Publication Date:
- 05-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- In the wake of the global financial crisis, a debate over necessary policy responses morphed into something much more profound and fundamental – the sustainability of Russia's current governance model and its preferred longer-term modernization paradigm. On 10 September 2009 President Medvedev published a remarkably frank article entitled 'Russia, Forward!' This article noted that Russia's governance model appeared to be failing, proving vulnerable in the face of the global financial crisis. President Medvedev himself criticized Russia's 'humiliating' dependence on raw materials, as well as its 'inefficient economy, a semi-Soviet social sphere, an immature democracy, negative demographic trends, unstable Caucasus.' In his 12 November 2009 Message to the Federal Assembly, Medvedev elaborated further on this theme: Russia could either modernize or deteriorate; modernization would provide a touchstone for 'how we can overcome our chronic backwardness, dependence on raw materials exports, and corruption'. On 3 February 2010, the Institute for Contemporary Development (INSOR) published a report that received widespread coverage entitled 21st Century Russia: The Image of Tomorrow We Want. As President Medvedev had created INSOR in 2008 to give him independent advice on economic and foreign policy and sat as a trustee on its board, this report received widespread publicity. Such publicity was magnified as the report touched just about every exposed nerve by advocating that Russia should join NATO, end censorship, abolish the state security service, and adopt a Western-style democracy, entailing the separation of the courts from the state, of the legislative branch from the executive, horizontal modernization (characterized as the debureaucratization of the vertical top-down corrupt, over-regulated economic process)3. Without change, Russia faced a strategic cul de sac that leads to slow and steady strategic marginalization: 'In a few years, when it turns out that Russia has nothing to boast about except export supplies of raw materials at prices that are dictated to us, we will be exporting people. And, not only the cleverest like now, but any workers, who are in demand in Europe, as is happening today in Latvia, for example. I frankly do not know what Russia should do in this situation. This problem will be one of the main ones for the president who is elected in 2012
- Topic:
- Democratization, Global Recession, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Latvia
6637. Ten Years of Women, Peace and Security: Gaps and Challenges in Implementing Resolution 1325
- Author:
- Nils Goede and Swen Dornig
- Publication Date:
- 07-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Institute for Development and Peace
- Abstract:
- On 26 October 2010, the UN Security Council (SC) marked the 10th anniversary of Security Council resolution (SCR) 1325. With the adoption of SCR 1325, the SC recognised the disproportionate impact of armed conflicts on women and girls for the first time and further emphasized the decisive role of women in preventing conflicts and consolidating peace. At the time of its adoption, SCR 1325 was recognized as a major breakthrough for greater gender equality in the area of peace and security and the acceptance of women as active agents in conflict management. Three further SCRs – 1820, 1888 and 1889 – now strengthen the women, peace and security (WPS) framework.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Security, Gender Issues, and War
- Political Geography:
- United Nations
6638. Energy Innovation Policy in Major Emerging Countries
- Author:
- Ruud Kempener
- Publication Date:
- 12-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- Over the past decade, the six BRIMCS countries— Brazil, Russia, India, Mexico, China, and South Africa—have become important global players in political and economic domains. In 2007, they were collectively responsible for a third of the world's energy consumption, driven by China's growing energy use. Despite their increasing significance in the world's energy sector, very little systematic analysis of their energy investments, innovation institutions, and energy innovation policies has taken place. The International Energy Agency (IEA) is one of the few agencies that have been collecting data on ERD investments, but none of the BRIMCS countries are members.
- Topic:
- Emerging Markets, Energy Policy, Oil, and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, India, South Africa, Brazil, and Mexico
6639. Towards a Breakthrough for Deadlocked Climate Change Negotiations
- Author:
- Akihiro Sawa
- Publication Date:
- 12-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- With the gap between developed and developing nations remaining unclosed, post-Kyoto Protocol negotiations have run into rough waters: Developing countries insist that developed countries be committed to more ambitious targets for the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol and provide large amounts of financial or technological assistance to developing countries, while developed countries propose that financial and technological support be balanced with developing countries' mitigation actions and measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV).
- Topic:
- Climate Change, International Cooperation, and Treaties and Agreements
6640. The International Climate Change Regime: The Road from Copenhagen
- Author:
- Daniel Bodansky
- Publication Date:
- 10-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- The failure of the Copenhagen conference to adopt a new legal agreement on climate change is blamed by some on poor chairing or other transitory factors. But the problems with the UN climate-change negotiations are more fundamental and are unlikely to go away anytime soon. Rather than putting all of our eggs in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) basket or listening to the siren song of a new legal agreement, states should seek to address climate change in additional forums and through additional means.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Treaties and Agreements, and United Nations