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6241. Protecting the Future: Constitutional Safeguards for Iraq's Oil Revenues

Publication Date:
05-2005
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
Published by the Open Society Iraq Revenue Watch, the following report argues that Iraq's future peace and security depend on instituting constitutional safeguards guaranteeing financial accountability and the equitable division of oil revenues. Protecting the Future: Constitutional Safeguards for Iraq's Oil Revenues comes as the new Iraqi government prepares to draft the country's first permanent constitution since Saddam Hussein was ousted. The report urges lawmakers to protect against oil-sector corruption and mismanagement. Protecting the Future also warns of civil conflict unless oil revenues are fairly distributed among Iraq's ethnic and religious groups. In Iraq, rifts over oil revenues run deep, as Iraqi Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen struggle for control of oil-rich Kirkuk. Without constitutional provisions that protect its oil revenues, Iraq is likely to follow the path of so many other natural resource-rich nations that are dogged by corruption and bad governance. Most oil-dependent states have “ultra-presidential” governments, which enable the executive branch to use resource revenues as it sees fit. Protecting the Future explores ways that Iraq can avoid this trap by embedding measures for accountability into the future Iraqi constitution. The report recommends provisions that make clear which agencies are responsible for the development and implementation of the Iraqi budget, and grant oversight of oil revenues to all branches of government—executive, legislative, and judicial.
Topic:
Oil, Natural Resources, Governance, Oversight, and Revenue Management
Political Geography:
Iraq

6242. 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

6243. Rights of People with Intellectual Disabilities: Access to Education and Employment

Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
Produced by the Open Society EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program and Mental Health Initiative, Rights of People with Intellectual Disabilities: Access to Education and Employment is a series of 12 country reports on the rights of people with intellectual disabilities in Europe. The reports monitor the degree to which existing international standards and national legislation are heeded and applied. Each report includes specific policy recommendations targeting both domestic and international decisionmakers.
Topic:
Human Rights, Disability, Mental Health, and Domestic Policy
Political Geography:
Greece, Estonia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, and Latvia

6244. Equal Opportunities for Women and Men

Publication Date:
05-2005
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
Gender equality is still far from being a reality in Central and Eastern Europe, according to the report Equal Opportunities for Women and Men: Monitoring Law and Practice in New Member States and Accession Countries of the European Union, published by OSI's Network Women's Program. The findings and recommendations in Equal Opportunities for Women and Men are based on monitoring conducted by national gender equality experts and local NGO representatives in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Turkey. The report describes existing national institutional mechanisms, policies, and programs on gender equality, and highlights several shortcomings. The research identified a general lack of awareness among men and women about how gender inequality affects their daily lives as well as a lack of political will to enforce existing national and EU gender equality policies. The report's key recommendations include a call for governments to establish regular monitoring of how equal pay principles are practiced in both the public and private sectors and making these monitoring results public; they urge the governments in Bulgaria, Hungary, and Poland to adopt official gender equality strategies; and appeal to all governments to collect gender disaggregated statistical data, without which gender equality policies can hardly be successful.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Women, Men, and Equality
Political Geography:
Turkey, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovakia

6245. Security Threats and Risks in South Caucasus: Perceptions From the Western Black Sea

Author:
Plamen Pantev
Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Abstract:
Perception1 of security threats is a dynamic process determined by the outside world and the perceiver’s culture, attitudes, expectations, needs, experience and other attributes. Each interpreter, depending on her or his respective analytic point of view, subjectively defines the facts in the security realm. Values, beliefs and cognitions constitute the bulk of any perception, including about security issues. A value is a preference for one state of reality over another. A belief is a conviction that a description of reality is true, proven or known. And cognition is information derived from the environment that can be substantiated through physical evidence or perceptual observation. Cognitions are key elements in establishing perceptual systems and in changing those systems. The threat perceptual systems of the Western Black Sea countries – Bulgaria and Romania, are strongly influenced by their values, beliefs and cognitions as sovereign nations with specific geopolitical positions and interests. They are also shaped in the context of their membership in NATO, as future EU members and as US allies on whose territories would be stationed American military bases.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Geopolitics, and Risk
Political Geography:
Europe, Eurasia, South Caucasus, and Black Sea

6246. The ‘Europeanisation’ of National Foreign, Security and Defence Policy

Author:
Plamen Pantev
Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Abstract:
This Research Report focuses on the issue of the interpretation of the meaning of the term ‘Europeanisation’. It is followed by a discussion of two constraining factors of Europeanising the foreign, security and defence policy. Lastly, it deals with the interrelationship of ‘security’ and ‘regional integration’ – an issue that is generally disregarded by analysts and politicians, but that can lead to a methodological miss-match, creating obstacles to the course of a less contradictory Europeanisation of the foreign, security and defence policy of the EU.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, European Union, and Europeanization
Political Geography:
Europe and Eastern Europe

6247. Recommendations for Improving the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee’s Assessment and Assistance Coordination Function

Author:
Alistair Millar, Jason Ipe, George A. Lopez, Tona Boyd, Linda Gerber, and David Cortright
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Fourth Freedom Forum
Abstract:
The effectiveness of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) depends on its ability to keep pace with transformations in the global security environment. When the CTC was established in the wake of the September 2001 terrorist attacks, the primary target was understood to be Al Qaeda and its international network of related terrorist groups. In order to secure its central role and relevance among multilateral counter-terrorism efforts, the CTC must find more creative ways to collect, assess, and disseminate information about current counter-terrorism capacities and to facilitate the provision of needed technical assistance by potential donors in a timely and sustainable manner.
Topic:
Security, United Nations, and Counter-terrorism
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6248. The Istanbul Symposium: Empowering Women in Public Life and Democratic Development in the BMENA Region

Author:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
"One of the issues the Democracy Assistance Dialogue will concentrate on is the empowerment of women in public life. As agreed on in Rome Ministerial meeting of DAD on 25 November 2004 "Democratic development requires inclusion of women as an active and essential component of society. To stimulate active participation of women in democratic practices is also a fundamental priority. The Dialogue shall support efforts aimed at promoting women's participation in political life and active contribution to democratic projects and programs. Indeed, a substantial gender gap exists in the BMENA region. Like in many other countries, women are the most disadvantaged segment of society simply because they are women. Gender inequality in the region is compounded by high levels of illiteracy among women, In many countries women still cannot enjoy their political rights sufficiently and their chances of social and political participation are completely blocked. Gender related discrimination is a major impediment to democratic reform in the region. If women constitute half of their respective societies, then, along with men, they should partake in decision-making pertaining to their common future.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Women, Democracy, Inequality, and Discrimination
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

6249. “Home Sweet Home:” Women and Men in the Democratization Process

Author:
Aksu Bora and Kadir Üstün
Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
This study aims to map the relations between democratization and mind-setups, and focuses on gender as a powerful tool. The immediate answer to the gendered mind-sets in Turkey, would be that the norms and schemes that refer to gender relations are conservative and anti-democratic until they are shifted and even shattered by men and women in their daily life activities. Yet, this study shows that such and assumption is highly limited if not problematic: In order for the daily life experience to present an elbow room to exercise personal empowerment strategies, a capacity of subjectivity is necessary, and it has been observed that this capacity is fundamentally damaged for most people we have interviewed.
Topic:
Democratization, Gender Issues, Women, Men, Equality, and Subjectivity
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

6250. Quo vadis Cyprus?

Author:
Ayla Gürel Moran, Mensur Akgün, Mete Hatay, and Sylvia Tiryaki
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
Cyprus is one of the key issues in Turkish Foreign Policy today, probably even more so than it has ever been. A peaceful settlement that optimizes the needs and minimizes the concerns of both the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot sides is of utmost significance and urgency. A settlement is needed not only to enable Turkey to continue its path towards European accession, but also in order to establish and perpetuate a peaceful coexistence between the two communities on the island. The suspension of efforts to solve the Cyprus issue after the referendum on April 24, 2004, could pave the way for unwelcome developments in Turkey, the EU and in the region as a whole. Therefore TESEV see it as their mission to alert policy makers, opinion leaders and diplomats of the urgency of the issue. As has been stated previously on different occasions, TESEV has three major areas of activity: Democratization, Good Governance and Foreign Policy. There has been a dynamic wave of political, economic, judicial and legal reforms in Turkey vis-à-vis her prospective membership of the European Union. Internal dynamics for democratization, local governance, fiscal policies, transparency and judicial reform and new perspectives in foreign policy have been subjects of concern in this process. These subjects are also the determinants of TESEV’s major program axes. The Foreign Policy Program, one of TESEV’s three main program areas, has been dealing with the Cyprus issue at both governmental and non-governmental levels, with specific reference to the Annan Plan. We support the Annan Plan as the basis for a viable solution. This monograph provides a historical account of the problem and settlement efforts, elaborates the Annan Plan and provides some suggestions for the way forward.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Government, Territorial Disputes, and Referendum
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, Cyprus, and Mediterranean

6251. What Are Nuclear Weapons For? Recommendations for Restructuring U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces

Author:
Sidney D. Drell and James E. Goodby
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Arms Control Association
Abstract:
This report is aimed at revising the current US defense strategy towards Russia to more closely represent the recent policy shift towards cooperation. It advocates the reduction of the U.S. strategic arsenal to 500 operationally deployed nuclear warheads and 500 responsive forces. Such a force would be composed of existing warheads and require no new nuclear weapons while maintaining the diversity of force that protects against common failure modes. The report concludes that the United States can enhance its national security by strengthening the nonproliferation regime.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, National Security, and Nuclear Weapons
Political Geography:
Russia and United States of America

6252. Getting to “Yes” on Missile Defense: The Need to Rebalance U.S. Priorities & The Prospects for Transatlantic Cooperation

Author:
Jeffrey P. Bialos and Stuart L. Koehl
Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Transatlantic Relations
Abstract:
At the end of the day, missile defense is and should be here to stay as a key element of U.S., and in all likelihood, European defense strategy for the twenty-first century. The threats are real and there is an emerging consensus about creating defenses against it. While the “macro” issues of ABM withdrawal and initial fielding of the U.S. midcourse segment are behind us, there are very legitimate issues that warrant debate on both sides of the Atlantic. We now need to focus on making the right choices to provide a better balance of capabilities between various strategic, regional, force protection, and homeland security needs. Moreover, U.S.-European engagement on missile defense is potentially, but not inevitably, a win-win proposition—binding alliance partners together geo-politically, creating a layered, multi-national plug and play “system of system” architecture, and enhancing our ability to fight wars together. And, an enhanced coalition war fighting capability is likely to have beneficial spillover effects on the broader Transatlantic relationship; it is axiomatic that countries that fight wars together tend to have congruent interests in a range of areas. But for this to happen, Europe needs to begin to seriously consider its missile defense needs soon and apply resources to the task and the United States needs to resolve the underlying technology transfer issues and questions of roles and responsibilities. Thus, with hard work and good will, multi-national cooperation between the United States and its allies offers “win-win” from the standpoint of strengthening the alliance and our mutual security.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Nuclear Weapons, Military Strategy, Weapons, and Missile Defense
Political Geography:
United States, China, and Europe

6253. Beyond the Mountains: The Unfinished Business of Haiti

Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
In early 2004, the 200th anniversary of Haiti's independence, violence once again burst into flame as rebel soldiers overran much of the country and forced President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to resign. The country the soldiers fought over is the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, one of the poorest anywhere. Its infrastructure—roads, electricity, water, sanitation—is deteriorating, almost to the point of nonexistence. The schools cannot make a dent in the illiteracy rate. The health care system cannot stop the spread of preventable diseases. The months of political violence, following years of government repression, have made living conditions worse—at least in the short term. The international community, which reduced its presence in Haiti several years ago in response to the corruption and mismanagement of the government, must now return to help Haiti recover, restore order and stability, and complete the job of establishing truly democratic values and institutions. The few bright spots in the chaos and dysfunction that have overwhelmed Haiti are a small number of successful civic organizations that desperately need funding to survive and expand. FOKAL, the Soros foundation in Haiti, is a leading force among these grassroots groups. FOKAL stands for the Fondasyon Konesans Ak Libète in Creole (in French, the Fondation Connaissance & Liberté). Its programs improve conditions for young people and rural communities, instilling optimism and hope and a commitment to work for the common good. Through civic organizations such as the ones described in this report, Haitians are tackling a mountain range of problems. A strong civil society offers the only lasting solution to political repression and violence. This report tells the story of FOKAL and some of the programs that deserve support because they work in a country where so much doesn't. It is a journey through the unfinished business of Haiti.
Topic:
Political Violence, Civil Society, Development, Infrastructure, and Repression
Political Geography:
Haiti

6254. Racing the Deadline: The Rush to Account for Iraq's Public Funds

Publication Date:
04-2004
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
This report, the sixth in a series from Iraq Revenue Watch, criticizes the timetable set by the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB) for review of expenditures by the Coalition Provisional Authority’s Development Fund for Iraq (DFI). According to the report, “Under its current mandate, the IAMB has less than three months to account for $7.3 billion of DFI expenditures made by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). Unless the Board is able to work beyond June 30, there is no way it can provide an accurate and public accounting for so much money.” Furthermore, the report concludes that “the delay and absence of IAMB oversight of the CPA is particularly worrying in light of recent reports by inspector generals at the Pentagon, USAID, and the General Accounting Office noting pervasive violations of contracting procedures in the allocation of U.S. and Iraqi funds for the reconstruction of Iraq.” These problems are only exacerbated by the lack of Iraqi involvement in the IAMB, the report notes, bringing into question the legitimacy of the IAMB’s operations in the eyes of the people it was designed to serve.
Topic:
Military Affairs, Budget, Revenue Management, and Public Spending
Political Geography:
Iraq

6255. Opening the Books: Transparent Budgeting for Iraq

Publication Date:
04-2004
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
This report, the fifth in a series by the Open Society Iraq Revenue Watch, evaluates the level of transparency in budget reporting by the Baghdad-based Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). On the eve of the transition to a new Iraqi government, the report finds that although the CPA’s financial procedures and documents have improved, they still fail to meet internationally recognized standards for fiscal decision-making and reporting. The report calls upon the CPA and the Governing Council to make further improvements in accordance with these standards. Budgetary transparency and accountability can help assure that Iraq does not revert to the tyranny of secrecy practiced under Saddam Hussein.
Topic:
Military Affairs, Transparency, and Revenue Management
Political Geography:
Iraq

6256. Disorder, Negligence, and Mismanagement

Publication Date:
10-2004
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
Recent audits expose serious failures in American oversight of Iraq’s revenues and U.S. reconstruction funds, according to a report by the Open Society Institute’s Iraq Revenue Watch project. The audits—released in late July by the Coalition Provisional Authority Inspector General (CPA-IG)—paint a picture of disorder and negligence. Contractors made little effort to control costs, while the Coalition Provisional Authority, which was in charge of managing Iraqi reconstruction funds, failed to adhere to federally mandated procedures for awarding and overseeing contracts. “The CPA did not do its job regarding the oversight of reconstruction funds,” said Svetlana Tsalik, director of the Revenue Watch project. “It failed to stop the misuse and waste of money that belonged to the Iraqi people and American taxpayers.” An analysis of the data suggests that of $1.5 billion in contracts, the CPA awarded U.S. firms 74 percent of the value of all contracts paid for with Iraqi funds. Together with its British allies, U.S. and U.K. companies received 85 percent of the value of all such contracts. Iraqi firms, by contrast, received just 2 percent of the value of contracts paid for with Iraqi funds. “Government favorites such as Kellogg, Brown and Root benefited at the expense of Iraqi companies whose workers badly need jobs,” said Tsalik. The report, the sixth in a series by Iraq Revenue Watch, finds that 60 percent of the value of all contracts paid with Iraqi funds went to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR)—the same company that Pentagon auditors in December 2003 found had overcharged the U.S. government for as much as $61 million for fuel imports into Iraq. A criminal investigation of KBR was launched by the Department of Defense in February 2004. The CPA-IG audits confirm the findings of previous ones. A report released in July 2004 by the International Advisory and Monitoring Board, the watchdog body set up by the United Nations, found numerous problems in the CPA’s control and use of Iraqi oil assets during the occupation. These include the absence of oil metering to control theft, poor record-keeping on oil sales, an absence of oversight of spending by the Iraqi ministries, the use of noncompetitive bidding procedures for some contracts, and the CPA’s refusal to transmit crucial information to the UN-mandated body. A recent Pentagon audit of KBR’s billing system, which shows that systematic deficiencies in the company’s accounting and billing procedures incurred significant costs to U.S taxpayers and to Iraqi oil revenues, is further proof of mismanagement. Following the model of its American predecessor, the Iraq interim government to date has provided scant information about how it is managing Iraq’s oil revenues.
Topic:
Oil, United Nations, Military Affairs, Budget, Transparency, and Revenue Management
Political Geography:
Iraq

6257. Controlling Iraq’s Skies: The Secret Sell-Off of Iraq’s Air Industry

Publication Date:
02-2004
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
In this report the Open Society Iraq Revenue Watch (IRW) looks at Iraq’s national air transport sector, which is presently controlled by the American-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). Despite CPA claims that it intends to return control of the country’s air industry to the Iraqi people, a document obtained by the Open Society Foundations shows that a backroom deal has already sold off 75 percent of the country’s air sector to a single family. The IRW argues that the secret deal is one among a number of suspect agreements that have occurred under the radar in a chaotic post-war Iraq. The report’s authors caution that Iraq risks following a similar path as Russia, where a class of oligarchs emerged after the fall of communism by buying up state assets at below market prices. Controlling Iraq’s Skies recommends that this contract be frozen and an investigation be launched by the International Advisory and Monitoring Board, as well as by the CPA Inspector General. The report also calls on the CPA to compensate Iraqi Airways for damage to its facilities committed by occupying forces, and fees for the use of its facilities.
Topic:
Military Affairs, Budget, Public Sector, Iraq War, Air Force, and Revenue Management
Political Geography:
Iraq

6258. Aspirations and Reality: British Muslims and the Labour Market

Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
British Muslims face severe obstacles in the United Kingdom's labor market and have a disproportionately high rate of unemployment, according to this report from OSI's EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP). Aspirations and Reality: British Muslims and the Labour Market calls for more effort to meet the employment aspirations and needs of Muslims in the UK, especially Muslim women and young Muslims. "Government, the private sector, and Muslims themselves must ensure that British Muslims are not left out of the workforce," said the report's author, Zamila Bunglawala, who co-authored the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit report on Ethnic Minorities and the Labour Market. British Muslims seeking employment face multiple obstacles, ranging from gaps in mainstream labor market policy and employer practices, poor service delivery and a lack of faith-friendly work environments. The extent to which Muslims face religious discrimination in the labor market is unknown; the report stressed that further analysis is needed to improve the understanding of the British Muslim group as a whole. Muslim youths are at particular risk of social exclusion. With Muslims set to comprise almost a quarter of the growth in the working age population in Britain between 1999 and 2009, integrating British Muslims into the mainstream labor market must now be a priority for the government, the report concludes.
Topic:
Islam, Religion, Labor Issues, Minorities, and European Union
Political Geography:
United Kingdom

6259. Euro-Atlantic and Euro-Asiatic Concerns of an Enlarged Europe: a Bulgarian View

Author:
Plamen Pantev
Publication Date:
08-2004
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Abstract:
For historical, geopolitical, domestic and other reasons the enlarged Europe of 25 ‘+2’;’+3’, or ‘+4’ does not have a homogenized vision of the extent to which EU should differentiate itself in the realm of security from the United States of America. This causes fundamental concerns to the new members of the Union and to the other two, three or four that would join in the next few years. The Bulgarian perceptions of this issue cause concerns as to the most appropriate roles and functions of the country in the EuroAtlantic area as well as relative to the Euro-Asiatic neighborhood when the country joins the Union.
Topic:
Security, NATO, International Affairs, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Asia, Bulgaria, and Atlantic Ocean

6260. An Action Agenda for Enhancing the United Nations Program on Counter-Terrorism

Author:
David Cortright, George A. Lopez, Alistair Millar, and Linda Gerber
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Fourth Freedom Forum
Abstract:
The project examines how the CTC and the CTED can more effectively implement the mandates of Security Council Resolutions 1373, 1377, 1456, 1535, and other relevant measures. The project addresses the following specific research topics: financial asset controls; technical assistance to enhance member state implementation capacity; international, regional, and subregional coordination; linkages between counter-terrorism assistance and development aid; and the need to respect human rights while implementing counter-terrorism mandates.
Topic:
International Cooperation, United Nations, Counter-terrorism, and UN Security Council
Political Geography:
Global Focus