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2. Social Contracts: A Pathway for More Inclusive Societies
- Author:
- Erin McCandless
- Publication Date:
- 08-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- States and societies are in crisis around the world, as questions arise around the nature and quality of existing social contracts. COVID-19 has laid bare profound vulnerabilities within and across societies. The global pandemic is revealing deep failures in policy visions, institutional fragility, and incapacities of states to harness societal compliance where trust and a sense of national belonging is weak. At the same time, our interdependencies have never been so clear, as all countries, developed and underdeveloped alike, confront similar challenges. Crisis, however, offers opportunity to do things better, to build forward better – strengthening social contracts at all levels. How then, can social contracts, and compacting in times of crisis, offer pathways to address inequality and exclusion? This paper considers how social contracts can offer frameworks to foster new thinking and shape transformative policy to build more inclusive societies. Such frameworks should tie bold new policy visions to robust and resilient institutional arrangements that uproot harmful structural legacies with lasting effect for inclusive and peaceful societies. They must also offer means to address material conditions of inequality, and those related to recognition, identity, and dignity. The cases of South Africa, Tunisia, Colombia, and South Korea reveal that, while not easy nor predictable, such pathways exist. Key findings in this briefing include: Inequality and exclusion stem from policy choices and are fueled by corruption; they undermine foundations of inclusive and resilient national social contracts, e.g. trust in government and societal willingness to consent to difficult policy choices; Participation in formal electoral processes is declining while protest is rising, indicating a lack of faith in existing politics and institutional mechanisms for resolving conflict and fostering consensual politics; and Civil society movements in and across countries are advancing more inclusive social contracts that tackle vulnerability and risk through a variety of innovative means that deserve greater support.
- Topic:
- Peace, Justice, Social Contract, COVID-19, and Inclusion
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, East Asia, South Africa, and Latin America
3. The Just Transition in Energy
- Author:
- Ian Goldin
- Publication Date:
- 12-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- With each new year of data, and each new intergovernmental report, it becomes harder to deny the scale and urgency of the energy transition required to prevent catastrophic anthropogenic climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change urges countries to take action to prevent a rise in temperature by more than 1.5°C, and warns of catastrophic consequences of a rise above 2°C. Yet current policies and pledges fall far short of hitting these targets. Worse, since harmful climate change is caused by the stock of carbon in the atmosphere, the longer we delay measures to limit the flow of new carbon into the atmosphere, the more drastic those measures will have to be. This uneven distribution of threat and responsibility raises difficult questions. Developed countries are generally more advanced in their transition to renewables, which means that some of the cheapest opportunities to reduce emissions are in developing countries. Yet the fact remains that developed countries are responsible for a larger share of historic emissions—and developing countries may have a right to pursue development unhindered, as developed countries did in earlier decades. There are therefore several elements of the “just transition” in energy. The world needs to transition to cleaner energy, and the developing world needs to keep developing, all while supporting the countries and communities that bear the highest costs of mitigation measures—and supporting those areas already beginning to feel the negative effects of climate change. This report will outline the key challenges and opportunities and conclude with a series of practical steps available to policymakers.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, International Security, Crisis Management, and Inclusion
- Political Geography:
- China, Europe, South Asia, Middle East, India, East Asia, South Africa, Latin America, West Africa, United States of America, and Sub-Saharan Africa
4. Why Europe must stop outsourcing its security
- Author:
- Richard Gowan and Nick Witney
- Publication Date:
- 12-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- The EU claims to be in the business of “crisis management” – ready if need be to make “robust” military interventions to control conflict, especially in its neighbourhood. In practice, it now prefers to “outsource” such interventions to others, notably the United Nations and African Union (AU), limiting itself to supporting roles. This is not just shabby; it also saps Europe's influence in a world in which European interests and values are increasingly contested. And it places too great a burden on organisations such as the UN and AU. Unless the EU rediscovers a willingness to bear the costs and risks of military operations to control conflict, Europe can expect everintensifying refugee pressure on its southern borders. Although military force will not help in Ukraine or the turmoil of the Middle East, the EU could make a big difference if it were prepared to do more in crisis management in Africa. The EU could contribute to or complement UN or AU efforts in a variety of ways. Responding to the crisis in UN peacekeeping, Ban Kimoon has ordered a review. New EU High Representative Federica Mogherini should do the same, involving outside experts in a stock-take of international efforts to control conflict to Europe's south and commissioning specific proposals to get the EU back to playing a properly responsible security role.
- Topic:
- Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, United Nations, and Refugee Issues
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, Ukraine, and Middle East
5. Fueling a New Order? The New Geopolitical and Security Consequences of Energy
- Author:
- Bruce Jones, David Steven, and Emily O'Brien
- Publication Date:
- 04-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- On December 16, 2013, Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud, Saudi Arabia's powerful former intelligence chief, gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal. He was speaking out after a turbulent four months in Middle East and Persian Gulf diplomacy, diplomacy that culminated in an interim nuclear deal between Iran and the major powers. Prince Turki, long a close friend to the United States, used the interview to blast American policy. He was critical of U.S. strategy in the region as a whole, but particularly vehement about leaving Saudi Arabia out of the loop as the United States engaged in secret bilateral diplomacy with Iran. "How can you build trust when you keep secrets from what are supposed to be your closest allies?" he fumed.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Economics, Energy Policy, International Trade and Finance, and Oil
- Political Geography:
- United States, Middle East, and Asia
6. UN Peacekeeping: The Next Five Years
- Author:
- Richard Gowan and Megan Gleason
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- This paper, commissioned by the Permanent Mission of Denmark to the United Nations, analyzes current trends in United Nations peacekeeping and makes predictions about the development of UN operations over the next five years (to 2017). It covers (i) the changing global context for UN operations and efforts to enhance the organization's performance over the last five years; (ii) trends in troop and police contributions; (iii) projections about potential demand for UN forces in various regions, especially the Middle East and Africa, in the next five years and (iv) suggestions about the types of contributions European countries such as Denmark can make to reinforce UN missions in this period.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, International Relations, International Cooperation, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Middle East
7. The Use of Force, Crisis Diplomacy and the Responsibilities of States
- Publication Date:
- 05-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- The papers included in this report relate to a conference co-hosted by the New York University Abu Dhabi Institute, the NYU Center on International Cooperation (CIC) and the Brookings Institution on 21-22 February in Abu Dhabi on “The Use of Force, Crisis Diplomacy and the Responsibilities of States.”
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Civil Society, Democratization, Islam, and Regime Change
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Arabia, and North Africa
8. Preparing for a Constructive 2012 Conference on the Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone
- Author:
- W.P.S. Sidhu (ed), Bruce Jones (ed), and Colette Jaycox
- Publication Date:
- 04-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- The consensus decision reached at the 2010 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) to convene a conference in 2012 on the establishment of a zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the Middle East was, perhaps, the most salient outcome of the quinquennium gathering.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Security, Nuclear Weapons, Treaties and Agreements, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Arabia
9. State-building and political change: Options for Palestine 2011
- Author:
- Elizabeth Sellwood
- Publication Date:
- 03-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- Across the Middle East, the year 2011 already appears destined to be a period of upheaval. It is not yet clear how the dramatic events of January and February will influence the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but three factors suggest that this year will also be one of change for Palestinians and Israelis.
- Topic:
- Regime Change, Territorial Disputes, Governance, and Prisons/Penal Systems
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Arabia
10. Shaky Foundations: An Assessment of the UN's Rule Of Law Support Agenda
- Author:
- Bruce Jones and Camino Kavanagh
- Publication Date:
- 11-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- As we began the process of drafting this review, citizens across the Middle East and North Africa took to the streets to demand an end to the abusive practices of the security services, more representative and responsive government institutions, the protection of their rights, greater access to economic opportunity, participation in decision-making, and access to justice. They began demanding, in short, the rule of law.
- Topic:
- Security, Cold War, Democratization, International Cooperation, Post Colonialism, United Nations, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Arabia, and North Africa