CONFLICT AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION
AP Photo
August 2009
"A Tighter Net: Strengthening the Proliferation Security Initiative"
Policy Brief
By Emma Belcher, Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom
Australia and other countries should redouble their efforts to fix serious gaps in an international arrangement to stop maritime shipments of materials destined for weapons of mass destruction programs, according to the Brief. It argues that heightened concerns over North Korea provide an opportunity to bolster the Proliferation Security Initiative, a 95-country arrangement to promote interception of transfers of cargoes related to weapons of mass destruction.
AP Photo
July 2009
"U.S. Aid to Pakistan—U.S. Taxpayers Have Funded Pakistani Corruption"
Discussion Paper
By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program
The United States must not provide Pakistani institutions with incentives to act counter to U.S. foreign policy objectives in the future. It has done so in the past. But until the spring of 2009, no comprehensive overview of the full funding to Pakistan was possible as the figures were kept secret. Those figures, as well as a full analysis of what is known about how they were spent, can now be evaluated. The available information paints a picture of a systemic lack of supervision in the provision of aid to Pakistan, often lax U.S. oversight, and the incentivization of U.S. taxpayer–funded corruption in the Pakistani military and security services. The author believes that this is the first attempt to present an overview of U.S. aid to Pakistan since 2001, evaluate it, and present recommendations on how to ensure that mistakes are not repeated and lessons are learned.
AP Photo
July 27, 2009
"A Way To Resolve The Jerusalem Impasse"
Op-Ed, CBSNews.com
By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program
"...[T]he best solution is a federal system of boroughs similar to the states of the US, and a unified Jerusalem authority, similar to the US federal government.
The borders of the municipality of Jerusalem would include everything that it does now and also nearby Palestinian cities such as Abu Dis. Some boroughs would naturally be majority Palestinian, others naturally majority Jewish, but free and fair borough elections would ensure proportionate representation on each."
AP Photo
July 26, 2009
"What Israel Needs from Palestinians"
Op-Ed, The Providence Journal
By Nir Eisikovits and Ehud Eiran, Research Fellow, International Security Program
"The demand for recognition as articulated by Prime Minister Netanyahu leaves more to be desired. While he demanded recognition for Israel, he granted none to the Palestinians. If Israel's prime minister wanted the most basic aspects of his people's national story acknowledged, he should have reciprocated in kind."
AP Photo
July 26, 2009
"US Must Wake Up to Reality in Pakistan"
Op-Ed, The Guardian, Comment is Free...
By Appu Soman, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom, 2007–2009
"The most important non-state actor in Pakistan is the army. Normally, a country's army constitutes its ultimate instrument of legitimate force. But the Pakistani army is independent of the civilian government. It considers its interests as separate from those of this government. It has acted more like a mercenary force, reluctant to assume responsibility for defending the country against internal threats. It maintains links with some of the very elements that threaten the country's security."
AP Photo
July 24, 2009
"Prospects for a New Reformist Party in Iran"
Op-Ed, Trend News
By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program
"Former two-time President and chairman of the powerful Assembly of Experts President Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani began to openly criticise the line being taken by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini. Khameini had said that discussion about the legitimacy of the election result should stop, as the result had been blessed by God. This week Rafsanjani said that discussion about the legitimacy of the election result should continue. He said that both words in the 'Islamic Republic' were important, and doubts had not yet been satisfied. He quoted Ayatollah Khomeini in ways that seemed to support the opposition's right to demonstrate. And he said that protesters who have been arrested should be released from prison. He supported greater media freedom."
Summer 2009
"Ending the Korean War: the Role of Domestic Coalition Shifts in Overcoming Obstacles to Peace"
Journal Article, International Security, issue 1, volume 34
Bargaining models of war suggest that war ends after two sides develop an overlapping bargaining space. Through preference, information, and entrapment obstacles, wars can become "stuck" and require a change in expectations to produce a war-terminating bargaining space. A major source of such change is a shift in belligerents’ governing coalitions.
AP Photo
Summer 2009
"Spreading Temptation: Proliferation and Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation Agreements"
Journal Article, International Security, issue 1, volume 34
By Matthew Fuhrmann, Affiliate, Project on Managing the Atom
Matthew Fuhrmann's article "Spreading Temptation: Proliferation and Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation Agreements," was published by in the Summer 2009 issue of International Security. In his article, Dr. Fuhrmann argues "Peaceful nuclear cooperation—the transfer of nuclear technology, materials, or know-how from one state to another for peaceful purposes—leads to the spread of nuclear weapons. With a renaissance in nuclear power on the horizon, major suppliers, including the United States, should reconsider their willingness to assist other countries in developing peaceful nuclear programs."
July 15, 2009
"Stirring Things Up in the Crimea"
Op-Ed, International Relations and Security Network
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Putin strives to further increase Russia's soft power in the Crimea, but Moscow should avoid discouraging disloyalty among Ukrainians as any violent outburst of instability would be detrimental to all sides, Simon Saradzhyan argues in ISN Security Watch.
AP Photo
July 14, 2009
"Islamic Law Enhances Rather than Threatens the UK Legal System"
Op-Ed, The Scotsman
By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program
"People who think that Sharia law threatens UK law tend to confuse UK law and non-legally binding arbitration, which settle disputes outside the legal system....We live under the rule of law, there can only be one set of laws, and that is British law. Not least because our experience with Unity Family has shown that incorrect rulings by some of these so-called Sharia councils go against the fundamental ethos of Islam, and are often more suitable to Pakistani mores. We must reject calls to allow Sharia rulings to be formally recognised in British law under the 1996 Arbitration Act."
