Number of results to display per page
Search Results
2712. Beyond Blue Helmets: Promoting Weapons and Ammunition Management in Non-UN Peace Operations
- Author:
- Eric G. Berman
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- This report details efforts to improve weapons and ammunition management in non-United Nations (UN) peace operations in order to enhance force protection and mandate implementation. More than 25 organizations apart from the UN have deployed more than 100 peace operations to date. These non-UN organizations face the same challenges as the UN in securing their contingent-owned equipment (COE) and the lethal materiel they recover. Non-UN peace operations may even be more vulnerable to these challenges than UN operations. Thousands of small arms and light weapons as well as millions of rounds of ammunition have been lost in recent years as a result of attacks on fixed sites, patrols, and convoy movements. Forced abandonment of COE, burglary, theft, corruption, as well as poor discipline and practices also contribute to diversion of materiel. Beyond Blue Helmets: Promoting Weapons and Ammunition Management in Non-UN Peace Operations focuses on defining key terms, identifying the actors undertaking non-UN peacekeeping operations, and analyzing the challenges they face as well as the control measures that exist to mitigate the risks and reduce the loss of arms and ammunition. The report also highlights efforts some of these actors are presently undertaking to develop more effective checks and balances to enhance weapons and ammunition management (WAM) practices in peace operations, and suggests additional measures that could be undertaken towards these ends.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, United Nations, Peacekeeping, and Weapons
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
2713. Displaced and Immiserated: The Shilluk of Upper Nile in South Sudan’s civil war, 2014–19
- Author:
- Joshua Craze
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- The civil war that began in South Sudan in December 2013 has had dire consequences for the Shilluk people of Upper Nile, with civilians killed, villages and buildings destroyed, and humanitarian aid blocked. Although exact figures are elusive, estimates suggest that as much as 50 per cent of the Shilluk population has left the country during the current civil war—a figure that rises to 80 per cent if internally displaced people are included. Displaced and Immiserated: The Shilluk of Upper Nile in South Sudan’s civil war, 2014–19, a report from the Small Arms Survey’s Human Security Baseline Assessment for the Sudan and South Sudan (HSBA) project, places events in Upper Nile from 2014–19 in their historical context and analyzes the main military tactics employed by government forces in Shilluk areas.
- Topic:
- Civil War, Displacement, and Violence
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Sudan, and South Sudan
2714. Trade Update 2019: Transfers, Transparency, and South-east Asia Spotlight
- Author:
- Michael Picard, Paul Holtom, and Fiona Mangan
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- Authorized small arms imports to South-east Asia were worth at least USD 443 million in 2016, a 48 per cent increase from 2015, as revealed by the Small Arms Survey’s Trade Update 2019: Transfers, Transparency, and South-east Asia Spotlight. This increase, combined with the diversification in their small arms trading partners, highlights the region’s growing significance for international small arms flows. The increased value of imports for South-east Asia mirrors the growth in the value of the global small arms trade, which was worth USD 6.5 billion in 2016—a 13 per cent increase compared to 2015 and the highest ever since the Small Arms Survey began collecting trade data in 2001. Almost 90 per cent of the USD 751 million global increase can be attributed to the world’s top tier of small arms exporters—most notably from Austria, Croatia, and Germany. The Small Arms Survey’s Trade Update features the 2019 edition of the Small Arms Trade Transparency Barometer—which scores the transparency of top and major exporters’ reporting on arms trade activities out of a maximum 25 points. The 2019 Barometer identifies Switzerland as the most transparent small arms exporter with 21.25 points for activities carried out in 2016, followed by Germany and the Netherlands with 19.5 points each, and Serbia and the United Kingdom with 18.25 points each. The least transparent major exporters were North Korea and Iran with zero points, Saudi Arabia with 0.5 points, and Israel with 1.25 points.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Weapons, Arms Trade, and Transparency
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Croatia, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, and Southeast Asia
2715. Preventive Diplomacy: The Vanguard of Multilateralism
- Author:
- Arvid Hallberg
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- European Institute of Peace (EIP)
- Abstract:
- In 2008, the UN led by Kofi Annan quickly mediated between the parties in Kenya and developed a process for a peaceful transition of power. In 2014, the UN Special Representative, the AU and ECOWAS helped to assist the democratic transition process in Burkina Faso, culminating into peaceful, free, and fair elections the following year. From 2007, a regional Preventive Diplomacy Centre (UNRCCA) has aimed at creating favourable conditions for constructive dialogue, seeking long-term and sustainable solutions to the existing disagreements and taking into account the interests of all the states in the Central Asia region. EIP started looking specifically at preventive diplomacy in 2016 and since then much has changed. The UN and other international bodies are still the main arena but they are under threat as agreements and accords are ignored by powerful states. When “what’s in it for me” is the guiding political principle, prevention – where benefit is hard to measure – loses out in favour of harder security options. However, preventive diplomacy is still the most effective and cheapest way to stop a conflict from worsening. This is particularly important today as the already notable impact of climate change will only continue to grow in the coming decades. In this project, EIP has worked with UN-, EU- and other international special envoys, experts, and other practitioners to try to understand how preventive diplomacy works, why it is effective, and how we can do more. The results, presented in the attached booklet as the 10 Commandments of Preventive Diplomacy are not revolutionary. Instead, they underline the importance of the work diplomats do every single day and urges the international community to think about how they can adopt a preventive mindset in other activities. Over the past three years, we have learned that preventive diplomacy is not only something that happens immediately before, during, and after a crisis. Preventive Diplomacy is the quiet everyday work of thousands of diplomats all over the world. Prevention is making connections that may be useful later. Prevention is listening to voices otherwise unheard. It is raising sensitive issues that may fester and turn into violence-inducing grievances. It is understanding the people, culture, history and personalities. In short, preventive diplomacy is the vanguard of multilateralism in a conflict setting.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Diplomacy, Multilateralism, and Preventive Diplomacy
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
2716. REFUGEE RETURN IN SYRIA: DANGERS, SECURITY RISKS AND INFORMATION SCARCITY
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- European Institute of Peace (EIP)
- Abstract:
- This report examines the broad concerns of all categories of returnees—those returning to Syria as refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), or as the result of the so-called reconciliation process— to identify the key challenges and the extent of the risks involved. The conditions to which refugees are returning, and how the mechanics of the process work, are poorly understood.
- Topic:
- Migration, Refugee Issues, Refugees, Refugee Crisis, Displacement, and Internal Displacement
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Syria
2717. Evolving DPRK Nuclear Doctrine
- Author:
- Dong-hyeon Kim
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Pacific Forum
- Abstract:
- This paper investigates how an emerging nuclear weapon state—the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)—establishes and develops its nuclear doctrine upon completion of its nuclear arsenal. Since DPRK’s first nuclear crisis in the early 1990s and its first nuclear test in 2006, the nuclear nonproliferation community has focused on how to dismantle DPRK’s nuclear weapons program. Only recently have scholars focused on managing to live with a nuclear North Korea, shifting attention from nonproliferation to defense and deterrence. However, little scholarship has been produced vis-à-vis DPRK’s nuclear doctrine due to the lack of information and concern over recognizing DPRK as a nuclear weapon state. Understanding DPRK’s nuclear doctrine offers insights to developing an appropriate deterrence and defense strategy, as well as ways to revise strategies to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. Discerning DPRK’s nuclear doctrine not only contributes to the understanding of current security challenges on the Korean Peninsula, but more importantly offers an opportunity to expand scholarship on nuclear strategy. This paper attempts to systematically answer a question that has often been raised by the national security establishment: what is DPRK’s nuclear doctrine? The key findings offer both theoretical and policy implications. First, the findings suggest that DPRK’s nuclear posture has evolved over time towards a more aggressive posture, despite popular misperception that the role of nuclear weapons in DPRK is purely for deterrence. The evolution of its doctrine towards preemptive strike indicates that premature redeployment of US tactical nuclear weapons into the Korean theater, an increasingly popular argument in Seoul, would only exacerbate DPRK’s aggressive posture with marginal benefit on extended deterrence. Second, DPRK has adopted a posture that is common among weaker nuclear weapon states, as France and Pakistan did to counter stronger adversaries. Existing theories on brinkmanship and resolve offer a logic as to why DPRK’s nuclear posture is similar to other weaker nuclear weapon states. Third, DPRK’s nuclear doctrine poses a fundamental question to existing theories of nuclear deterrence: how little is enough to credibly threaten nuclear retaliation in the absence of necessary capabilities? More work can be done to explain DPRK’s seemingly inflated behavior—to credibly threaten nuclear retaliation when such capabilities are incomplete.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- Asia and North Korea
2718. Pakistan Security Report 2018
- Author:
- Muhammad Amir Rana, Safdar Sial, Ihsan Ghani, Ali Sher Khalti, Farhan Zahid, Zia Ur Rehman, Najam U Din, Ershad Mahmud, and Muhammad Akba Notezai
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS)
- Abstract:
- Despite a 29% decline in terrorist attacks in 2018, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and its associated groups, which now includes ISIS’s local chapter, remains the most potent threat. They were followed by nationalist-insurgent groups, especially in Balochistan. Two suicide attacks by a Baloch secessionist group in 2018 are alarming, but these should not forego attempts of reconciling them, which National Action Plan (NAP) clearly calls upon. Any attempt of mainstreaming banned outfits should be undertaken by a proper mechanism, so as not to be seen as excluding those already mainstreamed. These are some of the major findings of the Pakistan Security Report 2018.
- Topic:
- Security, Terrorism, Violent Extremism, and Countering Violent Extremism
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan
2719. Citizen Experiences and Challenges in Bringing Transparency and Accountability to Local Governments in Southern Mexico
- Author:
- Carlos García Jiménez
- Publication Date:
- 02-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Accountability Research Center (ARC), American University
- Abstract:
- Despite Mexico’s constitutional provisions for transparency, accountability, and citizen oversight of government practice, in Guerrero—a southern state of Mexico which has historically fluctuated between periods of peace and violence—the entrenched elite continues to dominate. Nonetheless, grassroots citizens’ groups have been working against the current. With the accompaniment of the Universidad Campesina del Sur (The Peasants’ University of the South, or Unicam-Sur), a local organization that promotes alternative rural education and participatory research), they have been promoting and positioning these new concepts and practices of government. Citizen action for accountability continues, in spite of persistent practices of bad governance that include indifference towards citizen proposals and the use of the “fear factor” as a means of social intimidation. Modest citizen accomplishments—on issues of transparency in public works and the opening up of local municipal council meetings to citizen participation, for example—have opened cracks in the centralized and opaque structure of the entrenched elite. Over the last 15 years, these experiences of persistent voluntarism and self-taught citizen literacy, have led to the emergence of a pathway for citizen intervention in public affairs. We can describe the steps of this approach to citizen involvement as follows: 1. Recognizing a problem and building empowerment to tackle it. Citizen groups become involved in problems that affect them and that are related to government action, and commit to changing their situations. The exchange of views about what is and what should be—drives citizens to investigate the causes and consider possible solutions. 2. Exercising the right to know. Drawing on the public transparency laws and following the operating rules of government programs, citizens request and analyze official information, and then compare it to reality. In the process, they learn about the causes of the problems—and possible solutions. 3. Monitoring and social oversight over public affairs. In light of the information obtained, the group then organizes to monitor the government action. With their evidence and arguments in hand, citizens approach government officials to correct their actions and address the problem. This type of citizen action sometimes leads to clear information about the project, course corrections, or project completion. 4. Public policy advocacy. After evaluating the progress made, citizens conclude that to prevent the problem from recurring, flawed public policies or programs need to be changed, along with their decision-making and implementation processes. In order to engage the authorities in a dialogue among equals, communities must advance to a higher level of organization, knowledge, citizen education and training. These citizen intervention processes have resulted in modest outcomes and the construction of a basic level of citizenship. Nonetheless, they have not carried over into permanent forms of citizen involvement because of the prevalence of adverse governmental conditions and the lack of essential resources for keeping these initiatives alive. These experiences are highly localized and focused on specific situations. However, they can inform similar citizen-led processes elsewhere and inspire citizens to build sustainable initiatives that promote transparency and accountability in local governments. The historic victory of the anti-establishment coalition (led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador) in Mexico’s 2018 election, signals the start of a more favorable context for these citizen initiatives.
- Topic:
- Government, Citizenship, Accountability, Transparency, Oversight, and Empowerment
- Political Geography:
- North America and Mexico
2720. Setting the Stage for Increased Accountability: The White Ribbon Alliance Nigeria Campaign to Improve Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health in Niger State
- Author:
- Rachel Sullivan Robinson
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Accountability Research Center (ARC), American University
- Abstract:
- Most African governments have made extensive commitments to provide primary health care to their citizens; in many cases these commitments date from the post-independence era, but have been reinvigorated in response to the Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals. Yet poor service delivery plagues the health care systems of many African countries, in particular affecting women and children who depend on local health centers for prenatal and basic primary care. One route to improving such care is through holding government accountable for its health care promises. But in many of these contexts, democracy is fragile and civil society is weak, leaving few institutions for holding government to account. In these contexts, can external actors support such pro-accountability change? This accountability note begins to answer this question with reference to White Ribbon Alliance Nigeria’s campaign to improve maternal, newborn, and child health in Niger State. Campaign activities promoted citizen demand for quality maternal health care and government responsiveness to those demands through advocacy to key health system actors, community dialogues to share information and set strategy, town halls to bring together citizens and government representatives, and the training of a cadre of citizen journalists to expose poor quality health care as well as highlight government responsiveness to citizen demands. This note puts forward four lessons drawn from the campaign’s experiences: 1. In contexts where both civil society and the state lack capacity, campaigns that simultaneously engage government and enable citizens to voice their opinions can increase state government participation in activities that increase accountability. 2. Compromise over the meaning of “accountability” can both facilitate and constrain progress towards accountability. 3. Where citizens desire more from government and are willing to demand services, campaigns can facilitate events where citizens learn about their rights, devise strategies for achieving them, and engage with government representatives. 4. Where citizens are willing and able to challenge government, campaigns can train citizen journalists to report on accountability failures. The analysis is based on more than 40 interviews conducted in 2017 and 2018 with relevant actors in Niger State as well as a review of campaign and government documents. Although an impact of the campaign on health care utilization is not yet visible, the campaign has convinced the previously reticent state government to engage with citizens, and anecdotal evidence suggests improvements to health care facilities in response to town halls and citizen journalist reports. The government has also invited White Ribbon Alliance Nigeria to train all of the state’s local health committees responsible for oversight of primary health care facilities, demonstrating how collaboration has created a pathway towards greater accountability. Taken together, these findings support the proposition that external actors can play a vital role in supporting and magnifying citizen demands for better health care while simultaneously enabling government responsiveness to those demands, thus laying the groundwork for greater accountability.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Health, Children, Women, Accountability, and Public Health
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Nigeria