Europe

Vertical Tabs

Peace and Security, Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies
G8 and G20, United Nations

Walls are never efficient

Construction of walls between Ukraine and occupied territories will further divide people.

A number of years ago you'd embarked on a number of travellings around the world to see a series of walls. These were not just the usual walls, but the walls dividing society and people. Can you tell us why did you embark on these journeys?

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Nov 23, 2015
Alexandra Novosseloff
Europe
Peace and Security
Peace Operations

The Mediterranean crisis and the UN

Last week had no shortage of shocking images to illustrate our collective paralysis in the face of the Mediterranean refugee crisis. A three year old boy dead on a beach, waves lapping around his shoes. Thousands of forcibly displaced people marching through the heart of Europe watched by silent onlookers. Borders going back up in Schengen under the guise of traffic control and migrant searches.

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Sep 08, 2015
Sarah Cliffe
Europe, Middle East, Syria
Fragile States, Humanitarian Crises, International Security, United Nations
Peace and Security

Rebooting Ireland’s commitment to UN peacekeeping

In an organisation as durable and complex as the United Nations, opportunities for reform do not come along very often. It is also singularly rare for Ireland to have a debate about its defence commitments. So 2015, the year when the UN conducts a review of peacekeeping operations and the Government prepares a White Paper on defence, must not go to waste.

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Jul 10, 2015
Edward Burke, Jonathan Marley
Europe
Peace and Security
United Nations

Iran Talks, Greece Crisis Open Make-or-Break Week for West

Welcome to what could turn out to be the most important, and potentially the most destructive, week in international diplomacy since the end of the Cold War.

Read the full World Politics Review article Iran Talks, Greece Crisis Open Make-or-Break Week for West

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Jun 29, 2015
Richard Gowan
Europe, Middle East
Peace and Security

Walking Point for Peace: An Irish view on the state of UN peacekeeping

A number of European countries are considering playing a greater military role in UN peacekeeping.  However, they have many concerns about the UN's systems for managing missions, which differ markedly from NATO and EU standards. In this paper, based on in-depth interviews with Irish officers and policy-makers and UN officials, Edward Burke and Jonathan Marley give detailed insights into their experiences and lessons.

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Jun 03, 2015
Edward Burke, Jonathan Marley
Europe
United Nations
Peace and Security

Libya to Europe: Please Don’t Come to Our Rescue

Europe is trying to help Libya stem the human trafficking trade that has imperiled the lives of tens of thousands of desperate migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

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May 14, 2015
Richard Gowan
Europe, Middle East, Libya
Peace and Security
Fragile States, Humanitarian Crises

Small Wars Create Big Problems for U.K.’s Cameron, France’s Hollande

Would you rather follow David Cameron or Francois Hollande into battle?

Read the full World Politics Review article Small Wars Create Big Problems for U.K.’s Cameron, France’s Hollande

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May 04, 2015
Richard Gowan
Europe
Peace and Security
Crises, United Nations

Barnett Rubin Gives Keynote Speech on Afghanistan at the Danish Institute for International Studies

Lessons learned from pursuing civil-military coherence

In April 2015, CIC Associate Director Barnett Rubin joined the Danish Institute for International Studies for a seminar on Afghanistan's recent history and lessons learned from pursuing civil-military coherence. He kicked off the discussions with a keynote speech on Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014.

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Apr 23, 2015
Barnett Rubin
Europe, South Asia, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan-Pakistan Regional Project

International Day of UN Peacekeepers - 13th annual conference and ceremony

Rich states and UN peacekeeping: time to lead by example?

The UN Secretary-General’s High-level Independent Panel has now commenced its review of peace operations as the call for peacekeeping reform once again tops the agenda. The continuing imbalance in global peacekeeping troop and police contributions leads some to question whether rich states, including the UK, are pulling their weight.

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May 20, 2015
Richard Gowan
Europe
United Nations
Peace and Security

UN Peacekeeping: A Focus for Japanese Cooperation with the United States and Europe?

Japan, European countries, and the United States have a common interest in boosting United Nations peace operations. Japan has been a prominent supporter of a U.S. initiative to encourage participation in peacekeeping operations, but to date, Tokyo’s follow-up has been constructive but limited. For Tokyo and its allies, ensuring that the UN can handle today’s ugly crises is an unavoidable task.

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Apr 03, 2015
Richard Gowan
East Asia, Europe, United States
United Nations
Peace and Security

Related Publications

  • Endgame for ETA: Elusive Peace in the Basque Country

    The violent Basque separatist group ETA took shape in Franco's Spain, yet claimed the majority of its victims under democracy. For most Spaniards it became an aberration, a criminal and terrorist band whose persistence defied explanation. Others, mainly Basques (but only some Basques) understood ETA as the violent expression of a political conflict that remained the unfinished business of Spain's transition to democracy. Such differences hindered efforts to 'defeat' ETA's terrorism on the one hand and 'resolve the Basque conflict' on the other for more than three decades.

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    Sep 03, 2014
    Teresa Whitfield
    Europe
    International Security

  • UN Crisis Diplomacy and Peacekeeping: An Emergency Health Check

    The UN is currently in poor health but the severity of its condition is not yet clear, Richard Gowan argues in this paper commissioned by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue for the 2014 Oslo Forum for senior mediators. Gowan assesses the impact of events in South Sudan, Syria and Ukraine for the UN, and warns that the organization's operational and political credibility is weakening.

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    Jul 15, 2014
    Richard Gowan
    Europe, Horn of Africa, Middle East
    Peace Operations, United Nations
    Peace and Security

  • Australia in the UN Security Council

    In this Lowy Institute Analysis, Richard Gowan reviews Australia’s time as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. Gowan argues that while it has not changed the world, Australia has acquitted itself well, bringing extra rigour and professionalism to the Council’s debates. It has carved out a niche on the issue of humanitarian access in the Syrian conflict, and solidified its reputation as a good international citizen and a serious country.

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    Jun 12, 2014
    Richard Gowan
    Europe, South Asia
    South Asia, United Nations
    Peace and Security

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