August 24, 2010
Global Consortium on Security Transformation

Abstract:

Medellin, the second biggest city in Colombia, experienced an impressive transformation after 2002 when a combination of national and local initiatives succeeded in dramatically reducing acute levels of violence. After being the most violent city in the world, Medellin became a successful case of urban security transformation. The aim of this research was to explore the role played by civil society in that process. However, not long before this project began, the security situation started to deteriorate in the poor communities of Medellin. The vacuum of power created by the extradition of a demobilized paramilitary leader had triggered wars between gangs and criminal groups. This made it necessary to explore not only the limitations of the recent security transformation, which is now in question, but also the way this outbreak of violence is aecting communities and the role that civil society can play in this context. In the first section this document presents an overview of the insecurity context of Medellin prior to the transformation started in 2002. The second section discusses the problems with the role that civil society is asked to play within current frameworks for security transformation, such as Security Sector Reform (SSR) and current models of democratic security governance in Latin America....

August 24, 2010
United States Naval War College // Naval War College Review

Abstract:

Canada’s naval response to Somali piracy has been a mixed affair.On the positive side, in recent years the CanadianNavy has successfully dedicated a significant level of resources to countering Somali piracy: the destroyer HMCS Iroquois, the frigatesHMCS Calgary, Ville de Québec,Winnipeg, and Fredericton, and the oiler HMCS Protecteur. Collectively, these vessels operated effectively alongside the ships of several other navies, especially those of the U.S.Navy, that together form the various international flotillas confronting Somali pirates. The Canadian Navy’s level of involvement has been no mean task, because of the great distances involved, its limited number of surface combatants, and its other responsibilities. On the negative side, the effective handling of Somali pirates has been an ephemeral and problematic task. Despite the international naval presence, the incidence of Somali piracy has increased. In light of the counterpiracy mission’s prominence for Canada and the limited effect navies have had so far, a call by the United States for international commercial shippers to rely upon private security companies (PSCs) demands attention. What, therefore, are the call’s implications in terms of future Canadian activism and the overall effectiveness of countering Somali piracy?...

August 19, 2010
Disarmament Forum // United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research

Abstract:

While globalization may have acted as a catalyst for the growth of international commerce, it has also unleashed and aggravated disparity among regions, societies and people. In some cases, inequalities induced by globalization have created conditions for the rise of violent nonstate actors that possess significant capabilities to challenge the emergent economic order. A careful examination of the impact of globalization reveals that the sea-based trading system is vulnerable to piracy, terrorism, illegal drug trafficking, gun-running, human smuggling, maritime theft, fraud, illegal fishing and pollution, which can all disrupt maritime supply chains to the heavy cost of the global economy. Securing maritime supply chains against disruption thus presents an enormous challenge for the globalized world. This paper examines the threat of piracy and terrorism to maritime supply chains. It begins by identifying the geography of operation of pirates and terrorists, i.e. littorals, and highlights the threats and challenges posed by non-state actors. It then elaborates on the regional and international cooperative initiatives targeting the problem of piracy and terrorism. Finally, the paper argues for a UN-mandated force for anti-piracy and counter-terrorism....

August 19, 2010
Disarmament Forum // United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research

Abstract:

The protection of shipping and sea lines of communication (SLOC) is a major maritime security issue for many countries around the world. With the vast bulk of international trade carried by sea, globalization has led to sea-borne trade growing at a faster rate than the world economy generally. Another factor leading to a greater focus on SLOC protection is increased concern for energy security, especially among the economic powers of Asia. SLOC protection has thus become a major reason for the expansion of naval forces in Asia and the growth of naval budgets. However, it may serve as a politically acceptable justification for naval expansion when real motives could be the fear of military threats from other countries, realist competition between rising powers, and the Mahanian use of naval forces to project national power and influence. Threats of piracy and armed robbery against ships are a particular manifestation of the need for SLOC protection....

June 15, 2010
National War College Review // United States Naval War College

Abstract:

TheMalacca Strait is a narrow waterway that extends nearly six hundred nauticalmiles fromthe Andaman Sea to the South China Sea, betweenMalaysia and Indonesia. The strait provides a vital shipping lane for vessels sailing from Europe and the Middle East to East Asia, as well as smaller vessels on local voyages. Unfortunately, when we think of the Malacca Strait, images of a waterway infested with pirates often spring to mind. While this image could arguably have been justified in the past, it is now rather outdated. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), which produces quarterly and annual reports on piracy and armed robbery against ships, there were only three successful and four attempted attacks by pirates on shipping in the Malacca Strait in 2007. While piracy has certainly been a concern in the waterway in the past,with reported attacks reaching seventy-five in 2000, the number of cases has been falling since 2005, largely as a result of a number of countermeasures introduced by the three littoral states of Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. This decrease in attacks was achieved despite a 10 percent increase in cases worldwide. This article will discuss the reduction in pirate attacks in the Malacca Strait and how the attacks themselves have changed over the last decade. Themeasures attributed to the reduction will then be discussed, as well as the underlying principles and attitudes that have shaped these initiatives. Particular attention will be given as to how the issue of sovereignty, a principle of utmost importance in Southeast Asia, has impactedmultilateral and bilateral cooperative efforts to address the transnational problem of piracy, including a series of International Maritime Organization (IMO) meetings convened to tackle pressing issues affecting the safety and security of shipping in theMalacca Strait. The conclusions will make recommendations regarding issues that require further action....

October 16, 2009
The Atlantic Council of the United States

Abstract:

The Atlantic Council and the U.S. Naval War College jointly sponsored a conference on the challenges and opportunities for maritime security cooperation with a keynote address by Admiral Jonathan Greenert, the Vice Chief of Naval Operations. The conference examined the drivers of maritime insecurity, assess ongoing coalition maritime operations, share lessons learned from maritime security actors and identify challenges to and opportunities for cooperation that include policy, technical, cultural and legal aspects, with a special emphasis on information sharing in operations and maritime domain awareness. Conference panels included: Strategic Approaches to Maritime Security; Working Lunch on International Cooperation in Maritime Security; Lessons Learned from Current Maritime Security Operations; Information Sharing and Maritime Domain Awareness....

September 30, 2009
International Center for Transitional Justice // National Public Radio

Abstract:

Over the past year, top warlords from Colombia's once-fearsome paramilitary movement have been extradited to the United States. U.S. law enforcement officials consider the men notorious cocaine traffickers. But some in Colombia say the paramilitary commanders should instead be in their country, testifying about the atrocities they committed in a long, murky war. And now, Colombia's Supreme Court has agreed - blocking extraditions and leaving the Obama administration scrambling to find a way to restart them. Colombia has been gripped by a drug-fueled conflict for years. Marxist rebels tried to take power. Right-wing paramilitary groups - illegal militias with close links to Colombia's army - fought to stop them. The war raged until 2006, when the paramilitaries finished laying down their arms in government demobilization ceremonies....

August 10, 2009
World Focus

Abstract:

In the southeast Australian city of Melbourne, hundreds of police swept through 19 houses, arresting four young men in what they say was a plot to blow up a large army base outside Sydney. Officials said the men were Australian citizens of Somali and Lebanese descent with ties to a group linked to al-Qaeda. In Somalia, pirates have released a German container ship and its crew. The ship was captured 400 miles off the coast of Somalia and the crew was held for ransom. On Monday, the owners of the ship paid the pirates almost $3 million. Sarjoh Bah, a senior fellow at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation, joins Martin Savidge to discuss the chaos in Somalia, Somali militants abroad and Hillary Clinton’s expected visit with the president of Somalia....

June 29, 2009
Frontline // Public Broadcasting Service

Abstract:

When Marco Vernaschi, an Italian photojournalist, decided to head to the West African nation of Guinea Bissau, he knew that cocaine traffickers had already destabilized the tiny former Portuguese colony. But when he arrived on the scene shortly after the country's president and army chief were brutally assassinated last March, Vernaschi saw a place spiraling into a gangster's paradise. He has documented the chilling impact of the drug trade in places like Bolivia, and spent months in Guinea Bissau getting to know drug gangs from the inside. He shares with iWitness how he captured such intimate portraits of assassins, addicts and prostitutes caught up in a trade that is relatively new to the country but leaving a devastating mark....

June 18, 2009
The Washington Post

Abstract:

Along the Mexican border, people generally try to avoid drug traffickers. We went looking for one. With the help of a veteran journalist in Juarez, we meet Jose Lucio Hernandez, a former smuggler. Hernandez says he snuck drugs into Texas about 400 times by driving across the international port of entry between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. It is impossible to verify everything he says, but his rap sheet confirms he was in the business. Hernandez was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after being busted on July 22, 2005 with 185 pounds of marijuana in El Paso. He boasts that he was good at what he did. Hernandez says he always made it across the border undetected. It was only when he lived in the United States that he got caught. We meet Hernandez at a drug treatment center, where he was working as a volunteer. In his ballcap, polo shirt and blue jeans, Hernandez, 25, doesn’t look like the classic narco, the guy with a gold tooth and dark shades. In the video, Hernandez says that he crossed the border daily. He would drive with dope right through U.S. immigration and customs. Agents often searched his car, looking for drugs in hidden cavities, but never found anything. Hernandez laughs when asked if the government could ever stop drugs from entering the United States....

November 10, 2008
Institute for the Study of International Migration, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

Abstract:

The subject of human trafficking, or the use of force, fraud or coercion to transport persons across international borders or within countries to exploit them for labor or sex, has received renewed attention within the last two decades. While the majority of experts on human trafficking assert that the greatest number of victims of trafficking are women and children, there is little systematic and reliable data on the scale of the phenomenon; limited understanding of the characteristics of victims (including the ability to differentiate between the special needs of adult and child victims, women, girls, men, and boys), their life experiences, and their trafficking trajectories; poor understanding of the modus operandi of traffickers and their networks; and lack of evaluation research on the effectiveness of governmental anti-trafficking policies and the efficacy of rescue and restore programs, among other gaps in the current state of knowledge about human trafficking. Such information is vital to helping decision-makers craft effective policies; service providers develop culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate and efficacious programs, and law enforcement enhance their ability to identify and protect victims and prosecute traffickers. This report presents findings from a 12-month project undertaken by the Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM) at Georgetown University to: (1) Compile a comprehensive bibliography of English language research-based literature on human trafficking using EndNote, an electronic bibliographic management program; (2) Develop a taxonomy to categorize the identified references according to a set of criteria devised in consultation with the National Institute of Justice; and (3) Analyze the compiled bibliography to assess the state of the English language research literature on trafficking in persons. The report provides a detailed description of the processes involved in identifying English language research-based literature on human trafficking; the database searched and the keywords used to identify pertinent references; discussion of the development of the taxonomy used to categorize identified research-based journal articles, reports, and books; and the results of the categorization of the research according to the taxonomy. The report ends with a discussion of research gaps....

November 20, 2006


Abstract:

The APSA Task Force on Political Violence and Terrorism has compiled a bibliography of political science resources on the study of political violence and terrorism. This bibliography contains several sections, including: Terrorism and Counter Terrorism; Civil War and State Failure; Peacekeeping Operations and Nation Building; International Security in a Changing World; Genocide, Politicide, and Human Rights; Regional Studies, and Data Sets.

May 19, 2006


Abstract:

Bibliography with sections on Environmental, Energy, Water, Food, Livelihood, Gender Security and State vs Human Security. State vs Human Security section is on pages 5-7.

May 16, 2006


Abstract:

The objective of this annotated bibliography is to provide a broad overview of literature on human security, be it from a conceptual or practical perspective, and to serve as a user-friendly instrument for interested readers to deepen their insights into human security issues. This bibliography was composed with the help of already existing bibliographies on human security compiled# by Sara Edson (2001) and the Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research (2001), and was supplemented with own search results on the internet. It contains more than 360 references of reports, books, edited books, book sections, conference proceedings, journals, journal articles, magazine articles, newspaper articles and html-documents. The term "human security" is often included in the titles of publications that do not directly address the specific concept of human security, but touch upon topics related to it in a very broad sense. Since a common and consistent definition of human security is still missing, one should not exclude such literature from the list. Therefore, this bibliography lists publications that include "human security" in their titles or abstracts, without distinguishing between the different understandings of this term. The literature is sorted alphabetically and is supplemented, where available, with the appropriate internet link. Most publications can be directly accessed on the internet. Simply click on the active link or copy the corresponding URL to your browser window....

January 24, 2006


Abstract:

The Bibliography on Trafficking in Human Beings includes all the material that has been collected for the preparation of specific projects developed by UNICRI's Counter-Trafficking Team and all the related documents received by the UNICRI Library since the year 2000.

November 12, 2008
Institute for Security Studies // Organised Crime and Money Laundering Programme

Abstract:

Welcome to the 14th issue of the African Terrorism Bulletin, a quarterly newsletter produced by the Organised Crime and Money Laundering Programme of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). The aim is to provide balanced information, analysis and critical perspectives regarding news on terrorism and counter-terrorism strategies in Africa. The information in this and future issues will be based on ‘open source’ information. Commenting on developments relating to terrorism remains a sensitive issue. The Bulletin endeavours to steer through the different agendas that form part of the discourse on terrorism in a critical and balanced way. Different sections of the Bulletin focus on terrorism in the news, state responses and critical perspectives. Most of the information focuses on Africa, but, due to the transnational nature of the phenomenon, issues from further afield are not ignored....

June 21, 2007
Human Security Report Project

Abstract:

Afghanistan Security News is a weekly compilation of security-related news and research resources aimed at researchers, the policy community, IGOs, NGOs, the media, and the interested public. It is published every Monday. Articles and reports are currently drawn from some 100 online media sources, wire services, and over 400 think tanks and university research centres from around the world. To subscribe to Afghanistan Security News, visit www.hsi.sfu.ca or send an email to hsilist@sfu.ca with 'subscribe Afghanistan Security News' in the subject line....

January 3, 2007
Century Foundation

Abstract:

Regularly updated news bulletin on events in Afghanistan prepared by the Century Foundation.

December 19, 2006
American Task Force on Palestine

Abstract:

'Mideast News: World Press Roundup' is a free educational and informational service read each day by decision makers, academics, journalists and activists worldwide.

December 11, 2006
World Security Institute

Abstract:

Regularly updated page with news and events from Russia.

April 21, 2010
Ethical Cargo // Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

Abstract:

Air transportation has played a key role in the transfer of weapons, narcotics and precious minerals, fuelling the war economies that have devastated much of Africa in recent decades. At the same time, those air cargo carriers transporting these commodity flows that have been so destabilizing are also involved in humanitarian aid and peacekeeping missions. Air transport companies named in United Nations Sanctions Committee reports covering weapons deliveries to Angola, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe have all serviced humanitarian aid or peacekeeping operations. They may avoid scrutiny by registering their aircraft in “flag of convenience” states where safety oversight is poor and corruption is common. As a result, their aircraft have crashed more frequently than others, sometimes with narcotics, weapons, humanitarian aid or peacekeeping officials on board....

April 21, 2010
Ethical Cargo // Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

Abstract:

Air transportation has played a key role in fuelling the war economies and conflicts that have affected parts of Asia and the Middle East in recent decades. They are also important facilitators of narcotics flows such as opiates and untaxed tobacco destined for European, Asian and Middle Eastern markets. At the same time, those air cargo carriers transporting these commodity flows that have been so destabilizing are also involved in humanitarian aid and peacekeeping missions.

December 1, 2008
Council on Foreign Relations

Abstract:

In recent years, Mexico's drug cartels have waged increasingly violent battles with one another as well as with the Mexican government. Upon taking office in December 2006, Mexican President Felipe Calderon deployed thousands of federal troops in an aggressive crackdown on drug-related violence. Yet death tolls continue to rise. There were more than 2,500 drug-related deaths in 2007, and the yearly toll rose to more than 4,000 by the end of 2008. Murders and street gun battles are only part of a more entrenched problem that includes corrupt police forces and a lackluster judiciary. Experts say recent police and judicial reforms are a step in the right direction, but such reforms will take time to implement. Meanwhile, increased and sustained cooperation from the United States is seen as necessary to stem drug-related violence....

October 31, 2008
United Nations Development Programme // Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery

Abstract:

It is estimated that more than 740,000 people die each year as a result of the violence associated with armed conflicts and large- and small-scale criminal violence. The majority of these deaths – 490,000 – occur in non-conflict settings. Armed violence is the fourth leading cause of death for persons between the ages of 15 and 44 worldwide. It is estimated that at least 875 million small arms and light weapons in circulation today, three quarters of them being in the hands of civilians. As much as 60 percent of all homicides are committed with firearms. Across the globe, armed violence destroys lives and livelihoods, breeds insecurity, and hampers prospects for human development. According to the most recent estimates, the cost of armed violence in non-conflict countries reaches up to 163 billion USD annually worldwide which is more than the total annual spending on official development assistance. War related violence decreases the annual growth of conflict-affected countries by, on average, 2 percent per year for the duration of the conflict....

September 12, 2008
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs // ReliefWeb

Abstract:

The situation in Masisi, Rutshuru (North Kivu) and Kalehe (South Kivu) areas has significantly deteriorated since 28 August due to increased fighting involving CNDP, FARDC, and Mayi-Mayi groups. Important movements of population are being reported in all provincial territories above. Increasing threats on MONUC and humanitarian aid agencies, as well as continued fighting, have resulted in limited humanitarian space and access.

April 12, 2007


Abstract:

The basket of unsolicited manuscripts in the offices of the World Policy Journal has overflowed since last September 11, just one expression of the overnight leap in interest in foreign affairs. Another index of this interest is the generous gift by a member of the World Policy Institute's Advisory Board of a year's subscription to WPJ to a thousand opinion leaders in the United States. A third is the publication in 2002 by Yale University Press of a "World Policy Institute Book", Jihad, by Ahmed Rashid, which grew out of the respected journalist's two-part series on Central Asia in WPJ. Finally, there is the strong response to a direct mail campaign for new subscribers, made possible by a Ford Foundation grant. Founded in 1983, World Policy Journal is more than ever a highly respected and widely cited forum on international relations. Articles pertinent to America's post-September 11 role have dealt with the perils of going it alone, NATO's new role, the tentative partnership with Putin's Russia, Iran and its discontents, the threats posed by weapons of mass destruction, terrorism's money trail, and imperial America and the common interest. A grant from the Rockefeller Foundation resulted in first-hand reportage from Sri Lanka and Iran, and on the Roma of Eastern Europe. Editor Karl E. Meyer, who is completing a book on Washington's rendezvous with inner Asia, has offered incisive commentary on the transformed global scene. WPJ has streamlined its operations over the past year, moving its subscription fulfillment department to a subsidiary of its printing company. Its new in-house production software now meets industry standards. Circulation numbers are up, with a doubling of paid subscriptions and with more than twice as many copies on newsstands and in bookstores as last year. The magazine's website (www.worldpolicy.org/journal) conti#nues to attract record levels of visits, yet another measure of the keener interest in the new dangers and new opportunities America faces in the post-September 11 world....

February 28, 2007


Abstract:

Liaison is The Center of Excellence DMHA's annual journal featuring insights from civilian and military practitioners, academics, and policy makers, to improve awareness and response.

February 26, 2007


Abstract:

Al Nakhlah is The Fletcher School's online journal on Southwest Asia and Islamic Civilization. Al Nakhlah, which is Arabic for date palm, features thoughtful and informative articles and editorials by Fletcher students and alumni. Published once per semester, Al Nakhlah is sponsored by The Fletcher School's Program for Southwest Asia and Islamic Civilization (SWAIC). The journal seeks to step beyond the traditional Middle East policy approach and embrace the broader range of political, economic, and cultural aspects of the larger Southwest Asian region--a region that spans the Eastern Mediterranean, Anatolia and the Sinai Peninsula in the West, covers the Arab heartland, the Caucasus and Central Asia, and reaches as far east as Iran, Pakistan, and the Gulf Region. Al Nakhlah is the first online journal established by graduate students of international affairs that focuses on this particular region....

January 8, 2007


Abstract:

As one of the few electronic journals dedicated to the study of security related issues in Canada, Journal of Military and Strategic Studies provide a forum in which security issues can be examined and discussed. The editorial philosophy is that the many issues within the field of military and strategic studies are best understood through an open and frank discussion.

January 8, 2007


Abstract:

The National Interest online seeks: to provide a space for vigorous debate and exchange not only among Americans but between U.S. and overseas interlocutors. This is the new home for informed analysis and frank but reasoned exchanges on foreign policy and international affairs. Nikolas K. Gvosdev is the Editor of The National Interest and Dimitri K. Simes is the Publisher.

April 15, 2009
British Broadcasting Corporation // Relief Web

Abstract:

This map represents locations of attacks by pirates in Somalia as of April 14th, 2009.

December 3, 2008
United Nations Institute for Training and Research // Operational Satellite Applications Programme

Abstract:

This 3D perspective map illustrates the relative spatial density of reported pirate incidents in the Gulf of Aden for 2008 (current as of 21 November). Incidents that have occurred within 5km of the Maritime Security Patrol Area (MSPA) following implementation on 26 August 2008 are identified. A spatial analysis of the pattern changes in attacks has also been conducted. Satellite imagery has been used in this analysis for the identification of suspected hijacked vessel locations, and to identify vessel traffic patterns through the Gulf of Aden. This work was done by UNOSAT in support of the ongoing humanitarian operations across the Horn of Africa, and in response to the UN Security Council Resolution 1816 (2008) adopted 2 June 2008, and IMO resolution adopted 29 Nov. 2007 calling for continued monitoring of Somali pirate activity. All piracy incident data has been obtained from open media sources, specifically the Piracy Reporting Center (PRC) of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB). Incidents are classified into 3 main types: ´Hijacking´ where pirates have taken control of a ship; ´Attempted Hijacking´ where pirates have deployed weapons & attempted to board a vessel but failed; ´Suspicious Approach´ where a vessel has followed or chased another ship; Note, a number of reported ´Suspicious Approach´ incidents may represent accidental vessel approaches misperceived as a pirate threat. This is an initial assessment and has not been independently verified....

August 5, 2010
STRATFOR

Abstract:

On Aug. 3, the U.S. Consulate in Juarez, Mexico, reopened after being closed for four days. On July 29, the consulate had announced in a warden message that it would be closed July 30 and would remain closed until a review of the consulate’s security posture could be completed. The closure appears to be linked to a message found on July 15, signed by La Linea, the enforcement arm of the Juarez cartel. This message was discovered at the scene shortly after a small improvised explosive device (IED) in a car was used in a well-coordinated ambush against federal police agents in Juarez, killing two agents. In the message, La Linea claimed credit for the attack and demanded that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and FBI investigate and remove the head of Chihuahua State Police Intelligence (CIPOL), who the message said is working with the Sinaloa Federation and its leader, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera. The message threatened that if the intelligence official was not removed by July 30, La Linea would deploy a car bomb with 100 kilograms of high explosives in Juarez. The deadline has now passed without incident and the consulate has reopened. Examining this chain of events provides some valuable insights into the security of U.S. diplomatic facilities as well as the current state of events in Juarez, a city that in recent years has experienced levels of violence normally associated with an active war zone....

April 7, 2010
International Relations and Security Network

Abstract:

The recent split between two former allies in Mexico's criminal underworld has torn open a new chapter of violence in northern Mexico that has already tinged Monterrey and threatens to spread down the border line. Between February and March, the number of homicides in Matamoros and Reynosa, two cities under siege in northern Mexico, surpassed 2009 totals. Police in the area, who only show up after the shooting has stopped, have recovered 50 abandoned trucks full of bullet holes and blood. Meanwhile, payments of $500 a month keep local journalists quiet and motivated to influence their colleagues to do the same. Those who speak out disappear. Northern Mexico is deeply embroiled in Mexico’s ongoing violence, and as cartel members deal death to their rivals, the media blackout fuels rumor and fear - a perfect storm of misinformation allowing Mexico's newest cartel rivals to engage in a battle for control over some of Mexico's most lucrative criminal turf. The latest fronts are the northeastern states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon in northeastern Mexico, nestled up against Texas. Intense violence continues to rock these states as factions within Mexico’s criminal underworld battle for primacy. The tectonic shift between former allied cartels Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel fuels battlefront intensity. As a result, gunmen contest northern and border cities, including Monterrey, Matamoros, Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo in a battle of ‘all against all.’...

February 1, 2010
International Relations and Security Network

Abstract:

Mexican Federal Police arrested four members of the Sinaloa Federation, killing a fifth, in a shootout on 27 January after anonymous informants tipped the police to armed men seen entering and exiting a house in the state of Chihuahua. Such sporadic shootouts and arrests are now commonplace in Mexico, but the arrest of members of the Sinaloa Federation, it seems, remains a rare event. According to analysts, Mexican authorities have made 53,174 drug-related arrests, with only 941 of those arrests - some 1.7 percent - pertaining to the Sinaloa Federation, believed to still be under the control of one man: Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman. Mexican security analyst and economist Edgardo Buscaglia took these numbers a step further in a 7 January interview with The Economist, noting that, "the government's strategy is to focus on the weakest groups, so that the organized crime market will consolidate itself around Sinaloa." He also added an interesting twist: "[The government] is hoping to negotiate a decrease in violence with that one group."...

December 10, 2009
International Relations and Security Network

Abstract:

The transcontinental cocaine trade is growing by exploiting West African states for transit hubs and cheap labor with potentially profitable outcomes for drug lords, traffickers and terrorist organizations. Sometime early last month, Malian and UN officials discovered a partially torched skeleton of a Boeing 727 aircraft on a small, makeshift airstrip in Gao, a remote city in northeast Mali, that was once the capital of the Songhai Empire and epicenter of the trans-Saharan trade route. No bodies were found. When, in coordination with Malian military forces, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) travelled to the former capital of the fallen empire to investigate, one of the Office’s representatives confirmed that the aircraft had departed from Venezuela, landed in Gao, but ultimately crashed after one failed takeoff attempt on 5 November. While no significant amount of drugs was reported to have been found aboard the aircraft, US and European intelligence agencies alleged that the plane was believed to have been transporting a large amount of cocaine and other illegal substances through North Africa. The UNODC estimated the plane could have been carrying up to at least 10 tonnes of cocaine and that the incident “was the first time the [UN had] heard of a plane of this size […] being used to smuggle drugs from South America to Africa.”...

December 10, 2009
International Relations and Security Network

Abstract:

The Texan Department of Public Safety has begun warning parents that Mexican cartels are actively recruiting teens from the US state bordering Mexico to work as mules and assassins; but in actual fact, this has been going on for over a decade. When Laredo police finally arrested teenage assassin Roalio Reta in 2005, he was 17 and had been working as a hit man for Mexican organized crime in Texas since he was 13, when he killed his first victim. Reta’s case has been widely covered by US media outlets, which point to the ongoing threat of a spillover effect of Mexican violence into US cities and states. Texas is one of the most vulnerable states, with border cities such as El Paso and Laredo just across a thin line from some of the historically most violent Mexican cities. Many in Texas were not surprised when on 17 November the state’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) cited the Rosalio Reta case when warning Texan parents that Mexican cartels were actively recruiting their teenagers. According to one DPS spokesperson, Tela Mange, who spoke with The Monitor daily from McAllen, Texas, Mexican cartels are directly recruiting young people from Texan communities to act as smugglers, and in some cases, assassins. Some members of law enforcement, however, were immediately skeptical. Sheriff Guadelupe Treviño of Hidalgo County, Texas, remarked that he’d “never heard of this,” adding that he’d “really like to see anecdotal evidence that supports this allegation.” Yet while the reality of teen recruitment across Texas fluctuates according to geography and proximity to the border, there remains a solid record of teen recruiting in at least two border cities – Laredo and El Paso – where the tendency for teen recruits to handle smuggling duties remains fairly constant, and the case of one non-gang-affiliated teen acting as a hired assassin for Mexican patrones appears to be more the exception than a statewide trend....

April 26, 2007


Abstract:

The University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) facilitates innovative, rigorous research into the causes of international conflict and cooperation. Founded in 1983 as a research unit serving the entire UC system, IGCC's multi-campus structure allows it to build research teams from all ten UC campuses and the UC-managed Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories, providing broad-based links to the U.S. and foreign governments, and policy institutes from around the globe. Main offices are located at UC San Diego. IGCC is committed to educating the next generation of international problem-solvers and peacemakers through its research and teaching activities. The institute is one of the largest sources of dissertation and fellowship support on international studies in the United States. IGCC supports individual faculty and graduate student research throughout the UC system as well as international affairs programs on each UC campus....

April 24, 2007


Abstract:

Women for Women's Human Rights (WWHR) - New Ways, an independent women's NGO, was founded in 1993 with the aim of promoting women's human rights in Turkey and on the international level. Since its foundation, WWHR has become a widely renowned non-governm#ental organization around the globe. Through a decade of activism, advocacy and lobbying, WWHR - NEW WAYS has contributed significantly to various legal reforms in Turkey, networking in Muslim societies and promotion of women's human rights at the UN level. On the international# level, WWHR - NEW WAYS has successfully worked to initiate a network of academicians and NGOs advocating for women's human rights in Muslim societies. It has initiated and is coordinating "The Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies", the first active solidarity network in Muslim Societies for the promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights as human rights. Publications include the first comprehensive reader on human rights and sexuality, Women and Sexuality in Muslim Societies published in English, Turkish and Arabic. WWHR also runs Human Rights Education Program for Women, which has celebrated its 11th anniversary in 2006, and is one of the most widespread and comprehensive non-formal human rights education programs in the world. It was elected as one of the "best tactics in human rights worldwide" in an international program coordinated by The Centre for Victims of Torture. WWHR - NEW WAYS was elected as one of the NGOs worldwide to deliver a statement at the U.N. March 8th Global World Conference in 1999, in recognition of its advocacy and lobbying efforts towards the adoption of a protection order law against domestic violence in Turkey. WWHR was also awarded the 1999 Leading Solutions Award by the Association for Women in Development (AWID), in recognition of its contributions to advancing gender equality and social justice. WWHR - NEW WAYS has a strategic multi-pronged approach to promote women's human rights. WWHR combines and employs a variety of methods including advocacy and lobbying in a complimentary manner; widespread and sustainable human rights education programs for women; complementary trainings on selected women rights issues including methods of effective strategies of advocacy and lobbying; production and dissemination of awareness - raising materials and publications aiming at women of different literacy levels; action-research; organising conferences; and national and international networking. On the international level, WWHR - NEW WAYS spearheaded the promotion of women's human rights in Muslim Societies through networking, advocacy and lobbying, and through organising numerous international and regional conferences for the purpose of consciousness raising and facilitation of strategies to initiate and promote legal and social change. WWHR has: published the first comprehensive reader on sexuality and human rights entitled Women and Sexuality in Muslim Societies, translated to two other languages and widely disseminated to NGOs and Universities around the world; organized several groundbreaking regional and international meetings to link leading NGOs and international organizations, prominent academicians and activists advocating to promote women's sexual, bodily and reproductive health and rights in the Middle East and North Africa and South/Southeast Asia; initiated and coordinates the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies, the first solidarity network to promote sexual rights as human rights in Muslim Societies WWHR - NEW WAYS also actively partakes in advocacy and lobbying efforts on the UN Level and: submitted the first shadow report from Turkey in 1997 for the third periodic review of the Turkey Country Report by CEDAW, and a second one in July 2004, endorsed by 26 NGOs from the Women's Platform on the Turkish Penal Code; has participated in the regional and international UN meetings for Beijing, Beijing+5, Beijing+10 and ICPD+10; has served on the official delegation of Turkey in the Beijing+5 process and has lobbied in particular for the necessity of preventive and protective measures against marital rape, forced and early marriages and "honor crimes." On the national level, WWHR - New Ways has been implementing the Human Rights Education Program for Women (HREP), which: aims to raise women's awareness of their rights and equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills towards their realization; has been implemented in the field on an on-going basis since 1995 and has celebrated its tenth anniversary by the end of 2004; has a nation-wide outreach through the Community Centres located in 30 provinces spread throughout all seven geographic regions of Turkey; has reached to more than 4000 women up to date; has reached to more than 10,000 women through its extensively disseminated booklets on women's legal, sexual and reproductive rights; serves as a catalyst in the mobilization of women's local grassroots organizing; supports the struggle for women's human rights not only on an individual but also on an organized collective basis; has led to the emergence of 15 independent women's grassroots organizing initiatives and organisations in 10 provinces of Turkey; remains to be the most widespread, sustainable, and comprehensive human rights education program in the world. WWHR - NEW WAYS has played a leading role in the struggle for legislative changes in Turkey aiming at eliminating discrimination and violence against women on the national level since its foundation. WWHR - NEW WAYS initiated and coordinated a number of national campaigns, including: in 1997 the Campaign against Virginity Testing; in 1997 - 1998 the Campaign for the Protection Order against Domestic Violence; in 2000-2001 the Campaign for Full Equality in the Civil Code; in 2001 the Campaign for the Ratification of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW by Turkey; in 2002 - 2004 the Campaign for the Reform of the Penal Code from a Gender Perspective. These campaigns resulted in the enactment of protection orders, a ministerial ban of virginity testing, full equality in the Turkish Civil Code and more than 30 amendments in the Turkish Penal Code towards gender equality. WWHR has an integrative approach towards the issue of women's human rights and takes into consideration the connections between various issues relevant to women (such as violence against women, economical rights, legal rights, sexuality, fertility rights, rights of girl children). WWHR combines in its work the various methods of action-research, publication, training, advocacy & lobbying at the decision making and policy level and finally, outreach at the grassroots and community levels. WWHR puts equal emphasis on its work at the local, national, regional and international levels. ...

April 24, 2007


Abstract:

The mandate of the Coalition for Women's Human Rights in Conflict Situations is to ensure that crimes committed against women in conflict situations are adequately examined and prosecuted. The Coalition seeks solutions to the invisibility of women's human rights abuses in conflict situations, to condemn the practice of sexual violence and other inhumane treatment of women as deliberate instruments of war, and to ensure that these are prosecuted as war crimes, torture, crimes against humanity, and crimes of genocide, where appropriate. Working at the local and international levels, Coalition members act as a resource for consultation and debate on substantive issues related to the integration of a gender perspective in post-conflict transitional justice systems. Coalition efforts also seek to strengthen international and regional capacity to monitor the respect of women's human rights in conflict and post-war situations through the creation of appropriate mechanisms of accountability and the assessment of their transferability to other contexts. The main focus of the Coalition's work is to promote the adequate prosecution of perpetrators of crimes of gender violence in transitional justice systems based in Africa, in order to create precedents that recognise violence against women in conflict situations and help find ways to obtain justice for women survivors of sexual violence. ...

April 12, 2007


Abstract:

Women for Women's Human Rights (WWHR) - New Ways, an independent women's NGO, was founded in 1993 with the aim of promoting women's human rights in Turkey and on the international level. Since its foundation, WWHR has become a widely renowned non-governmental organization around the globe. Through a decade of activism, advocacy and lobbying, WWHR - NEW WAYS has contributed significantly to various legal reforms in Turkey, networking in Muslim societies and promotion of women's human rights at the UN level. On the international level, WWHR - NEW WAYS has successfully worked to initiate a network of academicians and NGOs advocating for women's human rights in Muslim societies. It has initiated and is coordinating "The Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies", the first active solidarity network in Muslim Societies for the promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights as human rights. Our publications include the first comprehensive reader on human rights and sexuality, Women and Sexuality in Muslim Societies published in English, Turkish and Arabic. Our Human Rights Education Program for Women, which has celebrated its 11th anniversary in 2006, is one of the most widespread and comprehensive non-formal human rights education programs in the world. It was elected as one of the "best tactics in human rights worldwide" in an international program coordinated by The Centre for Victims of Torture. WWHR - NEW WAYS was elected as one of the NGOs worldwide to deliver a statement at the U.N. March 8th Global World Conference in 1999, in recognition of its advocacy and lobbyi#ng efforts towards the adoption of a protection order law against domestic violence in Turkey. WWHR was also awarded the 1999 Leading Solutions Award by the Association for Women in Development (AWID), in recognition of its contributions to advancing gender equality and social justice. ...

April 12, 2007


Abstract:

Brown University 's Institute for International Studies evolved from Thomas J. Watson Jr.'s (class of 1937) vision for a research and teaching center that would address the most pressing problems of its time. The Watson Institute's mission and scope today include support of multidisciplinary research, teaching, and public education on international affairs. The Institute promotes the work of students, faculty, visiting scholars, and policy practitioners who analyze and develop initiatives to address contemporary global problems. ...

September 10, 2007
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit

Abstract:

This on-line bibliographic catalogue lists materials held in hardcopy in AREU's research library in Kabul, Afghanistan. AREU's collection includes books, pamphlets, government publications, periodicals, maps, CDs, DVDs, etc. in English, Dari, Pashto and other languages. When we know these materials are available for download on the internet we provide a URL link in the bibliographic record. Some important materials not available elsewhere are made available here for download.

June 21, 2007
Human Security Report Project

Abstract:

The Afghanistan Conflict Monitor is an initiative of the Human Security Report Project at the School for International Studies at Simon Fraser University. The Monitor highlights new research and analysis on the conflict in Afghanistan. In addition to the conflict itself, the Monitor focuses on a broad set of related issue-areas, including health, development, displacement, governance, gender, small arms, landmines, human rights and transitional justice. The Monitor provides summaries of academic articles and reports, and links to key documents, publications, organizations, and data. ...

April 24, 2007
UNIFEM

Abstract:

Through the womenwarpeace.org portal, UNIFEM strives to provide access to the information and analysis that is currently available on the impact of armed conflict on women and women's role in peace-building. Where there are conflicting perspectives, the emphasis is on presenting a variety of information thereof so that users can make their own judgement regarding the accuracy of the information. The absence of formal approaches to collecting and analyzing information on women in conflict in response to resolution 1325 means that gender issues are not systematically addressed in political and preventive actions and post-conflict peace building. This is reflected, for example, in Security Council discussions and in reports of the Secretary General where attention to specific gender issues in individual countries is still lacking. This is not due to deliberate neglect, but to the enormity of the gender mainstreaming task that the United Nations has set for itself....

February 5, 2007
National Institute for Research Advancement

Abstract:

Policy Research Watch (PRW) is a database which collects and provides access to cumulative bibliographic information on periodicals and occasional papers published by selected worldwide public policy research institutes.

January 25, 2007
Centre for Justice and Reconciliation

Abstract:

Restorative Justice Online is a service of the Centre for Justice & Reconciliation at Prison Fellowship International. Information on PFI can be found on the Prison Fellowship International Website. The purpose of Restorative Justice Online is to be an authoritative, credible, non-partisan source #of information on restorative justice. The site is divided into sections for ease of use: The Introduction section includes definitions, a brief overview, tutorial, slideshow presentations and a briefing paper about restorative justice, theory, programmes and practices. The Resources section organizes the growing body of information about restorative justice. It includes sections devoted to programme creation, operation and evaluation; public policy; and theory. It features an overview of restorative justice use in every region of the world, stories of actual people who have experienced restorative processes, a growing collection of book reviews, and biographical information about some of the key leaders in the restorative justice movement. It also includes materials from a research and design project to consider how restorative justice might be applied to every crime, every victim, and every offender in a community. The RJ Library is a searchable database of over 5,000 articles on restorative justice. Most articles have been abstracted, and a large number are available on the web or as full-text articles on Restorative Justice Online. The Chapel contains articles and other resources exploring restorative justice from the Judeo-Christian tradition. The Conferences section provides information and links concerning upcoming restorative justice conferences around the world. The Web tour offers annotated links to restorative justice sites on the web. These are organized alphabetically and by subject. In addition, Previous Editions contains each of the monthly e-newsletters published by Restorative Justice Online for the past five years. Abbreviated versions of Restorative Justice Online are now available in Spanish and French. ...

November 21, 2008
International Chamber of Commerce

Abstract:

Before 1992, shipmasters and ship operators had nowhere to turn to when their ships were attacked, robbed or hijacked either in port or out at sea. Local law enforcement either turned a deaf ear, or chose to ignore that there was a serious problem in their waters. The International Maritime Bureau aware of the escalating level of piracy, wanted to provide a free service to the seafarer and established the 24 hour IMB Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The main objective of the PRC is to be the first point of contact for the shipmaster to report an actual or attempted attack or even suspicious movements thus initiating the process of response. The main aim of the PRC is to raise awareness within the shipping industry, which includes the shipmaster, ship-owner, insurance companies, traders, etc, of the areas of high risk associated with piratical attacks or specific ports and anchorages associated with armed robberies on board ships. The PRC works closely with various governments and law enforcement agencies and is involved in information sharing in an attempt to reduce and ultimately eradicate this crime....

February 12, 2008
International Peace Academy

Abstract:

IPA has been working with governments, international organizations and civil society to improve regulation of the international private military and security industry for over two years. Following more than 6 months of consultations, IPA has produced a database of more than 150 researchers working in this field. It contains details of researchers from around the world writing in many languages, their prior publications, areas of research focus, current work, and contact details. The database will facilitate the effective regulation of international private security by improving coordination of research, commentary and civil society input into existing and new regulatory processes. Listing in the database is open to all independent researchers from academia and civil society organizations, anywhere in the world, writing in any language....

May 30, 2007
Center for Strategic and International Studies

Abstract:

The impact of human rights abuse inside communities and on the stability of countries can be a fundamental security challenge to a state's trajectory. Rampant abuse by states indicates much about the nature of a country and what sort of member of the international community it is likely to be. This initiative involves a series of projects addressing the security implications of human rights abuse. The initiative will begin by focusing on two concrete areas: integrating the values of human rights with security initiatives in a durable approach to counterterrorism, and continuing CSIS's work on human trafficking, especially as it relates to peacekeeping operations. ...

May 10, 2007
United Nations Development Fund for Women

Abstract:

A new, cross-UN initiative, the UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict, is committed to prevent all forms of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, in conflict and to support survivors. It will work with national governments and NGO partners to: -Generate public awareness on the growing use of sexual violence as a weapon of warfare, and how to prevent it; -End impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict; -Improve and scale up services for survivors; -Address the longer term impacts of sexual violence on communities and national development....

February 6, 2007
United Nations

Abstract:

In November 2003, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan established a High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change to assess new dangers to international security and to recommend measures to strengthen institutions of collective security. The experiences of the past half-century suggest that the most dramatic innovations in international policy and institutions have occurred when the debate has broadened beyond bureaucracies to include national opinion-shapers, scholars, elected officials, NGOs, media commentators, and policy practitioners in many countries. Accordingly, in 2003 the United Nations Foundation and a number of partners launched " United Nations and Global Security," an initiative that aimed both to support fresh intellectual contributions to the dialogue surrounding the challenges facing the UN and to enlarge the circles of informed citizens who actively followed and contributed to that debate. Major elements of the initiative included: Promoting the discussion of new ideas concerning global peace and security and informing the discussions of the High-Level Panel during its inquiry phase by commissioning issue briefs from a wide range of thinkers in many countries; Organizing policy roundtables and regional fora that brought policy experts and practitioners, including representatives of the High-Level Panel itself, in direct discussion with key voices representing diverse elements of civil and political society; Sponsoring broader citizen outreach, to include web-based dialogues, speakers and panel programs, commentary in the media, issue forums at schools and universities, with the goal of better equipping both citizens and national policymakers to make informed decisions about common global policy concerns and their country's stake in multilateral action; and Stimulating ongoing interest and inquiry, on a broad range of issues of global importance long after the High-Level Panel has concluded its work....

September 8, 2010
The Africa Center for Strategic Studies

Abstract:

◆ Worsening urban violence is placing increasing demands on Africa’s police departments. ◆ African police forces are typically woefully under-resourced, inadequately trained, unaccountable, and distrusted by local communities, leaving them ineffective in addressing these security challenges. ◆ Nonstate or community-based policing groups often enjoy local support and knowledge, accessibility, and effectiveness. Accordingly, collaborative state-nonstate policing partnerships represent an under-recognized vehicle for substantially expanding security coverage in Africa’s urban areas in the short term at reasonable cost....

August 26, 2010
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars // Mexico Institute // University of San Diego // Trans-border Institute

Abstract:

This essay proposes to briefly describe and analyze the evolution of the Army and Navy’s role in drug interdiction, focusing on the patterns that have emerged since 1995, when the Army accepted responsibility for that task without any internal opposition. I will argue that Mexican national security priorities have shifted significantly, focusing on domestic security issues, specifically drug-related criminal activity and violence. In response to the government’s emphasis on drug-related crime, civil authorities have relied increasingly on the armed forces to carry out an aggressive anti-drug mission. The increased role of the military in carrying out these assignments has produced significant changes within the Mexican Navy and the Army, and in their relationship with the American armed forces. Citizen views of the Mexican armed forces as an institution, its performance of the anti-drug mission, and its reactions to increased levels of personal insecurity, have altered Mexican perceptions of national sovereignty and the United States’ role in their country. Finally, the role of the Catholic Church as an increasingly influential actor in government attempts to curb the drug cartels, as well as the source of potential conflict with the armed forces over growing numbers of human rights abuses, are essential to understanding the consequences of the military’s anti-drug mission....

August 26, 2010
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars // Mexico Institute // University of San Diego // Trans-border Institute

Abstract:

This paper explores two fundamental questions pertaining to Mexico’s ongoing public security crisis. First, why has Mexico experienced this sudden increase in violence among trafficking organizations? Second, what are the current efforts and prospective strategies available to counter Mexican drug trafficking networks? In the process, we explore the development of Mexico’s DTOs, with particular emphasis on the relatively stable equilibrium among such groups in the 1980s and the subsequent fracturing of that arrangement. We also identify and consider the merits of four conceivable scenarios for managing drug use —complicity with traffickers, confrontation of traffickers, prevention and treatment, or tolerating consumption— all of which have significant limits or undesirable effects....

August 26, 2010
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars // Mexico Institute // University of San Diego // Trans-border Institute

Abstract:

As stories of crime and violence play out in the headlines, Mexico is in the midst of a major transformation of its judicial sector. Mexico has been gradually implementing a series of reforms that advocates hope will dramatically improve public security and the administration of justice over the next decade. Central to the process of judicial reform in Mexico is a package of ambitious legislative changes and constitutional amendments passed by the Mexican Congress in 2008, and to be implemented throughout the country by 2016. Together, these reforms touch virtually all aspects of the judicial sector, including police, prosecutors, public defenders, the courts, and the penitentiary system. The reforms include significant changes in Mexican criminal procedure, new measures to promote greater access to justice (for both criminal defendants and crime victims), new functions for law enforcement and public security agencies in the administration of justice, and tougher measures for combating organized crime. This paper helps to fill the gap in our current understanding of these problems by explaining Mexico’s justice sector challenges, the specific changes proposed under the 2008 reform package, and the challenges that lie in store for Mexico as it implements judicial sector reforms over the next decade....

August 26, 2010
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars // Mexico Institute // University of San Diego // Trans-border Institute

Abstract:

While Mexico is having some limited success dealing with its spiraling conflict, vulnerable States in Central America are struggling to keep the organized criminal groups at bay, even while they face other challenges such as widespread gang activity. Problems are particularly acute in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, three States with vast coastlines, large ungoverned spaces and the greatest proximity to Mexico. However, geography is only part of the problem. Armed conflicts in Guatemala, El Salvador and parts of Honduras between 1960 and the mid-1990s laid the foundations for the weapons trafficking, money laundering and contraband traffic that we are witnessing today. This chapter is about drug trafficking organizations (DTO) operating in Central America. It is broken down by theme rather than by country. It provides a brief history of DTO activity in the region; descriptions of who operates the DTOs, both locally and internationally, and their modus operandi; the use of street gangs in DTO activities; DTO penetration in government and security forces; local, regional and international efforts and challenges as they try and combat DTOs. The chapter is centered on the three countries where the problem of DTOs appears to be the most acute: Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras....

February 5, 2010
Yesh-Din

Abstract:

The report "Exceptions: prosecution of IDF soldiers during and after the second Intifada, 2000-2007" (hereinafter: "Exceptions"), published by Yesh Din at the end of 2008, provided complete data about the success and failure rate of the Military Police Criminal Investigations Division (MPCID) investigations into suspicions that IDF soldiers and commanders committed criminal offenses against Palestinian civilians and their property in the occupied territories. This datasheet updates the figures published in "Exceptions." The datasheet provides up-to-date data about the investigations since the beginning of the second intifada, including data on the results of the investigation files that opened in the years 2008 and 2009. As we will show below, the figures showed that even after publishing the serious data about the failure rate of the military legal system to protect the population of the occupied territories from crimes committed by members of the security forces, as required by the provisions both of international and Israeli law, there doesn't seem to have been any improvement in the rate of investigations that produce sufficient evidence to serve indictments against suspects....

June 19, 2009
Foreign Policy

Abstract:

Founded in 1970 by Samuel Huntington and Warren Demian Manshel, and now published by the Slate Group, a division of Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, LLC, in Washington, D.C., FOREIGN POLICY Magazine is the premier, award-winning magazine of global politics, economics, and ideas. Our mission is to explain how the world works—in particular, how the process of global integration is reshaping nations, institutions, cultures, and, more fundamentally, our daily lives. Equal parts scout and translator, we draw on the world’s leading journalists, thinkers, and professionals to analyze the most significant international trends and events of our times, without regard to ideology or political bias. Whether dissecting George W. Bush’s national security strategy, hunting for the real identity of the “international community,” or investigating the rise of Japanese pop culture, we strive to combine original thinking with real-world examples of ideas in action....

June 19, 2009
Reuters

Abstract:

Reuters Global News Blog provides in depth analysis and opinion pieces of relevant issues relating to international affairs.