Month: December 2018

This Week in South Sudan – Week 51 and 52

Monday 17 December The Government of South Sudan (GoSS) protested the US sanctions mentioned in TWiSS week 50, and specifically denied buying weapons from IDF General Israel Ziv. Reportedly, six former members of the SPLM-IO joined the Federal Democratic Party/South Sudan Armed Forces, which is led by Garbiel Changson Chang. Tuesday 18 December Violent clashes… Read more »

Feminism and Empiricism: Two Contributions to Improving Women’s Inclusion in Peace Processes

Academics and policymakers can probably agree on the need for a more solid research base in order to effectively support the inclusion of women in peace processes. Our chapter in the newly released Oxford Handbook on Women, Peace and Security, argues that improving dialogue among scholars and practitioners requires acknowledging that different forms of research… Read more »

The Clash of Guns and Swords: Game of Thrones and Reality

Are there any similarities between the bloody war in Game of Thrones (GoT) and modern conflicts? The battle fields are certainly quite different, and dragons have very little to do with today’s conflicts (although they may allude to weapons of mass destruction). However, if we look beyond the fighting and fantasy, and study the logic… Read more »

Children Born of War Are Not the Enemy. How Can They Be Integrated into Society?

This year, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded jointly to the Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege and the Iraqi human rights activist, and witness and survivor of human-trafficking, Nadia Murad. These two voices are an extremely important contribution to ongoing efforts to combat war-related sexual violence. We are among the many people who are delighted… Read more »

This Week in South Sudan – Week 50

Please note that there will be no news update next week. We will be back on Monday 31 December with a two-week TWISS update for week 51 and 52. Wednesday 12 December President Kiir went to South Africa to discuss bilateral relations with his counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa. After the second outbreak of Ebola hit the… Read more »

Climate Change Economics and the Climate-Conflict Nexus: Some Takeaways for Policy-Makers

On the occasion of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, which was awarded to William Nordhaus for his work on climate change economics (alongside Paul Romer for his contribution to macroeconomics), we highlight some essential findings of that research and then link them to research on climate change and human security (conflict). From this… Read more »

This Week in South Sudan – Week 49

Tuesday 4 December The Government of South Sudan (GoSS) launched a mobile payment platform to reduce the reliance on cash. The SPLMA-IO accused government forces of instigating violent clashes in Unity. Wednesday 5 December The South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) suspended the election of Peter Gatdet Yaka as a new leader, reportedly due to the… Read more »

When Will We End Sexual Violence in Conflict?

The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad in recognition of their work combatting sexual violence as a weapon of war. This acknowledgement should serve as a rallying cry to end sexual violence in conflict — commonly perpetrated by non-state groups, but also states or entities aspiring to statehood.

The Unintended Consequences of Killing Jamal Khashoggi: A Backgrounder on the Yemeni Peace Talks

This week the spotlight is on Sweden and UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths: On Wednesday representatives of the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels arrived in Stockholm to find solutions to what the UN described as the ‘worst [humanitarian] crisis in the world’. The Saudi Arabia-led nine-member coalition has been at war with the Yemeni Houthis… Read more »

Achieving Sustainable Peace and the Climate Target of 1.5°C

Presently, the 24th Convention of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is occurring in Katowice, Poland and the negotiators are pressed to complete the negotiations on the implementation of the Paris Agreement. While fewer world leaders and substantially less fanfare is accompanying this meeting than the 2015 COP in… Read more »