UGANDA: Assessing Uganda's Cross-Border Pursuit of the LRA
In 2002 the governments of Uganda and Sudan agreed to allow the Ugandan army, the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF), to pursue insurgents of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and establish bases
inside Sudan. The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM)—at the time opponents of the Sudanese government and now leading the autonomous Government of South Sudan (GoSS)—was not a party to the
agreement, but subsequently welcomed it as an opportunity to protect southern Sudanese in border regions from the depredations of the LRA. In March 2002, a UPDF base was established in the southern
Sudanese border town of Lobone from where soldiers fanned out to search out LRA encampments inside Sudan. In 2004 a larger contingent was stationed alongside the airstrip in Nimule, a border crossing town
situated on the eastern side of the White Nile and on the main road between Uganda and the southern Sudanese capital, Juba. While the UPDF contingent in Lobone was withdrawn after six months, the UPDF
remains in Nimule at the time of writing. This is a source of ongoing irritation to the GoSS Vice President, Riek Machar, who in June 2008 called on Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to withdraw all UPDF
forces from Sudan. This study looks back over the years since 2002 to assess how the SPLA/M authorities and local communities responded to the UPDF presence in South Sudan. Feinstein International Center // Tufts University (15 February)
More on Uganda |  | 
IRAQ: The Effects of the War on Nutrition and Health: An Analysis Using Anthropometric Outcomes of Children
The war in Iraq initiated in March 2003 triggered a wave of violence and turmoil in the country, exposing households to insecurity and to instability in daily life. The level of violence has varied across provinces, the
south and centre areas being the most affected. Using the different intensities of the conflict across areas and the age at exposure to the war among cohorts, I analyze a possible causal effect of the war on
nutritional outcomes of children. I use two empirical strategies, leading to very similar results. Estimates indicate that children born in areas affected by high levels of violence are 0.8 cm shorter than children born in
low violence provinces. These results are robust to several specifications. Furthermore, the paper also addresses the channels through which the conflict has affected health and nutrition. The results have not only
short-term policy implications, but also, given the empirical evidence of the impact of early child malnutrition on later education, labour and productivity outcomes, the results are of great importance for the future. Households in Conflict Network // Institute of Development Studies // University of Sussex (15 February)
More on Iraq | |
DR CONGO: Ending the Cycle of Violence in the Congo: Is Peace Possible in the Heart of Darkness?
This article looks at the causes of conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo over the last fifteen years and the transitional initiatives that have been taken by the national government and the international
community in resolving the conflict. The author concludes that underlying causes of the conflict have failed to be addressed and they threaten to undermine the hard fought peace and engulf the region in further
violence and instability in the foreseeable future. The failure of the international community and the role of neighbouring countries in the conflict have ensured that transitional process has been an uphill struggle with
too many benefiting from the conflict and too few willing to stop it. Lessons learnt from other jurisdictions can prove important in guiding the future of the Congolese peace process but the peace will only last as
long as it is more profitable than war to all parties involved. Journal of Peace, Conflict and Development (15 February)
More on DR Congo | |
AFGHANISTAN: Annual Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict 2008
The armed conflict intensified significantly throughout Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008, with corresponding rise in civilian casualties and a significant erosion of humanitarian space. In addition to fatalities as a direct
result of armed hostilities, civilians have suffered from injury, loss of livelihood, displacement, destruction of property, as well as disruption of access to education, healthcare and other essential services. UNAMA
Human Rights recorded a total of 2118 civilian casualties between 01 January and 31 December 2008. This figure represents an increase of almost 40% on the 1523 civilian deaths recorded in the year of 2007.
The 2008 civilian death toll is thus the highest of any year since the end of major hostilities which resulted in the demise of the Taliban regime at the end of 2001. Of the 2118 casualties reported in 2008, 1160 (55%)
were attributed to antigovernment elements (AGEs) and 828 (39%) to pro-government forces. The remaining 130 (6%) could not be attributed to any of the conflicting parties since, for example, some civilians died
as a result of cross-fire or were killed by unexploded ordinance. United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (17 February )
More on Afghanistan | |
WEST AFRICA: Governance and Security in a Changing Region
This paper addresses the challenges to human and regional security in the territory covered by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It examines causal factors and their effects, profiles
the actors shaping the security environment, and describes the nature and impacts of their interventions. Finally, it projects possible future scenarios based on the current security dynamics. The paper examines the
geopolitical environment of West Africa, with emphasis on the strategic importance of the region and the vulnerabilities emanating from its location. Within this context, it discusses the roles of local, regional, and
international actors in the evolving regional security architecture, sifting through their actions, motivations, and interventions. It analyzes the attempts by national, regional, and international institutions to transform the
security environment, highlighting their roles, strengths, and weaknesses; and it projects various security scenarios, proposing policy options to meet the challenges that these scenarios present. International Peace Institute (19 February)
More on West Africa | |
PEACEBUILDING: Towards an International Legal Framework for Post-Conflict Peacebuilding
The concept of post-conflict peacebuilding aims at assisting war-torn states and societies to avoid a relapse into armed conflict. To be successful in establishing the conditions for a sustainable peace, the
international community may have to interfere with the domestic affairs of the affected country. Taking into account the transformative nature of peacebuilding, it is important that such action always be guided by
clear normative standards. Legal certainty and predictability are fundamental cornerstones of any stable post-conflict order. Moreover, adherence to international law is a vital precondition for generating political
and moral legitimacy. Therefore, international and local support for a specific peacebuilding process largely depends on whether the responsible actors are able to credibly demonstrate their respect for the rule of
international law. The relevant question, however, remains as to what is the substance of the law applicable to such cases. Whilst international treaty law contains clear provisions governing the use of force in
international relations and the conduct of the parties during an armed conflict no such specific rules exist for the post-conflict phase. In particular there is no international instrument offering a systematic and
comprehensive catalogue of definite criteria for how to deal with war-torn states and societies in the aftermath of an armed conflict. Nevertheless, international law is by no means indifferent in this regard. It
contains many general principles that may be applied to post-conflict situations. The purpose of this study is to identify some basic normative parameters for post-conflict peacebuilding and to sketch the contours of
a modern 'jus post bellum'. German Institute for International and Security Affairs // Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (3 February)
More on Conflict Resolution and Peacemaking | |
CONFLICT PREVENTION: Conflict Prevention in Bolivia and Ecuador : The Role of the International Community
In recent years, Bolivia and Ecuador have faced so many challenges to their stability and constitutional order that many observers have wondered how these countries have avoided slipping into widespread violent
conflict. This paper examines the political developments that have made these two of the most volatile nations in the region. It also highlights the role of the international community in preventing the eruption of
conflict in both countries. The two South American nations share many common problems and characteristics: they are highly divided societies where wide sectors of the population have been historically excluded
from the political arena; they have weak political parties that have been unable to create national coalitions; they are fragile states that have been appropriated for the personal benefit of elites; and their political
structures have been unable to effectively guarantee space for the resolution of conflict within the existing legal frameworks. The combination of these factors has contributed to the erosion of the legitimacy of both
states, further exacerbating intra-institutional conflict and instability. Center on International Cooperation // New York University (5 February)
More on Conflict Prevention | |
GENDER: The Gender Dimensions of Post-Conflict Reconstruction
The purpose of this chapter is to construct a framework for understanding the gender dimensions of post-conflict reconstruction (PCR), in order to strengthen assessments, project design, and policy-formulation –
all with the aim of achieving the overarching goals of sustainable peace, participation and prosperity. Based on our experiences working with and reviewing projects in post-conflict settings, this chapter suggests
gender dimensions that may strengthen programmes, promote gender equality, and enhance returns on PCR investments. It is predicated on the conviction that building and maintaining peace and prosperity requires
attention to gender roles and relations in the post-conflict arena. To illustrate the gender dimensions, we use examples from the World Bank and other donors, including a sample of the Bank’s large post-conflict
reconstruction development loans and its small post-conflict fund (PCF) grants. While many of these examples confirm our concern that policy-makers have been slow to employ gender analysis and focus, some
cases illustrate the kind of gender-sensitive approaches that we advocate. This chapter addresses the gender dimensions of post-conflict reconstruction in five sections: We begin our discussion by establishing the
foundations for our framework: locating post-conflict reconstruction within a process triggered by peace negotiations and ending with peaceful, prosperous and equitable societies, and introducing the women and
gender characteristics of the three dimensions. United Nations University // World Institute for Development Economics Research // Gender Action (1 February)
More on Gender and Security | |
PEACEKEEPING: Annual Review of Global Peace Operations 2009
After several years of continuous expansion, reform and resiliency, in 2008 global peacekeeping was pushed to the brink. This publication warned in 2006 that peacekeeping faced a risk of overstretch. In 2007 it
highlighted the mounting pressures on peacekeeping organizations, while stressing that peace operations had shown surprising resilience. By 2008 peacekeeping was spread increasingly thin, in many respects the
victim of its own success. Our thematic review that year was by Lakhdhar Brahimi and Salman Ahmed. It cautioned that we risked unlearning the central lesson of the Brahimi Report: that peacekeeping is not a
substitute for an effective political process. That lesson was on vivid display during the past year, as the collapse, failure or stasis of political processes in central Africa, Lebanon/Syria, Sudan, Chad and Haiti placed
peacekeeping operations there under severe strain. Most dramatic was the surge of violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in late fall 2008 which saw MONUC - already overstretched and
under-supported - approach collapse on the ground before last-minute political negotiations led to a tenuous cease fire. The dramatic shift in Rwanda’s position by arresting its alleged ally, General Laurent Nkunda,
temporarily alleviated the unfolding crisis. Center on International Cooperation // New York University (24 February)
More on Peace Operations and Post-Conflict Reconstruction | |
NATURAL RESOURCES: From Conflict to Peacebuilding: The Role of Natural Resources and the Environment
Since 1990 at least eighteen violent conflicts have been fuelled by the exploitation of natural resources. In fact, recent research suggests that over the last sixty years at least forty percent of all intrastate conflicts
have a link to natural resources. Civil wars such as those in Liberia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo have centred on 'high-value' resources like timber, diamonds, gold, minerals and oil. Other
conflicts, including those in Darfur and the Middle East, have involved control of scarce resources such as fertile land and water. As the global population continues to rise, and the demand for resources continues
to grow, there is significant potential for conflicts over natural resources to intensify in the coming decades. In addition, the potential consequences of climate change for water availability, food security, prevalence
of disease, coastal boundaries, and population distribution may aggravate existing tensions and generate new conflicts. The recognition that environmental issues can contribute to violent conflict underscores their
potential significance as pathways for cooperation, transformation and the consolidation of peace in war-torn societies. Natural resources and the environment can contribute to peacebuilding through economic
development and the generation of employment, while cooperation over the management of shared natural resources provides new opportunities for peacebuilding. United Nations Environment Programme (20 February)
PEACEKEEPING: If Only There Were a Blueprint!: Factors for Success and Failure of UN Peace-Building Operations
In spite of the fact that UN peacekeeping operations are a relative new field for scholarly research, the literature on the subject has grown into a substantial body. This article distils from this body of scholarly
literature eleven clusters of factors for success and failure for UN peacekeeping operations in general and tests these on four case studies – Cambodia, Mozambique, Rwanda and El Salvador – of one particular
type of UN peacekeeping operation: the UN peace-building operations. It concludes that although the results of the four cases of UN peace-building operations largely confirm the factors for success and failure as
found in literature for UN peacekeeping operations in general, theory on UN peace-building operations still needs adjustment and fine tuning. Amongst others, it appears from the cases that two factors that receive
a lot of attention in literature – the non-use of force by the operation and the need for a clear and detailed mandate – are less important. Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael (18 February)
More on Peace Operations and Post-Conflict Reconstruction | |
ARMED CONFLICT: War, Peace and Progress: Conflict, Development, (In)security and Violence in the 21st Century
The theory and practice of development has a complicated relationship to the history of war and peace in the 20th century. Efforts to realise the promise of progress have been played out against the backdrop of
the crisis of colonialism, national liberation, decolonisation and the rise and fall of Third Worldism. Third Worldism, conceptualised as a specific project to realise the promises of progress, was also affected by the
transformation and onset of the crisis of the nation-state system and the re-calibration of the development-security nexus in the post-Cold War era. The short history of the 'three worlds of development' appears
now to have been overlaid by global development; that is, a process which entails intensified social and political network-relations, with accompanying regulatory efforts becoming more global in scope and reach.
Yet, the most influential drivers and proponents of 'progress' continue to focus on the nation-state as the natural mechanism for the realisation of development, security and to some extent the protection of human
rights. A critical reinterpretation, however, of the struggles engendered by this constellation suggests that they are better viewed as struggles for recognition (and redistribution) rather than driven by realising
statehood per se. Concurrently, development as an internationally framed global project (underpinned by neoliberalism) has coexisted with alternative conceptions. Third World Quarterly (1 February)
More on Armed Conflict | |
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