Sudan's transition process offers chances for conflict prevention and stabilization - core ob... more Sudan's transition process offers chances for conflict prevention and stabilization - core objectives of Germany's foreign policy in Africa. The international attention surrounding a visit by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Khartoum in late February 2020 gives the civilian side of Sudan's transitional government a golden opportunity to push forward difficult reforms. Germany should support these efforts and the transition process through diplomacy, mediation, and development cooperation
Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace, 2012
Page 1. 33 Securitization of Climate Change in the United Nations 2007–2010 Gerrit Kurtz 33.1 Int... more Page 1. 33 Securitization of Climate Change in the United Nations 2007–2010 Gerrit Kurtz 33.1 Introduction1 The debate about climate change and security in the United Nations main organs provides a practical ex-ample of ...
European governments, parliaments and civil societies belong to the most important supporters of ... more European governments, parliaments and civil societies belong to the most important supporters of a 'responsibility to protect' (R2P). However, despite a shared positive attitude towards R2P and co-ordinated diplomatic efforts, major European governments and therefore the European Union (EU) have never reached a consensual position on R2P. Based on 47 expert interviews and a review of official government documents, the article analyses the positions of France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the common EU institutions across a series of critical junctures of the R2P debate between 2005 and 2013. The authors find that Paris and London agree with Berlin and Brussels that R2P requires longer-term multilateral norm-building. Yet, while Germany stresses military restraint and civilian crisis prevention, France and the UK continue to view R2P through their preexisting traditions of a droit d'ingérence and the 'doctrine of humanitarian intervention', respectively. These differences are largely due to diverging strategic cultures based on different historical lessons on the use of force. Brussels' efforts to co-ordinate a common EU position have been constrained by these diverging positions.
With an ostensible commitment to sovereignty and non-intervention and a long standing involvement... more With an ostensible commitment to sovereignty and non-intervention and a long standing involvement in United Nations peacekeeping operations, India's position on R2P seems puzzling. Still, despite the rhetoric about India being an 'emerging power', it often abstains from diplomatic engagement beyond its region, including in R2P situations. What explains its sceptical interpretation, cautious attitude and limited practice? The paper shows that India's position has evolved in three phases since 2005, from scepticism via calibrated engagement to renewed suspicions after the fallout of the Libya intervention. The paper argues that mainly domestic factors can account for these changes in India's R2P policy. Despite these changes, however, India's main concerns with R2P display remarkable consistency: an insistence on the consent of the state; a narrow definition of its scope involving a high threshold of violence; the exclusive authority of the UN Security Council; and a deeply ingrained scepticism towards the utility of the use of force.
Sudan's transition process offers chances for conflict prevention and stabilization - core ob... more Sudan's transition process offers chances for conflict prevention and stabilization - core objectives of Germany's foreign policy in Africa. The international attention surrounding a visit by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Khartoum in late February 2020 gives the civilian side of Sudan's transitional government a golden opportunity to push forward difficult reforms. Germany should support these efforts and the transition process through diplomacy, mediation, and development cooperation
Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace, 2012
Page 1. 33 Securitization of Climate Change in the United Nations 2007–2010 Gerrit Kurtz 33.1 Int... more Page 1. 33 Securitization of Climate Change in the United Nations 2007–2010 Gerrit Kurtz 33.1 Introduction1 The debate about climate change and security in the United Nations main organs provides a practical ex-ample of ...
European governments, parliaments and civil societies belong to the most important supporters of ... more European governments, parliaments and civil societies belong to the most important supporters of a 'responsibility to protect' (R2P). However, despite a shared positive attitude towards R2P and co-ordinated diplomatic efforts, major European governments and therefore the European Union (EU) have never reached a consensual position on R2P. Based on 47 expert interviews and a review of official government documents, the article analyses the positions of France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the common EU institutions across a series of critical junctures of the R2P debate between 2005 and 2013. The authors find that Paris and London agree with Berlin and Brussels that R2P requires longer-term multilateral norm-building. Yet, while Germany stresses military restraint and civilian crisis prevention, France and the UK continue to view R2P through their preexisting traditions of a droit d'ingérence and the 'doctrine of humanitarian intervention', respectively. These differences are largely due to diverging strategic cultures based on different historical lessons on the use of force. Brussels' efforts to co-ordinate a common EU position have been constrained by these diverging positions.
With an ostensible commitment to sovereignty and non-intervention and a long standing involvement... more With an ostensible commitment to sovereignty and non-intervention and a long standing involvement in United Nations peacekeeping operations, India's position on R2P seems puzzling. Still, despite the rhetoric about India being an 'emerging power', it often abstains from diplomatic engagement beyond its region, including in R2P situations. What explains its sceptical interpretation, cautious attitude and limited practice? The paper shows that India's position has evolved in three phases since 2005, from scepticism via calibrated engagement to renewed suspicions after the fallout of the Libya intervention. The paper argues that mainly domestic factors can account for these changes in India's R2P policy. Despite these changes, however, India's main concerns with R2P display remarkable consistency: an insistence on the consent of the state; a narrow definition of its scope involving a high threshold of violence; the exclusive authority of the UN Security Council; and a deeply ingrained scepticism towards the utility of the use of force.
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