Political Geography: / Topic: Security

4201. Battlefield: El Paso

Author:: Douglas S. Massey
Publication Date:: 07-2009
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: The National Interest
Abstract:: IT IS commonly accepted that the United States was "invaded" by an unprecedented wave of illegal immigrants beginning in the 1980s. According to the Department of Homeland Security, by 2008 there were 11.6 million illegal immigrants living in the United States, 61 percent from Mexico. The next-closest source was El Salvador, at just 5 percent. Hence the "invasion" was framed as a Mexican issue, with pundits from Lou Dobbs to Patrick Buchanan warning of dire consequences for America if it was not checked, by force if necessary.
Topic:: Security and Government
Political Geography:: United States, America, and Mexico

4202. Canaries in the Cooling Tower

Author:: Charles A. Duelfer
Publication Date:: 07-2009
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: The National Interest
Abstract:: IN LIGHT of the costly tragedy in Iraq, some have commented that inspections would have been an alternative to war. They were not. It was not that simple. Moreover, even with the most intrusive and extensive inspection system ever implemented, we still did not know the extent of Iraq's WMD capacity. Arms inspections are no substitute for war or political compromise, or good independent intelligence. Too often, too many have expected too much from such mechanisms. Inspections are not a goal in themselves. As the urgency and perils of North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs continue to escalate unchecked, attention repeatedly turns to inspections as the remedy of all ills. Yet, the invasiveness of the Iraq inspections was unique. We will never again be able to cajole another country to the extent we did Baghdad. And still we see the limits that even these intrusive inspections had. But, there are untold lessons to be learned from this bizarre case. More than anything else it goes to show that, in spite of their failings, inspections have a purpose and can be wielded to gain information and to deter WMD programs.
Topic:: Security, Government, and United Nations
Political Geography:: Iraq and North Korea

4203. Tyranny for the Commons Man

Author:: Barry Schwartz
Publication Date:: 07-2009
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: The National Interest
Abstract:: HOW DOES one escape a dilemma in which multiple individuals acting in their own rational self-interest can ultimately destroy a shared limited resource-even when it is clear this serves no one in the long run?
Topic:: Security, Development, and Government

4204. Power and Security in Northeast Asia: Shifting Strategies

Author:: Yumi Hiwatari
Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:: Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:: This book highlights the shifting power structure of Northeast Asia. In the introduction, the editor considers a variety of issues in perspective, and power transition, economic interdependence, and democratization are viewed as key concepts in analyzing the radical transformation of the region. The impact of rising China on the power balance of the region is substantial, and the dynamic growth of the economy and the resulting growth of interdependence are the distinguishing characteristics of the region. The region is witnessing an ongoing process of democratization, possibly inviting an unpredictable future. While realistic predictions tell us that these dynamic changes will bring about armed conflicts among nations, the authors however conclude that power politics in Northeast Asia indicates 'an uneasy but resilient “equilibrium” of spatially and temporally asymmetric power relations' (p. 279). This equilibrium is termed uneasy because two elements of revisionism stand out, one being the Korean Peninsular and the other being Sino-Taiwan relations. The players involved all have unilateral revisionist incentives, but the likelihood of small crises escalating into major armed conflicts is remote, and their 'hedged engagement' strategy should control tensions and not allow them to spiral.
Topic:: Security and Democratization
Political Geography:: China, Taiwan, and Northeast Asia

4205. Somalia: The Trouble with Puntland

Publication Date:: 08-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: The semi-autonomous north-eastern Somali region of Puntland, once touted as a success of the “building blocks” approach to reestablishing national stability and widely viewed as one of the most prosperous parts of Somalia, is experiencing a three-year rise in insecurity and political tension. At its roots are poor governance and a collapse of the intra-clan cohesion and pan-Darood solidarity that led to its creation in 1998. Intra-Darood friction has eroded the consensual style of politics that once underpinned a relative stability. The piracy problem is a dramatic symptom of deeper problems that, left untreated, could lead to Puntland's disintegration or overthrow by an underground militant Islamist movement. A solution to the security threat requires the Puntland government to institute reforms that would make it more transparent and inclusive of all clans living within the region.
Topic:: Security, Political Violence, and Fragile/Failed State
Political Geography:: Africa, Somalia, and Puntland

4206. State and Local Fusion Centers

Author:: Eric Rosenbach
Publication Date:: 07-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: The 9/11 Commission Report emphasized the importance of information sharing between local law enforcement and federal intelligence agencies in order to prevent future terrorist attacks. In an effort to address these concerns, “fusion centers” were created that would facilitate the transfer of information among local, state and federal officials. This memo provides members of Congress with an overview of fusion centers, explains the role these centers play in information sharing and addresses some challenges that they face today.
Topic:: Security, Government, Terrorism, and Law

4207. The USA-PATRIOT Act

Author:: Eric Rosenbach and Aki J. Peritz
Publication Date:: 07-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: The "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001," also known as the USA-PATRIOT Act, was passed a month after September 11, 2001 in order to give U.S. officials new legal tools to detect and thwart future terrorist attacks. Although it originally passed with very little opposition, votes to reauthorize the Act prompted significant debate about several provisions. In 2009, Congress will once again examine certain sections of the USA-PATRIOT Act. This memo provides an overview of the USA-PATRIOT Act and its provisions that will expire at the end of 2009.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, and Terrorism
Political Geography:: United States

4208. The Armageddon Test

Author:: Rolf Mowatt-Larssen
Publication Date:: 08-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: In 1946, Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the Manhattan project, was asked in a closed Senate hearing room “whether three or four men couldn't smuggle units of an [atomic] bomb into New York and blow up the whole city.” Oppenheimer responded, “Of course it could be done, and people could destroy New York.” When a startled senator then followed by asking, “What instrument would you use to detect an atomic bomb hidden somewhere in a city?” Oppenheimer quipped, “A screwdriver [to open each and every crate or suitcase].” There was no defense against nuclear terrorism–and he felt there never would be.
Topic:: Security, Intelligence, Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism, and War

4209. On China's Commercial Reprocessing Policy

Author:: Hui Zhang
Publication Date:: 07-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: China is currently operating eleven nuclear power reactors with installed capacity of 9 GWe, and it plans to increase its total nuclear capacity to 40 GWe by 2020. China is seeking to reprocess the civilian spent fuel, and to recycle the plutonium in MOX fuel for its light water reactors (LWRs) and fast breeder reactors (FBRs). A pilot reprocessing plant with a capacity of 50-100 THM/a is ready to operate now. A larger commercial reprocessing plant and a MOX fabrication plant are expected to be in commission around the year 2020. Also, the China Experimental Fast Reactor (CEFR), capable of producing 25 MWe of power, will be operating soon. Furthermore, larger commercial FBRs are planned to be commissioned around 2030-2035. This paper will first discuss the status of China's nuclear power reactors, breeders, and civilian reprocessing programs. In addition, this paper will examine whether the breeders and civilian reprocessing programs make sense for China, taking into account costs, proliferation risks, energy security tradeoffs, health and environmental risks, and spent fuel management issues.
Topic:: Security, Energy Policy, and Environment
Political Geography:: China

4210. Confrontation or Collaboration? Congress and the Intelligence Community

Author:: Eric Rosenbach and Aki J. Peritz
Publication Date:: 07-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: Intelligence is a critical tool lawmakers often use to assess issues essential to U.S. national policy. Understanding the complexities, mechanics, benefits and limitations of intelligence and the Intelligence Community (IC) will greatly enhance the ability of lawmakers to arrive at well-grounded decisions vital to our nation's foreign and domestic security.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, Government, and Intelligence
Political Geography:: United States

4211. U.S. Institute of Peace Teaches International Security Personnel to Resolve Conflicts without Resorting to the Use of Force

Author:: Mary Hope Schwoebel
Publication Date:: 07-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:: Over the past decade, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) has trained members of police and military forces around the world to prepare them to participate in international peacekeeping operations or to contribute to post-conflict stabilization and rule of law interventions in their own or in other war-torn countries. Most of the training takes place outside the United States, from remote, rugged bases to centrally located schools and academies, from Senegal to Nepal, from Italy to the Philippines.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, International Relations, Security, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:: United States, Philippines, Nepal, Italy, and Senegal

4212. Iraq's Interior Ministry: The Key To Police Reform

Author:: Robert Perito and Madeline Kristoff
Publication Date:: 08-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:: Iraq's Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is responsible for the supervision, training and administrative support for Iraq's non-military security forces. These include: the Iraqi Police Service, the Iraq National Police, the Iraqi Border Enforcement Service and the Facilities Protection Service. In total, MOI is responsible for nearly 600,000 men under arms or a force that is three times the size of the new Iraqi Army, Navy and Air Force combined.
Topic:: Security, Corruption, Crime, Ethnic Conflict, and War
Political Geography:: Iraq and Arabia

4213. Afghanistan: What Now for Refugees?

Publication Date:: 08-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: As international efforts focus on the worsening insurgency in Afghanistan, the issues of refugee return and the mobility of Afghans in their country and around the region have been overshadowed. Meeting the needs of returnees and addressing population movements remain an essential part of finding a solution to the conflict. These issues must be better integrated into policymaking. They play a role in many of the sources of discontent that undermine the legitimacy of the government in Kabul – from land disputes to rising crime. Migration has a positive side as well since t hose living abroad sustain much of the economy, but a comprehensive approach to displacement and migration is needed, including better coordination among Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, if the benefits are to start outweighing the risks.
Topic:: Security, War, and Refugee Issues
Political Geography:: Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, Iran, and Kabul

4214. Turkey's Emerging Role as a Mediator on Iran's Nuclear Activities

Author:: Rahman G. Bonab
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Insight Turkey
Institution:: SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:: The international community is worried about the security implications of Iran's nuclear activities. Although it has been argued that Iran is very close to make a nuclear bomb, the results of the latest official reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and some American intelligence institutions demonstrate that Iran is not reluctant to consider the concerns of the international community in its decisions. One of the main policies of great powers is to cooperate with regional actors, like Turkey, to persuade Iran to be more flexible in its nuclear policy and particularly in its uranium enrichment activity. The historical mistrust between Iran and the great powers reinforces the necessity of having other regional actors act as mediators and countries like Turkey can play an important role in this context. The governing AKP's mediation policy in the regional level is a catalyst to Turkey's attempts to mediate between Iran and the 5+1 Group, although mediation can have its own difficulties.
Topic:: Security
Political Geography:: America, Iran, and Turkey

4215. The 2009 Israeli Election: A Bump in the Road to Peace?

Author:: Jonathan Marcus
Publication Date:: 07-2009
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: The Washington Quarterly
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: Israeli voters went to the polls in February 2009 for the fifth time in a decade. The campaign was overshadowed by the December 2008 Israeli offensive into the Gaza Strip: air operations beginning just two days after Christmas and Israeli ground operations following during the early days of the New Year. Israeli troops pulled out of the Gaza Strip some three weeks later but sporadic Palestinian rocket fire continued even after the election during the ensuing weeks of coalition formation. Inevitably an election which might have focused on the future path toward peace, or perhaps the onset of the economic crisis, was dominated by traditional concerns about security. The outcome enabled both the centrist Kadima party leader and outgoing foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, and the standard bearer of the right, Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu, to claim victory. Kadima won the most seats in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, while the political right as a whole emerged with the best chance of forming the next governing coalition.
Topic:: Security
Political Geography:: Israel

4216. China's Myanmar Dilemma

Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: Each time global attention is focused on events in Myanmar, concerned stakeholders turn to China to influence the military government to undertake reforms. Yet simply calling on Beijing to apply more pressure is unlikely to result in change. While China has substantial political, economic and strategic stakes in Myanmar, its influence is overstated. The insular and nationalistic leaders in the military government do not take orders from anyone, including Beijing. China also diverges from the West in the goals for which it is prepared to use its influence. By continuing to simply expect China to take the lead in solving the problem, a workable international approach will remain elusive as Myanmar continues to play China and the West against each other. After two decades of failed international approaches to Myanmar, Western countries and Beijing must find better ways to work together to pursue a wide array of issues that reflect the concerns of both sides.
Topic:: Security and Economics
Political Geography:: China, Israel, Beijing, Asia, and Myanmar

4217. MRAPs, Irregular Warfare, and Pentagon Reform

Author:: Christopher J. Lamb, Matthew J. Schmidt, and Berit G. Fitzsimmons
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Academy of Political Science
Abstract:: Mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles offer an excellent case study for investigating the current debate over the Pentagon's approach to developing and fielding irregular warfare capabilities. MRAPs first gained prominence for their ability to protect U.S. forces from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and because the Pentagon did not deploy them en masse to Iraq until almost 5 years of fighting had passed. More recently, following extraordinary efforts to field more than 10,000 MRAPs quickly, the program has been criticized as wasteful and unnecessary.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, Nationalism, and War
Political Geography:: United States and Iraq

4218. Iraqi Security Forces after U.S. Troop Withdrawal: An Iraqi Perspective

Author:: Najim Abed Al-Jabouri
Publication Date:: 08-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Abstract:: As U.S. Armed Forces draw down in Iraq, there is increasing concern about the possibility of resurgent ethnic and sectarian tensions. Many Iraqis believe that the United States may be making a grave mistake by not fully using its remaining leverage to insulate the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) from the political influence of the incumbent Iraqi sectarian political parties. U.S. efforts to rebuild the ISF have focused on much needed training and equipment, but have neglected the greatest challenge facing the forces' ability to maintain security upon U.S. withdrawal: an ISF politicized by ethno-sectarian parties. These ties pose the largest obstacle to the ISF in its quest to become genuinely professional and truly national in character.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, and War
Political Geography:: Iraq and Arabia

4219. The Middle East Security Agenda: An Israeli Assessment

Author:: Michael Herzog
Publication Date:: 05-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen—I'm very happy to be here. It is a great pleasure to be speaking to this distinguished audience. On a personal note I must say I spent two wonderful years at the Institute. I have high esteem for the work done at the Institute. This is, I think, a fountain of knowledge, a powerhouse of policy ideas. The Institute, I think, has an impact and makes a difference.
Topic:: Security, Political Violence, Defense Policy, and Terrorism
Political Geography:: Middle East and Israel

4220. Peace through Security: America's Role in the Development of the Palestinian Authority Security Services

Author:: Keith Dayton
Publication Date:: 05-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:: The following is a transcript of a keynote address delivered by Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton to The Washington Institute's 2009 Soref Symposium on May 7, 2009. General Dayton currently serves as U.S. security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, a post he has held since 2005. He recently accepted appointment for another two-year term.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, Debt, Peace Studies, and Terrorism
Political Geography:: Washington and Middle East

4221. Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan: Hamas in Ascendance

Author:: Hassan Barari
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:: In early September, three senior leaders of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood (MB) resigned from the organization's executive bureau after it voted to dissolve the MB political department -- one of the few remaining components of the organization controlled by moderates. The resignations were a protest against not only the executive bureau's decision, but also the MB's increasingly close affiliation with Hamas. Today, the Jordanian MB is facing an unprecedented internal crisis, pitting the traditional moderate East Bank leadership -- Jordanians who are not originally Palestinian -- against the powerful pro-Hamas Palestinian-led element. Lately, these divisions have been aggravated by Hamas political bureau head Khaled Mashal's apparent efforts to exploit the shifting balance of power within the MB to further his own organization's agenda in Amman. Ironically, Jordanian authorities -- who have long prided themselves on managing the Islamist issue -- have done little to stem the tide.
Topic:: Security, Political Violence, Islam, Politics, and Terrorism
Political Geography:: Middle East, Palestine, and Arab Countries

4222. Quds Day in Iran: Velvet Revolution Trumps Nuclear Negotiations

Author:: Patrick Clawson and Mehdi Khalaji
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:: While the United States is concentrating on the G-20 summit and the October 1 meeting with the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Iranian attention has been focused on the potentially destabilizing protests planned for September 18, Quds Day. This critical difference of agenda -- with Iran focused more on its domestic turmoil than on simmering international issues -- will be a major complicating factor in negotiations between the international community and Iran in the coming weeks.
Topic:: International Relations, Security, International Cooperation, Islam, Nuclear Weapons, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:: United States and Iran

4223. Facing Homegrown Radicalization

Author:: Myriam Benraad
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:: Last month, Kamal Hassan, a Somali-American living in Minnesota, pled guilty to training and fighting with al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group in Somalia. In July, two other Somali-Americans in Minnesota pled guilty to similar charges, with the FBI continuing to investigate more than a dozen others who may have traveled from the United States to Somalia. The FBI also recently arrested seven individuals in North Carolina on terrorism-related charges, including one who had spent time in Afghan training camps. These and other recent events have raised new concerns in the United States about the threat of homegrown radicalization.
Topic:: Security, Crime, Terrorism, and Armed Struggle
Political Geography:: Afghanistan, Africa, Europe, Washington, and North Carolina

4224. Putting Iraq's Security Agreement to the Vote: Risks and Opportunities

Author:: Michael Knights and Ahmed Ali
Publication Date:: 08-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:: On August 17, Iraq's Council of Ministers approved a draft legislation that would require the ratification of the U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement, also known as the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), in a national referendum coinciding with the national elections on January 16, 2010. Out of the 275 Iraqi parliamentarians, a simple majority is needed to authorize the draft law when the National Assembly reconvenes on September 8, 2009. If a referendum takes place, and the Iraqis reject the security agreement, U.S. forces would be required to leave Iraq by January 16, 2011, instead of December 31, 2011. The referendum could also change the nature of the upcoming national elections, focusing attention on nationalistic posturing at the expense of the U.S.-Iraqi relationship, and distracting Iraqi politicians and voters from the many serious issues facing the country.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Security, Political Violence, War, and Regime Change
Political Geography:: Iraq, Middle East, and Arab Countries

4225. Reinforcing Treasury's Strategic Roles in International Affairs and National Security

Author:: Jeremiah S. Pam
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:: At this time of the U.S. Treasury's Department's extraordinary prominence in domestic affairs, it is possible to overlook the critical functions that the Treasury performs in U.S. international policy. This would be a significant oversight at any time, as Treasury has long made more international contributions, of greater importance to U.S. policy, than has often been widely understood. It is even more of an oversight in the post-9/11 international environment, which has presented new challenges that have sorely tested many of the United States' more well-known foreign policy and national security institutions.
Topic:: Security, Economics, International Affairs, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: United States

4226. Afghanistan's Police: The Weak Link in Security Sector Reform

Author:: Robert M. Perito
Publication Date:: 08-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:: In seven years, the Afghan National Police forces have grown to 68,000 personnel, with a target end strength of 86,000. The ANP includes the uniformed police force, which is responsible for general police duties, and specialized police forces, which deal with public order, counternarcotics, terrorism, and border control. Despite the impressive growth in numbers, the expenditure of $10 billion in international police assistance, and the involvement of the United States, the European Union, and multiple donors, the ANP is riddled with corruption and generally unable to protect Afghan citizens, control crime, or deal with the growing insurgency. The European Union has replaced Germany as the lead partner for police reform, but the United States has the largest police program, which is directed by the U.S. military. Putting soldiers in charge of police training has led to militarization of the ANP and its use as a counterinsurgency force. Using improperly trained, equipped, and supported ANP patrol men as “little soldiers” has resulted in the police suffering three times as many casualties as the Afghan National Army. Police are assigned in small numbers to isolated posts without backup and are targeted by the insurgents. Beyond funding the Taliban, the explosion in Afghan narcotics production fueled widespread corruption in the Afghan government and police. Drug abuse by police officers became increasingly common as did other forms of criminal behavior. Challenges facing the ANP were further compounded by a proliferation of bilateral police assistance programs that reflected the policing practices of donor countries. These efforts often were not coordinated with the larger U.S. and EU programs, creating confusion for the ANP. The Obama administration has acknowledged the importance of the police and announced its intentions to expand and improve the ANP as a key part of its plan for stabilizing Afghanistan. It should do this as part of a broader international community approach to police assistance that embraces a comprehensive program for security sector reform and rule of law.
Topic:: Security, War, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Afghanistan, United States, Europe, and Asia

4227. The Interior Ministry's Role in Security Sector Reform

Author:: Robert M. Perito
Publication Date:: 05-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:: Efforts to create an effective interior ministry and a community-oriented police service cannot succeed unless they take place within an overall effort for security sector reform (SSR): the highly political and complex task of transforming the institutions and organizations responsible for dealing with security threats to the state and its citizens.
Topic:: Security, Government, United Nations, and Law Enforcement
Political Geography:: United States

4228. Kim Jong-il's Clenched Fist

Author:: Jonathan D. Pollack
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: The Washington Quarterly
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is yet again on the U.S. policy radar screen. Despite President Barack Obama's declared intention to ''extend a hand'' to adversaries who would unclench their fist, Kim Jong-il decided to challenge rather than reciprocate. In a series of orchestrated, disproportionate actions justified as retaliation for the United Nations Security Council's condemnation of an attempted satellite launch in early April 2009, North Korea walked away from every denuclearization measure painfully and incompletely negotiated during the Bush administration's second term in office. On April 13, 2009, only hours after a non-binding Security Council presidential statement was issued, the DPRK described the statement as ''an unbearable insult to our people and a criminal act never to be tolerated,'' asserted that it would never return to the Six-Party Talks, and that it would ''boost its nuclear deterrent for self-defense in every way.'' Pyongyang declared that it would convert its entire inventory of plutonium into weapons, resume operations at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, and test intercontinental ballistic missiles. It again expelled inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as well as U.S. personnel facilitating the disablement process at the reactor and associated facilities. The North also announced that it would accelerate pursuit of an enriched uranium capability, a program whose existence it had long denied.
Topic:: Security
Political Geography:: Korea

4229. Realpolitik Dynamics and Image Construction in the Russia-China Relationship: Forging a Strategic Partnership?

Author:: Maria Raquel Freire and Carmen Amado Mendes
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: Russia and China are two big players in the international system, both of which share interests and concerns and compete for preponderance and affirmation at the regional level. As a framework for political-military cooperation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) frames this relationship in an institutional setting that might be understood as a tool for rapprochement between Moscow and Beijing or as a strategic manoeuvre for balancing an unbalanced international order. Thus the following question arises: is Russian-Chinese cooperation discourse mere political rhetoric or does it imply the intentional forging of a goal-orientated partnership? The relationship between Russia and China in political and security terms reveals identifiable common concerns, such as counter-terrorism or the fight against organised crime, while simultaneously masking the underpinning drivers, based on realpolitik dynamics and image construction on both sides (power projection, regional affirmation). This means that the strategic partnership dialogue between Moscow and Beijing is still far from being real. Realpolitik considerations rise above institutional goals, showing the lines of (dis)continuity in discourse and practice in this bilateral relationship.
Topic:: Security
Political Geography:: Russia, China, Beijing, and Moscow

4230. Chinese Perceptions of Russian Foreign Policy During the Putin Administration: U.S.-Russia Relations and "Strategic Triangle" Considerations

Author:: Joseph Yu-shek Cheng
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: This article examines the Chinese perception of Russian foreign policy during the Putin administration by analysing Beijing's assessment of Russia's foreign policy objectives and its policy towards the U.S., as reflected in the official media and the authoritative publications of China's major security and foreign policy think tanks. Promoting multipolarity and checks and balances against U.S. unilateralism has been a very significant consideration on the part of the Chinese leadership. Using the concept of the "strategic triangle", the article demonstrates how changes in U.S.-Russian relations have probably become the most important variable in this push for multipolarity. In the past decade and a half, Sino-Russian relations have improved when Russia has become disappointed with the support it received from the U.S. There have also been periods of time when Russia has anticipated closer relations with the U.S. and thus neglected China's vital interests. The Chinese leadership, however, has exercised restraint at such times. There has been greater optimism in Beijing concerning Sino-Russian relations in recent years because of the expanding economic ties, Russia's increasing oil wealth and Putin's authoritarian orientation.
Topic:: Security and Foreign Policy
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, and China

4231. The Offshore Camps of the European Union: At the Border of Humanity

Author:: Miriam Ticktin
Publication Date:: 03-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs
Abstract:: Immigrant and asylum-seeker camps like those in Libya and Morocco are the creation, manifestation, and part of the new, borderless Europe. They consist of a new post-colonial, new-liberal border-zone, a space continuously negotiated by the movement of people, new forms of surveillance technology, and new processes of supranational government. The camps are a response to both a “security” and “humanitarian” crisis, brought into reality through two governing regimes: one of policing and one of protection. The precise mechanisms produce spaces which not only divide people into citizens of one nation-state or another, but produce certain populations as surplus humans.
Topic:: Security, Human Rights, Migration, and Immigration
Political Geography:: Europe, Libya, North Africa, and Morocco

4232. Rebuilding Zimbabwe: Australia's role in supporting the transition

Author:: Joel Negin and Jolyon Ford
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:: Zimbabwe's long night is by no means over. Nearly a year after the violent and disputed March 2008 elections, and months after the September signing of a 'Global Political Agreement' with the ruling ZANU-PF party, the main faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) agreed in February to take part in a coalition government in which its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, became Prime Minister. The state apparatus in Zimbabwe is currently shared uneasily by reformers and reactionaries with each of the MDC and ZANU-PF having half of the cabinet seats. Hardline ZANU-PF elements remain in government and control the security services, and a quiet but intense power struggle continues.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Development, Foreign Aid, and Food
Political Geography:: Africa, Australia, and Zimbabwe

4233. A Workshop with the UN Working Group on Mercenaries

Author:: James Cockayne
Publication Date:: 08-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Peace Institute
Abstract:: On July 29, 2009, the International Peace Institute convened a meeting of civil society, academic, and industry representatives to meet with the United Nations Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the rights of peoples to selfdetermination (the “Working Group”). The United Nations Human Rights Council has requested that the Working Group consult with a wide range of actors on the content and scope of possible legal instruments for regulation of private military and security companies.
Topic:: Security, Civil Society, Human Rights, and United Nations

4234. Global Terrorism: Task Forces on Strengthening Multilateral Security Capacity

Author:: Naureen Chowdhury Fink
Publication Date:: 08-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Peace Institute
Abstract:: The increasingly transnational and multifaceted nature of terrorism calls for a strong multilateral response. States have the primary responsibility for protecting their populations from the threats posed by terrorism. At the same time, given the often cross-regional nature of the terrorist threat, mechanisms for effective cooperation are needed at the global and regional levels. To this end, the United Nations (UN), by virtue of its universality and legitimacy, has an important role to play.
Topic:: Security, International Cooperation, Terrorism, and United Nations

4235. Beyond Market Forces: Regulating the Global Security Industry

Author:: James Cockayne, Emily Speers Mears, Alison Gurin, Iveta Cherneva, Sheila Oviedo, and Dylan Yaeger
Publication Date:: 07-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Peace Institute
Abstract:: In late 2008, seventeen states, including the US, UK, China, Iraq, Afghanistan, and others, endorsed the Montreux Document on Pertinent International Legal Obligations and Good Practices for States related to Operations of Private Military and Security Companies during Armed Conflict (2008). This provides important guidance to states in regulating private military and security companies (PMSCs). However, there is a need to do more, to provide increased guidance to the industry and ensure standards are enforced.
Topic:: Security, Globalization, Markets, International Security, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: Afghanistan, United States, China, Iraq, and United Kingdom

4236. Los Angeles' Preparedness for Terrorism

Author:: Clark Kent Ervin
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Aspen Institute
Abstract:: This is the second in a series of reports about various cities' pre-paredness for terrorism and/or natural disasters. It is the outgrowth of a series of roundtable discussions in 2007 and 2008 in New York, Chicago, Houston, New Orleans, and Los Angeles among key federal, state, and local government officials in each such city, as well as private sector stakeholders, and think tank/academic experts on homeland security and counterterrorism. The series was financed by a generous lead grant by the Ford Foundation, supplemented by additional grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, the McCormick Foundation, and the Houston Endowment. The goal in each city was to identify best practices that can be replicated around the country; to identify any gaps in preparedness; and to recommend to policymakers ways and means of closing any such gaps.
Topic:: Security, Terrorism, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:: United States, New York, and Chicago

4237. Risky business? The EU, China and dual-use technology

Author:: May-Britt U. Stumbaum
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:: This paper argues that it is high time for the European Union to adopt a proactive policy of managing the risks of sensitive technology transfer to the People's Republic of China (PRC). On the basis of a common understanding of the challenges of transferring dual-use technology, economically, politically and security-wise, the European Union can optimise benefits from opportunities available in the promising and technologically rapidly advancing Chinese market.
Topic:: Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:: China and Europe

4238. Joint Task Force East and Shared Military Basing in Romania and Bulgaria

Author:: Plamen Pantev, Matthew Rhodes, and Dorinel Moldovan
Publication Date:: 08-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies
Abstract:: Joint Task Force East (JTFE), the framework for shared used of select military bases in Romania and Bulgaria, marks a major milestone in America's military presence in Central and Southeast Europe. Following previous, more limited deployments across the region, U.S. forces are poised to become long-term fixtures in both countries under renewable, ten-year agreements signed in late 2005 and early 2006. The arrangements potentially serve as representative models for similar efforts in other countries.
Topic:: Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:: United States, Bulgaria, and Romania

4239. "Fixing Broken Windows": Security Sector Reform in Palestine, Lebanon, and Yemen

Author:: Yezid Sayigh
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: As they emerge from conflict, states can rarely commence the arduous task of reconstruction and consolidate their governments until they undertake extensive restructuring of their security forces. Palestine, Lebanon, and Yemen are all fractured, quasi-democratic states with divided societies, and deep disagreement over what constitutes the national interest. Successful reform in each will require security institutions that answer to democratically-elected civilian leaders, but the U.S. and European approach has thus far focused largely on providing military training and equipment, targeted toward counterterrorist capabilities.
Topic:: Security, Foreign Policy, Democratization, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:: United States, Middle East, Yemen, Arabia, and Lebanon

4240. Warlords As Bureaucrats: The Afghan Experience

Author:: Dipali Mukhopadhyay
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: Despite his commitment to develop a democratic, modern state, President Hamid Karzai placed many former warlords in positions of power, particularly in the provinces. Many observers, Afghan and foreign alike, have decried the inclusion of warlords in the new governmental structures as the chief corrosive agent undermining efforts to reconstruct the state. Indeed, warlord governors have not been ideal government officials. They have employed informal power and rules, as well as their personal networks, to preserve control over their respective provinces. Informalized politics of this kind is the antithesis of a technocratic, rule-based approach to governance and entails considerable costs, from inefficiency to corruption and human rights abuses.
Topic:: Security, Democratization, Government, Sovereignty, War, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:: Afghanistan and Asia

4241. Yemen: Avoiding a Downward Spiral

Author:: Christopher Boucek
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: Yemen faces a great and growing number of challenges that endanger its political future and threaten its neighbors on the Arabian Peninsula. War, terror- ism, a deepening secessionist movement, and interconnected economic and demographic trends have the potential to overwhelm the Yemeni government, jeopardizing domestic stability and security across the region. Yemen's oil—the source of over 75 percent of its income—is quickly running out, and the country has no apparent way to transition to a post-oil economy. The dire economic situation makes it increasingly difficult for the government to deliver the funds needed to hold the country together.
Topic:: Security, Democratization, Development, Oil, and Insurgency
Political Geography:: Yemen and Arabia

4242. Islam and the Paths of Pakistan's Political Development

Author:: Peter Topychkanov
Publication Date:: 04-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: National identity remains a very serious issue in Pakistan today. There has never been a clear answer to the question of how many nations live within the country — one or more. n The constitutional process, accompanied by tensions in communal relations, bears witness to serious ideological differences in society over the role religion should play in social and political life. Pakistan's Islamization, through giving traditional Muslim standards legal force, has not been completed, but many traditional standards have now been written into law and have thus become an integral part of the country's political and legal system. Solutions to Pakistan's problems should be based on comprehensive approaches that avoid experiments with Islam — one of the foundations of Pakistan's statehood — and emphasize administrative, social, economic, and security issues.
Topic:: Security, Islam, Terrorism, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:: Pakistan and South Asia

4243. The Obama Administration's New Counternarcotics Strategy in Afghanistan: Its Promises and Potential Pitfalls

Author:: Vanda Felbab-Brown
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Brookings Institution
Abstract:: Nearly eight years after a U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban regime, Afghanistan remains far from stable. As President Barack Obama considers alternatives to increasing the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, his administration's new counternarcotics strategy meshes well with counterinsurgency and state-building efforts in the country. It is a welcome break from previous ineffective and counterproductive policies. The effectiveness of the policy with respect to counternarcotics, counterinsurgency and state-building, however, will depend on the operationalization of the strategy. The details are not yet clear, but the strategy potentially faces many pitfalls.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Security, War, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:: Afghanistan and United States

4244. The Stabilization Process in Haiti: A Work in Progress

Author:: Hédi Annabi
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:: When considering the progress of the stabilization process in Haiti and what is required for it to succeed, one is reminded of two Haitian folk proverbs. The first, Deyè mòn, gen mòn (beyond the mountains, there are more mountains), is a sobering comment on the reality that life includes many challenges, and that we must show patience, endurance and readiness to take them in stride. The second, men anpil, chay pa lou (where there are many hands, the load becomes lighter) is a more reassuring reminder that even when the tasks ahead of us seem most daunting, we can succeed if we work together. These two proverbs together encapsulate two central lessons that emerge from my experience over the two years since I assumed my present functions as Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
Topic:: Security
Political Geography:: Haiti

4245. 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

4246. 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

4247. 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

4248. 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

4249. 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

4250. 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

4251. 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

4252. 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

4253. 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

4254. 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

4255. Bad Debts: Assessing China's Financial Influence in Great Power Politics

Author:: Daniel W. Drezner
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Security
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: China has challenged the United States on multiple policy fronts since the beginning of 2009. On the security dimension, Chinese ships have engaged in multiple skirmishes with U.S. surveillance vessels in an effort to hinder American efforts to collect naval intelligence. China has also pressed the United States on the economic policy front. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao told reporters that he was concerned about China's investments in the United States: “We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I am definitely a little worried.” The head of the People's Bank of China, Zhou Xiaochuan, followed up with a white paper suggesting a shift away from the dollar as the world's reserve currency. China's government has issued repeated calls for a greater voice in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. To bolster this call, Beijing helped to organize a summit of the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) to better articulate this message.
Topic:: Security, Debt, Government, and Intelligence
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, China, India, and Brazil

4256. China's Climate- and Energy-security Dilemma: Shaping a New Path of Economic Growth

Author:: Karl Hallding, Guoyi Han, and Marie Olsson
Publication Date:: 12-2009
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: China is undergoing modernization at a scale and speed the world has never witnessed. As climate change increasingly dominates the global agenda, China faces the challenge of shaping a new growth path in a climate-constrained world. The paper argues that China's current climate and energy policy is, at best, a “repackaging” of existing energy and environmental strategies with co-benefits for the mitigation of climate change. Nevertheless, even though policies are not climate-change driven, the quick (rhetorical) endorsement of low-carbon development and the strong momentum of green technologies indicate that political ambitions are in favour of finding a more sustainable development pathway. A new growth path would, how-ever, require a fundamental shift, with development and energy strategies being set within climate security constraints. The eventual success of this new path remains uncertain.
Topic:: Security, Climate Change, Economics, and Environment
Political Geography:: China

4257. Securing the Peace: The Battle over Ethnicity and Energy in Modern Iraq

Author:: Justin Dargin
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: This article examines the legal and political impediments to the Kurdish Regional Government's (KRG) exploration and production contracts, which the central government in Baghdad has refused to recognize. The newly established Iraqi national constitution significantly opened as many petroleum-control questions as it resolved. Negotiated in 2005, the constitution not only separated branches of government, but established Federalism as its lodestar. When faced with unresolved issues over regional and national control over petroleum resources, however, International Oil Companies (IOCs) function in an ambiguous legal environment that fails to clearly distinguish between federal and regional powers.
Topic:: Security and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:: Iraq, Baghdad, and Arabia

4258. The Defense Monitor, Volume XXXVIII - October/November/December 2009

Publication Date:: 12-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Defense Information
Abstract:: Last July, a majority of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), led by Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., tried to reverse Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' decision to stop production of the F-22. After Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the White House lobbied long and hard against the emissaries from Lockheed, the F-22 lost in a somewhat lopsided vote of 58 to 40. Game over. Right?
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, Security, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:: United States

4259. The Defense Monitor, Volume XXXVIII - July/August/September 2009

Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Defense Information
Abstract:: The international Global Zero Commission, a group of political and military leaders from the United States, Russia and other key countries, held an intensive two-day meeting in Washington, D.C. on June 28-29, 2009 - where they presented a practical and comprehensive plan calling for the phased and verified elimination of all nuclear weapons over the next 20 years, and briefed senior Obama administration officials on their recommendations in advance of the July 6-8 Moscow Summit.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, Security, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, Washington, and Moscow

4260. The Defense Monitor, Volume XXXVIII - April/May/June 2009

Publication Date:: 06-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Defense Information
Abstract:: Global Zero was publicly launched at its inaugural conference in Paris on Dec. 9, 2008 - bringing together a truly extraordinary group of more than 100 leaders from around the world toward the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. They discussed the outline for a step-by-step policy plan for the phased elimination of nuclear weapons and the public education and outreach plan for the coming year. The meeting generated widespread enthusiasm, as well as serious and constructive dialogue among participants.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, and Arms Control and Proliferation

4261. The Defense Monitor - Volume XXXVIII, No. 1 - January/February 2009

Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Defense Information
Abstract:: For the second year in a row, an unexpected major "national security" crisis threatened to reignite - again - into the latest round of armed conflict since the two countries were created 61 years ago. Headlines throughout most of December speculated about the added damage war would bring to an already financially weakened international system. Then, on Dec. 26, 2008, Israeli warplanes struck the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in what Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak would label an attempt to destroy Hamas once and for all.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, and Arms Control and Proliferation
Political Geography:: Israel

4262. Military-humanitarian integration: The promise and the peril

Author:: Denis Kennedy
Publication Date:: 08-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: Finland is currently drafting a comprehensive national crisis management strategy (CNCM). This briefing paper puts this exercise in conversation with the increase in violence directed at aid workers in crisis situations, with special reference to Afghanistan. On a policy level, Finnish decision makers should take into consideration the changing security environment and the mosaic of actors involved in crisis management. It is argued that increased integration and coordination has complicated aid agencies' attempts to maintain neutrality in the field. Neutrality, together with impartiality and independence, functions to create a "humanitarian space" in conflict zones. It is precisely this space that is most at risk when humanitarian actors are coupled with military and state apparatuses. The aim of integration and coordination is to improve the responsiveness, effectiveness, and efficiency of humanitarian relief and crisis response. It involves coordination and cooperation in the planning and use of military and civil defense assets in humanitarian operations. Despite the potential for efficiency gains, integration remains a controversial topic. In particular, it forces tough questions on aid agencies who find their ability to remain neutral, impartial, and independent severely curtailed. There is concern in the humanitarian sector that coherence and integration mean subordinating principles to politics and that this has made aid agencies targets of violence. In Afghanistan and elsewhere, rising violence testifies to an environment in which aid agencies are now perceived as taking sides in conflict. The increase in violence in crisis situations calls attention in drafting the CNCM to the fragility of humanitarian space and the need for open, public debate. Given Finland's experiences with neutrality during the Cold War and in light of contemporary debates over Afghanistan, there is the opportunity to bring deeper understandings to bear in the field of crisis management.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Security, Human Rights, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, and War
Political Geography:: Afghanistan and Finland

4263. Sun Zi's Art of War and U.S. Joint Professional Military Education

Author:: Phillip C. Saunders
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Abstract:: The Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) and National War College (NWC) jointly hosted a conference on “Sun Zi's Art of War and U.S. Joint Professional Military Education” on October 6, 2009. This was the first conference to bring together leading academic experts and faculty from all major U.S. military academies and senior Service schools. The morning session, an integral part of the NWC core course on war and statecraft, featured speakers who explored the historical context and modern military applications of Sun Zi. The afternoon session provided a forum for dialogue and an exchange of ideas between leading academic experts from civilian institutions and professors and military practitioners who teach Art of War at professional military education (PME) institutions. The panelists addressed a range of topics relevant to how to teach Sun Zi, including identifying best practices and potential pitfalls, translation issues, research gaps, and opportunities to engage foreign counterparts.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, War, and Political Theory
Political Geography:: United States

4264. Global security in a multipolar world

Author:: Radha Kumar, Álvaro de Vasconcelos, Andrei Zagorski, Paulo Wrobel, Feng Zhongping, Robert Hutchings, Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, and Luis Peral
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:: This is the second Chaillot Paper in a series exploring the various strands of a global topic: multilateralising multipolarity. Through the essays collected in the first study, we set out to assess the scope of change in the international system and how EU action could best be suited to bringing about a multilateral order. After the fall of the Berlin Wall brought about the end of bipolarity, the world has changed no less dramatically since the 1990s witnessed the Balkan wars and the first EU military crisis-management operations. Basically, the post-Cold War 'unipolar' world turned 'multipolar', and as a result the West can no longer tackle global issues – made more pressing indeed due to this very transformation – on its own any more than it can deal single- handedly with regional crises. The comparative analysis of the strategic vision of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, the so-called BRICs, showed that the best policy mindset for the European Union, contrary to some suggestions, was not to try to become a normal hard-power player. It further concluded that, in a multi- polar world, this was simply not a viable option. For the European Union to survive and to influence the outcome of the international order, it must succeed in giving a multilateral dimension to the current multipolarity; in other words, Europe must be able to define together with other world and regional powers the norms and rules that are needed to drive concerted efforts to stay clear of some future clash of competing unilateralisms.
Topic:: Security, Globalization, Intelligence, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:: Russia, China, Europe, India, and Brazil

4265. Whither the Euro-Atlantic Partnership? Partnership and NATO's New Strategic Concept

Author:: Jean-Jacques de Dardel
Publication Date:: 03-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:: In July 2009, NATO launched a process which should lead to the adoption of a new Strategic Concept. In defining its future referential framework, the Alliance will no doubt dwell on contemporary trends, such as the ever fastening globalisation of international relations and the widening spectrum of threats. In taking such evolutions into account, it would do well in vying for additional flexibility and pragmatism, instead of trying to define a rigid framework of action that would rapidly become obsolete as unforeseen events will constantly call for redirections. The Alliance should fully develop its comprehensive approach so as to interact coherently with international organisations, partner states and civil society. Only thus will it muster wide support for its operations and set up the preconditions for viable exit strategies. In doing so, NATO could build on the assets developed through the Partnership for Peace and its institutional and political framework, the Euro Atlantic Partnership Council. Indeed, EAPC partner nations can contribute a variety of means to secure peace, security and post conflict reconstruction, whose usefulness, not to be measured in terms of military assets alone, should grow as international security challenges take on ever more varied forms. Hence NATO should not dilute a tried and successful PfP/EAPC construct in bundling up all other countries associated in one way or the other with NATO's workings and operations into a one tutti-frutti new Partnership Forum. Instead, NATO should differentiate between different types of partners, all the while focusing more closely on the added value and underestimated opportunities of partnership. Indeed, partnerships should be at the core of NATO's ambitions, and not only be seen as a somewhat burdensome and ambiguous sideshow.
Topic:: Security, NATO, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:: Europe

4266. Security Strategies Today: Trends and Perspectives

Author:: Fred Tanner, Sunjay Chandiramani, and Nayef R.F. Al-Rodhan
Publication Date:: 03-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:: There have been considerable developments in security-policy thinking since the end of the Cold War, and a complex set of transnational threats and challenges necessitates new security policies and strategies. Not only the attacks of 11 September 2001, but also the dark side of globalisation such as climate change, the global spread of dangerous technologies and international organised crime have changed the security perspective and policy procedures in recent years. Consequently, new national-security strategies, white papers and security-policy documents have been drafted in order to take into account the changing security landscape.
Topic:: Security, Climate Change, Globalization, and Counterinsurgency

4267. Security Sector Reform: Post-conflict Integration

Author:: Mark Knight
Publication Date:: 08-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:: This research paper was commissioned by GFN-SSR as part of a help-desk support to inform HMG to report on its engagement in the context of Nepal. The query asked for illustrative examples and lessons of integration; in particular, examples of integration into armies, integration into non-military forces (police, armed police, intelligence, etc), and creation of new security structures (industrial security forces, border police, etc) into which ex-combatants are then integrated.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, and Communism
Political Geography:: Asia and Nepal

4268. Changing intelligence dynamics in Africa

Author:: Sandy Africa
Publication Date:: 06-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:: A common public perception about modern day intelligence services in Africa is that they are mere extensions of the too-often authoritarian leaders under whom they operate. In some cases, the intelligence services appear to tolerate this perception – some would suggest even fuel it – because of the apparent power, access and influence intelligence provides. As despised or ridiculed as intelligence services might be, they often hold a trump card in domestic and international relations, and are quite aware of this relative advantage.
Topic:: Security and Intelligence
Political Geography:: Africa

4269. What is the case for a security and justice focus in development assistance programming? An assessment of existing literature and evidence

Author:: Dylan Hendrickson and Olawake Ismail
Publication Date:: 04-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:: This literature review on security and justice was commissioned by DFID and is intended to support the preparation of the new DFID White Paper on 'Securing our Common Future'. The purpose of the literature review is to find evidence to support the 'case for security and justice'. The key question it asks is why DFID (and other development agencies) should see security and justice as core business?
Topic:: Security, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Law
Political Geography:: Africa

4270. Security System Transformation in Sierra Leone, 1997-2007

Author:: Paul Jackson and Peter Albrecht
Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Book
Institution:: Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:: In 2007, for the first time in two decades, Sierra Leone conducted a generally peaceful national election without international peacekeeping assistance. This successful election earned the praise of international election observers as free, fair and credible. Most important, these elections were conducted by and for the people of Sierra Leone, who exercised their right to vote in a generally orderly environment made possible by their own security forces.
Topic:: Security and Political Violence
Political Geography:: Sierra Leone

4271. Security Sector Reform Provisions in Peace Agreements

Author:: Eboe Hutchful
Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform
Abstract:: The experience of the United Nations in mediating peace agreements has demonstrated the importance of addressing security issues at the outset. Early arrangements, for example with regard to composition and roles of security forces, can have significant impact on peace implementation. Failure to address the requirements of effective and accountable security can sow the seeds for future conflict, as earlier peace processes in Sierra Leone demonstrated, or lead to large, economically unsustainable forces, as Uganda has addressed. Failure to take into account the security needs of marginalized and socially excluded groups, such as women and children, can create new security problems, as alarmingly high rates of sexual violence in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo demonstrate.
Topic:: Security and Peace Studies
Political Geography:: Uganda, Africa, Latin America, and Sierra Leone

4272. An All Hazards Training Center for a Catastrophic Emergency

Author:: Xavier Stewart
Publication Date:: 12-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:: Since assuming command in 1998 of the first Civil Support Team (CST) Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), Colonel Stewart witnessed and experienced dramatic changes in homeland security theory, policy, and practice. Understandably, the most significant changes have occurred since the horrific attacks on September 11, 2001, which violently demonstrated how turbulent today's world strategic environment is. Widely available chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, high yield explosive, and cyberspace security (CBRNE-C) materials, technologies, and equipment often have dual uses. Preventing rogue states and terrorist organizations from acquiring these materials is a necessary but formidable challenge. Additionally, the cyber domain has grown tremendously and may be used to target key infrastructure and resources. In addition to these threats, dramatic weather changes have caused unusual and devastating shifts in weather patterns, which in turn have triggered catastrophic events.
Topic:: Security, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:: United States

4273. Democratic Governance and the Rule of Law: Lessons from Colombia

Author:: Gabriel Marcella
Publication Date:: 11-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:: Colombia has experienced conflict for decades. In the 1990s it was a paradigm of the failing state, beset with all manner of troubles: terrorism, kidnapping, murder, drug trafficking, corruption, an economic downturn of major scope, general lawlessness, and brain drain. Today the country is much safer, and the agents of violence are clearly on the defensive. Nonetheless, much work lies ahead to secure the democratic system. Security and the rule of law are fundamental to the task. As the monopoly over the legitimate use of force is established, democratic governance also needs the architecture of law: ministry of justice, courts, legislative scrutiny, law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies, public defenders, police, correctional system, legal statutes, contracts, university level academic education to train lawyers, judges, and investigators, along with engagement with civil society to promote a culture of lawfulness. Security without the rule of law puts a society at risk of falling into a Hobbesian hell.
Topic:: Security, Law Enforcement, and Law
Political Geography:: Colombia and Latin America

4274. YouTube War: Fighting in a World of Cameras in Every Cell Phone and Photoshop on Every Computer

Author:: Cori E. Dauber
Publication Date:: 11-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:: There is a vast literature on the potential for new technologies to create a Revolution in Military Affairs or “networked warfare,” but that is a discussion of the impact of military technology on the way the force itself can be used. Today there is a question regarding the impact of new communication and information technologies in the hands of civilians—some of whom are combatants—on the environment in which the force will be used. This monograph argues that the impact of these technologies has been, and will be, great enough that the way they are shaping the battlefield needs to be understood.
Topic:: Security, Science and Technology, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:: United States

4275. India's Strategic Defense Transformation: Expanding Global Relationships

Author:: Brian K. Hedrick
Publication Date:: 11-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:: Following India's independence in 1947, then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru embarked on a foreign policy that was based on principles of socialism and remaining noncommittal to the emerging struggle between the Soviet Union and the countries forming the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the post-World War II period. Eventually, this policy led to India becoming one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in 1955. In practical terms, it placed India in a position of securing bilateral international commitments only in situations that were clearly neutral in nature or in cases of lastresort. The basic principles of nonalignment also governed the military relationships of the Indian defense establishment, resulting in limited military-tomilitary contacts, usually through United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions or training at foreign military schools. These practices were generally followed by his successors until the early 1990s when a changing geopolitical structure and an internal economic crisis began to challenge these principles.
Topic:: Security and Defense Policy
Political Geography:: India, Soviet Union, and United Nations

4276. Schools for Strategy: Teaching Strategy for 21st Century Conflict

Author:: Colin S. Gray
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:: Because strategic performance must involve the ability to decide, to command, and to lead, as well as the capacity to understand, there are practical limits to what is feasible and useful by way of formal education in strategy. The soldier who best comprehends what Sun-tzu, Clausewitz, and Thucydides intended to say, is not necessarily the soldier best fitted to strategic high command. It is important to distinguish between intellect and character/personality. The superior strategist is ever uniquely a product of nature/biology, personality/psychology, and experience/opportunity. Nonetheless, formal education has its place.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:: United States

4277. Talent: Implications for a U.S. Army Officer Corps Strategy

Author:: Casey Wardynski, David S. Lyle, and Michael J. Colarusso.
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:: For years, the U.S. Army has given “competency” pride of place in its officer development doctrine. In popular usage, competent means having requisite or adequate ability, and in a labor market context, it is defined as “an enduring combination of characteristics that causes an appropriate level of individual performance.”
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:: United States

4278. The Army's Professional Military Ethic in an Era of Persistent Conflict

Author:: Don M. Snider, Major Paul Oh, and Kevin Toner.
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:: The purpose of the Army's Ethic is stated clearly in Field Manual (FM) 1, The Army . It is “to maintain [the Army's] effectiveness.” The implication is as clear as it is true—without such an ethic, the Army cannot be effective at what it does. As is well-documented in the literature of professions, their ethics provide the primary means of social direction and control over their members as they perform their expert duties, often under chaotic conditions. For the Army profession, its evolving expert knowledge in the moral-ethical domain is what enables the profession to develop individual professionals—Soldiers and their leaders—to fight battles and campaigns “effectively and rightly,” as expected by the client the profession serves. Without such good, right, and just application of its expertise, the Army will lose its lifeblood—the trust of the American people.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, and War
Political Geography:: United States and America

4279. Coping with Global Change

Author:: Anja H. Ebnöther and Ernst M. Felberbauer
Publication Date:: 11-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Austrian National Defence Academy
Abstract:: At the beginning of the 21st century, the international security agenda is witnessing profound change. We are confronted with a shifting face of violence. We are no longer – or at least no longer primarily – confronted with traditional threats, such as violence between states or coalitions of states. Today, most conflicts are of a non-traditional nature – from intrastate conflict to terrorism. This trend will continue.
Topic:: Security, Climate Change, and Globalization

4280. Establishing Leadership on Civilian Assistance to Afghanistan

Author:: J Alexander Thier and William B. Taylor
Publication Date:: 12-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:: By all accounts, the civilian role in creating a stable Afghanistan, capable of protecting its citizens and providing essential services, is at least as important as the military operation.
Topic:: Security, Civil Society, and War
Political Geography:: Afghanistan

4281. Failing Gaza: No rebuilding, no recovery, no more excuses

Publication Date:: 12-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: A year after Israel launched its Operation Cast Lead military offensive on Gaza, on 27 December 2008, little of the extensive damage it caused to homes, civilian infrastructure, public services, farms and businesses has been repaired. As thousands of families still come to terms with loss or injury of their loved ones, they are being prevented from rebuilding their shattered society.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Security, Political Violence, War, and Armed Struggle
Political Geography:: Middle East and Arabia

4282. Liberia: Uneven Progress in Security Sector Reform

Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: Since independence and for fourteen years of war, Liberia's army, police and other security agencies have mostly been sources of insecurity and misery for a destitute people. The internationally driven attempt to radically reform the security sector since the war's end in 2003 is a major chance to put this right and prevent new destabilisation. Security sector reform (SSR) programs have been unprecedented in ambition but with mixed results. Army reform, entailing complete disbanding of existing forces, has made significant progress despite lack of proper oversight of private military companies (PMCs) and of consensus on strategic objectives. But police and other security reforms are much less satisfactory. The bold approach to army reform was possible due to strong national consensus and the presence of a large, liberally mandated UN presence. Government and donors must sustain their support to maintain hard-won momentum in army reform and, once clear benchmarks are set, give a floundering police force more resources. The drawdown of the UN force, begun in the second half of 2008, underlines the urgency.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Security, Development, Government, and War
Political Geography:: Africa, United Nations, and Liberia

4283. North Caucasus Weekly - Volume X, Issue 1

Author:: Valeriy Dzutsev
Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
Abstract:: IN THIS ISSUE: Website: Few Improvements in the North Caucasus in 2008 Violence Haunts a New Year in Ingushetia and Dagestan Chechens Protest Parole for Budanov Spain Extradites Chechen Terror Suspect A Look Back at Insurgent Activities in the North Caucasus in 2008By Mairbek Vatchagaev Ingushetia's New Leader Hints at a Merger with ChechnyaBy Valeriy Dzutsev.
Topic:: Security and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

4284. North Caucasus Weekly - Volume X, Issue 2

Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
Abstract:: In this issue: Chechen Who Accused Kadyrov of Torture Murdered in Vienna Kadyrov Denounces Parole for Budanov Human Rights Watch's Annual Report Details North Caucasus Abuses Explosion Destroys Building in Nazran; Cause Uncertain North Caucasus Insurgency Attracting Mainly Young and Committed Members By Mairbek Vatchagaev Is Krymshamkhalov's Murder a Political Assassination?
Topic:: Security and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

4285. U.S.-EU Counterterrorism Responses Post 9/11: Time for Strategic Cooperation

Author:: Bryan Groves
Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Department of Social Sciences at West Point, United States Military Academy
Abstract:: The lead up to the Iraq War and its conduct has highlighted significant differences in traditional perspectives, capabilities, and methods. While terrorism has been America's central fixation since 9/11, Europe still sees terrorism as one of several important threats today, with proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, failed states, regional conflicts, and organized crime among other top tier threats. The U.S. possesses a comparative advantage in intelligence gathering and kinetic strike cabability. This military strength has enabled the U.S. to favor it as its top tool in waging its global war on terrorism (GWOT). On the other hand, Europe's tendency toward employment of troops for nation-building and peacekeeping missions is in line with its strengths and its preferences. Europe countries also favour an extensive consensus building period of diplomatic maneuvering to establish a widely accepted multilateral response to threats, America under the current administration, however, has insisted on remaining.
Topic:: Security, Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and International Security
Political Geography:: Iraq, America, Europe, and Middle East

4286. North Caucasus Weekly - Volume X, Issue 3

Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
Abstract:: In this issue: Lawyer for Family of Budanov's Victim and Journalist Murdered in Moscow Human Rights Groups Press Austria to Investigate Murder of Chechen Ruslan Yamadaev's Brother: He was Murdered by Kadyrov's Associate Deteriorating Security Situation in Ingushetia Sparks First Ever Visit to Region by MedvedevBy Valery Dzutsev Markelov Assassination Tied to Release of Budanov?By Fatima Tlisova.
Topic:: Security and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

4287. A New Agenda for the Kurdish Question

Author:: Taha Ozhan and Ozhan Ete
Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Insight Turkey
Institution:: SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:: The Kurdish question in Turkey has a long history which was viewed within the framework of nation building, integration and underdevelopment until it was perceived as a security issue with the emergence of the PKK in the 1980s. During the 1990s, dominated by the security perspective, the scope of the question was reduced to terrorist acts alone under a state of emergency rule. A number of changes transformed the nature of question, such as the Kurdish political movement since the 1990s, forced migration, the capture of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999 and the emergence of autonomous Kurdish government in northern Iraq. A permanent settlement of the Kurdish question must be based on developing new and alternative strategies vis-a-vis existing policies. In this context, a comprehensive package of measures should include not only security measures, but more importantly democratic reforms and economic investments.
Topic:: Security, Development, and Government
Political Geography:: Iraq and Turkey

4288. ROK Military Transformation and ROK-US Security and Maritime Cooperation: MD, PSI and Dokdo Island

Author:: Taewoo Kim
Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:: International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:: In the last decade the ROK-U.S. alliance has soured as the two ideologically slanted predecessor administrations of Kim Dae Jung and Roh Moo Hyun brandished 'idealist policy experiments' over issues critical to the alliance. Under the banner of 'autonomy,' the Roh administration initiated the 2007 decision to separate operational control (OPCON) and dismantle the Combined Forces Command (CFC) by 2012. The Defense Reform 2020 was a decisive masterpiece to placate the conservative realists critical to the Roh's leftist experiments. The task of redressing the vestige of distortions belongs to the newly elected Lee Myung Bak, who already began restoration of the bilateral relations since the two summits in 2008, which promised to forge a 'strategic alliance.' If the 2007 agreement over OPCON and CFC is irreversible, the Lee administration has no other choice but to formulate a new security cooperation while utilizing the Defense Reform as the highway leading to military transformation and upgraded ROK-U.S. cooperation in that regard. The rationale is that the U.S. will remain a critical partner even after the transfer of OPCON in all defense areas such as collaboration upon a Korean contingency, purchase of new weapon systems, and interoperability. There are other critical issues that need mutual adjustment and understanding. For South Korea, more active participation in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) is worth a try. The U.S. needs to understand South Korea's hesitation to fully participate in the U.S.-initiated TMD. Technically, the proximity to North Korea's high speed ballistic missiles may nullify the South's missile defense efforts. Politically, such participation will irritate China and Russia. Particularly, U.S. recognition of Japan's claim over Dokdo (Takesima) island, if any, will pour cold water on ROK-U.S.-Japan trilateral maritime cooperation, and dishearten 'ordinary South Koreans' who pin high expectations on the 'strategic alliance.'
Topic:: Security
Political Geography:: Russia, Japan, China, South Korea, and Island

4289. Inter-Korean Strategic Relations and Security Forum in Northeast Asia

Author:: Young Whan Kihl
Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:: International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:: As an era of the Bush's controversial foreign policy and security responses to the post-9.11 war on terrorism is drawing to a close, the DPRK nuclear issue is flaring up once again. The stalemate is setting in on both fronts of inter-Korean relations, with the launching of the new Lee Myung-Bak Administration in the South, and on the Six-Party Talks process of the DPRK nuclear disablement. The paper addresses the Bush Administration policy shift away from the hardline posture toward a more pragmatic and diplomatic direction in the twilight of the second term in office, asymmetry of power and stalemate in inter-Korean relations, following vicious anti-Lee Myung-Bak rhetoric of the DPRK, with concerns over the North's economic stagnation and failed relations with the South. The notion of peace-building on the Korean Peninsula, as an imagined task for Korea's future, is treated as premature. The security forum based on the “process-oriented” approach to Korean peace seems better suited as an instrument for the DPRK nuclear dismantlement. The paper closes with few speculations on the future prospects and problems of bringing about an ultimate aim of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula with security and peace that requires restoring the viability of the NPT regime and the DPRK reversal on its withdrawal stance.
Topic:: Security
Political Geography:: Asia and Korea

4290. North Caucasus Weekly - Volume X, Issue 4

Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
Abstract:: In this issue: Seven Chechens Arrested in Austria in Connection with Murder of Ex-Kadyrov Bodyguard FSB Accuses Zakaev of Organizing Armed Attacks in Chechnya Medvedev and Yevkurov Meet Again, This Time in Moscow The War on Dagestan's Police Continues Chechnya Starts the New Year on a Tense NoteBy Mairbek Vatchagaev Ingushetia's New President Faces an Uphill BattleBy Mairbek Vatchagaev.
Topic:: Security and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

4291. Handel, Hierarchien und Kooperation in der Globalisierung

Author:: Robert Kappel and Juliane Brach
Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: In the course of globalization, the intensity of global interactions between nations, firms, and civil society actors has increased significantly and has led to the creation of transnational norm-building networks. These have an essential, but little-known influence on all aspects of life (business and work relationships, environment, security, law, trust, etc.). Their influence expands to nation-state and market relationships that are also subject to constant reorganization. Transnational networks are leading to a global civil society that is more and more independent of the nation-state. With this relative erosion of state domination, the standard economic perspective, which primarily focused on the nation-state, is eroding as well.
Topic:: International Relations, Security, Civil Society, Environment, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and Markets

4292. North Caucasus Weekly - Volume X, Issue 6

Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
Abstract:: IN THIS ISSUE: Austrian Prosecutors Were Investigating Israilov's Charges against Kadyrov Zakaev Rejects Kadyrov's Invitation Rebels and Pro-Moscow Forces in Shoot-Out near Chechen Village Ingush President Accuses U.S. of Seeking to "Undermine the Caucasus" Briefs Dagestan's Sharia Jamaat Suffers Series of SetbacksBy Mairbek Vatchagaev Ethnic-Based Governing System is Increasing Tensions in DagestanBy Valery Dzutsev.
Topic:: Security and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

4293. Eurasian Energy Security

Author:: Jeffrey Mankoff
Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:: For two weeks in the freezing January of 2009, homes and businesses across Europe were left without heat, the result of a murky dispute over gas prices between Russia and Ukraine. When Moscow and Kiev failed to agree on a formula for calculating price and transit fees for the coming year, the gas simply stopped flowing. Europe, which gets a significant proportion of its gas through pipelines that transit both Russia and Ukraine, bore the brunt of this confrontation between the two feuding post-Soviet neighbors.
Topic:: Security, Energy Policy, Markets, and Political Economy
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, Ukraine, and Asia

4294. Pirates off the port side! Old problem - new topicality

Author:: Bjørn Møller
Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Piracy is an old problem which is now again attracting attention, mainly because of the surge of pirate attacks off the coasts of Somalia. Closer analysis shows the problem to be of quite modest proportions. The international naval protection of merchant shipping holds out some prospects of containing the problem, but it is most likely to solve itself. If international shipping opts for the route south of Africa, piracy will die out for a lack of targets. Maritime terrorism is, likewise, a problem of very limited proportions. It is often conflated with piracy, but there are significant differences between the two phenomena, the latter being undertaken for selfish reasons, the former for the sake of some higher cause. Whereas it is conceivable that maritime terrorists will gradually transform themselves into pirates, a transformation in the opposite direction is well Nigh inconceivable. Besides the analysis of these two phenomena, the overlap between them and certain naval strategies are also briefly touched upon.
Topic:: Security, Crime, International Law, and International Security
Political Geography:: Africa and Somalia

4295. Troubled Neighbor: Mexico's Drug Violence Poses a Threat to the United States

Author:: Ted Galen Carpenter
Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Cato Institute
Abstract:: While U.S. leaders have focused on actual or illusory security threats in distant regions, there is a troubling security problem brewing much closer to home. Violence in Mexico, mostly related to the trade in illegal drugs, has risen sharply in recent years and shows signs of becoming even worse. That violence involves turf fights among the various drug-trafficking organizations as they seek to control access to the lucrative U.S. market. To an increasing extent, the violence also entails fighting between drug traffickers and Mexican military and police forces.
Topic:: Security and Markets
Political Geography:: United States and Mexico

4296. North Caucasus Weekly - Volume X, Issue 7

Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
Abstract:: In this issue: Ingushetia's Violence Continues as Yevkurov Calls for Blood Feuds to End Chechen Rebel Representative Reportedly Switches Sides Briefs Ingush Authorities Blame Insurgency on Arabs and U.S. IntelligenceBy Mairbek Vatchagaev The Changing Landscape of Islam in North OssetiaBy Mikhail Roshchin.
Topic:: Security and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

4297. Timor-Leste: No Time for Complacency

Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: A year after the near-fatal shooting of President José Ramos-Horta, security in Timor-Leste is strikingly improved. Armed rebels are no longer at large. The atmosphere on the streets of Dili is far less tense. The government does not seem to be facing any serious political threat to its survival. It has, at least temporarily, been able to address several of the most pressing security threats, in large part by buying off those it sees as potential troublemakers. Nevertheless, the current period of calm is not cause for complacency. Security sector reform is lagging, the justice system is weak, the government shows signs of intolerance towards dissenting voices, and it has not got a grip on corruption. These problems, which have been at the root of the instability facing Timor-Leste since independence, must be tackled if the country is to escape the cycle of conflict.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Security, and Political Violence
Political Geography:: South Asia, Asia, and Vienna

4298. North Caucasus Weekly - Volume X, Issue 5

Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
Abstract:: In this issue: New York Times Provides Fresh Details of Accusations against Kadyrov Kadyrov Calls Budanov a "Schizophrenic" and "Murderer" Kadyrov's Spokesman Defends Zakaev Militants and Police Official Killed in Dagestan as Ethnic Tensions Rise Rebels in Ingushetia Target Police and Servicemen Briefs Kadyrov Courts Akhmed ZakaevBy Mairbek Vatchagaev Salafi-Jihadis Turn Their Attention to the North CaucasusBy Murad Batal al-Shishani.
Topic:: Security and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:: Russia

4299. North Caucasus - Volume X, Issue 8

Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
Abstract:: In this issue: Chechen-Ingush Deportation Anniversary Marked Five Militants Killed in Dagestan Operation Rebels Attack Servicemen, Police in Chechnya Briefs Wave of Unrests and Counter-Terrorist Operations Sweep the North CaucasusBy Mairbek Vatchagaev.
Topic:: Security and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:: Russia

4300. Land titling and tenure security in the context of inequality

Author:: Rikke Broegaard
Publication Date:: 03-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: The stated goal of land titling and administration projects supported worldwide by development agencies like the World Bank is to strengthen property rights for the poor. Formal property rights, it is argued, lead to increased tenure security, which in turn encourages property rights holders to invest. Hence, strengthening property rights for the poor contributes to facilitate pro-poor economic growth and a more equitable development. However, the link between formal land titles and tenure security is assumed rather than based on empirical evidence. This DIIS-brief reviews this and other key assumptions underlying land titling and administration interventions. Findings from research that explores rural landowners' own perceptions of the factors that constitute tenure security highlight the importance of formal titles for perceived tenure security, but only in combination with other resources. Therefore, to single out formal titles as being equal to or the most important element in tenure security does not correspond with people's perceptions. Thus, promoting land titling as the policy intervention to strengthen tenure security does not appear to be a feasible strategy for addressing the highly complex problem of insecure land tenure for the rural poor. On the contrary, emerging evidence suggests that land titling tends to make land more readily available to a larger and more resourceful circle of potential buyers. Thus, rather than facilitating pro-poor and equitable development, land titling projects may clear the road for large-scale concentrations of land that gradually exclude the rural poor.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Government, and Markets
Political Geography:: Europe

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS