Day: March 7, 2016

Women in the Syria peace process

Posted in Ceighley Cribb - March 7, 2016 - 1 Comment

In the writing my master’s thesis, advisers have always asked, “What’s at stake?” My answer has varied throughout the past two years, going from a better way to understand a particular moment in history to including voices that have been left out. My answer now includes both, and also adds a new way to analyze contemporary affairs.

My thesis, “Nazik al-‘Abid’s Nur al-Fayha: A Kurdish Woman’s Magazine in 1920 Damascus,” discusses how ‘Abid, as a minority woman, editor, and columnist of a women’s magazine, interpreted Arab nationalism and inserted herself in the political discourse in 1920 Syria. ‘Abid was from an elite Kurdish family living in the Kurdish quarter of Damascus, Hayy al-Akrad. In her publication, she adopted an Arab consciousness, believed that women should be equal citizens in the Arab nation, and thought all citizens’ participation on an equal footing would lead to a modern, successful state. By looking at the intersection of gender, ethnicity, and nation in her writing, I explore how al-‘Abid understood Arab nationalist issues, how she called on women to participate in the political and social spheres, and how she defined the rights women should demand from the nationalist project.

‘Abid chose not to point out her own difference from the majority Sunni Arab population. She held the Arab nationalist movement’s unity above all else. In the June 1920 issue of Nur al-Fayha, this question is posed: “What is the most wholesome means by which to eradicate sectarian hatred in our country?” Ethnicity was not a fully developed concept at the time. The sectarian hatred referred to was more religious than ethnic. This question remains pertinent to the present conflict, in which both sectarian and ethnic conflict is proving intractable.

One of the major themes that comes across in ‘Abid’s publication is the question of the state. Her concerns about what the new state will encompass and whom the new state will include resonate strongly in Syria today. Those are also issues in the Syria peace talks scheduled to resume on March 9. The last peace talks ended as the Assad regime, backed by Russian air power, began its attack on Aleppo. The delegation was not representative of all major players in the conflict. The Kurdish PYD and Islamist Ahrar al-Sham, in addition to the terrorist groups ISIS and al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, will again not have delegates present this month. The representation problem will continue in this next round of talks.

Inclusion of women is also an issue. Nearly a century ago, ‘Abid called for the complete inclusion of women in the political process of creating a state. Today, the Syrian High Negotiations Committee appears to want to implement that idea with the establishment of the Women’s Consultative Committee. In their February 1 press release, the HNC stated “that actual and active representation for all components of the Syrian society to be the corner stone of the successful political transition in Syria.” Yet, only 3 out of the 17 official delegates are women.

In ‘Abid’s time, the Syrian population was split on whether to include women in the official political process. Educated male nationalists began the post-World War I era garnering female support, but ended up turning their backs on women when they negotiated with the popular Islamic radicals in the 1930s. The HNC appears to want to include women in the 2016 peace talks, especially by bringing women from civil society into the consultative positions. But what will happen as negotiations become more complicated?

Women’s participation in the peace process is necessary if they want to gain inclusion in the new state. But it is not sufficient. It is possible that there will be a choice between peace and women’s equal participation now, just as there was a choice 80 years ago between a unified state and women’s rights. Women were pushed to the side during the state-making project. If  peace and women’s rights become too much for leaders to deal with at the same time, women’s issues will come second to peace, even with participation.

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Peace picks March 7-11

Posted in Ceighley Cribb - March 7, 2016 - 0 Comment
  1. Women in the Peace Process: Making Peace Last in Colombia | Women have played groundbreaking roles in Colombia’s peace process between the government and the country’s largest rebel group, the FARC. With a peace agreement in sight and on the occasion of International Women’s Day, join the U.S. Institute of Peace on March 8 for a briefing on the status of women in peace processes, with a focus on the Colombia case. The discussion is co-sponsored by USIP’s Colombia Peace Forum and the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Forum. The panelists will discuss the United Nations Security Council Resolutions that have called for engaging women in peace processes as a matter of international security, and the long-term efforts to broaden and support initiatives by women and other sectors of civil society as the key to the sustainability of peace. A 30-minute video, “Women Mediating in Colombia,” will document a USIP-supported project to strengthen the capacities of Colombia’s women as mediators. Participants include Carla Koppell, Vice President, Applied Conflict Transformation, U.S. Institute of Peace, Kathleen Kuehnast, Senior Gender Advisor, U.S. Institute of Peace, and Virginia M. Bouvier, Senior Advisor for Peace Processes, U.S. Institute of Peace.
  2. How Can Societies Control Corruption? The European Experience | Tuesday, March 8th | 10:00-11:00 | Wilson Center | REGISTER TO ATTEND | In recent years, the EU has made an unprecedented effort to transform its periphery by exporting values such as rule of law, democracy and good governance. The experience is discussed as part of the criticism to the global anticorruption approach in Alina Mungiu-Pippidi‘s book, A Quest for Good Governance: How Societies Develop Control of Corruption. Mungiu-Pippidi, who works as a governance expert for the European Union institutions has also been an active promoter of civil society work in her native Romania, the Balkans and Ukraine. The talk will review the few successes around the world and will compare them with the EU attempt to change old members, new members and neighborhood countries. This event is being organized in cooperation with the Ratiu Family Charitable Foundation.
  3. Pathways to Resilience: Evidence From Africa on Links Between Conflict Management and Resilience to Food Security Shocks | Tuesday, March 8th | 3:00-5:00 | Wilson Center | REGISTER TO ATTEND | Household food security is gravely affected by economic and climate-related shocks. A series of new research studies conducted by Mercy Corps in the Horn of Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nigeria argue that strengthening conflict management systems helps build resilience to those shocks. On March 8, Daniel Alemu, Chief of Party for Mercy Corps’ ‘Communities Helping Their Environment and Land by Bridging Interests’ program, and Jon Kurtz, Mercy Corps director of research and learning, will present the findings of the research and what it means for development and humanitarian policy. Following their presentations, experts on conflict, development, food security, and resilience will share their thoughts on the implications for cross-sectoral programming and efforts to bolster resilience in climate-affected areas. Other speakers include Ed Carr, Director of the International Development, Community, and Environment Department at Clark University, Roger-Mark De Souza, Wilson Center Director of Population, Environmental Security, and Resilience, Sharon Morris, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, and Joan Whelan, U.S. Agency for International Development Senior Policy and Learning Officer.
  4. Beyond Crimea: The New Russian Empire | Wednesday, March 9th | 3:00-4:30 | Atlantic Council | REGISTER TO ATTEND | Agnia Grigas’s book, Beyond Crimea: The New Russian Empire, examines how—for more than two decades—Moscow has consistently used its compatriots in bordering nations for its territorial ambitions. Demonstrating how this policy has been implemented in Ukraine and Georgia, Grigas provides cutting-edge analysis of the nature of Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy and compatriot protection to warn that Moldova, Kazakhstan, the Baltic States, and others are also at risk.
  5. Looking Forward: A Conversation with Kazakhstan’s Secretary of State | Thursday, March 10th | 10:30-11:30 | Wilson Center | REGISTER TO ATTEND | Over the past 25 years, Kazakhstan has made hard-earned progress, rising from the poverty and chaos of sudden independence to become a middle-income nation. President Nazarbayev recently introduced a strategic vision for its long-term development, “Kazakhstan 2050,” outlining the key reforms necessary for Kazakhstan to become globally competitive. Please join us for a conversation with Kazakhstan’s Secretary of State Gulshara Abdykalikova and Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan Ashikbayev to discuss the road ahead. Secretary Abdykalikova also serves as Chairwoman of the National Commission for Women’s Affairs and Family and Demographics Policy, and will discuss the importance of facilitating women’s empowerment and leadership in order for Kazakhstan to realize its ambitious social and economic goals.
  6. Japan’s Energy Priorities and Policies in the MENA Region | Thursday, March 10th | 10:30-12:00 | Atlantic Council | REGISTER TO ATTEND | Nearly 90 percent of Japan’s imported oil comes from the Middle East, a region where protracted conflicts cause continued turmoil. Through its private sector, Japan’s extensive financial assistance to the region, and its 2016 role as a nonpermanent member on the UN Security Council, Japan’s strategic interests and resulting policies will continue to be important factors in global energy markets and international relations. On March 10, 2016, the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and Global Energy Center will bring together Japanese scholars and practitioners alongside US analysts to discuss Japanese energy priorities and policies in the Middle East. These experts will discuss how the Middle Eastern landscape impacts Japan’s energy policies, and how Japanese policies in turn impact the region. Dr. Ken Koyama specializes in economic and political analysis of the world oil market. Dr. Sara Vakhshouri is the Founder and President of SVB Energy International, a strategic energy consulting firm. Dr. Yasuyuki Matsunaga specializes in politics and democratization in Iran, and is an expert in post-Iran nuclear deal implications. Dr. Kota Suechika is a Professor at the College of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University and specializes in regional security including the global concerns posed by the Syrian crisis. Ambassador Frederic Hof specializes in the conflict in Syria. Mr. Masataka Okano previously served in the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, the Russian Division, and the Korea Division and specializes in political affairs, particularly US relations with Japan, East Asia, South East Asia, and South Asia. He will make opening remarks. Ambassador Richard L. Morningstar is a former Ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan and Secretary of State Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy. He will make opening remarks
  7. Egypt: Sex, Rights, Politics, and US Foreign Policy with Scott Long | Thursday, March 10th | 5:00-7:00 | Johns Hopkins SAIS | Since the 2013 coup, Egypt has seen massive and spreading human rights violations, part of a counterrevolution stretching across the Middle East. LGBTI Egyptians have been among the victims. Egypt today keeps more people imprisoned for their gender expression or for same-sex sexual conduct than any other country in the world. Why? Why has a panic over sexuality and gender become a tool of the counterrevolution, and how do these abuses relate to other state crimes in Sisi’s repressive Egypt? This talk will also examine the role of the Obama administration in supporting the Sisi regime, and the contradictions in its declared support for LGBTI rights globally. Presentations will be followed by a Q&A session.
  8. The Future of Peacekeeping in Africa: Lessons from Ghana | Peacekeeping missions today face some of the most complex environments in their history. President Obama in September 2015 reaffirmed U.S. support for United Nations peace operations and directed a range of actions to strengthen them for a new era. Ghana, with its long history of contributing to peacekeeping and with soldiers in 12 of 16 U.N. missions, provides lessons in effective training, policymaking and non-violent conflict resolution. Understanding the political, operations and conflict environment is key to successful peacekeeping. That’s a priority for the United States, which provides almost 30 percent of the annual peacekeeping budget and, in 2014, pledged $110 million a year for three to five years to build the capacity of the continent’s militaries for rapidly deploying peacekeepers in response to emerging conflict. Ghana, the eighth-largest contributor to U.N. peacekeeping operations, has significant troops in Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lebanon, Liberia, South Sudan and Côte d’Ivoire.  It also has supported missions of the Economic Community of West African States and the African Union. The panelists include Colonel Emmanuel Kotia, chief instructor and academic programs coordinator at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Ghana, and author of the new book, “Ghana Armed Forces in Lebanon and Liberia Peace Operations.” He has more than 28 years of service with the Ghana Armed Forces and served at critical junctures with the peace operations in Lebanon and Liberia.
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