International Crisis Group
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27 May 2016: In this podcast, Crisis Group’s Horn of Africa analyst Magnus Taylor discusses with our Director of Communications & Outreach Hugh Pope the main findings of our recent report Sudan’s Islamists: From Salvation to Survival. The wide-ranging discussion covers Sudan’s domestic political balances amid continued conflicts in peripheral areas, the regime’s new foreign policy pragmatism and Middle Eastern orientation, and how the West can have a more constructive relationship with Khartoum.
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“Urgent political and humanitarian initiatives are needed to avoid a collapse that would deepen the misery of Venezuelans and threaten regional stability.” —Crisis Group’s Mark Schneider comments on Maduro’s regime in a new article in the Miami Herald “
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“If ethnic and religious chauvinists in all communities are not to grow stronger and belief in democratic reform that Sirisena’s election reflected and encouraged is to be rekindled, the government must make a concerted push to jump-start the flagging reform process.” —From Crisis Group’s recent report: Sri Lanka, Jumpstarting the Reform Process
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“When refugees make it to Europe, there must be an effective integration policy that avoids past mistakes.” —Emma Bonino, Crisis Group Board member, calls for a more humane refugee policy in our latest Future of Conflict series
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Sri Lanka: Jumpstarting the Reform Process
The unexpected chance for lasting peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka that followed President Maithripala Sirisena’s January 2015 election faces increasing turbulence. Initial moves by Sirisena’s government halted and began to reverse the slide into authoritarianism and family rule under Mahinda Rajapaksa. Its reform agenda is ambitious: restoring the rule-of-law and ending impunity for corruption and abuse of power; a new constitution; a complex package of post-war reconciliation and justice mechanisms agreed with the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC); and major policy changes to jump-start a beleaguered economy. Progress, however, has been slower than key constituencies expected and lacks the coherence and resources needed to sustain it. The “national unity” government expanded the political centre and isolated hard-line nationalists, but the window for change has begun to close. Seizing Sri Lanka’s unprecedented opportunity for reform requires bolder and better coordinated policies, backed by a public relations campaign to restore sagging popular support.
FULL REPORT (Via Crisis Group)
Photo: REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte
SOURCE: Crisis Group
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Statement on a Syrian Policy Framework
On its current trajectory, and with no military or diplomatic breakthrough on the horizon, the Syrian war will worsen. Four years into a popular uprising that gradually degenerated into civil strife and regional proxy war, the conflict’s Syrian protagonists – the regime and its loyalist militias versus the broad spectrum of armed rebel factions and the external political opposition – are too fractious, fragile and heavily invested in their current courses to break with the status quo. They are also, as should be clear by now, incapable of military victory in a war rapidly fuelling the growth of a third category of protagonists: Salafi-jihadi groups. The sides’ respective state backers are better positioned to change tack and so affect the course of events, but they are prisoners of their own shortcomings, fears and wishful thinking.
Photo : REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh
Source : Crisis Group
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Women, Violence and Conflict in Pakistan
In Pakistan, women’s security and political, social and economic status are under attack by religious extremists, undermined by discriminatory legislation and unprotected by the state. The government must stand by its pledge to end gender inequity and violence against women, especially in the conflict zones of north-western Pakistan and the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.
Photo : AFP PHOTO/ARIF ALI
Source : Crisis Group
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Competing Solutions to Keeping Peace in Africa
In this video, Dr. Comfort Ero, Africa Program Director of the International Crisis Group, joins UNU Policy Advisor Rahul Chandran to discuss the challenges and potential solutions for overcoming conflict and maintaining peace in Africa.
FULL VIDEO (United Nations University)
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Making the headlines | The Economist
“RATLIKE cunning, a plausible manner and a little literary ability”—the qualities of a successful journalist, according to Nicholas Tomalin, one of the breed—are not traditionally valued in think-tanks, the semi-academic institutions that come up with ideas for politicians. Their policy papers are meant to be dry; their wonks more like politicised civil servants than hacks. But increasingly think-tanks are doing journalism—not just blogging and tweeting but foreign reporting, too. Deskbound journalists, meanwhile, are embracing data and spreadsheets.
FULL ARTICLE (The Economist)
Photo: European Union 2012/European Parliament/flickr
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Back to the future: the challenges facing Somalia’s returning diaspora | Samira Shackle
“Whenever you move around, you worry about what will happen to you,” says Abdullahi Nur Osman, who recently moved back to his home country, Somalia. “The security situation is a big worry.”
For the past 20 years, Somalia has been a byword for chaos. In 1991, after the central government fell, the entire economy and political system collapsed. Anarchy and civil war ensued. For years, the capital Mogadishu – once a vibrant seaside resort – has been home to bombed-out facades of buildings. Houses and shopfronts, though painted in bright colours, are pocked with bullet holes.
However, if Somalia’s government is to be believed, the country long known as the world’s most failed state is making tentative steps towards recovery. A permanent federal government has been in power since autumn 2012, and the country is gearing up for democratic elections in 2016. Al Shabab, the hardline Islamist rebel group, no longer controls Mogadishu, although terrorist attacks are frequent. Government buildings are the main focus – recent incidents included an attack on the intelligence headquarters and a major prison, and the president’s residence is often targeted. Foreigners and wealthy citizens face the risk of kidnap by terrorists or armed groups.
FULL ARTICLE (The National - UAE)
Photo: Charles Roffey/flickr