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17802. A Review of Major Regional Security Efforts in the Sahel
- Author:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- Increased attacks from militant Islamist groups in the Sahel coupled with cross-border challenges such as trafficking, migration, and displacement have prompted a series of regional and international security responses.
- Topic:
- Security, Migration, Regional Cooperation, Trafficking, and Displacement
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Mali, Chad, Mauritania, Sahel, and Niger
17803. Q&A with Kristin Smith (MAAS ’14): A Day in the Life of Beirut’s Cultural Attaché
- Author:
- Vicki Valosik and Kristin Smith
- Publication Date:
- 02-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
- Abstract:
- For Kristin Smith, MAAS alum and Cultural Affairs Officer for the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, culture and diplomacy go hand-in-hand. “My job is really using culture and art to bring people closer together,” Smith told the Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star at a U.S. Embassy event celebrating the Lebanese writer Khalil Gibran. “It’s not just about deepening our ties and getting to know each other on a cultural level though. If we have these similarities in [the arts], then perhaps that will lead to future cooperation in other ways.” During her time in the MA in Arab Studies program, Smith—who holds a BA in Near Eastern Languages and Civilization from Harvard—pursued an academic concentration in Culture and Society, managed a yoga studio, and served as a Public Diplomacy Fellow at the U.S. Consulate General in Casablanca. Following graduation, she joined the Foreign Service, serving in Taiwan before beginning her current position in 2017. Her portfolio as Cultural Affairs Officer covers five primary issues: arts and culture, non-formal education, academic outreach, interfaith and minority outreach, and alumni programming.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy, Culture, Language, and Arabic
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Lebanon, North America, Beirut, and United States of America
17804. Diplomacy and the Art of Storytelling
- Author:
- Isabel Roemer
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
- Abstract:
- A MAAS grad’s work at the intersection of diplomacy and cinematic arts is shaping American narratives and empowering storytellers around the globe. When people think about the tools of diplomatic engagement, narrative storytelling is not one that usually comes to mind. But for Rachel Gandin Mark, Program Director of the American Film Showcase (ASF)—the State Department’s film, television, and digital diplomacy program —the two go hand-in-hand. “I love thinking about how to incorporate entertainment, particularly story and character, into specific foreign policy strategies,” says Gandin Mark, who graduated from MAAS in 2003. “Some of our country’s biggest diplomatic challenges today stem from conflicting global narratives. Film and TV, when produced with authenticity and nuance, have the potential to complicate narratives and reveal a shared human experience.”
- Topic:
- Diplomacy, Culture, Media, and Film
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, North America, and United States of America
17805. Refugees and Water Security
- Author:
- Skylar Benedict
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
- Abstract:
- Examining the historic roots of Jordan’s water management policy. First, Jordan deals with natural water scarcity arising from the country’s arid semi-desert climate and seasonally fluctuating surface water sources. Second, Jordan currently depends on costly water projects such as the Disi Water Conveyance Project and the King Abdullah Canal to meet its municipal, agricultural, and industrial water needs. Third, the sudden influx of refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war has led to an increased strain on water resources. While realistic, this narrative’s exclusive focus on the present hardships obscures a much longer history of water management in Jordan—one characterized by successive political conflicts and increasingly centralized and unsustainable water extraction policies—that has equally contributed to the country’s current scarcity challenges.
- Topic:
- Environment, Water, Refugees, and Syrian War
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Syria, Jordan, and United States of America
17806. Mobilizing Memories
- Author:
- Carol Graham
- Publication Date:
- 04-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
- Abstract:
- Carol Madison Graham (MAAS ’81) was the first MAAS graduate to enter the United States Foreign Service. She reflects on how the 1984 embassy bombing in Beirut inspired her current work to strengthen the Foreign Service for future generations.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Violence, and Memoir
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Lebanon, North America, and United States of America
17807. Reflections from Singapore
- Author:
- ONG Keng Yong
- Publication Date:
- 04-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
- Abstract:
- Ambassador ONG Keng Yong, who graduated from MAAS in 1983, remembers his time in Washington and sheds light on Singapore’s “price taker” approach to foreign policy.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Higher Education
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Asia, Arab Countries, Singapore, and United States of America
17808. Renewable Energy in the Gulf Arab States
- Author:
- Aisha Al-Sarihi
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
- Abstract:
- Since the 2014 drop in oil prices, Gulf countries have begun to shift their attention toward renewables.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Development, Oil, Natural Resources, Gas, Economy, and Renewable Energy
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Arab Countries, and Gulf Nations
17809. New Law Hinders Public Diplomacy and Penalizes Palestinian Students
- Author:
- Kaylee Steck and Mohammed Alhammami
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
- Abstract:
- Last fall, Congress enacted a law that indirectly led to 29 young Arab leaders losing their scholarships to U.S.-accredited universities and dealt another blow to educational and cultural exchange programming, a critical part of U.S. public diplomacy efforts.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy, Government, Law, and Higher Education
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Palestine, North America, and United States of America
17810. Grassroots Diplomacy Matters More Than Ever
- Author:
- Kala Carruthers Azar
- Publication Date:
- 04-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
- Abstract:
- Alum Kala Carruthers Azar, who serves as Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, writes about the important role of people-to-people exchanges to American soft power.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Culture, and Soft Power
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, North America, Jordan, and United States of America
17811. Q&A with Her Excellency Hunaina Al Mughairy
- Author:
- Isabel Roemer
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
- Abstract:
- Her Excellency Hunaina Sultan Al Mughairy has served as the Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to the United States since 2005. In this role, she has applied her extensive expertise in business and diplomacy to advocate for free trade between the U.S. and Oman. As the first Arab woman appointed to serve as ambassador to the U.S., Her Excellency also strives to dispel misconceptions of Arab women. Prior to this position, Ambassador Al Mughairy worked for the Permanent Mission of the Sultanate of Oman to the United Nations, the Omani Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the Omani Center for Investment Promotion and Export Development. She also serves on the CCAS Board of Advisors and as Chair of the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center in Washington, D.C., an organization that focuses on building bridges between the American and Omani peoples.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Regional Cooperation, Bilateral Relations, and Peace
- Political Geography:
- North America, Oman, United States of America, and Gulf Nations
17812. A Unique Viewpoint on Diverse Landscapes
- Author:
- Uma Mencia
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
- Abstract:
- MAAS alum Uma Mencia shares how her career as an endurance horse racer has introduced her to new landscapes and peoples and given her a deeper connection with the natural world
- Topic:
- Environment, Sports, and Arabic
- Political Geography:
- North America, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, and Gulf Nations
17813. Serving Citizens Abroad in Times of War
- Author:
- Julie A. Eadeh
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
- Abstract:
- For MAAS alum Julie Eadeh, diplomacy is all about human relationships, whether building connections with local communities or helping Americans abroad in times of crisis.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, War, and Hezbollah
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Lebanon, North America, and United States of America
17814. Climate Change and the Syrian Conflict?
- Author:
- Marwa Daoudy
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
- Abstract:
- Over the past few decades, a new narrative has emerged that seeks to link climate change with political and social unrest. This idea of a climate-conflict nexus is similar to the “water wars” scenario of the 1990s, in which the media and some scholars predicted that water scarcity would be the major driver of inter-state conflict in the twenty-first century. More recently, this climateconflict narrative has been applied to the Syrian case. According to this logic, climate change caused the 2006-2010 drought in Syria, the drought caused agricultural failure, agricultural failure caused poverty, and the resulting displacement and discontent culminated with the 2011 uprising. My forthcoming book, The Origins of the Syrian Conflict: Climate Change and Human Security (Cambridge University Press, spring 2020) questions this line of reasoning, arguing that government policies were at the heart of Syria’s vulnerabilities in the buildup to the uprising. Although global warming is real and international action is urgently needed, climate change was not what was at the forefront of the minds of Syrians in 2011. Instead, most people were focused on a moral ideal: the end of repression and injustice.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, Water, Food Security, Inequality, Syrian War, and Revolution
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Syria
17815. Enhancing Development with New Teaching Approaches
- Author:
- Sima Aldardari
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
- Abstract:
- This summer I had a teaching opportunity like never before. I designed and taught a course in Lebanon on international development as part of an independent study with Prof. Fida Adely. The two-and-a-half-week course aimed to offer youth in Lebanon the base knowledge necessary for understanding a wider scope of development approaches and theories and the opportunity to engage with development professionals. The local organization Chams Network provided space and marketing for the class.
- Topic:
- Development, Education, and Water
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Lebanon, and Syria
17816. Training Georgetown’s Future Diplomats
- Author:
- Vicki Valosik
- Publication Date:
- 04-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
- Abstract:
- A certificate program at the School of Foreign Service offers theoretical knowledge and practical training for aspiring diplomats. According to Ambassador Barbara Bodine, Director of Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy (ISD), the skills needed by today’s aspiring diplomats haven’t changed significantly since the days when she was preparing for her own long and successful diplomatic career. “On one level, they will need the skills diplomats have always needed: the ability to understand and shape policy, to work comfortably globally, to be able to analyze a large amount of information, and—critically important—the ability to write,” she says. “At the same time,” adds Bodine, who served as Ambassador to Yemen from 1997 to 2001, “twenty-first century diplomats also need to be able to manage large amounts of data and comfortably move from a known issue, a comfortzone issue, to something new. They need to be able to extrapolate from past experience to a new experience without rigid templates.”
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Government, and Higher Education
- Political Geography:
- United States of America and North America
17817. MAAS Alum Builds Jordan’s First Windfarm
- Author:
- Diogo Bercito
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
- Abstract:
- MAAS alum Samer Judeh built Jordan’s first windfarm and catalyzed the country’s renewable energy industry.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, Natural Resources, and Renewable Energy
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Arab Countries, Egypt, and Jordan
17818. Human Rights Council Investigative Mechanisms and Mass Atrocity Prevention
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- Since the principle of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) was unanimously adopted at the 2005 UN World Summit, the international community has looked to the UN Security Council in New York to respond when a government has been unwilling or unable to protect its population from war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide or ethnic cleansing. Paragraphs 138-139 of the World Summit Outcome Document recognize the Security Council’s unique role with regard to upholding the international community’s responsibility to protect as the body primarily responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security. However, the Human Rights Council (HRC) and other Geneva-based mechanisms are also essential for preventing atrocity crimes. Since systematic or widespread human rights violations serve as early warning signs of possible atrocities, Geneva-based mechanisms are often the first to raise the alarm regarding situations where violations and abuses threaten to deepen or deteriorate. Such mechanisms play an important role in enabling the international community to assist states in preventing mass atrocities (R2P’s Pillar II) and respond in a timely and decisive manner to atrocity risks (Pillar III).
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Law, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), UN Security Council, and Atrocities
- Political Geography:
- United Nations and Global Focus
17819. R2P Monitor, Issue 48, 15 November 2019
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- R2P Monitor is a bimonthly bulletin applying the atrocity prevention lens to populations at risk of mass atrocities around the world. Issue 48 looks at developments in Afghanistan, China, Myanmar (Burma), Syria, Yemen, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali and Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Libya, South Sudan and Venezuela.
- Topic:
- Genocide, Human Rights, International Law, Conflict, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Atrocities
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, China, Libya, Yemen, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Venezuela, Burundi, Mali, Myanmar, South Sudan, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Burkina Faso
17820. Q&A: The International Court of Justice & the Genocide of the Rohingya
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- FACTSHEET | NOVEMBER 2019: Starting in October 2016 and then again in August 2017, Myanmar’s security forces engaged in so-called “clearance operations” against the Rohingya, a distinct Muslim ethnic minority, in Rakhine State, Myanmar. The operations, in particular those that started in August 2017, were characterized by brutal violence and serious human rights violations on a mass scale. Survivors report indiscriminate killings, rape and sexual violence, arbitrary detention, torture, beatings, and forced displacement. Reports have also shown that security forces were systematically planning for such an operation against the Rohingya even before the purported reason for the violence — retaliation for small scale attacks committed by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) — occurred. As a result, an estimated 745,000 people — mostly ethnic Rohingya — were forced to flee to Bangladesh. According to the UN Human Rights Council-mandated Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (FFM), the treatment of the Rohingya population during the “clearance operations” amounts to genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, the commission of which evokes specific obligations and responsibility under international law. In its final report, published in September 2019, the FFM concluded that “the State of Myanmar breached its obligation not to commit genocide” and found that Myanmar “continues to harbor genocidal intent” towards the Rohingya. On November 11, 2019, The Republic of The Gambia filed suit against Myanmar in the International Court of Justice (“ICJ”) for violating the Genocide Convention. This momentous lawsuit brings a critical focus to Myanmar’s responsibility as a state for genocide and compliments ongoing investigations into individual accountability. This fact sheet answers fundamental questions about the ICJ case, and seeks to clarify available avenues for justice for the crimes committed against the Rohingya population.
- Topic:
- Genocide, Human Rights, International Law, United Nations, State Violence, Atrocities, and International Court of Justice (ICJ)
- Political Geography:
- Asia, Southeast Asia, and Myanmar
17821. UN Human Rights Council Elections for 2020-2022 and the Responsibility to Protect
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- Today the UN General Assembly elected Armenia, Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Libya, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Namibia, Netherlands, Poland, Republic of Korea, Sudan and Venezuela to the Human Rights Council (HRC) for the 2020-2022 term. With the elections of Germany, Japan, Marshall Islands, Netherlands and Republic of Korea, 20 of the 47 Council members during 2020 will also be members of the Group of Friends of the Responsibility to Protect in Geneva.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Ethnic Cleansing, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Atrocities
- Political Geography:
- Japan, Sudan, Indonesia, Poland, Libya, Brazil, Germany, Armenia, United Nations, Venezuela, Korea, Netherlands, Mauritania, Namibia, and Marshall Islands
17822. R2P and Outcomes of the Human Rights Council’s 42nd Session
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- The 42nd regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) was held in Geneva between 9 and 27 September 2019. As the primary international human rights body, the HRC has the capacity to prevent and respond to mass atrocity crimes, as systematic violations and abuses of human rights can be an indicator of potential genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity or ethnic cleansing. The summary below highlights major outcomes from the 42nd session as they relate to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) populations from such crimes. As part of the session, the Netherlands delivered a statement on behalf of 53 members of the Group of Friends of R2P.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Transitional Justice, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), Atrocities, and UN Human Rights Council (HRC)
- Political Geography:
- Sudan, Yemen, Democratic Republic of the Congo, United Nations, Syria, Somalia, Burundi, Bolivia, Myanmar, and Central African Republic
17823. R2P Monitor, Issue 47, 15 September 2019
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- R2P Monitor is a bimonthly bulletin applying the atrocity prevention lens to populations at risk of mass atrocities around the world. Issue 47 looks at developments in Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Syria, Yemen, Cameroon, Mali and Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Nigeria and Venezuela.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, United Nations, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Atrocities
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, China, Libya, Yemen, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Venezuela, Nigeria, Burundi, Mali, Myanmar, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Burkina Faso
17824. R2P and Outcomes of the Human Rights Council’s 41st Session
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 07-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- The 41st regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) was held in Geneva between 24 June and 12 July 2019. As the primary international human rights body, the Human Rights Council has the capacity to prevent and respond to mass atrocity crimes, as systematic violations and abuses of human rights can be potential indicators of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity or ethnic cleansing. The summary below highlights major outcomes and relevant dialogues from the 41st session as they relate to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) populations from such crimes. As part of the session, the Netherlands and Rwanda delivered two statements on behalf of members of the Group of Friends of R2P.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Law, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), Atrocities, and UN Human Rights Council (HRC)
- Political Geography:
- Philippines, Democratic Republic of the Congo, United Nations, Syria, Netherlands, Rwanda, and Eritrea
17825. R2P Monitor, Issue 46, 15 July 2019
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 07-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- R2P Monitor is a bimonthly bulletin applying the Responsibility to Protect lens to populations at risk of mass atrocities around the world. Issue 46 looks at developments in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar (Burma), Syria, Yemen, Cameroon, Mali and Burkina Faso, Sudan, Central African Republic, Libya, Nigeria, South Sudan and Venezuela.
- Topic:
- Genocide, Human Rights, International Law, United Nations, Ethnic Cleansing, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Atrocities
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Venezuela, Nigeria, Mali, Myanmar, South Sudan, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Burkina Faso
17826. Summary of the Report of the UN Secretary-General on the Responsibility to Protect: Lessons Learned for Prevention
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- The eleventh report of the UN Secretary-General on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) emphasizes the important role of prevention. The report takes stock of a range of measures that individual states and the international community can undertake while upholding their preventive responsibilities based upon best practices since the adoption of R2P at the 2005 UN World Summit. While acknowledging a growing number of contemporary atrocity situations around the world, the Secretary-General cautions that “there is a growing gap between our words of commitment and the experience of protecting vulnerable populations.” The report offers a number of practical policy suggestions based upon experiences of the last decade and serves as a call to action for member states and international institutions.
- Topic:
- International Cooperation, International Law, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Atrocities
- Political Geography:
- United Nations and Global Focus
17827. 2020-2021 UN Security Council Elections and the Responsibility to Protect
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- Today, 7 June 2019, the United Nations General Assembly elected Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Viet Nam to the UN Security Council for the period of 2020-2021. With their election, 6 of the 15 members of the Council in 2020 will be “Friends of the Responsibility to Protect” – having appointed an R2P Focal Point and/or joined the Group of Friends of R2P in New York and Geneva.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Human Rights, Sovereignty, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), UN Security Council, and Atrocities
- Political Geography:
- Vietnam, Estonia, United Nations, Tunisia, Niger, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
17828. R2P Monitor, Issue 45, 15 May 2019
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- R2P Monitor is a bimonthly bulletin applying the Responsibility to Protect lens to populations at risk of mass atrocities around the world. Issue 45 looks at developments in Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Syria, Yemen, Cameroon, Nigeria, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Mali, South Sudan and Venezuela.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Human Rights, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Atrocities
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Israel, Yemen, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Palestine, Syria, Venezuela, Nigeria, Burundi, Mali, Myanmar, South Sudan, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Global Focus
17829. The Persecution of the Uighurs and Potential Crimes Against Humanity in China
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 04-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- The treatment of Uighurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region has increased concerns over the risk of widespread and systematic human rights abuses and violations in China. The government’s approach to combatting religious extremism has resulted in the arbitrary detention of up to one million Uighurs, severe restrictions on religious practice, and pervasive surveillance and control of the entire Muslim population of Xinjiang. A new joint policy brief by the Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect and the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect asserts that these policies may constitute crimes against humanity under international law. The policy brief provides an overview of China’s response to growing international pressure to halt the persecution of Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in the Xinjiang region and offers recommendations on how to comprehensively address these issues.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Law, Islam, Ethnicity, Freedom of Expression, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), Atrocities, and Crimes Against Humanity
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, and Xinjiang
17830. R2P and Outcomes of the Human Rights Council’s 40th Session
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- The 40th regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) was held in Geneva between 25 February and 22 March 2019. As the primary international human rights body, the Human Rights Council has the capacity to prevent and respond to mass atrocity crimes, as systematic violations and abuses of human rights can be potential indicators of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity or ethnic cleansing. The summary below highlights major outcomes and relevant dialogues from the 40th session as they relate to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) populations from such crimes. As part of the session, the Netherlands delivered a statement on behalf of members of the Group of Friends of R2P.
- Topic:
- International Law, State Violence, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), Atrocities, and UN Human Rights Council (HRC)
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, North Korea, Palestine, United Nations, Nicaragua, Syria, Myanmar, South Sudan, and Global Focus
17831. R2P Monitor, Issue 44, 15 March 2019
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- R2P Monitor is a bimonthly bulletin applying the Responsibility to Protect lens to populations at risk of mass atrocities around the world. Issue 44 looks at developments in Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Syria, Yemen, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan and Venezuela.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Law, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Atrocities
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Sudan, Israel, Yemen, Palestine, Syria, Venezuela, Nigeria, Myanmar, South Sudan, Cameroon, and Global Focus
17832. After 8 Years and 500,000 Dead, No ‘Normalization’ in Syria without Justice
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- Today, 15 March, marks eight years of deadly conflict in Syria. Since 2011 half a million people have been killed, 11.9 million have been displaced from their homes and 13 million remain in dire need of humanitarian assistance. As the conflict enters its ninth year and the prevailing media narrative is that the civil war is coming to an end, civilians in Syria still face the threat of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, International Law, Syrian War, Justice, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Atrocities
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Syria
17833. R2P Monitor, Issue 43, 15 January 2019
- Author:
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- R2P Monitor is a bimonthly bulletin applying the Responsibility to Protect lens to populations at risk of mass atrocities around the world. Issue 43 looks at developments in Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Myanmar (Burma), Syria, Yemen, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Nicaragua, Nigeria, South Sudan and Venezuela.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Law, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Atrocities
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Sudan, Israel, Yemen, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Palestine, Nicaragua, Syria, Nigeria, Burundi, Myanmar, South Sudan, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Global Focus
17834. “If Not Now, When?”: The Responsibility to Protect, the Fate of the Rohingya and the Future of Human Rights
- Author:
- Simon Adams
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Abstract:
- In this occasional paper from the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, Dr. Simon Adams tests the resilience of the international community’s commitment to defending human rights and upholding its Responsibility to Protect populations from genocide, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The paper highlights the failure to respond to patterns of discrimination that eventually led to a genocide in Myanmar (Burma) during 2017. But it also draws attention to other recent situations, such as in the Gambia, when the international community seized the moment to respond in a timely and decisive manner to an emerging threat of devastating conflict. In doing so, Adams emphasizes that even when bodies such as the UN Security Council appear paralyzed and inert, a mobilized international community can still act to prevent atrocities, protect vulnerable populations, and hold the perpetrators accountable.
- Topic:
- Genocide, Human Rights, International Law, Ethnic Cleansing, International Community, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), UN Security Council, and Atrocities
- Political Geography:
- Asia, Southeast Asia, and Myanmar
17835. Frontlines in Flux in Battle against African Militant Islamist Groups
- Author:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Publication Date:
- 07-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- A surge of attacks in the Sahel coupled with declines in activity by Boko Haram, ISIS, and al Shabaab reflect the constantly shifting threats posed by militant Islamist groups in Africa.
- Topic:
- Violent Extremism, ISIS, and Militant Islam
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Egypt, Somalia, Mali, and Sahel
17836. Record Number of Forcibly Displaced Africans Likely to Grow
- Author:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Publication Date:
- 07-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- With Africa's population expected to double by 2050, the rapid increase in the number of forcibly displaced Africans of the past decade will continue to expand unless key drivers are reversed.
- Topic:
- Migration, United Nations, Diaspora, and Displacement
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, South Sudan, and Central African Republic
17837. Myths about Human Trafficking in Africa
- Author:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Publication Date:
- 07-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- Human trafficking remains a significant problem in Africa, exploiting vulnerable individuals—children, women, and men—for forced labor as well as prostitution.
- Topic:
- United Nations, Labor Issues, Children, and Human Trafficking
- Political Geography:
- Africa, South Africa, North Africa, West Africa, and East Africa
17838. Timeline of South Sudan Peace Agreements and Violence
- Author:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- Despite multiple ceasefires and peace agreements signed since the conflict began in 2013, the humanitarian costs to the citizens of South Sudan continue to grow.
- Topic:
- Civil War, Humanitarian Intervention, Negotiation, Violence, and Peace
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Sudan, East Africa, South Sudan, and Central Africa
17839. African Migrant Flows Reshaping Security Challenges in Africa
- Author:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- The dynamism of clandestine African migration flows continues to present criminal and violent extremist groups opportunities for exploitation.
- Topic:
- Migration, United Nations, Diaspora, Violent Extremism, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, and Southern Europe
17840. Affluence, Risk and Community Engagement: The Case of Ascon and Huntington Beach
- Author:
- David P. Adams, Meriem Doucette, and Justin Tucker
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- California Journal of Politics and Policy
- Institution:
- Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- This paper explores the engagement and mobilization of an affluent community in relation to a known environmental hazard. It extends our understanding of individual responses to environmental risk and provides at least one response to the long-unanswered question: how would affluent communities respond to hazardous sites? Despite the contention that these resource-rich communities will respond differently than the less affluent communities that traditionally have these environmental hazards, we find no meaningful difference in their mobilization and engagement. Despite their perception of risk associated with the Ascon landfill in Huntington Beach and relatively little trust in government to clean up the site, the community is largely unwilling to engage in activities related to site cleanup. This is an important contribution to our understanding of what generates individual action for environmental hazards and compels us to re-examine our understanding of what (if any) role socio-economic status plays in an individual’s response.
- Topic:
- Environment, Health, and Public Health
- Political Geography:
- United States and California
17841. Improving Transfer in California: Trial and Error in Statewide Reform and Local Implementation
- Author:
- Andrea Venezia and Su Jin Gatlin Jez
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- California Journal of Politics and Policy
- Institution:
- Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- California’s community colleges play a wide range of crucial roles in providing educational opportunities for state residents, including providing transfer for students to four-year universities. Transfer students represent about half of each entering class in the California State University System (CSU) and almost one-third in the University of California. In 2010, California enacted legislation to streamline transfer from community college to the state’s four-year universities by creating a new transfer degree. It was implemented in 2012. This study examined how students experience policies and practices related to transfer from community college to California State University in the context of the new degree. Key findings reveal that, although there are improvements, capacity within the CSU and other factors have kept transfer complex and confusing for most transfer students. Major implications are that the state and systems need to continue to simplify the transfer process and strengthen supports for students.
- Topic:
- Education and Governance
- Political Geography:
- United States and California
17842. Transitory Legality: The Health Implication of Ending DACA
- Author:
- Marie L. Mallet and Lisa Garcia Bedolla
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- California Journal of Politics and Policy
- Institution:
- Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- This paper examines the effects of the rescission announcement of the DACA program on the health outcomes of Latino DACA recipients in California. Research shows that undocumented immigrants face poorer health outcomes than their documented counterparts and U.S. citizens, and that being offered legal status (e.g. DACA) considerably improves their health outcomes. Even though studies have examined the impact of shifting legal status on incorporation, to our knowledge no studies have considered the effects of announcing the rescission of the DACA program on its recipients. However, this is important because it may have implications on their health outcomes. This study addresses this gap by using in-depth interviews with 43 Latino DACA recipients living in the California San Francisco Bay Area in 2017 and 2018. Our findings suggest that rescission announcement of DACA has led to worsening health outcomes for DACA recipients. Specifically, we find that it created what we call a state of transitory legality among the 1.5 generation, which causes DACA recipients to experience health outcomes that are worse than those before DACA. Our results are important in the field of sociology, public policy and heath care because they show the negative effects of reversing inclusionary immigration policies on the health outcomes of undocumented Latino immigrants.
- Topic:
- Health, Immigration, Citizenship, Immigrants, and Public Health
- Political Geography:
- United States and California
17843. Examining Racist Nativist Microagressions on DACAmented College Students in the Trump Era
- Author:
- Valerie Gomez and Lindsay Perez Huber
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- California Journal of Politics and Policy
- Institution:
- Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- Within public discourses of immigration, immigrant Communities of Color are increasingly targeted by expressions of racist nativism—a form of racism that has historically targeted Latinx communities that is based upon real or perceived immigrant status that in turn, assigns a foreign identity that justifies subordinating practices and policies. Beginning with his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has advanced racist nativist discourse that framed undocumented Latinx immigrants as “invaders” and “criminals.” This paper examines how these discourses impact Latinx DACAmented college students through their experiences with racist nativist microaggressions within and beyond their college campuses. Findings indicate these students are targeted by this type of microaggression, shaped by the anti-immigrant and anti-Latinx political discourses that the Trump administration advocates. Analysis of 10 in-depth interviews with Latinx DACAmented college students reveals that as a result of Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, students are becoming more fearful and uncertain of their future. Even still, we found students felt empowered to resist this racism, remain resilient, and maintain a sense of hope.
- Topic:
- Political Violence, Immigrants, and Far Right
- Political Geography:
- United States and California
17844. Exploring Undocumented Students' Understandings of the Role of Higher Education during the Trump Era
- Author:
- Karina Santellano
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- California Journal of Politics and Policy
- Institution:
- Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- Law pertaining to immigrants is conceptualized as legal violence (Menjívar and Abrego 2012). Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an executive policy with an uncertain future under the Trump administration. In California, many DACA beneficiaries are students at public colleges and universities. This paper conceptualizes DACA as another form of legal violence and draws from 30 in-depth interviews with undocumented students to explore the ways in which undocumented students believe the role of their college/university is to mitigate the legal violence stemming from the liminality of DACA. Some participants believe their colleges/universities should provide safety, specifically via the designation of sanctuary campus status for its symbolic importance, others believe their colleges have a responsibility beyond intellectualism sharing they should be progressive leaders against xenophobia, while others expressed cynicism, describing institutions of higher education as corporations interested in their brand rather than in being immigrant rights advocates on behalf of their students. This study serves as a way for institutions of higher education to learn how undocumented students perceive their roles and duties. At the end of this paper, the author suggests how colleges and universities can work towards mitigating legal violence in the lives of undocumented students.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Immigration, Law, Immigrants, and Higher Education
- Political Geography:
- United States and California
17845. DACA, DAPA, and Discretionary Executive Power: Immigrants Outside the Law
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- California Journal of Politics and Policy
- Institution:
- Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- In June 2012, President Barack Obama announced the creation of DACA, a program which instructed executive branch officials to exercise their administrative discretion to defer the deportation of eligible applicants. Two years later, in November 2014, President Obama announced the DAPA program, which expanded DACA and extended this exercise of discretion to parents of U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Both announcements were met by controversy. Critics charged that, by altering the legal regime from one in which undocumented immigrants were to be deported to one of “executive amnesty,” President Obama exceeded his authority, turning him into an “emperor” or a “king.” The President’s supporters insisted, rather, that President Obama was acting fully within his executive authority. Understanding this debate requires one both to delve into the complicated legal context, and to look beyond legal doctrine. The controversy reflected broader concerns about discretionary executive power and the law, linked to anxiety regarding the sovereign’s head of state as “he who decides on the state of exception.” It also derived from specific concerns about President Obama as the embodiment of the sovereign: his racialized body, depicted as illegitimate and foreign, furthered the perception of his policies as illegal. Lastly, the fact that undocumented immigrants are not perceived as members of the body politic helped to produce this vision of DACA and DAPA as lawless action. In this telling, the sovereign actor, the beneficiaries of his action, and the act itself were all cast as illegitimate through a mutually reinforcing logic; all were exceptions that stood “outside the law.”
- Topic:
- Race, Immigration, Law, Citizenship, and Immigrants
- Political Geography:
- United States and California
17846. Alaska: Arctic Groundhog Day
- Author:
- Glenn Wright and Tasha Elizarde
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- California Journal of Politics and Policy
- Institution:
- Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- Since the early 1980s, Alaska has relied on oil taxes for almost all of its state government revenue. Like many resource-based economies, including many of the Western states, the result is a boom and bust economy. With production declining and the price of Alaska’s North Slope crude around $75 per barrel, the state is in a bust cycle, with a large state government deficit. Although Alaska is experiencing a somewhat improved revenue outlook compared to 2017, the state’s executive and legislative branches continue to wrestle with unpopular political choices; do we implement a state income tax, tap the state’s Permanent Fund sovereign wealth fund (and thereby reduce or eliminate Alaska’s annual Permanent Fund Dividend payment to Alaskan residents), or some combination of those two approaches? In Spring 2018, the Alaska State Legislature—supported by Independent Governor Bill Walker—chose the first of these options, tapping Alaska’s Permanent Fund to fund state government operations for the first time. The result is a dramatically improved fiscal position for 2019, and although the state remains in deficit, chances of a balanced budget are much improved. Use of the Permanent Fund has not been popular, however; a number of incumbents who supported the use Permanent Fund earnings were defeated in November 2018 by opponents who campaigned on the issue. At the moment, Alaska’s fiscal future remains in doubt.
- Topic:
- Governance, Budget, Economic Policy, and Fiscal Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States and Alaska
17847. Arizona: #RedforEd -- Governor Ducey Forced to Invest in Education
- Author:
- David Wells
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- California Journal of Politics and Policy
- Institution:
- Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- The FY2019 budget saw the country’s largest movement of teachers descend on the state capital and force Governor Doug Ducey to scramble to save his re-election prospects. Gradually growing through social media, the #RedforEd movement culminated with 50,000 teachers and supporters walking out of classrooms and descending onto the Capitol grounds. Gov. Ducey deftly rose to the occasion from his initial one percent raise to a 20 percent raise by FY2021 before the walkout commenced, moving the pressure to legislators to seal the deal, which they did on May 3, 2018. Stronger revenue growth than prior years enabled the governor and Legislature to find the necessary funds.
- Topic:
- Education, Fiscal Policy, and State Funding
- Political Geography:
- United States and Arizona
17848. California: Brown's Last Budget Hurrah
- Author:
- Brian DiSarro and Wesley Hussey
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- California Journal of Politics and Policy
- Institution:
- Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- California passed a 2018‒2019 budget with record budget surpluses as the state attention shifted to the upcoming 2018 election. This was Jerry Brown’s final budget after sixteen years as governor, a state record. Brown was concerned the state’s volatile income tax revenues might not hold up during a future recession and wanted to store as much of the surplus away in the state’s emergency “rainy-day” fund. Continuing the annual pattern, Democratic legislators wanted to spend some of the surplus on social services, including the increasing problems of homelessness and affordable housing. In addition, legislators began to address the long-ignored problem of sexual harassment in the capitol and was on the front line of the #MeToo movement, leading several legislators to resign. Democrats did well in the November elections, leading to an even bluer California.
- Topic:
- Governance, Budget, and State Funding
- Political Geography:
- United States and California
17849. Hawaii: Priced Out of Paradise
- Author:
- Colin D. Moore
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- California Journal of Politics and Policy
- Institution:
- Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- Hawaii adopted a state budget that authorizes $14.3 billion in spending for FY2019. The Aloha State’s economy continues to benefit from record-breaking tourist numbers and robust federal military spending. Although the state’s unemployment rate is among the lowest ever recorded for any state in the nation, the cost of housing has made it increasingly difficult for working families to purchase a home. Tax revenues are strong, but they remain very dependent on the tourism industry. Hawaii also faces huge liabilities for pension and health care payments that are promised to retired state employees.
- Topic:
- Governance, Health Care Policy, Budget, and State Funding
- Political Geography:
- United States and California
17850. New Mexico: The Lost Decade
- Author:
- Kim Seckler
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- California Journal of Politics and Policy
- Institution:
- Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- In January 2018, the New Mexico State Legislature convened for its regular session, a thirty day budget session, per its constitutional mandate. Thirty days later the legislative session ended quietly and the state of New Mexico closed the book on the great recession and a decade of financial and political strife. The 2018 legislature passed a $6.38 billion dollar budget, re-supplied dangerously low general fund reserves, and provided small raises to teachers and state employees. Oil and gas revenues are up, unemployment is slowly coming down and legislative-executive political battles have muted. The balanced budget, signed by the governor in early March, brings the state back to where it began almost 10 years before, leading one observer to refer to the time as the “lost decade in New Mexico” (Cole 2018).
- Topic:
- Governance, Budget, and Fiscal Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States and New Mexico
17851. Oregon: Progressive Agenda, Yet Facing Great Fiscal Risks
- Author:
- Mark Henkels and Brent S. Steel
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- California Journal of Politics and Policy
- Institution:
- Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- The 2018 midterm elections strengthened the Democrats’ control of Oregon’s state government. Governor Kate Brown won re-election with 50percent of the vote defeating moderate Republican Knute Buehler with 46.6percent of the vote. Democrats also increased their seats in both the House and Senate, leading to super majorities in both houses. Governor Brown and the Democrats in Salem have taken fairly strong progressive policy stances in 2017 and 2018, particularly opposing President Trump’s immigration and marijuana policies, reinforcing the West Coast carbon-reduction pattern, and strongly supporting health care coverage expansion. With a booming economy and unemployment at record lows, the state seems to be able to deliver on its progressive agenda for the 2017-19 biennium, but funding progressive policies in the future will be a challenge for the governor for a variety of reasons. The fate of this progressive vision depends on five elements: (1) the continuation of the favorable economy and the corresponding revenue growth in the approaching budget cycle; (2) the ability to manage the ongoing taxing and spending structures that include major obligations for the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS); (3) the constraints of ongoing dependency on income taxes; (4) the vicissitudes of Trump era politics and policy with declining federal funds; and (5) continued public support for expansive public policies.
- Topic:
- Governance, Domestic Politics, and Fiscal Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States and Oregon
17852. Washington: Education, Carbon, and Taxes Oh My!
- Author:
- Erin Richards, Michael Artime, and Francis Benjamin
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- California Journal of Politics and Policy
- Institution:
- Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
- Abstract:
- As a state that overwhelmingly relies on sales tax revenue, Washington benefitted from a strong economy in 2018. However, that revenue was necessary as the state faced a court ordered deadline to fully fund K-12 education, and a need to address transportation, mental health, and a capital budget held over from the 2017 session. This is all in addition to creating a new Department of Children, Youth and Families. The state government was under unified government for the first time since 2012 which may have contributed to the state completing its work in a supplemental budget year on time and adjourning by the March deadline.
- Topic:
- Budget, Tax Systems, and Economic Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States and Washington
17853. Gossip, Corporate Reputation, and the 1905 Life Insurance Scandal in New York
- Author:
- Oenone Kubie, Rebecca Orr, Mara Keire, and Christopher McKenna
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Case Study
- Institution:
- Oxford Centre for Global History
- Abstract:
- On the evening of 31 January 1905, six hundred of the richest and most powerful members of New York society descended on Sherry’s Hotel dressed in extravagant costumes designed to resemble the court of the French King, Louis XV. The wealth on display was astounding. Pearls, emeralds, turquoise, and diamonds abounded. Mrs Potter Palmer, the queen of Chicago society, appeared dressed in a diamond tiara, diamond choker, and diamond breastplates. Mrs Clarence Mackay, wife of the chairman of the Postal Telegraph Company and a suffragist, wore a gold and turquoise crown and the train of her dress was so long, that despite the help of her two pages, she was forced to sit out the dancing.
- Topic:
- International Trade and Finance, History, Capitalism, and Multinational Corporations
- Political Geography:
- United States, New York, France, and Global Focus
17854. Nestlé’s Corporate Reputation and the Long History of Infant Formula
- Author:
- Lola Wilhelm, Oenone Kubie, and Christopher McKenna
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Case Study
- Institution:
- Oxford Centre for Global History
- Abstract:
- The demand for infant formula in Australia is insatiable. Bare shelves have led supermarkets and chemists to ration sales, limiting the quantity customers can buy in a single transaction. But it’s not Australian parents fuelling the formula shortages. A high proportion, between fifty and ninety percent, of all Australian infant formula is exported to China. The situation has created tensions between the two countries. Australian shoppers complain of Chinese daigou (personal shoppers) buying formula before it is even stacked on shelves and stripping supermarkets in teams of people. In April 2019, eight people were arrested in Australia for stealing over a million dollars of infant formula in Sydney to sell in China. Two months later, Chinese military personnel were photographed loading boxes of formula onto a Chinese warship before departing Sydney Harbour.
- Topic:
- Economics, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, History, Capitalism, and Multinational Corporations
- Political Geography:
- China, Australia, and Global Focus
17855. The Birth of the Modern Chinese Banking Industry: Ri Sheng Chang
- Author:
- Vivid Lam, Oenone Kubie, and Christopher McKenna
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Case Study
- Institution:
- Oxford Centre for Global History
- Abstract:
- Pingyao (平遥) is a remote place for a tourist attraction. Located in the centre of Shanxi province, it is some 380 miles from Beijing and further from Shanghai or Hong Kong where the tourists tend to congregate. Yet, despite the isolation, come they do to Pingyao. The nearest airport to Pingyao is in Tiayuan, over one hundred kilometres away, so most visitors arrive by coach or by train; along the poorly paved streets and past the decaying houses until they arrive in the middle of the city. Here the tourists disembark from their coaches and their trains and find themselves transported to the days of the Qing dynasty emperors, surrounded by imperial architecture. The tourists wander slowly towards West Street. This is the home of the most popular attraction: the headquarters of Ri Sheng Chang (日昇), a late Qing company which revolutionised Chinese banking, now a museum and an increasingly busy tourist attraction. This is the story of how it came to be and how the little city in a small province in China rose to prominence, became the financial centre of the world’s largest economy, fell to obscurity and, now, rises again.
- Topic:
- Development, International Trade and Finance, History, Capitalism, and Global Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
17856. The Hudson's Bay Company: Royal Charters, Rivalries and Luxury Hats in the North American Fur Trade
- Author:
- Jason Saldanha, James Haworth, and Christopher McKenna
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Case Study
- Institution:
- Oxford Centre for Global History
- Abstract:
- French fur traders Médard Chouart des Groseilliers and Pierre-Esprit Radisson sensed an opportunity in the mid-1650s. During their travels within a North American trade network stretching from Montreal to the Great Lakes, the pair had heard rumours from indigenous Cree communities of a “frozen sea”: a region rich in beaver furs further to the north. The resourceful traders, aware of the European demand for luxury felt hats made from these furs, set out to explore. The two traders were not disappointed upon their arrival at the vast inland sea of Hudson Bay, discovering an abundance of high-quality furs. They quickly identified numerous rivers running from the basin that offered valuable access to the continent’s interior: if a shipping route could be forged from these locations, across the Atlantic and finally to European markets, the Hudson Bay region could re-centre the entire North American fur trade. After failing to obtain French support to establish a trading post in the area – and getting arrested upon their return to Montreal for trading without a licence – Des Groseilliers and Radisson found themselves courting English favour for their venture.
- Topic:
- International Trade and Finance, History, Capitalism, Commodities, and Trade Liberalization
- Political Geography:
- United States, New York, Canada, Quebec City, and Global Focus
17857. The Boom and the Busts: Mendocino County's Agricultural Revolution
- Author:
- Charlie Harris and Christopher McKenna
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Case Study
- Institution:
- Oxford Centre for Global History
- Abstract:
- California’s Mendocino County is a single-industry economy. Arriving in the sixties, marijuana cultivation gained a momentum in Mendocino that local government eventually began perceive as unstoppable, filling an economic void once occupied by lumber and fishing. Remote, permissive, boasting near-perfect outdoor growing conditions and conveniently situated between San Francisco and Portland, Oregon – two cities with something of a reputation for the consumption (and nationwide distribution) of marijuana. This convergence of assets, along with the benefit of timing, have led Mendocino County to draw growers – whether seasoned professionals or hopeful amateurs – from all over the world.
- Topic:
- Economics, History, Capitalism, Economic Growth, and Economic Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States and California
17858. The Complex and Growing Threat of Militant Islamist Groups in the Sahel
- Author:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Publication Date:
- 02-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- The escalation of violent events linked to militant Islamist groups in the Sahel reflects an array of diverse actors operating within distinct geographic concentrations.
- Topic:
- Regional Cooperation, Violent Extremism, and Militant Islam
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Mali, Sahel, Niger, and Burkina Faso
17859. THE EFFECTS OF THE SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS ON THE EU THROUGH THE LENS OF SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM: THE CASES OF GERMANY AND HUNGARY
- Author:
- Derya BÜYÜKTANIR Karacan
- Publication Date:
- 02-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Alternative Politics
- Institution:
- Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
- Abstract:
- This paper focuses on the Syrian refugee crisis, which incurred a variety of negative social and economic impacts upon many countries in the Middle East, as well as in Europe. The aim of this study is to analyze the divergent attitudes of Germany and Hungary in the face of Syrian refugee crisis and the diversity of measures that these countries have adopted to tackle the refugee problem. The cases are analyzed through social constructivism, which focuses mainly on how the agents and structures mutually construct each other and on identities, norms, and interests without wandering away completely from the rational standpoint. The main conclusions of this study show that the refugees are perceived differently in Germany and Hungary. Conclusions also demonstrate that the Europeans and the refugees resulted in a new and an unexpected learning experience, and enabled changes for both sides. The findings also reveal that the gap between the attitudes of the leaders of different European countries for the refugees remained significant. The change due to incorporation of the refugees into European societies and the differing attitudes of their leaders affected both domestic and international politics in Europe among countries that accepted different numbers of Syrian refugees.
- Topic:
- Migration, Immigration, Refugee Crisis, Europe Union, and Political outlook
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Germany, Hungary, Berlin, Central Europe, and Budapest
17860. PARADOXICAL PERCEPTIONS ON SYRIANS’ FORCED MIGRATION TO TURKEY: A CASE STUDY OF ISTANBUL MUHTARS
- Author:
- H. Deniz GENÇ and Merve ÖZDEMİRKIRAN-EMBEL
- Publication Date:
- 02-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Alternative Politics
- Institution:
- Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
- Abstract:
- As one of Syria’s neighbors, Turkey has become a refuge for more than 3.5 million forced Syrian migrants. Though many of them are living in Turkey’s border cities, in or around the refugee camps, many others have already dispersed to other cities. Among these cities, Istanbul has the largest Syrian community. Drawing on a qualitative field work in Istanbul’s neighborhoods, this study explores the Syrian migration to Istanbul and reports the attitudes towards this movement of the local neighborhood and village headmen, known as muhtars in the Turkish local administrative system. As the study shows, their attitudes towards forced Syrian migrants are paradoxical, marked both by feelings of disturbance, worry and uneasiness, and at the same time welcome and support. The study concludes by discussing historical and cultural reasons for these paradoxical attitudes by relating them to the understanding of hospitality in Turkish society to show how socio-psychological explanations of attitude formation towards Syria’s forced migrants seem more appropriate.
- Topic:
- Migration, Regional Cooperation, United Nations, Diaspora, and Refugees
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, Middle East, Asia, Istanbul, Syria, and Ankara
17861. TURKISH MEDIA’S RESPONSE TO THE 2015 ‘REFUGEE CRISIS’
- Author:
- Fulya MEMİŞOĞLU and H. Çağlar BAŞOL
- Publication Date:
- 02-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Alternative Politics
- Institution:
- Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
- Abstract:
- In 2015 the forced displacement of Syrians entered a new phase with the sharp rise in the numbers of refugees arriving at Europe’s shores mainly through the Eastern Mediterranean route. Grabbing widespread media and public attention, this unprecedent refugee influx and its surrounding events are commonly dubbed as ‘Europe’s refugee crisis’, which as some scholars highlight, is a ‘re-contextualised’ version of already existing processes of politicisation and mediatisation of immigration. This paper intends to contribute to the debate on ‘mediatisation of refugee crisis’ by giving an insight on the role of Turkish media in telling its readers what to think about the ‘refugee crisis’ during this period of particular significance. The paper relies on a content analysis of front-page articles from three Turkish newspapers (Birgün, Hürriyet and Yeni Akit) between July and November 2015. By limiting our analysis to ‘small data’, we look closely how these newspapers on different sides of the political spectrum react to the spread of the refugee crisis to Europe and its implications on Turkey. We highlight the type of coverage and the definition of issues in this particular media content. Overall, we find that the highly mediatised coverage of the Aylan Kurdi incident triggered a significant discursive shift as it has in other national contexts. While all the three newspapers –regardless of ideological stance– were responsive to the spread of the refugee crisis into Europe, news coverage about topics such as socio-economic vulnerabilities of refugees, issues of legal status and social integration in the domestic context was minimal within our period of analysis. We also assert that the way the three newspapers frame the ‘refugee crisis’ especially in relation to domestic or foreign politics shows significant variation. While we find that issues related to border security and border violations received the most intense coverage during the analysis period, we highlight that the coverage is embedded in a humanitarian narrative rather than a security narrative.
- Topic:
- Migration, United Nations, Mass Media, Diaspora, European Union, Media, and Refugee Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, Middle East, Asia, and Syria
17862. TWO DIMENSIONS OF INTERPERSONAL TOLERANCE: THEIR PREVALENCE AND ETIOLOGY IN WORLD CIVILIZATIONS
- Author:
- Murat İNAN
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Alternative Politics
- Institution:
- Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
- Abstract:
- This research provides three additional insights into the concept of tolerance. First, it provides empirical insights to the previous research, distinguishing between two dimensions of tolerance; political tolerance and social tolerance. Second, it investigates the extent these two dimensions of tolerance prevail in different civilizations in the world. Third, it shows how etiology of tolerance differs across civilizations. In short, this research shows that tolerance of national and religious groups differs from tolerance of social groups in both kind and degree and investigates to what extent the prevalence and etiology of these two dimensions of tolerance differ across civilizations. In this research time series evidence from subsequent rounds of the World Values Survey (WVS) for over seventy countries are analysed using Ordered Probit models.
- Topic:
- Nationalism, Religion, Social Movement, and Tolerance
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
17863. Weary Warriors: Power Knowledge and the Invisible Wounds of Soldiers
- Author:
- Pamela Moss and Michael J. Prince
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Berghahn Books
- Abstract:
- As seen in military documents, medical journals, novels, films, television shows, and memoirs, soldiers’ invisible wounds are not innate cracks in individual psyches that break under the stress of war. Instead, the generation of weary warriors is caught up in wider social and political networks and institutions—families, activist groups, government bureaucracies, welfare state programs—mediated through a military hierarchy, psychiatry rooted in mind-body sciences, and various cultural constructs of masculinity. This book offers a history of military psychiatry from the American Civil War to the latest Afghanistan conflict. The authors trace the effects of power and knowledge in relation to the emotional and psychological trauma that shapes soldiers’ bodies, minds, and souls, developing an extensive account of the emergence, diagnosis, and treatment of soldiers’ invisible wounds.
- Topic:
- Military Affairs, Psychology, Trauma, Masculinity, and PTSD
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Europe, Middle East, and Vietnam
17864. Submerged on the Surface: The Not-So-Hidden Jews of Nazi Berlin, 1941-1945
- Author:
- Richard N. Lutjens Jr.
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Berghahn Books
- Abstract:
- Between 1941 and 1945, thousands of German Jews, in fear for their lives, made the choice to flee their impending deportations and live submerged in the shadows of the Nazi capital. Drawing on a wealth of archival evidence and interviews with survivors, this book reconstructs the daily lives of Jews who stayed in Berlin during the war years. Contrary to the received wisdom that “hidden” Jews stayed in attics and cellars and had minimal contact with the outside world, the author reveals a cohort of remarkable individuals who were constantly on the move and actively fought to ensure their own survival.
- Topic:
- Genocide, World War II, and Anti-Semitism
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Germany, Berlin, and Central Europe
17865. A State of Peace in Europe
- Author:
- Petri Hakkarainen
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Berghahn Books
- Abstract:
- From the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s West German foreign policy underwent substantial transformations: from bilateral to multilateral, from reactive to proactive. The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) was an ideal setting for this evolution, enabling the Federal Republic to take the lead early on in Western preparations for the conference and to play a decisive role in the actual East–West negotiations leading to the Helsinki Final Act of 1975. Based on extensive original research of recently released documents, spanning more than fifteen archives in eight countries, this study is a substantial contribution to scholarly discussions on the history of détente, the CSCE and West German foreign policy. The author stresses the importance of looking beyond the bipolarity of the Cold War decades and emphasizes the interconnectedness of European integration and European détente. He highlights the need to place the genesis of the CSCE conference in its historical context rather than looking at it through the prism of the events of 1989, and shows that the bilateral and multilateral elements (Ostpolitik and the CSCE) were parallel rather than successive phenomena, parts of the same complex process and in constant interaction with each other.
- Topic:
- Cold War, Military Strategy, European Union, and Regional Integration
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Germany, West Germany, Central Europe, and East Germany
17866. Settling for Less: The Planned Resettlement of Israel's Negev Bedouin
- Author:
- Steven C. Dinero
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Berghahn Books
- Abstract:
- The resettlement of the Negev Bedouin (Israel) has been wrought with controversy since its inception in the 1960s. Presenting evidence from a two-decade period, the author addresses how the changes that took place over the past sixty to seventy years have served the needs and interests of the State rather than those of Bedouin community at large. While town living fostered improvements in social and economic development, numerous unintended consequences jeopardized the success of this planning initiative. As a result, the Bedouin community endured excessive hardship and rapid change, abandoning its nomadic lifestyle and traditions in response to the economic, political, and social pressure from the State—and received very little in return.
- Topic:
- Development, United Nations, Anthropology, and Repression
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
17867. China Global Security Tracker
- Author:
- Helena Legarda
- Publication Date:
- 02-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Institute for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- Europe has become a major target of China’s push to acquire advanced key technologies. These technologies support the development of dual-use products with civilian as well as military applications, a development that is in line with China’s efforts towards civil-military integration. The EU has been slow to wake up to this trend. Despite recent efforts, including those to set up a tighter investment screening mechanism, it still lacks strong coordinated regulations to protect its research and technologies. Even more importantly, the author of our newest China Global Security Tracker, MERICS researcher Helena Legarda, warns that Europe lacks a clear policy or strategy to keep up with China’s ambitions in this area. Joint European initiatives providing strategic guidance and adequate funding for innovation in dual-use technologies will be needed to not only preserve but to advance the EU’s scientific and engineering expertise. The China Global Security Tracker is a bi-annual publication as part of the China Security Project in cooperation between Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). This issue also features the Trump administration’s tightened export controls in response to China’s civil-military integration efforts, and it tracks other security developments in China in the second half of 2018, from the launch of a number of new defense systems to an increase in China’s military diplomacy activities around the world.
- Topic:
- Security, Diplomacy, Regional Cooperation, Science and Technology, Military Strategy, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- China, Europe, Beijing, and Asia
17868. Defending Europe: scenario-based capability requirements for NATO’s European members
- Author:
- Ben Barry, Douglas Barrie, Lucie béraud-Sudreau, Henry Boyd, Nick Childs, and Bastain Giegerich
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Institute for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- The study applies scenario analysis – with scenarios set in the early 2020s – to generate force requirements, and assesses the ability of NATO’s European member states to meet these requirements based on data from the IISS Military Balance Plus online database. The cost of closing the identified capability shortfalls through equipment acquisition has been estimated. The objective of the study is to enable informed policy dialogue both in Europe and in a transatlantic setting. The study explicitly does not intend to predict future conflicts nor the intentions of any of the actors involved. Neither does it wish to prescribe a certain path of action to be pursued by European NATO governments. The first scenario examined deals with the protection of the global sea lines of communication (SLOCs). In this scenario, the United States has withdrawn from NATO and has also abandoned its role of providing global maritime presence and protection, not just for its own national interest but also as an international public good. It thus falls to European countries to achieve and sustain a stable maritime-security environment in European waters and beyond, to enable the free flow of international maritime trade, and to protect global maritime infrastructure. The IISS assesses that European NATO members would have to invest between US$94 billion and US$110bn to fill the capability gaps generated by this scenario. The second scenario deals with the defence of European NATO territory against a state-level military attack. In this scenario, tensions between Russia and NATO members Lithuania and Poland escalate into war after the US has left NATO. This war results in the Russian occupation of Lithuania and some Polish territory seized by Russia. Invoking Article V, the European members of NATO direct the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) to plan Operation Eastern Shield to reassure Estonia, Latvia and Poland, and other front-line NATO member states, by deterring further Russian aggression. European NATO also prepares and assembles forces for Operation Eastern Storm, a military operation to restore Polish and Lithuanian government control over their territories.
- Topic:
- NATO, Military Strategy, Maritime, and Free Trade
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, and Europe
17869. Keeping the momentum in European defence collaboration: An early assessment of PESCO implementation
- Author:
- Yvonni-Stefania Efstathiou, Connor Hannigan, and Lucie béraud-Sudreau
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Institute for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- Between March and November 2018, the 25 participating member states launched 34 projects, with the core aim of addressing the EU’s capability shortfalls. In May 2019, a call for a third round of project proposals will be launched. The IISS undertook an early assessment of how PESCO projects are carried out, to assess whether the momentum on the ground has continued since the projects were announced at the political level. A strong pace of implementation would require detailed timelines, deadlines and financial plans, as well as clear links with EU capability requirements. Questionnaires were sent to the projects’ country leads, and were complemented by interviews and secondary-source research. We looked at various dimensions of implementation: timelines, financial commitments, stakeholder involvement and the projects’ relation to strategic autonomy. The results are mixed. While some projects are off to a strong start, there are common challenges for all
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Regional Cooperation, Military Strategy, European Union, and Military Spending
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Eastern Europe, Brussels, Central Europe, and Western Europe
17870. China Global Security Tracker, No.5
- Author:
- Helena Legarda
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Institute for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- Presenting China as a 'responsible power' – Beijing releases first major defense white paper in four years
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Science and Technology, and Military Spending
- Political Geography:
- United States, Japan, China, Europe, Canada, Taiwan, France, and North America
17871. Advancing UK maritime aviation in the Queen Elizabeth-class era
- Author:
- Nick Childs
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Institute for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- The United Kingdom is on the cusp of regenerating what is a transformational capability. The first of the UK’s new-generation aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth, has been at sea on trials for two years, and is working up towards its first operational deployment in 2021. The second ship, HMS Prince of Wales, is scheduled to be accepted into service before the end of the year. The F-35B Lightning II has achieved initial land-based operating capability and the Lightning Force has carried out its first overseas deployment, Lightning Dawn. Maritime aviation in the round has undergone a significant transformation, and there has been a substantial increased focus on collaboration and partnering with industry as well as developing stronger links with critical allies. To underscore the significance of the undertaking, then secretary of state for defence Penny Mordaunt announced on 15 May 2019 that the UK planned to produce a National Aircraft Carrier Policy to lay down a blueprint for how the new carrier era would help deliver the UK’s global objectives. In addition, on 4 June, then prime minister Theresa May announced that the UK would earmark the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers to form part of NATO’s significant new Readiness Initiative. These developments have prompted thought and discussion on the extent to which the carrier programme will enable and actually drive the transformation of UK joint-force capabilities, and are posing questions about the demands such a programme will place on UK defence and industry. This paper considers both the opportunities and challenges that the carrier era presents in a number of key areas
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Diplomacy, National Security, Military Strategy, and Maritime
- Political Geography:
- United States, United Kingdom, Europe, and London
17872. European security in crisis: what to expect if the US withdraws from NATO
- Author:
- Lianna Fix, Bastain Giegerich, and Theresa Kirch
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Institute for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- Recent developments in transatlantic relations have reignited the debate about the need for Europeans to assume greater responsibility for their own security. Yet, efforts by European leaders to substantiate the general commitment to 'take their fate into their own hands' are so far lacking sufficient progress. Against this backdrop, the Körber Policy Game brought together a high-level group of senior experts and government officials from France, Germany, Poland, the UK and the US to address a fictional scenario that involves a US withdrawal from NATO, followed by multiple crises in Europe. How will Europeans organise their security and defence if the US withdraws from NATO? To what extent will future European security be based on mutual solidarity, ad-hoc coalitions or a bilateralisation of relations with the US? Which interests would the respective European governments regard as vital and non-negotiable? What role would the US play in European security after the withdrawal? The Körber Policy Game is based on the idea of projecting current foreign and security policy trends into a future scenario – seeking to develop a deeper understanding of the interests and priorities of different actors as well as possible policy options. The starting point is a short to medium-term scenario. Participants are part of country teams and assume the role of advisers to their respective governments.
- Topic:
- NATO, Regional Cooperation, Military Strategy, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, North Atlantic, North America, and Brussels
17873. China and instability in developing countries
- Author:
- Nicholas Crawford
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Institute for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- China has become the largest lender to developing countries, and a major investor there too. As a result, it has a major stake in many countries facing political and economic instability. Western policymakers involved in responding to instability and crises overseas need to understand how China navigates these situations. China’s approach is similar in some respects to that of Western states, but there are also important differences. China’s policy towards countries facing political and economic instability is driven by four main concerns: It seeks to strengthen and maintain its partnerships with those countries to ensure they remain open to and supportive of the Chinese government and its businesses. China is determined to protect its financial interests, businesses and citizens from the harms that result from instability. It is concerned to see its loans repaid, its investments secure, its workers safe and its supply chains undisrupted. It wants to maintain its narrative of non-interference. Any intervention in the politics or policies of its partner states must be seen as being at the invitation of their governments (although China may pressure its partners for consent). China wants to increase its influence in the world, independently and distinctively. It is increasingly proactive in its response to instability in partner countries. Some responses seek to address the instability directly; other responses are intended to protect Chinese interests in spite of the instability. This paper analyses the political economy of China’s responses to instability, identifies the types of responses China undertakes, and assesses these responses.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Cooperation, Developing World, Political stability, and Trade
- Political Geography:
- Africa, United States, China, Europe, Beijing, and Asia
17874. Making Bodies Kosher: The Politics of Reproduction among Haredi Jews in England
- Author:
- Ben Kasstan
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Berghahn Books
- Abstract:
- For Haredi Jews, reproduction is entangled with issues of health, bodily governance and identity. This is an analysis of the ways in which Haredi Jews negotiate healthcare services using theoretical perspectives in political philosophy. It is the first archival and ethnographic study of Haredi Jews in the UK and sits at the intersection of medical anthropology, social history and Jewish studies. It will allow readers to understand how reproductive care issues affect this growing minority population.
- Topic:
- Health, Religion, Anthropology, and Anti-Semitism
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom, Europe, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales
17875. GOING TO PENTECOST An Experimental Approach to Studies in Pentecostalism
- Author:
- Annelin Eriksen, Roy Llera Blanes, and Michelle MacCarthy
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Berghahn Books
- Abstract:
- Co-authored by three anthropologists with long–term expertise studying Pentecostalism in Vanuatu, Angola, and Papua New Guinea/the Trobriand Islands respectively, Going to Pentecost offers a comparative study of Pentecostalism in Africa and Melanesia, focusing on key issues as economy, urban sociality, and healing. More than an ordinary comparative book, it recognizes the changing nature of religion in the contemporary world – in particular the emergence of “non-territorial” religion (which is no longer specific to places or cultures) – and represents an experimental approach to the study of global religious movements in general and Pentecostalism in particular.
- Topic:
- Post Colonialism, Religion, Economy, and Colonialism
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Asia, Australia, Angola, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea
17876. FROM SELF-FULFILMENT TO SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST Work in European Cinema from the 1960s to the Present
- Author:
- Ewa Mazierska
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Berghahn Books
- Abstract:
- Contrary to the assumption that Western and Eastern European economies and cinemas were very different from each other, they actually had much in common. After the Second World War both the East and the West adopted a mixed system, containing elements of both socialism and capitalism, and from the 1980s on the whole of Europe, albeit at an uneven speed, followed the neoliberal agenda. This book examines how the economic systems of the East and West impacted labor by focusing on the representation of work in European cinema. Using a Marxist perspective, it compares the situation of workers in Western and Eastern Europe as represented in both auteurist and popular films, including those of Tony Richardson, Lindsay Anderson, Jean-Luc Godard, Andrzej Wajda, DušanMakavejev, Jerzy Skolimowski, the Dardenne Brothers, Ulrich Seidl and many others.
- Topic:
- Cold War, Mass Media, Socialism/Marxism, Film, and Neoliberalism
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe
17877. Gender and Corruption in Botswana: Perceptions, Participation and Considerations for Anti-Corruption Policy
- Author:
- Marumo Omotoye
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
- Abstract:
- Several studies have argued that corruption has a greater impact on women than men and that increasing women’s representation in key decision-making positions has a positive effect in reducing corruption. However, limited scholarly and policy attention has been devoted to understanding the link between gender and corruption in Botswana. This paper explores the gendered differences of perceived and actual participation in bureaucratic corruption in Botswana. By examining Afrobarometer data and undertaking a documentary analysis, the study finds that while levels of perceived corruption by men and women in public institutions were high, participation in bureaucratic corruption (bribery) was considerably lower. Contrary to the notion that corruption has a greater impact on women than men, this study finds that higher levels of participation across all public service categories were reported by unemployed men, in particular, having to give a gift or a favour to avoid problems with the police. Notwithstanding the scant availability of data, the documentary analysis revealed that non-monetary forms of corruption such as sextortion (sexual extortion) have been experienced by female students and undocumented female migrants in Botswana. Nevertheless, this form of corruption has received little policy attention, despite its potential to undermine gender equality efforts. Additionally, the study finds little correlation between higher levels of women’s representation in key decision-making positions (i.e., parliament and cabinet) and lower levels of corruption in Botswana. There is a need for both the gender and anti-corruption policy framework to be synthesised in order to specifically reflect on and respond to the perceived gendered dimensions of corruption. The establishment of an independent police authority or commission might not only increase levels of public trust and confidence in the police service, but also strengthen levels of transparency and accountability.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Gender Issues, Migration, Politics, Women, and Men
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Botswana
17878. Education and Labour Market Activity of Women in Botswana
- Author:
- Goitseone Khanie
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
- Abstract:
- This study examines the prevalence of female participation in labour market activities and investigates the role played by education in this participation. Using the 2015/16 Botswana Multi Topic Household Survey data and a multinomial logit model, the study found that women with tertiary education are more likely to be wage employed relative to self-employment, whereas those with lower to no education are more likely to be unemployed or out of the labour force. This is because higher education is normally considered a prerequisite for most wage jobs. It is therefore imperative for the government to continue educating women beyond secondary level as it will better equip them to participate in more meaningful labour market activities. On the other hand, there is need to stimulate the demand side of the labour market in order to accommodate the rising numbers of women with high levels of education. In order to encourage participation of women in high rewarding self-employment activities, there is need to intensify empowerment schemes that are largely oriented towards their self-employment.
- Topic:
- Education, Gender Issues, Labor Issues, Women, and Employment
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Botswana
17879. The Impact of Macroeconomic Variables on Capital Market Development in Botswana’s Economy
- Author:
- Koketso Molefhi
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
- Abstract:
- The study examines the impact of macroeconomic variables on stock and bond markets development in Botswana using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL)-Bounds Test. The results indicate that macroeconomic variables have an impact on capital market development in Botswana. In the short run, real output, money supply and inflation have a positive influence on the development of the stock market, while real exchange rate retards its development. Real output further supports the development of the stock market in the long run. For the bond market, only two variables, inflation rate and lending rate have positive and negative impact on the bond market in the long run respectively, while none of the variables influence the bond market in the short run. Policy implications include increased efforts by policy makers to increase money supply, gross domestic product for the development of stock market, while the bond market development requires a decrease in lending rates.
- Topic:
- Economics, Markets, Capital Flows, Macroeconomics, and Economic Development
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Botswana
17880. Structural Transformation and Fiscal Policy in Botswana
- Author:
- Kelesego Mmolainyane
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
- Abstract:
- This paper analyses impacts of fiscal policy on structural transformation in Botswana using structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model over the period of 1990 to 2015. The study uses an inclusive sustainable transformation (IST) index and government expenditure as proxies for structural transformation and fiscal policy respectively. Results show that prudent fiscal policy can be used as a major strategic tool for structural transformation in Botswana. Most evidently, IST index responds positively to government expenditure shocks over time. In addition, fiscal policy innovations dominantly account for movements in structural transformation in Botswana. Notwithstanding, Botswana has a lot of potential and opportunity to use its fiscal policy more effectively and efficiently to promote an inclusive structural transformation that leads to sustainable economic growth.
- Topic:
- Economics, Economic structure, Macroeconomics, and Fiscal Policy
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Botswana
17881. Unemployment in the SADC Region
- Author:
- Johanne Motsatsi
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
- Abstract:
- The objective of this study is to estimate the determinants of unemployment in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region using annual data from 2000 to 2016. Given the characteristic of the data, the study adopts Fixed Effect (FE) estimation technique. For further analysis, the study also estimated the ARDL panel model to capture persistence effect of unemployment in the region. The FE results reveals that real GDP, foreign direct investment, consumer price index, credit to the private sector and interest rate are negatively related to unemployment. While trade openness, labour productivity and population have a positive sign. The results estimated with ARDL model are not very different from those of FE model, but we obtained a noticeably smaller estimates for ARDL model. Variables which have negative association with unemployment suggest that they are likely to reduce unemployment. Therefore, such indicators may be of interest to policy makers when formulating unemployment reduction strategies. In terms of policy advise, the study recommends the government of SADC member states to encourage the education system that can equip leaners with entrepreneurial skills and in-job practical skills, in order to promote high success rate of SMMEs as well as to provide skills needed in the labour market. It also recommended enforcement of free trade of goods and services in the region as a means of making the industrial sector an engine of economic growth in order to create much needed employment.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Labor Issues, Employment, Labor Policies, Macroeconomics, and Unemployment
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Botswana
17882. Consumption Inequality in Botswana: The Decomposition of the Gini Coefficient of Consumer Expenditures
- Author:
- Lillian Mookodi
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
- Abstract:
- This paper applies the Lerman and Yitzhaki (1985) inequality decomposition approach on food and non-food expenditures on the 2009/10 Botswana Core Welfare Indicator Survey; and the 2015/16 Multi Topic Indicator Survey datasets with an objective to see how overall inequality translates into inequality within each expenditure component. To test for a robustness of our results, we apply a simple bootstrap procedure to obtain the means, standard errors and confidence intervals for the component Gini coefficients estimates. The decomposition analysis results show that overall inequality based on the Gini coefficient of consumption expenditure within the groups has increased between the two periods from 0.498 to 0.533. These results suggest that this rise in overall expenditure inequality is due to the increased burden in the household budget of non-food spending, which tends to be more unequal than food spending. The consumption expenditure is very unequal on non-food items like recreation and hotels; health; education and transport. On one hand, lower Gini coefficients are observed for food; and clothing and footwear; these commodities are considered as necessities among others. This paper finally offers some possible policy measures to curb this consumption expenditure inequality.
- Topic:
- Economics, Developing World, Inequality, and Economic Inequality
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Botswana
17883. The Impact of Infrastructure on Economic Growth in Botswana
- Author:
- Mpho Raboloko
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
- Abstract:
- The study determines the impact of infrastructure on economic growth in Botswana. The study employs an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) estimation technique to determine how infrastructure affects economic growth in Botswana. The empirical results show that healthcare infrastructure has a positive and significant impact on economic growth in Botswana in the long run. The results further reveal that electric power consumption has a positive and significant effect in influencing economic growth in the short run. The results imply that in order to achieve higher economic growth, policymakers should consider accelerating improvement of healthcare infrastructure.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Economics, Infrastructure, Health Care Policy, Economic structure, Economic Growth, and Rural
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Botswana
17884. The Impact of Business Regulatory Quality on Private Sector Investment in Botswana
- Author:
- Kedibonye Sekakela
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
- Abstract:
- A market-friendly regulatory environment is key for private sector investment. In this paper, we examine the impact of business regulatory quality on private sector investment in Botswana. The paper finds that the business regulatory environment stimulates private sector investment in the long term and this phenomenon occurs when the quality of bureaucracy improves, among other factors. Other critical factors affecting private sector investment examined in this paper include; corporate credit, output and public infrastructure investment. Private sector investment responds positively to increases in corporate credit in the short term but not responsive in the long term. Economic activities support private sector investment positively but weak. On the other hand, public infrastructure investment crowds in(out) investment in the short and long term respectively. Policy wise, Botswana should further deepen its efforts towards creating a market-friendly regulatory environment and also consider how business regulatory quality interact with other policy variables for better investment and growth outcomes.
- Topic:
- Economics, Developing World, Regulation, Business, Investment, and Economic Development
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Botswana
17885. Impacts of Access to ICTs on Employment Status in Botswana
- Author:
- Masedi K. Tshukudu
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
- Abstract:
- It is clear that technology has brought about significant changes in the livelihoods of people, creating new forms of employment and advancing the traditional forms of employment for individuals. Many countries continue to invest in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) with the view to tackling some of the economic challenges such as unemployment. Botswana like other African countries has made annual budgetary allocations towards ICT Infrastructure. Despite, the Government’s efforts to invest and improve access to ICT, the country still faces a high unemployment rate, particularly for the youth. This study therefore, investigates the impact that access to ICTs has on the employment of individuals in Botswana. In order to provide a detailed analysis of the impact of ICTs on employment we apply a probit model for binary choice responses to being employed or not being employed, using the data from the 2014 Botswana Household Access and Individual use of Information Communication Technology Survey carried out by the Statistics Botswana. The empirical results provide evidence that access to ICTs collectively has a positive impact on employment in Botswana. However, disaggregating the ICTs forms presents slightly different results, e-skill training and access to the internet in Botswana are not significant in explaining an individual’s employment status, this may be associated with low uptake of internet and ICTs skills by individuals in Botswana. The policy message from this study is that there is a need for aggressive implementation of collective ICT. [In addition, there is need to improve collective ICTs infrastructure to create more employment].
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Science and Technology, Communications, Information Age, and Economic Development
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Botswana
17886. Challenges of Project Implementation in Local Government: The Case of Francistown City Council and Kweneng District Council Botswana Institute
- Author:
- Thabile A. Samboma
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
- Abstract:
- Botswana is faced with many challenges of project implementation. Since independence detailed projects and programmes were initiated, with limited and often less developed state capacity to implement them. This study focuses on challenges of project implementation in Botswana’s tier of local government. A qualitative case research method approach was employed to undertake the study. Telephonic interviews were conducted with politicians and employees from Francistown City Council (FCC) and Kweneng District Council (KDC) and data was analysed using thematic analysis. The paper outlines project implementation challenges in Local Authorities (LA). For instance, lack of capacity, lack of commitment by the District Development Committee (DDC), poor stakeholder engagement and lack of financial autonomy by councils. Some of the identified implementation challenges are not peculiar to the two LAs but cuts across local authorities in Botswana. However, low human capacity in local authorities was cited as a major problem in project implementation.
- Topic:
- Governance, Elections, Domestic Politics, Local, and State Funding
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Botswana
17887. Financial Inclusion and its Impact on Employment Creation in Botswana
- Author:
- Koketso Molefhi
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
- Abstract:
- The study examines the impact of financial inclusion on employment creation in Botswana using quarterly time series data for the period 2004-2016. Using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model, we find that availability of bank branches, ownership of bank account and borrowing from the commercial bank have a positive impact on employment creation in the short run. Similarly, in the long run, availability of bank branches, ownership of bank account has a positive relationship with employment creation in the long run. Depositors with commercial banks has a negative bearing on employment creation, both in the short run and in the long run. Therefore, policies should be aimed at ensuring easy access into the financial sector by way of reducing costs associated with account opening as well as creating affordable deposit and borrowing windows to the financially excluded groups.
- Topic:
- Economics, Labor Issues, Employment, Finance, Financial Markets, and Macroeconomics
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Botswana
17888. Darkness at noon: deforestation in the new authoritarian era
- Author:
- Susanna B. Hecht
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
- Abstract:
- The dramatic Amazon fires images of Au-gust 2019 triggered a geopolitical outcry. Brazilian President Bolsonaro, however, unflinchingly continues to support his destructive model of Amazonian development. This article recalls the extent of the disaster and delves into the reasons behind such disdain for environmental concerns.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, and Environment
- Political Geography:
- Brazil and Latin America
17889. Environmental regulation in a transitional political system: delegation of regulation and perceived corruption in South Africa
- Author:
- Pedro Naso
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
- Abstract:
- I study the economic motivations behind a reduction in the discretionary power of environmental regulators, and the impact that such reduction has on perceived corruption in South Africa. I examine the transition from the Air Pollution Protection Act of 1965 to the Air Quality Act of 2005, a change from full to partial delegation of regulation. By constructing a principal-agent model, I argue that this transition might have occurred because of an increase in the dispersion of rent-seeking motivations of public agents. This happens because, from the principal’s perspective, the possible harm— loose pollution control and misappropriation of environmental fines— generated by corrupt agents is greater than the potential benefits brought by diligent agents. In my empirical analysis, I use diff-indiffs models for a two-period panel with 191 South African firms to show that the regulatory change decreased treated firms’ perceived corruption, but did not improve other institutional quality measures.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Economics, Environment, Regulation, and Pollution
- Political Geography:
- Africa and South Africa
17890. Food security and land use in the 21st century: the return of Malthusianism
- Author:
- Timothy M. Swanson
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
- Abstract:
- The coming century is set to pose many important problems regarding population, food requirements and land use. In many ways, the problem facing us is a stark reminder of Malthus’ predictions regarding the importance of resource constraints in the face of population growth. Despite questions concerning the core of the problems to be solved, there is little issue concerning the manifestations of these problems. First, we are seeing the culmination of a long-term process of human population growth, which commenced in earnest about 250 years previously (about the time of Malthus) and escalated thereafter, continuing to this day. A global population that was only about a million individuals in 1750, escalated to about two billion individuals in 1950, and has since increased to approximately seven billion.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Food, Population, Food Security, Land Rights, and Population Growth
- Political Geography:
- United Nations and Global Focus
17891. Impacts of legal and regulatory institutions on economic development
- Author:
- Pedro Naso
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
- Abstract:
- Since the second half of the 20th century, with the contributions of Coase, Williamson and North, the economic literature has emphasised the role of institutions in explaining differences in economic performance. According to the most diffused view, countries with good institutions will invest more in physical and human capital, will use productive factors in a more efficient way, and will achieve greater income level. But what are good institutions? And how should governments implement them? Answers to these questions have proven to be difficult mainly because of two characteristics of institutions: (i) institutional functioning is complex: the way institutions affect economic agents’ incentives is dependent on these agents’ individual preferences and the way they interact, which are difficult to predict; and (ii) they are context specific – the same institution in different contexts might result in a different economic outcome.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Economics, Environment, Regulation, and Economic Policy
- Political Geography:
- Africa, South Africa, and Sierra Leone
17892. Land grabs, big business and large-scale damages
- Author:
- Christophe Gironde
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
- Abstract:
- The history of the world is a story of lands conquered by violence. Today, money has replaced weapons. Lands are bought. In very large quantities. The current wave of land grabbing is a phenomenon of hard conquest and a dramatic one for local populations and the environment.
- Topic:
- Environment, Land Law, Violence, Money, Land Rights, and Land
- Political Geography:
- South Asia
17893. Entangled Entertainers
- Author:
- Klaus Hödl
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Berghahn Books
- Abstract:
- Viennese popular culture at the turn of the twentieth century was the product of the city’s Jewish and non-Jewish residents alike. While these two communities interacted in a variety of ways to their mutual benefit, Jewish culture was also inevitably shaped by the city’s persistent bouts of antisemitism. This fascinating study explores how Jewish artists, performers, and impresarios reacted to prejudice, showing how they articulated identity through performative engagement rather than anchoring it in origin and descent. In this way, they attempted to transcend a racialized identity even as they indelibly inscribed their Jewish existence into the cultural history of the era.
- Topic:
- Religion, Culture, Film, and Anti-Semitism
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Austria, Vienna, and Central Europe
17894. India, The United States, Australia and the Difficult Birth of Bangladesh
- Author:
- Ric Smith
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Australian Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- Ric Smith has masterfully woven archival material, memories of his own time as a foreign service officer, and conversations with other officers of the then Department of Foreign Affairs to recount the crisis in East Pakistan in 1971 and the difficult birth of Bangladesh. Smith highlights the Cold War incongruities of the crisis, including the Soviet Union’s support for democratic India’s position during the crisis, while the United States supported the military regime in Pakistan. The episode also stands as an example of Canberra diverging from Washington on an issue that was garnering political and media attention in Australia. Australia was able to pursue a policy toward the region that was independent from the United States, accepting early that East Pakistan was “finished” and that there was a need to address an unfolding humanitarian crisis. Smith’s book imparts important lessons about diplomacy for Australia: It is not only possible for Australia’s politicians and diplomats to take independent positions on major international problems, but they are sometimes respected by their allies when they do so.
- Topic:
- Cold War, Human Rights, Democracy, Geopolitics, and Military Intervention
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, United States, Europe, India, Asia, Soviet Union, and Australia
17895. Horror or Hype: The Challenge of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Terrorism
- Author:
- Lasha Giorgidze and James K. Wither
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) materials attract the attention of terrorists motivated to inflict mass casualties and create mass panic. CBRN includes a wide array of materials, some of them very difficult to acquire, although others are of a dual-use nature. Dualuse materials can be used to construct CBRN weapons, but also have licit civilian applications. Though not all CBRN weapons are weapons of mass destruction, they can still cause massive disruption and fear in a targeted society. The goal of this paper is to evaluate the potential threat from terrorists’ use of CBRN weapons. It discusses the technical opportunities and constraints of each type of weapon and presents relevant historical and contemporary examples and case studies involving terrorist use of CBRN. The paper also assesses the contemporary threat. It examines how CBRN-related information is shared via terrorist propaganda on the internet and messaging applications, why terrorists might be motivated to use CBRN materials, and the constraints on their ambitions.
- Topic:
- Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism, Internet, Biological Weapons, Chemical Weapons, and Radiological Weapons
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
17896. Human Rights from the International Relations
- Author:
- Alejandro Anaya Muñoz
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL)
- Abstract:
- Human rights are a very important area in contemporary international relations. The doctrine of human rights was concretized after a process of development of more than three centuries after the end of the Second World War and has changed the institutional panorama and the relations between actors at the international level. On the other hand, regardless of its «lack of teeth», the international regime on the subject has transformed the way states relate to international bodies, transnational civil society organizations and other governments.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Civil Society, Human Rights, International Political Economy, International Affairs, and Norms
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
17897. Climate Change, Carbon Politics, and Kenya’s Democratic Future
- Author:
- Jacqueline M. Klopp and Abdullahi Boru Halakhe
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- Carbon politics is playing out in oil-producing African countries with lethal consequences. Countries like Nigeria, Angola, Sudan, and South Sudan are conflict-ridden and economically unequal, and, as climate change concerns clash with new fossil fuel-driven development efforts, carbon politics is taking on ever-greater significance. While the scramble for fossil fuels could increase authoritarianism as it spreads in East Africa, an ecologically-driven imperative to address climate change could reinforce stronger democratic institutions.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Development, Oil, Natural Resources, and Democracy
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Sudan, Nigeria, Angola, East Africa, and South Sudan
17898. A Court Worth Having? Growing Pains at the International Criminal Court
- Author:
- Tod Lindberg
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague is a testament to liberal normative aspiration in international politics—the conviction that there should be a neutral juridical body, beyond the influence of the ebb and flow of political power among states, that is capable of holding the perpetrators of atrocities or aggression to account. Now, more than twenty years after the negotiation of the 1998 Rome Statute––the treaty establishing the court––and coming up on seventeen years since the ICC entered into force in 2002 with the ratification by sixty state-parties, one vexing question for proponents of international justice is that of how far beyond mere aspiration the court has managed to get.
- Topic:
- Politics, Rule of Law, Justice, and International Criminal Court (ICC)
- Political Geography:
- Yugoslavia, Rwanda, United States of America, and The Hague
17899. Gender Issues in Kurdistan
- Author:
- Michael M. Gunter
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- In the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) headquarters in Brussels, one may be surprised to find that the co-chair rule governing the activities of the congress requires joint male and female leaders to share the office. As inefficient as such a dual head might seem, it sets the stage for gender equality. Overall, the duties of both men and women in the Kurdish movement leave no time for marriage or other traditional gender roles. This is particularly true of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its related organizations, such as the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party/Peoples Defense Units (PYD/YPG).
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Government, Politics, and Women
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Kurdistan, and Brussels
17900. Indigenous Elder Societies as Leaders for Global Protected Areas Governance
- Author:
- Melanie Zurba and Eli Enns
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- Many models for parks and protected areas have been created globally to preserve biodiversity and natural heritage and to provide visitors with “wild places” to experience. This establishment of conventional parks and protected areas has typically been done through governance processes that do not acknowledge Indigenous peoples, including their connections to and their governance systems for such areas. Area-based conservation through parks and protected areas has, therefore, displaced and systematically oppressed Indigenous Peoples, disenfranchising them from their custodial roles and responsibilities within their traditional territories. In addition to oppression, conventional governance systems have also produced intrusive infrastructure and circulated tourists, creating human-wildlife conflict that often results in wildlife mortality. Through disenfranchising Indigenous peoples of their traditional territories, parks and protected areas in colonized regions of the world have separated nature from the societies that have the most deeply embedded place-based knowledge systems and governance structures.
- Topic:
- Environment, Governance, Land Rights, Indigenous, and Land
- Political Geography:
- Canada and Global Focus