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41011. The West must allow a power shift in international organizations

Author:
Jakob Vestergaard and Robert Hunter Wade
Publication Date:
12-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
More than three years after the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s governing body agreed to reform the organization's governance so as to better reflect the increasing economic weight of dynamic emerging market economies in the world economy, only microscopic changes have been made. Emerging market and developing countries (EMDCs) have become increasingly frustrated with Western states for clinging to their inherited power, in the IMF and other important international economic governance organizations. The emerging cooperation among the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) – as seen in the advanced-stage negotiations to establish a Development Bank and a Contingent Reserve Arrangement – sends a “wake up and smell the coffee” call to the West, and the latter will carry a heavy responsibility for eroding global multilateral governance if it continues to drag its heels on the needed adjustments.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Emerging Markets, International Monetary Fund, Governance, and Reform
Political Geography:
Russia, China, India, South Africa, and Brazil

41012. Blue Helmets and Grey Zones: Do UN Multidimensional Peace Operations Work?

Author:
Louise Riis Andersen and Peter Emil Engedal
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Multidimensional peace operations have emerged as one of the key instruments for addressing and managing the complex challenges related to violent conflict and state fragility in the Global South. Based on a reading of existing literature Louise Riis Andersen and Peter Emil Engedal provide an overview of what we know of the UN's ability to assist war-torn societies in laying the foundations for lasting peace. The basic message of the report is that peacekeeping works, but statebuilding fails: In general, multidimensional UN-led peace operations have been successful at preventing the resumption of war, yet they have not succeeded in establishing effective and legitimate institutions of governance. The report also concludes that while the system is far from perfect, the UN peacekeeping apparatus has been reformed and strengthen considerably in the past decade. Outstanding challenges relate to contextualising interventions and ensuring local ownership, as well as to maintaining the normative consensus on the role of UN peace operations.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Peace Studies, War, Peacekeeping, and Reform
Political Geography:
United Nations

41013. Japanese and South Korean Environmental Aid: What are their life stories?

Author:
Aki Tonami and Anders Riel Müller
Publication Date:
08-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Environmental aid has become a major component of foreign aid, as environmental degradation and climate change have arisen as global concerns. Japan contends it has committed itself to the protection of the global environment since the 90s, and environmental aid has been an important part of that effort. South Korea has recently become an emerging actor in the development aid community and has also started to market its green diplomacy through programs such as the Global Green Growth Institute. Meanwhile, both Japanese aid and Korean aid have been criticized for being driven by their economic interests rather than altruism and that they focus too strongly on infrastructure projects.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Security, Peace Studies, United Nations, War, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Japan

41014. Power and Change: Locating Institutional Change Theories in a Power Context

Author:
Lily Salloum Lindegaard
Publication Date:
12-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
This working paper aims to better understand the drivers of institutional change. To do this, it locates diverse institutional change theories, specifically path dependency, gradu¬al institutional change and institutional bricolage, in a power context and reflects on the power-related aspects of each theory. It then develops a novel approach of a power analysis of institutional change, which allows for the combined use of institutional change theories despite their diverse theoretical underpinnings and thus offers a thorough, highly complex consideration of institutional change.
Topic:
International Affairs, Political Theory, Power Politics, and Reform
Political Geography:
Europe

41015. EU-US Trade Deal to Strengthen the Transatlantic Relationship

Author:
João Vale de Almeida
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
The doomsday voices that for years predicted the imminent collapse of the Euro and the European Union itself have gone silent with the EU economy gradually improving: the European Union is set to emerge from recession in the fourth quarter of this year with GDP growth expected at 1.4 percent in 2014; business activity in the eurozone rose at the fastest pace in August for more than two years; and the eurozone purchasing managers' index hit a 16-month high in June. We are by no means out of the woods yet, but we believe that we are starting to see signs of economic recovery in Europe. And this means that much-needed jobs should follow.
Political Geography:
Europe

41016. Latvia: Out of the Crisis, Coming into its Own

Author:
Mark A. Pekala
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
In 2008, as the world battled the global financial crisis, a small country on the Baltic Sea emerged at the center of the world's attention: Latvia. One of the most severely affected economies in the world and dubbed by Paul Krugman "the new Argentina," Latvia stood in the global spotlight. During the crisis, Latvia's GDP dropped by a quarter and unemployment ballooned to 23 percent.
Political Geography:
Argentina

41017. Council of American Ambassadors' 30th Anniversary: Honoring our Founders' Legacy

Author:
Abelardo L. Valdez
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
We meet this evening to honor five of our members, including one of our founders, with the Benjamin Franklin Award for their distinguished diplomatic service on behalf the United States of America and their outstanding leadership of the Council of American Ambassadors during the first three decades of its existence.
Political Geography:
Germany

41018. National Security and the State Department "T Bureaus"

Author:
Rose Gottemoeller
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
General Mattis might have raised a few eyebrows on Capitol Hill when he delivered the quote above, but he was simply stating what those of us at the Department of State see every day: diplomacy and development are integral parts of US national defense. And applying those tools effectively lessens the need to put at risk American men and women in uniform. The dividends for US national security are enormous.
Topic:
National Security
Political Geography:
United States

41019. Mexico's Push for a New Energy Era: Will the Border Be Ready?

Author:
Antonio O. Garza, Jr.
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
As a candidate for office, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto spoke often and forcefully about his plan to address the structural challenges that have impeded Mexico's economic and social progress. Not yet a year into his six-year term, he has laid out his intention to address the most contentious and arguably the most significant of those roadblocks: Mexico's energy sector.
Political Geography:
Mexico

41020. The United States and the Caribbean Community: Building on Forty Years of Partnership

Author:
D. Brent Hardt
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
On July 4, 2013, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) marked the fortieth anniversary of its founding under the Treaty of Chaguaramas. Established to promote economic integration, coordinate foreign policies, and facilitate functional cooperation in human and social development among its fifteen member states, CARICOM has dismantled trade barriers, created a regional Supreme Court, and coordinated regional approaches to education, public health, disaster response, climate change and development financing.
Political Geography:
Caribbean