A Global Force for Human Rights?
An Audit of European Power at the UN
September 2008

The European Union's leverage to promote human rights values and its vision of a rules-based world order has dramatically declined over the last decade, Richard Gowan and co-author Franziska Brantner reveal in a new report for the European Council on Foreign Relations analyzing UN voting statistics.  Mr Gowan and Ms Brantner summarize their argument in this Financial Times op-ed, and the report has been covered by the Guardian, International Herald Tribune, Le Monde, Le Figaro, El Pais, EU Observer, The Globe and Mail and Deutsche Welle among others.

Reforming the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Time is Running Out
September 2008

The reignited debate about the nuclear fuel cycle has led to a plethora of proposals for reform. Fiona Simpson addresses the future of these proposals in the newest issue of Arms Control Today. Dr. Simpson also took part in a panel discussion hosted by the US Institute of Peace and the Arms Control Association about preventive war and the nonproliferation regime. The event, as well as Dr. Simpson's comments, were featured in an article in the Jerusalem Post.

Concepts and Dilemmas of State Building in Fragile Situations : From Fragility to Resilience
August 2008

This newly released framing paper was drafted in collaboration with IPI for the OECD DAC's Fragile State Group. It provides evidence that fragility arises primarily from weaknesses in those political processes that bring citizens’ expectations of the state and state expectations of citizens into equilibrium with the state’s capacity to deliver services. A focus on governance structures that address inequities and inequalities and promote accountability are likely to promote stability over time.  The paper briefly sets out the implications of this statebuilding lens for a range of current aid practices and programming.

Recovering from War: Gaps in Early Action
July 2008

Amid growing concern that the international system is ill-equiped to rapidly and effectively mobilize to help states and people recover from conflict, the UK Department for International Development commissioned CIC to identify and analyze  the ‘gaps’ in early international action in countries emerging from conflict. The study highlights prime gaps in areas such as strategy, financing, and capacity, and advances a series of potential responses to them. Both the full report and a newly updated executive summary, including options for reforms, are now available online.

Peacekeeping in Crisis, 2006-2008
July 2008

There is a consensus that the UN needs a stronger strategic culture, but its strategic circumstances militate against this. At a time of increasing rivalry among major powers, not least in the Security Council, the UN may not be able to develop comprehensive strategies aimed at transforming post-conflict societies. However, Richard Gowan discusses how the UN can achieve more limited but politically credible goals in this article from International Peacekeeping. You can read more of Mr. Gowan's commentary in this recent article in the Guardian on challenges facing the new head of UN peacekeeping, "No bed of roses for Le Roy."

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