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Anti-Corruption Provisions are Key for Making Peace Agreements Sustainable

July 25, 2011 Comments off

Anti-Corruption Provisions are Key for Making Peace Agreements Sustainable
Source: United States Institute of Peace

In a new study, “Negotiating Peace and Confronting Corruption” from the United States Institute of Peace, author Bertram I. Spector argues that peace and economic recovery in countries emerging from violent conflict are more likely and more durable when good governance reforms and corruption controls are included in negotiations ending the conflict.

Spector examines the negotiated peace process in six cases—El Salvador, Guatemala, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Papua New Guinea and Liberia—specifically looking at how and in what form integrity provisions were negotiated into the agreements. In each case, he identifies lessons learned, where the peace agreements and implementations left gaps, and where new solutions are still needed. Spector analyzes the six cases against a control group of seven countries recently emerged from conflict where anticorruption and good governance provisions were not explicitly elaborated in peace treaties. Comparing the two groups on indicators of official development assistance, corruption control, political stability, and economic growth, he finds that postconflict countries where reestablishing integrity was high on the agenda fared better than those in the control group.

But negotiating a good forward-looking agreement cannot by itself guarantee peace with corruption kept in check; how the agreement is implemented is just as crucial. To effectively implement an agreement, the parties to it—as well as interested bilateral donors and international organizations—must support integrity provisions and safeguards through technical and financial assistance.

+ Full Report

Categories: business and economics, governance, international relations, United States Institute of Peace

Bin Laden: What does it mean for Peace?

May 2, 2011 Comments off

Bin Laden: What does it mean for Peace?
Source: United States Institute of Peace

USIP’s Steve Heydemann notes that the Arab Spring has created an opening for Arabs to express their views in a new way, and that the death of Bin Laden may test that newfound voice. Bin Laden was killed by U.S. Special Forces in a large compound outside Islamabad, Pakistan on Sunday. “Even if you get negative reactions from some sectors in the Arab world, I would hope that the political environment is such that those sentiments won’t automatically feed into extremist movements,” Heydemann says.

Round-up of related analyses

Categories: international relations, national security, terrorism, United States Institute of Peace

U.S. Institute of Peace Publishes New Report on the Disputed Territories in Iraq

April 5, 2011 Comments off

U.S. Institute of Peace Publishes New Report on the Disputed Territories in Iraq
Source: U.S. Institute of Peace

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) announces the publication of “Iraq’s Disputed Territories: A View of the Political Horizon and Implications for U.S. Policy,” a new Peaceworks report that illustrates in a detailed and specific way what Iraqi-negotiated solutions to the disputed province of Kirkuk and other territories in northern Iraq might look like.

Author Sean Kane, a program officer at USIP writing in his personal capacity, draws upon two data sets — the political preferences expressed in these territories during Iraq’s three postconstitution elections and archival records detailing these areas’ respective administrative histories — to demystify the disputed territories that are referred to but not defined in Iraq’s constitution, and then suggests possible options for resolving their status. The author also provides recommendations for how the United States could offer a mix of diplomatic and security incentives to help shape the strategic calculus of Iraqi stakeholders in favor of entering comprehensive territorial negotiations.

+ Full Report (PDF)

Categories: government and politics, international relations, Iraq, military and defense, United States Institute of Peace
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