Multiregional Publications, June 2011

A list of recent multiregional reports that were highlighted in the June issue of the Democracy Resource Center Bulletin.

Assessing the Quality of Democracy: A Practical Guide (French)
http://www.idea.int/publications/aqd/fr.cfm
Évaluer la qualité de la démocratie: guide practique” – IDEA’s State of Democracy (SoD) assessment Framework guide in French is now available online. Source: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA)

Freedom of Connection, Freedom of Expression: Changing Legal and Regulatory Ecology Shaping the Internet
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001915/191594e.pdf
This report provides a new perspective on the social and political dynamics behind threats to expression. It develops a conceptual framework on the ‘ecology of freedom of expression’ for discussing the broad context of policy and practice that should be taken into consideration in discussions of this issue. Source: UNESCO

Making the Most of Public-Private Dialogue: An Advocacy Approach
http://www.cipe.org/publications/papers/pdf/ppd_052411.pdf
The new toolkit from CIPE explains the role of advocacy strategy in dialogue, the principles of high-quality dialogue, the elements of effective communication, and the steps to prepare for dialogue. Source: Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE)

Strategising Online Activism: A Toolkit
http://www.violenceisnotourculture.org/files/Strategising%20Online%20Activism.pdf
While this toolkit has been designed primarily for the local partners and activists of the VNC campaign, this can also be a resource for human rights activists who are keen to develop their online activism and want to know where and how to start. Source: Violence Is Not Our Culture

World Refugee Global Report
http://www.unhcr.org/gr10/index.html#/home
This report reveals a deep imbalance in international support for the world’s forcibly displaced, with a full four-fifths of the world’s refugees being hosted by developing countries – and at a time of rising anti-refugee sentiment in many industrialised ones. Source: UNHCR

Inclusion of a publication does not imply ownership or endorsement by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED); rather, these are publications that the Democracy Resource Center believes would be of interest to NED staff and others interested in democracy promotion.

Humor as Nonviolent Resistance to Oppression

http://www.coventry.ac.uk/researchnet/external/content/1/c4/11/36/v1202125859/user/Humour%20as%20Nonviolent%20Resistance.pdf
Source: Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Studies, Coventry University.

Humor as nonviolent resistance to oppression is an understudied area within peace studies, and little attention has been given to how and why humor can be a powerful strategy in challenging oppression. This dissertation explores a new area of study and makes the first attempts of building a theory of the functions of humor as nonviolent resistance to oppression.

Oil for Soil: Toward a Grand Bargain on Iraq and the Kurds

URL: http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5749&l=1. Source: International Crisis Group.

This report offers a bold proposal for resolving the long-festering conflict over Kirkuk and other disputed territories that threatens to disrupt Iraq’s relative peace.

Sudan: The Crisis in Darfur and Status of the North-South Peace Agreement.

URL: http://opencrs.com/document/RL33574. Source: Library of Congress.

The report notes that Sudan, geographically the largest country in Africa, has been ravaged by civil war intermittently for four decades. More than 2 million people have died in Southern Sudan over the past two decades due to war-related causes and famine, and millions have been displaced from their homes.

Trade Unions say no to violence against women.

URL: http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/ITUC-violence-pageGB.pdf. Source: International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

On the occasion of the United Nations (UN) International Day on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, ITUC affiliates in several countries, including Ghana, Sierra Leone, Congo, Japan, Columbia and Great Britain, are organizing activities to mobilize against the trivialization and impunity of the violence that affect women and girls around the world. Violence against women and girls is often defined as the most socially tolerated of human rights violations, and many women workers, and girls trapped in child labor, experience violence at work.

Turkey and Iraqi Kurds: Conflict or Cooperation?

URL: http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5777&l=1. Source: International Crisis Group.

This report examines the study in contrasts that has been Ankara’s policy: Turkey periodically sends jets to bomb suspected hide-outs of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq and expresses alarm at the prospect of Kurdish independence, yet it has now significantly deepened its ties to the Iraqi Kurdish region.

The Kurds in Post-Saddam Iraq.

URL: http://opencrs.com/document/RS22079. Source: Library of Congress.

The Kurdish-inhabited region of northern Iraq has been relatively peaceful and prosperous since the fall of Saddam Hussein. However, the Iraqi Kurds’ political autonomy, demands, and ambitions are causing friction with Christian and other minorities in the north, with Arab leaders of Iraq, and with neighboring Turkey, and Iran. These tensions threaten to undermine the stability achieved throughout Iraq in 2008, although U.S. political influence over the Kurds is likely to prevent a destabilizing escalation of the disputes.

Pakistan’s Capital Crisis: Implications for U.S. Policy.

URL: http://opencrs.com/document/RS22983. Source: Library of Congress.

Pakistan — a key U.S. ally in global efforts to combat Islamist militancy — is in urgent need of an estimated $4 billion in capital to avoid defaulting on its sovereign debt. The elected government of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani is seeking short-term financial assistance from a number of sources, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), China, and an informal group of nations (including the United States) known as the “Friends of Pakistan.”

North Korea: Terrorism List Removal?

URL: http://opencrs.com/document/RL30613. Source: Library of Congress.

The issue of North Korea’s inclusion on the U.S. list of terrorism-supporting countries has been a major issue in U.S.-North Korean diplomacy since 2000, particularly in connection with negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program. North Korea has demanded that the Clinton and Bush Administration remove North Korea from the terrorism support list.

Trading peacefully across a war-torn border.

URL: http://www.c-r.org/our-work/uganda/documents/Cross-border_Uganda_Sudan_web_colour_sept09.pdf. Source: Conciliation Resources.

This report notes that a trade boom across Southern Sudan and Uganda’s border is helping recovery after decades of war. Yet urgent changes in policy and practice are needed to make the most of its potential to help build peace among conflict-affected communities. Our new study ‘Cross-border trade: building peace or fuelling conflict?’ examines the experiences of traders, businesses, government officials and border communities and makes recommendations for change. It was launched in Juba and northern Uganda in October.