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50081. Governance and Transformative Leadership in Africa: Progress, Prospects and Challenges

Author:
Sten Rylander
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)
Abstract:
Sten Rylander, in the development memoir entitled “Governance and Transformative Leadership in Africa: Progress, prospects and challenges” discusses the aspect of peace and security that remains critical development factor for Africa. This calls for transformative leadership that can sets visions, provide selfless and capable leadership to turn the fortunes of the continent around. Africa is viewed as has the potential to become a powerful global player and this can be possible if the continent can transform from aid dependent to self sufficient if the question of leadership is addressed
Topic:
Security, Governance, Leadership, and Peace
Political Geography:
Africa

50082. The Future of Bilateral Aid in Africa: Size, Flow, Conditionalities and Relative Importance in Countries Budget

Author:
Kristina Svensson
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)
Abstract:
The publication addresses the growing frustration with lack of aid effectiveness that has set in motion a slow but visible transformation of the way in which development cooperation is being pursued, as embodied in the Millennium Declaration, the Paris Declaration of 2005 on Aid Effectiveness, and the International Health Partnership. Donors' programs are increasingly result- based, with greater emphasis on national to achieve its goal of assisting newly ownership and leadership, real donor harmonization and alignment with the development strategies of partner governments. There is also increased focus within the donor community on the interactions between economic and democratic development. As a result, development actors have become more enlightened about the importance of accountable, representative and transparent government institutions. At the same time, organizations that promote democracy have learned that a government's failure to deliver visible results can undermine democratic reforms
Topic:
Development, Bilateral Relations, Foreign Aid, Reform, and Democracy
Political Geography:
Africa

50083. Counter-Cyclical Economic Policy

Author:
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
The effects of the recent economic crisis have stretched policy frameworks in many OECD countries close to breaking point. Recent work by the OECD has examined how policies have interacted with the economic cycle over time and during the recent crisis. The main policy lessons are as follows: • Policy-makers should take into account uncertainties about the functioning of the economy, the nature of economic shocks or the effects of policy and take their decisions accordingly. • Policy in various areas will have to build in greater safety margins and to be more prudent during upswings. • Appropriate fiscal rules can help prepare fiscal policy for the next downturn by leading to swifter consolidation during the upturn. • The monetary and financial policy framework needs to achieve a better articulation between economic and financial stability. • Financial policy needs to strengthen micro-prudential regulation, regulatory interventions may need to target emerging credit-driven bubbles and macro-prudential policies should address systemic risks. • There may be a case for monetary policy leaning against the wind, if asset prices are driven by a credit boom and financial regulation is judged to be insufficiently robust. • Changes to structural policy settings can improve the resilience of the economy to shocks and affect the degree of leverage households and firms take on.
Topic:
Economics, Fiscal Policy, Economic Stability, and Economic Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

50084. The Impact of Structural Reforms on Current Account Imbalance

Author:
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
Global current account imbalances widened markedly in the years preceding the global economic crisis. Although the crisis brought some reversal to this trend, imbalances remain large in many countries. New empirical analysis by the OECD has examined the potential contribution of structural reforms to reducing current account imbalances. The analysis shows that structural reforms aimed at boosting economic growth can have more or less persistent side effects on current accounts. These arise because structural policies influence saving and investment of households, firms and governments. In turn, the economy-wide gap between saving and investment equals the current account balance. Specifically, the following policy lessons emerge from the analysis:  More developed social welfare systems would reduce the need for precautionary saving among households, which would moderate current account surpluses in external surplus countries.  Pension reforms that increase the retirement age and thus the length of the working life would also reduce household saving and thereby reduce current account surpluses. Pension reforms that lead to cuts in replacement rates would have the opposite effect.  Financial market reforms that raise the sophistication or depth of financial markets may relax borrowing constraints in emerging economies, thus contributing to a fall in the saving rate. The associated weakening of the current account position might be reinforced if the reforms also boost investment.  Reforming competition-unfriendly product market regulation could encourage capital spending and thereby contribute to reduce imbalances in surplus countries.  Some policy settings introduce distortions that encourage consumption, such as tax deductibility of interest payments on mortgages in the absence of taxation of imputed rent. Reform in this area might help increase household saving and thereby improve a country’s current account position. Overall, for the policies investigated, surplus countries appear to have more scope for structural reforms that would both enhance economic growth and reduce external imbalances. A scenario analysis indicates that if Japan, Germany and China were to liberalise their product markets and China also increased public health spending and continued to liberalise its financial markets, global imbalances could decline by around one-fifth relative to a baseline scenario. Moreover, since external deficit countries tend to have larger fiscal consolidation needs than surplus countries, fiscal tightening should also contribute to reduce external imbalances over the coming decade.
Topic:
Markets, Reform, Welfare, and Economic Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

50085. Convergence in European Policy Making: What do Article 15 (FCNM) and the EU Regional Policy Have in Common?

Author:
Tove H. Malloy
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
Minority protection is expanding its focus from protection-only to protectionand-empowerment, or from a politics of identity to a politics of identity related interests. To most, minority protection means the idea that there are compelling reasons why members of ethnic, cultural, national, racial and linguistic minorities require certain special protection rights in order not to suffer assimilation, suppression or persecution. However, in the European context, minority protection has also come to mean a right to attain a decent life. A decent life means a good life. The notion of the good life is of course essentially contested. The problem of protecting the right to a good life is not therefore what is a good life? – but how do minorities achieve and enjoy what they consider a good life?
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, Minorities, European Union, Identity, and Protected People
Political Geography:
Europe

50086. National Minorities in the 21st Century Europe: New Discourses, New Narratives?

Author:
Tove H. Malloy
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
For centuries national minorities in Europe have lived in the shadow of the historical events of the 19th and the 20t h centuries. Whether for humanitarian reasons or to protect the identity of national minorities, major European treaties settling inter-state wars have had to address minority issues to secure the peace. For this reason, national minorities have frequently been seen not only as obstacles to nation and state building but also as anomalies in international relations.1 At times labelled as troublemakers and war mongers, national minorities have seldom been afforded ethical standing in the writing of Europe’s history.2 While the settlement after the First World War might be called an ‘honourable’ settlement, the settlement after the Second World War basically erased some national minorities from the European map. The integration discourses of the 21st Century seem to bring changes to this scenario.
Topic:
Nationalism, Minorities, Ethnicity, and Regionalism
Political Geography:
Europe

50087. U.S. Military Aid to Central Asia 1999-2009: Security Priorities Trump Human Rights and Diplomacy

Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
Commissioned by the Open Society Foundations Central Eurasia Project, U.S. Military Aid to Central Asia, 1999-2009: Security Priorities Trump Human Rights and Diplomacy analyzes U.S. military and police aid to Central Asian countries pre- and post-9/11. The research shows that the Pentagon established many new military and assistance programs, and that such programs contain six times the funds that are earmarked for the promotion of rule of law, democratic governance, and respect for human rights. The paper's findings suggest that the U.S. military has acquired an oversized impact on U.S. foreign policy toward Central Asia.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, Military Affairs, and Budget
Political Geography:
Central Eurasia

50088. The Education of Migrant Children: An NGO Guide to EU Policies and Actions

Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
Rising migration into Europe is now the largest factor of population growth among most EU member states. This trend is manifested in the area of education, where pupils of migrant origin comprise up to half or more of the total number of students in some schools. In these very diverse student bodies, there are higher-than-average rates of academic underachievement and early dropout, which are directly linked to problems of social marginalization, failure to integrate, and future unemployment. The education of migrant children and youth is, therefore, now viewed not only as an economic issue, but also most importantly as a political and human rights issue. As a result, education has become a key instrument in long-term integration and social inclusion strategies, and consequently a key policy area for the EU. This guide is intended as a tool for better understanding EU policies, responsibilities, and funding mechanisms related to the education of migrant children and youth within existing EU agendas on human rights, equal treatment, antidiscrimination, integration, social inclusion, and education and training.
Topic:
Education, Children, European Union, Youth, Unemployment, and Marginalization
Political Geography:
Europe

50089. European Neighbourhood Policy: Implementation of the Objectives of the EU-Georgia Action Plan

Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
Third in a series prepared by the Open Society Georgia Foundation, this report assesses implementation of the EU-Georgia Action Plan by experts from Georgian nongovernmental organizations. The report identifies and analyzes the problems that hampered the implementation of Georgia's international obligations in 2008-2009 in the following areas: development of a free institutional environment for the efficient functioning of media organizations; measures to improve the business and investment climate, stimulate economic growth, reduce poverty, ensure social equality, facilitate sustainable development, and harmonize economic legislation and administrative regulations; reinforcement of parliamentary oversight as a way to establish good management practices in the field of national security and defence and implement democratic control of armed forces, and expansion of EU-Georgia cooperation in battling common challenges.
Topic:
International Political Economy, Regional Cooperation, European Union, Regional Integration, and Regional Economy
Political Geography:
Europe and Georgia

50090. A Timeline of U.S. Military Aid Cooperation with Uzbekistan

Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
"A Timeline of U.S. Military Aid Cooperation with Uzbekistan" tracks U.S.-Uzbek military cooperation from July 1994 to January 2010. Published by the Open Society Foundations, the paper serves as an appendix to the first paper in this series, "U.S. Military Aid to Central Asia 1999-2009: Security Priorities Trump Human Rights and Diplomacy."
Topic:
Diplomacy, Human Rights, Foreign Aid, and Military Affairs
Political Geography:
United States and Uzbekistan

50091. The Trust Deficit: The Impact of Local Perceptions on Policy in Afghanistan

Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
This report from the Open Society Foundations highlights the erosion of Afghan confidence in international forces due to civilian casualties, wrongful and abusive detention operations, deteriorating security, and a lack of accountability. This distrust reflects a growing divide between the perceptions of the Western public and policymakers and those of Afghan citizens about the intentions and accomplishments of international forces in Afghanistan. The Trust Deficit: The Impact of Local Perceptions on Policy in Afghanistan recommends that the international community urgently address the underlying policies that are feeding these negative perceptions.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, War, International Security, Military Affairs, Military Intervention, War on Terror, Civilians, and Casualties
Political Geography:
Afghanistan

50092. Uganda Election Report

Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
This Open Society Foundations report assesses Uganda's level of preparedness to hold elections in February 2011 and makes recommendations for electoral reform ahead of the elections, if 2011 polls are to be credible. It highlights the disconnect between Uganda's legal framework in theory and that of its implementation in reality, and points to a level playing field in Ugandan politics.
Topic:
Elections, Democracy, Election watch, Domestic Policy, and Polls
Political Geography:
Uganda

50093. Parity—Expanding Equitable Insurance Coverage for Addiction and Mental Health Treatment

Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
On January 1, 2010, the Wellstone-Domenici Parity Act went into effect, expanding access to mental health and addiction treatment coverage in many employer-sponsored group health plans. The new federal law applies to group health plans covering 50 or more employees that provide any level of coverage for treatment of mental health and substance use disorders. Those plans are now required to cover mental health and substance use disorders benefits at “parity,” or in the same way as they cover other medical and surgical services. Simply put, “parity” is the treatment of addiction and mental illness in insurance benefits in the same way as other medical conditions. When the law is fully implemented, it is estimated that 140 million Americans could have improved access to addiction and mental health treatment services should they need it.
Topic:
Health, Health Care Policy, Mental Health, Drugs, and Equality
Political Geography:
United States

50094. Security Matters

Author:
Centre for European Security Studies
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Centre for European Security Studies
Abstract:
Natalia Gherman is Moldova’s deputy foreign minister and chief negotiator with the EU. CESS spoke to her in Chis¸ina˘u during the second in a series of UNDP workshops on EU negotiations organised by CESS and its partners. Ms Gherman had just returned from a visit to The Hague and Berlin where she spoke to her colleagues about the visa liberalisation regime, one of the main priorities for Moldova in its relations with the EU.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

50095. Security Matters

Author:
Centre for European Security Studies
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Centre for European Security Studies
Abstract:
Central Asia presents a broad spectrum of security challenges. These range from religious terrorism, organised crime and simmering ethnic quarrels to endemic corruption, environmental decline and a disintegrating infrastructure. Besides, the danger of instability is heightened by a lurking receptiveness to religious extremism among returned migrants.
Topic:
International Relations and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

50096. Harmony and War: Confucian Culture and Chinese Power Politics

Author:
Yuan-kang Wang
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Columbia University Press
Abstract:
Confucianism has shaped a certain perception of Chinese security strategy, symbolized by the defensive, nonaggressive Great Wall. Many believe China is antimilitary and reluctant to use force against its enemies. It practices pacifism and refrains from expanding its boundaries, even when nationally strong. In a path-breaking study traversing six centuries of Chinese history, Yuan-kang Wang resoundingly discredits this notion, recasting China as a practitioner of realpolitik and a ruthless purveyor of expansive grand strategies. Leaders of the Song Dynasty (960–1279) and Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) prized military force and shrewdly assessed the capabilities of China’s adversaries. They adopted defensive strategies when their country was weak and pursued expansive goals, such as territorial acquisition, destruction of their enemies, and total military victory, when their country was strong. Despite the dominance of an antimilitarist Confucian culture, warfare was not uncommon in the bulk of Chinese history. Grounding his research in primary Chinese sources, Wang outlines a politics of power crucial to understanding China’s strategies today, especially its policy of “peaceful development,” which, he argues, the nation has adopted mainly because of its military, economic, and technological weakness in relation to the United States.
Topic:
International Relations, Political Theory, and History
Political Geography:
Asia
Publication Identifier:
9780231522403
Publication Identifier Type:
ISBN

50097. Reaching for Justice: The participation of victims at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia,

Author:
Johanna Herman
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre on Human Rights in Conflict
Abstract:
This policy paper is based on research in Cambodia, assessing the activities and strategies regarding participation of victims before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), funded by the University of East London Promising Researcher grant. It is hoped by the international community and by Cambodian civil society that the participation of victims will play a key part in ensuring that the ECCC has a lasting impact on Cambodia. The ECCC, in common with other hybrid tribunals, is expected to engage the affected society and victims, since it is located within the country rather than based elsewhere as the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) are. This policy paper reviews how the victim participation process functioned during the first case and the preparation for the second case at the ECCC, and offers insights to improve practice at the ECCC and other courts that are undertaking other forms of victim participation
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

50098. Great Power Politics and Strategic Narratives

Author:
Andreas Antoniades, Alister Miskimmon, and Ben O'Loughlin
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Global Political Economy, University of Sussex
Abstract:
Great powers use strategic narratives to establish and maintain influence in the international system and to shape the system itself. This is particularly the case in periods of transition in the international system when challengers to hegemonic powers emerge. Strategic narratives are an important tool which must be considered alongside material resources as a determinant of whether emerging great powers are able to shape a new systemic alignment. Strategic narratives are a tool through which great powers can articulate their interests, values and aspirations for the international system in ways that offer the opportunity for power transitions that avoid violent struggle between status quo and challenger states. Complicating this picture, however, is a complex media ecology which makes the process of projecting strategic narratives an increasingly difficult one. Analysis of international political communication within this media ecology is central to evaluating how strategic narratives are projected and the interactions that follow. We argue that empirical analysis of the formation, projection and reception of strategic narratives in that media ecology offers a framework through which to generate important findings concerning power transition, domestic and international legitimacy, and recognition and identity - important because many international relations scholars thus far failed to take into account the difference such narratives make, and can make.
Topic:
Military Strategy, Geopolitics, Grand Strategy, and State Actors
Political Geography:
United States and Middle East

50099. The Experience of Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Integrated Financial Management Information System Reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa: What is the Balance Sheet?

Author:
Mfandaedza Hove and Andy Wynne
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)
Abstract:
A Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and an Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) are two of the standard reforms promoted and supported by the World Bank and other aid agencies in almost every country in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper provides a balance sheet of the relative success, or otherwise, of these reforms over the last decade. The aims and objectives of the MTEF and the IFMIS are outlined, indicating the initial hopes for these reforms and the increasingly strident warnings that this promise was not being delivered. The paper then argues that it was the economic problems across Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in the late 1970s and early 1980s, resulting from external events, which led to a worsening of the quality of financial management and governance. This contrasts with the dominant view that it is poor governance that is holding back economic development across the continent. This leads to considerations of effective alternative approaches; the need for real country led reforms which build on the particular existing public sector financial management system in each country; and puts a priority on basic internal financial controls and reforms which have been clearly proved to be successful in similar environments.
Topic:
Debt, Reform, Public Sector, and Financial Management
Political Geography:
Africa, Rwanda, and Sub-Saharan Africa

50100. Currency Reforms in Zimbabwe: an Analysis of Possible Currency Regimes

Author:
George Kararach, Phineas Kadenge, and Gibson Guvheya
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)
Abstract:
The Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) adopted a multiple currencies regime (MCR) in February 2009 and demonetized the Zimbabwean dollar in July 2009 after almost a decade of economic crisis. The MCR strategy resulted in stabilizing the Zimbabwean economy; however, there are remaining concerns that need to be addressed. The purpose of this paper is to explore various options of currency regimes that could be adopted in the short and medium term in order to consolidate Economic stabilization and recovery in Zimbabwe. The paper proposes that the optimal choice of a particular currency regime be based on a framework that takes into account the following: (a) the advantages and disadvantages of a particular regime, (b) the need for correct timing and sequencing of policy tools and reform actions, (c) the prior capacity conditions in the country, and (d) the political commitment to undertake the necessary reforms. It is imperative to note that these reforms are no quick fixes for designing economic stabilization and recovery programs needed in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean authorities and stakeholders need to fulfill the aforesaid preconditions for successful currency reform, before collectively selecting from among the various options.
Topic:
Monetary Policy, Reform, Central Bank, Fiscal Policy, Currency, and Safety Net
Political Geography:
Africa and Zimbabwe