BY DANIEL WOODBURN Photo by Donnie on Unsplash As Yogi Berra wisely said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”[1] Through an international relations lens, it certainly is tough because 1) we do not know when a crisis might strike, and 2) it is surprisingly difficult to know how a country will perform […]
Category Archives: People
L’Etat, C’est (Pas) Moi: France’s Mystifying Improvement on the Fragile States Index
- 08 June 2023
BY DANIEL WOODBURN Photo by Antoine Schibler on Unsplash On its surface France may appear to be a country in turmoil, even decline, rocked by regular protests and an increasingly polarized political landscape.[1] Popular discourse of increasing state authoritarianism and declining public services would seemingly place it in the company of the United States under […]
Fund for Peace Names New Leadership Team
- 19 January 2022
The Board of Directors of the Fund for Peace is pleased to announce a new leadership team. Paul Turner has assumed the position of President and Executive Director as of January 10, 2022 and is joined by newly appointed Vice Presidents Patricia Taft Nasri and Nate Haken to lead the organization. As President and Executive […]
Escalation of Violence Deals a Major Setback to Previous Optimism on Palestinian-Israeli Relations
- 06 May 2021
BY DANIELLE BATTERMAN Since their democratic election in 2006, and military takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Hamas’ lack of international legitimacy has served as a major obstacle for advancing the Palestinian national project. As the non-secular party option to Fatah, Hamas’ electoral win signaled the triumph of a hardline stance against Israel among […]
GERDlock: Inaction as a Method of Dominance on the Blue Nile
- 06 April 2021
BY NATOSHA HODUSKI As yet another round of negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) commenced this week, looking back on the decade of failed negotiations between the three main riparian states – Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt – may offer us some insight into the future of the Nile River Basin. The negotiations among […]
Ending Violence by Providing Opportunity
- 10 March 2021
BY KATHLEEN SMITH Since October 2017, a group of Islamist insurgents known internationally as Ansar al-Sunna — and locally as al-Shabab, despite no apparent connection to their Somali namesakes — have brought chaos to the northern province of Cabo Delgado in Mozambique by attacking villages and propagating terror. Their actions have resulted in an estimated […]
Demanding for Justice: Mapping the Nigerian SARS Protests and Quality of Life
- 12 February 2021
BY CHLOE PAN Protests in the October 2020 Nigerian End SARS movement mobilized tens of thousands of people within the country to march on the streets against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), demanding for the federal government to institute change. Their demands have also captured the attention and received support from people around the world, […]
Nigeria Briefing: A Security Framework for the Niger Delta
- 06 November 2020
By Sarah Cockey, Natalie Fiertz, Nate Haken, Patricia Taft Nasri, Wendy Wilson, Daniel Woodburn Although overall levels in violence in the Niger Delta have improved over the last five years, there are increased economic pressures which have the potential to reverse those gains unless government, civil society, and development actors work to develop a security […]
Nigeria COVID Briefing: A Stress Test of Nigerian Resilience
- 30 September 2020
By Charles Fiertz, Nate Haken, Patricia Taft Nasri, Chloe Pan, Nkasi Wodu So far, Nigeria has managed the health aspects of the COVID-19 crisis much better than many countries, certainly better than the United States, based on the number of reported cases and deaths, due to a strong and proactive approach to the prevention of […]
From Commitment to Impact: A Guide for Local Working Groups on Business, Security & Human Rights
- 04 June 2020
BY J.J. MESSNER DE LATOUR, HANNAH BLYTH, AND MARLENE WAFLER* Innovative local-level mechanisms for fostering implementation of good practices in the field of business, security and human rights exist in many contexts and are linked to different policy frameworks. This Guide provides good practices and insights to support the development and successful implementation of local […]