Civilian Capacities and Non-Governmental Rosters: Report of the Study on Civilian Capacities within Non-Governmental Rosters
Protecting Civilians against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Eastern Chad
Chad has consistently ranked near the bottom of the Human Development Index. Over the past decade it has experienced the effects of domestic disputes, political instability and growing rebel activity, spillover from the Darfur crisis and the proxy war between government of Sudan and Chad, and widespread violence in the northern Central African Republic (CAR). The consequences have included an influx of refugees from Darfur and CAR seeking protection in neighbouring Chad and an increase in the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Although fighting has diminished in recent years, the high number of refugees and IDPs as well as banditry groups and the proliferation of arms continue to pose great security risks. This report focuses on the protection of civilians, especially in terms of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), the Chadian police/gendarme force Détachment Intégré de Securité (DIS), the potential for early recovery and the prospects of protection provided by the government of Chad after the withdrawal of MINURCAT. Dealing with SGBV involves improving security and is an important element in the humanitarian imperative to protect civilians under the auspices of international humanitarian law and international human rights. In June 2008, the United Nation Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted Resolution 1820. The resolution aims at ending sexual violence in conflict, and states: ‘rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide’. It is the result of a much broader agenda to mainstream gender perspectives at all levels of the UN peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations and peace negations since the adoption of UNSC Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security, of which resolution 1820 is a strengthened prolongation.
China, Energy Security and Central Asian Diplomacy: Bilateral and Mulitlateral Approaches
United Nations Preventive Deployment in Macedonia: A Critical Security Studies Analysis
Peacekeeping and Counter-insurgency - Two of a Kind?
This article demonstrates that there are more similarities between peacekeeping and counter-insurgency than often recognized. In today's ‘war among the people’, the counter-insurgent cannot succeed with offensive military capabilities alone and must seek to apply also non-kinetic and defensive methods; whereas the peacekeeper often is forced to apply ‘robust’ and kinetic means to implement a mandate. As a result, the two concepts seem to be converging and share some commonalities. The article compares the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations ‘capstone doctrine’ and the US Army Counterinsurgency Field Manual to argue that the two doctrines share similarities in six areas: (1) a focus on civilian solutions; (2) a need for protection of civilians; (3) international coherence; (4) host-nation ownership; (5) use of intelligence in support of operations; (6) limitations on the use of force. The article suggests areas where the two doctrines could mesh with each other.
Bolivars uekte sønner: det nye Sør-Amerika mellom Chávez og Lula
Det første tiåret av det 21. århundre har vært en nesten ekstatisk opplevelse for den latin-amerikanske venstresida. I ruinene av tradisjonelle politiske institusjoner og partier har 14 av 19 land i Latin-Amerika, med 2/3 av folketallet, vært styrt av ulike former for venstreregjeringer. Latin-Amerika-kjenner Vegard Bye (forfatteren av Dette er Cuba - Alt annet er løgn!) forteller her om den politiske utviklingen i fem land og de spektakulære Askeladd-historiene som har ført radikale personer til makten: Chavez i Venezuela, Lula i Brasil, Morales i Bolivia, Correa i Ecuador og Lugo i Paraguay.
The Caspian Sea Region towards 2025
The Caspian Sea and the lands around it are emerging again as a focus region in global affairs. With security of energy supply high on the international agenda, and with fears of resource shortages re-surfacing, the countries of the Caspian region are stepping onto the global stage, claiming for themselves new roles as providers of resources to the world. However, the new-found strength and self-confidence of the rulers of these countries are built on uncertain ground. How will a temporary – or longer-term – global recession affect these recently independent countries? How will climate change influence them – and will global climate policy alter the value of their massive hydrocarbon reserves? In some of these countries, there have been domestic armed conflicts or conflicts with neighbouring states – could hostilities erupt again? And what about the major powers in the neighbourhood? Who will gain influence, and who will lose – or will geopolitical games simply serve to destabilize matters? In three scenarios for the Caspian Sea region in 2025 this book tries to suggest possible futures for the countries around the Caspian Sea. The futures are shaped in a complex interplay with global events, with other powers and with a range of forces within the region itself. The main forces shaping the region will be the market for natural resources and their impact on regional economies, political and cultural forces of change within the region and each of the countries, as well as the dominance and influence of great powers.
Caspian Energy Politics
Caspian Energy Politics analyses the role of oil and gas in the development of the three main petroleum exporters in the Caspian region - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan - and how energy resources influence interactions with semi-authoritarian Russia and China. Due to volatile commodity prices and competition for the resources in and around the Caspian Sea, the governments of these petroleum-exporters face a series of difficult decisions. These governments have sought to balance short-term incentives to spend oil revenues as a means to maintain power against the need for a long-term strategy for managing these assets, choices which have further implications for how these countries align themselves internationally. By illuminating important linkages between domestic and international dynamics in these states, the book provides a fresh perspective on energy politics and the impact of petroleum on the development of the Caspian petroleum producers. Expert contributors from Central Asia and the South Caucasus and international scholars provide context-specific insights into the incentives affecting decision-makers that can provide a foundation for strategies to help the countries in the region overcome the negative effects of reliance on oil and gas. As such, the book will be a valuable tool for business actors seeking to understand the role of Chinese and Russian companies in the region, as well as local and international policymakers and non-governmental organisations.