CONFLICT AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION
AP Images
March 18, 2013
Syria is Melting Away
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Nicholas Burns, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics, Harvard Kennedy School
The answer in Syria, of course, is not so simple, writes Nicholas Burns. "The United States is exhausted and risk-averse after Iraq and Afghanistan. And Syria is forbidding territory — its well-armed government is stronger than any we faced in the Balkans. Much of the fighting is in densely crowded neighborhoods in which it would be difficult for an invading force to distinguish friend or foe. President Obama is surely right not to put American troops on the ground in yet another Middle East quagmire."
March 15, 2013
"Real Steps For a Post-Assad Syria"
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By David Ignatius, Senior Fellow, Future of Diplomacy Project
"The Obama administration and the Syrian opposition are beginning to grapple seriously with the core problem in Syria, which is how to topple President Bashar al-Assad without creating a political vacuum in which terrorists, warlords and regime die-hards could thrive," writes David Ignatius for the Washington Post.
March 6, 2013
"In Egypt, Sliding Toward Ruin"
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By David Ignatius, Senior Fellow, Future of Diplomacy Project
A"s Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood government slides toward the financial cliff, what’s the right policy for the United States? That’s becoming an urgent question, as Egypt’s financial reserves decline and the country nears a new breaking point," writes David Ignatius for the Washington Post
March 13, 2013
"Proceed With Caution"
Op-Ed, American Interest
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
"Circumstances do not call for passivity, for doing nothing. They do call for sober consideration of diplomatic reality; the peace process cannot afford another failure.... Moreover, American diplomatic capital is a finite resource and should not be risked unless the prospects of success are significant."
March 5, 2013
"'In 2020, the DRC…"
Op-Ed, GLOBALBRIEF
By Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project; Principal Investigator, Agricultural Innovation in Africa, John C. Bradshaw and Gwendolyn Mikell
"The post-election era will require economic construction. Much of this will start with building essential infrastructure needed for growth — especially in transportation, energy and in telecommunications. The World Bank estimates the DRC's infrastructure needs at over US $5 billion a year over the next decade. After all, the country is the size of Western Europe, but has only 2,800 kilometres of all-weather paved roads running through it. This is about the same as Rwanda's networks of roads — even if Rwanda is some 90 times smaller than the DRC. The DRC also has extensive potential navigable waterways that need to be developed. And massive investment in air transportation infrastructure could make the country a hub for the rest of Africa, given the DRC's geographical centrality on the continent."
March 4, 2013
"US Should Focus Aid on Syrian Refugees"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"...[E]veryone will be better off in the interim if the United States can help keep Syrian refugees from destabilizing the region. That means steering our humanitarian assistance towards temporary relief, providing public safety and emergency resources to the host nations, and enforcing promises made by Arab neighbors and the international community to provide financial support for the refugees."
March 1, 2013
"My Neighbourhood" Panel Discussion
News
An audio recording of the panel discussion following a screening of Just Vision's documentary short, "My Neighbourhood" on February 20, 2013.
February 25, 2013
"Syria's Breakup is a Levantine Norm"
Op-Ed, Daily Star
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
The talk about Syria by knowledgeable friends and colleagues whose views I respect has turned increasingly pessimistic in recent weeks, with expectations ranging across a span of bad outcomes. These range from Syria becoming a Levantine Somalia, where power is in the hands of hundreds of local warlords and tribal chieftains, to a totally fractured state that is defined by a combination of raging civil war and sectarianism that pulls in interested neighbors and perhaps ignites new regional wars.
February 22, 2013
"ASEAN's Great Power Dilemma"
Op-Ed, Asia Times
By Kei Koga, Research Fellow, International Security Program
"These overtures and initiatives indicate that ASEAN and its affiliated institutions still have a comparative advantage in shaping and influencing East Asia's security landscape and could play a key role in maintaining regional maritime stability. ASEAN would be wise to go beyond staging fora for talks discussions among member states and move to establish a monitoring mechanism to maintain the maritime status quo, as territorial disputes are likely to intensify among claimant states."
AP Photo
February 15, 2013
"Marry in Haste, Repent at Leisure: the Problem With the Egyptian Constitution"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"The above issues appear to be the principal points of contention between the text of the Muslim Brotherhood-inspired Constitution and the aspirations of the non-Islamists, many of whom are among the youth. Though this matter is not at the heart of the country's current crisis, marked by rampant insecurity and economic stasis, the ambiguities contained in the Constitution may cause serious problems in the future."
