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GPF Newsletter
November 23 - November 27, 2009

Security Council Social and Economic Policy NGOs UN Finance UN Reform Iraq Empire? Dark Side of Natural Resources

Security Council

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UN

Interview with Iran's Nuclear Ambassador: 'We Have Nothing to Hide' (November 24, 2009)
Ali Asghar Soltanieh is Iran's nuclear ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In this interview with Spiegal, Soltanieh discusses why Iran will continue its uranium-enrichment activities - despite the world's disapproval and the threat of sanctions. Soltanieh claims Iran has every right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes. In particular, he emphasizes the need for radioactive isotopes for radiation therapy - staunchly denying any intent to create nuclear weapons. (Spiegel)
Somalia Jumps on Private Security Bandwagon (November 23, 2009)
As tensions in Somalia rise, the country's UN- backed government has hired a private US- based security company in an attempt to increase stability. The decision implies that the African Union peacekeeping force, AMISOM is not alone capable of dealing with the increasing number of attacks by Al Shabaab insurgents. Security experts are wary of the complications that the presence of a US company may bring. They ask whether a private foreign company is capable of operating successfully in Somalia's highly ideological conflict, and they raise practical concerns regarding the wariness of Somalis towards a new US presence. (ISN Security Watch)
Liberal Peace Transitions: A Rethink is Urgent (November 19, 2009)
It is widely believed in international organizations and academic circles that liberal peacebuilding and "statebuilding" - democratic reform associated with market liberalization - will provide for stability in post-conflict environments. But more often than not a peace dividend only emerges for political and economic elites, while the bulk of the population fails to see much benefit from trickledown economics and formal democracy. What generally begins as a humanitarian project often turns into an insidious form of coercion and infantilization, with the interests of the intervener trumping the local population's needs. (openDemocracy)
China's Expanding Role in Peacekeeping: Prospects and Policy Implications (November 2009)
China is now the fourteenth largest troop contributor to UN peacekeeping missions, sending more troops than any other permanent member of the Security Council. At a time when multilateral peacekeeping is severely overstretched, China's increasing involvement provides not only critically needed material assets but also perceived legitimacy. This policy paper by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute examines how these developments will affect the relationship between China, the UN and the African Union - three quarters of Chinese troops are deployed in Africa. (SIPRI)

Social and Economic Policy

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Government Technology

"Father of the Poor" Has Triggered Economic Miracle (November 24, 2009)
Having grown up in severe poverty and dropped out of school in fourth grade, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has made Brazil a success story. Among BRIC nations, Brazil has the highest growth rate, surpassing Russia. Since China has replaced the United States as Brazil's biggest trading partner, the world financial crisis has not seriously affected the Latin American giant. Brazilian banks are strong and stable. The National Development Bank (BNDES) has provided more loans than the World Bank Group. Although some criticize Lula for being a patriarch, Lula believes in government-controlled economies to take early actions in times of financial crisis. (Spiegel)
Combating Illicit Financial Flows from Poor Countries (November 23, 2009)
The Danish Institute for International Studies has published a report arguing that developed countries can still meet the MDGs by 2015 if they join hands and fight "illicit financial flows" from poor to rich countries. The authors claim that for every $10 that poor countries receive as aid, $80 go out to rich countries for various reasons such as tax evasion, corruption and drug trafficking. Based on data from the IMF and the World Bank, another report shows that illicit financial flows reached a total of $3,608 billion from 2002 to 2006.This number is enormous compared to the $120 billion that rich countries provided as development assistance in 2008. (Danish Institute for International Studies)
Is There Such a Thing as Agro-Imperialism? (November 22, 2009)
The food crisis has created a market for arable farmland. Rich nations in the Middle East and Asia are buying farmland around the world but especially in Africa in order to satisfy their food needs. Regardless of people suffering from food shortage and facing famine in those arable rich countries the sell out of their croplands continues. (NY Times)

NGOs

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Vancouver Sun

Mutual Accountability and Transparency in Development Cooperation (November 2009)
COSOC urges NGOs to be accountable for their development assistance. The Council argues that an insufficient involvement of Southern governments, parliamentarians and civil society weakens the effectiveness of development cooperation programs. Humanitarian NGO's must be held accountable for the quality and volume of their assistance and they must work with program country governments in order to make aid more effective. (ECOSOC)

UN Finance

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UN

Observations on the Approval of the UN Regular Budget (February 2009)
Lydia Swart argues that the Fifth Committee is the UN's second most powerful body (after the Security Council), but its methods of work are highly dysfunctional. A small group of rich countries provides 80% of the UN's regular budget and they feel entitled to have a large influence over the organization. However, the G-77 group of developing countries has the votes and claims the rights of the majority. In the battles over the budgets, there is much hostility directed at the Secretariat and many fruitless debates. Efforts are needed to create more trust and a better style of work, even if the basic policy differences continue. (Center for UN Reform Education)

UN Reform

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United Nations

Member States Consider Ways to Energize, Fully Engage Powers of General Assembly (November 19, 2009)
Member states urge the General Assembly to live up to its full potential. The Assembly should not limit its work to long debates but instead produce concrete results. The Security Council has taken over much of the work of the Assembly, such as the selection process of the Secretary General and the codification of international law. As a result, the Republic of Korea points out that cooperation with other UN organs should symbolize "coordination rather than competition". (The United Nations)

Iraq

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AlterNet

Iraq Oil: Are the 1st and 2nd Bid Rounds Part of a Wise Resource Development Strategy or Could They Turn Out to be Steps in the Wilderness? (November 15, 2009)
Munir Chalabi assesses the first and second rounds of Iraq's oilfield bidding. He concludes that the Iraqi oil ministry should be initially creating an overall policy which takes into account Iraq's priorities. The first and second round will not rebuild and develop an independent Iraqi oil and gas industry but will give increasing power to International Oil Companies who will soon be in control of 95% of Iraq's oil output. (Znet)
Iraq War Caused Rupture Between US and British Military (November 21, 2009)
Secret documents reveal that discord between US and UK military leaders during the Iraq war ran deep. US military leaders felt let down by the "weak" British who opted for negotiation rather than aggression where possible, and who ignored or evaded US orders when they strongly disagreed with British tactics. In interviews, British leaders describe the frustration when dealing with US counterparts who saw only one way: "the American way." (Daily Telegraph)
Iraq Report: Secret Papers Reveal Blunders and Concealment (November 21, 2009)
Throughout 2002, British Prime Minister Tony Blair repeatedly stated that Britain was seeking "disarmament, not regime change" for Iraq, when he had ordered the military to prepare for war since the beginning of the year. The need to keep this a secret from Parliament and all but a handful of officials inhibited the planning process. As a result the operation was rushed, with British troops entering the conflict poorly equipped, while lack of planning contributed decisively to the post-war crisis. (Daily Telegraph)

Empire?

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World Maps Online

US Needs Hit Squads, "Manhunting Agency": Spec Ops Report (November 3, 2009)
The US military's Joint Special Operations University has released a report suggesting that the US government develop a "National Manhunting Agency." This agency would pursue drug dealers, pirates, jihadists and other "enemies of the state." Although thousands of people and billions of dollars have already been assigned to tracking people down, these have so far been ad-hoc efforts. Proposed hit men within this agency would operate unilaterally in "uncooperative" countries, with no permission or support from local authorities. The report's author likened the suggested squad to the team employed by Israel Avner's team following Munich 1972. (Wired)

Dark Side of Natural Resources

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UN

The First Climate Change Conflicts (November 23, 2009)
In Kenya, three years of drought have left nearly four million people dependent on food aid. The pastoralists have been hit hardest, forcing them to travel extra distances in search of water and pasture for their livestock. Although Kenya has usually suffered from drought in cycles of 10 years, climate change has increased the frequency and duration of droughts, sharpening competition over scarce resources. Since January 2009, 306 pastoralists have died from conflicts over water. (The Guardian)
The Battle for Angola's Oil (November 19, 2009)
Years after the civil war ended, Angola remains a textbook example of the "resource curse" theory, with oil revenues accounting for up to 90% of export earnings and diamonds for the rest. Due to accounts located in tax havens, the profits of the secretive state-owned oil company Sonangol never reach the majority of the population. China and the US - the two biggest oil importers - are vying for control of an ever-bigger share of Angolan oil, all the while pretending that they are not dealing with a human-rights abusing government that exploits public resources on the pretext of development. (Foreign Policy in Focus)

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