Posted on Friday, September 16, 2011
by
Isobel Coleman
France's President Sarkozy; NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil; Mahmoud Jibril, head of NTC executive; and Britain's PM Cameron address a news conference in Tripoli, Libya, September 15, 2011 (Anis Mili/Courtesy Reuters).
In this week’s Missing Pieces, Charles Landow highlights developments from Guatemala to Nigeria, with several stops along the way. Please share your views on these or other stories from the past week. Enjoy!
- Libya After Qaddafi: Prime Minister David Cameron of the UK and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France became the first Western leaders to visit post-Qaddafi Libya on Wednesday. They received a warm welcome from officials of Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC). The visit comes as the NTC seeks to consolidate its authority and launch a successful transition. Various groups are jockeying for position, revealing fault lines over regional influence, Islamism, and the role of leaders who returned from abroad vs. those who resisted Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi from within. The BBC and the Los Angeles Times report this week on the NTC’s struggle to assert control over the militias that effected Qaddafi’s ouster. The New York Times has a piece on the controversial influence of Islamists. But the Economist thinks the authorities are off to a “remarkably hopeful start,” with even Islamists such as Tripoli’s military commander, Abdel Hakim Belhaj, making moderate noises. What will be the international role in aiding Libya’s transition? Cameron and Sarkozy pledged continued help for the government and people. In a Washington Post op-ed on Monday, the Libyan ambassador to Washington, Ali Suleiman Aujali, requests technical support for democratic institutions and the economy, as well as the unfreezing of Libyan assets abroad. And on CNN.com, Blair Glencorse urges international actors to help Libya build a strong legal system and government institutions that can competently manage its wealth, among other priorities. Read more »
Posted in Combating Extremism, Democratization, Human Rights, Latin America, Middle East and North Africa, Missing Pieces, South & Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Uncategorized | 0 Comments »
Posted on Monday, September 12, 2011
by
Isobel Coleman
Syrian government loyalists hold up placards during a protest outside the U.S. embassy in Damascus, July 11, 2011 (Courtesy Reuters).
In this week’s Missing Pieces, Charles Landow highlights the latest developments in Syria and Pakistan, as well as interesting scholarly work on other regions and issues. I hope you enjoy the selection and look forward to your comments.
- Syria’s Political Perspectives: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has managed to retain power through six months of rebellion and the fall of three fellow Arab autocrats. The New York Times last week offered a fascinating glimpse at a central reason why: many Damascus elites support Assad’s regime and deny that their country is in upheaval. The piece explores the views of clients at a fancy Damascus salon, where the debate centers not on democracy but on nail polish. Some agree with the government that protesters are seeking to foment division. Others are minorities, such as Christians, who fear life under Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority in a post-Assad era. The article gives a starkly different perspective from most news reports on Syria, making it a valuable read. For a longer but no less worthwhile look at the country’s revolutionary stirrings, see Wendell Steavenson’s “Roads to Freedom” in the August 29 issue of the New Yorker. It offers a nuanced portrait of several leading revolutionaries, ending on an optimistic note for Syria’s future. Read more »
Posted in Democratization, Latin America, Middle East and North Africa, Missing Pieces, South & Central Asia, Technology and Development, Uncategorized | 0 Comments »
Posted on Friday, September 2, 2011
by
Isobel Coleman
An Afghan girl carries a pail of water fashioned from a U.S. government aid agency can while crossing a busy street in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 26, 2002 (Romeo Ranoco/Courtesy Reuters).
After a two-week hiatus, Charles Landow offers an expanded selection of articles and other materials in this Labor Day version of Missing Pieces. I hope you enjoy the reading and the long weekend. Please let us know what you think, and visit the blog often as CFR begins its new programming year after the holiday. Enjoy!
The Humanitarian Impulse: As the United States and its allies begin to draw down from Afghanistan, Rory Stewart and Gerald Knaus have published a book on a question that is far easier to ask than to answer: Can Intervention Work? Stewart, a British member of parliament famous for his walk across Afghanistan after the U.S. invasion, and Knaus, the chairman of the European Stability Initiative, take a bulldozer to the theoretical underpinnings of humanitarian intervention–the idea that the international community can save lives and transform societies if only it applies the proper resources and plans. The authors criticize Western nation-builders for an inflated sense of their own power and an inadequate appreciation of local actors, and they paint a devastating portrait of Westerners’ isolation and ignorance in Afghanistan. The book does not eschew intervention but recommends a modest approach. Intervention, Stewart and Knaus write, “should aim to provide protection and relief at a specific time and place,” not to remake entire societies. It is a sound premise, though not exactly a revelation after the experiences of recent years. CFR’s Stewart Patrick tackles the related question of when to intervene in a recent ForeignAffairs.com article. He considers the Libya intervention a success for the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, but cautions that the United States and its allies will not–and should not–apply the doctrine universally in the future.
Read more »
Posted in Economic Development, Middle East and North Africa, Missing Pieces, South & Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Posted on Monday, August 15, 2011
by
Isobel Coleman
Activists from the Socialist Unity Centre of India shout slogans and hold placards during a protest against corruption and price hike in diesel, kerosene and cooking gas in Ahmedabad, India, August 7, 2011 (Amit Dave/Courtesy Reuters).
Charles Landow features topics ranging from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe in this week’s Missing Pieces. As always, enjoy the reading and let us know what you think.
India’s Growth Machine: Between 1991, when India launched a slate of economic reforms, and 2010, the country’s GDP more than quintupled and its GDP per capita almost quadrupled, according to the IMF’s latest figures. But lately fears are rising that this growth could slow. Inflation is high (over 13 percent in 2010, according to the IMF), foreign investment has declined (with a 29-percent drop from 2009 to 2010, according to India’s own figures), and a series of corruption scandals has wounded India’s leadership. The Voice of America and the Wall Street Journal reported last week on Indian officials’ reactions to the downgrade of U.S. government debt. A U.S. slowdown could damage India by reducing demand for its exports, including its famous outsourcing services. Recently the prime minister’s Economic Advisory Council lowered its growth projection for 2011 and 2012 from 9.0 percent to 8.2 percent, citing “the inflationary situation and investment slowdown.” That reduced rate would still be impressive. But with 37 percent of Indians below the poverty line, according to the UN Development Programme, even mild slowdowns affect millions. The Economist argued in July for new reforms to reinvigorate the economy. Read more »
Posted in Economic Development, Middle East and North Africa, Missing Pieces, South & Central Asia, Uncategorized | 0 Comments »
Posted on Friday, August 5, 2011
by
Isobel Coleman
Farzana, 6, displaced by heavy floods for almost a year, stands outside of her family tent donated by USAID while taking refuge along a road in Sukkur, Pakistan, July 11, 2011 (Akhtar Soomro/Courtesy Reuters).
Charles Landow highlights a number of interesting items in this edition of Missing Pieces. As always, let us know what you think and send us your suggestions for additional reading. We will put relevant items in a future post. Have a good weekend.
Budget Cuts and Foreign Aid: It is too early to tell how this week’s debt ceiling deal and budget cuts will affect U.S. foreign assistance. The bill sets only overall spending limits; Congress must still make appropriations for individual programs. However, for the next two years, negotiators placed the entire international affairs budget, which includes foreign assistance, in the same bucket as defense, as this story from McClatchy Newspapers explains. Since military spending has passionate defenders (and well-funded lobbyists), foreign assistance may face serious cuts. The Washington Post on Wednesday featured a round-up of opinions on this issue. Among other interesting views, Sen. John Kerry argues that foreign assistance remains a vital investment.
Read more »
Posted in Middle East and North Africa, Missing Pieces, Sub-Saharan Africa | 1 Comment »
Posted on Monday, August 1, 2011
by
Isobel Coleman
A woman gets her eyes tested at a free eye-care camp in Mumbai, India, February 15, 2009 (Arko Datta/Courtesy Reuters).
I recently caught up with Jordan Kassalow, a former CFR colleague who founded the non-profit VisionSpring nearly a decade ago. Kassalow, an optometrist by training, recognized that one of the great opportunities to improve economic productivity in the developing world is by getting simple reading glasses—the kind you can buy off the shelf at any drugstore in America—into the hands of the working poor, those earning less than $2 a day. Some 560 million people around the world are visually impaired yet have no access to eyeglasses. More than 70 percent of them just need the mass-produced, non-prescription type. The majority of the visually impaired are middle-aged laborers—the economic backbones of their communities, raising children and supporting elderly parents at the same time. As their vision blurs with age, they lose their livelihoods, which hurts their families and their communities. A recent study by the University of Michigan confirmed Jordan’s hypothesis: once workers have eyeglasses to improve near vision, their productivity rises by 35 percent and their incomes rise by 20 percent—a gain that can last for twenty years.
Read more »
Posted in Health, South & Central Asia, Technology and Development, Women and Development | 1 Comment »
Posted on Friday, July 29, 2011
by
Isobel Coleman
A high speed bullet train runs past a railway bridge past carriage wreckage (below) after two trains crashed and derailed in Wenzhou, China, July 25, 2011 (REUTERS/China Daily Information Corp - CDIC).
In this week’s Missing Pieces, Charles Landow, associate director of CFR’s Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative, highlights a wide range of stories and studies. Please let us know what you think of the selection, and feel free to suggest additional materials that you find interesting. We will put relevant items in a future post. Enjoy! Read more »
Posted in Democratization, Economic Development, Middle East and North Africa, Missing Pieces, Technology and Development | 0 Comments »
Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2011
by
Isobel Coleman
An Egyptian protester demanding political change attends a night prayer during clashes with loyalists of the ruling military council near the defence ministry in Cairo, July 23, 2011 (Amr Dalsh/Courtesy Reuters).
Just last week, Egypt’s transitional government announced that it would eliminate existing quotas for women in the parliamentary elections scheduled for this fall. Women’s groups in Egypt have pounced upon this development as another worrying sign that they risk losing ground in the new political order. Long gone are the inspirational images of gender solidarity in Tahrir Square in the early days of Egypt’s revolution. They have been replaced by ugly episodes of targeted harassment of women and bickering over whether women should be allowed to run for president. In fact, one woman—Bothaina Kamel—has already declared her candidacy, much to the chagrin of conservatives who insist that it is against sharia for a woman to be a political leader. In fact, as religious parties move to center stage in Egypt and Tunisia, women’s groups in both countries will face new challenges.
Read more »
Posted in Democratization, Middle East and North Africa, Women and Development | 1 Comment »
Posted on Friday, July 22, 2011
by
Isobel Coleman
Egyptians chant slogans against the government and military rulers after Friday prayers in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, July 15, 2011 (Amr Dalsh/Courtesy Reuters).
This post marks the launch of a new feature on Democracy in Development, Missing Pieces. Each Friday Charles Landow, associate director of CFR’s Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative, will highlight several noteworthy or intriguing events and articles that you may have missed during the week. Each entry will include a principal link, context or commentary, and related materials. I hope you enjoy the selection, and I look forward to your comments and contributions on the topics Charley selects. Enjoy!
Posted in Democratization, Economic Development, Guest Posts, Middle East and North Africa, Missing Pieces, South & Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa | 0 Comments »
Posted on Friday, July 15, 2011
by
Isobel Coleman
A soldier takes up position on top of an Army base camp next to a Pakistan flag in Tora Warai, a town in Kurram Agency, during a military trip organised for media along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, July 11, 2011 (Courtesy Reuters).
Late last week reports emerged that the United States was canceling or suspending some $800 million in aid to the Pakistani military. Relations between the two countries have been extremely tense since the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May. But this is only the latest rough patch in a partnership long dogged by concerns that Pakistan’s military and intelligence establishment is playing a double game—accepting American support and promising to fight terrorism while maintaining links with groups responsible for attacks. Clearly the Obama administration is trying to send Pakistan’s generals a message by withholding some of the money and equipment they want.
The case for reducing U.S. aid to the Pakistani security establishment is compelling, and it keeps becoming more so. Pakistan’s main intelligence agency, the ISI, has been linked to the horrific killing in late May of Syed Saleem Shahzad, a journalist who reported on Islamic militancy. A Human Rights Watch statement chronicles threats Shahzad said he received from the ISI, and it reports that he “was in intelligence agency custody” after disappearing from Islamabad on May 29. His body was found shortly after with “17 lacerated wounds delivered by a blunt instrument, a ruptured liver, and two broken ribs,” according to a New York Times article. Last week Adm. Mike Mullen, the top American military officer, suggested that he believed Pakistan’s government signed off on Shahzad’s death. “I have not seen anything to disabuse the report that the government knew about this,” he said. Read more »
Posted in Economic Development, South & Central Asia | 0 Comments »