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Begin New Search Content Type Policy Brief Publishing Institution Centre for International Governance Innovation

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