Search

Begin New Search Topic Diplomacy Political Geography Global Focus Content Type Special Report

1. What Works in Conflict Prevention?

Author:
David Steven and Gizem Sucoglu
Publication Date:
03-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
This paper compares examples of collaborations that have aimed to prevent violence and conflict. The focus is primarily on ‘at risk’ and ‘acute’ settings, but with a recognition of the need to access a broader range of universal approaches to prevention where possible.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Development, Diplomacy, and Collaboration
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. Getting the Balance Right: Refining the Strategic Application of Nonproliferation Sanctions

Author:
Alistair Millar, George A. Lopez, David Cortright, and Linda Gerber
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Fourth Freedom Forum
Abstract:
This paper argues for a greater commitment to sanctions that fit the reality of each discrete case of proliferation, nimble diplomacy that includes incentives-based bargaining, and strategies for reciprocal threat reduction to reduce nuclear dangers and enhance international cooperation for peace and security.
Topic:
Security, Diplomacy, International Cooperation, Nuclear Weapons, Sanctions, Nonproliferation, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America

3. Broadening Opportunities for Study Abroad: U.S. Government Funded Scholarship Programs

Author:
Leah Mason and Jodi Sanger
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute of International Education (IIE)
Abstract:
This paper explores U.S. government scholarship opportunities available to U.S. students interested in an international experience, highlighting different sponsoring agencies. It analyzes how the scholarships support U.S. government programming goals of encouraging citizen diplomacy, strengthening national security, and building a globalized workforce. Case studies presented in this paper demonstrate the contributions of U.S. government scholarship programs to study abroad and the international experiences of U.S. students.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Education, Globalization, Government, National Security, and Study Abroad
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America

4. Towards a Better Understanding of Climate Security Practices

Author:
Tobias von Lossow, Louise Van Schaik, Jos Meester, Anouk Schrijver, and Maxime van der Kroon
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Clingendael Netherlands Institute of International Relations
Abstract:
The Planetary Security Initiative has launched a first report and overview of climate security practices. Climate security research has evolved tremendously over the past 20 years in the direction of how to address security risks related to climate change. Action on the ground is still limited but holds a lot of potential. Therefore, interest is growing in the development, diplomacy and defence sectors to engage in this space. The climate security practices project from the Planetary Security Initiative seeks to open up a new and vital area of analysis in the climate security community: When it comes to action, what works, and what doesn’t? Although it is still too early to answer this question, it is possible to collect climate security practices and draw lessons from their implementation. With the climate security link having become more evident in many countries and regions of the world it is imperative to scale up efforts to address the climate security nexus and to learn from these efforts. The Planetary Security Initiative aims to inspire learning on how we can combat this complex risk, or at least alleviate security risks related to climate change, and consider it a new entry point for conflict prevention and peacebuilding efforts. The first report draws lessons from and reflects on 8 climate security practices that enhance peace and stability. Many peace-building interventions try to address a wide range of conflict drivers, which include the various manifestations of climate stress such as pressure on natural resources, livelihoods and human security. These can arise from desertification, lack of access to water and unequal natural resource distribution. Examples of these interventions include tree-planting projects, the inclusion of natural resource distribution measures in peace treaties and provision of renewables in refugee camps and military missions. The projects will cover a wide range of practices ranging from human security to hard security-focused practices implemented by actors in the development, diplomacy and defence sectors.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Climate Change, Diplomacy, and Human Security
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. Conducting City Diplomacy: A Survey of International Engagement in 47 Cities

Author:
Anna Kosovac, Keith Hartley, Michele Acuto, and Darcy Gunning
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Abstract:
Conducting City Diplomacy: A Survey of International Engagement in 47 Cities OCTOBER 7, 2020 By: Anna Kosovac, Research Fellow, International Urban Policy, University of Melbourne’s Connected Cities Lab; Kris Hartley, Nonresident Fellow, Global Cities; Michele Acuto, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Global Cities; Darcy Gunning, Research Assistant, University of Melbourne’s Connected Cities Lab Executive Summary The impact of global challenges such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic manifests most acutely in urban settings, rendering cities essential players on the global stage. In the 2018 report Toward City Diplomacy, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs presented findings from a survey of 27 cities on the capacity of local governments around the world to network internationally—and the perceived barriers to that engagement. The report found that cities “need to invest in resources, expertise, and capacity to manage their relationships and responsibilities to conduct city diplomacy effectively.” In our new survey of 47 cities, we find that advice to still ring true. City officials broadly recognize the importance of engaging internationally but lack the necessary formal diplomacy training and resources for conducting that engagement to maximum effect. Nevertheless, cities maintain a strong commitment to global agendas, and international frameworks are increasingly influential in municipal affairs. For example, more than half of survey respondents said they track their city’s performance against the metrics of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Furthermore, we found that cities and their leaders are confident in their capacity to tackle global challenges. For instance, the majority of survey respondents said that city governments have greater potential for impact on climate change mitigation than their national government counterparts do, especially when acting collaboratively through city networks and multilateral urban programs. The individual stories of five cities whose officials participated in the study offer lessons for a variety of challenges and approaches to city diplomacy. Based on the survey results, we discuss the three primary obstacles cities must overcome in order to strengthen the role of city diplomacy globally: inadequate funding and resources for international engagement, insufficient training in city diplomacy, and the failure of national and multilateral bodies to fully recognize and formalize city engagement in diplomacy. We conclude with a framework for ensuring that city-diplomacy efforts are systematic and institutionalized rather than reliant on the personalities and connections of powerful city leaders. This capacity-building strategy can help cities leverage international coordination, information sharing, and intersectoral collaboration to address the complex and interconnected problems that will characterize the 21st century.
Topic:
Climate Change, Diplomacy, Sustainable Development Goals, Urban, Cities, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6. 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

7. The Rise of Metropolitanism: The International Order and Sub-national Actors

Author:
Kelly M. McFarland
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The growth and international clout of cities and sub-state actors has been unparalleled in recent decades. These players seek agency in the international arena, forming networks for cross-border cooperation on issues like climate change, health, transnational crime, and migration. ISD’s working group report, “The Rise of Metropolitanism: The International Order and Sub-national Actors,” explores how mayors, governors, and other sub-state actors both challenge and contribute to diplomacy at the national and international levels. How will these new networks find their voice in the international arena?
Topic:
Climate Change, Crime, Diplomacy, Health, International Cooperation, Migration, Transnational Actors, Urban, and Cities
Political Geography:
Global Focus

8. Leading the free world: How America benefits

Author:
Paul D. Miller
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
What is “world order” and why should Americans care? Less than half of all Americans have a passport, and less than five percent travel internationally. Only 26 percent of US gross domestic product (GDP) comes from international trade. Since the end of the Cold War most Americans probably feel safe from foreign threats most of the time: they feel little sense of danger or threat from the world. Even the terrorist attacks of 2001 have receded into memory and increasingly feel like an aberration rather than a precedent. Americans may feel a sense of unease about the world, but we are confident that even the nation’s wars safely take place “over there,” not here at home. If the United States can afford to tune out much of the world because of its geography, wealth, and power, why should we care? Americans have been the unconscious beneficiaries of a world order that would not exist without them. Just as we take for granted electricity and indoor plumbing without thought to the wiring and piping that make them possible, so too we take for granted the peace, prosperity, and stability of our world without thought to the infrastructure of the free world. The free world exists because the most powerful states in the world are open societies: liberal capitalist democracies who largely see the world the same way and have worked together to keep the peace and build wealth. That order is now imperiled. The United States no longer enjoys an unquestioned advantage over its rivals, Russia and China, as it once did. North Korea and Iran threaten the United States with nuclear weapons and support for terrorism. Perhaps most threatening of all: rising nationalist and populist movements around the world, including in the United States, are undermining popular support for international cooperation, free trade, and collective security. This report is about the free world: what it is, why it is imperiled, why Americans should care, and what we can do about it. Some skeptics have criticized the international order. President Donald Trump regularly criticizes “globalism,” and many Americans seem inclined to believe that the United States is losing its sovereignty and that the world is taking advantage of America’s generosity. We respectfully disagree. The free world, and American leadership of it, is good for America and good for the world. It helps keep us safe and give us opportunity. Far from eroding America’s sovereignty, it is a tool of American influence. Most importantly, the aspirations of the free world are just. It is a system of ordered liberty among nations, a tool or mechanism for allowing nations and individuals to flourish in freedom and safety. Investing in the free world is an investment in our values and our common values.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Nationalism, and Politics
Political Geography:
Russia, China, North America, Global Focus, and United States of America

9. The Aid Effectiveness Agenda: Past experiences and future prospects

Author:
Erik Lundsgaarde and Lars Engberg-Pedersen
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness provided an important framework for encouraging donor and partner countries to adapt aid management practices to make development cooperation more effective. The agenda it advanced has since lost visibility, even among aid providers that were once its strongest advocates. This DIIS report, written by Senior Researcher Erik Lundsgaarde and Senior Researcher Lars Engberg-Pedersen, indicates that there are several explanations for the declining attention to Paris Declaration principles. Implementation of the agenda was challenging from the outset due to different starting points among countries, the tension between a universal approach and the need to adapt cooperation approaches to varied contexts, and the tradeoffs involved in implementing prescriptions such as increasing partner ownership, strengthening donor coordination, and improving results management. In spite of these challenges, the authors argue that core ideas from the Paris Declaration remain valid today. In particular, the importance of fostering partner ownership and measuring results has not faded. Improving the consistency of how donors pursue these objectives in practice is essential in carrying lessons from decades of development cooperation experience forward.
Topic:
Development, Diplomacy, Environment, International Organization, Treaties and Agreements, Natural Resources, and Global Political Economy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

10. The New Arctic: Navigating the Realities, Possibilities, and Problems

Author:
New Global Commons Working Group
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Abstract:
A July 2018 ISD report on “The New Arctic: Navigating the Realities, Possibilities, and Problems” explores the implications of the New Arctic, and the broader geopolitical repercussions of these changes. The Arctic region has become a New Global Common. Increasingly navigable seaways and new access to natural resources create both opportunities for greater collaboration between Arctic and non-Arctic nations, as well as potential flashpoints, environmental disasters, and threats to indigenous communities. The challenge is to mitigate all of these potential threats, and develop the policies, partnerships, and infrastructure to help guide Arctic diplomacy in the decades to come.
Topic:
Climate Change, Diplomacy, Environment, Natural Resources, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:
Arctic, Global Focus, and United States of America

11. The Nuclear Security Summits: An Overview of State Actions to Curb Nuclear Terrorism 2010–2016

Author:
Sara Z. Kutchesfahani, Kelsey Davenport, and Erin Connolly
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Arms Control Association
Abstract:
The 2016 Nuclear Security Summit brought to a close President Barack Obama’s high-level initiative to reduce the risk of nuclear terrorism and secure weapons-usable nuclear materials. The four biannual summits from 2010-2016 played a significant role in bringing high-level political attention to the threat posed by vulnerable nuclear and radiological materials around the world and strengthening the global nuclear security regime. As part of the summit process, states were encouraged to make national commitments, known as house gifts, to take specific actions to strengthen nuclear security. Building on this concept, the 2012 summit began the tradition of offering multilateral joint statements, known as gift baskets, in which groups of states came together to address key gaps in the nuclear security architecture. The national commitments and joint statements resulted in some of the most tangible and innovative nuclear security improvements over the course of the summit process. This report offers a comprehensive assessment of the national commitments states undertook as part of the summit process. While these commitments represent significant advances, effective nuclear security requires continuous improvement to address gaps and new threats. States must continue to build on the accomplishments of the summit process to minimize the risk of nuclear terrorism.
Topic:
Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, Diplomacy, Nuclear Weapons, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America

12. U.S. Energy Diplomacy

Author:
Tim Boersma and Casey Johnson
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), Columbia University
Abstract:
Over the preceding decade until November 2016, energy came to occupy a more central position in the United States’ foreign policy apparatus, and the term “energy diplomacy” became frequently used in policy circles and the media. The reasons for this are numerous, but a 2014 headline from the New York Times captures the essence: “Oil’s Comeback Gives U.S. Global Leverage.”[1] Indeed, the unleashing of massive amounts of US unconventional oil and gas transformed the country from a political and economic superpower that was relatively energy poor in relation to its consumption habits into an energy superpower in its own right. The US energy narrative shifted quickly from talk of scarcity and ever-increasing import dependence to one of abundance, in which the nation became a major global exporter. For US diplomats, this occasioned the rethinking of what role energy could play in advancing strategic interests abroad. In October 2012, then secretary of state Hillary Clinton gave a major address at Georgetown University on energy diplomacy in the 21st century, proposing that energy could be used to help solve territorial and maritime disputes, promote competition in Europe, get the Republic of Iraq back on its feet, bring peace in the South Sudan and Sudan conflict, and tackle energy poverty and climate change.[2] Secretary Clinton’s State Department stood up a Bureau of Energy Resources with dozens of diplomats devoted to these topics. At meetings abroad and in Washington, energy was literally on the agenda, assuming a more prominent role than at any time since the Carter administration.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Energy Policy, International Affairs, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:
Global Focus

13. Imran Khan CPEC Diplomacy: Remodelling Trade Politics between Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and China

Author:
James M. Dorsey
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Al Jazeera Center for Studies
Abstract:
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan lands in Beijing on November 3, the latest head of government to seek a renegotiation of commercial terms and/or focus of projects related to China’s infrastructure and energy-driven Belt and Road initiative. He follows in the footsteps of his Malaysian counterpart, Mahathir Mohamad has suspended US$26 billion in Chinese-funded projects; while Myanmar is negotiating a significant scaling back of a Chinese-funded port project on the Bay of Bengal from one that would cost US$ 7.3 billion to a more modest development that would cost US$1.3 billion in a bid to avoid shouldering an unsustainable debt. China has also witnessed pushback and rising anti-Chinese sentiment in countries as far flung as Kazakhstan, Nepal, and Denmark
Topic:
Diplomacy and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

14. "Your World My World"

Author:
Casimir A. Yost
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Let me join in welcoming you toWashington, DC, a city President Kennedy described as having “northern charm and southern efficiency.”I am not sure that in the intervening 60+ years Washington has become either more charming or more efficient..
Topic:
Diplomacy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

15. Evaluating Project Aim 2020: Preparing to Transform the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Author:
Robert Shea
Publication Date:
03-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The National Academy of Public Administration
Abstract:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has experienced significant changes over the last five years. NRC developed Project Aim 2020 (Project Aim) to improve the agency’s planning and operational functions. Project Aim set out to identify key strategies and recommendations to transform the agency during the next five years to enhance the NRC’s ability to plan and execute its mission in a more effective, efficient, and agile manner. The NRC requested the National Academy of Public Administration (the Academy) to conduct an independent assessment of Project Aim. The Academy’s review of Project Aim consisted of two reports: an evaluation of Project Aim processes; and an assessment of the Project Aim final report. The Academy reports were prepared by a professional Study Team, in consultation with an experienced Focus Group of five Academy Fellows and one non-Fellow. The Study Team and Focus Group utilized their knowledge of strategic planning and organizational change management in their evaluation of the NRC’s efforts, providing the NRC with several pragmatic recommendations as the agency pursues an important organizational transformation.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Nuclear Weapons, United Nations, Military Strategy, Nuclear Power, and Denuclearization
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16. Failed States Index 2013: The Book

Author:
J. J. Messner, Nate Haken, Krista Hendry, Patricia Taft, Kendall Lawrence, Sebastian Pavlou, and Felipe Umana
Publication Date:
06-2013
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Fund for Peace
Abstract:
The Failed States Index, produced by The Fund for Peace, is a critical tool in highlighting not only the normal pressures that all states experience, but also in identifying when those pressures are pushing a state towards the brink of failure. By highlighting pertinent issues in weak and failing states, The Failed States Index—and the social science framework and software application upon which it is built—makes political risk assessment and early warning of conflict accessible to policy-makers and the public at large.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Fragile/Failed State, Arab Spring, Peace, State Building, and Human Security
Political Geography:
Africa, Middle East, North Africa, Somalia, South Sudan, and Global Focus

17. Restoring American Leadership

Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
Cosponsored by the Open Society Foundations and the Security and Peace Institute (a joint program of the Center for American Progress and The Century Foundation), Restoring American Leadership: 13 Cooperative Steps to Advance Social Progress offers a starting point for restoring America's international alliances. The papers in the report, written by experts in 13 fields, recommend how President George W. Bush can make progress in areas where his personal commitment to action is needed and where global alliances can help strengthen the national security goals of the United States. Restoring American Leadership covers a wide range of topics, from international cooperation in the war on terror, to curbing proliferation of nuclear weapons, to advancing the rights of women across the globe. Each paper offers a specific set of recommendations for executive action by the president consistent with his stated values, as well as a brief overview of the administration's position on the issue to date.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, International Cooperation, Leadership, and War on Terror
Political Geography:
United States and Global Focus