NORTH AFRICA
August 2007
Freedom to Innovate: Biotechnology in Africa's Development
Report
By Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project; Principal Investigator, Agricultural Innovation in Africa and Ismail Serageldin
"This report is about biotechnology and the role it can play for development in Africa. The report suggests specific and practical measures to advance development, quality of life and environmental sustainability using biotechnology."
April 28, 2008
International Security Program "Paths to Violence" Research Workshop
News
The International Security Program (ISP) at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs hosted a research workshop in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 25, 2008. Workshop organizers Erica Chenoweth (ISP) and Adria Lawrence (ISP/Intrastate Conflict Program) brought together leading scholars to explore the conditions under which non-state actors resort to violence and the various strategies state actors use to address aggrieved populations. Workshop participants addressed issues such as why the use of violence varies among non-state actors, how the decision to use violence affects strategic outcomes of internal and international conflicts, and how states arrive at decisions to accommodate, assimilate, or ethnically cleanse minority groups. Participants received feedback on original research papers prepared in advance of the workshop. The final drafts of the papers will be compiled into an edited volume, which will be submitted for review in fall 2008.
December 10, 2007
"Big Tent"
Op-Ed, The New Republic
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"...in recent years, Qaddafi has appeared to be changing. He still wants to project Libyan power, but he is going about it differently than in decades past. Where once he had tried to bully and even overthrow governments to his south, now he is hosting peace talks on Darfur....Has Qaddafi really changed? It is difficult to know for sure.... his future actions will speak louder than any current words. But there is no doubt that he acts differently on the world stage today than he did in decades past."
AP Photo
December 2007
"Draining the Sea by Filling the Graves: Investigating the Effectiveness of Indiscriminate Violence as a Counterinsurgency Strategy"
Journal Article, Civil Wars, The Origins and Effectiveness of Insurgent and Counterinsurgent Strategies, issue 4, volume 9
By Alexander B. Downes, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2007-2008
"It is commonly believed in the literature on insurgency and counterinsurgency that to be effective in undermining civilian support for guerrillas, violence against noncombatants must be selective or risk alienating the population. Yet cases exist where governments have defeated insurgencies by wielding indiscriminate violence against noncombatants. This paper explores the conditions under which such violence can be effective through a case study of British counterinsurgency strategy in the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902)."
September 17, 2007
"America and Global Public Goods"
Op-Ed, Daily Times, (Pakistan)
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"By using its good offices to mediate conflicts in places like Northern Ireland, Morocco, and the Aegean Sea, the US has helped in shaping international order in ways that are beneficial to other nations."
August 14, 2007
"The Changing Face of Energy Security"
Op-Ed, Daily Times, (Pakistan)
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"...the oil-supply problem has become worse and energy security more complex."
August 9, 2007
"Facing a Fragile Situation in Darfur"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Marie Besançon, Former Associate, International Security Program/Initiative on Religion and International Affairs, 2008; Research Fellow, ISP, 2006–2007; ISP/Governance Initiative in the Middle East, 2005–2006; Intrastate Conflict Program, 2003–2006; ISP/WAPPP, 2002–2003
DARFUR has grabbed the attention of the nation. Activist groups have done remarkable jobs of raising awareness of human suffering and have deterred starvation for millions of people in Darfur. Millions of dollars in aid — mostly from the United States — have reached this group of displaced people. However, this success is fragile....
July 23, 2007
"China's Delicate Role on Darfur"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Jason Qian and Xiaohui (Anne) Wu, Associate, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom
SOME IN the West have recently begun referring to the 2008 Beijing Olympics as the "Genocide Olympics" because of China's continued business ties with Sudan and its reluctance to intervene decisively in the Darfur conflict....
July 13, 2007
"Does the UN Still Matter?"
Op-Ed, The Financial Express, (India)
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"The UN is more an instrument of its member states than an independent actor in world politics."
May 2007
Population Resettlement in International Conflicts: A Comparative Study
Book
By Arie M. Kacowicz and Pawel Lutomski
"A persuasive set of comparative essays that move us beyond the inaccurate sui generis claims routinely applied to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."—Prof. Thomas G. Weiss, Director, Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, The CUNY Graduate Center
