Conflict Portrait: Afghanistan

Posted by & filed under Regions and Powers

The armed conflict between the Afghan government, along with its international allies, and armed radical Islamist insurgents intensified after 2014. At the end of that year, the mandate of the NATO-led ISAF combat mission expired, and the responsibility for security was officially handed over to the Afghan authorities.

ISAF was replaced by a far smaller follow-on mission, “Resolute Support” (RS), and a separate US anti-terrorism mission, “Freedom’s Sentinel”. RS will continue to train, advise and contribute logistical support to the Afghan armed forces. The largest RS contingent comes from the US, with the official number at 8,400 troops, as well as an additional 3,500 soldiers on short-term deployments and an unknown number of Special Operations Forces and other agencies’ forces. There are also 23,500 military contractors, 4,500 of which are trainers and on security duty.

Street scribe in Kunduz. Afghanistan has the highest illiteracy rate in the region and worldwide, yet currently in Afghanistan, only 3.7% of GDP is being spent on education. Photo:Thomas Ruttig

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The Svalbard tragedy illuminates the downside of heavy militarization of Russia’s Arctic policy

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Taking ownership of and “conquering” the Arctic are themes Russian authorities love to amplify. But sometimes, the harsh Northern reality interferes. The crash of an Mi-8 helicopter in Svalbard (Spitsbergen), last Thursday (October 26), with eight lives lost, was one such occasion. Norway launched a rescue operation within 30 minutes, while Russian officials continued to… Read more »

Welcome to the Climate & Conflict Blog

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The Climate & Conflict blog will publish updates from relevant PRIO-based research projects on security dimensions of climate and environmental change. PRIO presently hosts three research projects that jointly have an overarching goal of addressing the relationship between climate and conflict: CAVE, CLIMSEC, and CROP. Some of the questions these projects ask are: What is… Read more »

What to Expect from India at COP23?

Posted by and & filed under Environment, Governance, Urbanization and Environment

Climate change is not a one-way street of cause and effect. International negotiations on climate change and the reduction of emissions are equally complex. A consistent Indian demand has been  green technology transfer from “high-emitting” developed countries. An equally longstanding principle is that of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities, or CBDR-RC.

Despite the continuities, India´s negotiating position on the reduction of CO2 emissions is not easily summarized. At times, there haven been rapid shifts and apparent mismatches between statements of principle and action. India´s position and it’s involvement in Conference of the Parties (COP) summits has also developed over the years.

What can we expect from India at the COP23 Summit in Bonn? Find out more at the Hilton Bonn, 17 November 2017: Register here

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This Week in South Sudan – Week 43

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Tuesday 24 October SPLM (IO) announced that a person suspected of causing the death of its late spokesperson Lam Kuei Lam has been arrested by the Sudanese police. 200 Ethiopian peacekeepers arrived in South Sudan to help bolster the UNMISS mission. Wednesday 25 October President Salva Kiir will visit Khartoum and his Sudanese counterpart, President… Read more »

“No backsliding” on Women’s Inclusion in Peace Mediation

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Last week, Norway made history with Ine Eriksen Søreide becoming the country’s first female foreign minister. Even in relatively gender-equal countries like Norway it is still rare to find women holding top positions in the so-called “hard issue” sectors of foreign affairs and peace and security. Barriers to the full involvement of women in work to prevent and resolve violent conflicts still persist.

Elisabeth Slåttum, former Norwegian Special Envoy for the Philippines peace process, invites the Philippines Government delegation and National Democratic Front of the Philippines delegation back to the peace table, April 2017. Credit: NOREF

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This Week in South Sudan – Week 42

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Tuesday 17 October In his report to the UN Security Council, the UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix, offered a dire appraisal of the situation in South Sudan, calling on the leaders to “bring the country back from the impending abyss.” Deutsche Welle, in-depth coverage of the hunger crisis “South Sudan: Starvation and violence” Wednesday 18 October… Read more »

This Week in South Sudan – Week 41

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Wednesday 11 October According to a report by the campaigning and advocacy organization One, South Sudan is the toughest nation in the world for girls to receive an education, with nearly three-quarters failing to attend even primary school. Al Jazeera video report: “Oil-rich South Sudan faces fuel shortage crisis” While the organizers of South Sudan’s first… Read more »

Totalitarianism Closing in on China

Posted by & filed under Governance, Regions and Powers

The only drama in the “two sessions” jamboree in Beijing this spring is that there was no drama at all. Each year the Chinese political élite, 5000 men and a few women strong, congregate in the capital for a week of meetings of the legislature, the National People’s Congress, and its advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. This year the choreography was faultless. Even reporters who were assigned to provide their editors at least some copy, could find next to nothing to write about. In Beijing, all is steady and all is under control.

18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The gathering was the dress rehearsal for the upcoming Communist Party’s National Congress in a few days, the once every five year event where real power is at play. We can expect that meeting to be equally orchestrated with no irregularities to suggest confusion in the leadership. The “core” leader, Xi Jinping (as he is now officially designated), will be anointed for another five years, more of his cronies will take positions in the leadership reshuffle, and ways will be found for his ally, Wang Qishan, now in charge of Party discipline and anti-corruption, to stay on in a top post although he by age-rules should be obliged to retire. Again, there will be no drama.

So what is the nature of the regime that holds the grip on national politics that no ripples are allowed to disturb the harmony? We know enough to give a reasonably clear answer to that question, although there are also remaining unknowns on which we can only speculate.Read More

Can Peace be Tied up in Patriarchal Fantasies?

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Is peace a gender-neutral term? Can peace be tied up in patriarchal fantasies? What is masculinity nostalgia and how does it shape ideals of post-war peace? Our recent article published in Security Dialogue answers these questions through a case study analysis of Palestinian peace activists. We asked peace activists to talk about how war and… Read more »