Marginalisation of the majority world

A complex interplay of discrimination, global poverty, inequality and deepening socio-economic divisions, together make for key elements of global insecurity. While overall global wealth has increased, the benefits of this economic growth have not been equally shared. The rich-poor divide is actually growing, with a very heavy concentration of growth in relatively few parts of the world, and poverty getting much worse in many other regions. The ‘majority world’ of Asia, Africa and Latin America feel the strongest effects of marginalisation as a result of global elites, concentrated in North America and Europe, striving to maintain political, cultural, economic and military global dominance.

A New Road for Preventative Action

East West Institute | East West Institute | June 2011

Issues:Climate change, Competition over resources, Global militarisation, Marginalisation

A gap continues to exist between the international community’s rhetoric about conflict prevention and its responsibility to protect people from severe human rights violations. The record of human misery caused by violent conflict is testimony to the chronic  lack of political will to respond collectively to newand emerging threats to peace. The ineffectiveness of many global efforts at preventive diplomacy is evidence that traditional diplomatic approaches,  including the use of force, simply may not work.

Article source: East West Institute

Image source: AfghanistanMatters

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Posted on 29/06/11

Drones Don't Allow Hit and Run

Prof Susan Breau | Oxford Research Group | June 2011

Issues:Global militarisation, Marginalisation

If You Use Drones You Must Confirm and Report Who They Killed, Says Legal Team.

International lawyers have identified an existing but previously unacknowledged requirement in law for those who use or authorise the use of drone strikes to record and announce who has been killed and injured in each attack.

A new report, 'Drone Attacks, International Law, and the Recording of Civilian Casualties of Armed Conflict', is published on 23 June 2011 by London-based think tank Oxford Research Group.

Article source: Oxford Research Group

Image source: Official U.S. Navy Imagery

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Posted on 23/06/11

The economies of violence

The Economist | The Economist | June 2011

Issue:Marginalisation

Are countries poor because they are violent or violent because they are poor?

Yesterday it was Afghanistan and Congo. Today it is Côte d’Ivoire and Libya. Violence, it seems, is always with us, like poverty. And that might seem all there is to be said: violence is bad, it is worse in poor countries and it makes them poorer.

But this year’s World Development Report, the flagship publication of the World Bank, suggests there is a lot more to say. Violence, the authors argue, is not just one cause of poverty among many: it is becoming the primary cause. Countries that are prey to violence are often trapped in it. Those that are not are escaping poverty. This has profound implications both for poor countries trying to pull themselves together and for rich ones trying to help.

Article source: The Economist

Image source: B.R.Q.

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Posted on 14/06/11

Paul Rogers on Development, Climate Change, Conflict and Migration

Action Aid | youtube | June 2011

Issues:Climate change, Competition over resources, Marginalisation

Paul Rogers, Professor of Peace Studies at Bradford University, and Oxford Research Group's Global Security Consultant, talks to Action Aid about the issues that will dominate international security and world development over the coming decades.

Source: youtube

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Posted on 14/06/11

South Sudan: Enhancing Grassroots Peacebuilding

Hope Chichaya | Insight on Conflict | June 2011

Issues:Competition over resources, Marginalisation

South Sudan’s referendum has come and gone. What lies ahead post-independence in terms of peace, development and security is however still to be determined. The 15 years of war left over one million people dead and more than three million displaced. Negotiations led to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, which included provision for a referendum on independence for the Southerners.  The referendum was held in January, with overwhelming support for succession. But serious challenges face South Sudan as it prepares for independence on 9 July 2011.

Article source: Insight on Conflict

Image source: United Nations Photo

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Posted on 1/06/11

Security Studies and the Marginalisation of Women and Gender Structures

James Chisem | e-International Relations | May 2011

Issue:Marginalisation

In her seminal 1987 text, Bananas, Beaches and Bases, Cynthia Enloe directs the reader's attention to the realm of international politics and asks the question "where are the women?". One might reasonably be expected to answer - they are everywhere. From the political economy, in which women comprise 80% of the global factory workforce and unpaid female domestic labour is estimated to contribute up to 35% of global GDP, to modern warfare, a theatre wherein the majority of victims are women gender is centrally implicated in the machinations of the international system.

Article source: e-International Relations

Image source: jrseles

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Posted on 27/05/11