Diplomacy & Defense Think Tank News

On February 5th, IPI, together with the inter-agency Working Group on Youth and Peacebuilding, and the Permanent Missions of Jordan and Sweden, will cohost a policy forum focusing on UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security and its implementation, as well as opportunities for young people’s participation in peacebuilding today and in the future.

Click here for the live webcast beginning at 1:15pm EST>>

The adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security marks the historical achievement of having the UN Security Council formally recognize that young people play an important and positive role in the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security.

The resolution was sponsored by the Government of Jordan and is a direct follow-up to the Global Forum on Youth, Peace and Security held in August 2015, as well as the Security Council’s Open Debate on the Role of Youth in Countering Violent Extremism and Promoting Peace held in April 2015. UNSC Resolution 2250 was co-sponsored by Angola, Chad, Chile, France, Lithuania, New Zealand, Nigeria, Spain, the UK, the US, and Venezuela.

Speakers:
Warren Hoge, Senior Adviser for External Relations
H.E. Dina Kawar, Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations
H.E. Olof Skoog, Permanent Representative of Sweden to the United Nations
H.E. Jan Eliasson, UN Deputy Secretary-General
Martine Ekomo-Soignet, founder of the youth-led peacebuilding organization “URU” Central African Republic
Saba Ismail, Executive Director of Aware Girls and representative of United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY Peacebuilders)
Yasmine Nasser El Masri, Project Coordinator at Search for Common Ground’s Lebanon office
Cécile Mazzacurati, Peacebuilding Support Office/Co-Chair of the Working Group on Youth and Peacebuilding

Moderator:
Saji Prelis, Program Director, Search for Common Ground/Co-Chair of the Working Group on Youth and Peacebuilding

Tribune de Laurence Daziano parue le 26 janvier 2016 dans La Tribune. Pour l’auteure, la France n'a heureusement pas rompu tous les liens économiques avec la Russie, et une levée de sanctions serait de notre intérêt. De nouvelles coopérations fructueuses sont possibles, notamment dans le nucléaire.

Cet article Laurence Daziano – La Tribune – Développer les relations économiques avec la Russie est apparu en premier sur Fondapol.

Many governments worldwide make use of unofficial armed groups. This practice substantially increases the risks for civilians, as the activities of such pro-government militias (PGMs) are usually accompanied by a higher level of human rights violations, including killings, torture and disappearances. Examples are the Shia militias in Iraq, the Shabiha militia in Syria and the Imbonerakure in Burundi.
Better knowledge about these groups is essential, given the extreme suffering, violence and instability they are linked to. This briefing paper shows that PGMs exist not only in failed states, poor countries or those engulfed in civil war and armed conflict. They can also be found in more or less democratic governments and are most common in semi-democracies.
Governments outsource security tasks to irregular forces because they provide efficiency gains when leaders perceive themselves to be under threat in an uncertain environment. PGMs are attractive to governments because they are cheaper, more flexible and often better informed than regular forces. They complicate lines of accountability for the violence committed, and therefore lower the political costs for governments when there is a controversial use of violence. These aspects make PGMs particularly attractive to governments that intend to use violence against a domestic opponent but fear national and international repercussions for excessive human rights violations. Although these groups make conflict more feasible financially and are perceived to lower political costs, they may bring – sometimes unintended – consequences, such as increased suffering and violence for civilians, as well as greater instability and crime in the medium- and long term.
The risks that PGMs bring for peace, security and stability can only be reduced if the international community knows how governments delegate security tasks and holds governments responsible for the violence that their various state and non-state agents commit.

• The international community needs to pay attention to unintended consequences when promoting democracy. When incentivised to limit repression, governments in target countries might distance themselves from the violence rather than seek to reduce it.

• Aid decisions should be informed by a thorough assessment of the security sector, which should include regular as well as irregular forces.

• Governments are responsible for protecting the lives of their citizens. If civilians are targeted by militias, a government has failed in this task and should therefore be held accountable for such violence.

ARI 13/2016 - 29/1/2016
Adrián Blanco Estévez
El presente ARI tiene el doble objetivo de profundizar en cuáles son las barreras que frenan la capacidad competitiva de las pymes latinoamericanas y analizar qué puede hacer el policymaker en la nueva coyuntura económica a partir de las experiencias aprendidas.

ARI 12/2016 - 28/1/2016
Erika Rodríguez Pinzón
El gobierno colombiano ha emprendido una activa búsqueda de recursos para financiar el postconflicto, una vez se firme un acuerdo de paz con las FARC. Se prevé que parte de la suma necesaria provenga de la comunidad internacional.

Die Politische Stiftungen wollen in einer gemeinsamen Initiative den Ursachen und der Bedeutung sinkender Wahlbeteiligung nachgehen und konkrete Maßnahmen vorschlagen, die zu einer Steigerung der Wahlbeteiligung beitragen können.

Spätestens seit dem 18. Parteitag der Kommunistischen Partei Chinas im November 2012 zeichnet sich ein vielschichtiger ökonomischer, politischer und gesellschaftlicher Wandel ab. Um über dessen Implikationen zu sprechen, lud die Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung am 28. Januar 2016 zum vierten Außenpolitischen Quartett.

Postdoctoral Fellow of ELIAMEP Dr Dimitris Skleparis spoke on Mediapart on Greece and the Schengen Area. The article was published on 26 January 2016 and is available here.

 

 

 

 

Nach Kairo ist in den vergangenen Jahren viel saudisches Geld geflossen. Aber Riad ist nicht...

Violent extremism has become a dominant problem in the Sahel-Sahara region in the last couple of years. An increasing array of nonstate actors are threatening the state and the safety of populations while at the same time taking on a transnational character and increasing ties and affiliations with actors beyond the francophone space. Despite the urgency of this critical threat, current responses of states in the region seem to be uncoordinated and inadequate.

This meeting note, written in French with an English summary included as an annex, aims to contribute toward better mutual understanding of violent extremism in the Sahel-Sahara region and its underlying causes. It also outlines a number of potential regional, national, and community responses.

The report stems from a seminar IPI organized in Tunis, Tunisia, from December 7 to 8, 2015, in partnership with the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) and the Centre for Strategies and Security for the Sahel Sahara (Centre 4S, Nouakchott, Mauritania).

The following are among the recommendations that emerged from the seminar’s discussions:

• Analyze, Disseminate, and Communicate: Local actors could benefit from greater access to research, analysis, and lessons learned from other contexts. In addition, local researchers could be supported in developing their own knowledge and narratives, and media could be encouraged to adopt a more positive and analytical approach to covering violent extremism.
• Promote a Culture of Dialogue and a Dialogue of Cultures: A culture of dialogue must be promoted both between and within different cultures and religions, as well as between the state and religious actors. This dialogue should extend to the regional level.
• Rethink State-Society Relations: Increased space for dialogue among different actors in society is needed to help the state engage in more long-term preventive solutions. Such solutions could include reaching out to youth and preventing the manipulation of religious discourse.
• Invest in Prevention: Regional integration could help find common preventive strategies for the francophone space. This integration should not be limited to cooperation among states.

Read more about the seminar>>

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Retrouvez les interviews des auteurs de la série "Valeurs d'islam"

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The content is available in Greek.

You can read here the article on Greece and the challenge of migration, which was written by Director General of ELIAMEP Dr Thanos Dokos. This commentary was published in the Greek daily Kathimerini on 26 January 2016.

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Cet ouvrage reprend l’ensemble des travaux réalisés dans la série « Valeurs d’islam », de janvier 2015 à janvier 2016.

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