The UN Security Council has approved the deployment of nearly 12,000 peacekeepers to the Central African Republic (CAR). Thousands there have been killed and about a million people (a quater of the population) are in the need of aid.
Listen to the full BBC interview here. The CAR discussion with Richard Gowan begins at the 34:18 mark.
The UN is being urged to investigate allegations that it failed to report on war crimes committed by the Sudanese government in Darfur. According to Foreign Policy magazine, UNAMID -- a joint United Nations, African Union mission -- has omitted to send evidence of air raids to the UN Security Council. This is a serious claim because aerial bombardments are banned under a Security Council resolution.
Listen to the full Radio France International interview below:
How Washington turned its back on a foreign-policy triumph and let Darfur descend back into chaos. Part 3 in Foreign Policy's exclusive investigation of the U.N.'s peacekeeping debacle in Sudan.
Can Estonian soldiers defend their country by fighting in the middle of Africa? Last week, the European Union approved plans to send up to 1,000 troops to the Central African Republic (CAR). Perhaps surprisingly, Estonia was the first EU member to make a firm pledge of ground forces to the mission, which will reinforce existing French and African contingents. Other eastern EU members, including Poland and the Czech Republic, are also reportedly considering participating, while Britain and Germany have hung back.
Having taken a central role in the UN’s efforts to save lives in South Sudan, India should encourage an open debate – domestically and internationally.
While the specifics of the post-2015 development agenda are still being discussed, there is substantial momentum behind a “transformative” and “universal” agenda. But what does that mean?
It is an absolute certainty that 2014 will be a turbulent year for the United Nations. The organization is struggling with crises ranging from the chaos in the Central African Republic (CAR) to the plight of Syrian refugees. There is little hope that these challenges will dissipate soon. Yet two sets of peace talks this month could well decide whether the U.N. faces a truly dreadful year ahead, or just a very difficult one.
Global concern is currently mounting once more about the impacts of a more resource-scarce world, with particular attention focused at present on the risks of a renewed global food price spike following a spate of extreme weather in the US and around the world. These global trends have the potential to cause major problems for a country like Ethiopia, where wheat is by far the country's biggest import by value. Against this backdrop, CIC has published Resources, Risks and Resilience: Scarcity and climate change in Ethiopia, by CIC senior fellow Alex Evans.
The Annual Review of Global Peace Operations 2012 was launched on 28 February 2012. This edition, the seventh in a series, was published by Lynne Rienner and can be ordered at www.rienner.com
The Annual Review of Global Peace Operations and the Review of Political Missions have evolved into the Global Peace Operations Review, an interactive web-portal presenting in-depth analysis and detailed data on military peacekeeping operations and civilian-led political missions by the United Nations, regional organizations, and ad-hoc coalitions. The website can be accessed here Global Peace Operations Review
The U.N. Strengthens its Presence in CAR
The UN Security Council has approved the deployment of nearly 12,000 peacekeepers to the Central African Republic (CAR). Thousands there have been killed and about a million people (a quater of the population) are in the need of aid.
Listen to the full BBC interview here. The CAR discussion with Richard Gowan begins at the 34:18 mark.