International Security Agenda Research Articles

Enhancing cooperation against transborder crime in Southeast Europe: Is there an emerging Epistemic Community?

The new international security agenda linking common interests across states and international organizations in the relations among conflict, development and security has focused in southeast Europe on transborder organized crime. The number of activities and interested actors is huge, but their agenda is driven by politics and policy, not by knowledge and research. This article asks whether there is also a potential ‘epistemic community’ (‘networks of knowledge‐based experts’) surrounding this issue. It attempts to stimulate discussion on the possible bases for consensus and common action of such a community, in both research and operational settings, by outlining what appear to be the basic assumptions of the current policy approach on this issue and the necessary foundations in knowledge of both the existing approach and possible alternatives.

The Helmet and the Hoe: Linkages Between United Nations Development Assistance and Conflict Management

Analysts frequently note that the UN was established in very different times, when interstate war dominated the international security agenda and the wave of decolonization had barely begun. The UN's membership was one-quarter the current size. Concepts such as human security, human development, governance, and peacebuilding, if they existed at all, were little used or understood, and it was the rights of and relationships between states (rather than individuals or groups) that enjoyed the spotlight. Some geopolitical fault lines were as pertinent then as now. The first ever General Assembly (GA) resolution called for the elimination of atomic and other weapons of mass destruction, (1) and in its first five years the Security Council was preoccupied by the Middle East, India-Pakistan, Indonesia, the Korean peninsula, and the Balkans. (2) But it is noticeable that Africa, which today represents over 50 percent of the docket of the Council, barely featured in the early days. The structure of the UN still largely reflects its birth. On the intergovernmental side, there was a clear distinction from the outset between the arenas for development issues-the GA and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)--and the forum for peace and security, the Security Council. The same distinction was evident within the UN Secretariat and its agencies, funds, and programs. As a result, two quite different communities-the development community and the conflict management (3) community--evolved, with separate procedures, financial arrangements and decisionmaking forums. Over time, however, and specifically with the end of the Cold War, the international community began to focus on the linkages between peace and development. This necessitated an enormous and ongoing institutional adaptation within the UN, whereby the development and conflict management communities began to work closely together, bridging the gaps created by their separate approaches. In this article I describe that adaptation, with a specific look at its application in Afghanistan. While I take into account both the intergovernmental (the UN as an arena) and the international civil service (the UN as an actor) sides of the UN, (4) my focus is mostly on the latter. On the other hand, major institutional innovations within the UN rarely occur without the explicit sanction of an intergovernmental body--the executive board in the case of an agency such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Security Council and GA political and budget committees in the case of Secretariat departments--and for that reason, I also describe the debates in those bodies. The UN and Development Cooperation The assumption by the UN of development functions was foreseen in the charter and early GA resolutions, (5) but development did not acquire real prominence on the UN agenda until the 1960s. Before then, development assistance was almost exclusively bilateral, but perceptions that multilateral channels were less political and more efficient led to an expansion in multilateral assistance, particularly after the Pearson Report of 1969. Already by the late 1940s, however, assistance to underdeveloped countries was being discussed, and in 1948 the GA approved a budget line for technical assistance (advisory social welfare services) amounting to U.S.$750,000. In 1950, the UN Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance (EPTA)--the first multilateral development program financed from voluntary contributions--was established. (6) In 1966, EPTA merged with the Special Fund for Economic Development to create the main UN agency for development, UNDP. (7) UNDP was primarily intended as a funding agency, providing funds for and assisting governments with the planning and management of national development programs. Programs were frequently executed by UN specialized agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), or by UNDP's own Office for Project Services (spun off in 1995). …

Tackling the roots of terrorism: Broadening the international security agenda

Tackling the roots of terrorism: Broadening the international security agenda

Internal Conflict and Regional Security in Asia and the Pacific

This paper examines the impact of increasing intra-state conflict in the Asia Pacific on domestic, regional and international security. It focuses on secessionist conflicts and self-determination disputes in South-East Asia and the South Pacific. It looks at the reasons behind the increase in such internal conflicts, including the proliferation of weak, ethnically diverse states; the impacts of modernization and democratization; and changing international norms in relation to the creation of new states. Finally, it examines the way that intra-state conflict impacts upon the international security agenda via the involvement of distant actors; the internationalization of domestic disputes; cross-border movements of arms and people; increasing threats to maritime transport; and the potential for increased superpower competition in the region.

The Year in Review

The defining moments of 2001, the terrorist attacks of September 11 against the United States of America, marked a turning point in international law and relations. By their scale and audaciousness, overnight they helped to propel the issue of international terrorism to the top of the international security agenda and particularly that of the USA, with consequences for many branches of international law, including thejus ad bellum, thejus in bello, international law relating to terrorism, international human rights law and international criminal law, that were just beginning to be felt as the year closed.

The South as a “Threat”? [Re]Assessing the Worth-South Dimensions of Canadian National Security

ABSTRACT The more commonly cited threats endangering Canadian national security today include: terror-ism, trade in illicit drugs and rise of organized crime, underdevelopment, poverty, mass involuntary migration, spread of infectious diseases like AIDS, ecological degradation and scarcity, human rights abuses, overpopulation, ethnic conflict, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and refugees. A careful reading of where most of these “threats” originate reveals a fundamental realignment in Canada's international security agenda from East-West to North-South determinants of world (dis)order. It is argued that the Southern dimensions of threats discourse sustain expenditures on national defence at a time when there is no immediate military challenge to Canada's security.

Taking the Lead? Light Weapons and International Security

INTRODUCTION In recent years, the global proliferation of conventional weapons has earned a prominent, if not a central, place on the increasingly crowded post-Cold War international security agenda. But while public, academic, and governmental awareness of the problems associated with the proliferation of conventional weapons is growing, the diffusion of light weapons (a subset of conventional armaments) remains seriously under-examined. This is somewhat surprising given that ninety per cent of all deaths and injuries sustained in the course of intrastate conflicts since 1993 were the result of direct fire from light weapons.(f.1) For those interested in dealing with the weapons that kill people in armed conflict, it is also disturbing; for, as one recent study concludes, 'before efforts to limit light weapons are likely to be effective, the issue itself must receive significantly more national and international attention.'(f.2) Simply stated, unless and until the ubiquity, ready availability, and continuing proliferation of light weapons is recognized as a serious impediment to democratization, development, good governance, and peacebuilding, it is unlikely that serious steps will be taken to develop a comprehensive strategy for dealing with them. The purpose of this article is threefold: to provide an overview of the causes and consequences of the ready availability and continuing proliferation of light weapons; to develop a framework for thinking about practical, realistic, and constructive measures to address the problem; and to identify ways in which Canada might take the lead in advancing this agenda. After a discussion of the nature of light weapons, the article develops four propositions: 1 the ready availability and continuing proliferation of light weapons pose serious challenges to development, democratization, good governance, and other aspects of 'sustainable human security'; 2 underpinning the diffusion of light weapons is a complex ecology of causation that includes the failure of states to provide adequate security against threats of organized or unstructured violence, the persistence of militarized cultural forms, the increased availability of light weapons on the international market, and the absence of any generally agreed international norm limiting the rights of states to acquire such weapons; 3 to be effective, political measures will have to address both the supply and demand sides of the light weapons equation; and 4 Canada can play an important, if modest, leadership role in mobilizing the international community to deal with the problems of light weapons. TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Although there is no authoritative definition of light weapons, by convention they are understood to be armaments that are used in intercommunal and intrastate conflict and that fall below the threshold of major conventional weapons systems (that is, those weapons encompassed by the seven categories of the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms: battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large calibre artillery, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, and missiles/launchers).(f.3) At one end of this spectrum are 'small arms' such as pistols, assault rifles, and light machine guns.(f.4) At the other end are crew-served armaments such as recoilless rifles, mortars, light artillery, and even some missile systems. Strictly speaking, the term includes landmines, though these are often treated as a separate category, especially in the context of international disarmament negotiations. Light weapons can be found at every point along the continuum of technological complexity. At one extreme, they can be highly sophisticated and embody increasingly advanced (and lethal) technologies. The most important technological developments include reductions in size and weight; improvements in target acquisition; increased rate of fire; 'improved ballistic and terminal effects of projectiles'; 'improvements in affordability, simplicity, and ruggedness'; and reduced maintenance requirements. …

Global Dangers: Changing Dimensions of International Security

The essays collected in Global Dangers provide both conceptual analysis and empirical assessment of the environment, migration, and nationalism as sources of conflict. The East-West confrontation that dominated the international security agenda during the Cold War has largely receded from view. Revealed in its wake is a different set of dangers, not really new but previously overshadowed by Cold War preoccupations. Global Dangers examines three such potential threats to peace: environmental problems, including access to scarce resources and population pressures; international migration; and nationalism. These issues are global in scope, persistent in nature, and potent in their implications. It is tragically clear that they can give rise to political dispute and to violent conflict. ContributorsV. P. Gagnon, Peter H. Gleick, Thomas F. Homer-Dixon, F. Stephen Larrabee, Miriam R. Lowi, Sean M. Lynn-Jones, Steven E. Miller, Barry R. Posen, Richard H. Ullman, Stephen Van Evera, Myron Weiner.

Elements of US foreign policy

The new international security agenda brought about by the dramatic changes of the end of the Cold War covers a wide range of complex needs, activities and issues. Key among these is the ongoing role of the United States, not just as remaining Superpower, but also as leader of the Western coalition, especially in Europe. While some, both within and outside the US, have begun to question that role, Admiral Crowe here emphatically reiterates America's commitment to European engagement, discussing the continuing relevance of NATO, the vital importance of assuring public support for and understanding of the North Atlantic Alliance and the example and place of Bosnia. He believes that the complex new security environment requires tolerance, understanding of the burdens placed on leaders and especially a realistic grasp by the public of the possible solutions to the difficult problems that now confront us. In this, he sees a strong continuing role for the support of the Transatlantic relationship.

Britain and the new UN agenda: towards global riot control?

The fading away of the Cold War has allegedly shifted the attention of the Western members of the United Nations, as demonstrated by General Assembly speeches, towards issues like the environment, drugs and terrorism. The new issues moving towards the top of the international security agenda are more elusive than the traditional Peace- and War-related ones; nobody has control of a ‘button’ regarding these issues. An overall assessment of the situation shows that there is a great variety of actors involved, both governmental and non-governmental. It is also increasingly recognized that the East has similar interests to the West. As a result, the East–West divide is being bridged to a significant extent, while the North–South divide is being defined in new ways.

ARMAS ESPACIALES: VIEJA AGENDA DE SEGURIDAD INTERNACIONAL Y TECNOLOGÍAS DE PUNTA

La nueva agenda de seguridad internacional gira en torno a los problemas derivados del subdesarrollo, la pobreza, la debilidad estatal y el deterioro del ambiente, como son el crimen organizado, el terrorismo, las guerras por los recursos, las migraciones, etc. Sin embargo, está cobrando importancia un nuevo debate, vinculado a la agenda de la Guerra Fría, pero con otros Estados, y relacionado a altos grados de desarrollo y altos niveles de estatalidad. Es el debate acerca de la militarización del espacio y el emplazamiento de armas espaciales. El presente artículo es un estado del arte que analiza esta temática y los problemas derivados, que están llevando al mundo a una nueva carrera espacial y de armamentos espaciales, especialmente entre EE.UU. y China.