Month: October 2009

International Relations Government Foreign policy

ISN Weekly Theme: Analyzing Libya

Post author By Admin
Post date 28/10/2009
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The Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution / Photo: US Navy, Wikipedia — The Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution / Photo: US Navy/Wikipedia

Maybe it’s that Beoduin-style tent he likes to pitch in the most interesting places, or maybe his fashion sense, but Colonel Muammar Gaddhafi has made it his task to keep himself and his country in the international spotlight. But what may not be apparent is Libya’s importance in the geopolitical sphere – our theme for this week.

Parag Khanna of the New America Foundation gives his views on Libya’s position on the regional and global scale in the latest edition of ISN Podcasts.

You can find Gaddafhi’s Green Book in our Primary Resources.

The Constitution of Libya is also available there.

We’re highlighting The North Africa Journal in our Links section.

And don’t forget that you can follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook fan page.

Tags Libya, Geopolitics

International Relations Security

Conference Marathon

Swisspeace Annual Conference

On Tuesday, 3 November I will attend the Swisspeace Annual Conference. The topic is “Rebels with a Cause? Understanding and Dealing with Non-State Armed Groups During and After Violent Conflicts.”

The Swiss NGO has invited some high-level speakers that have field experience in negotiation with non-state actors, such as the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, and our partner Small Arms Survey. For more information on non-state actors, you can check the ISN keyword on our website that contains a lot of publications.

Then on the following Thursday, I will attend the annual conference of UNO-Academia on “Collective Security and Maintenance of International Peace and Security: What are the Stakes?”. UNO-Academia is a network between all the Swiss universities that gathers research on UN-related topics.

According to the program, academics will be joined by policymakers to develop a comprehensive approach on the above mentioned question. For a short summary of the concept of “Collective Security”, you can check out this story from ISN Security Watch partner World Affairs Journal by Peter Beinart. The conference will be preceded by a roundtable discussion in which I have been invited to speak: “Youth Meets the United Nations: Which Role for Youth in the United Nations?”.

Of course, I’ll update you next week with the outcomes of these conferences. If it happens that you are also taking part in the same conferences, it would be a pleasure to meet you there.

Tags Peace, United Nations, Conferences

Journalism

Press Freedom is a Luxury

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Post date 26/10/2009
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Silenzio. Press Freedom under Fire in Italy, photo: Zingaro. I am a gipsy too/flickr — Silenzio. Press freedom under fire in Italy, photo: Zingaro. I am a gipsy too/flickr

Not many countries on Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index 2009 have reason to celebrate. The index sees many countries like Iran and Israel, quite predictably, slip as a consequence of protests, wars and crackdowns in the past year.

While it may not be a surprise that reporters in conflict zones or in countries that are slipping deeper into authoritarianism face severe restrictions and harassment, countries that have always prided themselves on their freedom and openness are slipping down the ranks at an alarming rate.

As the accompanying analysis suggests, several EU members, most notably France and Italy, have slipped down the index and now find themselves ranked in places 43 and 49, respectively, well below countries like Jamaica, South Africa, Mali, Uruguay and Macedonia; countries that may not always have been associated with the concept of free press. In Berlusconi’s fiefdom this is no surprise, but why is France almost as badly off as Italy? And, one might add, why is Spain ranked just one below France at place 44? What is wrong with the grand old dames of Europe?

Tags Media freedom, France, Italy, Iceland, Freedom of Expression

Uncategorized Government Security Foreign policy

Risk Communication in Security Policy

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Post date 26/10/2009
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Researchers from the ISN-supported expert community on crisis and risk have just published a new policy paper.

According to Myriam Dunn Cavelty and Jonas Hagmann, the concept of risk communication has so far been applied almost exclusively in the context of technical and environmental risks.

They show how the concept can be useful for foreign and security policy, too.

You can download the paper here.

Tags Security policy, Foreign policy, Communication