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362. Iran’s Nuclear Endgame Warrants a Change in U.S. Strategy
- Author:
- Michael Singh
- Publication Date:
- 02-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- Recently, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency discovered that Iran had enriched uranium to a level just shy of what is generally considered weapons grade. Like many findings before it, this revelation underscores the need for a new U.S. and European policy toward Iran. The two most important and immediate steps in that process are clear by this point: Washington and its partners need to move on from any remaining plans they might have to resurrect the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), namely by activating that accord’s “snapback” mechanism; and governments must heighten their efforts to deter Iran through credible threats of military force.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, and JCPOA
- Political Geography:
- Iran, Middle East, and United States of America
363. Striking Back: Iran and the Rise of Asymmetric Drone Warfare in the Middle East
- Author:
- Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr.
- Publication Date:
- 02-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- Iranian drone strikes, as exemplified by the September 2019 attack against Saudi Aramco facilities, have jolted Middle East leaders and revealed Tehran’s long-range precision strike capabilities. The regime’s large and growing drone force, which can be used for reconnaissance or strike missions, now poses an existential threat to the Gulf states and a direct threat to Israel, as does its formidable missile force. Moreover, Iranian drones transferred to Russia have had a significant impact on Moscow’s war against Ukraine. In the bigger picture, advances in drone technology have produced an inflection point in aerial warfare—comparable to the introduction of manned flight more than a century ago—that has ended the guarantee of U.S. air superiority over its forces and bases. Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. explores the contours and consequences of Iran’s drone activities in this timely Policy Note. To counter the Islamic Republic, the former CENTCOM commander recommends an approach centered on clearer U.S. communication about its goals for the region, tighter collaboration with partners and allies, and enhanced efforts to counter Iran’s drone fleet, along with its ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, Drones, Military, and Asymmetric Warfare
- Political Geography:
- Iran, Middle East, Israel, United States of America, and Gulf Nations
364. Turkey’s Growing Ukrainian and Russian Communities
- Author:
- Sude Akgundogdu and Collin Trissel
- Publication Date:
- 06-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- Since the 1990s, Turkey has become a major destination for tourists and migrants from Ukraine, Russia, and other former Soviet states. Yet Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine set into motion an even greater wave of migrants from both countries. Those fleeing the crisis have used myriad channels to enter and remain in Turkey, from obtaining “golden visas” to applying for protection. Going forward, their presence could have a sizable effect on future socioeconomic ties between the three countries.
- Topic:
- Economics, Migration, Energy, and Russia-Ukraine War
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Middle East
365. After the February 6 Earthquakes: A Critical Overview of the Legal and Administrative Framework
- Author:
- Akif Burak Atlar
- Publication Date:
- 10-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- This brief assesses urban vulnerability to earthquake risk in relation to legal and administrative interventions that have occurred on building supervision, zoning amnesties and emergency management since the August 17, 1999 earthquake, and offers policy recommendations to reduce this vulnerability.
- Topic:
- Natural Disasters, Governance, Sustainability, and Earthquake
- Political Geography:
- Turkey and Middle East
366. Society and State in Turkey Between Two Disasters
- Author:
- Ulaş Bayraktar
- Publication Date:
- 10-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- This brief assesses the responses of the central government, municipalities, civil society organisations and grassroots communities in the aftermath of the 1999 and 2023 earthquakes in the context of the changes in Turkey’s political and administrative life between these two crises.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Natural Disasters, Governance, Sustainability, and Earthquake
- Political Geography:
- Turkey
367. The Responsibility of Business to Respect Human Rights
- Author:
- Özlem Zıngıl
- Publication Date:
- 11-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- This brief provides a frame of reference and recommendations on the responsibility of business to respect human rights, based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and current examples.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, United Nations, Business, Accountability, Transparency, and Labor Market
- Political Geography:
- Turkey and Middle East
368. The Impact of Digital Policy Tools on Local Democracy
- Author:
- Itır Akdoğan
- Publication Date:
- 12-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- This brief analyses how the digital policy tool My Purple Map, developed by TESEV in cooperation with UN Women Turkey and Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality, has impacted a local government and puts forward a number of recommendations as to how this impact can be further broadened for a stronger local democracy.
- Topic:
- United Nations, Democracy, Inequality, Digital Policy, and Gender
- Political Geography:
- Turkey and Middle East
369. Budget Brief: Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman
- Author:
- Avani Kapur, Sharad Pandey, and Madhur Sharma
- Publication Date:
- 02-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for Policy Research, India
- Abstract:
- The National Programme of PM POSHAN, previously known as the National Scheme for Mid-Day Meals in schools (MDM), is a scheme to provide one hot cooked meal in government and government-aided schools, with an aim to improve the nutritional status of students. This brief reports on trends for PM POSHAN performance along the following parameters: ■ Past trends in allocations, releases, and utilisation; ■ Coverage and provision of meals to students; and ■ Management Information System (MIS) and Automated Monitoring System (AMS).
- Topic:
- Education, Budget, and Students
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and India
370. Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana and Janani Suraksha Yojana
- Author:
- Avani Kapur, Tanya Rana, and Jenny Susan John
- Publication Date:
- 02-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for Policy Research, India
- Abstract:
- This brief reports on two maternity benefit schemes of the Government of India (GoI): a) Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) provides partial wage compensation to improve health-seeking behaviour of pregnant women and lactating mothers for two live births; and b) Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) incentivises institutional and safe delivery for reducing infant and maternal mortality. Using government data, this brief reports on: ■ Trends in finances; ■ Coverage and payments; and ■ Outcomes
- Topic:
- Public Policy, Public Health, Public Benefits, and Maternity
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and India
371. Budget Brief: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
- Author:
- Ria Kasliwal, Mridusmita Bordoloi, and Avani Kapur
- Publication Date:
- 02-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for Policy Research, India
- Abstract:
- Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is Government of India’s (GoI’s) flagship scheme to provide at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every rural household that demands work. Using government reported data, this brief reports on the trends for: ■ Allocations, releases, and expenditures; ■ Paid wages and delayed compensations; and ■ Employment demanded and provided
- Topic:
- Employment, Public Policy, and Rural
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and India
372. Budget Brief: Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0
- Author:
- Avani Kapur, Tanya Rana, and Ritwik Shukla
- Publication Date:
- 02-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for Policy Research, India
- Abstract:
- In Financial Year (FY) 2021-22, the Government of India (GoI) restructured the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), POSHAN (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) Abhiyaan, and the Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG) into Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, also known as Poshan 2.0. This brief uses government data to analyse: ■ Required funds, allocations, and releases; ■ Governance, including human resources; ■ Changes in coverage; and ■ Outcomes
- Topic:
- Governance, Budget, Public Policy, Human Resources, and Child Development
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and India
373. A Framework for Action for the Responsibility to Protect: A Resource for States
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 07-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- The Responsibility to Protect populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing has emerged as an important global principle since the adoption of the UN World Summit Outcome Document in 2005. Since the conception of R2P, individual states and regional organizations, the UN, civil society, and experts around the world have worked to establish what implementation of R2P and the prevention of mass atrocity crimes means in practice. The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect and the Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect have developed a guide for states on steps to take to protect populations from atrocity crimes, at home and abroad. “A Framework for Action for the Responsibility to Protect: A Resource for States” consolidates and builds upon existing expertise from published works and best practice from states, regional organizations and the UN on how to prevent and respond to atrocity crimes. We encourage all states to utilize this framework to assess gaps and identify opportunities to address atrocity risks in their own countries, as well as to understand options available for responding to risks in their region and around the world.
- Topic:
- International Law, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), Atrocity Prevention, and Risk Assessment
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
374. Future-proofing EU security and defence cooperation in the Indo-Pacific
- Author:
- Dylan Macchiarini Crosson, Stefania Benaglia, and Linus Vermeulen
- Publication Date:
- 12-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- Russia’s war against Ukraine has led policymakers to re-prioritise the European security architecture and the EU’s neighbourhood, including a positive reassessment of NATO’s role as a reliable security provider. As the transatlantic relationship and the Indo-Pacific are inherently intertwined, this once again highlights the imperative of the EU making the Indo-Pacific a strategic priority. This presents the EU with an opportunity to project its values, interests and power, though hampered at present by political infighting and the mushrooming of conflicts in and around Europe. Still, the time has come for the EU to assess how it should adjust its approach to Indo-Pacific security. How can the EU effectively strike a balance in security and defence cooperation with partners to uphold key principles of international law and order without endorsing the idea that ‘might makes right’ in the Indo-Pacific?
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, International Cooperation, International Law, and Defense Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Indo-Pacific
375. What should the EU do about violent extremism?
- Author:
- Dylan Macchiarini Crosson, Tatjana Stankovic, Pernille Rieker, and Steven Blockmans
- Publication Date:
- 07-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- Despite a recent spike in concern about a resurgence in great power conflict, addressing terrorism and violent extremism has driven the foreign policy debate in the collective West for the better part of two decades since 9/11. In the European Union, these concerns most prominently emerged in the 2003 European Security Strategy (ESS) that identified terrorism and “violent religious extremism” originating in the EU’s neighbourhood and caused by weak institutions, conflict, and state failure as a primary concern. The crux of the matter, however, is how this increased attention translates in policy terms. In other words, is the EU’s chosen CT-P/CVE policy mix balanced and fit for purpose? First, the EU’s CT-P/CVE action can hardly be framed according to a binary security versus democracy logic because of the significant emphasis placed by the EU on socio-economic development to address the structural causes of violent extremism. Second, despite the EU’s developmental focus, the language of good governance and peacebuilding, as well as funding for these areas, are key elements missing from the EU’s engagement. In order to remedy the many upstream and downstream diplomatic trade-offs that EU policymakers face in tackling violent extremism, the EU must begin to frame CT-P/CVE as part of its wider endeavour to support sustainable peace. It can do this by formulating an EU Agenda for Peace that once again underlines the EU’s commitment to promoting inclusive governance, community resilience, and social justice.
- Topic:
- Security, Diplomacy, Terrorism, Violent Extremism, European Union, and Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Europe
376. Playing the Long Game in the South China Sea
- Author:
- Andrew Mantong
- Publication Date:
- 11-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- In the South China Sea (SCS), as indeed the wider Indo-Pacific, the EU is facing a deepening strategic rivalry between China and the US. In the SCS, China has been able to create physical realities in defiance of international law by constructing artificial islands in the attempt to sustain its claims to the disputed Spratly and Paracel archipelagos as well as expand its military projection deep into international waters. The US is still the predominant security player in the Indo-Pacific, but its military presence has an increasingly hard time shoring up American power in the SCS. The security dilemma between the great powers is threatening rules-based multilateralism, which runs deep in the veins of the EU and to a great extent defines its international posture.
- Topic:
- Security, International Cooperation, International Law, European Union, Multilateralism, and ASEAN
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Asia, Indo-Pacific, and South China Sea
377. Patchwork procurement? How to bridge parallel initiatives in EU joint defence procurement
- Author:
- Cédric Lombaerts and Lucrezia Sala
- Publication Date:
- 07-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- The EU’s defence-industrial base was conceived during peacetime and, because of the ensuing market fragmentation, does not seem fit for purpose to deal with wartime. In an attempt to remedy this, the EU launched several parallel joint defence procurement initiatives (EDIRPA, EDIP, the three-track approach under the European Peace Facility). Between these initiatives, it is easy to lose sight of the forest in the trees of joint procurement. How do these parallel tracks of procurement tie in together? Are they not fragmenting collaborative procurement efforts even further? This CEPS Policy Brief sheds clarity on the interplay between these initiatives and suggests four pragmatic paths towards an overarching joint defence procurement framework while playing into the most salient deadlocks in joint defence procurement today.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, European Union, and Procurement
- Political Geography:
- Europe
378. Evaluating The Social and Economic Consequences of Global Warming On African Women
- Author:
- Eyesiere-Hope Essien
- Publication Date:
- 04-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS)
- Abstract:
- By Eyesiere-Hope Essien of the Climate Change Working Group Global warming is significantly impacting developing countries and the effects are far-reaching which is having a devastating impact on African women and their communities, leading to adverse social and economic consequences. Climate change has resulted in an increase in temperature, more extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and a decrease in water availability. As a result, African women are facing a growing number of challenges related to food insecurity, water scarcity, and healthcare access. They are at greater risk of poverty, displacement, and exploitation. These issues can be further exacerbated by a lack of access to education and employment opportunities. It is essential to understand the nature of these impacts and to take action to mitigate them and ensure African women have the resources and skills to adapt to the changing environment.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Development, Health, Water, Women, and Food Security
- Political Geography:
- Africa
379. Climate Change in Africa: What we know, what we don't, and where we should go from here
- Author:
- Eyesiere-Hope Essien and Lisa Jené
- Publication Date:
- 04-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS)
- Abstract:
- Climate change is taking a toll across the African continent. While the world is increasingly recognizing the various ways in which climate change is negatively impacting African communities—from decreased agricultural productivity to increased incidence of natural disasters and even to heightened conflict—there remains much we as a global community do not fully understand.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Climate Change, Natural Disasters, Conflict, and Productivity
- Political Geography:
- Africa
380. Can Alternative Sequencing of Actions Break the Deadlock in Implementing the Agreement on the Path to Normalization between Kosovo and Serbia?
- Author:
- Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
- Publication Date:
- 11-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
- Abstract:
- The dispute between Kosovo and Serbia remains a major challenge to the security, stability, and prosperity of the entire Western Balkans region. In particular, the Banjska terrorist attack carried out by Serb militants against the Kosovo Police on September 24, 2023 (with the support from Serbia’s state apparatus, as per the investigation of Kosovar authorities) underscores the pressing need for a sustainable resolution to the ongoing dispute between Kosovo and Serbia. The most promising path toward such a resolution lies in the full implementation of the Agreement on the Path to Normalization of Relations between Kosovo and Serbia (APN), which was verbally agreed in Brussels in February 2023, because the Serbian President Vucic refused to sign it.
- Topic:
- Security, Political stability, Normalization, and Disputes
- Political Geography:
- Eastern Europe, Kosovo, and Serbia