Last week saw the publication of the report of the UN High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, co-chaired by the heads of government of Indonesia, Liberia and the United Kingdom. It set an ambitious agenda centered on the eradication of absolute poverty by 2030, a more effective integration of development and sustainability, and the development of a global partnership able to turn that vision into reality.
Organized crime, public and private sector corruption, and the involvement of political actors in criminal activity are all long-standing features of political societies, regardless of country. But for developing countries, addressing these issues takes on heightened urgency and complexity: organized crime can derail development progress and foster broader insecurity. Delinking organized crime from politics while enhancing legitimate governance and the delivery of services will remain the most important challenge for many developing countries.
March 16, 2013 marks the one year anniversary of Kofi Annan's presentation of his six-point peace plan for Syria at the United Nations. In an article in the journal Stability , Richard Gowan takes this opportunity to reflect on Annan's role as mediator and the effect that uncertainty has in conflict resolution.
In late 2011, the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, the Center for American Progress, and the Stanley Foundation formed a study group of US and Chinese experts, including CIC Director Bruce Jones, to evaluate the role of the G-20 in the US-China bilateral relationship as well as how the relationship influences the G-20. After meeting for two conferences over the course of 2012, the group reached consensus on a set of recommendations to improve the efficacy of this important body.
After the discovery of a covert nuclear program in Iraq in 1991, the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) role transformed from promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy to verifying compliance with nonproliferation agreements. Over the next decade, the nuclear programs of three other countries - the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, South Africa, and Libya - further tested the IAEA's ability to locate nuclear weapons and dismantle them.
During the January 2013 meeting of the High Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda in Liberia, CIC released an options brief by Senior Fellow David Steven on the role that global goals can play in a new development framework.
Samantha Power, President Obama’s nominee to replace Susan E. Rice as the American ambassador to the United Nations, has a history of disparaging both the institution and its leader.
With the Syrian refugee population swelling in his home country, Jordan’s envoy to the United Nations made a desperate plea during a meeting of diplomats last month: Visit the squalid camps and hel
Up until recently relegated to the status of tactical issue, organised crime is now a recognised strategic threat with detrimental effects on security, stability, governance and development. As for the latter, countries on the way to meeting their Millennium Development Goals, may now not do so due to the damaging effects of organised criminal activities, most notably narcotics trafficking.
On April 15, 2013, Norway's Minister of International Development, Heikki Eidsvoll Holmås, spoke at the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute. Mr. Holmås' lecture focused on issues of development, income inequality, and global poverty.
The future of the development agenda is the subject of intensifying debate, with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) due to expire in 2015. Reaching agreement looks increasingly challenging, with the potential for sharp divisions between key actors on the scope and depth of the post- 2015 agenda. In this context, CIC's Emily O'Brien and Richard Gowan examine a series of international agreements across three other policy areas – environmental policy, financial regulation and human rights.
Over the past decade the United States and the international community have funded an unprecedented private security industry in Afghanistan. Matthieu Aikins argues that with the expected decrease in international aid and changes in the national economy, future stability of Afghanistan depends on ensuring a political settlement among the country's diverse powerbrokers and networks.
Recent months have seen increasing interest in the idea that Rio+20 could be the launch pad for a new set of ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs). But what would SDGs cover, what would a process to define and then implement them look like, and what would some of the key political challenges be? This short briefing sets out a short summary of current thinking on the issue, followed by thoughts about the way forward.
A sequel to two editions of CIC's Review of Political Missions the 2012 report highlights the activities of political missions deployed by the UN and other regional organizations over the year and provides mission-by-mission data on UN-led special political missions. The report also provides analysis on the operational and political implications of deploying political missions to unstable environments.
More and more of the world's poor live in places affected by chronic violence and conflict. These changing dynamics have profound implications for the way that development agencies and other international actors approach their work. Development in the Shadow of Violence: A Knowledge Agenda for Policy, by Bruce Jones and Molly Elgin-Cossart ; is part of a new Center on International Cooperation program, Securing Development.
Diplomatic Fallout: Did Susan Rice Save the U.N. From Irrelevance?
How will Susan Rice be remembered at the United Nations?