http://www.crisisgroup.org The International Crisis Group (Crisis Group) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflict. en-us Copyright 2008 Crisis Group Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:00:44 +0100 360 http://www.crisisgroup.org/rss/CrisisGroup.jpg http://www.crisisgroup.org http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5783 Read op-ed ]]> Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5779 Read op-ed ]]> Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5780 Read op-ed ]]> Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5782 Read op-ed ]]> Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5777 Turkey’s newly adroit management of its relationship with Iraqi Kurds has resulted in a tentative victory for pragmatism over ultra-nationalism, but many obstacles remain before relations can be normalised. Both Turkey and Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have made a breakthrough in challenging ultra-nationalism. They should continue to invest in a relationship that, though fragile and beset by uncertainties over Iraq’s future, has become more pragmatic and potentially very fruitful. Political divisions as to how this should be achieved have yielded a measure of confusion, but the result has been a largely effective compromise, combining military pressure, politics, diplomacy and economic incentives.

Read full report ]]> Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5775 Read op-ed ]]> Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5772 Read op-ed ]]> Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5771 Read op-ed ]]> Sat, 8 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5765 Read op-ed ]]> Tue, 4 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5768 Read op-ed ]]> Sat, 1 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5757 Read full report ]]> Sat, 1 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5759 Read op-ed ]]> Sat, 1 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5753 Critically undermined by government disinterest in the victims of the armed conflict, transitional justice in Colombia seriously risks failing. Greater government commitment to rigorous Justice and Peace Law (JPL) implementation is required, as is an integrated victims and reparations strategy. The current debate in Congress about a new victims’ law is an opportunity for government and political opposition to work together and engage victims’ and civil society organisations in design of a policy seen as an essential component of the effort to win the struggle with illegal armed groups.

Read full report ]]> Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5751 Reform of Azerbaijan’s controversial army is stalling for lack of political will. Oil wealth has been poured into defence budget raising concerns President Ilham Aliyev might choose war with Armenia to recover Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan needs to expand awareness and debate about its increased military spending. NATO, which is helping with its military reform, should facilitate dialogue between the militaries of both Azerbaijan and Armenia. The international community, including the EU, U.S. and Russia, should push the parties harder to resolve their conflict peacefully.

Read more ]]> Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5750 Rising acrimony over disputed territories will undermine still fragile progress in Iraq unless a package deal is reached over oil, revenue sharing, federalism and the constitution. In its ethnically-driven intensity and its ability to drag in regional players such as Turkey and Iran, the Kirkuk issue can have a devastating impact on efforts to rebuild a fragmented state. This conflict potentially matches or even exceeds the Sunni-Shiite divide that spawned the 2005-2007 sectarian war. The current piecemeal approach to its resolution should be discarded in favour of a grand bargain involving all core issues.

Read full report ]]> Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5747 Read op-ed ]]> Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5740 A new Supreme Court ruling has ended hope of a peaceful resolution in the near future to the decades-old conflict between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Philippines government. Peace talks have broken down before but not like this. It will be much harder this time, even if talks resume, to simply pick up from where they left off. The immediate task now is to prevent escalation of fighting and discourage the government and local officials from arming civilians. Interested governments and donors should press both sides to keep existing ceasefire mechanisms in place, while quietly urging a return to talks.

Read more ]]> Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5738 Conditions like those that produced the Darfur conflict exist today in Southern Kordofan state where prospects of a new Sudanese civil war are real. The Khartoum government must rapidly settle the disputes along the North-South border or face the prospect of a devastating new conflict. The National Congress Party and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement must accelerate integration of the state government and combatants within the Joint Integrated Units and pursue disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programs. Reconciliation among the state’s tribes is paramount.

Read full report ]]> Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5734 The international community should build on the unprecedented cooperation between the Myanmar government and humanitarian agencies following cyclone Nargis and reverse longstanding, counterproductive aid policies. If the current opening can be used to build confidence and lay the basis for a more effective aid structure, it may be possible not only to meet immediate needs, but also to begin to address the broader crisis of governance and human suffering. This means more aid, but also different aid, aimed at raising income and education as well as health levels improving economic policy and governance.

Read full report ]]> Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5728 Return to civilian rule in Pakistan offers an opportunity to restore the rule of law and to reverse state-driven Islamisation. The military’s politically motivated constitutional and legal changes that have radicalised swaths of Pakistani society must be reversed. The Pakistan People’s Party should introduce a constitutional amendment package that focuses on judicial reform. The country’s political stability would also be best served with the ruling and opposition parties reaching agreement on repealing discriminatory religious laws that restrict fundamental rights and fuel extremism.

Read full report ]]> Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5726 Sri Lanka’s government must address the security needs and land-related grievances of all ethnic communities in its Eastern Province or risk losing a unique opportunity for development and peace. It must devolve real power to the new Eastern Provincial Council, end impunity for ongoing rights violations and work to develop a lasting political consensus on issues of land, security and power sharing with independent representatives of all communities. The Eastern Province, Sri Lanka’s most ethnically complex region, needs development, and it also urgently needs political and administrative reforms. Without those, economic development could actually worsen existing conflicts.

Read full report ]]> Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5724 Read op-ed ]]> Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5723 Read op-ed ]]> Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5714 Read op-ed ]]> Wed, 8 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5711 Read op-ed ]]> Tue, 7 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5709 Read speech ]]> Fri, 3 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5736 Read speech ]]> Fri, 3 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5703 Read op-ed ]]> Thu, 2 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5705 Read op-ed ]]> Thu, 2 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5701 Read full report ]]> Wed, 1 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=5695 Major violence has been avoided but the calm is deceptive in newly independent Kosovo. Divisions between Albanian and Serb areas have widened. If de facto partition continues, pressure will mount to redraw borders on ethnic lines throughout the states of the former Yugoslavia, and EU membership prospects for them will fade. Independence was supposed to be “supervised” by the international community based on the plan drafted by the UN Secretary-General’s special representative, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari. But international supporters have not kept pledges, largely because of Serbian and Russian opposition, but also because of insufficient political will and weak coordination.

Read full report ]]> Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT