Content Type: Policy Brief / Publishing Institution: Centre for International Governance Innovation / Publication Year: within 25 Years

1. The Digital Economy Partnership Agreement: Should Canada Join?

Author:: Dan Ciuriak and Robert Fay
Publication Date:: 01-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) provides the most comprehensive template yet for a regional trade agreement tailored for the digitally transformed economy. The DEPA lays groundwork for discussions on critical areas that go beyond the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. This policy brief makes the case that joining the DEPA early would allow Canada to develop it so that it meets small, open economies’ needs and so that new provisions meet the values that Canada holds, and recommends areas for attention and collaboration with like-minded countries.
Topic:: International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, Intellectual Property/Copyright, and Digital Economy
Political Geography:: Canada and North America

2. Third Party Record Exemptions in Canada’s Access to Information Act

Author:: Matt Malone
Publication Date:: 05-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Artificial intelligence (AI) and automated decision making (ADM) used by and on behalf of the Government of Canada pose significant challenges to Canada’s Access to Information Act (ATIA). While the ATIA’s goal is to enhance accountability and transparency through the disclosure of records under the control of government, exemptions in the ATIA for third party records such as trade secrets make meaningful access difficult when it comes to AI and ADM. Several departments working at the epicentre of AI and ADM policy handle requests made to them through the ATIA by routinely invoking such exemptions. Citizens’ entitlements to transparency and accountability in such contexts are increasingly clashing with commercial actors’ desire to avoid or block disclosure of records.
Topic:: Governance, Privacy, Transparency, and Artificial Intelligence
Political Geography:: Canada and North America

3. The First Space-Cyber War and the Need for New Regimes and Policies

Author:: Eytan Tepper
Publication Date:: 05-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Many dubbed the Gulf War of 1991 the “first space war” due to the US Armed Forces’ extensive use of satellites. The cyberwar in Ukraine, although it is mostly playing out in the shadows, may be remembered as the first space-cyber war. This policy brief makes the case that states should adopt national policies to defend against threats to space-based assets and applications, such as communications satellites, that are both vital to national security and economic security and increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks. It is time to explore and identify principles for responsible space-cyber behaviour that would represent a broad multilateral consensus. Identifying these principles may not prevent space-cyber hostilities but could provide “rules of the game.” States would also benefit from encouraging a space-cyber security industry that, beyond protecting against space-cyber threats, has the potential to be a significant growth engine.
Topic:: Security, Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, Space, and Cyberspace
Political Geography:: Global Focus

4. A Two-Track Approach for Trustworthy AI

Author:: Michel Girard
Publication Date:: 06-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Standards and certification programs are developed to support new trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) legislation. Recent developments point to the emergence of a two-track approach. One track would focus on the certification of AI applications embedded in tangible products using objective criteria through established conformity assessment bodies. Regarding AI interacting with humans and used in delivering services, there is a need to create a new track. This track is needed to verify and validate compliance against subjective criteria, values and ethics, seen by many as an integral part of what constitutes trustworthy AI. The practice of “assurance as a service” can be adapted to verify and validate conformance to upcoming trustworthy AI standards. This policy brief provides an update on key legislative and policy developments framing trustworthy AI. It sketches possible approaches for the certification, verification and validation of AI embedded in products and in services and looks at recent proposals regarding the creation of a new chartered profession to deliver assurance services to achieve trustworthy AI.
Topic:: Science and Technology, Regulation, Artificial Intelligence, Emerging Technology, and Trust
Political Geography:: Global Focus

5. Lending to Defaulters: The IMF Updates Its Lending into Arrears Policy

Author:: Gregory Makoff
Publication Date:: 08-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) “lending into arrears” policy outlines the criteria used by the IMF in deciding whether to loan to a country in default. This policy brief focuses on one of the conditions a country must meet when seeking debt relief from the IMF: it must engage in good faith negotiations with its creditors (known as the good faith criterion). The country must also implement significant financial reforms and provide assurances that it will be able to meet its financial obligations. This policy brief looks at the history of the lending into arrears policy, the controversy surrounding its use during Argentina’s 2005 debt restructuring and the May 2022 update to the policy.
Topic:: Economics, International Cooperation, Finance, and IMF
Political Geography:: Argentina and South America

6. Protecting Freedom of Thought in the Digital Age

Author:: Susie Alegre
Publication Date:: 05-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: As digital technology plays an ever-increasing role in our lives, the need for regulations to protect our rights to freedom of thought and opinion is becoming more apparent, especially with regard to social media platforms’ relentless mission to get inside people’s heads using their personal data. International human rights law protects our right to freedom of thought, which includes the right to keep our thoughts and opinions private, the right not to have our thoughts and opinions manipulated, and the right not to be penalized for our thoughts and opinions. This policy brief will explore strategies to protect these rights in digital spaces.
Topic:: Human Rights, Science and Technology, Privacy, and Digitalization
Political Geography:: Global Focus

7. An Emerging Opportunity for Recovery: “Modern Markets for All”

Author:: Wingham Rowan
Publication Date:: 06-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The growth and modernization of online labour markets have often come at the expense of workers. The platforms that cater to the gig economy aim to maximize profits while undermining worker benefits. For example, some labour platforms have been known to extract up to 30 percent of their workers’ earnings. In this policy brief, Wingham Rowan discusses how to make labour markets more equitable through a collaborative effort between government agencies and tech companies to maximize growth, opportunity and inclusion, creating “modern markets for all.”
Topic:: Science and Technology, Income Inequality, Labor Market, and Public-Private Partnership
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

8. Designing Institutional Collaboration into Global Governance

Author:: C. Randall Henning
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Collaboration among international institutions is essential for high-quality governance in many areas of global policy, yet it is chronically undersupplied. Numerous opportunities for institutional collaboration are being missed and there are calls for deepening collaboration in discourse on global governance — in new areas of governance, such as digital privacy, content moderation and platforms; better-established areas, such as climate change and biodiversity; as well as long-established but nonetheless evolving areas, such as international finance, development and trade. There are several obstacles to collaboration, including key countries’ using some institutions to constrain others, a strategy of “complexity for control.” This policy brief suggests that in designing international institutions, states and other principals should draw from a tool kit of strategies and techniques for promoting collaboration, including introducing or developing formal and informal mechanisms, and harnessing the Group of Seven and the Group of Twenty to foster collaboration proactively. New institutions should be designed from the outset to collaborate with others in a dense institutional environment.
Topic:: Science and Technology, Privacy, Institutions, Innovation, and Collaboration
Political Geography:: Global Focus

9. Designing and Regulating Retail Digital Currencies

Author:: Steven L. Schwarcz
Publication Date:: 09-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Governments and multinational organizations are exploring the feasibility of developing “retail” digital currencies, sponsored by governmental central banks or privately issued, which consumers could use on a day-to-day basis as an alternative to cash. Central bank digital currencies could be either account-based or token-based. Privately issued digital currencies would likely be token-based. Private issuers are focusing on “stablecoins,” which are digital currencies backed by assets having intrinsic value. Retail digital currencies raise new regulatory issues in addition to those typically associated with money and payment systems. The most successful retail digital currencies are likely to be used not only domestically but also in cross-border transactions, which can be costly. They therefore should be designed, regulated and supervised to reduce these costs and, ideally, also to increase consumer accessibility — and thus to broaden financial inclusion.
Topic:: International Cooperation, Currency, Innovation, Cryptocurrencies, and Digital Currency
Political Geography:: Global Focus

10. Digital RMB: A Possible Way to Reassert Data Control in the Digital Economy

Author:: Alex He
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: As the first digital currency piloted by a major economy, China’s digital renminbi (RMB) has drawn worldwide attention. Many observers, however, have exaggerated the digital currency’s influence on RMB internationalization; others have focused on its potential replacement of the current third-party payment system, or the possibility that the digital RMB could be exploited to strengthen China’s authoritarian regime by way of monitoring everyday transactions conducted by Chinese citizens. However, these observations have missed the main point of the digital RMB as a key fintech innovation in the age of the digital economy. It could be an important tool in assisting China’s central bank to reassert control over big data in the financial system and to bring the rapidly growing power of Chinese fintech giants under control. Its issuance also acts as a pre-emptive measure that positions the People’s Bank of China to compete with other central bank digital currencies and cryptocurrencies.
Topic:: Governance, Digital Economy, Banking, and Digitalization
Political Geography:: China and Asia

11. he Canadian Election Template: Stronger Elections at Home, Stronger Canada Abroad

Author:: Brian Klaas and Aaron Shull
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: For the last four years, the world’s most powerful champion of democratization has been largely absent from the global stage. The United States is now poised to support a far more pro-democracy agenda, with greater insistence on free and fair elections as part of American foreign policy. Indeed, US President Joe Biden has redoubled efforts by hosting a global summit for democracy, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has committed to partnering with the United States on supporting global democracy. Nonetheless, the current landscape is bleak. Freedom House’s metrics show 15 consecutive years of democratic decline. Unprecedented threats to elections across the world have emerged. Geopolitical adversaries have used hacking, disinformation campaigns and other information warfare attacks to destabilize democracies. Those threats rightly gained prominence after the 2016 US elections. However, while the focus shifted to international threats, domestic actors began to borrow Russian-style tactics, spreading false information and sowing doubt on election integrity. Too often, these campaigns achieve their goals — and democracy suffers.
Topic:: International Cooperation, Elections, Democracy, and Leadership
Political Geography:: Canada and North America

12. Closed Shops: Opening Canada's Legal Profession to Foreign-educated Lawyers

Author:: Lauren Heuser
Publication Date:: 12-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: This final report was prepared following the 6 Degrees Citizen Space, which took place in Toronto, ON, from September 25 to 27, 2017. It provides a dialogue about the key barriers foreign-educated lawyers face in Canada’s licensing and employment processes, and makes recommendations for how unnecessary barriers can be mitigated or dismantled. Barriers are considered unnecessary if they are not relevant to testing an individual’s professional competency, or make it unduly difficult for foreign-educated lawyers to achieve licensure or employment relative to their Canadian counterparts. These recommendations are directed at a variety of stakeholders, including provincial law societies, the National Committee on Accreditation, law schools, fairness commissioners, legal employers, immigration officials and internationally trained lawyers themselves. For the purposes of this project, the author interviewed numerous foreign-educated lawyers, as well as Canadian immigration officials, immigration lawyers, regulators, employers and professors. The conversations made clear that there is work to be done in opening Canada’s closed legal shop.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Canada

13. Trump and the IMF

Author:: Susan Schadler
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: So far, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has defied the odds in its relations with the administration of US President Donald Trump. In contrast to the administration’s at times stormy ride with some other international organizations and agreements, relations have been rather calm — even friendly — between the United States and the IMF. There has been no talk of cutting US funding to the IMF, no threat of pulling out of the organization, no statements casting aspersions on the IMF and no “tweet storms” on specific events involving the IMF. In fact, although not directly from President Trump, statements in support of actions or positions of the IMF have surfaced. Why has the IMF escaped the antagonism of the new administration, and can it continue to do so?
Topic:: International Political Economy and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Global Focus

14. Operationalizing the Blue Economy in Small States: Lessons from the Early Movers

Author:: Cyrus Rustomjee
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The blue economy — a concept and framework for economic activity that recognizes and seeks to maximize the potential for economic growth, employment and diversification through the sustainable use of resources from the ocean — has vast economic potential for small states; however, they confront several unique international governance challenges in pursuing a marine-resource-based development framework; have few comparative lessons of good practice to draw on; and face several practical obstacles in taking the first steps to operationalize the blue economy, resulting in modest progress. Collective experience highlights six key priorities in operationalizing the blue economy. Small states can take several new initiatives, supported by regional and international development partners, to focus attention on and coalesce policy effort and resources.
Topic:: International Political Economy
Political Geography:: Global Focus

15. Flood Risk and Shared Responsibility in Canada: Operating on Flawed Assumptions?

Author:: Daniel Henstra and Jason Thistlethwaite
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Floods cause more property damage than any other hazard in Canada, and water-related losses now exceed fire and theft as the main source of property insurance claims. Public spending on flood relief has grown, and is projected to increase dramatically over the next decade, so governments have been changing their policies to reduce their financial exposure by shifting responsibility to homeowners. An implicit assumption of this policy shift is that individual homeowners must share greater responsibility for protecting their property by purchasing newly available flood insurance. Evidence is presented suggesting that consumer demand for flood insurance may be insufficient for economic viability. Low risk perception and a moral hazard created by government disaster assistance limit incentives for purchasing insurance.
Topic:: Environment and International Security
Political Geography:: Canada

16. Evaluating the Need for Pipelines: A False Narrative for the Canadian Economy

Author:: Jeff Rubin
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The claim that additional pipeline capacity to tidewater will unlock significantly higher prices for bitumen is not corroborated by either past or current market conditions. Recent international commitments to reduce global carbon emissions over the next three decades will significantly reduce the size of future oil markets. Only the lowest-cost producers will remain commercially viable while high-cost producers will be forced to exit the market. The National Energy Board should consider a rapidly decarbonizing global economy when assessing the need and commercial viability of further pipelines in the country and use Western Canadian Select as the price benchmark when evaluating the economic viability of any new oil sands projects. Pension plans need to stress test their long-term investments in the oil sands in the context of a decarbonizing global economy.
Topic:: International Political Economy
Political Geography:: Canada

17. Strengthening the Debt Sustainability Framework for Caribbean Small States

Author:: Cyrus Rustomjee
Publication Date:: 08-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Since 2005, two debt sustainability frameworks and country-level debt sustainability analyses designed by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank have provided standardized tools to measure and assess debt sustainability. While they have a number of advantages, the utility of these tools for small states is limited by several factors, including insufficient treatment of exogenous shocks, limitations in the tools used to assess debt sustainability and a narrow definition of debt sustainability. This has reduced their reliability in assessing debt sustainability and as a mechanism to help inform both countries’ debt management policies and donor, lender and investor decision making. Several practical modifications can strengthen these tools and improve their utility for small states.
Topic:: International Political Economy
Political Geography:: Caribbean

18. Starting the Dialogue on Climate Engineering Governance: A World Commission

Author:: Edward A. Parson
Publication Date:: 08-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Climate engineering can, if appropriately governed within a coherent overall climate change strategy, reduce risks beyond what mitigation and adaptation can achieve alone, and is probably essential to achieve the Paris Agreement temperature targets. Climate engineering also poses significant new risks, and needs expanded research and scrutiny in climate assessments.
Topic:: International Political Economy and Climate Finance
Political Geography:: Global Focus

19. A Sustainable Ocean Economy, Innovation and Growth: A G20 Initiative

Author:: Andreas R Kraemer
Publication Date:: 07-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The Group of Twenty should initiate a global ocean governance process and call for dialogues, strategies and regional cooperation to ensure that investment and growth in ocean use become sustainable and reach their full potential. The ocean is the largest and most critical ecosystem on Earth, and potentially the largest provider of food, materials, energy and ecosystem services. However, past and current uses of the ocean continue to be unsustainable, with increasing demand contributing to the ocean’s decline. Better governance, appreciation of the economic value of the ocean and “blue economy” strategies can reduce conflicts among uses, ensure financial sustainability, ecosystem integrity and prosperity, and promote long-term national growth and employment in maritime industries.
Topic:: Climate Finance
Political Geography:: Global Focus

20. Restructuring Sovereign Debt: An English Law Opportunity

Author:: Steven L. Schwarcz
Publication Date:: 07-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Unsustainable sovereign debt is a serious problem for nations, as well as their citizens and creditors, and a threat to global financial stability. The existing contractual approach to restructuring unsustainable debt is inadequate and no treaty or other multilateral legal framework exists, or is currently likely to be adopted, that would enable nations to restructure unsustainable debt. Because a significant percentage of sovereign debt is governed by English law, there is an opportunity to modify the law to fairly and equitably facilitate the restructuring of unsustainable sovereign debt. This policy brief proposes a novel legal framework, focusing on governing law, for doing that. This framework would legislatively achieve the equivalent of the ideal goal of including perfect collective action clauses in all English-law-governed sovereign debt contracts. It therefore should ensure the continuing legitimacy and attractiveness of English law as the governing law for future sovereign debt contracts. Even absent the legislative proposal, the analysis in this policy brief can contribute to the incremental development of sovereign debt restructuring norms.
Topic:: International Political Economy
Political Geography:: Global Focus

21. Issues in Bringing Canadian Fintech to the International Stage

Author:: James Hinton, Domenico Lombardi, and Joanna Wajda
Publication Date:: 06-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Given financial technology’s (fintech’s) priority on the global stage, and the Canadian federal budget’s focus on innovation and the middle class, now is the time for Canada to assess its position and develop a national strategy on fintech. The aim of this policy brief is to provide a general description of the fintech industry in Canada, and to describe and draw attention to two complementary aspects of developing a fintech strategy for Canada: first, encouraging domestic fintech innovation — through open data and payment systems — and second, encouraging international expansion — through international agreements among regulators and comprehensive intellectual property strategies. For Canada to be a contender in fintech, Canadian policy makers need to target both domestic growth and international expansion of the sector. In addition to increasing the availability of funding, removing regulatory uncertainty and taking the lead on a national fintech strategy, policy makers should assess the merits of access to data and payments systems for stimulating domestic fintech growth. Increased patent generation and ownership, greater integration of Canadian technology in standards and international agreements with regulators will allow Canadian fintechs to build on their success internationally. The Hamburg G20 Summit on July 7-8, 2017, presents an opportunity to become more informed about the potential financial stability implications from countries already pursuing national fintech strategies.
Topic:: International Political Economy
Political Geography:: Canada

22. Can Canada Step into the Breach? Addressing Climate-related Financial Risk and Growing Green Finance

Author:: Céline Bak
Publication Date:: 06-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: There was no consensus on climate-related financial risk at the Group of Twenty (G20) meeting of central bankers and finance ministers in March 2017, and the final communiqué did not mention climate change or the Paris Agreement. US President Donald Trump has since announced his intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement; therefore, the phase I report from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Risk Disclosures may not be welcomed at the G20 summit in July. As a result, G20 finance ministers must assure governance of this agenda through interconnected national high-level expert groups. Canada’s financial institutions including asset owners and asset managers have the capacity to move swiftly to contribute to a platform for international collaboration on climate-related financial risk and green finance opportunities.
Topic:: Climate Finance
Political Geography:: Global Focus

23. Assessing the Governance Practices of Sustainability Reporting

Author:: Jason Thistlethwaite and Melissa Menzies
Publication Date:: 01-2016
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: To promote climate change risk mitigation in financial markets, the Financial Stability Board recently proposed the creation of a Climate Disclosure Task Force, coordinated through the G20, to develop standards for companies to disclose their exposure to climate change risks. With more than 400 existing disclosure schemes, this task will be challenging. This brief identifies the key categories of governance practices that must be addressed, how these divergent practices challenge end-users, and how the establishment of criteria that define effective and efficient reporting is a critical first step for the Climate Disclosure Task Force.
Topic:: Climate Change, Economics, Markets, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: Global Focus

24. Does the Level of Public Debt Matter?

Author:: Susan Schadler
Publication Date:: 04-2016
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Research on links between the level of a country’s public debt and its broader economic developments has been heatedly debated in the economic literature. Two strands of the research stand out — one linking the level of debt to a country’s GDP growth rate and the other examining the debt level as an EWI of economic crises. As a broad generalization, research at the moment favors the view that high levels of debt are not a cause, in and of themselves, of low growth nor are they particularly good predictors of impending economic or even debt crises. In principle, the empirical findings have obvious implications for policy makers confronting the question of how to fashion policies (and fiscal policy in particular) when a country has a high debt burden. The IMF, as both a contributor to the literature and an adviser concerned with preventing or dealing with debt crises, has a particularly important stake in navigating the findings. Whether in its surveillance (routine annual advice to all member countries) or the construction of its lending programs to support countries in or near crisis, the IMF must answer the question “how much does the level of debt matter?” Despite the empirical research that casts doubt on the importance of debt, the level of debt figures prominently in the algebra of debt sustainability and the IMF’s real world policy advice. This policy brief examines the nexus of the relatively strong conclusions coming from the academic research and the IMF’s policy advice. It addresses the following question: given that the broad conclusion from the academic literature is that the level of debt itself is not systematically bad for growth or stability, why does the debt level seem to figure rather prominently in the IMF’s policy advice and conditionality?
Topic:: Debt, Development, Economics, International Monetary Fund, Financial Crisis, GDP, and Global Markets
Political Geography:: Global Focus

25. Developing the Blue Economy in Caribbean and Other Small States

Author:: Cyrus Rustomjee
Publication Date:: 03-2016
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The world’s oceans are crucial to human life. They cover 71 percent of the earth’s surface and contain 97 percent of the earth’s water (Oceanic Institute 2016); provide vital ecosystem services; serve as a growing source of renewable energy and make crucial contributions to global food production and food security, through the provision of food, minerals and nutrients. Fish provide 4.3 billion people with about 15 percent of their intake of animal protein (UN Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO] 2014b). Over 3.1 billion people live within 100 km of the ocean or sea in about 150 coastal and island nations (FAO 2014a), and global ocean economic activity is estimated to be US$3–5 trillion (FAO 2014b). Oceans and seas serve as waterways for global trade, with more than 90 percent of global trade carried by sea (International Maritime Organization 2012). Some 880 million people depend on the fisheries and aquaculture sector for their livelihoods (ibid.). Recognition of the services and resources provided by oceans has accelerated in recent years, spurred by the opportunities and challenges posed by a rapidly growing global population, increasing global demand for food and energy, advances in technology, and changes in patterns of global trade and human consumption. Developed countries have expanded fisheries, tourism and other oceanic and maritime industries; extended mineral exploration and extraction; and scaled up ocean-related scientific, technological and industrial research. Using increased knowledge of marine biodiversity, they have developed new value chains in pharmaceuticals, health care and aquaculture; and many have established integrated national ocean economy strategies, bringing together the regulatory, environmental, spatial, policy, institutional, industrial and other factors influencing their ability to exploit maritime resources.
Topic:: Environment, Political Economy, Maritime Commerce, Biosecurity, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:: Caribbean and Global Focus

26. Have Macroeconomic Rules of the Game Changed? Some Clues from the Phillips Curve

Author:: Samuel Howorth, Domenico Lombardi, and Pierre Siklos
Publication Date:: 02-2016
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Students of macroeconomics will have heard about the central role played by the so-called Phillips curve in both theoretical and empirical analyses for almost 70 years. In 1958, A. W. Phillips reported an inverse relationship between changes in wages and the unemployment rate (Phillips 1958). The progeny of his thinking led to a revolution both in policy making and in the development of theoretical links between the real and nominal macroeconomic variables. Names such as Samuelson, Solow, Phelps, Friedman, Lucas and Sargent became associated with refinements and enhancements of the core finding reported by Phillips. Indeed, all of these economists went on to become Nobel laureates in economics, although not exclusively because of their contributions to the analysis of what has since been called the Phillips curve. Indeed, the concept is so influential that it spawned several different versions of the trade-off used to guide policy makers as a menu for the choices they face when deciding whether the gains from lower inflation are offset by the economic costs of higher unemployment. Initially, expectations of individuals or firms were ignored. This briefly gave policy makers the impression that they could simply select an inflation-unemployment combination and implement the necessary policy mix to achieve the desired outcome. Once a role for expectations was incorporated, debate centred on how forward-looking individuals are. The more forward-looking, the less likely it was that policy makers would be able to “exploit” the trade-off because, unless wages rose in purchasing-power terms, the gains from lower unemployment would, at best, be temporary once workers realized that the higher inflation, at unchanged wages, actually drives real wages down. Indeed, the pendulum swung all the way to the conclusion — reached by the 1970s and early 1980s — that the Phillips curve was illusory and there was no trade-off policy makers could exploit.
Topic:: Economics, Human Welfare, International Political Economy, Labor Issues, and Global Markets
Political Geography:: Global Focus

27. Growth, Innovation and COP 21: The Case for New Investment In Innovation Infrastructure

Author:: Céline Bak
Publication Date:: 03-2016
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: On the way to Washington, DC, for a September 2015 visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping stopped in Seattle, WA, to sign an agreement aimed at combatting climate change by increasing the business ties between Chinese and US clean technology companies (South China News 2015). Five US states signed the agreement on commerce between China and clean-tech businesses from California, Iowa, Michigan, Oregon and Washington. On the same day, Bill Gates’s energy company, TerraPower, signed an agreement with the China National Nuclear Corporation for joint cooperation on next-generation renewable and fusion nuclear power. In early 2015, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund invested in General Fusion, a Canadian company based in Vancouver, to advance its energy innovation.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Science and Technology, Treaties and Agreements, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:: China

28. Uncovering the Implications of the Paris Agreement: Climate Change as a Catalyst for Transformative Sustainability in Cities

Author:: Sarah Birch
Publication Date:: 01-2016
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Leaders, negotiators and scientists returned home from the recent United Nations climate change negotiations in Paris with a new mandate: to explore pathways to a world that warms no more than 1.5°C; to finance climate change adaptation and mitigation in developing countries at a meaningful pace and scale; and, ultimately, to create real policy tools that can deliver prosperity that is not so fundamentally tied to burning fossil carbon. The Paris Agreement is historic in that it is universal (both industrialized and less-developed nations have agreed to the text), a heavy focus is placed on transparency and reporting of progress, and opportunities to periodically reevaluate and ratchet up ambition are built into the process. The ultimate power of this agreement, however, is not in its technicalities and legal implications. Rather, the Paris Agreement represents the manifestation of collective ambition, creating and demonstrating shared norms around the reality of climate change and the responsibility to act. This international process of negotiation and commitment is triggering a wave of conversations about how to reach these ambitious greenhouse gas reduction and adaptation targets. This will require a rapid and fundamental transformation of all sectors, including the design of urban spaces and the ways in which we produce and consume energy.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Treaties and Agreements, United Nations, and Regulation
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29. Assessing the Governance Practices of Sustainability Reporting

Author:: Jason Thistlewaite and Melissa Menzies
Publication Date:: 01-2016
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: To promote climate change risk mitigation in financial markets, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) recently proposed the creation of a Climate Disclosure Task Force, coordinated through the G20, to develop standards for companies to disclose their exposure to climate change risks. With more than 400 existing disclosure schemes that employ a range of different standards to measure climate change risks and corporate sustainability, this task will be challenging. But the diversity of schemes also represents an opportunity to assess which practices are effective at improving corporate accountability for sustainability performance, as well as efficient at producing comparable reports that do not unfairly burden reporting organizations. This brief identifies the key categories of governance practices that must be addressed, how these divergent practices challenge end-users, and how the establishment of criteria that define effective and efficient reporting is a critical first step for the FSB and its Climate Disclosure Task Force.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Natural Resources, Governance, G20, Regulation, and Financial Markets
Political Geography:: Global Focus

30. Education 3.0 and Internet Governance: A New Global Alliance for Children and Young People’s Sustainable Digital Development

Author:: Divina Frau-Meigs and Lee Hibbard
Publication Date:: 03-2016
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Children and young people are increasingly reliant on the Internet for their everyday lives. They communicate, share and collaborate online; use it to learn and play; and recognize its importance for their adult working lives. Considering their increasing access, agency and autonomy in using content and services, their protection as a vulnerable group needs to be coupled with their education as emerging citizens to ensure they develop a healthy and positive relationship regarding the Internet. Their general well-being, participation in society and prospects of employment greatly depend on media and information literacy (MIL) as the new set of basic skills for the twenty- rst century, where computational thinking interfaces with the rich and diverse “cultures of information” (news, data, documents, codes and so on). This paper examines education and its digital transition, mindful of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. It discusses a variety of perspectives and trends, arguing that the future of education should be part of the global debate on Internet governance. It posits that Internet governance offers a new form of legitimacy for children and young people to go beyond their current “protected” status. Active participation in Internet governance can empower them to become actors in policy deliberations. This can be achieved by developing a “frontier” eld integrating existing Internet studies with MIL, rede ned to comprise Internet governance principles, protocols and processes. This new eld can be integrated into the school curriculum as a key discipline. Such a digital transition from education 2.0 (where information and communication technology [ICT] are support tools) to education 3.0 (where MIL and Internet governance are the new basics) can provide children with competencies for cooperation, creativity and social innovation. It can also nurture their human rights and understanding of shared values, which, in turn, will help to build more inclusive societies. As a global resource managed in the public interest, the Internet depends not only on policy makers and decision makers, but also on education leaders, on the adults around children and, most importantly, on children themselves. Mindful of children’s cognitive development, cultural differences in the conceptualization of childhood and children’s exposure to all sorts of materials and resources online, this paper explores the mutually reinforcing opportunities for both children and the multi-stakeholder Internet community through their alliances in education and Internet governance.
Topic:: Education
Political Geography:: Global Focus

31. Definitional Issues in the Sustainability Analysis Framework: A Proposal

Author:: Martin Guzman
Publication Date:: 05-2016
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: It is e cient that insolvent debtors restructure their liabilities. A timely and e cient process of debt restructuring is in the best interest of the aggregate. Conversely, delaying the restoration of debt sustainability may aggravate the economic situation of the debtor. is is ine cient: the prolongation of a recession decreases the amount of resources to be shared by the debtor and its creditors. e costs can be enormous for societies, as deep depressions are usually accompanied by high and persistent unemployment (generally unevenly distributed among the di erent cohorts and segments of the labour force), inequality and poverty.
Topic:: International Political Economy and Sustainable Development Goals
Political Geography:: Global Focus

32. Identifying and Resolving Inter-creditor and Debtor-Creditor Equity Issues in Sovereign Debt Restructuring

Author:: Domenico Lombardi, Joseph E. Stiglitz, Skylar Brooks, and Martin Guzman
Publication Date:: 01-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Much analysis of sovereign debt restructuring focuses on distributional conflict between sovereign debtors and their creditors. There is also an analytical tendency to see creditors as a relatively homogenous group with like interests. In reality, however, there is considerable diversity among creditors. Different types of creditors have different political and financial claims and thus different — at times, divergent or conflictive — interests. This means that the burden- sharing exercise of sovereign debt restructuring is played out not just between debtors and creditors, but also, importantly, between different types of creditors.

33. Further Reform of Sovereign Debt Restructuring: An Agenda for 2015

Author:: Richard Gitlin and Brett House
Publication Date:: 01-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 68/304 “Towards the establishment of a multilateral legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring processes” (UN 2014), passed by a split vote on September 9, 2014, expressed the will of many member states to move toward the development of a multilateral framework for sovereign debt restructuring. Coming a little over a decade after the rejection of the IMF's Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism (SDRM) proposal (Krueger 2001) in 2003, this UNGA resolution represents a substantial renewal of interest in statutory- and treaty-based approaches to treating distressed sovereign debt.
Topic:: United Nations

34. The Arctic Council Leadership Merry-go-round: Words of Advice as the United States Assumes the Arctic Council Chairmanship

Author:: Jennifer Spence
Publication Date:: 01-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: In April 2015, Canada will hand the chairmanship of the Arctic Council to the United States. As the chair, the United States will have an opportunity to shape the priorities of the Arctic Council for the next two years and communicate its vision for the future of the circumpolar region. In anticipation of acquiring this leadership role, the United States first provided a sense of its vision for the chairmanship on September 30, 2014 in Washington, DC, during the Passing the Arctic Council Torch conference supported by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Centre for International Governance Innovation.
Political Geography:: United States, Washington, and Canada

35. How China Can Help Lead a Global Transition to Clean Energy

Author:: Alvin Lin, Luan Dong, and Yang Fuqiang
Publication Date:: 07-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: China’s coal consumption fell marginally in 2014, the first such drop this century, in large part as a result of its policies to address its severe air pollution, develop renewable and alternative energy, and transition its economy away from heavy industry. China should take advantage of its current circumstances to adopt an aggressive national coal consumption cap target and policy to peak its coal consumption as soon as possible, no later than its next Five Year Plan (2016–2020), so that it can peak its CO2 emissions by 2025. It can achieve this target by building upon its existing achievements in developing clean energy such as wind and solar power, and by prioritizing renewable energy development over coal in its western expansion. China can help lead a transition to clean energy that will contribute greatly to global efforts to keep warming to no more than 2°C, and can serve as a model for other developing countries.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Energy Policy, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:: China

36. Preparedness Rather Than Response: A Strategy to Prevent the Next Ebola Crisis

Author:: Andrew Koltun, Brittany Mcnena, and Nawroos Shibli
Publication Date:: 07-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The 2013 West African Ebola crisis exposed two weaknesses: the inability of the international community to rapidly mobilize an effective response and a lack of adequate domestic health care systems for epidemic preparedness response. While a number of proposals have addressed gaps in the international response, none have yet addressed the remaining issue of building adequate domestic health systems. Although the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) 2005 International Health Regulations require that all member countries develop and implement a core set of health system capacities, funding constraints have prevented many low-income countries from meeting these requirements. This brief proposes that the World Bank, in collaboration with the WHO, should develop a Pandemic Prevention Program to assist low-income countries in building strong and robust health systems. This program would assist low-income countries in meeting their international obligations, while ensuring sustainable national ownership in order to prevent the next infectious disease epidemic.
Topic:: Health, Infectious Diseases, and World Bank
Political Geography:: West Africa

37. Consent within Consultation: Incorporating New Business Practices in the Extraction Industry

Author:: Luke Sauer, Jaclynn Chiodini, and Christine Duong
Publication Date:: 07-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Indigenous peoples within Canada and worldwide have the right to provide, withhold and/or withdraw consent to developments on their territories. The authors of this brief argue that with free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) becoming the new business standard when negotiating access to land and resources, industry leaders must adapt their practices to better accommodate indigenous rights. The authors recommend that the extractive industry should implement FPIC to the new business environment established by international rights frameworks and Canadian case law; negotiators should be trained in indigenous rights to FPIC, emphasizing the unique world views and concepts of land and resource stewardship; and the government should create policies that harmonize the duty to consult with the principles of FPIC to ensure good governance and stable business environments.
Topic:: Energy Policy, Environment, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:: Global Focus

38. Increasing Access to Medicines: Leveraging Brazil’s Experience

Author:: Erika Malich and Sarah Marion
Publication Date:: 07-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The second CIGI Graduate Fellows policy brief examines Brazil's success in ensuring access to essential pharmaceuticals for its citizens, and how this success can be leveraged for other developing countries in similar circumstances. Five unique factors underlie this success, including, among others, a sustained government commitment to public health systems and an indigenous capacity to produce pharmaceuticals domestically, the emergence of a civil society coalition built around the norm of health equity, and the international harmonization of quality assurance and clinical standards related to pharmaceutical research and development. While it is unlikely that other developing countries lacking indigenous manufacturing capacity can achieve similar results in the near to medium-term future, it is instead recommended that private foundations and large bilateral aid country providers invest in a global funding mechanism. This fund would use pre-existing, innovative financing mechanisms to scale up production in the handful of developing countries that have achieved near self-sufficiency in pharmaceutical production, for the benefit of populations beyond their borders.
Topic:: Health Care Policy
Political Geography:: Brazil, South America, and Latin America

39. The Case for Intellectual Property Rights: Should Patents Be Strengthened, Weakened or Abolished Altogether?

Author:: Joël Blit
Publication Date:: 11-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: This policy brief recommends that to diminish the potential for holdup, uncertainty around patent rights should be reduced. Patents should be easily searchable and more easily understood by non-legal experts. In addition, patents should be narrower and more clearly demarcated. To the extent that the welfare costs of patents appear to outweigh their benefits, the requirements for obtaining a patent should be tightened. Further, patents should be made less broad and, concomitant with the reduction in the length of the product cycle, the length of patents should also be reduced.
Topic:: Economics, Intellectual Property/Copyright, Governance, and Law
Political Geography:: North America

40. The 2015 Survey of Progress in International Economic Governance

Author:: Domenico Lombardi and Kelsey Shantz
Publication Date:: 11-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The annual CIGI Survey of Progress in International Economic Governance assesses progress in five areas of international economic governance: macroeconomic and financial cooperation; cooperation on financial regulation; cooperation on development; cooperation on trade; and cooperation on climate change. In this year’s survey, 31 CIGI experts conclude that international economic arrangements continue to show a level of “status quo,” averaging a score of 50% across all five areas. The 2015 survey indicates a slight improvement to the result of last year’s survey, which suggested a minimal regression overall. The experts’ assessment of progress was most promising in the area of climate change cooperation, with an average score of 57%, whereas the least promising area was macroeconomic and financial cooperation, with a score of 44%, indicating minimal regression. The remaining three areas polled all fell within the “status quo” range, with trade at 46%, development at 48% and international cooperation on financial regulation at 53%. Interestingly, in the area of cooperation on development, CIGI’s experts provided a relatively mixed assessment. Responses varied based on experts’ perception of the effectiveness of current rhetoric, from 70% (indicating some progress) to 10% (suggesting major regression). Compared to last year, climate change governance has made the greatest improvement, but the remaining three areas (with the exception of development, which was not included in the 2014 survey) have all, on average, regressed further or remained stagnant. This trend is cause for concern.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Economics, International Cooperation, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Global Focus

41. The Case for Intellectual Property Rights: Should Patents Be Strengthened, Weakened or Abolished Altogether?

Author:: Joel Blit
Publication Date:: 11-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The case for patents rests crucially on three conditions: that innovation is undersupplied in the absence of patents; that patents promote increased innovation; and that the welfare benefits of any additional innovation outweigh the welfare costs associated with the temporary monopoly that patents generate. While it is probably true that innovation is undersupplied, the empirical evidence is mixed on whether patents foster innovation. This may be due to patents stifling cumulative innovation because of holdup and ex ante uncertainty over patent rights. This policy brief recommends that to reduce the potential for holdup, uncertainty around patent rights should be reduced. Patents should be easily searchable and more easily understood by non-legal experts. In addition, patents should be narrower and more clearly demarcated. To the extent that the welfare costs of patents appear to outweigh their benefits, the requirements for obtaining a patent should be tightened. Further, patents should be made less broad and, concomitant with the reduction in the length of the product cycle, the length of patents should also be reduced.
Topic:: Human Welfare, Science and Technology, and Communications

42. The 2015 Survey of Progress in International Economic Governance

Author:: Domenico Lombardi and Kesley Shantz
Publication Date:: 11-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The annual CIGI Survey of Progress in International Economic Governance assesses progress in five areas of international economic governance: macroeconomic and financial cooperation; cooperation on financial regulation; cooperation on development; cooperation on trade; and cooperation on climate change.
Topic:: Climate Change, Economics, Financial Crisis, and Governance
Political Geography:: Global Focus

43. Ukraine and the IMF's Evolving Debt Crisis Narrative

Author:: Susan Schadler
Publication Date:: 11-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: This policy brief examines a number of poses key challenges in the evolution of a coherent role for the IMF in future crises.
Topic:: Economics, International Trade and Finance, and International Monetary Fund
Political Geography:: Ukraine

44. Growth, Innovation and Trade in Environmental Goods

Author:: Céline Bak
Publication Date:: 10-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Reporting on global trade in environmental goods would provide a comprehensive lens into diversification that will be needed for the transition to low-carbon economies, help countries benchmark the shorter- and longer-term impact of policies such as regulation and fiscal stimulus targeted at green growth, as well as innovation, and strengthen the G20 leaders’ commitment to inclusive and sustainable growth by providing visibility into the pace of investments to address climate change.
Topic:: Climate Change, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and G20
Political Geography:: Global Focus

45. Global Treaty or Subnational Innovation? Canada's Path Forward on Climate Policy

Author:: Sarah Burch
Publication Date:: 10-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Canada's position on climate change is deeply contentious and constantly evolving, and presents a challenge of multi-level governance (across sectors, civil society and multiple levels of government). This policy brief describes examples of innovative climate change policy at the subnational level, articulates the roles played by different levels of government, and provides a series of recommendations on pathways to carbon-neutral, resilient communities.
Topic:: Civil Society, Climate Change, Environment, and Governance
Political Geography:: Canada

46. Conflict Zones, Israel and Diaspora Perspectives in Canadian Foreign Policy

Author:: Aya Al-Shachli, Ramina Ghassemi, and Areej Rashid
Publication Date:: 09-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: While Canadian Jewish community organizations are actively engaged in lobbying the Canadian government on its foreign policy with Israel and Palestine, it is not at all clear that the perspectives of the Jewish-Israeli diaspora that have emigrated from this conflict zone have been considered. The absence of diaspora voices from the region seems a missed opportunity for the development of a more comprehensive foreign policy position.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Foreign Policy, Political Violence, Ethnic Conflict, and Diaspora
Political Geography:: Canada, Israel, and Palestine

47. Global Sustainability, Climate Change and Finance Policy: A South African Perspective

Author:: Penelope Hawkins and Olaf Weber
Publication Date:: 09-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: One of the most important and topical discussions within the global multilateral arena is the challenge of meeting the world’s climate finance needs in order to reduce carbon emissions to sustainable levels and support adaptation strategies. The mobilization of finance is key in supporting the transition away from traditional high-carbon or business-as-usual economic pathways toward low-carbon, climate-resilient economic systems. A conference, Global Sustainability, Climate Change and Finance Policy, organized by the Centre for International Governance Innovation and the South African Institute for International Affairs and held in Johannesburg from July 1 to July 3, considered aspects of the debate.
Topic:: Climate Change, Economics, Environment, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Global Focus

48. Assessing Scientific Legitimacy: The Case of Marine Geoengineering

Author:: Lucas Dotto and Bryan Pelkey
Publication Date:: 09-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Marine geoengineering — the deliberate intervention in the marine environment to manipulate natural processes, including the mitigation of climate change impacts — has been occurring at untested scales and without appropriate oversight. Spurred by negative reactions to ocean iron fertilization efforts that began in 2007, the parties of the London Convention and the London Protocol created an assessment framework to govern marine geoengineering. This brief seeks to remedy the existing gaps in this governance.

49. Populist Movements: A Driving Force behind Recent Renationalization Trends

Author:: Jonathan Diab and Anna Klimbovskaia
Publication Date:: 09-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Populist uprisings often call for the renationalization or buying back of public goods that were originally privatized as a result of austerity measures established and disseminated by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Topic:: Economics, International Monetary Fund, Financial Crisis, World Bank, and Popular Revolt
Political Geography:: Global Focus

50. Toward SDG 2: Food Security and Urbanization in the Global South

Author:: David Celis Parra, Krista Dinsmore, Nicole Fassina, and Charlene Keizer
Publication Date:: 08-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Urban food insecurity is distinct from that experienced in rural areas and must be addressed through a different set of policies. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 2 recommends that governments aim to improve food security and nutrition over the next 15 years in response to the global challenge of fostering sustainability.
Topic:: Agriculture, Development, Humanitarian Aid, United Nations, and Food Security
Political Geography:: Global Focus

51. Humanitarian Assistance and the Politics of Self-reliance: Uganda's Nakivale Refugee Settlement

Author:: Suzan Ilcan, Marcia Oliver, and Laura Connoy
Publication Date:: 12-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Increasingly, refugees residing in refugee camps are living in protracted situations for which there are no quick remedies. Existing attempts to address protracted situations for refugees engage with the concept and practices of the Self-reliance Strategy (SRS). This paper focuses on the SRS in Uganda’s Nakivale Refugee Settlement. It draws attention to the strategy's disconnection from the social and economic relations within which refugees live in settlements, and its inability to provide refugees with sufficient access to social support and protection.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Humanitarian Aid, and Refugee Issues
Political Geography:: Uganda

52. Much Ado about Nothing? The RMB's Inclusion in the SDR Basket

Author:: Hongying Wang
Publication Date:: 12-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The International Monetary Fund recently concluded its quinquennial review of the composition of the Special Drawing Right (SDR), accepting the Chinese currency into the SDR basket alongside four major international currencies — the US dollar, the euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen. The Chinese government has spent a great deal of energy and political capital to achieve this outcome. This policy paper explains China’s interest in this seemingly exotic and technical pursuit, identifying the political and economic motivations underlying this initiative.
Topic:: Economics, Politics, International Monetary Fund, and Monetary Policy
Political Geography:: China

53. Ukraine and the IMF's Evolving Debt Crisis Narrative

Author:: Susan Schadler
Publication Date:: 11-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Against the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) fraught experience with crises where debt restructuring is needed, Ukraine’s recent restructuring agreement has been a success. Several factors — in particular, Ukraine’s geopolitical position and the composition of its creditors — facilitated official support for the deal. As these are unlikely to be replicated in future debt crises, the IMF still needs a revamping of its policies and approach in crises requiring debt restructuring. This policy brief examines a number of key challenges in the evolution of a coherent role for the IMF in future crises.
Topic:: Debt, Political Economy, International Monetary Fund, Financial Crisis, and Global Markets
Political Geography:: Ukraine

54. The 2015 Survey of Progress in International Economic Governance

Author:: Domenico Lombardi and Kelsey Shanty
Publication Date:: 11-2015
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The annual CIGI Survey of Progress in International Economic Governance assesses progress in five areas of international economic governance: macroeconomic and financial cooperation; cooperation on financial regulation; cooperation on development; cooperation on trade; and cooperation on climate change. In this year’s survey, 31 CIGI experts conclude that international economic arrangements continue to show a level of “status quo,” averaging a score of 50% across all five areas. The 2015 survey indicates a slight improvement to the result of last year’s survey, which suggested a minimal regression overall. The experts’ assessment of progress was most promising in the area of climate change cooperation, with an average score of 57%, whereas the least promising area was macroeconomic and financial cooperation, with a score of 44%, indicating minimal regression. The remaining three areas polled all fell within the “status quo” range, with trade at 46%, development at 48% and international cooperation on financial regulation at 53%. Interestingly, in the area of cooperation on development, CIGI’s experts provided a relatively mixed assessment. Responses varied based on experts’ perception of the effectiveness of current rhetoric, from 70% (indicating some progress) to 10% (suggesting major regression). Compared to last year, climate change governance has made the greatest improvement, but the remaining three areas (with the exception of development, which was not included in the 2014 survey) have all, on average, regressed further or remained stagnant. This trend is cause for concern.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: Global Focus

55. Responding to Health Challenges: The Role of Domestic Resource Mobilization

Author:: Samantha Bradshaw and Alan Whiteside
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Over the last decade, tremendous progress has been made in the prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria globally. The international community has played a key role in this progress and remains committed to the fight, but as implementing countries' economies grow, they are progressively graduating from international support. This could leave national governments, especially health ministers, uncertain about the future of financing available for their national health programs. Without sufficient resources from both domestic and international resources, there is a risk of resurgence of these diseases. If these trends continue, there may not be a "grand convergence" in health by 2035, resulting in enormous economic and social costs.
Topic:: Economics, Health, and Governance
Political Geography:: Africa

56. The Northwest Territories and Arctic Maritime Development in the Beaufort Area

Author:: John Higginbotham and Marina Grosu
Publication Date:: 05-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The Arctic is facing remarkable climatic and oceanic change that is triggering unprecedented opportunities and challenges for Arctic nations, as well as for countries that do not have Arctic territory but are eager to engage and invest in the region. For Canada and the United States, the Beaufort basin offers unique opportunities for Alaska and Canada's Arctic territories.
Topic:: Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:: United States, Canada, North America, and Arctic

57. Improving Access to Food in Sub-Saharan Africa: Using the Diffusion of Agroecological Information to Mitigate Climate Change Effects

Author:: Suhani Bhushan and Stephanie C. Fauquier
Publication Date:: 11-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: By 2050, the world's population is expected to exceed nine billion people. Population growth is occurring most rapidly in Africa, which will see the population grow from one billion to 2.1 billion by 2050. Africa will see significant population growth; however, agricultural output is not growing at the same rate. Africa's abundant natural resources are being used ineffectively, and the country is unlikely to sustain current population growth. According to reGina Jane Jere (2014), "Barely a fraction of fertile agricultural land [in Africa] is being cultivated - just 10 percent of the 400 million hectares."
Topic:: Agriculture
Political Geography:: Africa

58. A Call to the Conference of the New England Governors and Eastern Canada Premiers for Bilateral Energy Governance

Author:: Andrew Adams, Lyne Maheu, and Kieran McDougal
Publication Date:: 11-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The Northern Pass Transmission Project is mired in political deadlock due to conflict over its potential impacts and current assessment process. Although the proposal has little political support within New Hampshire, the US Department of Energy (DOE's) assessment process is moving forward. New England has become increasingly dependent on natural gas for power generation, which has dramatically risen in price recently, and the Northern Pass presents an opportunity to diversify the region's electrical supply. However, as the project stands, New Hampshire bears a majority of the economic, social and ecological costs, while receiving little of the regional benefit of affordable, flexible and reliable energy. There may be similar alternatives to the Northern Pass that secure the regional benefits of energy security and reliability while also reducing local costs. Without comparing the Northern Pass against alternative infrastructure projects, policy makers cannot assess which project generates the most net benefits. This policy brief contrasts the local and regional impacts of the Northern Pass, in order to shed light on the deficiencies that arise when analysing energy infrastructure projects in isolation.
Topic:: Economics, Energy Policy, Politics, and Infrastructure
Political Geography:: Canada and England

59. Let Bygones Be Bygones: The Case for India's Inclusion in APEC

Author:: Kevin Carmichael
Publication Date:: 11-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will miss the 2014 Beijing APEC summit. His former spokesman says it does not matter. "[I]t's safe to say that Canada won't lose out by skipping this particular summit, at this particular time, for this particular reason," Andrew McDougall (2014) wrote in an opinion article posted on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC's) website on November. In early October, a US State Department official told an audience in Washington, DC that Beijing was shaping up to be a "good" summit, in part because US President Barack Obama was planning to attend after missing the previous two APEC leaders' meetings (Wang 2014).
Topic:: Economics and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:: United States, India, and Asia

60. Ukraine: Stress at the IMF

Author:: Susan Schadler
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: In April 2014, in a departure from its normal aversion to lending to countries in conflict, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a US$17 billion loan to Ukraine to be disbursed over two years. At the time, Ukraine was three weeks away from a presidential election; engaged in combat with an armed separatist movement backed by Russia, its largest trading partner and supplier of energy; and experiencing a significant drain in foreign exchange reserves and bank deposits along with soaring yields on sovereign debt. The country was also reaping the returns of decades of economic mismanagement. Dire from both political and economic perspectives, the situation had the markings of a case where the IMF has the expertise to be usefully engaged, but there were also red flags demarcating circumstances that can hobble the IMF's effectiveness.
Topic:: Economics, International Monetary Fund, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Europe and Ukraine

61. The 2014 Survey of Progress in International Economic Governance

Author:: Domenico Lombardi, Barry Carin, and David Kempthorne
Publication Date:: 11-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The annual CIGI Survey of Progress in International Economic Governance assesses progress in four dimensions of international economic governance: macroeconomic and financial cooperation; cooperation on financial regulation; cooperation on trade; and cooperation on climate change. Governance related to these dimensions is scored on the following progress scale: 0%-19% represents "major regression"; 20%-39% represents "some regression"; 40%-59% indicates "minimal progress"; 60%-79% characterizes progress; and 80%-100% represents "major progress." Recognizing the difficulty of making objective judgments given the complexity of the issues, the results are offered as a range of subjective opinions from CIGI experts with diverse backgrounds.
Topic:: Climate Change, Economics, International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, and Governance
Political Geography:: United States and Europe

62. Changing the Channel: Cultivating Security Cooperation in Northeast Asia

Author:: Alex Brouse and Dustin McDonald
Publication Date:: 11-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: High tensions in Northeast Asia are cause for considerable alarm. Of particular concern for the maintenance of global security are the disputes over Senkaku/Diaoyu and Dokdo/Takeshima islands. Strong grievances rooted in history and rising nationalistic sentiment in China, South Korea and Japan have made the positions of the respective parties currently irreconcilable. The tension surrounding the issue of territorial control, particularly between China and Japan, has the potential to spark a military confrontation. Due to a lack of empathy and the propensity to overestimate threats from neighbours, the region is especially volatile. Public commitments by US President Barack Obama in support of the US-Japan Mutual Security Treaty could ensure that any military confrontation between China and Japan might quickly escalate and draw the United States into direct conflict with China. In order to improve empathy, a concerted effort must be made to change the channel and work on issues where interests do align. Nowhere do the interests of China, South Korea, Japan and the United States align more than on the issue of North Korean denuclearization. By working together on an issue of mutual concern, these four countries can counter the rapid erosion of trust. By cultivating a cooperative attitude, tensions can be lowered, increasing the prospects for peaceful management of current acute disputes.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, Arms Control and Proliferation, Diplomacy, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:: United States, Japan, China, and South Korea

63. Regulating RoboCop: The Need for International Governance Innovation in Drone and AWS Development and Use

Author:: Melisa Foster and Virgil Haden-Pawlowski
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Drones and AWS are more than simply new technology; they are a new method of combat engagement, representing a revolution in military affairs (Arkin 2013, 1). The current deployment of certain forms of robotic weapons technology, and the direction of their continuing development and use, are inadequately influenced by international law. While this technology offers strategic advantages and may reduce the need to put military personnel in harm's way, it also creates enormous risks to the erosion or abuse of human rights, peace, national security, ethical conduct in war and international law.
Topic:: Science and Technology, International Security, Governance, and Law

64. Disasters and Dividends: An Asia-Pacific Strategy for Canada

Author:: Jesse MacLean, Andrew McCauley, and Emily Newcombe
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Canada has demonstrated a strong interest in strengthening economic partnerships across the Asia-Pacific, having recently expanded its diplomatic presence in the region through the establishment of a mission to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and reaffirmed its desire to join such forums as the East Asia Summit. While Canadian officials routinely find themselves simply passing through Asian capitals, Canada's market share in the Asia-Pacific is below potential and Canada lags behind in comprehensive trade agreements signed with the region's states (Dobson 2012). As Canada seeks to expand trade ties in the Asia-Pacific, its active engagement must come not only through sustained presence in economic forums, but also through tangible investment in the region's security architecture.
Topic:: Security, Disaster Relief, and Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:: Canada and Asia

65. Strengthening Canada's Copyright System: A Fairer Mechanism for Fair Use Claims

Author:: Cory Campbell and Scott Janz
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: By granting limited monopolies to rights holders and securing profits from the sale and circulation of their works, copyright law is an important mechanism for incentivizing innovation and the creation of cultural content. However, limiting how users interact with protected materials also imposes a number of social costs, such as threatening the ability of individuals to express themselves by engaging with protected media and hindering cumulative innovation. Modern copyright law has sought to minimize these social costs through fair use provisions, which allow for the reasonable use of copyrighted material.
Topic:: Science and Technology and Intellectual Property/Copyright
Political Geography:: Canada

66. Dual Citizenship: Reducing Governance and Protection Gaps

Author:: Busra Hacioglu, Alina Shams, Amy Wood, and Ruiqian Zhang
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: On December 29, 2013, the journalists Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed were arbitrarily arrested and detained in Cairo, Egypt. They were sentenced to seven years in prison after a five-month trial, a verdict US Secretary of State John Kerry called "chilling and draconian" (quoted in Holmes 2014). Although more contentious, the 2002 rendition of Canadian-Syrian citizen Mahar Arar also garnered international condemnation. 2 The subsequent apology by the Canadian government drew attention to the vulnerability of dual citizens, both abroad and at home. In 2006 and 2011, Canadian citizens from Lebanon and Egypt called upon the Canadian government for support during conflicts, with over 13,000 evacuated from Beirut alone by the end of July 2006. These cases all bring to light the complex web of obligations and transnational legalities, which come to the fore during times of conflict. Characterized by an absence of global governance, dual citizenship occupies a grey area in the international arena, as no international conventions directly apply to this citizenship status. In this absence, there are fragmented state responses based on geopolitical and geographical demand - dual citizenship can be permitted, avoided restricted or renounced - according to the whims of states. This has created a messy terrain around rights, state responsibilities, security and migration.
Topic:: Security, Human Rights, Migration, Governance, and Law
Political Geography:: Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt

67. The Role of the Informal Economy in Addressing Urban Food Insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author:: Elizabeth Fraser, Malambo Moonga, and Johanna Wilkes
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: SSA is a region undergoing a significant urban transition. UN-Habitat (2014) estimates that by 2050, 58 percent of the African continent will be living in urban regions, representing an increase from 400 million individuals to over 1.26 billion. This will be accompanied by a burgeoning informal sector, which has grown rapidly since the 1960s across the continent, providing income, employment and livelihoods for millions of poor urban households.
Topic:: Poverty, Food, and Reform
Political Geography:: Africa

68. The Effect of Index Futures Trading on Volatility: Three Markets for Chinese Stocks

Author:: Pierre Siklos, Martin T. Bohl, and Jeanne Diesteldorf
Publication Date:: 09-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: This paper examines whether the introduction of Chinese stock index futures had an impact on the volatility of the underlying spot market. To this end, we estimate several Generalized Auto-Regressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH) models and compare our findings for mainland China with Chinese index futures traded in Singapore and Hong Kong. Our results indicate that Chinese index futures decrease spot market volatility with all three spot markets considered. In contrast, we do not obtain the same results for the companion index futures markets in Hong Kong and Singapore. China's stock market is relatively young and largely dominated by private retail investors. Nevertheless, our evidence is favourable to the stabilization hypothesis usually confirmed in mature markets.
Topic:: Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:: China and Singapore

69. IMF Lending Practices and Sovereign Debt Restructuring

Author:: Domenico Lombardi, James M. Boughton, and Skylar Brooks
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The IMF has struggled for decades to develop a set of lending practices that enable sovereign borrowers to resolve serious debt problems and restore economic growth, but also respect the right of private financial markets to enter into and enforce contractual obligations. The challenge has always been to operate under a well-defined set of principles while dealing with each situation in a way that takes account of relevant circumstances. Recently, the international financial crisis that began in 2008 and the subsequent European sovereign debt crisis have raised this challenge to new heights. In providing €30 billion to Greece — the largest financial package ever granted to a single country — the IMF invoked greater discretion in its lending decisions to counteract potential "systemic" crises. By doing so, it entered a program without a restructuring agreement.
Topic:: Debt, Economics, International Trade and Finance, International Monetary Fund, and Reform

70. The Politics of the "Unfinished Business": Bosnian Police Reform

Author:: Dejan Guzina and Branka Marijan
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The recent protests in Bosnia-Herzegovina (henceforth, Bosnia) have once more shown the extent of the remaining challenges in the country. However, while many commentators have examined the political, economic and social roots of the protests, less attention has been paid to the role of the police in these events. Police confusion, their inability to respond to the street protests in a timely and professional manner, and allegations of the use of excessive force against protestors represent clear evidence that the stalled police reform in the country needs to be re-examined. After almost two decades of international assistance, first by the United Nations (UN) and later the European Union (EU), police reform in Bosnia remains incomplete. Since the 2012 closing of the EU police mission (EUPM) in Bosnia, the issue of police reform has been put on hold. Bosnia's multiple police services remain fragmented and lack transparency. More importantly, the lack of harmonization, coordination and civic oversight leads to political interference in policing.
Topic:: Civil Society, Human Rights, Law Enforcement, and Reform
Political Geography:: Europe, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and United Nations

71. National Ownership and Post-Conflict Peace Building: From Principle to Practice

Author:: Timothy Donais
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: There is a growing consensus, both within and outside the UN system, around the importance of national ownership for sustainable post-conflict peace building. Reflecting on the broader peace-building project in 2009, for example, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon invoked national ownership as a central theme, reflecting the common sense wisdom that any peace process not embraced by those who have to live with it is likely to fail (UN 2009).
Topic:: Civil Society, Governance, Reconstruction, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:: United Nations

72. African Climate Change Negotiators Need a New Strategy

Author:: Barry Carin
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: There is currently little prospect of a successful international agreement resulting in effective, legally binding emission targets and significant "new and additional finance transfers" to developing countries; however, there is room for Africa to formulate an effective strategy in climate change negotiations. A bit player in climate change negotiations, with little leverage over the major emitting countries, Africa is wasting time with its current strategy of pursuing elusive emission targets and illusory financing. Africa can bring creative ideas to the negotiating table to reduce global emissions and enlarge "the size of the pie" for all parties. A strategic "carrot and stick" approach can make a positive contribution to an eventual international climate agreement and maximize Africa's portion of the expanded pie.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:: Africa

73. Infrastructure and Sustainable Development Goals in the BRICS-Led New Development Bank

Author:: Kathryn Hochstetler
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The BRICS countries held their annual meeting in Fortaleza, Brazil on July 15-17, 2014. While there, they formally launched their NDB, answering some of the many lingering questions about its function (BRICS 2014). The Shanghai based bank will have at least US$50 billion in initial capital, making it a significant new entrant into the sphere of global development finance. India will hold its first rotating presidency, but all five of the countries have particular roles to play. The lengthy presidential declaration gave little new information about the kinds of projects that will receive funding; however, simply repeating earlier statements that it will finance infrastructure and sustainable development projects. This policy brief examines how the NDB is likely to approach those two policy objectives, and notes a potential clash of these goals. There is already abundant evidence on this issue in the 2013 agreements and in the current financing patterns of the various national development banks of the BRICS member countries.
Topic:: International Relations, Climate Change, Development, and Environment

74. Power Shift and Renminbi Internationalization: Recommendations for the G20

Author:: Raluca Diana Ardelean and Mengun Zhang
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: China has gained substantial economic power in recent years, becoming the second-largest trading nation after the United States and the largest goods-trading nation since 2012 (Eichengreen 2014). It is also currently the largest source of savings and the largest potential source of capital for international investment (ibid.). Measured by GDP, China is now the second-largest economy in the world (see Figure 1), and the World Bank surmises it is likely to surpass the United States in 2014 (World Bank 2014). Because of China's growing economic importance, a shift in power is reasonably assumed. As its economic power grows, internationalization of the RMB has become a key policy goal for China, especially after the 2008 financial crisis (Zhang 2009; Park 2010; China Securities Regulatory Commission [CSRC] 2014). This goal demonstrates China's desire for better integration and representation in the international economic community and signals its willingness to perform internal financial reforms and take more responsibility in global economic affairs.
Topic:: Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Monetary Policy
Political Geography:: United States, China, and Asia

75. Education in Emergencies: The Case of the Dadaab Refugee Camps

Author:: Hayley Mackinnon
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Between 1991 and 2009, more than 2.5 million Somali citizens fled their homeland to Ethiopia, Djibouti and, most notably, Kenya, following the collapse of the Somalian government of Siad Barre. This led to violent clashes between various factional clan groups, and fighting to control land and resources ensued. This resulted in the displacement, starvation and slaughter of thousands of civilians, leading to a crisis that prompted international intervention during the 1990s.
Topic:: Development and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa, United Nations, and Ethiopia

76. Bootstrap Immigrants: Assessing the Conservative Transformation of Canada's Immigration Policy

Author:: John Ibbitson
Publication Date:: 12-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Of all the reforms launched by this most conservative of Conservative governments, none surpass the root-and-branch restructuring of Canada's immigration polices. And what has come before does not equal what is to come. On January 1, 2015, the federal government will replace the points system used to select immigrants for nigh on 50 years with the entirely new Express Entry program.
Political Geography:: Canada

77. More Inclusive Decision-making Processes in Foreign Land Leasing: Policy Insights from Kenya

Author:: DAVID JAKINDA OTIENO
Publication Date:: 02-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Foreign land leases could help developing countries to acquire foreign direct investments (FDIs), including technical expertise and income necessary for economic transformation. A lack of local stakeholder consultation and involvement in the design of land leases leads to the rejection or disruption of such leases by local communities and wastes investors' resources due to disruptions. Local public stakeholders in Kenya are willing to accept and participate in leases, provided they include certain provisions: that leases do not exceed 15 years; are renewable subject to mutual negotiations; offer formal employment to landowners' household members; and provide adequate monetary compensation for the leased land. Effective and transparent management of land leases requires the formation of management committees comprising local stakeholders such as youth, women and land experts. To enhance lease transparency, regular consultative meetings should be held, negotiation records must be shared with local community members and landowners should receive direct payment, rather than being paid through intermediaries.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Development, Economics, Poverty, and Food
Political Geography:: Kenya and Africa

78. The IMF's Preferred Creditor Status: Does It Still Make Sense After the Euro Crisis?

Author:: Susan Schadler
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Throughout the history of IMF lending, the institution has had PCS — that is, distressed countries borrowing from the IMF are expected to give priority to meeting their obligations to the IMF over those to other (private or official) creditors. This status is a defining characteristic of the IMF's role in financial crises: it provides a high degree of confidence that IMF resources are safe even when other creditors of the distressed country face substantial uncertainty about whether they will be repaid in full. In other words, the IMF, which lends to some of the riskiest countries in the world, faces minimal risk that its resources could be compromised by a debtor country's difficulties in servicing its debt. It does so, however, with the confidence that comes from its role in helping to formulate and monitor a program of policies that are strongly expected to return the country to stability.
Topic:: Debt, Economics, International Monetary Fund, Monetary Policy, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: Europe

79. Central Bank Independence in North Africa

Author:: Bessma Momani and Samantha St. Amand
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Securing CBI has become best practice in global governance. Both the political and economic literatures suggest that CBI facilitates price stability, promotes transparency to citizens and provides accountability toward the public good. CBI is also credited with protecting the economic and financial system from the trappings of regulatory capture. In addition, a number of scholars have argued that CBI is correlated with positive policy outcomes, including balanced long- term economic growth, stable financial markets and a reduced likelihood of publicly funded financial institution bailouts. Moreover, some have suggested that CBI is important for fostering a healthy liberal democracy. As global markets have become increasingly integrated and interdependent, securing CBI is also considered a domestic, regional and global public good.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Globalization, Monetary Policy, Governance, and Reform
Political Geography:: Africa and North Africa

80. A Failure to Cooperate? Raising the Risks and Challenges of Exiting Unconventional Monetary Policies

Author:: Domenico Lombardi, Pierre Siklos, and Samantha St. Amand
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Central banks (and policy makers more generally) should seek a global consensus before implementing policies that may have global repercussions. The global economy can only become more resilient to shocks when there is greater central bank cooperation. The G20 is a natural venue to promote cooperation and to help the global economy return to stronger economic growth, but other forums may also be appropriate. The maintenance of financial stability is a common resource and should be treated as such. Excessive reliance on sovereignty is counterproductive and contains the seeds of the next crisis.
Topic:: Economics, International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Financial Crisis

81. Shifting IMF Policies since the Arab Uprisings

Author:: Bessma Momani and Dustyn Lanz
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: In response to the Arab uprisings in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, the IMF has changed its perspective on the social outcomes of its economic policy advice. The Fund now explicitly advocates inclusive growth, reduced inequality and increased attention to, and spending on, health and education services. Although this is a welcome transition, there is still room for improvement. In particular, the Fund could strengthen its commitment to the social dimensions of public policy by delivering more specific, tangible policy advice for countries to achieve inclusive growth, reduce inequality and improve health and education outcomes. More diverse expertise, achieved through wider recruitment of staff, would help the IMF achieve these goals.
Topic:: Economics, International Trade and Finance, and International Monetary Fund
Political Geography:: Middle East, Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia

82. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Monitoring and Realizing Indigenous Rights in Canada

Author:: Terry Mitchell and Charis Enns
Publication Date:: 04-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The Government of Canada endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as a tool for protecting indigenous rights in 2010, but has made very little progress toward its implementation. James Anaya, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNSRRIP), recently declared that Canada faces a crisis when it comes to the human rights situation of indigenous peoples, ranging from adverse living conditions on reserve to unaddressed violence against indigenous women. The Government of Canada should implement targeted measures to address the UNSRRIP's concerns and improve the human rights situation of indigenous peoples in Canada.
Topic:: Human Rights and United Nations
Political Geography:: Canada, United Nations, and North America

83. China's Long March Toward Economic Rebalancing

Author:: Hongying Wang
Publication Date:: 04-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: China's role in the global imbalance is closely linked to its domestic imbalance. Chinese policy makers have long been aware of the dual imbalance and the imperative to shift to economic growth driven by domestic consumption. They have taken limited steps in changing the development model, but political obstacles have slowed the pace of reform. The new leadership seems serious about deepening economic reform despite political resistance, but without political reform, the prospect of success remains dim.
Topic:: Economics, International Trade and Finance, Monetary Policy, and Governance
Political Geography:: China and Asia

84. Designing the Post-2015 Development Goals

Author:: Barry Carin
Publication Date:: 05-2013
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The United Nations produced the Millennium Declaration in September 2000, recognizing a collective responsibility to work toward “a more peaceful, prosperous and just world.” The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) reaffirmed this vision and launched an ambitious global partnership for development. The MDGs set specific targets for 2015, using numerical indicators to measure progress. The United Nations is now formulating post-2015 goals to succeed the current MDGs. What should government authorities call for during the process of establishing these new goals to ensure they reflect national priorities, can be measured and are achievable, not purely aspirational?
Topic:: Development and United Nations

85. The Sovereign Debt Forum: Expanding Our Tool Kit for Handling Sovereign Crises

Author:: Richard Gitlin and Brett House
Publication Date:: 08-2013
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: A sovereign debt forum (SDF) would assist in facilitating more predictable, transparent and timely treatments of sovereign crises during future episodes of debt-servicing difficulties. An SDF would provide a non-statutory, neutral standing body to identify lessons from past episodes of sovereign distress, maintain information on sovereign debt and convene stakeholders to engage in confidential discussions at the outset of a sovereign crisis. The SDF proposal takes inspiration from existing precedents, such as the Paris Club and Vienna Initiative, which demonstrate that informal, rules-based representative entities have a long-standing history of organizing effective workouts for distressed countries An SDF would have a limited remit: to enable early, discreet consultation and information sharing between distressed sovereigns and their creditors to speed the process by which a sovereign is returned to solvency, stability and growth. An SDF would not supersede existing institutions and would rely on close collaboration with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). An SDF would complement other proposals for automatic maturity extensions on securitized debt, arbitration and mediation processes, voluntary standstills and improved aggregation in collective action clauses (CACs). The SDF and other incremental, pragmatic proposals to improve sovereign crisis management should be put at the core of the G20 agenda on an ongoing basis.
Topic:: Economics, Financial Crisis, and Governance

86. The Responsibility to Protect: Ensuring the Norm's Relevance After Libya, Côte d'Ivoire and Syria

Author:: Maissaa Almustafa, Evan Cinq-Mars, and Matthew Redding
Publication Date:: 08-2013
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Since its endorsement in 2005, the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) has become central to how the global community responds to genocide and mass atrocities. The norm presently faces the “risk of relevance” as a result of the interventions in Libya and Côte d'Ivoire and the deadlock over the situation in Syria. The recommendations in this brief will strengthen preventive capacities, maximize the protection afforded to civilians and ensure the norm's future relevance.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Genocide, Human Rights, Armed Struggle, Regime Change, and Insurgency
Political Geography:: Africa and Arabia

87. Hedging Against an Unstable China: Measures to Enhance Regional and Global Resilience

Author:: Alexandre Catta, Aladdin Diakun, and Clara Yoon
Publication Date:: 08-2013
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Mainstream analysis on China tends to be overly optimistic, leaving a blind spot in strategic planning. While the country's socio-economic landscape has been transformed over several decades of uninterrupted growth, it faces significant domestic and international risks and constraints. Chief among these are labour insecurity and imbalances, environmental constraints and rising climatic risks, and food insecurity, all coupled with rising popular expectations for a higher overall standard of living. Major soy producers (Argentina, Brazil and the United States) should take steps to ensure the stability of China's supply. In particular, these countries should set aside reserves to help mitigate future supply shocks and price spikes resulting from climate change. Manufacturers operating in or with China should immediately begin mapping their supply chains to identify vulnerabilities associated with crisis scenarios in the country. Where specific risks are identified, they should explore supply-chain diversification to boost resilience among major trading partners. To deter China from externalizing internal stresses, international actors should raise the political costs of nationalistic unilateralism by opening more channels for dialogue, deepening institutional integration and buttressing cooperative security norms.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, Economics, Environment, and Food
Political Geography:: China and Israel

88. Inserting Migrants Into the Global Social Protection Floor

Author:: Marie-Hélène Ratel, Gabriel Williams, and Keegan Williams
Publication Date:: 09-2013
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Unprecedented human migration is an issue of critical importance in today's rapidly globalizing world. International migrants constitute a group with more people than the population of Brazil, and they send more money home each year than the entire value of Argentina's economy (International Organization for Migration [IOM], 2013). Migration flows have doubled since 1980 and show no signs of slowing down due to growing inequalities in global development, population pressure, environmental change and conflict (Koser, 2010). Compared to the majority of citizens in many countries, migrants face heightened risks because they do not receive adequate social protections such as health care, income security, education, housing or access to clean water and sanitation.
Topic:: Economics, Migration, Social Stratification, Labor Issues, Immigration, and Sociology
Political Geography:: Brazil and Argentina

89. ARBITERS AMISS: THE FAILINGS AND SHORTCOMINGS OF INSTITUTIONS GOVERNING THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM

Author:: Paul Blustein
Publication Date:: 10-2013
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Myriad dangers beset the global economy. The US Federal Reserve is trying to curb its ultra-easy money policy, a delicate operation that could plunge the world into recession if done too abruptly. The euro zone might fall back into turmoil. Japan's experiment with “Abenomics”1 could go sour. China's banking system looks shaky. Emerging economies are suffering large scale withdrawals of foreign funds.
Topic:: Debt, Development, Economics, International Monetary Fund, Foreign Aid, Fragile/Failed State, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: China

90. Strengthening Transitional Justice in Bosnia: Regional Possibilities and Parallel Narratives

Author:: Dejan Guzina and Branka Marijan
Publication Date:: 10-2013
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: In the media, news commentators continue to refer to Srebrenica as a lesson that should never be repeated again. Indeed, such “never again” statements have re-emerged in light of current events unfolding in Syria, as the international community debates what type of intervention should be used to stop further violence. The media have gone so far as to call the Syrian regime's possible use of chemical weapons against its population a “Srebrenica moment” — that is, a moment when moral outrage of civilian deaths leads to a push for military intervention (Lerman and Lakshmanan 2013). While little action has materialized in the case of Syria, the Srebrenican “never again” lesson is also far from being either agreed upon or learned from in Bosnia itself.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Crime, Genocide, International Law, Regional Cooperation, War, and Sectarian violence
Political Geography:: Bosnia, Balkans, and Syria

91. Zero: The Surprising and Unambiguous Policy Relevance of the Cuban Missile Crisis

Author:: Janet M. Lang and James G. Blight
Publication Date:: 10-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Herman Kahn was one of the most eminent nuclear strategists of the early Cold War period. He advised Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy while working at the RAND Corporation, and also wrote one of the most controversial bestsellers of the era, Thinking about the Unthinkable. Reading it is shocking even today, as one encounters the concepts Kahn made famous, such as megadeath (a nuclear war killing tens or hundreds of millions of people); escalation dominance (threatening to blow up the world if an adversary does not relent); the doomsday machine (US-Soviet nuclear arsenals that, if used, would blow up the world, no matter what leaders might desire); and use 'em or lose 'em (striking first in a nuclear war to destroy the enemy's forces). No wonder the title role in Stanley Kubrick's black satiric film Dr. Strangelove (1964) is reportedly based on the real Herman Kahn. But Kahn himself always said he was merely being realistic, facing directly the terrifying new reality created by the existence of the ultimate weapon.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:: United States and Cuba

92. Canada-US Arctic Marine Corridors and Resource Development

Author:: James Manicom, John Higginbotham, and Andrea Charron
Publication Date:: 11-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The shrinking Arctic ice cap is creating unprecedented geophysical change in the circumpolar region, a trend that is very likely to continue. Together, this “great melt” and the delineation of extended national economic zones afford increased access to economic resources in the Arctic Ocean. Intense activities in commercial, investment, diplomatic, legal, scientific and academic sectors abound in the new Arctic, but the region's long-term significance is only gradually penetrating North American public consciousness. Media reports such as the recent, virtually ice-free trans-polar transit of a Chinese icebreaker through the Russian Northern Sea Route, or the transit of the Northwest Passage by a large cruise ship, are only the tip of the proverbial economic iceberg. In preparing for the commercialization of the Arctic Ocean, Canada and the United States, as major nations bordering the Arctic, face enormous opportunities in protecting economic and environmental interests; however, a number of challenges impede the fulfillment of this vision.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Economics, Environment, Oil, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, China, Canada, and North America

93. This Time Is Not Different: Blaming Short Sellers

Author:: Pierre Siklos
Publication Date:: 03-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Reinhart and Rogoff's timely volume, This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly (2009), makes it abundantly clear that financial crises are protracted affairs. The title of this policy brief highlights the irony of lessons never learned. History, in the form of recurring economic crises, does indeed repeat itself. Nevertheless, a closer look at Reinhart and Rogoff's often-publicized conclusion reveals that there are remarkable variations across individual countries' experiences, as well as across time. For example, the actual severity of crises can be exacerbated when a banking crisis is accompanied by a currency crisis. Most importantly, the severity of the recession that typically accompanies all types of financial crises is often determined by the response of policy makers.
Topic:: Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, Global Recession, Monetary Policy, and Governance

94. Brazil as an Emerging Environmental Donor

Author:: Kathryn Hochstetler
Publication Date:: 02-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Brazil has always focused on development strategies, but it has recently shifted more attention, on balance, from thinking of its own development to offering assistance to other countries in their national efforts. Former President Lula da Silva has argued that Brazil's own experience with solving problems in inauspicious conditions makes it a particularly good partner for other developing countries (Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada [IPEA] and Agência Brasileira de Cooperação [ABC], 2010: 7). Brazil self-consciously approaches its external development assistance from the perspective of a recipient, endorsing an egalitarian “solidarity diplomacy” that stresses holistic development in its partners. The ultimate aim is “sustainable growth,” which includes “social inclusion and respect for the environment” (IPEA and ABC, 2010: 32-33).
Topic:: Development, Diplomacy, Environment, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Brazil and Latin America

95. Unleashing the Nuclear Watchdog: Strengthening and Reform of the IAEA

Author:: Trevor Findlay
Publication Date:: 06-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The IAEA is the principal multilateral organization mandated by the international community to deal with nuclear issues. Established in 1957 and based in Vienna, it is essentially the nucleus around which all other parts of the global nuclear governance system revolve. The IAEA has attributes and roles that cannot be matched by other organizations, groups of states or individual states, no matter how powerful or influential: It is a standing, multilateral organization, with near universal membership and a science and technology orientation. Its nuclear safeguards system and associated verification activity, including in the service of the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and nuclear weapon-free zones, is unparalleled.
Topic:: International Cooperation, Natural Disasters, Governance, and Nuclear Power

96. Lessons for UN Electoral Certification from the 2010 Disputed Presidential Poll in Côte d'Ivoire

Author:: Lori-Anne Théroux-Bénoni
Publication Date:: 06-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: After the November runoff of the 2010 presidential elections in Côte d'Ivoire, the country's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced that in the preliminary results, Alassane Ouattara, candidate of the Rassemblement des Républicains, had won. The Constitutional Council cancelled the results from several northern electoral areas favourable to Ouattara, however, and declared Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent president who ran for La Majorité Présidentielle, the winner.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Democratization, United Nations, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:: Africa

97. Responding to Disaster: Neglected Dimensions of Preparedness and their Consequences

Author:: David A. Welch and Andrew S. Thompson
Publication Date:: 07-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The international community has become adept at responding to disasters. When a disaster hits — whether natural or as the consequence of human activity — humanitarian relief can be on the ground almost anywhere in the world in less than 24 hours. The international community has developed an elaborate network to respond to catastrophes involving the collaboration of international agencies, humanitarian relief organizations, national governments and concerned individuals. The collective ability to help save lives quickly is unprecedented in human history; the problem remains, however, that one never knows in advance where disaster will strike, what the immediate needs of those affected will be or what conditions the first responders will confront. Given these uncertainties, how can disaster-response planners best position themselves to take action?
Topic:: Government, Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation, Non-Governmental Organization, and Natural Disasters

98. Promoting Reconciliation through Exhuming and Identifying Victims in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide

Author:: Erin Jessee
Publication Date:: 07-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: In the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsi civilians were killed, the ICTR commissioned a series of mass grave exhumations in Kigali and Kibuye. These exhumations were conducted by PHR, a Boston-based nongovernmental organization (NGO). Its mandate was to provide scientifically rigorous evidence that revealed the criminal nature of specific massacres in Kigali and Kibuye, as well as the statistical elements of the crimes, including the sex, ethnicity, age, and cause and manner of death for the individual victims (Haglund, 1997: 1; Haglund and Kirschner, 1997: ii).
Topic:: Political Violence, Genocide, Human Rights, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:: Africa

99. Furthering Democracy in Libya with Information Technology: Opportunities for the International Donor Community

Author:: Chris Jones, Sharon Kennedy, Siobhan Kerr, Joseph Mitchell, and Daniel Safayeni
Publication Date:: 09-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Social media played a central and celebrated role in the uprisings that took place in the Arab world in 2011, facilitating the organization and coordination of popular resistance to dictatorial regimes in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. The use of social media channels to popularize and concentrate resistance was made possible, in part, by the recent growth of the information and communications technology (ICT) sector in the region. While the lack of economic growth, job opportunities and political agency were fundamental driving forces behind the Arab revolutions, ICT and social media were critical tools that helped transform the deep-seated discontent into a widespread social movement.
Topic:: Democratization and Regime Change
Political Geography:: Libya, Arabia, North Africa, Egypt, and Tunisia

100. Improving the Peace Process: The Influence of Ideas in Resolving Violent Conflict

Author:: Isaac Caverhill-Godkewitsch, Vanessa Humphries, Sean Jellow, and Nyiri Karakas
Publication Date:: 09-2012
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: On June 27, 2012, Queen Elizabeth II shook the hand of Martin McGuinness, a former Irish Republican Army (IRA) commander, and symbolically solidified the long peace process that had sought to resolve the Troubles of Northern Ireland (Rayner, 2012). This historic gesture illustrates that even the most ideologically heated and intractable conflicts can be resolved. In the case of Northern Ireland, resolution was not possible without first acknowledging the important roles that notions of personal and national identity, self-determination and economic fairness played as defining stakes in the conflict. In contrast, the conflict between Israel and Palestine continues to produce turmoil in addition to a stream of failed negotiations. The failure to include values and beliefs, such as equality and basic human rights, in discussions has poisoned peace efforts, with no end to the bloodshed in sight.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Peace Studies, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:: Ireland

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS