Number of results to display per page
Search Results
422. Somalia: Puntland's Punted Polls
- Publication Date:
- 12-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Puntland is the first of Somalia's federal units to attempt transition from clan-based representation to directly-elected government, but poor preparations and last-minute cancellation of local elections in July underline the challenges of reconciling competing clan interests with a democratic constitution. Cancellation pragmatically averted violence, but societal tensions remain unaddressed. The presidential vote by a clan-selected parliament in January 2014 will thus be fraught. Weak political and judicial institutions will struggle to mediate, risking involvement by partisan arms of the state. Direct elections are no panacea for reducing the conflict risks, but hard-won incremental progress on the constitution and local democratisation must not be abandoned. The cancelled ballot's lessons should be instructive for promised elections in the rest of Somalia. Better technical preparations matter, but Puntland's experience shows that donors and other international actors also need to be heedful of local political realities, including support of elites, robustness of institutions and viability of electoral districts.
- Topic:
- Security, Political Violence, Civil Society, Democratization, Development, and Fragile/Failed State
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Somalia
423. UN Statebuilding at a Turning Point: What's new about the intervention brigade and peacekeeping drones?
- Author:
- Touko Piiparinen
- Publication Date:
- 11-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Finnish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- Last March the UN Security Council authorised the so-called Intervention Brigade to undertake 'targeted offensive operations' against illegal armed groups operating in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Brigade, which undertook its first operations in August, differs from traditional UN peacekeeping in terms of its robust mandate and mobility. The UN has simultaneously adopted a new technology, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), in the DRC, which represents the first-ever use of UAVs as a part of UN peacekeeping. UAVs will be deployed in the DRC at the end of November, and start operating in early December The Intervention Brigade and UAVs have been hailed as a turning point in UN peacekeeping. However, they should not be perceived as completely new or standalone instruments of UN conflict management. They could instead be best understood as a continuum and extension of the long held state building doctrine applied by the UN. These new instruments enable the UN to perform one of its key functions of state building and protection of civilians, namely controlling and policing the whole territory of a state where an intervention has been undertaken more effectively than before. The lessons learned from the UN peace operation in the DRC indicate that the UN state building doctrine remains self-contradictory on account of the tendency of UN state building missions to spill over into wars and the mismatch between the ambitious goals set for state building and the chronic lack of resources. The Intervention Brigade and UAVs can potentially help the UN to resolve that mismatch by enhancing the UN's state building and protection capacities. However, they cannot resolve the other major disadvantage of state building, namely collateral damage inflicted in state building wars, and may even aggravate that problem.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Development, Humanitarian Aid, Science and Technology, Fragile/Failed State, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa
424. His Excellency Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal
- Author:
- Macky Sall
- Publication Date:
- 09-2013
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Columbia University World Leaders Forum
- Abstract:
- This World Leaders Forum program features an address by His Excellency Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Africa
425. His Excellency John Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana
- Author:
- John Mahama
- Publication Date:
- 09-2013
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Columbia University World Leaders Forum
- Abstract:
- This World Leaders Forum program features an address by His Excellency John Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana, titled Reflections on the Challenges and Prospects of Democratic Consolidation in Africa, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, Economics, Foreign Aid, Foreign Direct Investment, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Ghana
426. His Excellency Armando Emílio Guebuza, President of the Republic of Mozambique
- Author:
- Emílio Guebuza
- Publication Date:
- 09-2013
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Columbia University World Leaders Forum
- Abstract:
- This World Leaders Forum program features an address by His Excellency Armando Emílio Guebuza, President of the Republic of Mozambique, titled Poverty and Inclusive Development: The 7 Million as a New Paradigm for Socio-Economic Development, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Poverty, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Africa
427. Peace Operations in Africa: Lessons Learned Since 2000
- Author:
- Paul D. Williams
- Publication Date:
- 07-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- Violent conflict and the power of armed nonstate actors remain defining priorities in 21 st century Africa. Organized violence has killed millions and displaced many more, leaving them to run the gauntlet of violence, disease, and malnutrition. Such violence has also traumatized a generation of children and young adults, broken bonds of trust and authority structures among and across local communities, shattered education and healthcare systems, disrupted transportation routes and infrastructure, and done untold damage to the continent's ecology from its land and waterways to its flora and fauna. In financial terms, the direct and indirect cost of conflicts in Africa since 2000 has been estimated to be nearly $900 billion. The twin policy challenges are to promote conflict resolution processes and to identify who can stand up to armed nonstate actors when the host government's security forces prove inadequate.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Development, Peace Studies, Treaties and Agreements, Fragile/Failed State, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa
428. Advancing Stability and Reconciliation in Guinea-Bissau: Lessons from Africa's First Narco-State
- Author:
- Davin O'Regan and Peter Thompson
- Publication Date:
- 06-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- A string of crises stretching back more than a decade has rendered Guinea-Bissau one of the most fragile states in Africa. This recurring cycle of political violence, instability, and incapacitated governance, moreover, has accelerated in recent years, most notably following a military coup in April 2012. Exploiting this volatility, trafficking networks have coopted key political and military leaders and transformed Guinea-Bissau into a hub for illicit commerce, particularly the multibillion dollar international trade in cocaine. This has directly contributed to instability in Senegal, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, and elsewhere in Africa. European and African organized criminal groups have likewise established ties to the Guinea-Bissau trade. Drawn by the lucrative revenues, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and other militant groups in West Africa have also been linked to Guinea-Bissau trafficking. Now commonly referred to as Africa's first narco-state, Guinea-Bissau has become a regional crossroads of instability.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Development, Economics, Narcotics Trafficking, and Fragile/Failed State
- Political Geography:
- Africa
429. Africa Capacity Indicators 2013: Capacity Development For Natural Resource Management
- Publication Date:
- 01-2013
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)
- Abstract:
- This year's Report, the third in a series, focuses on an issue of great importance to Africa: natural resource management. The Report is holistic, yet focused on what African countries need to do individually and collectively to achieve effective management and good governance of the continent's vast natural resource wealth. The discussion covers both renewable and non-renewable endowments, with specific focus on forests, land, water, solid minerals, and petroleum resources. The Report offers analysis of the critical perspectives and contemporary academic and policy debates on the natural resource value chain, including emerging issues such as climate change and green economy. Pragmatic approaches based on original problem solving in different contexts are also presented in each chapter of the Report. To keep the emphasis relevant to the 2012 Africa Capacity Indicators Report, , this Capacity Development for Agricultural Transformation and Food Security volume gives particular attention to issues of capacity development and policy choices for “green growth.” The Report, in essence, links the natural resource management discussion with the themes of the two previous ACI Reports (ACIR2011, on state fragility, and ACIR2012, on agricultural transformation and food security).
- Topic:
- Development, Natural Resources, Economic Growth, Capacity, and Human Resources
- Political Geography:
- Africa
430. Oil and Mining Countries: Transparency Low, Official Impunity High - 2013
- Author:
- E. Gyimah-Boadi, Daniel Armah-Attoh, Mohammed Awal, and Joseph Luna
- Publication Date:
- 12-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Afrobarometer
- Abstract:
- Twenty-two of 34 African countries surveyed by Afrobarometer stake their countries' economic futures on development of mineral or oil production, but successful shepherding of these natural resources hinges on governments’ ability to manage them while maintaining stable democracies.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Oil, Natural Resources, Democracy, and Mining
- Political Geography:
- Africa