Europe

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Prevention and Peacebuilding, Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies
G8 and G20, United Nations

Small Wars Create Big Problems for U.K.’s Cameron, France’s Hollande

Would you rather follow David Cameron or Francois Hollande into battle?

Read the full World Politics Review article Small Wars Create Big Problems for U.K.’s Cameron, France’s Hollande

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May 04, 2015
Richard Gowan
Europe
Prevention and Peacebuilding
Crises, United Nations

Barnett Rubin Gives Keynote Speech on Afghanistan at the Danish Institute for International Studies

Lessons learned from pursuing civil-military coherence

In April 2015, CIC Associate Director Barnett Rubin joined the Danish Institute for International Studies for a seminar on Afghanistan's recent history and lessons learned from pursuing civil-military coherence. He kicked off the discussions with a keynote speech on Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014.

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Apr 23, 2015
Barnett Rubin
Europe, South Asia, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan-Pakistan Regional Project

International Day of UN Peacekeepers - 13th annual conference and ceremony

Rich states and UN peacekeeping: time to lead by example?

The UN Secretary-General’s High-level Independent Panel has now commenced its review of peace operations as the call for peacekeeping reform once again tops the agenda. The continuing imbalance in global peacekeeping troop and police contributions leads some to question whether rich states, including the UK, are pulling their weight.

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May 20, 2015
Richard Gowan
Europe
United Nations
Prevention and Peacebuilding

UN Peacekeeping: A Focus for Japanese Cooperation with the United States and Europe?

Japan, European countries, and the United States have a common interest in boosting United Nations peace operations. Japan has been a prominent supporter of a U.S. initiative to encourage participation in peacekeeping operations, but to date, Tokyo’s follow-up has been constructive but limited. For Tokyo and its allies, ensuring that the UN can handle today’s ugly crises is an unavoidable task.

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Apr 03, 2015
Richard Gowan
East Asia, Europe, United States
United Nations
Prevention and Peacebuilding

Palestinians Consider UN Options

Relations between Israel and the US are at their most strained in years, following comments by newly-re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there wouldn't be a Palestinian state on “his watch.”

Read the full Voice of America article Palestinians Consider UN Options

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Apr 01, 2015
Richard Gowan
Europe, Middle East, United States
Prevention and Peacebuilding

U.S. to Europe: Don’t Go Soft on American-Led Global Order

The United States sent its European allies some stern signals about their obligations to the American-led international order last week. On Monday, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power visited Brussels, where she warned NATO members to halt their “dangerous” defense cuts and called on European powers to offer more troops to United Nations peace operations.

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Mar 16, 2015
Richard Gowan
Europe, United States
Prevention and Peacebuilding
United Nations

Europe Needs Strategy to Address Libya, Ukraine Crises—Not Panic

Just how bad is Europe’s strategic situation? Over the past week, senior European politicians and officials have piled up dire predictions about the continent’s security.

Read the full World Politics Review article Europe Needs Strategy to Address Libya, Ukraine Crises—Not Panic

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Feb 25, 2015
Richard Gowan
Europe
Prevention and Peacebuilding
United Nations

Netanyahu and Boehner are wrong to think they know what Iran wants

The Republican majority in the U.S. Congress led by House Speaker John Boehner, along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama are engaged in a vital debate on how to deal with the Iranian nuclear program.

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Feb 04, 2015
Barnett Rubin
Europe, Middle East, United States
Afghanistan-Pakistan Regional Project, Prevention and Peacebuilding
International Security, Transnational Threats

Why Europe must stop outsourcing its security

Europe should expect ever-increasing pressure from refugees on its southern borders unless it is prepared to bear the cost and risk of military operations to control conflict in Europe’s southern neighbourhood, according to this policy paper. It says while the growing refugee problem generated by conflicts in the Middle East and Africa calls for a more interventionist response from the EU, Europeans have preferred to leave the job to others, notably the UN.

Read the full Policy Paper here

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Dec 17, 2014
Richard Gowan
Nick Witney
Europe
Crises, Humanitarian Crises, Peace Operations
Prevention and Peacebuilding

Big-Power ‘Buffering’ Mechanisms Needed to Manage Era of Disorder

There were signs of easing tensions in some parts of the international system last week, but warnings of deepening crises on other fronts.

Read the full World Politics Review article Big-Power ‘Buffering’ Mechanisms Needed to Manage Era of Disorder

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Nov 12, 2014
Richard Gowan
China, East Asia, Europe, Middle East, United States
Prevention and Peacebuilding
Crises, Transnational Threats, United Nations

Related Publications

  • Endgame for ETA: Elusive Peace in the Basque Country

    The violent Basque separatist group ETA took shape in Franco's Spain, yet claimed the majority of its victims under democracy. For most Spaniards it became an aberration, a criminal and terrorist band whose persistence defied explanation. Others, mainly Basques (but only some Basques) understood ETA as the violent expression of a political conflict that remained the unfinished business of Spain's transition to democracy. Such differences hindered efforts to 'defeat' ETA's terrorism on the one hand and 'resolve the Basque conflict' on the other for more than three decades.

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    Sep 03, 2014
    Teresa Whitfield
    Europe
    International Security

  • UN Crisis Diplomacy and Peacekeeping: An Emergency Health Check

    The UN is currently in poor health but the severity of its condition is not yet clear, Richard Gowan argues in this paper commissioned by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue for the 2014 Oslo Forum for senior mediators. Gowan assesses the impact of events in South Sudan, Syria and Ukraine for the UN, and warns that the organization's operational and political credibility is weakening.

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    Jul 15, 2014
    Richard Gowan
    Europe, Horn of Africa, Middle East
    Peace Operations, United Nations
    Prevention and Peacebuilding

  • Australia in the UN Security Council

    In this Lowy Institute Analysis, Richard Gowan reviews Australia’s time as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. Gowan argues that while it has not changed the world, Australia has acquitted itself well, bringing extra rigour and professionalism to the Council’s debates. It has carved out a niche on the issue of humanitarian access in the Syrian conflict, and solidified its reputation as a good international citizen and a serious country.

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    Jun 12, 2014
    Richard Gowan
    Europe, South Asia
    South Asia, United Nations
    Prevention and Peacebuilding

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