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In a briefing paper, “Movement towards accountability for Starvation,” published today by the World Peace Foundation and Global Rights Compliance, we review two key advances that occurred in 2018, and indicate areas where more work is required. Below is from the executive summary:

Can starvation be prosecuted? While international criminal law (‘ICL’) has become increasingly sophisticated […]

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UNSC Resolution 2417, passed yesterday, highlights the nexus the conflict and famine that has echoed across Alex de Waal’s work, most notably in his book, Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine (2018). The UNSC resolution not only draws attention to the need for unobstructed delivery of humanitarian supplies, it points out that starvation can be […]

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My article, “The ‘Politics of Protection’: Assessing the African Union’s Contributions to Reducing Violence Against Civilians” is now available through International Peacekeeping

Abstract:

Does the African Union (AU) have an anti-atrocities strategy, and if so, how would one recognize it and assess its impact? This paper proposes two manners of responding to these […]

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This article examines the roles of the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) in the Central African Republic (CAR), where there is a long history of successive conflict resolution efforts that have been overseen by the international community and the region alternatively. The AU, regional economic communities (RECs) such as the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), and regional leaders have also played important roles during the many initiatives aimed at resolving conflict in CAR. This article analyses the responses and relationship between these institutions and actors, beginning with the deployment of an inter-African monitoring mission in 1997. It focuses less on what happened during those conflicts and more on who defined the objectives and strategies of international responses, and who decided which instruments should be used in pursuit of these goals.

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So the US needs a debate on reform of the existing architecture, what strategy to pursue to bring about that reform, and what role the US should play. The debate should take place now, before the US finds itself in a purely reactive mode, responding to initiatives taken by emerging powers and others who are increasingly able to shape the global agenda.

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Hailing from Belarus, I spent most of my UN career working in Africa, or on issues related to the continent. From 1992-1994, for instance, I was part of the United Nations Observer Mission in South Africa (UNOMSA) that helped facilitate both a democratic dispensation and the presidential election of Nelson Mandela. My other positions—which included […]

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