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Begin New Search Content Type Policy Brief Publication Year within 25 Years

6671. A Bright Future for International Law?

Author:
Steven Haines
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
During the period of the Bush presidency, from 2001-2009, there was much concern expressed, both domestically within the United States and internationally, about Washington's apparently cavalier attitude towards international law. 1 Much of this – though by no means all – was prompted by the US reaction to the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington (the so-called 'global war on terrorism'), and the decision in 2002/3 to opt for regime change in Iraq. For many commentators it seemed as though US policy in that period provided solid evidence that law within the international system was of little influence in the face of determined power. This perception reflects realist assumptions about the pre-eminence of national interest and power as determinants of policy. Of particular moment is the power of those states that fall within the category of 'great power' – and 'superpower' has a special quality all its own.
Topic:
Economics, International Law, International Affairs, and Power Politics
Political Geography:
United States

6672. Building Partnerships in Peace Operations: The Limits of the Global/Regional Approach

Author:
Thierry Tardy
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
A consensus seems to exist on the need to tackle contemporary intra-state conflicts through a multiplicity of actors who display different comparative advantages and levels of expertise. For the United Nations as well as for the regional organisations that, since the end of the Cold War, have emerged as crisis management actors, working together is the way forward. The UN and the EU run or have run simultaneous operations in Africa (Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chad) and Kosovo and have largely institutionalised their cooperation; the UN took over operations initially deployed by the African Union in West Africa and in Burundi and the two institutions have created a hybrid UN-AU mission in Darfur; the EU is assisting the AU in the building-up of its Stand-by Force and finances AU operations; the EU, the OSCE and NATO have for some time shared the burden of security management in the Balkans. As noted in a UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) document, “reinforcing interoperability with key partners […] can enhance cooperation and ensure that we maximise finite global peacekeeping resources”. Indeed, given the scope of crisis management needs, not least the UN overstretch, burden-sharing has become an imperative and its corollary, inter-institutional partnerships, equally central. Yet, the establishment of partnerships among international institutions is facing important political and technical difficulties that make the prospect for an interlocking system unlikely.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Globalization, International Cooperation, Peace Studies, Regional Cooperation, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kosovo, and United Nations

6673. Russia's Strategic Choice

Author:
Graeme P. Herd
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
In the wake of the global financial crisis, a debate over necessary policy responses morphed into something much more profound and fundamental – the sustainability of Russia's current governance model and its preferred longer-term modernization paradigm. On 10 September 2009 President Medvedev published a remarkably frank article entitled 'Russia, Forward!' This article noted that Russia's governance model appeared to be failing, proving vulnerable in the face of the global financial crisis. President Medvedev himself criticized Russia's 'humiliating' dependence on raw materials, as well as its 'inefficient economy, a semi-Soviet social sphere, an immature democracy, negative demographic trends, unstable Caucasus.' In his 12 November 2009 Message to the Federal Assembly, Medvedev elaborated further on this theme: Russia could either modernize or deteriorate; modernization would provide a touchstone for 'how we can overcome our chronic backwardness, dependence on raw materials exports, and corruption'. On 3 February 2010, the Institute for Contemporary Development (INSOR) published a report that received widespread coverage entitled 21st Century Russia: The Image of Tomorrow We Want. As President Medvedev had created INSOR in 2008 to give him independent advice on economic and foreign policy and sat as a trustee on its board, this report received widespread publicity. Such publicity was magnified as the report touched just about every exposed nerve by advocating that Russia should join NATO, end censorship, abolish the state security service, and adopt a Western-style democracy, entailing the separation of the courts from the state, of the legislative branch from the executive, horizontal modernization (characterized as the debureaucratization of the vertical top-down corrupt, over-regulated economic process)3. Without change, Russia faced a strategic cul de sac that leads to slow and steady strategic marginalization: 'In a few years, when it turns out that Russia has nothing to boast about except export supplies of raw materials at prices that are dictated to us, we will be exporting people. And, not only the cleverest like now, but any workers, who are in demand in Europe, as is happening today in Latvia, for example. I frankly do not know what Russia should do in this situation. This problem will be one of the main ones for the president who is elected in 2012
Topic:
Democratization, Global Recession, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Latvia

6674. Ten Years of Women, Peace and Security: Gaps and Challenges in Implementing Resolution 1325

Author:
Nils Goede and Swen Dornig
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute for Development and Peace
Abstract:
On 26 October 2010, the UN Security Council (SC) marked the 10th anniversary of Security Council resolution (SCR) 1325. With the adoption of SCR 1325, the SC recognised the disproportionate impact of armed conflicts on women and girls for the first time and further emphasized the decisive role of women in preventing conflicts and consolidating peace. At the time of its adoption, SCR 1325 was recognized as a major breakthrough for greater gender equality in the area of peace and security and the acceptance of women as active agents in conflict management. Three further SCRs – 1820, 1888 and 1889 – now strengthen the women, peace and security (WPS) framework.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Gender Issues, and War
Political Geography:
United Nations

6675. Energy Innovation Policy in Major Emerging Countries

Author:
Ruud Kempener
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
Over the past decade, the six BRIMCS countries— Brazil, Russia, India, Mexico, China, and South Africa—have become important global players in political and economic domains. In 2007, they were collectively responsible for a third of the world's energy consumption, driven by China's growing energy use. Despite their increasing significance in the world's energy sector, very little systematic analysis of their energy investments, innovation institutions, and energy innovation policies has taken place. The International Energy Agency (IEA) is one of the few agencies that have been collecting data on ERD investments, but none of the BRIMCS countries are members.
Topic:
Emerging Markets, Energy Policy, Oil, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
Russia, China, India, South Africa, Brazil, and Mexico

6676. Towards a Breakthrough for Deadlocked Climate Change Negotiations

Author:
Akihiro Sawa
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
With the gap between developed and developing nations remaining unclosed, post-Kyoto Protocol negotiations have run into rough waters: Developing countries insist that developed countries be committed to more ambitious targets for the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol and provide large amounts of financial or technological assistance to developing countries, while developed countries propose that financial and technological support be balanced with developing countries' mitigation actions and measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV).
Topic:
Climate Change, International Cooperation, and Treaties and Agreements

6677. The International Climate Change Regime: The Road from Copenhagen

Author:
Daniel Bodansky
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
The failure of the Copenhagen conference to adopt a new legal agreement on climate change is blamed by some on poor chairing or other transitory factors. But the problems with the UN climate-change negotiations are more fundamental and are unlikely to go away anytime soon. Rather than putting all of our eggs in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) basket or listening to the siren song of a new legal agreement, states should seek to address climate change in additional forums and through additional means.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Treaties and Agreements, and United Nations

6678. Addressing the UAE Natural Gas Crisis: Strategies for a Rational Energy Policy

Author:
Justin Dargin
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
Although it seems inconceivable, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is facing an enormous energy shortage. Much of the world views the UAE – and the rest of the Gulf countries by extension – as an inexhaustible reserve of hydrocarbons. However, as with many of the other Gulf countries, the UAE confronts a potentially far reaching energy crisis. Despite increased energy production and imported Qatari gas through the Dolphin natural gas pipeline, UAE domestic gas demand substantially exceeds available supply. This disparity created a shortfall met by an increasing use of fuel oil, natural gas liquids, and in certain circumstances, coal. But it is natural gas that continues to be the UAE's most important domestic energy source.
Topic:
Energy Policy and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
Middle East, Arabia, and Arab Countries

6679. The Carter Center News Spring 2010

Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
In 1986, when The Carter Center decided to take on the challenge of eradicating Guinea worm disease, outside observers probably believed success to be impossible. After all, there were 3.5 million cases of the disease spread across 20 countries in impoverished areas and no vaccine or medicine to stop the scourge. Not to mention that The Carter Center was a four-year-old organization with just a handful of staff.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Development, Diplomacy, Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Guinea

6680. Carter Center News Spring 2010

Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
Men and women around the world, many of whom live on less than a dollar a day, volunteer their time to knock on a neighbor's door to distribute medicines that prevent horrible diseases or sit watchfully at a polling station to ensure each person's vote is counted. Networks like these of active citizens across the globe are vital to the Carter Center's impact and reach.
Topic:
Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, Poverty, and Foreign Aid