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10921. Private Contractors in Conflict Zones: The Good, the Bad, and the Strategic Impact

Author:
T.X. Hammes
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
In Iraq and Afghanistan, the use of contractors reached a level unprecedented in U.S. military operations. As of March 31, 2010, the United States deployed 175,000 troops and 207,000 contractors in the war zones. Contractors represented 50 percent of the Department of Defense (DOD) workforce in Iraq and 59 percent in Afghanistan. These numbers include both armed and unarmed contractors. Thus, for the purposes of this paper, the term contractor includes both armed and unarmed personnel unless otherwise specified. The presence of contractors on the battlefield is obviously not a new phenomenon but has dramatically increased from the ratio of 1 contractor to 55 military personnel in Vietnam to 1:1 in the Iraq and 1.43:1 in Afghanistan.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Privatization, War, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, and Iraq

10922. Global Commons and Domain Interrelationships: Time for a New Conceptual Framework?

Author:
Mark E. Redden and Michael P. Hughes
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
Over the last several years, examination of U.S. national security interests within the context of the global commons has emerged as a major policy issue in the defense community. At the highest levels of the Department of Defense (DOD), there is now an awareness that the U.S. military will be confronted by a host of challenges “to stability throughout the global commons.” Furthermore, the Nation can “expect to be increasingly challenged in securing and maintaining access to the global commons and must also be prepared for operations in unfamiliar conditions and environments.” In response, the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review Report has now assigned “assured access” to the commons as a top priority for U.S. military forces.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:
United States

10923. A Gender Perspective on 21st Century Welfare Reform

Author:
Janet Veitch
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
This response to the Coalition Government's proposals on working age benefits and tax credits in its consultation paper, 21st-Century Welfare, takes a gender lens to the reforms. It is written in the context of Oxfam's work against poverty in the UK and its longstanding concern with the poverty and inequality of women. The response below follows the same structure as the consultation document.
Topic:
Development, Gender Issues, and Poverty
Political Geography:
United Kingdom

10924. The Road to Olive Farming: Challenges to developing the economy of olive oil in the West Bank

Author:
Lara El-Jazairi
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
For thousands of years, the olive tree has been an integral part of the Palestinian landscape: a symbol of Palestinian identity, culture and tradition. The majority of Palestinian farmers are at least partially dependent on olive cultivation. The current profitability of olive farming is evident in the increase in recent years of farmers who are planting new trees and tending to their orchards. In a good year, the olive oil sector contributes over $100 million income annually to some of the poorest communities. Olive cultivation also has strong social and political aspects, as the planting of olive orchards is often an attempt to prevent the confiscation of land by Israel or settlers and to protect Palestinian livelihoods.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Humanitarian Aid, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Palestine and Arab Countries

10925. The Role of NGOs in Combating Avian Influenza in Indonesia: A Muhammadiyah Case Study

Author:
Siti Masyitah Rahma
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:
Avian influenza, or 'bird flu', has been detected in Indonesia since 2003 but it was not until 2005 that the first human cases were discovered. It is estimated that economic losses caused by this virus in Indonesia have reached US$470 million, and disrupted the livelihoods of over 10 million people dependent on the poultry industry. The Government of Indonesia has coordinated government and non-government programmes in efforts to control avian influenza in Indonesia. However, it has encountered certain constraints which resulted in a gap between policy and implementation. This allowed non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to play significant roles in terms of providing financial resources and social capital.
Topic:
Health, Islam, Non-Governmental Organization, and Health Care Policy
Political Geography:
Indonesia and Asia

10926. Loose Ends: Iraq's Security Forces Between U.S. Drawdown and Withdrawal

Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Much is at stake in the never-ending negotiations to form Iraq's government, but perhaps nothing more important than the future of its security forces. In the seven years since the U.S.-led invasion, these have become more effective and professional and appear capable of taming what remains of the insurgency. But what they seem to possess in capacity they lack in cohesion. A symptom of Iraq's fractured polity and deep ethno-sectarian divides, the army and police remain overly fragmented, their loyalties uncertain, their capacity to withstand a prolonged and more intensive power struggle at the top unclear. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has taken worrying steps to assert authority over the security apparatus, notably by creating new bodies accountable to none but himself. A vital task confronting the nation's political leaders is to reach agreement on an accountable, non-political security apparatus subject to effective oversight. A priority for the new cabinet and parliament will be to implement the decision. And a core responsibility facing the international community is to use all its tools to encourage this to happen.
Topic:
Security, War, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Arab Countries

10927. Narrating Atrocity: Uses of Evidence in the Political Asylum Process

Author:
Amy Shuman and Carol Bohmer
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Political asylum is one remedy for human rights abuses. By offering safe haven to people fleeing persecution in their homelands, countries providing political asylum acknowledge that violence can make some places too dangerous for members of particular groups. Asylum and human rights' discourses have run on parallel tracks in the post-World War II period, with the initial international recognition of human rights in 1948 (The Universal Declaration of Human Rights), followed by the1951 Refugee Convention. From the beginning, it was important that asylum law not conflict with the sanctity of the sovereign state. As a result, the treaties provide neither the means nor the political mandate to protect people from human rights abuses which are internal to sovereign states. Instead, asylum and refugee law provides one rather piecemeal and ineffective method of addressing such human rights abuses. It addresses human rights abuses on an individual basis and does not apply to many of those who, it could be argued, suffer from such abuses. Accordingly, it is a band aid rather than a potential solution to the problem of human rights, though it may serve the purpose of alerting the world to the existence of human rights abuses in a particular state.
Topic:
Human Rights, Torture, and Diaspora

10928. Haiti: The Stakes of the Post-Quake Elections

Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Haiti votes in a month's time – on 28 November 2010 – for a new president and nearly an entire legislature in perhaps the most important elections in its history. The government that emerges will need to manage a major part of the decade of recovery from the worst disaster ever in the Western Hemisphere. To do so, it requires the legitimacy that can only come from credible elections. But the historical obstacles – such as low turnout, suspicion of fraud and campaign violence – not only persist but have been greatly exacerbated by the 12 January earthquake that killed a quarter million people and left the capital in ruins and its government in disarray, as well as by the current outbreak of cholera. Polarising politics and a body organising the balloting that lacks full public confidence in its integrity add to the challenge. If the electoral process is to be as transparent, non-violent and widely participated in as it needs to be, the government must meet a higher standard than ever before, and the UN, regional organisations and donors like the U.S., Canada, the EU and Brazil must urgently press for this and expand support.
Topic:
Democratization, United Nations, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Canada, Brazil, and Caribbean

10929. Governing by 'consensuses' – on the legal regulation of the European Union's development cooperation policy

Author:
Morten Broberg
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
In a national context, the hierarchy of the sources of law is essentially the same in most European legal systems. At the top of this hierarchy there is a constitution. Below the constitution there are acts of parliament. And at the bottom we find administrative rules. This picture may be nuanced by including many other sources, such as court rulings, circulars, guidelines, white papers etc., but the basic hierarchy of a constitution, acts of parliament and administrative rules remains essentially the same.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation and Law
Political Geography:
Europe

10930. The Contested Role of Community Policing: 'New' non-state actors in the plural legal landscape of Mozambique

Author:
Helene Maria Kyed
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Since the turn of the millennium 'Community Policing' has become a significant and widespread element of everyday policing in poor rural and urban areas of Mozambique. This development is not unique to Mozambique, but reflected globally. Community policing (CP) has since the 1990s enjoyed widespread popularity as a philosophy and strategy of 'democratic policing' that seeks to substitute centralised, paramilitary-style state policing with active citizen inclusion in policing. In Mozambique, councils of community policing members have been formed since 2001, with the purpose of reducing crime as well as making the state police more transparent and accountable to the public.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, Corruption, Crime, and Torture
Political Geography:
Africa and Mozambique

10931. The Key Role of Education in the Europe 2020 Strategy

Author:
Felix Roth and Anna-Elisabeth Thum
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
The EU 2020 Agenda has taken an important step forward by setting the target for tertiary graduation rates at an ambitious 40%. This paper finds that many European countries, however, including the largest economy – Germany – will not be able to meet this target. Moreover, the crucial topic of educational quality is not even touched upon. Comparing the EU with China in total numbers, the authors find that China's education system already produces the same number of graduates with tertiary education as the whole EU15. Given the large output of graduates, which is the key to productive spending on R, this means that China is likely to soon become a growing power in innovation. Initially the country is expected to concentrate on incremental innovation, with radical innovation to come only later and it is here, the authors warn, that the quality of the university system might represent a major obstacle in the Chinese government's efforts to close the gap with the US and the EU15 in terms of innovation potential.
Topic:
Education
Political Geography:
China, Europe, and Germany

10932. The Political Future of Afghanistan

Author:
Radha Kumar, Fabrice Pothier, and Waliullah Rahmani
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
Since the Obama administration set 2011 as the date for withdrawal from Afghanistan, speculation has been rife on whether and how the deadline will be met. Although this date is actually fuzzy – it is doubtful whether 2011 will see even the beginning of an American drawdown – it has focused attention on the critical issues for stabilisation in Afghanistan that have remained unaddressed over the past nine years.
Topic:
Security, Islam, War, Armed Struggle, and Insurgency
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Asia

10933. The Place of Religion in European Union Law and Policy: Competing Approaches and Actors inside the European Commission

Author:
Sergio Carrera and Joanna Parkin
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
While the EU has no explicit legal competence in the sphere of religion and the management of relations with faith communities, religious concerns have taken on increasing importance within the legal and institutional framework and policy discourses of the European Union in the last years. This paper provides an overview of how religion and issues of religious diversity are being framed and addressed in EU law and policy by undertaking a critical analysis of the ways in which EU law and policy deal with, engage and understand religion at the policy level of the European Commission. Through an examination of EU legislation and both formal and informal policy initiatives in the fields of citizenship and fundamental rights, non-discrimination, immigration and integration, social inclusion and education and culture, this paper demonstrates that there is a complex and highly heterogeneous patchwork of EU normative approaches delineating the relationship between religion and the EU. These competing framings, very much rooted in the institutional structures of the Commission services, have important implications for discretionary power and sovereignty of the EU member states and for the coherence of European Union policies.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation and Law
Political Geography:
Europe

10934. The same old modernisation game? Russian interpretations of modernisation

Author:
Roderick Kefferpütz and Félix Krawatzek
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
The modernisation of Russia has been a topic of vigorous debate for centuries. It has also been an intensely divisive issue among Russia's elite, and since President Dmitry Medvedev came to power, modernisation has become the leitmotif of the presidency. The global economic crisis hit Russia hard, meaning that the status quo in political, economic and social terms is no longer acceptable. However, there are a number of competing visions on modernisation within the Russian political elite and society as a whole. This Working Document aims to illustrate the diversity of and competition for the dominance of views on Russia's future. In a second step, authors Félix Krawatzek, Visiting Researcher at CEPS and Roderick Kefferpütz, Associate Research Fellow, analyse the obstacles to a successful realisation of the ambitious modernisation agenda and outline the implications for the new EU-Russia modernisation partnership.
Topic:
Economics and Globalization
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe

10935. Has the financial crisis spurred demand for stronger state regulation?

Author:
Felix Roth
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
This paper analyses whether the financial crisis has affected citizens' confidence in the free market economy and whether it has triggered citizens' demand for a free market economy with stronger state regulations. Using panel data, the paper confirms that citizens' confidence levels in the free market economy have decreased in most of the largest economies and demand for a free market economy with stronger state regulation has increased on both sides of the Atlantic. After analysing the determinants for citizens' confidence in the free market economy and demand for a free market economy with stronger state regulation before and after the financial crisis, the author concludes that citizens' net confidence loss in the free market economy seems to have been driven by rising unemployment rates, and citizens' demand for stronger state regulation seems to have been driven by the real economic downturn in GDP growth.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, Monetary Policy, Financial Crisis, and Governance
Political Geography:
Europe

10936. Politicians Online! MEP Communication Strategies in the Internet Era

Author:
Stefano Braghiroli
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
The last decades have witnessed a dramatic growth of internet-based communication. This phenomenon and its still partially unexplored potential have increasingly attracted the attention of a growing number of political entrepreneurs. This paper analyses to what extent it has characterised vertical communication between politicians and voters looking at a very particular group: the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).
Topic:
Politics, Regional Cooperation, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Europe

10937. Does intangible capital affect economic growth?

Author:
Felix Roth and Anna-Elisabeth Thum
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
Using new international comparable data on intangible capital investment by business within a panel analysis from 1995-2005 in an EU-15 country sample, we detect a positive and significant relationship between intangible capital investment by business and labour productivity growth. This relationship is cross-sectional in nature and proves to be robust to a range of alterations. Our empirical analysis confirms previous findings that the inclusion of business intangible capital investment into the asset boundary of the national accounting framework increases the rate of change of output per worker more rapidly. In addition, intangible capital is able to explain a significant portion of the unexplained international variance in labour productivity growth and when incorporating business intangibles, capital deepening becomes an even more significant source of growth. The relationship is slightly stronger in the time period 1995-2000 and seems to be driven by the coordinated countries within the EU-15.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Regional Cooperation, Monetary Policy, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe

10938. Do the European Union's bilateral investment treaties matter?

Author:
Selen Sarisoy Guerin
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
Several policy-relevant issues regarding the EU's bilateral investment treaties (BITS) are addressed in this paper. First and foremost, we explore the question of whether EU's BITs have a significantly positive impact on outflows or not. Second, we ask the question which member states and which BIT partners have had a significant experience after the implementation of the BIT. In our sample we find that both OECD BITs and EU BITs have a statistically significant and positive impact on FDI outflows. This result is robust to the inclusion of variables such as privatisation proceeds that control for the level of economic reform, the level of trade linkages, the level of democratic freedom and a measure of risk of expropriation among other standard controls. We control for endogeneity in our estimations by using the fixed-effects estimator as our preferred estimator on a large panel dataset. We also test the strict exogeneity of our results by using a method suggested by Baier and Bergstrand (2007) and we find no feedback effect in our sample.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Monetary Policy, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe

10939. The financial crisis and citizen trust in the European Central Bank

Author:
Daniel Gros and Felix Roth
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
Trust in the ECB, as measured by the standard Eurobarometer (and other) surveys has fallen to an unprecedented low – especially in the larger euro area countries. The authors find that up to the start of the recession in 2008, trust in the ECB was little affected by business cycle variables such as growth and inflation. This changed radically with the recession, with trust in the ECB becoming correlated quite closely with growth. However, even the recovery of growth in 2009 was not sufficient to restore trust in the ECB to previous levels. This finding implies that European citizens seem to have placed a heavy share of the blame on the European Central Bank for the real economic downturn caused by the financial crisis.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Monetary Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

10940. Unwilling and Unable: The Failed Response to the Atrocities in Darfur

Author:
James Traub
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Abstract:
Starting in mid-2003, the government of Sudan responded to an armed rebellion in the western state of Darfur with a massive campaign of killing and expulsion carried out both by regular army troops and by a proxy force known as the Janjaweed. United Nations (UN) sources estimate that this orchestrated effort led to the death of at least 300,000 people, while over two million were forcibly displaced. Extensive documentation by the UN, human-rights organizations and the media leaves no doubt that the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, and did so over a period of many years. Yet all attempts to stop the killing, whether by neighbors, regional organizations, Western states or the UN Security Council, proved ineffective. In 2005, states-including Sudan-unanimously agreed that they had a responsibility to protect populations from mass atrocities; but this abstract commitment has had little effect on the Sudanese government or on other UN member states who had made this pledge.
Topic:
Security, Political Violence, Genocide, Human Rights, United Nations, Armed Struggle, and Sectarian violence
Political Geography:
Africa