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 Cooperating for Peace and Security
November 2009
Cooperating for Peace and Security is a new volume of essays by CIC staff, alumni and collaborators, edited By Bruce D. Jones, Shepard Forman and Richard Gowan. It is a comprehensive survey of multilateral security cooperation since 1989. With essays by leading experts on topics from peacekeeping to nuclear security, it goes beyond theoretical discussions of the value of cooperation to show how the operational activities of international organizations meet the security needs of states. In particular, it explores the complex relationship between multilateralism and American security concerns. Covering the UN, NATO, and regional organizations, the authors show that U.S. interests have often shaped institutions. But, more strikingly, other states have also driven institutional change without U.S. support or even in the face of American opposition. This raises important questions about how the balance of power shapes international institutions. In a period of shifting power dynamics, the empirical evidence on security cooperation gathered in this volume is a unique resource for scholars and policy-makers concerned with the future of international institutions.
Cambridge University Press
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A New Course in the World, a New Approach at the U.N.
In August Ambassador Susan E. Rice delivered a speech at New York University co-sponsored by the Center on International Cooperation and the Center for Global Affairs . Ambassador Rice serves as Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations. She was unanimously confirmed to this position by the U.S. Senate on January 22, 2009. For her discussion she outlined four primary areas of focus: strengthening the capacity of the UN to undertake complex peace operations effectively; addressing climate change; preventing the spread or use of nuclear weapons and working to meet the goals of the Nonproliferation Treaty; and combating poverty, disease, violence and genocide.
 
Ambassador Susan Rice Vera Janilnek, Susan Rice and Bruce Jones
 Read Ambassador Rice's speech
 Video: Ambassador Susan Rice
Is the U.N. Still Relevant?
September 2009
Director of CIC Bruce Jones joins Stephen Schlesinger (Century Foundation), Claudia Rosett (Foundation for the Defense of Democracies), and Anne Bayefsky (Hudson Institute) on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" to discuss if the U.N. is at all valid, effective or relevant.
Mr. Obama Goes to New York: The President and the Restoration of Multilateral Diplomacy
September 2009
As President Obama travels to the UN and G-20 summits, Bruce Jones and Richard Gowan review his efforts to restore U.S. leadership in multilateral forums to date.
A commentary by Bruce Jones and Richard Gowan on US Multilateralism |
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New Horizons for UN Peacekeeping
The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and the Department of Field Support (DFS) commissioned the Center on International Cooperation to provide the framework for their “New Horizons for UN Peacekeeping” initiative. The resulting report, Building on Brahimi: Peacekeeping in an Era of Strategic Uncertainty, assesses core issues surrounding the current crisis of confidence in peacekeeping. It offers recommendations for building a new coalition of support, as well as more effective and efficient management of peacekeeping operations on the ground.
Read Building on Brahimi: Peacekeeping in an Era of Strategic Uncertainty
 Visit DPKO website
 Richard Gowan and Jake Sherman comment on progress on peacekeeping reform
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Thematic Series
 
The Center on International Cooperation and the Canadian Permanent Mission to the United Nations are convening a series of panel discussions to explore critical issues confronting the future of UN peace operations.
The first event of the series took place on 26 May 2009 and brought together a diverse grouping of Permanent Representatives to the UN and peacekeeping practitioners. Under-Secretaries General Alain Le Roy (DPKO) and Susanna Malcorra (DFS) and CIC Director Bruce Jones surveyed the symptoms and causes of peacekeeping overstretch and the various initiatives aimed at overcoming these challenges. Read the Summary here.
The second installment of the series was held on 11 September 2009. Building upon the series launch the second roundtable probed the intersection between politics and peace operations – and the tensions therein. Panelists Jean-Marie Guéhenno (formerly the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, 2000-2008) and Mr. Michael von der Shulenberg (Executive Representative for the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone [UNIPSIL]), drew on their extensive operational experience for a frank discussion with attendees on the centrality of political processes in the success of any peace operation. Read the Summary here.
The next event of the series will take place on 4 December 2009 where guest speakers Lakhdar Brahimi and Lieutenant General Chikadibia Isaac Obiakor (UN Military Advisor) will discuss mandate making for contemporary UN peacekeeping operations.
 Read the background paper - English - Francais
Visit Thematic Series Project Page
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Annual Review of Global Peace Operations 2009
The 2009 edition of the Annual Review of Global Peace Operations is now available.
Purchase a copy of the Annual Review of Global Peace Operations 2009
 Read the Forword to the Annual Review of Global Peace Operations 2009 by Alain Le Roy
 "As we contemplate the future of global peacekeeping, the need for objective, fact-based analysis is essential. The Review meets this need and I commend CIC and its staff for stimulating and informing this critical debate.”
—Alain Le Roy
Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, United Nations
“The Annual Review of Global Peace Operations continues to be an important pillar of the international peacekeeping system. It is an invaluable tool for policymakers and other actors involved in the maintenance of international peace.”
—Ramtane Lamamra
Commissioner for Peace and Security, African Union
“From Georgia to the Congo, 2008 was a dangerous and difficult year for peacekeepers. Yet the UN and regional organizations remain essential to maintaining stability around the world. This study offers a comprehensive and clear overview of the state of peacekeeping. Policy-makers should read it closely.”
—Martti Ahtisaari
Former President of the Republic of Finland, Nobel Laureate 2008
 Read an article about the Annual Review of Global Peace Operations 2009 in Financial Times, Der Spiegel
Le Monde and Sueddeutsche Zeitung
Read the Briefing Paper of the Annual Review of Global Peace Operations 2009
Read the Spanish version of the Annual Review
Take the Annual Review 2009 User Survey
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| Recent Publications and Press |
| Military Rule, Human Rights Abuses & Elections: Guinea's Quest for a Peaceful Transition
November 2009
On 20 November, Dr. Sarjoh Bah, Senior Fellow discussed the ongoing political and security situation in Guinea at the Africa Diplomatic Forum organized on behalf of the Institute of African Studies and the School of International and Public Affairs Pan-African Network (SPAN), Columbia University. Among other things, Dr. Bah called on ECOWAS to deploy a medium-sized unarmed military observer force at least three months before the elections. The force, which should be part of ECOWAS’s election monitoring team, should be mandated to monitor the activities of the country’s security forces before, during and after the elections. Furthermore, he called for a residual military presence to be kept on the ground to assist the new civilian authorities start the process of bringing the country’s security forces, especially the military under civilian control. In his view, subjecting the military and other statutory security institutions to civilian control should be a high priority as it is a crucial first step in consolidating civilian rule in Guinea. The residual force, he argues, should assist the Guinean authorities in disarming and returning foreign militias to their countries of origin; a process that should specifically target mercenaries from neighbouring states and beyond.
 Read African Dipolamatic Forum Presentation
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Long-Term Peacebuilding in Africa: Challenges for the United Nations
November 2009
From 11-13 November, Dr. Sarjoh Bah, Senior Fellow attended a Symposium on “Sustainable Peacebuilding: Regional Approaches and Pivotal States,” in Colorado. The Symposium was convened by the Josef Korbel School of International Studies and Center for Sustainable Development and International Peace, University of Denver, Colorado. Dr. Bah discussed the "Long-term Peacebuilding in Africa: Challenges for the United Nations." Among other things, he indentified six core challenges facing the UN and other actors as they confront the monumental peacebuilding challenge in Africa. These are: lack of coordination and coherence; the inability of the UN and others to revamp the economies of post conflict countries; the emergence of new security threats such as drug trafficking and other transnational criminal networks; dealing with transitional justice in an era of internationalized justice; dealing with broader governance issues including security sector reform, public administration and public finance management; and sustaining international commitment in the face of the current global financial and economic crisis. Dr. Bah emphasized that peacebuilding is a political process that should not be approached from a pure technical standpoint, as is the case right now, adding that, nations are built from within not from outside, therefore the principle of ownership should be at the core of peace-building efforts.
 Read Peacebuilding Symposium
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Peacekeeping in a Strategic Vacuum
October 2009
International Peackeeping has published an expanded version of Dr. A. Sarjoh Bah's paper entitled "The Broader Horn of Africa: Peacekeeping in a Strategic Vacuum". The paper contends that peackeeping efforts in the region are undermined by a strategic vacuum and are further hampered by five interrelated challenges: the lack of political framework; the lack of consent; the issue of protection; the issue of overstretch; and US counter-terrorism policy.
Read "The Broader Horn of Africa: Peacekeeping in a Strategic Vacuum"
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Can the EU Rebuild Failing States?
October 2009
The European Union's peace support efforts around the world have been heavily criticised in a new report published by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). The report, written by Daniel Korski and Richard Gowan with a foreward by Jean-Marie Guéhenno, focuses on the EU's civilian capacities for crisis management and state-building. The report, based on over 50 interviews with senior EU officials as well as research conducted in all 27 EU member states, essentially argues that the EU should rethink its whole approach to foreign interventions with a focus on speed, security and self-sufficiency. Gowan and Korski have also published a new article calling for greater EU involvement in statebuilding in Iraq.
Read "Can the EU Rebuild Failing States? A Review of Europe's Civilian Capacities"
Read "Now the E.U. should get serious in Iraq" |
| Regional Peacemaking in and era of International Justice
October 2009
On 5 October, Dr. A. Sarjoh Bah, Senior Fellow at New York University's Center on International Cooperation addressed the New York City Bar Association's African Affairs Committee on the issue of: Regional Peacemaking in an era of International Justice. In his presentation Dr. Bah argues that although the International Criminal Court's indictment of President Omar Bashir of Sudan constitutes a critical challenge for peacemaking efforts in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan, the move has also refocused attention on the unresolved dilemmas of dealing with impunity on the one hand and promoting peace on the other. He concludes by arguing that how the international community including the AU, responds to the challenges posed by this dilemma would lay the foundation for greater consensus around issues of transitional and international justice in post-conflict environments.
Read "Regional Peacemaking in an era of International Justice"
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Is the U.N. Still Relevant?
September 2009
Director of CIC Bruce Jones joins Stephen Schlesinger (Century Foundation), Claudia Rosett (Foundation for the Defense of Democracies), and Anne Bayefsky (Hudson Institute) on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" to discuss if the U.N. is at all valid, effective or relevant.
Video:CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" - Is the U.N. Still Relevant?
Additional Press: The Globe and Mail, Boston.com, National Public Radio 1 & 2, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Financial Times |
Mr. Obama Goes to New York: The President and the Restoration of Multilateral Diplomacy
September 2009
As President Obama travels to the UN and G-20 summits, Bruce Jones and Richard Gowan review his efforts to restore U.S. leadership in multilateral forums to date. They conclude that:
- The President has been a successful "quiet international reformer", managing the process of bringing the emerging powers into global negotiating fora.
- Mr. Obama and his aides also articulated an internationalist philosophy that does not shy away from difficult but necessary "painstaking, principled diplomacy".
- The administration has taken major steps to restore America’s stature at the UN, especially among developing countries, and launched new initiatives on human rights and peacekeeping.
- Nonetheless, the president has also been rebuffed by China and India over climate change at the G8; and by Russia on Georgia and Iran in the UN Security Council.
- The President’s desire for a stronger role at the UN will inevitably lead to calls for him to state America’s position on Security Council reform
A commentary by Bruce Jones and Richard Gowan on US Multilateralism |
Backsliding on Human Rights
September 2009
Richard Gowan and Franziska Branter have published an op-ed in the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times on the US, EU and human rights at the UN.
Read "Backsliding on Human Rights |
| ECOWAS and Conflict Prevention in West Africa: Confronting the Triple Threats
September 2009
In this paper, Dr. A. Sarjoh Bah and Dr. Kwesi Aning, addresses three critical transnational challenges, referred to as the “triple threats” confronting West Africa, namely: governance, drug trafficking and small arms and light weapons. They contend that the combined effects of these threats could undermine the security and stability of the entire sub-region. Consequently the analysis focuses on policy responses by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in confronting the triple threats and offers specific recommendations on how these responses can be enhanced. Among other things, the authors call on ECOWAS to articulate its concerns relating to the drugs menace as a strategic issue with long-term implications not only for the sub-region but also for Europe, the United States and Latin America. This, they argue should not be viewed as a humanitarian issue as is common practice with developments relating to Africa.
Read " ECOWAS and Conflict Prevention in West Africa: Confronting the Triple Threats" |
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| Events |
Natural Resources and Conflict in the DR Congo
December 4, 2009
The Center on International Cooperation (CIC), the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), and the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations request the pleasure of your company at “Practical Mechanisms to Combat the Militarization of Natural Resources in the DR Congo” moderated by Jean-Marie Guéhenno
Full Invitation and RSVP |
| Afghanistan Project News |
The Public Cost of Private Security in Afghanistan
September 2009
The report by Jake Sherman and Victoria DiDomenico emphasizes that over-dependence on private security – above all on local militia groups – by international military forces is harming stabilization efforts. With a surge in US forces on the horizon the demand for private security will increase. This report lays out the consequences of heavy reliance on groups operating outside the legal framework, including shorting Afghan public security forces, increasing the costs of reconstruction, and strengthening criminal groups.
Read The Public Cost of Private Security in Afghanistan
Featured Press:
Guardian
RadioFree Europe
Inter Press Service
Associated Press
The Globe and Mail
Washington Times
Back from the Brink? A Strategy for Stabilizing Afghanistan-Pakistan
An Asia Society Task Force Report
An Asia Society Task Force report outlines a comprehensive strategy for the new U.S. administration to pursue a dramatically different course in Afghanistan-Pakistan. Both countries are now struggling to limit the spread of violent insurgencies, curb losses in public confidence, and address major weaknesses in governance while being faced with a growing economic crisis. Barnett Rubin is the principle author of this report.
Read Executive Summary
Read A Strategy for Stabilizing Afghanistan-Pakistan
A Tribe Apart
The Boston Review has published an essay by Barnett Rubin entitled A Tribe Apart. The essay, filled with anecdotes of Mr. Rubin’s many visits to Afghanistan, presents a country devastated by war, chaos and pervasive class disunity.
Read A Tribe Apart
Pakistan in Decline
On the anniversary of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto many Pakistanis also lament their country's decline into political and economic chaos. An article published in The Times suggests that diplomatic strategies presented in a paper by Barnett Rubin and Ahmed Rashid may help prevent Pakistan’s descent.
The Times article
Listen to Interview
From Great Game to Grand Bargain
Barnett Rubin co-authored an essay with Ahmed Rashid entitled "From Great Game to Grand Bargain" in Foreign Affairs.
Read  Listen
The U.S. and Iran in Afghanistan: Policy Gone Awry
This essay for MIT’s Center for International Studies, by Barnett Rubin with Sara Batmanglich, discusses how the U.S. and Iran’s preoccupation with their grievances has prevented them from cooperating in Afghanistan. The reluctance to acknowledge this key area of mutual interest has not only been detrimental to the goals of the US, Iran and Afghanistan alike, but has also benefited the Pakistan military, the Taliban and al-Qaida.
Read Essay
More Afghanistan Project News |
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