Publications

In today's featured publication, Jon Moran examines why Special Operations Forces (SOF) in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada have become such critical instruments of policy in the so-called War on Terror. The text additionally focuses on 1) the problems raised by this form of vicious diplomacy, and 2) what might be done to make the use of SOF more transparent and accountable.chevron_right

If the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is going to be effective, this brief argues, national-level transfer control systems will require 1) legislative, regulatory and administrative infrastructures worth the name; 2) the buy-in of various government stakeholders at key points in the arms transfer control process; and 3) the public and parliamentary oversight of all ATT-related activities.chevron_right

This briefing 1) analyzes the progress that’s been made in reforming Kenya’s police forces since the signing of the 2008 National Accord, and 2) recommends ways to consolidate and sustain the ongoing reforms. The authors additionally focus on...chevron_right

This report zeros in on how political elites – and the ‘rules’ that govern prevailing political systems – transform ambitious reform plans into limited realities. To illustrate this phenomenon, the text’s authors focus on the 2008 National Accord and Reconciliation Agreement (NARA) and its “imagined” reforms of the Kenyan police forces...chevron_right

This paper argues that Kenya’s post-2008 police reforms have succeeded in establishing a solid legal and policy foundation for increased civilian oversight. However, the text’s author also believes there are additional ways civil society can enhance its supervisory roles, including through political devolution.chevron_right

The Nuer White Army is a militant protection force created by the Nuer people in what is now South Sudan. This paper analyzes 1) the organization’s leadership, hierarchy and socio-political rationale; 2) the role it played in Sudan’s...chevron_right

It’s been 10 years since the first major energy reserves were discovered in East Africa. This paper contends that the discoveries have yet to facilitate significant social and economic progress in the region, and that Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique all need to...chevron_right

This commentary 1) discusses the foreign policy realignments that are occurring within the US’ two political parties and, 2) highlights three possible trajectories America’s politics and foreign relations might take after the 2016 presidential election.chevron_right

This commentary focuses on how Brexit has indeed pushed the EU into unchartered legal and political waters. The text’s authors specifically look at how the EU-27 will have to...chevron_right

This commentary looks at the renewed conflict in South Sudan, which is basically between forces controlled by President Salva Kiir and those loyal to Vice-President Riek Machar. (Their rivalry, familiarly enough, is over power and the control of oil revenues.) Given the return to violence, the text’s author...chevron_right

From September 2013 to June 2014 alone, China moved more than ten million cubic meters of sand and cement to five reefs in the Spratly Islands area. By the following year, this prodigious labor yielded a “Great Wall of Sand” with a total surface area of about 14.5 square kilometers. Here’s the story behind this militaristic tale.chevron_right

This paper zeros in on the safety, security and long-term sustainability of transnational pursuits in space, which are now under threat from the large number of systems already deployed in Earth orbit, and from the full-scale militarization of the domain. Yes, there has been a flurry of activity to create a global code of conduct for space, but...chevron_right

This brief examines the Accord #62 agreement on forced disappearances, which was reached in October 2015 between the Colombian Government and the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC-EP). The text’s authors also analyze the daunting challenges of implementing Accord #62.chevron_right

This brief explores why China has abandoned its traditional reluctance to support UN peacekeeping operations and what this shift means, both in terms of peacekeeping budgets and troop contributions.chevron_right

This brief looks at the political content of the history textbooks being used in Pakistan. More specifically, it examines 1) the nationalistic narratives which appear in the texts, to include highlighted historical milestones or dates; 2) the bureaucratic politics which shape education in Pakistan; and 3) the implications of politicizing “learning.”chevron_right