Emilie Boillat

Energy in Europe and Terrorism in Yemen

Post author By Emilie Boillat
Post date 12/03/2010
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Our colleagues at the Center for Security Studies have recently published two new policy briefs.

Mathew Hulbert looks at European energy policy and the interconnected goals of availability, affordability, and sustainability. He argues that Europe needs to re-level the low carbon technology playing field to properly realign global emission concerns and security of supply in the future. Also check ISN resources on European energy policy.

Roland Popp examines Western governments’ counterterrorism strategy in Yemen. He emphasizes the need to take the resolution of Yemen’s economic and social problems as a starting point. The ISN Digital Library offers further resources on Yemen.

Tags Energy, Security, Europe, Terrorism, Energy policy, Yemen, Foreign policy

Business and Finance

Haiti and the Meaning of Generosity

Post author By Emilie Boillat
Post date 11/02/2010
1 Comment on Haiti and the Meaning of Generosity

The Haiti earthquake has become the new measure of generosity.

The country’s big northern neighbours have earned much praise for their effort: The US has pledged $168 million to date, and Canada $131 million. The bronze medal goes to Spain, with ‘only’ $45 million, although the latest data from ReliefWeb indicates that Saudi Arabia has caught up.

But data journalist David McCandless puts things into perspective: Measured as a percentage of GDP, the most generous countries in the Haiti crisis have been… Guyana and Ghana! Canada and all Nordic countries make it to the top ten in this wealth-corrected ranking as well, but not Uncle Sam.

Beyond its primary purpose of disaster relief, the donation campaign has lifted Haiti out of the realm of forgotten poverty-stricken nations. This is a chance for the country, but I am worried about two potential pitfalls.

Tags Aid, Disaster relief, Donations, Foreign policy, Development, Haiti

Crises and Maps

OSM-Haiti — Map of Port-au-Prince based on OpenStreetMap data

For all the criticism about open collaborative projects, these have one unquestionable asset: the speed and efficiency of updates.

In crisis situations such as the Haiti earthquake, this makes all the difference. I’ve been following the developments of OpenStreetMap (OSM) after the first earthquake hit and it’s fascinating. Just check this comparision with Google to convince yourself (play with the transparency in the top right corner).

Tags Geography, Technology, Internet, Natural disasters, Haiti, Maps, Political crisis

Uncategorized

NPT Review Conference / Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

Post author By Emilie Boillat
Post date 15/12/2009
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The Center for Security Studies has just published two new policy briefs:

Oliver Thränert analyzes the main issues to be discussed at the May 2010 Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). According to him, the challenges of the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs make it difficult to achieve agreement. He also point out to the discord among state parties over whether to
prioritize non-proliferation or disarmament.

Stephen Aris examines the role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Central Asia. He argues that it is not as anti-western as you would think. Taking into account the growing importance of the SCO to the region, he writes, the West should not exclude a priori the idea of selective cooperation with the SCO on common security interests.

Tags International Relations, Security, Non-Proliferation Treaty, Foreign policy, Non-proliferation, Nuclear weapons, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Central Asia, Security cooperation, Disarmament

Uncategorized

ISN Partners’ Copenhagen Specials

Post author By Emilie Boillat
Post date 10/12/2009
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My colleagues and I have seen an impressive surge in publications on climate change in the run-up to the Copenhagen Summit.

This demonstrates just how widely relevant the issue of climate change is. Across geographical and thematic research focus, a large part of the ISN’s partner institutes have published on the topic in the last few months.

Here is a small selection of what has come across our desks recently:

The Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) examines the key Copenhagen players and the stance of Japan, the EU, Saudi Arabia and Russia.

The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) set up a special Copenhagen page listing all their papers on development and climate change.

The Center for Global Development (CGD) also has several recent papers on the development perspective in their Working Papers series.

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) has just published a series of papers on the nexus between agriculture and climate.

Chatham House has published on European energy security and energy infrastructure, as well as on climate policy links to trade competitiveness.

… and for many more, see publications classified under ‘climate change’ in the ISN digital library.

Tags Environment, Denmark, Conference, Climate