CONFLICT AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION
October 8, 2008
"The High Cost of Incompetent Governance"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
In times like this -- global economic crisis -- the dominance of exclusively oil-fueled economies in the Arab World expose a regional lack of competent governance.
October 5, 2008
Strengthening African Governance: Small States and Islands Top 2008 Rankings
Press Release
By Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution
Small states, island states, and Botswana and South Africa are the best governed countries in sub-Saharan Africa according to this year's Index of African Governance, released today by researchers at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Mauritius, an Indian Ocean island-state, tops the list of well-governed territories for the second year, the Seychelles is second, Cape Verde third, Botswana fourth, and South Africa fifth.
September 25, 2008
"Only a New Constitution Can Guarantee a Better Kenya"
Op-Ed, The Daily Nation, (Kenya)
By Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project
"The constitutional orders put in place in much of Africa, following independence, were largely a continuation of the colonial economic order. The associated governance structures are being swept aside by globalisation, demographic change, and demands for democratic liberties."
September 2008
"From FATA to the NWFP: The Taliban Spread Their Grip in Pakistan"
Journal Article, CTC Sentinel, issue 10, volume 1
By Hassan Abbas, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program/Project on India and the Subcontinent
"...Any effort to stem the tide of extremism in the NWFP first requires a dispassionate analysis of the ground realities. This article attempts to examine such indicators, by explaining how the Taliban have managed to spread their influence from FATA into the NWFP, and will present some ideas on how to reverse extremist trends...."
September 15, 2008
"The Tragic Failure of Arab Moderates"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
"It is worthwhile viewing George W. Bush's presidency from a different perspective than America's performance abroad, for example by reviewing the efforts and fate of those around the world who partnered with Washington..."
September 2008
"Russia's Recipe for Empire"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, Foreign Policy
By Monica Duffy Toft, Associate Professor of Public Policy
Russia’s recent campaign against Georgia is a textbook example of how powerful states forged empires in centuries gone by. For those who have forgotten, here’s how it’s done.
September 2008
The Next Chapter
Report
By Xenia Dormandy, Senior Associate, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
The Belfer Center's Xenia Dormandy participated in the Pakistan Policy Working Group, which was convened in January 2008 to assess the state of U.S.-Pakistan relations and to offer ideas to the next U.S. President and his Administration on managing this critical partnership.
August 27, 2008
"Après Musharraf, Patience"
Op-Ed, Interntional Herald Tribune
By Hassan Abbas, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program/Project on India and the Subcontinent
"...The notion that somehow developing countries, and especially Muslim-majority states, cannot adjust to democratic model is a flawed assessment. The track record of democratic governments in Pakistan is indeed mixed, but it is also true that democracy takes time to develop....Western governments, primarily the United States and Britain, have shown far more patience with dictators than with elected leaders. Periods of military rule in Pakistan — 1958–69; 1977–88; 1999–2008 — lasted an average of 10 years, while democratic phases lasted an average of less than three years and were often declared to be unstable, corrupt and weak. Foreign aid also declined during the democratic periods...."
September-October 2008
"The Right Return"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, The American Interest, Toolbox, issue 1, volume 4
By Chuck Freilich, Senior Fellow, International Security Program
Former Deputy Head of the Israeli National Security Council Chuck Freilich outlines a bold proposal to re-invigorate the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in an action memorandum to the next President of the United States.
Summer 2008
"Identities, Interests and the Resolution of the Abkhaz Conflict"
Journal Article, Caucasian Review of International Affairs, issue 3, volume 2
By Ondrej Ditrych, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 2007-2008
"The recent crisis in Abkhazia reveals a fundamental qualitative change in the conflict in which the balance among three main actors is shifting, and increasingly the conflict plays a more important role in the triangular relations between Georgia, Russia and the West. The search for a new equilibrium in the conflict, one that would be an optimal outcome for the actors involved, will require rethinking the mutually constitutive roles (identities) and interests they want to assume with respect to the conflict and the entire South Caucasus...."
