Water Security in the Sixaola River Basin
The Sixaola River Basin crosses the border between Costa Rica and Panama, and is home to Yorkín and Bribrí communities, raising legal and social challenges for equitable and secure water management. This paper outlines some of these challenges and makes recommendations for reducing human vulnerability to hazards (particularly floods) and for improving relationships among stakeholders.
Learning from the Past and Looking Towards the Future: The Situation of Child Soldiers in Colombia
In light of the current peace negotiations between the FARC and Colombian government there is the potential for thousands of children to be demobilized in the upcoming year(s). While this is promising, children have not been adequately included in the peace process so far. This is ominously reminiscent of the 2003 demobilization of the AUC, which led to only a few hundred of potentially thousands of children being formally demobilized, many of whom are believed to have been re-recruited by neo-paramilitary groups and organized criminal gangs. This paper will explore the current situation of children associated with illegal armed groups in Colombia, the challenges facing their reintegration, and the lessons learnt from the failure of the previous demobilization, all with a view towards improving the potential demobilization of child soldiers following a successful peace process between the FARC and Colombian government.
The Need for Security Sector Reform in Afghanistan to Curb Corruption
This paper, on the basis of available literature and organizations’ experiences, aims to evaluate and analyze the institutional limitations and weaknesses of the police and judicial sector of Afghanistan’s security sector.
Understanding the trends and inadequate practices in the services delivery systems of the Afghan security sector will set the stage for possible policy recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of the sector and curb corruption. Subsequently, identification of effective and feasible policy recommendations to enhance the performance of the Afghan police and judicial sector will enable other service delivery institutions to resourcefully implement development initiatives.
New People’s Army and the Philippines: No end in sight?
Noriko Hashimoto discusses the prolonged conflict between the government of the Philippines and the communist rebel group, New People’s Army. After giving an overview of the long and tragic history, focusing primarily on the presidencies of Ramos and Arroyo, Hashimoto looks to the underlying factors of poverty and land distribution, and the potential for a negotiated peace.
Switzerland’s “Minaret Conflict”
Switzerland’s “Minaret Conflict” Author: Lucy Dubochet Originally Published at Peace and Conflict Monitor on 10/06/2008 I. Description In 2006 and 2007 a few Muslim communities had requested building permits to add a minaret to their mosques. In many cases, although local administrations had considered that there was no legal basis to reject these demands, […]
Can the European Union be a peace-maker in the world? In Kosovo?
Jan Oberg discusses the legality of Kosovo’s declaration of independence, the dangers of an increasingly militant and tactless EU foreign policy, and the continued need for creative thinking and enlightened policy reform.
Radioactive Weapons Testing in California
Radioactive Weapons Testing in California Author: Cathy Garger Originally Published at Peace and Conflict Monitor on 01/10/2008 The recent article at InsideBayArea.com, “Livermore Lab: What a difference a month makes” (November 15, 2007, Article ID 7469063) discusses the downgrading of the managerial role and lessened involvement of the University of California at the Lawrence Livermore […]
Recognition of Statehood or Recognition for Statehood: The Legal Strategy behind Palestine’s Application for UN Full Membership
UPeace graduate student Bernard Ntahiraja examines the legal basis behind the strategic 2011 application for full membership of Palestine within the United Nations. He concludes that strategy as opposed to a sincere legal claim to statehood inspired Palestine’s bid before the UN, with the clear objective of accelerating the process toward true international recognition of a Palestinian state.
Who Will Save Darfur
Genocide in Darfur is stuck between international bureaucracy and lethargic, discriminate Sudanese politics. Pkalya probes Western states, special interests, and humanitarian aide initiatives, while we sit and wait to see who will save Darfur.
The Bougainville conflict: A classic outcome of the resource-curse effect?
Pre-existing ethnic and economic divisions between Bougainville and the rest of Papua New Guinea and the mismanagement of the copper wealth of the Panguna Mine exacerbated existing tensions and provided radical Bougainvilleans an excuse to legitimise the pursuit of violence as a means to resolve their grievances. This article examines the causes of the Bougainville conflict in Papua New Guinea from 1988 -1997, specifically investigating the role of the resource curse (as propounded by Collier) and briefly discusses implications for democracy and future development on the island.
The article finds that not one single factor should be isolated as a sole cause of the conflict but that there is a series of predominant causes which can trace their roots directly to the Panguna Mine. Pan-Bougainvillean ethnicity should not be discounted as an important factor but should be seen as an external projection of economic and inter-ethnic grievances.