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New Tools for Old Traumas, Sarah Dreier
and William Schulz
Keep Pushing Effective Governance in
Afghanistan, Caroline Wadhams, Colin Cookman, and Peter Juul
Testing Obama's Sudan Policy, John Norris
Sudan's State-Sponsored Pyromania, John
Prendergast
Impressions from Iraq: Part Two, Lawrence
Korb
Smart Development Assistance in Haiti,
Natalie Ondiak
Don't Put All the Security Eggs in the Al
Qaeda Basket, Caroline Wadhams and Colin Cookman
Reforming a Predatory Army in Eastern
Congo, Colin Thomas-Jensen
Runoff Has Yet to Fully Resolve Afghan
Leadership Issues, Brian Katulis
Kerry-Lugar Bill Offers Potential
Diplomatic Opening, But Suspicions Remain, Colin Cookman
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Sarah Dreier and William Schulz,
"New Tools for Old Traumas," Center for American Progress, October 20,
2009
Steady increases in technological sophistication over the past 10 to 20
years have helped millions of people come a bit closer to realizing
social and economic rights such as the rights to food, clothing,
housing, and medical care. These technological advances are also having
a major impact on the struggle for civil and political rights.
Click here to
read the full report.
Caroline Wadhams, Colin Cookman, and Peter Juul, "Keep
Pushing Effective Governance in Afghanistan," Center for American
Progress, October 21, 2009
While this new round of elections offers
a potential way forward for the country, it
is unlikely to erase the Karzai administration’s self-inflicted
damage
to its credibility. The Afghan government’s legitimacy can only
be
restored through a renewed focus on effective governance, a reduction
in corruption, and a further adherence to the rule of law, not simply
through a power-sharing agreement between Karzai and his rivals or a
second round of elections.
Click here to
read the full article.
John Norris, "Testing
Obama's Sudan Policy," The Guardian, October 20, 2009
After a
lengthy internal battle, the Obama administration has formally rolled
out its new Sudan policy. The policy spells out some ambitious goals: a
definitive end to conflict and genocide in Darfur,
implementation of the 2005 North-South peace deal and peaceful moves
toward a 2011 referendum that will likely result in South Sudan
becoming independent. Like many such policy reviews, this one
looks good enough on paper. But how will we know if this policy is
actually working? These are the practical measures by which Obama's new
policy will ultimately be judged a success or a failure.
Click here to
read the full article.
John Prendergast,
"Sudan's State-Sponsored Pyromania," Los Angeles Times, October 19, 2009
The Khmer Rouge's Pol Pot had hundreds
of thousands of people dig their
own mass graves before they were beaten to death in Cambodia's killing
fields. Rwanda's Interahamwe militias used machetes to kill 800,000
people in 100 days. Now, another low-tech, clandestine approach to
orchestrating mass atrocities is being perfected by the ruling National
Congress Party, or NCP, in Sudan. No need for shovels or machetes when
you have a box of matches.
Click here to
read the full article.
Lawrence Korb,
"Impressions from Iraq: Part Two," Center for American Progress,
October 19, 2009
After three and a half days of briefings, we were finally able to
head into the field to speak to people. Yesterday, a group of us went
to Balad to discuss the security situation with some of the troops
stationed there. Although the security situation has surprisingly
improved, we still had to wear body armor and helmets in the Blackhawk
helicopters. Moreover, in addition to the pilots, there were two guards
on board.
Besides our briefings and travel, the American and British
ambassadors hosted dinners and receptions for us in the evenings, which
allowed us to get insights into what’s happening in the country.
Next
week we’ll leave the embassy compound and move around the country.
Click here to
read the full article.
Natalie Ondiak,
"Smart Development Assistance in Haiti," Poder Magazine, October
16, 2009
Throughout its history Haiti has been
plagued with cycles of violence,
endemic poverty and a weak government, leading many policymakers to see
this small Caribbean nation as the perpetual “basket case”
of the
Western Hemisphere. Fortunately, a “dual-window of
opportunity” has
opened for the country: The combination of physical security in Haiti
and a shift in foreign policy that acknowledges the importance of
development assistance in Washington could allow for real improvements
in Haiti’s economic development.
Click here to
read the full article.
Caroline Wadhams and
Colin Cookman, "Don't Put All the Security Eggs in the Al Qaeda
Basket," Foreign
Policy, October 15, 2009
In its attempt to maintain public
support for the Afghan mission the
Obama administration mischaracterizes the threat to U.S. interests in
this
region, not to mention undercutting
support for any future efforts that extend beyond defeating al Qaeda.
The
problems in Afghanistan
are far more encompassing. Even if the United States dismantled al
Qaeda tomorrow, there would still be
demand for U.S.
engagement. Afghanistan is a
crucial piece of regional stability and its security is linked to the
United States and its allies such as European
countries, Pakistan, India
and others.
Click here to
read the full article.
Colin Thomas-Jensen,
"Reforming a Predatory Army in Eastern Congo," Foreign Policy Digest, October 2009
The U.N. Security Council has tasked
[its peacekeeping force in Congo, MONUC] to support the Congolese
army in joint operations, such as the ongoing Kimia 2 offensive
against the Forces for the Democratic Liberation of Rwanda. Yet the
Congolese army’s incompetence and cruelty
toward civilians puts the U.N. in a difficult bind: What should MONUC
do in a situation when the army itself is the most direct threat to the
civilian population?
Click here to
read the full article.
USA Today - Brian Katulis says that a
second round of voting in Afghanistan offers the potential for
the Karzai government to build legitimacy: "[but] I don't think you
really can say anything about what impact it has on the strategy until
we have a leader that emerges."
Reuters -
Colin Cookman says the recent passage of a bill increasing nonmilitary
assistance to Pakistan has potential, but will require continued
diplomacy to achieve results: "There's a potential to use this as a
springboard for a deeper relationship between our civilian government
and the Pakistani civilian government, but certainly there's a
lot of suspicions about just what are our intentions."
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