Category: Uncategorized

Peace Picks, June 3rd to June 7th

1. Democracy Think Tanks in Action: Translating Research into Policy in Young and Emerging Democracies, National Endowment for Democracy, Monday, June 3 / 12:00am

Venue: National Endowment for Democracy
1025 F Street NW, Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20004

Speakers: Sami Atallah, Orazio J. Belletini CedeÑO, Maksim Karliuk, Sally Roshdy

Think tanks in democratic societies play a vital role in generating policy research, promoting ideas, and fostering discussion between the public and policymakers. In young and emerging democracies, however, think tanks face a number of obstacles that make the achievement of reform especially challenging.

RSVP here:
http://ned.org/events/democracy-think-tanks-in-action-translating-research-into-policy-in-young-and-emerging-democr

 

2. YaLa Young Leaders: A Palestinian and Israeli Discuss the Future, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Monday, June 3 / 12:00pm – 1:00pm

Venue: Woodrow Wilson Center
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20004

Speakers: Ohood Murqaten, Nimrod Benze’Ev, Aaron David Miller

Facebook has revolutionized the world and the Middle East, too. Join us for a presentation by two representatives of YaLa Young Leaders, a Middle East Facebook organization bringing Arabs, Israelis, and Turks together in virtual and direct contact designed to breakdown old stereotypes and promote a new dialogue based on mutual respect and dignity.

Register for the event here:
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/yala-young-leaders-palestinian-and-israeli-discuss-the-future

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Faith in humanity restored

Unfortunately the departure of Bashar al Asad from power is not the reason for the title. It refers to this video:

Of course faith in humanity is not quite the meaning of today’s holiday, but it will have to do for ecumenical reasons. And the Bashar al Assad part, if not true today, I hope will be true tomorrow. I also hope the sequelae will be peaceful.

Wishing you all–Christian or (like me) not–the very best for the holidays and the new year!

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How many is enough?

The right question is not why U.S. troops need to stay in Afghanistan after 2014 but rather how many are needed to counter the resurgence of Al Qaeda there.  Fred and Kim Kagan say upwards of 30,000 and cast aspersions on the “amateurs” who call for fewer.  The Administration seems  to be focusing on 10,000, plus several thousand advisors from NATO allies.  The Administration has most of the qualified professionals in its employ.

I put myself solidly in the amateur category, which is clearly where the Kagans also belong.  But even an amateur sees the big hole in their argument.  They fail to consider the possibility that U.S. troop presence helps to generate the recruits Al Qaeda requires.  This is no small matter.  Any good military commander needs to ask whether offensive efforts are generating more enemy fighters than they are eliminating.  David Petraeus, who on this showed far better judgment than in his personal life, famously asked this question in Iraq about the U.S. detention policy there (and arranged to free a good number of people when those in charge told him the bad news).  There is ample evidence that this counter-productive effect is happening in Yemen, where the numbers of estimated Al Qaeda activists have grown markedly during the course of the U.S. drone war there.  Could the same thing be happening in Afghanistan and Pakistan?

I can’t answer that question, but others have tried  to do so.  It has been years since reasonable observers concluded that on balance drone strikes are counter-productive in Pakistan, which is the center of gravity of the war on extremists.  The problem is that there is a lot of collateral damage, and population anxiety, for every high-level target killed.  Three quarters of Pakistanis now regard the United States as an enemy.  If even a tiny percentage of them joins Al Qaeda to fight against us, we are in trouble.

There is another problem.  U.S. troops in Afghanistan will be vulnerable to asymmetric Iranian attacks if Israel or the U.S. goes after the Tehran’s nuclear program.  If you think preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons is a top U.S. priority, you should want to minimize the number of American troops exposed if military action becomes necessary.

The Kagans and many others will complain loudly if “only” 10,000 American troops are left in Afghanistan.  They also wanted to leave American troops in Iraq.  I find it hard to fathom what good that would have done, and easy to imagine how problematic it would have been as Prime Minister Maliki tries to exert more centralized authority over both Sunni and Kurds.  The notion that American commanders would necessarily stand up for truth, justice and the American way is not convincing.

The United States has more troops abroad than it can afford, and likely also more than some of the societies in which they operate find acceptable.   I’m just an amateur, but so is the man in charge.  He should want to keep those low options open.

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Two years young

Peacefare.net is completing its second year today.  The Googlestats read as follows:

Visits: 37,254
Unique Visitors: 20,224
Pageviews: 63,310
Pages / Visit: 1.70
Avg. Visit Duration: 00:01:39
Bounce Rate: 74.06%
% New Visits: 52.99%
This is super and much appreciated.  My thanks to each and every one of the 20,224 (35,720 over two years).  Many of you are new to the site, as the percentage of new visits has held up well.  The visit duration is down a bit, but still respectable.  The relatively high bounce rate is expected, since there are not many layers to the site.  Overall:  a very good year.
I still hope to encourage more of my readers to write for peacefare.  My Middle East Institute interns have been doing a great job covering events in DC, but there is room for more.  Events in other cities would also be welcome.  And reports from the field would be especially appreciated.  Just consult with me in advance by sending a note to daniel@peacefare.net
I am not planning big changes.  The third year will see the publication of my book on how civilians contribute to U.S. national security and help us maintain our influence in the world.  America is not only about the military, though you wouldn’t know that most days. Chris Stevens and his colleagues were the pointy end of our diplomacy and peacebuilding in Libya.  Their colleagues risk bodily harm worldwide every day of the week.  My hat if off to them:
What peacefare needs more than anything else is more readers.  Please do pass on the word to colleagues and friends.
With appreciation and gratitude,
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First rung on the ladder

The incomparable Bill Durch at Stimson is looking for unpaid interns.  I know that’s not what you want or deserve, but these days that’s how almost everyone is starting out.

Those interested should send a cover note indicating any particular area of interest (peace operations, rule of law, and/or civilians in conflict), together with a CV and short writing sample, jointly to Michelle Ker (mker@stimson.org) and Aditi Gorur (agorur@stimson.org).

Here’s the announcement:

Future of Peace Operations Internship

The Future of Peace Operations (FOPO) program at Stimson is offering unpaid internships for fall semester 2012. Stimson is a nonprofit, nonpartisan institution devoted to enhancing international peace and security. FOPO addresses challenging analytical questions on peace operations, considers their relationship to current policy issues, and tries to build a broader dialogue on what peace operations can and should do.

A FOPO internship is an excellent opportunity for individuals seeking to build upon prior experience relevant to peace operations and conflict mitigation as well as for those with little experience but who can articulate a strong interest in the field. Interns are a vital part of FOPO, working closely with the program’s four member staff. They also engage in the life of Stimson overall, interacting with staff from other Stimson programs and participating in the Center’s events. An internship with FOPO advances participants’ knowledge and skill base and strengthens their understanding of peace operations, conflict resolution, and broader foreign policy issues.

FOPO interns should be prepared to assume administrative and organizing duties as well as research, writing, and editing.

Specific responsibilities can include:

  • Providing research support to program staff.
  • Creating fact sheets and assisting in the drafting of various documents.
  • Proofreading, editing, and assisting in the distribution of FOPO publications.
  • Representing FOPO at events around DC and writing meeting summaries.
  • Helping to maintain the FOPO project website.

FOPO interns will assist FOPO with its work on:

  • Developing a computational model for peacekeeping and peacebuilding
  • Engaging community perspectives on security and protection actors
  • Measures of effectiveness for peace operations.
  • Building the rule of law in post-conflict states.
  • Protecting civilians from mass atrocities.
  • Tracking US policy toward the UN (particularly US contributions to peace operations and related activities).

Requirements:

  • Demonstrated interest in conflict resolution/prevention, international affairs, foreign policy, defense/security policy, humanitarian issues, and/or human rights.
  • Research abilities and the ability to communicate clearly and effectively both in writing and speaking.
  • The ability to follow multi-step directions and take initiative in doing complex research.
  • Attention to research methodology and ability to organize materials logically.
  • Attention to detail and commitment to high-quality work.
  • Flexibility to work effectively both as part of a team and independently.
  • Initiative, maturity, and professionalism.
  • Computer skills relevant to an office setting.

Preferred:

  • Familiarity with peace operations and their activities.
  • Previous research and work experience.
  • Familiarity with Microsoft Excel, Access, computer programming, and/or web design.
  • Proficiency in French, with the ability to quickly and accurately conduct French-language research.
  • International experience.

We welcome applications from undergraduate, graduate, and professional candidates.

Applicants must be able to commit to a minimum of 20 hours per week. Preference is often given to those available 30+ hours per week.

 

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Knock knock

It doesn’t happen often, but it did this morning:  0 pageviews, even at 9 am European time.  The Middle East had been up for hours.  The Balkans and the rest of Europe for an hour or so.  Yet somehow no one had found it necessary to read peacefare.net.  How disappointing!

Not really, and the moment did not last, but it does make me wonder whether the effort is worthwhile.  I admit that what I publish on peacefare is not much more than what I am thinking at the moment, plus any more serious reflections that have found their way into print elsewhere.  And now also wonderful contributions from my Middle East Institute interns, currently the very capable and assiduous Gregor Nazarian and Ilona Gerbakher.  They have been writing up Washington events, something I find very helpful since it is impossible to get to all the interesting ones.

The question is whether this is a worthwhile effort.  While my WordPress software and Google Analytics provide lots of data on visitors and pageviews, they don’t provide a feel for what people are thinking.  Nor do they tell me when you are reading peacefare.net on an RSS feed or an email subscription.  I get some feedback in the comments on peacefare and appreciate it, even when it is sharply critical.  But often I don’t hear back much, except for the occasional hit on the “like” button or the several tweets per day referencing peacefare, which are always appreciated.

So this post, on what promises to be a slow day, is a plea I guess for a bit more vibe back from readers.  There are lots of ways:  the like button is the simplest (but not the most nuanced), comments are always welcome (even when they specify that I am an idiot, provided there is good supporting argumentation), tweets (citing @DanielSerwer) and emails (to daniel@peacefare.net) make their way to me, citations and links to peacefare.net are terrific.

What do want you to hear more about?  What less?  How is what you are reading here useful or interesting?  How is it boring or annoying?  How could it be improved?

Most of all, I would like to hear from those of you with something to contribute.  I never intended peacefare.net to be a one-voice outlet.  But I have failed, with some few and warmly welcomed exceptions, to get others to pitch in.  Posts are not hard:  500-800 words, focused on a compelling thought or current event connected to peace and war.  Send them to me:  daniel@peacefare.net  I can’t promise to publish everything I get, but I can promise to read it and seriously consider it, with of course the possibility of editorial changes.

Knock knock.  Who’s there?  Peacefare.net, hoping to hear from YOU!

 

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