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1302. Jordan: Little presence outside WEF
- Publication Date:
- 06-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Media Tenor International
- Abstract:
- Coverage on the Middle East continues to be very prominent in many countries, particularly the United States, where close to 80% of all its international coverage is devoted to the region. In German television, other European countries together received the same volumes as the Middle East. This is a very high ratio, considering that German troops are only involved in Afghanistan, and not in other Arab countries. Coverage on the Middle East is considerably subdued in South African television when compared to other measured countries, perhaps because events in Europe received considerably more attention. German television committed the largest share of its coverage to international news (44%), followed by the United States and Britain (37%), while Arab television dedicated 29% of its coverage to the international arena. The lowest share of international focus was in South African television news (24%).
- Topic:
- Political Violence, Islam, Terrorism, War, and Mass Media
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Europe, Middle East, and Arabia
1303. Overcoming the Obstacles to Establishing a Democratic State in Afghanistan
- Author:
- Dennis Young
- Publication Date:
- 10-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- After the Taliban regime was driven out of Afghanistan in late 2001, the United States and other members of the international community undertook efforts to establish and stabilize a liberal democratic form of government in that country. Such an undertaking is a monumental task, fraught with many obstacles and challenges. This paper looks at several of the obstacles to democracy in Afghanistan, to include the absence of a democratic history and tradition, an endemic culture of corruption, a pervasive narcotics trade and drug trafficking problem, tribalism and ethnic divides among the population, and finally the lack of support or assistance from neighboring Pakistan. The author proposes five possible strategies and adjustments to current efforts by the international community, led by the United States and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). If these strategies are adopted, the environment in Afghanistan will be more secure, the government more stable, and liberal democracy will have a much greater chance of taking hold and flourishing. Afghanistan and this region of the world will also be less likely to harbor terrorist operations and organizations such as al-Qaeda and the Taliban to threaten the democratic nations of the world.
- Topic:
- Democratization and Islam
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Asia
1304. Opium and Afghanistan: Reassessing U.S. Counternarcotics Strategy
- Author:
- John A. Glaze
- Publication Date:
- 10-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- Cultivation and production of opium in Afghanistan have skyrocketed since the Taliban were toppled in 2001 such that Afghanistan now supplies 92 percent of the world's illicit opium. The expanding opium trade is threatening to destabilize the Afghan government and turn the conflict-ridden country back into a safe haven for drug traffickers and terrorists. This paper examines the nature of the opium problem in Afghanistan and analyzes the allied strategy to counter this growing crisis. In analyzing the current counternarcotics strategy, it points out pitfalls including the counterproductive aspects of opium eradication. Finally, changes to the strategy are proposed, which include increasing troop levels and eliminating national restrictions, substantially increasing financial aid, deemphasizing opium eradication, focusing on long-term alternative livelihoods, aggressively pursuing drug kingpins and corrupt government officials, and exploring the possibility of Afghanistan's entry to the licit opium market.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Government, and War on Drugs
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Asia
1305. The Emerging Pattern of Geopolitics
- Author:
- Peter W. Rodman
- Publication Date:
- 09-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- The theme of this conference is especially important. Iraq and Afghanistan, important as they are, do not exhaust the strategic landscape. There is a global strategic environment, which presents many challenges in many different regions of the world that bear close attention in their own right. In fact, that global environment forms the context in which we should be thinking about Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the reasons it is so important how well we do in Iraq and Afghanistan is its impact on American credibility—a precious commodity that will affect our success in these other theaters.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, Climate Change, Islam, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Iraq, and America
1306. An Introduction to Theater Strategy and Regional Security
- Author:
- Clarence J. Bouchat
- Publication Date:
- 09-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- This overview of theater strategy and theater security cooperation is a primer on one of the most important tools the U.S. military uses to engage other countries, deter unwanted actions, and defend U.S. and friendly nation interests. To be effective, theater strategy and theater security cooperation must be derived from and consistently linked to national and multinational strategic guidance and policy, and formulated to meet the requirements found in each region. To attain the combatant commander's strategic security goals, proper support for joint operation plans through organizational structure, force projection, sustainment, readiness training, and force development input is essential. Theater security cooperation directly supports national goals at the regional level, and enhances military operations by obviating the need for military action, or by preparing the environment better for U.S. military intervention, should it be necessary. Theater strategy is an important part of realizing national strategy around the world, and theater security cooperation is not only one of the most powerful tools in attaining the goals of theater strategy, but, through its ability to obviate the need for combat, a cost effective tool as well.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, and Climate Change
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and United States
1307. Shaping Commitment: Resolving Canada's Strategy Gap in Afghanistan and Beyond
- Author:
- Craig Hilton
- Publication Date:
- 09-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- Release of Canada's first-ever National Security Policy (NSP) in 2004, followed by the International (Foreign) Policy Statement and Defence Policy Review in 2005, has publicly articulated Canada's principal security interests for the post-September 11, 2001 (9/11), world. Nevertheless, the realities of Canada's present engagement in Afghanistan have highlighted a gap between stated national security and foreign policy goals on one hand, and the Canadian military, diplomatic, and development effort in theater, on the other. National interests and values, articulated within the NSP and the International Policy Statement, are insufficient to frame the context for such a complex endeavor. Only a clearly defined strategy based upon rigorous analysis of ends, ways, and means and assessment of risk can enable informed national and political debate, provide the required guidance for campaign planning among government departments, and determine Canada's preferred stake in the wider international arena, including the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). Recommendations are provided with respect to resolving Canada's strategy gap in both the immediate and longer term.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Canada
1308. Asia: Towards Security Cooperation
- Author:
- Michael Vatikiotis
- Publication Date:
- 02-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute (IPI)
- Abstract:
- Asia has enjoyed a remarkable climate of peace and security in the post-Cold War era. However, there is much that could have gone wrong. Tensions on the Korean peninsula, in the Taiwan Straits, between China and India, India and Pakistan – the hot spots and fault lines of tension are well known and warily watched. Rarely has serious conflict erupted, though. The last major 'conventional' conflict in Asia was the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, though smaller wars have been fought between states in Kashmir and along the Chinese border with Vietnam. The region is also wracked by protracted internal disputes that generate sustained fears for internal security and destabilized inter-state relations. All the same, for a region that lacks the kind of sophisticated collective security arrangements that have kept the northern hemisphere at peace for the past sixty years, Asia's security environment is remarkably benign.
- Topic:
- Security, Development, and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, India, Taiwan, Asia, Soviet Union, Vietnam, Kashmir, Korea, and Korean Peninsula
1309. Central Asia and the Caucasus: A Vulnerable Crescent
- Author:
- Anna Matveeva and Thomas de Waal
- Publication Date:
- 02-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute (IPI)
- Abstract:
- The Caucasus and Central Asia – eight countries of the former Soviet Union stretching to the south of Russia and to the west of China – form a chain of weak states, vulnerable to conflict, extremism, and spillover from potential instability in the Middle East, Iran and Afghanistan. Once on the path of the Silk Road, these countries are still transit routes in the world economy rather than major economic players. The overarching problem for the Caucasus countries situated on the eastern fringe of Europe – Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, as well as the Russian North Caucasus – is unresolved conflicts that hamper development and poison politics. The Caucasus has become a field for latter-day Great Power battles of influence, in which competing policy agendas, sometimes even from within the same state, make for a fragmented international response that hampers regional integration and development. The autocratic states of Central Asia by contrast risk isolating themselves from the wider world, becoming a source of danger because of their deliberate remoteness. Here the globalized threats of drug trafficking and militant Islam are the biggest potential source of instability. Multilateral organizations such as the UN are still struggling to articulate a coherent response to the two regions as a whole, tending to make more narrow interventions that have limited impact.
- Topic:
- Security and Development
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Russia, China, Europe, Iran, Central Asia, Asia, Soviet Union, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia
1310. Law the Lone Superpower: Rebuilding a Transatlantic Consensus on International Law
- Author:
- Frances G. Burwell and William H. Taft IV
- Publication Date:
- 04-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- Throughout 2006, allegations of U.S. involvement in "renditions" of suspected terrorists from Europe to prisons in Afghanistan and elsewhere reverberated around European capitals. Charges that the United States had established secret prisons in some European countries raised the temperature even further. The European Parliament and the Council of Europe initiated investigations, while some European leaders called for the United States to close its detention facility in Guantanamo, describing the facility as contrary to international law.
- Topic:
- Terrorism and Torture
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Europe
1311. State, Security and Economy in Afghanistan: Current Challenges, Possible Solutions
- Publication Date:
- 11-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
- Abstract:
- The Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination (LISD) at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs convened the colloquium, “State, Security and Economy in Afghanistan: Current Challenges, Possible Solutions,” on 16-18 November 2007 in Brussels, Belgium. The conference was funded in part by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the House of Liechtenstein, and the Government of Austria.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Economics, Government, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Central Asia, Asia, Belgium, and Austria
1312. Building State and Security in Afghanistan
- Author:
- Wolfgang Danspeckgruber
- Publication Date:
- 11-2007
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
- Abstract:
- Afghanistan represents one of the most unique combinations a country and its society may offer. It is a country with a challenging and unforgiving but majestic geography which favors independence both to the central authorities in the capital but also to potential intruders from the outside. It holds a unique geopolitical location south and east of the Hindukush connecting Central Asia to South Asia, and the Middle East to each of them. It is home to a proud, independent people with a history of ages-old religions and diverse cultures, but also of conflict and war. The Afghans and their country stand out in terms of drama, disadvantages and sometimes even simple suffering, witnessing nearly three decades – an entire generation – of warfare and civil strife. Afghanistan too is home to one of the most archaic societies north of the Indian Ocean. It has very little transportation or energy infrastructure, one of the world's highest rates of poverty, and some of the lowest levels of literacy, health care and GDP per capita. However, Afghanistan is today the world's most important opium producer and is centrally located in a region marked by high population and poverty with tendencies toward fundamentalist religious expression. Afghanistan itself became a base of Islamic militancy.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Political Violence, Civil Society, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Middle East
1313. Creating Stability and Prosperity in Afghanistan and the Region
- Publication Date:
- 01-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
- Abstract:
- The Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination (LISD) at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs convened the colloquium, “Creating Stability and Prosperity in Afghanistan and the Region,” on 26-29 October 2006 in Vienna, Austria. This was the eighth LISD-sponsored colloquium on Afghanistan since 2001 and was the inaugural meeting of a two-year project, “State Security, and Prosperity: Afghanistan, its Neighbors and the Region,” being undertaken by LISD and funded in part by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Government, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, New York, Central Asia, and Austria
1314. Finding the Money: Informal Credit Practices in Rural Afghanistan
- Author:
- Floortje Klijin and Adam Pain
- Publication Date:
- 06-2007
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
- Abstract:
- It is widely believed that there is a strong demand for credit in Afghanistan and that much of this demand is unmet, justifying a major programme in microcredit provision. But there is very little understanding of the extent and the workings of informal credit systems, particularly outside opium poppy growing areas. Is there such an absence of credit available to poor rural households as is assumed? Do microfinance and informal credit respond to the same needs? Is informal credit simply the same thing as formal credit, except that it takes place outside formal institutions? And if there is more informal credit available than is believed, what does this mean for the development and role of formal credit systems? These key questions informed a detailed anthropological study of informal credit practices in three contrasting villages in Herat, Ghor and Kapisa. Drawing from a detailed presentation of eight households case studies, and amplified with addition case material, a number of key conclusions can be drawn from the findings.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Monetary Policy, Microcredit, Rural, Money, Demand, and Credit
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and South Asia
1315. Cracks in the Foundation: Leadership Schisms in Al-Qa`ida From 1989-2006
- Author:
- Vahid Brown
- Publication Date:
- 01-2007
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
- Abstract:
- Though it has long been known that al-Qa’ida has suffered from disunity at the leadership level, analysis of documents declassified from the Harmony Database allow us to gain a fresh insight into the engine driving those conflicts and illuminate the vulnerabilities that these conflicts have created for the organization. Al-Qa’ida has consistently put its ability to inspire a broader movement over the development of its organizational capacities to pursue strategic military goals. Al-Qa’ida’s preference for branding, the military incompetence of its autocratic leaders, and the unanticipated ferocity of the United States’ response to the attacks of 9/11, have together left the brand managers the only ones standing. This is not to say that al-Qa’ida has not been able to threaten American interests; it has. But its real strength has never been as a fighting force, but rather its ability to transform what have traditionally been the local or national concerns of Islamist activism into a vision of apocalyptic inter-civilizational conflict. This report, grounded in the data from the Harmony documents, charts the history of this transformation and of the internal divisions that surrounded it. The Harmony documents shed light on cohesion problems that have been bedeviling Salafi Jihadi organizations going back more than thirty years. While the branding-versus-bureaucracy crux outlined above has consistently been the driving force, at different points in the development of al-Qa’ida the scope and consequences of this leadership struggle have changed. During the first phase, from the founding of the organization at the close of the anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan to the return of the leadership to South Asia after its misadventures in Africa, al-Qa’ida had failed in both areas, creating neither an effective guerrilla organization nor a consistent jihadi message. In the second phase, from al-Qa’ida’s re-establishment in Afghanistan to its dispersal from that refuge by American-led attacks, al-Qa’ida was able to exploit the relative security provided by its uneasy alliance with the Taliban to develop and begin to “market” its anti-American message. Though it was during this period that it was able to carry out the large-scale acts of terror for which it is famous – the 1998 bombings of two American Embassies in Africa and the attacks of September 11, 2001 – internal divisions over the decision to target the United States severely degraded al-Qa’ida’s organizational capacity. During the third and current phase, which began with the United States’ response to 9/11, al-Qa’ida as a centrally-controlled bureaucracy all but disappeared, with most of its key military and strategic leaders dispersed, captured or killed. In this period al- Qa’ida Central has been largely reduced to a media organization, while the Iraq war has created a market for its message, a field in which jihadis with little or no connection to the remnants of al-Qa’ida’s central bureaucracy can take up (and thus alter) the al-Qa’ida banner.
- Topic:
- Terrorism, Al Qaeda, Leadership, and Ideology
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, and Somalia
1316. Evidence from the Field: Understanding Changing Levels of Opium Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan
- Author:
- David Mansfield and Adam Pain
- Publication Date:
- 11-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
- Abstract:
- For many rural households the cultivation of opium poppy represents the key means by which they can achieve welfare under the conditions of pervasive risk and insecurity in Afghanistan. This briefing paper argues that understanding changing levels of opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan requires recognition of the multifunctional role of opium poppy cultivation in the livelihoods of rural Afghan households.
- Topic:
- Security, Agriculture, Rural, Drugs, and Farming
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Middle East
1317. Aiding the State? International Assistance and the Statebuilding Paradox in Afghanistan
- Author:
- Hamish Nixon
- Publication Date:
- 04-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
- Abstract:
- This briefing paper explores the relationship between foreign aid, statebuilding and the crisis currently facing Afghanistan. It analyses the effects of assistance to date, and presents a series of recommendations for future action by the Afghan government and donors.
- Topic:
- Foreign Aid, Governance, Crisis Management, and State Building
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Middle East
1318. Counterinsurgency and Political Control. US Military Strategies Regarding Regional Conflict, INEF-Report 81
- Author:
- Jochen Hippler
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for Development and Peace
- Abstract:
- With US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting rather ruthless counter- insurgency campaigns, the topic of in surgency and counterinsurgency is of pressing relevance. At the same time, questions of internal violence in developing countries have generally been high on the political and academic agenda in the context of “failed” and “failing states”.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Asia
1319. The Defense Monitor, “Wars decrease”
- Author:
- Col. Daniel Smith
- Publication Date:
- 06-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- Set against non-stop cable news broadcasts recounting the ongoing daily carnage in Iraq and the resurgent violence in Afghanistan, the headline “wars decrease” was a jolt.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, International Political Economy, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Iraq
1320. Defense Monitor: Where is America Going? Five Years After Sept. 11
- Author:
- Philip E. Coyle, Whitney Parker, Rachel Stohl, Winslow Wheeler, Victoria Samson, Jessica Ashooh, Mark Burgess, and Rhea Myerscough
- Publication Date:
- 09-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- In the days before Sept. 11, riding the post-Cold War high, America was blissfully unaware of the threats it faced, and why. A few in the William J. Clinton administration tried to warn their successors about al-Qaida's danger, but overall, most Americans were blindsided by the Sept. 11 attacks. Five years later, America is still largely in the dark.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Terrorism, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Asia
1321. The Defense Monitor: Congress Steps Back From Nukes
- Author:
- Victoria Samson
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- The United States just took one small step away from the brink. Congress has opted against funding research for a nuclear weapon that would target underground bunkers. This decision squelched a program that would likely have created a new nuclear warhead, something that is particularly incongruous at a time when nations around the world are fervently trying to convince the leaderships of North Korea and Iran that their countries do not need nuclear weapons. However, this wisdom on the part of the U.S. government may prove to be temporary.
- Topic:
- Government, Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Asia, and North Korea
1322. The Defense Monitor: Will There Ever Be Another BRAC?
- Author:
- Philip E. Coyle
- Publication Date:
- 02-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- The final recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission became law in November. Congress or the president could have rejected the commission's recommendations entirely, but could not “cherry pick” the parts they liked or reject parts they didn't.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Asia
1323. Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations in the Post-9/11 Era
- Author:
- Frédéric Grare
- Publication Date:
- 10-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- Taliban insurgents and their Al Qaeda allies, once thought defeated in Afghanistan, are regaining strength. Regrouped and reorganized, better equipped and financed, and more sophisticated tactically, they are threatening both the reconstruction process and the U.S.-led coalition forces on the ground. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, sixty-six U.S. troops were killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2005, more than in the previous four years combined.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, Middle East, and Taliban
1324. Islam, Militarism, and the 2007-2008 Elections in Pakistan
- Author:
- Frédéric Grare
- Publication Date:
- 07-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- The year 2007 will be crucial for the future of democracy in Pakistan. If the election schedule announced by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afghan Niazi is followed, presidential elections will be held in the fall and the general and provincial elections will be held on January 30, 2008. All these elections will be carefully scrutinized by many in the United States and elsewhere, not least because they will include, among other political forces, a coalition of religious political parties, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). Many commentators in the West believe that the Pakistani regime will portray the elections as a contest between Islamists represented by the MMA and the enlightened moderation of President Pervez Musharraf and the Pakistan Army. However, the reality is that the Islamic forces will not be a defining factor. They are a dependent variable whose power is largely determined by the army. The only real questions are whether the army's tactics for manipulating the 2007–2008 elections will differ from those used in 2002 and what role the Islamic parties will play in the process.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Islam, Politics, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, and Asia
1325. Fragile States and U.S. Foreign Assistance: Show Me the Money
- Author:
- Stewart Patrick and Kaysie Brown
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development (CGD)
- Abstract:
- The Bush administration has increasingly acknowledged that weak and failing states represent the core of today's global development challenge. It has also recognized that such states are potential threats to international peace and security. But despite the rhetoric, it has yet to formulate a coherent strategy around fragile states or commit adequate resources towards engaging them. Excluding funding for Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and HIV/AIDS, the administration's FY07 budget request proposes to spend just $1.1 billion in direct bilateral assistance to fragile states—little more than a dollar per person per year. In this new working paper, CGD research fellow Stewart Patrick and program associate Kaysie Brown urge U.S. policymakers to consider increasing aid to fragile states and to think creatively about how and when to engage these troubled countries. The authors also call for the policy community to integrate non-aid instruments into a more coherent government strategy. To put its money where its mouth is, the U.S. should treat aid to weak and failing states as a form of venture capital, with high risk but potentially high rewards.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, and Humanitarian Aid
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, and Iraq
1326. The Economics of Young Democracies: Policies and Performance
- Author:
- Nathan Converse and Ethan Kapstein
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development (CGD)
- Abstract:
- Since the “third wave” of democratization began in 1974, nearly 100 states have adopted democratic forms of government, including, of course, most of the former Soviet bloc nations. Policy-makers in the west have expressed the hope that this democratic wave will extend even further, to the Middle East and onward to China. But the durability of this new democratic age remains an open question. By some accounts, at least half of the world's young democracies—often referred to in the academic literature as being “unconsolidated” or “fragile”—are still struggling to develop their political institutions, and several have reverted back to authoritarian rule. Among the countries in the early stages of democratic institution building are states vital to U.S. national security interests, including Afghanistan and Iraq.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, Economics, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, China, and Iraq
1327. Pakistan's Tribal Areas: Appeasing the Militants
- Publication Date:
- 11-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Taliban and other foreign militants, including al-Qaeda sympathisers, have sheltered since 2001 in Pakistan's Pashtun-majority Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), seven administrative districts bordering on south eastern Afghanistan. Using the region to regroup, reorganise and rearm, they are launching increasingly severe cross-border attacks on Afghan and international military personnel, with the support and active involvement of Pakistani militants. The Musharraf government's ambivalent approach and failure to take effective action is destabilising Afghanistan; Kabul's allies, particularly the U.S. and NATO, which is now responsible for security in the bordering areas, should apply greater pressure on it to clamp down on the pro-Taliban militants. But the international community, too, bears responsibility by failing to support democratic governance in Pakistan, including within its troubled tribal belt.
- Topic:
- Government and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, Asia, Taliban, and Tribal Areas
1328. Countering Afghanistan's Insurgency: No Quick Fixes
- Publication Date:
- 11-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Fierce battles rage in southern Afghanistan, insurgent attacks in the east creep towards the provinces surrounding Kabul and a new campaign of terrorist violence targets urban centres. The country's democratic government is not immediately threatened but action is needed now. This includes putting more international forces into the battle zones but insurgencies are never beaten by military means alone, and there are no quick fixes. Diplomatic pressure on Pakistan is needed, and the government of President Karzai must show political will to respond to internal discontent with serious efforts to attack corruption, work with the elected National Assembly and extend the rule of law by ending the culture of impunity. Afghanistan needs a renewed, long-term effort to build an effective, fair government that provides real security to its people.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Government, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, Asia, and Kabul
1329. Pakistan: The Worsening Conflict in Balochistan
- Publication Date:
- 09-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- President Pervez Musharraf and the military are responsible for the worsening of the conflict in Balochistan. Tensions between the government and its Baloch opposition have grown because of Islamabad's heavy-handed armed response to Baloch militancy and its refusal to negotiate demands for political and economic autonomy. The killing of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti in August 2006 sparked riots and will likely lead to more confrontation. The conflict could escalate if the government insists on seeking a military solution to what is a political problem and the international community, especially the U.S., fails to recognise the price that is involved for security in neighbouring Afghanistan.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Economics, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, and Asia
1330. Afghanistan's New Legislature: Making Democracy Work
- Publication Date:
- 05-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- The new National Assembly has the potential to play a vital role in stabilising Afghanistan, entrenching pluralism, institutionalising political competition and giving voice to the country's diverse population. By being accountable to the Afghan people it can demand accountability of the presidential government. However, the success of this fledgling institution remains delicately poised, particularly because of the absence of a formal role for political parties, essential for mediating internal tensions. The lack of such organised blocs has seen power-brokers of past eras try to dominate proceedings. New moderate forces need to move quickly now to establish formal groups within the houses to ensure their voices are heard.
- Topic:
- Democratization and Development
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Asia
1331. Chaplains as Liaisons with Religious Leaders: Lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan
- Author:
- George Adams
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- In Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as in countless other hotspots around the world, religion has been a major factor in matters of war and peace. Since religion often plays a significant role in conflicts, it also needs to be one of the factors addressed in mediating conflicts. Yet, because the United States separates religion from political matters to a greater degree than many other areas of the world, Americans frequently have difficulty understanding the crucial role religion can play in conflict transformation.
- Topic:
- Peace Studies and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Asia
1332. Resolving the Pakistan- Afghanistan Stalemate
- Author:
- Abubakar Siddique and Barnett R. Rubin
- Publication Date:
- 10-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- The Taliban and al Qaeda insurgencies today are equally active in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The nationalist insurgency in Pakistani Baluchistan, which Pakistani leaders assert receives support from Indian agents in Afghanistan, also aggravates relations between the two countries. The challenges of violent insurgency require both countries to address their relationship, particularly as it affects the border areas. Formation of such a policy is essential to the vital interests of the United States, NATO, and the international community, which has committed itself to the effort in Afghanistan through UN Security Council resolutions and other measures Afghanistan and Pakistan have had largely antagonistic relations under all governments but the Taliban since Pakistan was created as part of the partition of India in 1947. Some elements of friction were also inherited from conflicts between Afghanistan and India when it was under British imperial rule. Afghanistan's governments, including that of the Taliban, have never recognized the Durand Line between the two countries as an international border and have made claims on the Pashtun and Baluch regions of Pakistan. Today 's cross-border insurgencies, with their sanctuaries and support networks in Pakistan, are nurtured by the same sources as previous conflicts, as well as global Islamist movements. Arrangements to secure the frontier of the British Empire in the nineteenth century by isolating Afghanistan as a buffer state do not work for a twenty-first-century borderland integrated into networks of global conflict. The United States and other external powers that seek to support the new order in Afghanistan and stabilize both Pakistan and Afghanistan should encourage a multidimensional process of dialogue and peacebuilding focused on the problems of the border region. Pressure may also be needed to convince some actors to engage seriously in such a process, but pressure alone will not succeed. A process should work toward reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan, leading to their integration into Pakistani national politics and administration; the recognition by Afghanistan of the international border; assured access by Afghanistan to Pakistani ports and transit facilities; the maintenance by both countries of open borders for trade, investment, and cultural relations; agreement by both countries and by India to keep the India-Pakistan dispute out of Afghanistan 's bilateral relations with both; and agreements on both sides to cease supporting or harboring violent opposition movements against the other. The United States, NATO, and the UN must agree to send a common message to Islamabad: that the persistence of Taliban havens in Pakistan is a threat to international peace and security that Pakistan must address immediately. They also must agree to urge Afghanistan and India to do all in their power to encourage Pakistan to make difficult decisions by addressing sources of Pakistani insecurity, including issues relating to the border region and Kashmir. They should actively promote this process and act as guarantors and funders of any agreements that result from it.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Government, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, United Kingdom, India, Taliban, and Kashmir
1333. Managing Natural Resource Wealth
- Author:
- Jill Shankleman
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- This report analyzes the particular challenges of stabilization and reconstruction missions in countries rich in hydrocarbons and minerals and provides lessons learned from the recent experience of such countries as Iraq, Sudan, Angola, Liberia, and Afghanistan. It offers recommendations for the U.S. government and others involved in natural resource–rich countries emerging from conflict and also to the extractive industry companies and banking sectors––that play a critical role in these states. War-torn countries rich in hydrocarbons and minerals face particular problems in the stabilization and reconstruction of their states despite the apparent promise that natural resource wealth holds. Unless deliberate efforts are made to avoid the “resource curses”—corruption, economic instability, conflict over the distribution of resource wealth and control of resource–rich areas—these curses will undermine peace building. Elite groups who receive royalties and taxes paid by extractive industry companies have shown themselves consistently resistant to democratization. Control over natural resources is fundamental to sovereignty. Ultimately, it is the governments and people of resource–rich countries who must put in place the systems that enable resource wealth to support stability and development However, through early and consistent action, the international community can play an important role in helping resource–rich states emerging from conflict manage the wealth that accrues from these resources, and can make proper wealth management a condition for donor assistance. It is essential that international missions and indigenous transitional governments immediately secure effective control of natural resource wealth (physical and monetary) and establish the laws, institutions, and capacity to manage that wealth transparently, accountably, and in ways that support reconstruction. Achieving these goals requires prior planning by relevant U.S. agencies, a willingness to confront vested interests, a consistent approach from the international community and donors, the involvement of civil society, and the deployment of human resources, such as forensic accountants able to “follow the money,” as part of the mission staff. To be successful, the extractive industries and their bankers, the international financial institutions, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) must be brought into this process
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Environment
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Sudan, Middle East, Liberia, and Angola
1334. Morocco: Betting on a Truth and Reconciliation Commission
- Author:
- Pierre Hazan
- Publication Date:
- 07-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Facing the Atlantic and Mediterranean, just nine miles from the Spanish coast, Morocco is essential for stability in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and American interests in these regions. The United States and the European Union fully recognize its strategic importance. Its proximity, large diaspora, and extensive trade with Europe place it at the top of the EU's Mediterranean strategy agenda. The United States has designated Morocco a major non-NATO ally; it also was one of the first Arab countries to sign a free-trade agreement with the United States. The Kingdom of Morocco is facing four challenges: weak economic growth; a social crisis resulting from social inequalities, with 20 percent of the population in absolute poverty and 57 percent illiterate; lack of trust in the governing institutions because of the high level of corruption; and an unstable regional and international environment. These factors strengthen the appeal of various Islamist movements, from moderate to more radical groups such as the authors of the deadly bombings in Casablanca in 2003 and Madrid in 2004. Moreover, the conflict over the Western Sahara places Morocco's and Algeria's armies, the two most powerful in North Africa, toe to toe. Unlike Tunisia and Algeria, since the end of the Cold War Morocco has taken steps toward political liberalization, and its pace has accelerated since Mohammed VI came to the throne in 1999. As part of the process of liberalization, the king established a truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) in January 2004. This is one of very few cases in which a TRC was created without a regime change. Thousands of victims tortured during the reign of King Mohammed's father, King Hassan II, have been given the opportunity to voice their sufferings publicly and have been promised financial compensation. Such outcomes are unprecedented in a region known for its culture of impunity. Morocco is the first Arab Islamic society to establish a TRC. Its experience shows that political factors play a primary role in the functioning of such a body, while religious and cultural factors are of secondary importance. Although the Moroccan TRC is not an exportable model, it could inspire other majority Muslim societies, such as Afghanistan and Lebanon, which are envisaging or might set up TRCs to confront crimes of past regimes. Some security experts hoped the TRC would be effective in the “soft war” against terrorism by winning the hearts and minds of the population. The actual experience in Morocco shows the limits of this approach. The tension is too strong between the perceived requirements of the antiterrorist struggle and a process to establish accountability for past crimes and advance democratization. In the final analysis, the “war against terrorism” has limited the TRC's impact in Morocco. The report of the Moroccan TRC, published in early 2006, recommended diminution of executive powers, strengthening of parliament, and real independence for the judicial branch. The king and the political parties must decide in the coming years if they will permit the transformation of the “executive monarchy” of Morocco into a parliamentary monarchy. This decision will affect the stability of the kingdom, North Africa, and, to a lesser extent, Europe and the Middle East.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, International Relations, and Development
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Africa, United States, America, Europe, Middle East, Arabia, Algeria, Spain, North Africa, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia
1335. Turkey's Contribution to Peacekeeping Operations
- Author:
- Gökhan Koçer
- Publication Date:
- 09-2006
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Uluslararasi Iliskiler
- Abstract:
- In the post Cold War era, a number of crises and armed conflicts threatening the international security have accrued, and most of them are needed to be intervened by international community and international organizations. International peace support operations are realizing not only by UN-led, but also in other international and regional organizations (such as NATO, OSCE etc.) or coalitions of the willing. The number of activities or operations in which Turkey has participated has significantly risen in recent years. In the post Cold War era, Turkey's contribution to international peace support operations has remarkably expanded. In this meaning, Turkey has been actively contributing to several peace support operations with different formations from Kosovo to Afghanistan, from Palestine to East Timor, from Bosnia-Herzegovina to Georgia. The aim of the first section of this paper is to trace Turkey's record in peace support operations that she has participated so far. In the second section, Turkey's contribution and role in peace support operations will be analyzed.
- Topic:
- Cold War, United Nations, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Turkey, Palestine, and Georgia
1336. Afghanistan's Uncertain Transition from Turmoil to Normalcy
- Author:
- Barnett Rubin
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and all that followed, Afghans and the handful of internationals working on Afghanistan could hardly have imagined being fortunate enough to confront today's problems. The Bonn Agreement of December 2001 providing for the “reestablishment of permanent government institutions” in Afghanistan was fully completed with the adoption of a constitution in January 2004, the election of President Hamid Karzai in October 2004, and the formation of the National Assembly in December 2005.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Asia
1337. Afghanistan's Uncertain Transition From Turmoil to Normalcy
- Author:
- Barnett Rubin
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and all that followed, Afghans and the handful of internationals working on Afghanistan could hardly have imagined being fortunate enough to confront today's problems. The Bonn Agreement of December 2001 providing for the "reestablishment of permanent government institutions" in Afghanistan was fully completed with the adoption of a constitution in January 2004, the election of President Hamid Karzai in October 2004, and the formation of the National Assembly in December 2005.
- Topic:
- Development and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Asia
1338. East of the Middle East: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization and U.S. security implications
- Author:
- Tim Murphy
- Publication Date:
- 12-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- The war in Afghanistan represented an eastward shift in the United States' international focus. Previously concentrated on the Middle East, the United States has reconfigured its foreign policy directives to include interests east of the Middle East. The shift was long overdue. Central Asia is a rising regional security concern, and Chinese and Russian actions therein have cultivated robust political ties. Resulting cooperatives and agreements promote Chinese and Russian regional objectives. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) originally consisted of five Central Asian and Asian countries (the Shanghai Five), ostensibly to unify signatories on economic, social and political platforms. However, the SCO is often a proxy to advance Chinese and Russian interests.
- Topic:
- Security and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Russia, United States, China, Europe, Middle East, and Asia
1339. Afghan Update: Oct. 1 – Oct. 31, 2006
- Author:
- Thomas Keller
- Publication Date:
- 11-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- On Oct. 2 two U.S. and one Afghan soldier were killed in an insurgent attack in Kunar province. Three Americans were also wounded. A U.S. patrol was targeted by a suicide bomber in eastern Afghanistan on Oct. 7 – the five-year anniversary of the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom – no casualties were reported. Six men delivering aid from American forces were killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Oct. 14. U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops raided an insurgent hideout in Ghazni Province on Oct. 17; one soldier was wounded and three militants killed.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and Arms Control and Proliferation
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Asia
1340. Afghanistan Stage III: NATO's most ambitious operation?
- Author:
- Francis Rheinheimer
- Publication Date:
- 05-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- In the months ahead, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) will deploy thousands more troops to Afghanistan as part of its ongoing mission to “support the Government of Afghanistan in providing and maintaining a secure environment in order to facilitate the re-building of Afghanistan.” Troop levels are expected to rise from about 8,000 in January to 17,000 by the end of October. The expansion, known as Stage III, will be responsible for maintaining security in the troubled southern provinces, where most violent attacks against foreign and domestic forces have taken place. NATO's commander, U.S. Gen. James L. Jones said ISAF could total as many as 25,000 troops eventually. British, Dutch and Canadian forces will be leading the effort to bring peace to Afghanistan through both civilian and military methods. Troops will be engaged in peacekeeping, reconstruction and, in all likelihood, open conflict – an effort Jones called “NATO's most ambitious operation.” Despite a lack of popular support for the missions in all three of the main troop-contributing countries, international leaders have pledged to safeguard Afghanistan from both internal and external forces that would otherwise lead the country into chaos.
- Topic:
- NATO, Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan
1341. Afghan Update: March 3 - March 31, 2006
- Author:
- Francis Rheinheimer
- Publication Date:
- 04-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- Three Afghan guards and a French Special Forces officer were killed when insurgents attacked a post in Kandahar on March 4. The same day, a roadside bomb exploded when a government vehicle drove by, killing a local intelligence chief and three of his bodyguards. The Taliban claimed responsibility for both attacks.
- Topic:
- Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan
1342. Afghan Update: Jan. 1 - Feb. 7, 2006
- Author:
- Francis Rheinheimer
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- Four U.S. soldiers were killed on Feb. 13 when their vehicle hit a bomb in central Afghanistan's Uruzgan province. It was the deadliest single-day loss of American troops since September, when five died in a helicopter crash.
- Topic:
- Human Welfare, Politics, Religion, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and United States
1343. Afghan Insurgency Still A Potent Force
- Author:
- Emily Hsu and Beth DeGrasse
- Publication Date:
- 02-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Since they reorganized their forces in Pakistan in 2003, Taliban and other anti-government militia have sought to disrupt democratization efforts and sow a climate of fear in Afghanistan. As a result, violence has crept back onto the international radar screen in the last couple of years, a brutal reminder the insurgency is far from defeated. This rise in bloodshed is particularly problematic today, as U.S. forces begin this summer to transfer control of insurgent-heavy regions of the country to NATO. The U.S. Institute of Peace held a recent special session of its Afghanistan Working Group dedicated to this topic, with counterinsurgency experts Seth Jones of the RAND Corporation and Colonel David Lamm of National Defense University. Beth DeGrasse, coordinator of USIP's Afghanistan Working Group
- Topic:
- Democratization, Government, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, and Asia
1344. Afghans, International Community Chart A Joint Path Forward
- Author:
- Emily Hsu and Beth DeGrasse
- Publication Date:
- 02-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- The Afghan government and international community have charted out a joint strategy to tackle the country's most pressing challenge: building state institutions. Approved earlier this month at a conference in London, the Afghanistan Compact maps out the country's way ahead and reaffirms the shared commitment of the international community. USIP held a Current Issues Briefing in early February 2006 to review the Afghanistan Compact. The speakers at the briefing were Barnett Rubin, director of studies at the Center on International Cooperation at New York University, and Alex Thier, senior advisor in USIP's Rule of Law program. Beth DeGrasse, coordinator of USIP's Afghanistan Working Group, moderated the discussion.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Government, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, New York, and Asia
1345. From Soldier to Civilian: Disarmament Demobilisation Reintegration in Afghanistan
- Author:
- Peter Dahl Thruelsen
- Publication Date:
- 06-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- This report sets out to explore the processes of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) within the context of post-conflict peace-building. I have tried to investigate the transformation of soldiers to civilians in the aftermath of war. The purpose of the research is to facilitate practical recommendations of DDR to be used in future cases of post-conflict peace-building.
- Topic:
- Security, Civil Society, and Development
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Asia
1346. The Impact of Spoilers on Peace Processes and Peacebuilding
- Author:
- Edward Newman and Oliver Richmond
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Many ceasefires and peace agreements in civil wars are initially unsuccessful and give way to renewed violence. In other cases, peace processes have become interminably protracted: lengthy and circular negotiations in which concessions are rare and even if agreements are reached they falter at the implementation phase. State-building and peacebuilding processes are also often subject to outbreaks of violence, as recent experience in Afghanistan, Haiti, Iraq, Kosovo and East Timor illustrate. Given the huge material and human costs of a failed peace process, the consolidation of conflict settlement and dealing with threats to peacebuilding are critical challenges for the international community. After a history of painful experience in cases such as Angola and Bosnia, the importance of this was finally addressed in December 2005 by the UN Security Council in Resolution 1645 which calls for the creation of a UN Peacebuilding Commission. Th is new organ is expected to improve coordination amongst, and effectiveness of, all agencies involved in peacebuilding, peacekeeping, disarmament and demobilization, development, human rights issues, and the administration of former conflict zones.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Peace Studies, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Kosovo
1347. Can't Stay the Course, Can't End the War, But We'll Call it Bipartisan
- Author:
- Erik Leaver and Phyllis Bennis
- Publication Date:
- 12-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- Despite the breathless hype, the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group (ISG) report did not include any dramatic new ideas for ending the war in Iraq. In fact, it did not include a call to end the war at all. Rather, the report's recommendations focus on transforming the U.S. occupation of Iraq into a long-term, sustainable, off-the-front-page occupation with a lower rate of U.S. casualties. Despite its title, it does not provide "A New Approach: A Way Forward."
- Topic:
- Peace Studies and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, and Middle East
1348. Madness and War
- Author:
- Conn Hallinan
- Publication Date:
- 12-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- In the 5th century BC, the Greek tragic playwright Euripides coined a phrase that still captures the particular toxic combination of hubris and illusion that seizes many of those in power: Whom the Gods would destroy, they first make mad. What other line could better describe British Prime Minister Tony Blair's recent address to his nation's troops hunkered down at Camp Bastion, in southern Afghanistan's Helmand Province? Here, Blair said. In this extraordinary piece of desert is where the fate of world security in the early 21st century is going to be decided. While Blair was turning Afghanistan's arid south into the Armageddon of terrorism, the rest of the country was coming apart at the seams. Attacks by insurgents have reached 600 a month, more than double the number in March, and almost five times the number in November of last year. We do have a serious problem in the south, one diplomat told Rachel Morarjee of the Financial Times on November 22, but the north is a ticking time bomb. Suicide bombers have struck Kunduz in the north, where former U.S. protégé Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and his Hezb-e-Islami organization are hammering away at the old Northern Alliance. The latter, frozen out of the current government following the 2001 Bonn Conference, is busy stockpiling arms and forming alliances with drug warlords. According to the Associated Press, opium poppy production is up 59%. While Blair was bucking up the troops, their officers were growing increasingly desperate. Major Jon Swift, a company commander in the Royal Fusiliers told the Guardian that casualties were very significant and showing no signs of reducing, and Field Marshall Peter Inge, former chief of the British military, warned that the army in Afghanistan could risk operational failure, military speak for defeat. The Brits don't have a monopoly on madness, however. Speaking in Riga, Latvia on the eve of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) meeting, President George Bush said, I am not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete. We can accept nothing less than victory for our children and our grandchildren. In the meantime, the Iraq War that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said would cost $50 billion at the most, was burning up more than twice that each year. The Pentagon just requested $160 billion in supplemental funds for the Iraq and Afghan wars for the remainder of fiscal 2007. Nobel Laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz says the final costs may exceed $2 trillion.
- Topic:
- NATO and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Asia
1349. Living on a Life Support Machine: The Challenge of Rebuilding Afghanistan
- Author:
- Peter J. Middlebrook and Sharon M. Miller
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- The forthcoming “London Conference” on Afghanistan (January 31-February 1, 2006), to be attended by President Hamid Karzai, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and Paul Wolfowitz, head of the World Bank, brings together high ranking dignitaries from the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the international development community to endorse a new multilateral agreement to be known as the “Afghanistan Compact,” the successor of the Bonn Agreement.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Development, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Middle East, and London
1350. Continuity and change in Italy's foreign policy under the Prodi government. The cases of Iraq and Afghanistan
- Author:
- J.C. Mahncke
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- “I see that under the Prodi government Italy already now has and even more in future will be able to have a big role in Europe, and that as a result of this role will be able to take on an important function in relation to the United States and the Arab world […] I believe that in the course of one month Italy has succeeded to launch a strategic rearrangement of its foreign policy.”1 These are the words of Massimo D'Alema, Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs since May 2006. Indeed, the measures taken by the new Italian government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi indicate, if not a completely new orientation, a revised concept behind Italian foreign policy in contrast to that of his predecessor Silvio Berlusconi. Most striking is the withdrawal of Italian troops from Iraq, to be completed by autumn of this year. But Prodi wants to maintain Italian involvement in Afghanistan, and the government seems eager to uphold the traditionally good relations with the United States, despite the withdrawal from Iraq. While Prodi and D'Alema are in favour of a more important role of Italy in Europe and of the European Union in the world, close ties are to be kept with the United States. According to D'Alema: “The foreign policy of the government intends to favour the growth of an autonomous European actor but tied to the United States by solid and mature understanding within the alliance.”
- Topic:
- International Relations and Security
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Middle East, Asia, and Italy
1351. NATO-EU Cooperation in Post-Conflict Reconstruction
- Author:
- Chris Morffew, Alec Aalto, Christopher Alexander, Mihai Carp, Bernard Carreau, Jean Dufourcq, Karen Guttieri, Zalmai Haquani, Birgitte Juul, Eikka Kosonen, Natalino Ronziti, David Yost, and Richard Zink
- Publication Date:
- 05-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- On 3-4 November 2005 the NATO Defense College hosted a seminar, co-sponsored by the Ministry of Defense of Finland, regarding NATO and European Union post-conflict reconstruction operations. The participants included officials from NATO and the EU, as well as experts and officials from NATO, EU, and Partnership for Peace nations. The seminar objectives included:-promoting more effective EU-NATO teamwork in such operations,-evaluating the main problems and achievements to date, and-assessing lessons from operations in Afghanistan in particular.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, NATO, and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Finland
1352. 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 (IPI)
- 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
1353. Losing Hearts and Minds: World public opinion and post-9/11 US security policy
- Author:
- Carl Conetta
- Publication Date:
- 09-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Project on Defense Alternatives
- Abstract:
- The sympathy and support for the United States that surged worldwide in the aftermath of the 2001 attacks began to ebb as soon as US bombs began falling on Afghanistan. Supportive sentiments continued to recede through 2004, driven increasingly by the Iraq war and eventually settling at levels unseen since the early 1980s. The trend has temporarily reversed in some places at some times, either in response to hopeful news from Iraq (such as the December 2004 elections) or in reaction to local events (the November 2005 terrorist bombing in Jordan). Also, there are national exceptions to the trend (Israel) and partial exceptions (India). On balance, however, the United States today finds world opinion substantially at odds with its foreign policy and its leadership on most particulars.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Israel, and Jordan
1354. The Right to Religious Conversion: Between Apostasy and Proselytization
- Author:
- A. Rashied Omar
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
- Abstract:
- In the Spring of 2006 an Afghan citizen, Abdul Rahman, who had converted from Islam to Christianity was arrested under local shari`ah law which mandates the death penalty for apostasy. As a result of international pressure Abdul Rahman was released and given asylum in Italy. This widely publicized incident highlighted the urgent need for Muslims to seriously reexamine the restrictive shari`ah laws on apostasy. It is unfortunate, however, that this case took place in the war ravaged context of Afghanistan, where relief aid for the victims of war is dispensed by Christian agencies some with a primarily evangelistic agenda. A similar program of aid evangelism has been undertaken in wartorn Iraq. The activities of such groups have reinvigorated the debate over whether it is ethical for philanthropical activities and humanitarian service to be undertaken with the primary intent to proselytize. The legitimacy of religious conversion and the ethics of mission are challenging issues. But they are also pertinent issues that should form part of an honest dialogical encounter between Christians and Muslims, since they have important implications for conflict transformation and interreligious peacebuilding.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Crime, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Iraq
1355. The Neo Con: The Bush Defense Record by the Numbers - An Analysis of the Data Behind the Bush Approach to National Security
- Author:
- Sharon Burke and Harlan Greer
- Publication Date:
- 09-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Third Way
- Abstract:
- Like all presidents before him, President George W. Bush came to office promising to keep America safe, strong, secure, and the leader of the world. There are some who believe that the President has kept this promise. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and others inside the Bush Administration have continued to maintain that America's national security strategy—and in particular, the strategy in Iraq—has been successful. But there are many who disagree—even leading conservatives. William Kristol, one of the intellectual leaders behind the Bush foreign policy, now regards America's national security situation as dire. Several retired senior military officers have leveled a barrage of criticism at Bush, with calls for the firing of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, breaking a tradition among retired military against publicly criticizing the commander-in-chief.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, China, Iraq, America, Iran, and North Korea
1356. Paradigmatic Jihadi Movements
- Author:
- David Cook
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
- Abstract:
- In 2005, veteran jihadi thinker, propagandist, and historian Abu Musa`b al-Suri released a study of the jihadi movement entitled The Call for Global Islamic Resistance. In order to better appreciate the jihadi movement’s strategic objectives and mindset, the Combating Terrorism Center invited David Cook, an expert on Islamic history and jihad, to provide deeper background on four of Suri’s identified paradigmatic jihads: The Harakat al-Shabiba in Morocco; The Harakat al-Dawla al-Islamiyya in Algeria; The Afghani Arabs in Lebanon under Abu `A’isha al Lubnani; The Islamic Army of Aden Abyan in Yemen. Here are some of the most significant findings from Cook’s survey: Yemen is a critical step in the jihadi march towards a global caliphate. Suri and others believe that Yemen is ripe for a jihadi revolution because of the country’s proximity to the apostate regimes, and high levels of anti-American sentiment, population growth, and weapons proliferation. The Sunni jihadi movement has gained little traction in Lebanon. Suri is embarrassed by the fact that few Lebanese jihadis have been involved in the global movement, and by the fact that jihadi groups have found little historical success in waging jihad in Lebanon. Jihadi organizations should be global in their thinking but careful to build a broad constituency in their homeland. Suri seems to favor those movements that, even if they found little success in reality, had the proper motives and methodology. Jihadis should not excommunicate other Muslims. Suri argues that the slaughter of civilians by the GIA in Algeria, which was legitimated by excommunicating them, was a colossal strategic error that should never be repeated.
- Topic:
- Terrorism, Ideology, and Jihad
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Yemen, Algeria, and Morocco
1357. Going to Market: Trade and Traders in Six Afghan Sectors
- Author:
- Anna Paterson
- Publication Date:
- 06-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
- Abstract:
- In 2004 and 2005, the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit undertook a series of focused studies of commodity chains in six key sectors to gain an insight into the experience of Afghan businesses. Specifically, the studies investigated trade routes for the commodities, the number and types of market players, choice of products and the role of the state in setting regulations and standards. The final report synthesises the findings from this research.
- Topic:
- Markets, Business, Commodities, and Trade
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Middle East
1358. Urban Livelihoods in Afghanistan
- Author:
- Jo Ball and Stefan Schutte
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
- Abstract:
- This synthesis report draws out the main findings and recommendations from five case studies on urban poverty in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif, Jalalabad and Pul-i-Khumri. The report examines livelihood strategies, assets and crisis management over time in a set of households in each of these cities. It calls on the Afghan government to implement long-term strategies for economic growth that would create more jobs with regular income, and draws attention to the uneven thrust of national assistance—focused more on poverty-reduction initiatives in the rural communities—and the need to expand programmes to urban areas.
- Topic:
- Poverty, Urbanization, Urban, Rural, and Job Creation
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Middle East
1359. Afghan Transnational Networks: Looking Beyond Repatriation
- Author:
- Alessandro Monsutti
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
- Abstract:
- This is the final publication of AREU’s long-term research project looking at Afghans’ transnational networks in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.
- Topic:
- Regional Cooperation, Conflict, transnationalism, and Repatriation
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Middle East
1360. Afghanistan’s Health System Since 2001: Condition Improved, Prognosis Cautiously Optimistic
- Author:
- Ronald Waldman, Lesley Strong, and Abdul Wali
- Publication Date:
- 12-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
- Abstract:
- Five years ago, in the immediate post-conflict period, Afghanistan’s health services were in a deplorable state. Based on relatively scant information available at the time, the situation appeared chaotic. Capacity in both public and private sectors was quite limited and the outlook for the future was unclear. The AREU Issues Paper published in July 2002 noted vast differences across the country in access to health services, and drew attention to the severe shortage of health personnel and a “grossly deficient, even absent, infrastructure.” Where health services were available at all, the level and quality of delivery varied considerably, and there was no policy framework within which non-governmental organisations (NGOs) could operate. Instead, healthcare was “delivered on a project basis by many distinct, relatively uncoordinated service providers.”
- Topic:
- Health, Governance, Conflict, NGOs, and Social Services
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Middle East
1361. Putting the Cart Before the Horse? Privatisation and Economic Reform in Afghanistan
- Author:
- Anna Paterson, James Blewett, and Asif Karimi
- Publication Date:
- 11-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
- Abstract:
- This briefing paper holds that before embarking on the privatisation of enterprises that are not doing much harm in fiscal terms, the government should implement structural reforms to ensure adequate investment legislation, improved security and infrastructure and streamlined and strengthened regulation
- Topic:
- Security, Privatization, Infrastructure, Governance, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Middle East
1362. Continued Protection, Sustainable Reintegration: Afghan Refugees and Migrants in Iran
- Author:
- M.J. Abbasi Shavazi and D. Glazebrook
- Publication Date:
- 05-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
- Abstract:
- Focusing on Iran, this is the third briefing paper from AREU’s long-term research project looking at Afghans’ transnational networks in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.
- Topic:
- Migration, Refugees, Humanitarian Intervention, transnationalism, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Middle East
1363. Provincial Governance Structures in Afghanistan: From Confusion to Vision?
- Author:
- Sarah Lister and Hamish Nixon
- Publication Date:
- 05-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
- Abstract:
- This briefing paper examines the roles of provincial councils and provincial development committees in the context of the government’s vision for reforming subnational governance.
- Topic:
- Governance, Reform, Local, and Community
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Middle East
1364. Afghans in Pakistan: Broadening the Focus
- Author:
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
- Abstract:
- This briefing paper looked at the situation of the roughly 3 million Afghans who were residing in Pakistan at the time, and argued that the refugee framework no longer adequately addressed the reality of this transnational population.
- Topic:
- Migration, Refugees, Displacement, transnationalism, and Humanitarian Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Middle East
1365. Pakistan and the Crescent of Crisis
- Author:
- Stephen P. Cohen
- Publication Date:
- 04-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Situated at the intersection of many American and European concerns, Pakistan has been linked to terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and Islamic extremism; it is politically unstable and economically problematic, and has recently undergone a series of crises, some with nuclear overtones, with India. Pakistan is also located at a geostrategic crossroad, bound to India by geography, culture, and chronic enmity; a self-proclaimed Islamic state with many ties to the Muslim and Arab worlds; long-standing ambitions in Afghanistan and We stand Central Asia, and en during military and strategic ties to China and North Korea.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Nuclear Weapons, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, America, Europe, Central Asia, Middle East, and India
1366. Afghanistan Elections: Endgame or New Beginning?
- Publication Date:
- 07-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Elections for Afghanistan's National Assembly and Provincial Councils are a critical opportunity to achieve a sustainable peace in a country that is still emerging from a quarter century of conflict, created and exacerbated by ethnic, sectarian, regional and linguistic divisions. A representative and functional National Assembly could prove a crucial step in stabilising Afghanistan by allowing diversity of voices in decision-making. Provincial Councils could also help extend the authority of central government by introducing legally approved layers of devolution.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Government, and Peace Studies
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Asia
1367. Counter-Terrorism in Somalia: Losing Hearts and Minds?
- Publication Date:
- 07-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Nearly four years after 9/11 , hardly a day passes without the "war on terrorism" making headlines, with Iraq, Afghanistan, Indonesia and now London holding centre stage. But away from the spot light, a quiet, dirty conflict is being waged in Somalia: in the rubble-strewn streets of the ruined capital of this state without a government, Mogadishu, al-Qaeda operatives, jihadi extremists, Ethiopian security services and Western-backed counter-terrorism networks are engaged in a shadowy and complex contest waged by intimidation, abduction and assassination. The U.S. has had some success but now risks evoking a backlash. Ultimately a successful counter-terrorism strategy requires more attention to helping Somalia with the twin tasks of reconciliation and state building.
- Topic:
- Terrorism and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Africa, United States, Iraq, Indonesia, Middle East, London, and Somalia
1368. Al-Qaeda's North African Franchise: The GSPC Regional Threat
- Author:
- Emily Hunt
- Publication Date:
- 09-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- On September 29, Algerians will vote on President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's proposed Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, a policy that would provide amnesty for most of the one-thousand Islamic terrorists the government believes are still hiding in Algeria and neighboring countries. Between three hundred and five hundred of the terrorists still at large belong to the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). This cadre of Afghanistan-trained, al-Qaeda-linked militants was behind the September 24 ambush of a police patrol east of Algiers that killed eight people. These holdouts have shown no interest in a government amnesty, despite the Algerian population's clearly waning interest in Islamist-inspired political violence.
- Topic:
- Security, Peace Studies, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, and North Africa
1369. Changing the Guard at the Saudi Embassy in Washington
- Author:
- Simon Henderson
- Publication Date:
- 07-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- On July 20, the Saudi foreign ministry announced that Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the long-serving Saudi ambassador to the United States, was stepping down, and that "the process of nominating" Prince Turki al-Faisal, the current Saudi ambassador in London, to replace him had begun. When the widely anticipated death of the recently hospitalized, eighty-four-year-old King Fahd occurs, both Prince Turki and Prince Bandar, as senior "next generation" princes, could be crucial players.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Politics, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Washington, and Middle East
1370. Al-Qaeda Infiltration of Gaza: A Post-Disengagement Assessment
- Author:
- David Keyes
- Publication Date:
- 12-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- Since the U.S.-led military intervention in Afghanistan in 2001, al-Qaeda has responded by splintering into affiliate groups that work along the same lines as the parent group but have a wider degree or organizational latitude. One of the newest may be taking shape in Gaza. The Israeli Ministry of Defense recently reported that al-Qaeda members had crossed from Egypt into the Gaza Strip after Israel's withdrawal from the territory. If al-Qaeda gains a foothold in Gaza, it would be a most disturbing development not only for the Arab-Israeli peace process, but for America's counterterrorism efforts as well.
- Topic:
- Security and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Africa, Middle East, and Egypt
1371. Travel Advisory: Military Personnel and British Courts
- Author:
- Simon Henderson
- Publication Date:
- 09-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- On September 11, retired Israeli maj. gen. Doron Almog declined to disembark from an arriving Israel El Al airliner at London's Heathrow airport and flew back to Israel, thereby avoiding British police waiting with a warrant for his arrest. The warrant, instigated in part by pro-Palestinian groups, alleged that Almog had committed war crimes while head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Southern Command operating in the Gaza Strip in 2002. The airport incident has serious implications, the full extent of which will only become clear in time, for visitors to Britain from Israel and possibly America (due to U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq). Israelis, Americans, and, indeed, British citizens could be vulnerable when visiting other countries as well. London's role in the Middle East peace process could also be constrained.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Security
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United Kingdom, America, Europe, Middle East, London, and Palestine
1372. Post-Conflict Recovery: Does the Global Economy Work for Peace?
- Author:
- Tony Addison
- Publication Date:
- 06-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Countries as diverse as Afghanistan, Angola, and Sierra Leone are now attempting to recover from major wars, often amidst continuing insecurity. The challenge is to achieve a broad-based recovery that benefits the majority of people. The economic and social recovery of conflict-affected countries cannot be separated from their interaction with the rest of the world through flows of finance, goods, and people. Unfortunately, the global economy is not working well for peace. Trade reform, in particular, must take account of the need to create better, and non-violent, livelihoods for the world's poor: rich-country protectionism in agriculture hinders broad-based recovery and thereby harms the new international security agenda. Post-conflict economies also need more external finance to support early institutional development and reform, thereby increasing the effectiveness of longer-term aid inflows.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Economics, and Globalization
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Middle East, Sierra Leone, and Angola
1373. In the Wake of War: Improving U.S. Post-Conflict Capabilities
- Author:
- William L. Nash, Brent Scowcroft, and Samuel R. Berger
- Publication Date:
- 09-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- From Mogadishu to Mosul, the United States has undertaken six major nation-building operations around the world since 1993. The challenges of terrorism, failed states, and proliferation indicate this trend will only continue. Today, in Iraq, the United States carries the bulk of the nation-building burden. Some 135,000 U.S. troops remain on the ground, at an approximate cost of $50 billion per year. Nearly four years after forcing out the Taliban in Afghanistan, 9,000 NATO forces and 17,000 U.S. troops remain in that country to secure the peace and continue the hunt for al-Qaeda.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, and Taliban
1374. Law Watch: Abu Ghraib Court Martial: "Ring Leader" Spc. Charles A. Graner, Jr., Sentenced to Ten Years
- Author:
- Steven C. Welsh
- Publication Date:
- 01-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- Spc. Charles A. Graner, Jr., on Jan. 14, 2005, became the fifth U.S. soldier convicted for Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse, all of them reservists. Graner, a prison guard in civilian life, was convicted at a general court martial for maltreatment of persons subject to his orders, conspiracy, assault, indecent acts and dereliction of duty. Unlike several earlier trials for Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse, this trial took place not in Iraq but at Fort Hood, Texas. The jury of 10 officers and enlisted men, all of whom had served in Iraq or Afghanistan, sentenced Graner on Jan. 15, 2004, to 10 years in prison (five less than the maximum possible) and to reduction in rank to private, dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of pay and allowances.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Human Rights, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Middle East, Arabia, and Arab Countries
1375. The Defense Monitor, Secretary of defense donald rumsfeld, dec. 8, 2004
- Author:
- Daniel Smith
- Publication Date:
- 02-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Defense Information
- Abstract:
- If made 63 years and one day earlier – Dec. 7, 1941 – that assertion would have reflected reality as the United States suddenly found itself an active participant in World War II. It arguably was the case on Oct. 8, 2001, when U.S. cruise missiles targeted Taliban and al-Qaida installations and personnel in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 attacks.
- Topic:
- Security and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Taliban
1376. Adding 3Ns to the 3Ds: Lessons from the 1996 Zaire Mission for Humanitarian Interventions
- Author:
- Andrew F. Cooper
- Publication Date:
- 12-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
- Abstract:
- This paper examines the 3D (defence, diplomacy, and development) framework for humanitarian interventions in weak states and/or conflict situations. It accepts that there are some considerable strengths built into this strategic concept for it privileges both a “whole of government” approach and the need to emphasize capacity building in all areas of governance. It argues, however, that the 3D framework remains too narrow in its logic and mode of application. The paper asserts that the 3D approach needs to be complemented by another configuration termed the 3Ns - niches, norms, and networks. In suggesting that the framework guiding humanitarian interventions needs to be extended in this fashion, this work considers both evolving cases (Afghanistan, Haiti, and potentially Darfur) and offers a detailed examination of the pivotal Canadian rescue mission to Zaire at the end of 1996. At the core of the paper is the contention that Canada needs to cast its involvement in humanitarian interventions through a less bureaucratically driven approach. What is required instead is a fuller appreciation of contextual considerations.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Development, Diplomacy, and Humanitarian Aid
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Canada, and Haiti
1377. Afghanistan: Old Problems, New Parliament, New Expectations
- Author:
- Emily Hsu and Beth DeGrasse
- Publication Date:
- 10-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- With the September 18 parliamentary elections, Afghanistan completes its internationally mandated blueprint for democracy and enters a new phase of state building in uncharted waters. This transition occurs against the backdrop of rising threats to security and an economy dominated largely by illicit production and export of opium. On October 12, 2005, the U.S. Institute of Peace convened a meeting of the Afghanistan Working Group to review the recent parliamentary elections. The presenters at the meeting included Robert Varsalone, resident country director for Afghanistan for the International Republican Institute; Sam Zia-Zarifi, research director for the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch; Larry M. Sampler, former chief of staff for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan; and Barnett R. Rubin, chairman of the Afghanistan Working Group. The following USIPeace Briefing summarizes views expressed at the meeting. The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Institute, which does not take positions on policy issues.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Asia
1378. PRTs in Afghanistan: Successful but not Sufficient
- Author:
- Peter Viggo Jakobsen
- Publication Date:
- 04-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- The report analyses the contributions made by the provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) on the ground in Afghanistan. It concludes that the PRTs are successful because they have helped to extend the authority of the Afghan government beyond Kabul, facilitated reconstruction and dampened violence. At the same time, it is equally clear that they cannot address the underlying causes of insecurity in Afghanistan. The PRTs only make sense as part of an overall strategy in which they serve to buy time while other instruments are employed to tackle the military threat posed by the Taliban and Al Qaida; the infighting between the warlords; the increased lawlessness and banditry; and the booming opium poppy cultivation and the drug trade. A comprehensive strategy that couples the deployment of more PRTs by NATO with determined action against these causes of instability is therefore required. Future PRTs should be based on the UK PRT model, which is generally considered the most successful. To heighten its profile in Afghanistan, Denmark should consider establishing a PRT of its own or contributing to the establishment of a joint Nordic PRT.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, NATO, and Development
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United Kingdom, Middle East, and Denmark
1379. Beyond Bonn: Revisioning the International Compact for Afghanistan
- Author:
- Peter Middlebrook and Mark Sedra
- Publication Date:
- 11-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- The Bonn Agreement, signed on December 5, 2001, provided the road map for the transformation of the Afghan state, culminating in the September 18, 2005 legislative elections. The landmark polls, which proceeded largely peacefully, have elected an Afghan Parliament for the first time in more than three decades. Although the Bonn political process has made great strides toward facilitating Afghanistan's transition to democracy, the costs and challenges associated with the reform agenda are immense and continue to spiral. With a narrow revenue base, Afghanistan will remain dependent on support from the international community for many years to come, not just to cover the capital costs associated with reconstruction and poverty reduction but also to underwrite core operating expenditures. Once funding for Coalition military operations is factored in, the cost of maintaining relative peace and stability in Afghanistan could exceed the $16-18 billion per year currently being spent—a prohibitively high figure in light of creeping donor fatigue. With the security situation in the country still volatile, regional posturing intensifying, and the United States signaling that troop withdrawals are imminent, Afghanistan's transition remains fragile and uncertain. Senior Washington officials already quietly acknowledge that the reform process has failed to maintain the critical momentum that the Afghan government's landmark report, Securing Afghanistan's Future: Accomplishments and the Strategic Path Forward, appeared to generate when it was launched at the spring 2004 Berlin Donors Conference.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Politics, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Middle East
1380. Giving Democracy a Bad Name: Afghanistan's Parliamentary Elections
- Author:
- Sonali Kolhatkar and Jim Ingalls
- Publication Date:
- 09-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- The United States has supposedly created new "democracies" in Afghanistan and Iraq, but these endeavors give democracy a bad name. Sure, the two countries have some ingredients of representative democracy, such as elected officials and a constitution. But both countries are still beset by grinding poverty, insurgencies, and entrenched militia forces that make the exercise of democracy either impractical or dangerous. Both countries have high numbers of foreign troops occupying their land and terrorizing the population while hunting "terrorists." And both countries' governments answer to their respective U.S. ambassador on most issues. In the midst of such a violent and coercive environment, Afghans are pressing ahead with the latest in a series of "democratic" exercises imposed by the United States: the first Afghan parliamentary elections in four decades will take place this Sunday, September 18. Even though many Afghans hope that the elections will empower them to end their troubles, the fear is that the elections will probably be as undemocratic in practice as every other U.S.-inflicted Afghan institution.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Democratization, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Asia
1381. U.S.-Australia Alliance Relations: An Australian View
- Author:
- Paul Dibb
- Publication Date:
- 08-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- Australia is America's oldest friend and ally in the Asia-Pacific region. The two countries fought alongside each other in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the 1991 Gulf War, and most recently in Afghanistan and Iraq. The closeness of the two nations today is without precedent in the history of the relationship. Australia is now America's second closest ally in the world, after the United Kingdom.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, United Kingdom, Vietnam, Australia/Pacific, and Korea
1382. Building State and Security in Afghanistan and the Region
- Publication Date:
- 08-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
- Abstract:
- In this fifth LISD meeting on Afghanistan, international experts – the discussants ultimately contributing to the content of this publication – have analyzed and debated critical issues facing the new Afghan state after the inauguration of the first democratically elected president, Hamid Karzai, in 2004. In terms of state-building, issues include the conduct of the soon to be held parliamentary elections, institutional design, culture and education, as well as the establishment of infrastructure and vital economics. Regarding security issues, areas of concern included narcotics, disarmament and re-integration of former combatants, PRTs, and more generally, the role and impact of the international community. Discussions have focused on the pragmatic details of these policy debates and developed larger, more theoretical questions of state-building, legitimacy, and viable institutions. It has become clear that in the shadow of international attention to the elections in Iraq and now the natural catastrophe of the recent tsunami in Asia, continued international attention paid to Afghanistan has varied– both in terms of actual assistance and financially. The Phase II LISD Vienna meeting has generated a number of recommendations and lessons for Afghanistan and the international community, which are also relevant for building state and security elsewhere.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Government, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Central Asia
1383. The Iraq War: Do Civilian Casualties Matter?
- Author:
- Les Roberts
- Publication Date:
- 07-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- MIT Center for International Studies
- Abstract:
- A disturbing thing happened to me in Afghanistan last May while working on a project to install wells in villages. After a delightful month of working in a rural province, filled with welcoming leaders and offers of tea at every house, the mood suddenly changed. A young man walked up to my 42-year-old female American colleague and bashed her in the face. As we collected our interviewers and headed back to the vehicles, children from the village pelted us with stones. This violence against anything foreign played out in hundreds of locations across Afghanistan that day.
- Topic:
- Security, Civil Society, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Iraq, and America
1384. Alternative Livelihoods: Substance or Slogan?
- Author:
- David Mansfield and Adam Pain
- Publication Date:
- 10-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
- Abstract:
- This briefing paper examines what is needed to effectively pursue alternative livelihoods as a goal of counter-narcotics, and argues for conventional development interventions to be viewed through a counter-narcotics lens to establish how they impact on opium poppy cultivation.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Drugs, Illegal Trade, and Farming
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Middle East
1385. A Place at the Table: Afghan Women, Men and Decision-Making Authority
- Author:
- Shawna Wakefield and Brandy Bauer
- Publication Date:
- 08-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
- Abstract:
- This briefing paper discusses findings from AREU's research into women's participation in the National Solidarity Programme and household and community institutions. It challenges development professionals to identify opportunities for gender-sensitive programming, policy formation and indicators of success.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Women, Feminism, and Community
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Middle East
1386. Transnational Networks: Recognising a Regional Reality
- Author:
- Alessandro Monsutti and Elca Stigter
- Publication Date:
- 04-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
- Abstract:
- This briefing paper highlights the importance of transnational migratory networks to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. This paper focuses on Afghan population movements into Iran, and is part of AREU’s larger research project into Afghan transnational networks in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.
- Topic:
- Migration, Borders, transnationalism, and Humanitarian Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Middle East
1387. Caught in Confusion: Local Governance Structures in Afghanistan
- Author:
- Sarah Lister
- Publication Date:
- 03-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
- Abstract:
- In the context of a lack of strategic consensus, this briefing paper lays out the main issues around the structures and processes of local governance, particularly in relation to the role of provincial and district councils.
- Topic:
- Governance, Local, State Building, Community, and Strategic Stability
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Middle East
1388. Integrating Democracy Promotion Into U.S. Middle East Policy
- Author:
- Michele Dunne
- Publication Date:
- 10-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- BETWEEN 2002 AND 2004, THE UNITED STATES ACCORDED new prominence to political and economic reform and democratization as policy goals in the Middle East. Continuing that trend and translating rhetoric into effective strategies both depend on whether reform and democratization become fully integrated into the U.S. policy agenda in the region. Can the United States promote change at the risk of instability in the region while it remains dependent on petroleum from Arab countries? Can it pursue Arab–Israeli peace and democratization at the same time? Can the United States still secure needed military and counterterrorism cooperation if it antagonizes friendly regimes by promoting democratization as well? Is it feasible for the United States to promote democratization effectively amid widespread grievances against the war in Iraq and serious questions about U.S. human rights practices there and in Afghanistan?
- Topic:
- International Relations and Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Middle East, Israel, and Arabia
1389. How the Drug War in Afghanistan Undermines America's War on Terror
- Author:
- Ted Galen Carpenter
- Publication Date:
- 11-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- There is a growing tension between two U .S. objectives in Afghanistan. The most important objective is—or at least should be—the eradication of the remaining Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in that country. But the United States and its coalition partners are now also emphasizing the eradication of Afghanistan's drug trade. These antidrug efforts may fatally undermine the far more important anti-terrorism campaign.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Middle East, and Taliban
1390. How to Win the Battle of Ideas in the War on Terror
- Author:
- Robert Satloff
- Publication Date:
- 11-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- President George W. Bush will enter his second term leading a country that is at war on five fronts at once. Four are clear: in Iraq and Afghanistan, against al-Qaeda and its global affiliates, and within the homeland. The fifth front, however, is the poor stepsister to the other four. It is being fought with an arsenal of outmoded and dysfunctional weaponry, a set of confused and self-defeating battlefield tactics, and no clear strategy for victory. Such is the status of the U.S. effort to fight the "battle of ideas" -- the ideological war to prevent Islamists and their sympathizers from capturing the social, cultural, economic, and political high ground in Muslim societies around the world.
- Topic:
- Security, Religion, Terrorism, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Iraq, Middle East, and Arab Countries
1391. A Ramadan Offensive in Iraq
- Author:
- Patrick Clawson
- Publication Date:
- 10-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- Ramadan starts on October 15 or 16, depending on the sighting of the moon. Last year on the first day of Ramadan, five car bombs went off in Baghdad within an hour, including one in front of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) offices. There is a disturbing prospect that the insurgents could try in Ramadan this year to mount a more significant offensive than any attacks to date. Such an offensive would underline the insurgents' claim to act in the cause of Islam; it could significantly complicate plans for elections in Iraq; and it might aim to influence the U.S. elections.
- Topic:
- Security, Religion, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Iraq, Middle East, and Arab Countries
1392. Implications of the 9-11 Report: Recommendations for U.S. Middle East Policy
- Author:
- Christopher Kojm, C. Michael Hurley, and Thomas Dowling
- Publication Date:
- 09-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- On August 18, 2004, three staff members from the 9-11 Commission—Christopher Kojm, C. Michael Hurley, and Thomas Dowling—addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. Mr. Kojm was the commission's deputy executive director. From 1998 until February 2003, he served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence policy and coordination in the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Mr. Dowling was a professional staff member with the commission. He retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2002 after a thirty-year career in which he served in several Middle Eastern countries. In his last assignment, he was the deputy director and acting director of the Office of Near East and South Asian Analysis in the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Mr. Hurley was senior counsel on the commission and head of its counterterrorism team. A career CIA officer, he served as National Security Council director for the Balkans from 1998 to 1999. He also led CIA and military Special Forces teams in Afghanistan in the months after the September 11 attacks. The following is a rapporteur's summary of their remarks.
- Topic:
- Security and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, South Asia, Washington, Middle East, and Arabia
1393. Minimal Investments, Minimal Results: The Failure of Security Policy in Afghanistan
- Author:
- Michael Bhatia, Kevin Lanigan, and Philip Wilkinson
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
- Abstract:
- Prime Minister Tony Blair's 2003 declaration that the international community “will not walk away from” Afghanistan missed the real question: When will the international community really walk into Afghanistan, and make the necessary commitments and investments that will give the Afghan people a reasonable chance at building a peaceful and stable country?
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Development, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Asia
1394. Kyrgyzstan: A Small Arms Anomaly in Central Asia?
- Author:
- S. Neil MacFarlane and Stina Torjesen Torjesen
- Publication Date:
- 02-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- Central Asia is often portrayed as a hotbed of potential conflict. With this report, the Small Arms Survey seeks to determine whether the Kyrgyz Republic, by virtue of its location, should indeed be grouped with its friction-prone neighbours. Weak state structures, a history of ethnic tension, inequality, and poverty – features that characterize the Kyrgyz state – are factors that normally fuel the proliferation of arms. The ripple effects of the fragile situation in Afghanistan are also expected to have effects on Central Asian countries. This in-depth study has found, however, that small arms are less of a problem in Kyrgyzstan than commonly assumed: few families own arms; demand is limited; and trafficking is modest. While the proliferation of small arms may pose a serious threat in countries such as Afghanistan and Tajikistan, this assertion cannot be applied to Central Asia as a whole. This report highlights the need for the disaggregation of regional generalizations and seeks to explain why Kyrgyzstan is different from its southern neighbours.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, International Relations, and Arms Control and Proliferation
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Tajikistan
1395. Elections and Security in Afghanistan
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Representatives of the Afghan government, the UN and the major donor countries and institutions will assemble in Berlin on 31 March and 1 April for the first high-level diplomatic meeting on Afghanistan in more than two years. The principal objective is to secure substantial long-term aid commitments -- the Afghan government seeks U.S.$27.6 billion over seven years. In addition to meeting this global figure, it will be important for donors to make multi-year pledges that provide a basis for predictability and to increase cash on hand for immediate projects over the coming year. All this is needed if Afghanistan's governance and security institutions are to be reconstructed, development goals met, and poverty alleviated.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Central Asia, and United Nations
1396. Road to Ruin: Afghanistan's Booming Opium Industry
- Author:
- Barnett Rubin
- Publication Date:
- 10-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation (CIC)
- Abstract:
- President George W. Bush declared recently that “the people of Afghanistan are now free.” While the president boasts, Afghanistan's opium industry, which fosters terrorism, violence, debt bondage, and organized crime, has expanded to the point that it could undermine the entire U.S. and international effort. As President Bush's own special envoy and ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, recently admitted, ''[r]ather than getting better, it's gotten worse. There is a potential for drugs overwhelming the institutions – a sort of a narco-state."
- Topic:
- International Relations and Security
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Asia
1397. Building a New Afghanistan: The Value of Success, the Cost of Failure
- Author:
- Barnett Rubin, Abby Stoddard, Humayun Hamidzada, and Adib Farhadi
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation (CIC)
- Abstract:
- On March 31, 2004, representatives of national governments and international organizations will meet in Berlin to renew their collective commitment to rebuild Afghanistan and ensure its future stability and development. The government of Afghanistan has thus far met all the deadlines and benchmarks required of it under the Bonn Agreement of December 5, 2001, and Afghanistan's international partners have made generous and at times risky contributions to that effort, including sacrificing the lives of some of their citizens.
- Topic:
- Development, Government, and Humanitarian Aid
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Asia, and Berlin
1398. Building Civilian Capacity for Conflict Management and Sustainable Peace
- Author:
- Shepard Forman
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation (CIC)
- Abstract:
- Since the early 1990s, the UN system, the World Bank Group, and bilateral donors have been involved in a broad array of state-support and peace-building functions in the aftermath of conflicts – many of them protracted – that have either severely weakened or largely decimated the institutions of governance. Designated variably as post-conflict reconstruction or peace-building, these activities have included a wide variety of administrative and public management tasks, ranging from political observation and negotiation in El Salvador, to technical assistance and advisory services in Mozambique, to the “light [but extensive] footprint” in Afghanistan and the full-fledged governing authority assumed by UNTAET in East Timor and UNMIK in Kosovo.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, International Cooperation, Peace Studies, United Nations, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Kosovo, Mozambique, El Salvador, and Timor
1399. The Cost of Doing Too Little
- Publication Date:
- 04-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation (CIC)
- Abstract:
- On March 31 — April 1, 2004, the governments of Germany and Afghanistan will co-host a conference in Berlin entitled "Afghanistan and the International Community: A Partnership for the Future." At this conference, the Afghan government will present to donor governments and international financial institutions its plan for rebuilding the country, "Securing Afghanistan's Future."
- Topic:
- International Relations, Development, and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Asia
1400. The Post 9/11 Partnership: Transatlantic Cooperation Against Terrorism
- Author:
- David L. Aaron, Frances G. Burwell, C. Richard Nelson, Anna M. Beauchesne, K. Jack Riley, and Brian Zimmer
- Publication Date:
- 12-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- On September 11, 2001, the world was introduced to a new type of terrorism, one that was truly global in its organization and its impact. In both Europe and the United States, it was immediately clear that an effective response would require new levels of cooperation across the Atlantic and around the world. The initial response was in part military, as NATO invoked its mutual defense clause for the first time ever and a military campaign began in Afghanistan. But equally important was the decision by both the European Union and the United States to boost the capacity of their domestic law enforcement agencies and judiciary to respond to global terrorism and to look for ways to cooperate with each other in doing so. Since then, U.S.-EU cooperation in combating terrorism has been one of the success stories of transatlantic relations.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, and Europe