Mara Caputo

Here’s a preview of what’s coming up this week in ISN Insights:

• On Monday Dr Dean Baker – co-director of the Center for Economic Policy Research – opines about the European Central Bank’s fiscal policy failings in the wake of the financial crisis.

• The Kofi Annan Foundation’s Albert Souza Mulli on Tuesday takes a closer look at Rio de Janeiro’s new Police Pacification Units – and the doctrinal and operational shift away from police ‘business as usual’ that they represent.

• On Wednesday, the Foreign Policy Association’s senior health blogger, Cynthia Schweer, discusses community health worker programs as a possible solution to healthcare employee shortages in the developing world.

• Dr Harsh Pant of King’s College London examines India’s struggle to balance strategic interests against national values in its support for the ongoing Libyan intervention on Thursday.

And in case you missed any of last week’s coverage, you can catch up here with articles on: fallout from the Haitian presidential election; the 50th anniversary of human space flight; turbulence ahead of Finland’s general elections; the EU’s response to endemic corruption in Romania; tension surrounding Sudan’s disputed Abyei province; and a podcast on chronic poverty.

Here’s a peek at our ISN Insights line-up for the week:

• On Monday, Dr Markus Schultz-Kraft from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex outlines a path toward better governance for Haiti in the wake of Michel Martelly’s election.

• University of St Andrews Professor Gerard DeGroot reflects Tuesday on the 50-year anniversary of the first manned-space flight – and cautions emerging powers to develop smarter space policies than their Western counterparts.

• On Wednesday, Dr Teija Tiilikainen, director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, analyzes the turbulence that has preceded Finland’s 17 April general elections.

• Press Freedom Award-winning journalist Anca Paduraru on Thursday investigates the recent crackdowns on endemic corruption in Romania, which are widely perceived to be little more than ‘show operations’ designed to appease an uneasy EU.

• Friday’s podcast takes a closer look at chronic poverty, thanks to an interview with Dr Andrew Shepherd of the Chronic Poverty Research Center.

And if you missed any of our special coverage of Euro-Muslim relations last week courtesy of our 2010 Junior Associates, you can catch up here with articles about: Islamophobia’s sources and cures; counter-radicalization policy in a divided Britain; EU-Maghreb counterterrorism cooperation; and Turkey’s geostrategic role in Euro-Muslim relations.

All this week ISN Insights takes a closer look at relations between Europe and the Islamic world, courtesy of the young scholars who made up our 2010 Junior Associates’ program:

• We examine the phenomenon of ‘Islamophobia’ on Monday – what it is, and how to break the vicious cycle that perpetuates it.

• On Tuesday we tackle counter-radicalization policy in a divided Britain.

• The prospect of enhanced counterterrorism cooperation between EU and Maghreb countries is up for discussion on Wednesday.

• On Thursday we round out the weekly theme with an examination of Turkey’s new role in the geostrategic landscape of Euro-Muslim relations.

• Our podcast on Friday delivers the second installment of a discussion about Swiss peace mediation, thanks to Dr Simon Mason of the the Center for Security Studies, ETH Zurich.

And in case you missed any of last week’s coverage, you can catch up here with articles about: AFRICOM’s combat christening in Libya; China’s looming food crisis; Russia’s impending conscription crisis; harnessing the power of social media for the international affairs community; and a podcast on Swiss peace mediation.

Coming up this week in our ISN Insights coverage:

• On Monday, Johns Hopkins’ fellow Dr John CK Daly takes a closer look at the Libyan combat christening of the US military’s new Africa Command.

• SOAS Professor Robert F Ash examines China’s looming food crisis on Tuesday.

• On Wednesday, Simon Saradzhyan from Harvard University’s Kennedy School dissects Russia’s looming conscription crisis.

• Director of the Lowy Poll Project Fergus Hanson opines about the untapped potential of social media for the IR community on Thursday.

• Dr Simon Mason of the Center for Security Studies discusses peace mediation in our Friday podcast.

And in case you missed last week’s coverage, you can check it out here: Kazakhstan’s strategic dialogue initiatives; India’s Look East Policy; the new wave of political crackdowns in Zimbabwe; the challenges of statebuilding; and a podcast on some common misperceptions about the ICC.

Coming up this week in our ISN Insights coverage:

• The Jamestown Foundation’s Roman Muzalevsky takes a closer look on Monday at Kazakhstan’s growing regional ambitions evidenced in its increasing commitment to strategic dialogue initiatives.

• On Tuesday Dr Harsh V Pant from King’s College London’s Department of Defense Studies examines India’s renewed Look East Policy  — particularly in relationship to Japan — as the country works to offset China’s growing regional prowess.

• Wednesday, we examine Robert Mugabe’s new wave of violence against Zimbabwe’s political opposition in reaction to fears of an Arab-style uprising, courtesy of Professor Derek Catsam.

• A Swiss Peace Foundation analysis from Dr Didier Péclard and David Lanz on Thursday explains the many challenges to the primarily endogenous process that is statebuilding.

• We round out the week on Friday in a podcast discussion about the ICC with the President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, Christian Wenaweser.

And in case you missed last week’s coverage, you can check it out here: backsliding on democracy in the Ukraine; China’s growing naval prowess; the status of Ethiopian Jews in Israel; a new multinational effort to fight transnational organized crime in Central America; and a podcast about evolving US foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific.