Search

Begin New Search Publication Year within 10 Years

28581. Conflict, Peace, and Regional Economic Integration in Southern Africa: Addressing the Policy Challenges

Author:
Zebulun Kreiter
Publication Date:
07-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Social Science Research Council
Abstract:
he Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa (SRO-SA) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Peacebuilding Network (APN) of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) organized a seminar on “Conflict, Peace, and Regional Economic Integration in Southern Africa: Bridging the Knowledge Gaps and Addressing the Policy Challenges.” It was held at AVANI Victoria Falls Resort, Livingstone, Zambia, from October 7 to 8, 2015. The seminar was the inaugural edition of the SRO-SA Southern Africa Sem- inar Series, an informal and frank forum in which academics, policymakers, and other stakeholders have the opportunity to discuss key development is- sues that affect the region. The purpose of the seminar was to sort out issues related to the causes of conflict in Southern Africa, the scope for regional responses and implications, the role of civil society in conflict mediation, the related issues of xenophobia and migration, the interaction of gender and conflict, and the importance of governance for economic development and to elicit perspectives from other regions. Despite promising economic and political developments, the regional in- tegration agenda in Southern Africa faces a number of growing challenges. The skewed nature of economic growth has resulted in in-country and cross- border migration in the region, as people search for employment and better living conditions. Furthermore, inequities in the distribution of income and wealth have inflamed tensions and led to a surge in social and political conflict within member states.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, Conflict, Peace, and Economic Cooperation
Political Geography:
Africa and Southern Africa

28582. Decolonizing the Mainstreaming of Gender in Peacebuilding: Toward an Agenda for Africa

Author:
Heidi Hudson
Publication Date:
07-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Social Science Research Council
Abstract:
Peacebuilding is big business in Africa and the gendering of peacebuilding even more so—if the number of workshops and funding proposals with gen- der as their focus is anything to go by. As an academic enterprise, gender and peacebuilding have equally grown in stature and scope.1 But more often than not, gender acts as a proxy for women, especially because we are con- tinuously reminded that they must be included in all peacebuilding efforts because they make up more than half of the population and war and its aftermath affect them differently. So why bother with mainstreaming gen- der if it is actually just about adding women? Practice has shown that the rhetorical commitment to gender within peacebuilding programs (hailed as positive by some) has neither changed the generally widespread gen- der-blind nature of policy and practice nor led to more than an increased mainstreaming of women’s and girls’ needs based on a very narrow inter- pretation of male-female categories.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Decolonization, and Peace
Political Geography:
Africa

28583. Is UNSCR 1325 Empowering African Women to Negotiate? Peace Insights and Policy Options

Author:
Pamela Machakanja
Publication Date:
07-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Social Science Research Council
Abstract:
Africa faces formidable challenges with regard to the relatively few women influencing decisions and policies related to peace and security. A study on women’s participation in thirty-one peace processes between 1992 and 2011 showed that of the fifteen African countries, only five had women on their ne- gotiating teams (Burundi, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, and Uganda); five had women witnesses or observers ( Liberia, Si- erra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda); two had women lead mediators (DRC and Kenya); and only one (DRC) had women signatories.1 Although UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 “reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security,”2 its full implementation remains a work in progress in Africa, as women’s participation in peace and security remains more symbolic than substantive, and their capacity to influence and engage in peace negotiations is often resisted by local cultural norms and patriarchal hierarchies.
Topic:
Security, Gender Issues, Culture, Feminism, and Peace
Political Geography:
Africa

28584. African Boundary Conflicts and International Mediation: The Absence of Inclusivity in Mediating the Bakassi Peninsula Conflict

Author:
Aloysius Nyuymengka Ngalim
Publication Date:
09-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Social Science Research Council
Abstract:
This paper begins with a description of the conflict, mediation and post- mediation clashes, and an analysis of the mediation process. The main argument is that post-mediation clashes were a result of the exclusion of the views and interests of residents of the Bakassi peninsula. Background information on the conflict is presented to situate the paper within extant ideas on international mediation and to provide theoretical underpinning and a theoretical basis for the conclusion. This study draws data from documentary sources complemented with interviews conducted during fieldwork between January and April 2013. Documentary sources include press reports and legal documents related to the dispute as well as scholarly publications. Data was analyzed using the content analysis approach.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Imperialism, Conflict, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Africa, Nigeria, and Cameroon

28585. Diwaniyya Voices Podcast: Arab Christians

Author:
Alona Ferber and Wadi'a Abu Nasser
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
Abstract:
Podcast episode produced by the Moshe Dayan Center in 2016. Featuring Alona Ferber interviewing Wadi'a Abu Nasser.
Topic:
Religion, Culture, Oral History, and Podcast
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, and Palestine

28586. Valuation of World Heritage

Author:
Indira Rajaraman
Publication Date:
08-2016
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
India International Centre (IIC)
Abstract:
World Heritage sites are classified in two categories—cultural heritage, and natural heritage. Outstanding Universal Value—the basis for identification of a World Heritage site implies that valuation, from a global perspective, might be sufficiently greater than the valuation of that site in its immediate location for the World Heritage tag to provide a significant incentive for the preservation of it. The rise in tourist traffic consequent upon recognition, statistically validated in several contexts, seemingly justifies that prior. The common cliché of the historical structure allowed to fall into ruin, its stones prised out for constructing nearby dwellings, or the area within what remains of the structure put to base uses, conforms to that conception. Likewise, there are natural biodiversity reserves threatened by unregulated cutting of trees, where recognition as a World Heritage site may well be the statement of superior valuation needed to put a stop to such practices and preserve what remains. This paper does not therefore argue that the World Heritage convention should be abandoned, and its sites de-recognised. What it does argue is that the basis of indigenous valuation should be investigated for its constituents, so as to bring about a better alignment between global and local valuation.
Topic:
Globalization, History, Tourism, Culture, and Architecture
Political Geography:
Global Focus

28587. Trans-Himalayan Region: Evolving Politics and Strategies

Author:
Sangeeta Thapliyal
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
India International Centre (IIC)
Abstract:
The Himalayan region represents different terrain ranging from plateaus to high mountains and valleys, lower Himalayan ranges, each representing diverse ecology, resources, social moorings and political identities. The Himalayan region stretching from Afghanistan to the mountains of Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bhutan is at the cusp of South Asia, Central Asia and China. This geographical location has allowed transit for cultures, trade and movement of people from India northwards to the trans-Himalayas and from Tibet, China and Central Asia southwards to India. It has assimilated Hinduism and Buddhism along with indigenous cultures, languages, dialects and ethnicity. People have emotional and cultural sentiments towards the Himalayas, especially Hindus, Jains and Buddhists, who revere sacred Kailash Mansarovar. Ancient texts have written about the Himalayas as a symbol of divinity and spirituality. The Vishnupurana states that the country south of the Himalayas and north of the ocean is Bharat, thus signifying the Himalayas as a frontier in the north.
Topic:
Post Colonialism, Regional Cooperation, History, Colonialism, and Geography
Political Geography:
China, Nepal, Tibet, and Himalayas

28588. The South China Sea: The View From the Philippines

Author:
Antonio T. Carpio
Publication Date:
02-2016
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
The Honorable Antonio T. Carpio, Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, discusses the South China Sea disputes in an October 7, 2015 lecture at Columbia University. Moderated by Ann Marie Murphy, Senior Research Scholar at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute. Co-sponsored by SEASI and the New York Southeast Asia Network.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Territorial Disputes, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:
Asia, Philippines, and South China Sea

28589. The Nuclear Disaster, Tsunami, and Manga: The Representation of Recent Disasters in Japanese Popular Culture

Author:
Yukari Fujimoto and Hikari Hori
Publication Date:
03-2016
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
Video from the March 11, 2016 Weatherhead East Asian Institute event about discussing the representations of March 11, 2011's "triple disaster" in Japan in popular media. Featuring Yukari Fujimoto, professor at Meiji University. Moderated by Hikari Hori, assistant professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University.
Topic:
Natural Disasters, Culture, Disaster Management, and Nuclear Energy
Political Geography:
Japan and Asia

28590. Taiwan and US-China Relations in a Trump Administration

Author:
Andrew J. Nathan
Publication Date:
12-2016
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
Andrew J. Nathan, the Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, discusses Donald Trump's conversation with Taiwan's president Tsai Ing-wen and what it may mean for U.S.-China relations.
Topic:
International Relations, Diplomacy, Bilateral Relations, Political Science, and Donald Trump
Political Geography:
China, Taiwan, Asia, North America, and United States of America