About the book: Although widely regarded as the ‘founding father' of realism in International Relations, this book argues that Hans J. Morgenthau's legal background has largely been neglected in discussions of his place in the ‘canon' of IR theory. Morgenthau was a legal scholar of German-Jewish origins who arrived in the United States in 1938. He went on to become a distinguished professor of Political Science and a prominent commentator on international affairs. Rather than locate Morgenthau's intellectual heritage in the German tradition of 'Realpolitik', this book demonstrates how many of his central ideas and concepts stem from European and American legal debates of the 1920s and 1930s. This is an ambitious attempt to recast the debate on Morgenthau and will appeal to IR scholars interested in the history of realism as well as international lawyers engaged in debates regarding the relationship between law and politics, and the history of International Law.
Abstract: This Working Paper reviews various strands of literature on development assistance in fragile states, with the aim of identifying research streams supporting initiatives on aid effectiveness. The first part reviews the evolution of policy concerns with fragile states and introduces the objectives and dilemmas of major aid effectiveness instruments. The second part charts various research streams on fragile states, including the various definitions and rankings of state fragility, historical perspectives on state formation, functionalist approaches to governance in developing countries, case study contributions, and finally sub-state governance arrangements as alternatives to ‘the state’. The third part distils options for future research and emphasises the policy opportunities deriving from the notion of ‘bottom-up’ statebuilding.
Details: CCDP Working Paper Number 5, Arabic Translation
Abstract: This publication contextualizes the religious and humanitarian aspects of zakat committees as well as their governance since the 1970s. It enquires into the politicization of the West Bank zakat committees' roles and their dissolution and radical reorganization implemented by the emergency cabinet heading the Palestinian Authority since 2007. An allegation against the zakat committees, used to justify the reorganization, was that their work had entailed political benefits for the opposition in general and Hamas in particular. The Working Paper draws on interviews with local actors and published research to argue for a more nuanced interpretation of the role of zakat committees within Palestinian society.
Abstract: This publication contextualizes the religious and humanitarian aspects of zakat committees as well as their governance since the 1970s. It enquires into the politicization of the West Bank zakat committees' roles and their dissolution and radical reorganization implemented by the emergency cabinet heading the Palestinian Authority since 2007. An allegation against the zakat committees, used to justify the reorganization, was that their work had entailed political benefits for the opposition in general and Hamas in particular. The Working Paper draws on interviews with local actors and published research to argue for a more nuanced interpretation of the role of zakat committees within Palestinian society.
Details: The book distils the results of a three-year international research project on ‘Civil Society in Peacebuilding’, hosted at the CCDP. The team gathered 30 researchers from 16 universities and research institutes, four external advisors and experts, 22 external reviewers, as well as support staff. Responding to the burgeoning interest in the role of civil society in peacebuilding, this groundbreaking collaborative effort identifies the constructive functions of civil society in support of peacebuilding both during and in the aftermath of armed conflict. Read more.
Details: The CCDP Issue Briefs are part of a multi-year research project on Economic Issues and Instruments in Peace Processes, supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The objective of the project is to increase the evidence base on the role and management of economic issues in peace processes, and the issue briefs provide mediators with information about the practical opportunities and risks associated with the use of economic instruments in peace processes.
All outcomes of this project will feature in 'The Political Economy of Peacemaking' the first monograph of the new CCDP book series on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding. The book will be published by the end of 2010.
Details: Working Paper written as part of a project co-organized by the Centre for International Policy Studies at the University of Ottawa and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.
Abstract: Different theories of international relations, institutions, and organizations have insights into both the constraints new institutional entities are likely to face, as well as potential ways of overcoming some of them. To address the issue of what role the UN peacebuilding architecture could realistically be expected to perform ten years from now, this paper briefly examines what different theories have to tell us about the origins of new institutions, their operational dynamics, their challenges, their constraints, their pathologies, and their realistic possibilities.
Details: The volume features several contributions that emerged from a conference co-hosted by the CCDP and the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University on "Transnational and Non-State Armed Groups: Legal and Policy Responses." For more information, click here
Summary of Results for a Comparative Research Project: Civil Society and Peacebuilding
