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10951. Can You Help Me Now? Mobile Phones and Peacebuilding in Afghanistan

Author:
Sheldon Himelfarb
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
A decade ago, mobile phone usage in Afghanistan was almost nonexistent; now there are 13 million subscriptions for a total of 29 million citizens, and the annual growth rate of subscription is estimated at 53 percent. A number of factors have fueled this dramatic increase, including the sheer popular demand for communication, an absence of viable landline substitutes, government deregulation, and a competitive market that flourishes despite the conflict. Each of the major telecommunications companies in Afghanistan identifies the same five challenges to future expansion: poverty, high illiteracy rates, corruption, an untrained workforce, and lack of security. Despite these challenges, Afghanistan has proved an exceptional case study in the use of mobile phones for social change in support of peacebuilding, as it has been the focus of numerous pilot application programs conducted by the government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector. Mobile money transfer (MMT) applications have proved to be powerful mechanisms for helping to reduce corruption, foster security sector reform, and promote economic development. Yet neither the international community nor the Afghan government has shown the will or the capacity to move MMT programs forward at a pace commensurate with their demonstrated potential. At least two other high-value mobile applications were cited during the June summit as having improved conditions for stability and reconstruction in early deployments: the provision of market information through mobile phones, especially in the agricultural sector, and the use of mobile phones to strengthen local governance and civil society. Both applications have sufficient promise to warrant large-scale rollouts and merit careful consideration by international donors, whose support is vital during the transition to sustainability. Other applications on the horizon that hold tangible if still aspirational promise for peacebuilding are those that use mobile phones for land dispute resolution, election monitoring, and gender empowerment and education.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Peace Studies, Science and Technology, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Afghanistan

10952. Developing Technological Capabilities in Agro-Industry: Ghana's experience with fresh pinapple exports in comparative perspective

Author:
Lindsay Whitfield
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The economic policy agenda which promoted a non-interventionist state, trade openness, deregulation, liberalization and privatization as the formula for unleashing private sector productive forces in developing countries is discredited. The economic record of the past decades does not support this theory. Former proponents of the agenda acknowledge that the 'supply side' response of the private sector, especially in African countries, has not been what was expected in reaction to these economic reforms. Consensus is building on the need for industrial policy, and the debate is over what kinds of state interventions are likely to help build the private sector. Thus, the time is ripe for an evidence-based discussion of what is 'private sector development' in Africa, and how it promote it. In order to move the debate forward, we need more analyses of how actual existing industries are created, expanded and remain competitive in the contemporary global economic context.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Economics, and Globalization
Political Geography:
Africa

10953. Asian Economic Integration and Cooperation: Challenges and Ways Forward for Pan-Asian Regionalism

Author:
Durgesh K. Rai
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
As the Asian economies have grown larger and become more complex, they have also be-come more integrated at both the regional and the subregional level. Yet although economic integration has increased, regionalism in the sense of economic cooperation at both the pan-Asian and subregional levels has lagged behind. Regionalism or economic cooperation in terms of bilateral or multilateral FTAs is a relatively new phenomenon, but one that has in-creased rapidly in recent years. However, the progress of Asian regionalism faces several challenges. Also, the increasing number of FTAs could lead to a "spaghetti-bowl effect" and reduce trade volume instead of increasing it. In addition to resolving the existing challenges, actors in the region need to convert some of the existing FTAs into a broader one that can serve as a hub for further integration. Given the potential economic gains and future eco-nomic dynamism of the region, this paper suggests the pursuit of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia (CEPEA) rather than the East Asia Free Trade Area (EAFTA).
Topic:
Economics, Markets, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
East Asia and Asia

10954. Caught in the Middle: China and India in Sudan's Transition

Author:
Daniel Large and Luke Patey
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Sudan is at an important, historic moment. The upcoming referendum vote may very likely result in the South becoming an independent state. Since the landmark signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, China, and to a lesser extent India, have become even more important political and economic partners of the ruling National Congress Party in Khartoum. Generally, commentaries and studies covering China and India's relations with Sudan focus on their interactions with the central government in Khartoum. However, this paper finds that both have also followed a necessary hedging strategy by establishing quasi-diplomatic relations with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-run Government of Southern Sudan in Juba. Both have expanded economic and political relations beyond investment in Sudan's oil sector and beyond merely engaging Khartoum. Chinese and Indian engagement with the GOSS in Juba marks a major shift in policy from dealing exclusively with the central government. The adaptation of both to political developments, however, does not leave them invulnerable to present uncertainties revolving around Sudan's potential split. Due to its economic role in Sudan, China in particular is in a unique position to promote a peaceful transition.
Topic:
Democratization, Diplomacy, Peace Studies, Treaties and Agreements, Territorial Disputes, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Africa, China, Sudan, and India

10955. Registering Reporters: How Licensing of Journalists Threatens Independent Media

Author:
Steven Strasser
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
How should a society choose those who can be entrusted with the power of the news media? For a time after World War II, many developing countries emerging from colonialism thought they had the answer: Governments should license journalists to support the crucial work of forging modern national identities. In a world of violently competing political ideas, these governments carefully vetted those who would follow the correct line. Freedom of the press was considered an unaffordable luxury. New countries attempting to find stability inside and outside of their borders needed a press that promoted patriotism, unity, and strong government.
Topic:
Democratization, Third World, and Mass Media

10956. La influencia de los actores domésticos en la política exterior brasileña durante el gobierno de Lula da Silva La influencia de los actores domésticos en la política exterior brasileña durante el gobierno de Lula da Silva

Author:
Clarisa Giaccaglia
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
La preponderancia de la corriente realista en el ámbito de las relaciones internacionales relegó a un plano secundario la consideración de los factores domésticos en el análisis del comportamiento externo de un Estado. No obstante, a partir de la post-Guerra Fría, la preocupación por cuestiones internas ha ido en aumento. En el caso de Brasil, el advenimiento de la globalización y de la redemocratización en el plano regional hicieron que la política externa se tornase más permeable para la sociedad brasileña. Cabe entonces preguntarse: ¿quiénes son los principales agentes involucrados actualmente en la formulación y ejecución de la política exterior brasileña? ¿Qué factores políticos, sociales y económicos de la estructura doméstica influyen en el proceso de toma de decisiones?
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Democratization, and Globalization
Political Geography:
Brazil and Latin America

10957. La construcción de la nueva imagen china a través de los medios: análisis de la ceremonia de inauguración de los Juegos Olímpicos de Beijing y el desfile del 60 aniversario de la República Popular China

Author:
Daniel Lemus Delgado
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
El presente artículo analiza la ceremonia de inauguración de los XXIX Juegos Olímpicos de Beijing y el desfile conmemorativo del 60 Aniversario del establecimiento de la República Popular China. Estos eventos son parte de la estrategia del gobierno comunista para construir la imagen de una "Gran China". Este análisis parte de un enfoque constructivista de las Relaciones Internacionales. Por lo tanto, se asume que las identidades colectivas son importantes, porque contribuyen a moldear las estructuras materiales del escenario internacional. Así, estos eventos mediáticos fortalecen la identidad colectiva del pueblo chino y con ello, la posibilidad de que el Estado chino tenga cada día un rol más importante en la arena mundial.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Communism, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
China, Israel, and Asia

10958. Los soportes de la popularidad: cómo los columnistas refieren el caso del presidente Álvaro Uribe Vélez

Author:
Ana Cristina Vélez López
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
“Álvaro Uribe Vélez no deja de sorprender” afirma la mayoría de columnistas de la prensa colombiana, pues desde que llegó a la presidencia ha mostrado ser un mandatario que no sólo tiene un estilo original de gobernar, sino también, ser un presidente que mantiene índices de popularidad nunca antes vistos. ¿Cómo puede explicarse esto? ¿Qué dicen los periodistas y líderes de opinión? Este artículo pretende realizar un análisis de las columnas de opinión publicadas en los diarios y semanarios nacionales con el fin de explicar cuáles son los soportes de la popularidad de Uribe Vélez, quien a lo largo de su mandato ha logrado mantener la aceptación más alta entre todos los presidentes de la historia de Colombia.
Topic:
Government, Mass Media, and Governance
Political Geography:
Colombia

10959. The Charisma of Authenticity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Author:
Kasper Hoffmann
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to propose an analysis which discloses the various interdependencies that may exist between modes of objectifying the nation and the legitimacy of discursive strategies of nation-building in the context of a grave social conflict. The paper advances two interrelated arguments. Firstly, it argues that the order of conflict in the Congo is contingent on the strictly symbolic efficacy of myths of identity. Secondly it argues that the "charisma" of some of the country's "Big Men" is a related to what I call the democratization of sovereignty, and neither to their supposedly exceptional individual qualities nor to a specifically African "Big Man"-syndrome. I propose that while one must be critical of the Weberian notion of "charisma" as a sociological theory of prophecy, one can nonetheless use the notion of "charisma" as a tool to analyse symbolic properties that accrue to a specific individual and his followers, to the extent that they embody a subjectivity which is held as absolute by his, or their, proper discourse.
Topic:
Democratization
Political Geography:
Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo

10960. Betwixt and between – chiefs and reform of Sierra Leone's justice sector

Author:
Peter Albrecht
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
This paper discusses the uneasy role of chiefs within three cycles of security and justice reform in Sierra Leone during the past decade. Interaction has been indirect, by default or marginal, and always hesitant. This has been the case, even though chiefs constitute the most important governing institution in Sierra Leone's rural communities. One of the key tensions, I argue, has been the tendency to cast chiefs as state or non-state, respectively, or even as a hybrid between the two. However, as illustrated in this paper, while they are formally and discursively tied into a 'state system' in the Constitution and in legislation, they are subjected to limited oversight, and therefore govern in relative autonomy. A new program, designed in 2010, might help to transcend the state-non-state dichotomy and prepare the ground for a more productive way of engaging chiefs that do not fit into either a state or non-state category. This is done by focusing on which actors are actually providing security and justice, rather than who donors would prefer did it, i.e., the state.
Topic:
Security and Law
Political Geography:
Africa