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1. Engineering Peace: The Critical Role of Engineers in UN Peacekeeping

Author:
Arthur Boutellis and Adam Smith
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The UN Security Council mandates peacekeeping operations in some of the poorest, most conflict-prone areas of the world. These locations are often also extremely remote and nearly inaccessible. In this context, engineering is one of the most critical elements to the functioning of a UN peace operation; yet, it may be the least critically analyzed aspect of peacekeeping. During the start-up phase of a mission, engineers design, prepare, and build the camps that allow the mission to exist. Very little can be achieved in peacekeeping without sanitary and secure camps with electricity and passable roads or functional air strips. When there are engineering gaps coupled with major logistical challenges (as in the UN Mission in South Sudan), key elements of the mandate, such as the protection of civilians or support to the extension of state authority, become much more difficult, and sometimes impossible, to fulfill. During the mission consolidation phase, engineers can play a central role in the peacebuilding support tasks of a mission, working with the host country, UN agencies, and others to build capacity and deliver peace dividends.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Development, Peace Studies, Science and Technology, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
United Nations

2. Rethinking Peacebuilding: Transforming the UN Approach

Author:
Michael von der Schulenburg
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Since the end of the Cold War, the UN has found itself intervening directly within its member states to help them end intrastate conflicts and rebuild their war-torn countries. Peacekeeping missions that were originally designed to keep opposing national armies apart and that had the consent of the host state are now expected to secure a much more comprehensive peace, intervene much more deeply in states' internal affairs—with tenuous legitimacy—and resolve active conflicts where there is no "peace" to keep.
Topic:
Cold War, Peace Studies, War, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
United Nations

3. New Meeting Note: Security and Development in the Sahel-Sahara

Author:
Mireille Affa'a-Mindzie
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
After the severe twin crises that nearly brought Mali to its knees in January 2012, the country is gradually recovering from their debilitating consequences. In August 2013, Mali successfully elected its new president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, thus putting an end to an eighteen-month-long transitional government that was put in place following the March 2012 coup. Even though the violence has abated and renewed hope seems to be in the air, the structural causes of the Malian conflict are still stubbornly present and their consequences are still being felt by neighboring Sahel countries that suffer from similar underlying ills. The situation in Mali and other concerned states in the region generated a renewed interest in the Sahel-Sahara region and in efforts to stabilize this region. This prompted the International Peace Institute, the Executive Secretariat of the Strategy for Security and Development in the Sahel-Saharan Areas of Niger (SDS Sahel Niger), and the Centre for Strategies and Security for the Sahel Sahara (Centre 4S) to convene an international seminar on security and development in the Sahel-Sahara on February 15 and 16, 2013, in Niamey, Niger.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, Development, Economics, Peace Studies, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

4. Conflict, Violence, and Instability in the Post-2015 Development Agenda

Author:
Suparva Narasimhaiah
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
On April 26, 2013, the UN Foundation (UNF), Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO), the International Peace Institute (IPI), and the Post-2015 Development Team at the Executive Office of the Secretary-General jointly convened a workshop to assess the impact of conflict, violence, and instability on development. The meeting brought together members from the UN Secretariat, agencies, funds, and programs as well as outside experts to consider strategies for addressing the post-2015 development agenda.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Arms Control and Proliferation, Development, Peace Studies, War, Insurgency, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Europe

5. When Do Civil-War Parties Heed the UN? Findings from the IPI Security Council Compliance Database

Author:
Christoph Mikulaschek and Chris Perry
Publication Date:
12-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The end of the Cold War brought an unprecedented surge in United Nations Security Council efforts to prevent, manage, and resolve internal armed conflict. But the sheer time and resources devoted to civil wars begs the question: to what extent and under which circumstances do civil-war parties actually implement the substance of Security Council resolutions? When and how often do civil-war parties comply with the Security Council's demands? To what extent do they respond to the council's offers of negative and positive incentives to cease hostilities and pursue a political settlement? Which factors most influence compliance with these demands? These are the questions that the International Peace Institute's Understanding Compliance with UN Security Council Resolutions in Civil Wars project aims to answer.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Peace Studies, Treaties and Agreements, War, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
United Nations

6. New Report Plans Ahead for a Postconflict Syria:Lessons from Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen

Author:
Christina Bennett
Publication Date:
12-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Though the violent conflict in Syria shows few signs of abating and scenarios for any post conflict solution are numerous and vague, renewed interest in peace talks presents an important opportunity to discuss the parameters of peace and reconstruction in Syria.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Iraq, Middle East, Yemen, Arabia, Lebanon, and Syria

7. Aid Effectiveness in Fragile States: Lessons from the First Generation of Transition Compacts

Author:
Christina Bennett
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Amid growing recognition that international efforts to support fragile and conflict-affected states are falling short of expectations, donors and partner governments continue to seek new approaches. Attention has recently focused on the notion of “compacts”—instruments that allow national and international partners to agree on the most urgent priorities requiring a collective effort in support of postconflict peacebuilding in a particular country, and identify how, and from which sources and instruments, implementation will be financed.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Humanitarian Aid, Peace Studies, United Nations, and Foreign Aid

8. Making UN Peacekeeping More Robust: Protecting the Mission, Persuading the Actors

Author:
Patrice Sartre
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The debate about robust peacekeeping pits the enthusiasm of "diplomats," who believe in peacekeeping but worry that it might not succeed in violent situations, against the scepticism of the "military," who see its failures as proof that the proper role of military forces is war fighting.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Peace Studies, War, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Europe

9. Election-Related Disputes and Political Violence: Strengthening the Role of the African Union in Preventing, Managing, and Resolving Conflict

Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Elections are the hallmark of representative democracy, allowing the people's regular input in choices about leaders and policy. Yet they are also competitive processes, unleashing conflict and tensions that, if not constructively managed, could potentially destabilize the fabric of states and societies. Since the new wave of democratization in Africa in the early 1990s, elections have become a core ingredient of popular participation in the governance process. At the same time, elections have spawned conflicts and violence and scrambled ethnic and regional alliances that sometimes threaten the social order, economic development, and efforts to strengthen regional integration. With the steady decline of some of the historic causes of African conflicts, elections have emerged as one of the major recent sources of conflict across Africa. The challenges occasioned by election-related conflicts and political violence underscore the importance of building institutions that balance competition with order, participation with stability, and contestation with consensus.
Topic:
Political Violence, Democratization, Peace Studies, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Africa

10. Peacebuilding: Task Forces on Strengthening Multilateral Security Capacity IPI Blue Paper no. 10

Author:
Lead Rapportuer and Jenna Slotin
Publication Date:
07-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Peacebuilding involves implementing a range of reconstruction and reform efforts in countries with some of the most fragile, fluid, and unpredictable political environments. These situations present tensions and contradictions that often cannot be fully reconciled and require trade-offs between competing needs and goals. Moreover, each postconflict situation is unique, defying general theories and blueprints for action.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Cooperation, Peace Studies, and War
Political Geography:
United Nations

11. Managing Complexity: Political and Managerial Challenges in UN Peace Operations

Author:
Adam Smith, editor and Caty Clement, editor
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
“Overstretched,” “underresourced,” and “overmatched” are terms commonly used to describe UN peacekeeping. The first is a result of the vast number of conflicts the Security Council has chosen to address with peace operations. The second is due to a lack of available specialized equipment, highly trained personnel, and funds—a constraint compounded by global recession. The final descriptor, “overmatched,” is, at least partly, a consequence of the challenging, complex environment in which the UN operates. The multiplicity of actors involved, the unpredictability of the environment, and the enormous obstacles to sustainable peace all suggest a complexity through which the UN—a large bureaucracy dependent on the will and capacity of its member states—is often unprepared to navigate.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Peace Studies, and United Nations

12. Mediation and Peace Processes: IPI Blue Paper no. 8

Author:
Christoph Mikulaschek
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Today more than ever before, armed conflicts are likely to end in mediated settlements. As mediation activity has surged since the end of the Cold War, its dynamics have undergone significant change as well.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Cold War, Diplomacy, Peace Studies, and War

13. Transnational Organized Crime

Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Transnational organized crime (TOC) is no longer the sole preserve of specialist criminal organizations. It is now an essential strategy for armed groups around the world, and a source of funding for terrorists, corrupt politicians, warlords, and rogue governments. But states and international organizations have largely failed to anticipate the evolution of TOC into a strategic threat to governments, societies, and economies. At the international level, an outdated understanding of TOC does not adequately contemplate the strategic impact of TOC and fails to ensure that peace efforts and crime fighting are not working at cross-purposes.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Crime, International Law, Peace Studies, War on Drugs, and Weapons of Mass Destruction

14. Peace Operations

Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Major reassessments of UN peacekeeping have tended to follow in the wake of large-scale failures of peacekeeping operations. Continued violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the inability to mount a UN operation in Somalia, and the lack of progress in Darfur may or may not count as major failures. However, it is clear that some kind of reassessment is required.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Peace Studies, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Somalia

15. Resource Scarcity: Responding to the Security Challenge

Author:
Richard A. Matthew
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
For over two centuries, the social effects of natural resource scarcity have been the subject of lively debate. On one side are those who contend that the planet's resource endowment cannot support increased consumption indefinitely. In 1798, for example, Thomas Malthus wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population, in which he argued “that the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man.” The imbalance between human needs and food availability, Malthus predicted, would lead to famine, disease, and war. Writing 150 years later, Fairfield Osborn (1948: 200-201) reiterated this concern: “When will it be openly recognized that one of the principal causes of the aggressive attitudes of individual nations and of much of the present discord among groups of nations is traceable to diminishing productive lands and to increasing population pressures?” More recently, updated versions of the “scarcity conflict thesis,” developed by scholars such as Paul Ehrlich (1968), Donella Meadows (1972) and Thomas Homer-Dixon (1999), have been influential in both academic and policy circles around the world.
Topic:
Security, Agriculture, Demographics, Globalization, and Peace Studies

16. Governing the Global Economy: Strengthening Multilateral Institutions

Author:
Ngaire Woods
Publication Date:
07-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The good news in the global economy is that the past two decades have seen globalization proceed apace with unprecedented economic growth in several parts of the world. To date, sound economic policy has made hyperinflation a rarity. Rising commodity prices are fueling growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Formerly poor countries are emerging as major players in the world economy.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, International Organization, International Political Economy, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Africa and Bangkok

17. Southern Africa: Threats and Capabilities

Author:
Gavin Cawthra
Publication Date:
11-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The southern African region is now generally defined in political terms as those countries that are members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) (the geographic definition is usually somewhat more limited). Currently there are fifteen member states of the SADC: Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, the Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Topic:
Development, Peace Studies, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Africa, South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, and Swaziland

18. North Africa: New Challenges, Old Regimes, and Regional Security

Author:
Claire Spencer
Publication Date:
11-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
North Africa is often loosely defined, but for the purposes of this paper, it encompasses the states of the Arab Maghreb Union (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia) together with Egypt.1 With the exception of Mauritania, this group of states lies on the northern littoral of the African continent, between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Sahara to the south. This contiguity, however, has not automatically made for a cohesive region; differences between political and economic trajectories have overridden the social solidarities that still unite the peoples of North Africa.
Topic:
Security, Islam, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Africa, Libya, Algeria, North Africa, and Egypt

19. Peacemaking and Mediation: Dynamics of a Changing Field

Author:
Chester Crocker
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The study of peacemaking and mediation blossomed in the immediate post-Cold War years and into the new millennium.The 2001 terrorist attacks on the US and subsequent attacks in Indonesia, Spain, and the UK, marked a significant watershed in world politics, raising the question of whether war-fighting against this new adversary would eclipse peacemaking and conflict prevention.While the jury remains out on the extent of the paradigm shift signaled by September 11, 2001, there is no question that today's environment features elements of both continuity and change for peacemakers. The threat to international security posed by certain forms of terrorism cannot be ignored. But the totality of challenges facing the international system today cannot be reduced to the terrorist threat, nor can the international community's response be reduced to a “war on terrorism.”1 In this section of the paper, we will identify important areas of consensus about peacemaking that have carried over from the late 1980s and early 1990s to the present, take note of continuing debates in the broader field of conflict management and resolution that affect the way practitioners and scholars think about their activities, and discuss certain “new emphases” in this field that can affect the way peacemakers operate, whether as state-based or unofficial actors.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Development, International Cooperation, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
United States and Spain

20. New Challenges for Peacekeeping: the “War on Terror”

Author:
Richard Gowan and Ian Johnstone
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Efforts to predict the future of peacekeeping almost always prove to be unsuccessful. In 1958, United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld reported to the General Assembly on the lessons of the UN Emergency Force deployed to Egypt during the Suez crisis two years before. He surrounded his observations with qualifications, as some “circumstances are of such a nature that it could not reasonably be expected that they would often be duplicated elsewhere. Nor can it be assumed that they provide a sufficient basis to warrant indiscriminate projection of the UNEF experience in planning for future United Nations operations of this kind.” Sure enough, when the UN began to deploy to the Congo two years later, the 1958 report was to prove “not especially pertinent” to the task at hand.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Peace Studies, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:
Egypt

21. Ending Wars and Building Peace

Author:
Charles Call and Elizabeth Cousens
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Ending armed conflict has long been a concern of practitioners and scholars of international relations. Recent years have seen new attention to questions of “building peace” beyond the immediate termination of war, primarily driven by the experience of civil wars in the 1990s and the very mixed record of international involvement—from relative successes like Namibia, Mozambique, and El Salvador through partial successes like Cambodia, Bosnia, and East Timor to abysmal failures like Angola and Rwanda.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Peace Studies, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:
Bosnia, Cambodia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Angola, and Namibia

22. Small Arms and Light Weapons: Towards Global Public Policy

Author:
Keith Krause
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Small arms and light weapons kill at least 300,000 people a year, in both conflict and non-conflict situations, and injure or disable thousands more. Small arms are the weapons of choice of warring parties— government armies, paramilitaries, rebel forces, or even terrorists—and in recent wars they account for between 60 and 90 percent of direct conflict deaths, depending on the nature and intensity of the fighting. In non-war settings small arms represent one of the leading causes of preventable death, and a major cause of mortality for young men—through, for example, armed violence, suicides, murders, and accidents. 1 In Rio de Janeiro the gun violence death rate is comparable to that of some war zones. El Salvador has a firearm death rate of thirty per 100,000, and Colombia suffers a rate of fifty-five per 100,000 people killed by gun violence. 2 The life expectancy of males born in Colombia in 2002 is reduced by more than three years as a result of the risk of armed violence. And in South Africa, homicides are the leading cause of death for males between fifteen and twenty-one years of age. Overall, the global burden of violence and violent conflict is one of the most important external causes of death and injury.
Topic:
International Relations, Arms Control and Proliferation, Development, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
South Africa and Colombia

23. The Middle East: Fragility and Crisis

Author:
Markus E. Bouillon
Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The Middle East is perhaps the world's most crucial region: economically and strategically, the Middle East occupies a top rank on the international agenda, with significance far beyond its geographical bounds.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Development, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Middle East

24. Nuclear Weapons: The Politics of Non-Proliferation

Author:
Christine Wing
Publication Date:
04-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Questions related to nuclear weapons are highly contested in the international arena—including the question of how these weapons constitute a challenge to human and international security. Does the challenge exist mainly in the incorporation of these weapons into military doctrines, or in the possibility that more states and/or terrorists will acquire nuclear capabilities? Have nuclear weapons and nuclear deterrence prevented major wars, or are they ultimately destabilizing—or could both be true?
Topic:
Nuclear Weapons, Peace Studies, Weapons of Mass Destruction, International Security, and International Affairs

25. The UN Security Council's Counterterrorism Program: What Lies Ahead?

Author:
Alistair Millar, Eric Rosand, and Jason Ipe
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Since September 2001, the Security Council and its various counterterrorism-related subsidiary bodies have made significant contributions to the global counterterrorism campaign, primarily through norm setting and institution building and by keeping terrorism on the political agenda while engaging in dialogue with—and stimulating the activities of—states and multilateral bodies. Yet, rather than together constituting a comprehensive strategy to address the global terrorist threat, each Council initiative has had an improvisational, ad hoc quality. Following each major terrorist attack—often against one of its own members—the Council's response has extended well beyond the specific incident at hand with little regard to its relation to the already existing Council program.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Peace Studies, Terrorism, United Nations, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and International Security

26. Managing Contradictions: The Inherent Dilemmas of Postwar Statebuilding

Author:
Timothy D. Sisk and Roland Paris
Publication Date:
11-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
State building—the construction of legitimate, effective governmental institutions—is a crucial element in any larger effort to create the conditions for a durable peace and human development in countries that are just emerging from war. In recent years, state building has emerged as a central goal of multidimensional United Nations peace operations in war-torn societies, and for good reason. Without functioning and legitimate state institutions, post conflict societies are less likely to escape the dual “traps” of violence and poverty.
Topic:
Political Violence, Development, Peace Studies, Poverty, United Nations, and War

27. Development and Security in the Pacific Island Region

Author:
M. Anne Brown
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Pacific Island states face serious challenges and dilemmas, as a series of crises in the region indicate. Across the region, countries struggle with significant problems of state capacity, including poor leadership, poor governance and weak links between state institutions and community life and values.
Topic:
Security, Development, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Australia/Pacific

28. Fuelling the Niger Delta Crisi

Author:
James Cockayne (ed.)
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Commercial security is increasingly present in humanitarian and post-conflict settings. The UN has even considered using commercial security to solve peacekeeping shortfalls. Yet using commercial security in these settings raises difficult ethical, operational and strategic questions. This exploratory study begins to describe the decentralized, ad hoc use of commercial security in these settings, in an attempt to provoke the further research and discussion needed before these questions can be adequately answered.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Humanitarian Aid, and Peace Studies

29. Remittances in Conflict and Crises: How Remittances Sustain Livelihoods in War, Crises and Transitions to Peace

Author:
Patricia Weiss Fagen and Micah N. Bump
Publication Date:
02-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Although migrant workers, refugees and immigrants have been sending money, goods and ideas home for millennia, until about a decade ago donors and international finance agencies paid little attention to the phenomenon. Interest has grown exponentially as statistics show what we now call migrant remittances to be among the most important contributing factors to national economies in several countries. Nearly all the countries in the conflict, war-to-peace transition, and crisis categories are highly dependent on remittances. The slow recovery of livelihoods and persistent violence or repression ensure high levels of migration and the need for remittances in such countries for several years after conflict and crises have ended. By all accounts, migrant remittances reduce poverty in important ways in developing countries. Research shows that migrants transfer funds and invest in their countries of origin at times when international investment has all but disappeared. By serving these purposes in countries emerging from or still experiencing conflicts (e.g., Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Somalia, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire and others), remittances can be seen as a sine qua non for peace and rebuilding.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Development, Peace Studies, and War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Sri Lanka, Kosovo, Liberia, and Somalia

30. International Assistance to Countries Emerging from Conflict. A Review of Fifteen Years of Interventions and the Future of Peacebuilding

Author:
Alberto Cutillo
Publication Date:
02-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The end of the Cold War and the spirit of cooperation which prevailed in the early 1990s within the Security Council provided the international community with a historic opportunity to address the number of violent conflicts—and particularly internal conflicts—which had been steadily increasing since the end of World War II.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Development, and Peace Studies

31. Rule of Law Programs in Peace Operations

Author:
Agnes Hurwitz and Kaysie Studdard
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Over the last fifteen years, the international community has supported the implementation of programs designed to strengthen the rule of law in countries susceptible to or recovering from violent conflict. Yet the question of how best to restore and/or implement rule of law programs in fundamentally insecure environments and to what degree the rule of law can prevent or mitigate conflict is not yet fully known.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Government, Peace Studies, and United Nations

32. Making States Work: From State Failure to State-Building

Author:
Michael Ignatieff, Ramesh Thakur, and Simon Chesterman
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
It is frequently assumed that the collapse of state structures, whether through defeat by an external power or as a result of internal chaos, leads to a vacuum of political power. This is rarely the case. The mechanisms through which political power are exercised may be less formalized or consistent, but basic questions of how best to ensure the physical and economic security of oneself and one's dependants do not simply disappear when the institutions of the state break down. Non-state actors in such situations may exercise varying degrees of political power over local populations, at times providing basic social services from education to medical care. Even where non-state actors exist as parasites on local populations, political life goes on.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, Economics, and Peace Studies

33. EU-UN Partnership in Crisis Management: Developments and Prospects

Author:
Alexandra Novosseloff
Publication Date:
06-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The EU and the UN have taken many practical steps recent years to formalize their relationship. As part this process, the EU has also achieved increasing political influence within the UN, although progress on this front has been limited in the Security Council.
Topic:
Development, Peace Studies, and United Nations

34. War Economies in a Regional Context: Overcoming the Challenges of Transformation

Author:
Kaysie Studdard
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
This policy report distills key findings from research commissioned by the International Peace Academy's program on Economic Agendas in Civil Wars (EACW) on the regional dimensions of war economies and the challenges they pose for peacemaking and peacebuilding. Drawing from analytical research as well as case studies of Afghanistan in Central Asia, Sierra Leone in West Africa, and Bosnia and Herzegovina in Southeast Europe, a number of key issues concerning the political economy of regional war economies and lessons for more effective peacebuilding were identified: The notion that internal conflicts have economic "spill over" or "spill into" effects on neighboring states needs to be extended and deepened. Policymakers should work to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the interstate impacts of civil conflict that gives greater weight to systemic cross-border networks and less to potentially 'one-off' transborder phenomena.
Topic:
Economics, Peace Studies, Regional Cooperation, and War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Europe, Central Asia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and West Africa

35. Program on Economic Agendas in Civil Wars: Principal Research Findings and Policy Recommendations

Author:
Karen Ballentine
Publication Date:
05-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The Program on Economic Agendas in Civil Wars (EACW) was launched in 2000 in response to a convergence of political factors, academic interests, and policy concerns that pointed to the need for conflict prevention and resolution policies to be informed by a systematic understanding of the economic dimensions of contemporary civil wars. Preliminary studies undertaken by the International Peace Academy, the World Bank, and university researchers generated many of the broad propositions that guided the program's research and policy development design. These included assumptions that: Economic factors are consequential to warring elites' decisions to pursue war and peace; Economic greed and not socio-economic or political grievance is the chief driver of armed conflict; Countries with a relatively high dependence on natural resources are at higher risk of conflict; and Global economic flows (trade, aid, and investment) affect the incidence, duration, intensity, and character of armed conflict.
Topic:
Economics, International Organization, and Peace Studies

36. Peacebuilding as the Link between Security and Development: Is the Window of Opportunity Closing?

Author:
Necla Tschirgi
Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Since the end of the Cold War, it has become commonplace to assert that peace and development are intimately linked and that the United Nations (UN) and other international actors need to address the twin imperatives for security and development through integrated policies and programs. Shedding its early definition as “post-conflict reconstruction,” the term “peacebuilding” has broadened its scope in the 1990s to encompass the overlapping agendas for peace and development in support of conflict prevention, conflict management and post-conflict reconstruction.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Peace Studies, and United Nations

37. From Promise to Practice: Revitalizing the General Assembly for the New Millennium

Publication Date:
05-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The International Peace Academy (IPA), in collaboration with and thanks to generous support from the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, convened a high-level retreat on May 16-17 entitled From Promise to Practice: Revitalizing the General Assembly for the New Millennium. The retreat brought together, in an informal setting, approximately twenty-five permanent representatives and a very few deputy permanent representatives in addition to a member of the Secretariat and a key outside expert respectively over dinner and one full day of deliberations at the Greentree Estate in Manhasset, New York.
Topic:
International Organization, Peace Studies, and United Nations
Political Geography:
New York

38. From Promise to Practice: Strengthening UN Capacities for the Prevention of Violent Conflict

Author:
Karin Wermester and Chandra Lekha Sriram
Publication Date:
05-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
While the promise of conflict prevention has risen to the fore of international policy agenda since the end of the 1990s, its practice and effectivenes remain elusive. Following in the footsteps of peacebuilding, conflict prevention is a loose conceptual framework for the increasingly broad range of actors engaged in conflict-affected zones. The concept of conflict prevention expands the scope of peacebuilding temporally and spatially, calling for the early prevention of violent conflict and the prevention of further outbreaks through "structural" as well as "operational" initiatives. It promises cross-cutting approaches to mitigate the sources of potential conflict rather than merely the symptoms at arguably a lesser cost and with great potential for lasting peace than other forms of intervention. The challenge, of course, is that violent conflict can be hard to predict, especially in the early phases when efforts to prevent its escalation might be most valuable. More, it is harder to prevent effectively, and further to demonstrate that preventive initiatives have been successful.
Topic:
International Organization, Peace Studies, and United Nations

39. The Infrastructure of Peace in Africa: Assessing the Peacebuilding Capacity of African Institutions

Author:
Monica Juma and Aida Mengistu
Publication Date:
09-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
In October 2000, the Ford Foundation requested the International Peace Academy's (IPA) Africa Program to generate a database of institutions managing conflicts and crises in Africa. After consultations, the scope of this project was expanded to comprise an assessment of capacity, and determination of the potential of institutions to respond to crises and conflicts in Africa. This report is the outcome of that exercise and hopes to guide and facilitate the design of the Ford Foundation's funding strategy for peacebuilding in sub-Saharan Africa. However, it is hoped that this report will also serve to stimulate further discussion by the Ford Foundation and IPA staff, with the involvement of other relevant donors, about the challenges and opportunities for supporting peace and development in Africa. To that end, this report landscapes the condition of capacity in Africa, provides a diagnostic overview of institutional layout at the regional, national and local levels and proposes areas of intervention that can bolster and improve performance. It must be noted from the start that this report claims to be neither exhaustive nor comprehensive. Many important organizations engaged in useful peacebuilding work in Africa have not been included in this report due to logistical and time constraints. The organizations included in the report are merely illustrative of some of the peacebuilding work being conducted in Africa, and are mainly concentrated in conflict areas.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Africa

40. A Framework for Lasting Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration of Former Combatants in Crisis Situations

Author:
Lotta Hagman and Zoe Nielsen
Publication Date:
12-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The successful disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants are crucial to achieving a lasting peace. While there has been a good deal of international focus of disarmament and demobilization, more analysis and resources are needed in reintegration. DDR programs should be part of an overall integrated recovery strategy that encompasses economic development, security sector reform, the integration of refugees and internally displaced persons, and justice and reconciliation. An effective strategy must take the regional dimensions of the conflict into consideration. Political will and national buy-in are essential to the success of DDR programs. Ex-combatants must be ready to disarm and return to civilian life and the government and communities must be prepared to accept them. The role of the international community can only be to facilitate this process, for example by encouraging the inclusion of DDR programs in peace agreements, and providing money and support for planning, national awareness raising campaigns, and reinsertion packages for ex-combatants. International actors can also monitor programs to ensure that all ex-combatants are treated equally regardless of former affiliations. Strategic planning for DDR can and should start prior to the actual peace agreement in order to establish a division of labor, develop networks and expertise, as well as build confidence and ensure local ownership. A broad-based national commission that ensures the equal treatment of all groups is likely to be the optimal mechanism for planning and implementation. For successful implementation of DDR programs, it is crucial to seek a balance between managing the often very high expectations of ex-combatants and addressing resentment of “favoritism” among the rest of the population. Flexible programming and an effective public information campaign are key in achieving this goal. Issues that require additional consideration include the ambiguous status of female ex-combatants who have not necessarily carried weapons, the role of dependents, health issues such as the spread of HIV/AIDS, funding processes, and coordination priorities.
Topic:
Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Peace Studies

41. Economic Priorities for Peace Implementation

Author:
Susan L. Woodward
Publication Date:
10-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
There has been surprisingly little systematic analysis of how economic factors contribute to the success or failure of peace agreements. What is clear however, is that economic factors play a more significant role in the failure of peace agreements than they do in the success of such initiatives; Peace agreements are often very weak on economic aspects. This is problematic because the success of the first phase of peace implementation is largely dependent on three economic factors: sufficiently rapid economic revival to generate confidence in the peace process; adequate funding to implement key aspects of the peace agreement; and, for a sustainable peace, there must be sufficient funding to enable the establishment of government institutions and the transition to a peace-time economy; Five important lessons have emerged from experience in the area of peace implementation over the last decade: The need for broad-based impact assessments At present, assessments tend to measure whether an aid project was implemented as planned, not whether it contributed to a sustainable peace. As a consequence, important opportunities to make informed mid-course adjustments in long-term programs and to develop more effective programs are lost; An early emphasis on employment is critical Active employment is critical to redirecting behavior and encouraging support for the peace process. The success of crucial programs such as those for the demobilization and reintegration of former combatants and the return of refugees and internally displaced persons are also linked to the availability of employment; Invest in Building Institutional and Social Capital Conventional approaches to post-conflict economic recovery tend to emphasize macroeconomic stability at the expense of economic infrastructure. However, in post-conflict settings, the financial and legal institutions so necessary to implement economic policy and ensure good governance are either weak or nonexistent. More attention must be paid to financing the development of basic public sector capacities and social capital. Donor decisions about whom to assist and what to fund have lasting political impacts Donor monies influence government policy, whether directly through the imposition of explicit conditions or in more indirect ways. Lending decisions also influence the political landscape within the recipient county and the behavior of third-party implementers; An international presence introduces economic distortions It is seldom acknowledged that the economic impact of international peace missions runs contrary to the aims of self-government and economic and political sustainability. As a consequence, decisions about implementation and exit are extremely important; There is an urgent need for a new economic strategy that addresses the challenges of post-civil war environments.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Economics, Peace Studies, and Treaties and Agreements

42. Challenges in Peacekeeping: Past, Present and Future

Publication Date:
10-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The International Peace Academy (IPA) and the Best Practices Unit of the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (UNDPKO) organized a half-day seminar on October 29, 2002, with the generous support of the Government of Norway, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of UNDPKO. Entitled “Past, Present and Future Challenges in Peacekeeping,” the seminar reunited current and previous Under-Secretaries-General and several highly reputed Special Representatives of the Secretary-General (SRSGs) in a review of the last ten years in UN peacekeeping history.
Topic:
Security, International Cooperation, Non-Governmental Organization, Peace Studies, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Norway

43. Tiptoeing Through Afghanistan: The Future of UN State-Building

Author:
Simon Chesterman
Publication Date:
09-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Afghanistan represents a radically different model in the panoply of UN peace operations. On paper it resembles earlier assistance missions that provided governance and development support to post-conflict societies. In practice, however, the UN mission remains intimately involved with the Afghan Transitional Administration and therefore with the peace process that put it in place. This disjunction between formal authority and practical influence poses a challenge not only for the specific operation in Afghanistan but also to accepted models of UN peace operations more generally. Most analyses of UN peace operations suggest that the more complex the political environment, the larger the amount of resources required to complete the mandate. On any such measure, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) faces an uphill battle. UNAMA is instead pursuing a high-risk strategy that requires two conceptual leaps from the normal mould of peace operations. The first is that it is possible to blur the normal distinction between negotiating a peace agreement and implementing it. The second is that the UN can make up for its small mandate and limited resources through exercising greater than normal political influence. There is widespread agreement among UNAMA and most of its Afghan partners that expansion of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) beyond Kabul would be an important stabilizing factor in this process. If it is to be done, it should be done urgently, while all parties are still buying into the Loya Jirga process. Given the reaction of the United States and potential troop-contributing nations, however, expansion now appears highly unlikely. Every UN mission and development programme now stresses the importance of local 'ownership'. This may be the first mission where some of the local population themselves are truly taking charge. Development, however, is notoriously supply- rather than demand-driven; donor countries are infamous for pledging one thing and delivering another. Agencies must therefore take this into account when constructing fictional budgetary targets that they know will not be met, making responsible financial planning still more difficult. Compounding these problems is confusion in Afghanistan as to what projects are actually going to be funded and when. This is partly caused by the refusal of some of the largest donors to have their money pooled into a trust fund for the whole of Afghanistan. The Emergency Loya Jirga was intended to encourage Afghans from all parts of the country to 'buy into the peace process'. This phrase was used metaphorically, but should also be understood literally. Encouraging Afghans to see the solutions to their problems as lying in the embryonic institutions of the state is good politics internationally. It is also Afghanistan's best chance for stability and relative prosperity.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Development, Peace Studies, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and South Asia

44. Security and Development in Sierra Leone

Author:
Lotta Hagman
Publication Date:
06-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
In Sierra Leone and elsewhere, the fields of security and development are intrinsically linked and cannot be treated as separate spheres. Just as activities by security actors have an impact on development programs, development activities have security implications. More work is needed in defining a common agenda at the intersection of security and development in order to foster strategies in both areas that are mutually reinforcing. On an operational level, making development thinking part of a peacekeeping operation from the outset, both in planning and implementation should be a priority.
Topic:
Security, Economics, Peace Studies, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Africa

45. The Political Economy of War and Peace

Author:
Charles Cater
Publication Date:
05-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The focus of the International Peace Academy's annual New York seminar, held at West Point on May 6-10, 2002, was “The Political Economy of War and Peace.” The aim of this policy development seminar was to introduce policymakers and practitioners to the emerging analytical and policy agenda of the political economy of war and peacemaking so that peace missions may be better equipped to deal with the economic legacies of conflict and the resulting challenges for building sustainable peace.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Peace Studies, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
New York

46. The Politics of Sanctions

Author:
Simon Chesterman and Béatrice Pouligny
Publication Date:
05-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Do sanctions work? The jury remains out on this question, but two preliminary issues bear further examination also. What are sanctions intended to achieve? And do states actually want sanctions to work? These essentially political questions depend on two discrete dynamics that are the subject of this report, which focuses on sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council. The first is the political context of the Council and how the intentions of key actors are channelled into sanctions regimes. The second is the political economy in which those sanctions operate.
Topic:
International Relations, Peace Studies, Political Economy, and United Nations

47. Sharing Best Practices on Conflict Resolution

Author:
John Packer, Augustine Toure, Albrecht Schnabel, and Chandra Lekha Sriram
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The UN does not act alone in conflict prevention. It is important for the UN to identify other actors with comparative advantages in certain aspects of conflict prevention, and to partner wisely with them. These may include regional and subregional organizations as well as local actors such as states or civil society organizations. Increased coordination between the UN and regional, subregional and civil society organizations might enable better linkages between national, regional and international conflict prevention efforts and improve planning at the field and headquarters level. Regional and subregional organizations offer important opportunities for partnering for the UN, but are quite varied in terms of resources, the political will that they can mobilize, and institutional capacity. Development of institutional capacity within nations to manage conflict peacefully can be assisted and encouraged by regional organizations and others. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's High Commissioner on National Minorities may be one example; the work of Organization of African States in democratization and human rights is also instructive. UN and World Bank development activities are increasingly being viewed through a conflict-prevention lens; their evaluations may help in not only identifying early warning signs, but also in developing strategies that mitigate the potential for violent conflict. Such analyses and approaches could be usefully adapted by regional and subregional organizations. The UN Staff College training course in early warning and preventive measures has sought to develop analytic skills in staff such that early warning can be translated into specific policy guidance. Such training will be available to some regional organization staff; the courses might usefully be adapted by such organizations for their own use.
Topic:
Civil Society, International Cooperation, Peace Studies, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Africa and Europe

48. Lessons Learned: Peacebuilding in Haiti

Author:
Lotta Hagman
Publication Date:
01-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Peacebuilding is not merely a technical exercise — it is highly political. In a combustible political atmosphere as in Haiti, effective peacebuilding requires careful and sustained management. The importance of a long-term approach cannot be overestimated. In Haiti, the international community was successful in restoring the constitutional government, improving the respect for basic human rights, and initiating economic development. However, for these efforts to take hold and lead to a self-sustaining democratic process, continuous international engagement in Haiti is vital. From this perspective, the cutback in the UN involvement in February 2001 was premature.
Topic:
Civil Society, Peace Studies, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Latin America, Caribbean, and Haiti