Good substance, bad politics: the row over 1325

Lyric Thompson 15 October 2010
Why won’t the Security Council endorse the Secretary General’s strategy for enhancing women’s role in matters of peace and security? Is it because of the deep divisions within the UN system itself? Or is it because of the Russians? Lyric Thompson reports on the battle behind the scenes at the UN

Abyei referendum to be delayed, say northern officials

Josephine Whitaker 14 October 2010
Vote in Abyei to be delayed, say northern officials, stoking fears of a return to conflict in Sudan. Greek police gas protesting public sector workers in Acropolis. Junta number two arrested in Niger amid rumours of a coup. Human rights groups refuse to appear before Sri Lanka war crimes commission. 23 Bahraini Shias charged with anti-state activities in run up to parliamentary elections. All this and more in today's security briefing.

Al-Qaida: condition and prospect

Paul Rogers 14 October 2010
A series of developments across greater west Asia offers evidence of al-Qaida’s dispersed reality, continued energy and potential vulnerability.

Strains mount on US-Pakistani relationship after new allegations of ISI-Taliban links

Luke Heighton 12 October 2010
The US accuses Pakistan of aiding Afghan militants - again; Are ancient weapons a testament to al-Qaida's weakness or its resourcefullness?; Tension rise in Bangkok amid fears of renewed Red Shirt protest; Chaos in Belgrade, as anti-gay protesters attack Gay Pride March. All this and more, in today's global security briefing....

Critical AfPak border crossing reopens to Nato convoys

Daniel C Giacopelli 11 October 2010
Pakistan reopens critical border crossing to Nato convoys. Heir-apparent and new missiles appear at North Korean military parade. Kyrgyz voters avoid violence in parliamentary election. Budget woes constrain UN war crimes tribunals. All this and more in today’s security briefing.

The background to Osh: stories of conflict and coexistence

Nick Megoran 11 October 2010
Reporting of the ethnic clashes that took place in the Kyrgyz city of Osh this summer has tended to spotlight the victimhood of either ethnic Kyrgyz or ethnic Uzbeks. This polarisation is but a reflection of competing historical narratives of Osh’s ethnic identity, writes Dr Nick Megoran.

SCR 1325: just words on a piece of paper

Lyric Thompson 11 October 2010

"SCR 1325 is a tool, and the utility of a tool depends on how it is perceived and how activists employ it. So we have this resolution. Great; so what? Tell me how we can get people fired up on the ground." Peace laureate Jody Williams talks to Lyric Thompson.

Chinese dissident wins nobel peace prize

Oliver Scanlan 8 October 2010
The Nobel Peace prize is awarded to one of China’s foremost dissidents. Mohammad Abbas is set to seek Arab League backing for suspending dialogue with Israel over settlement construction. For the first time, a civilian peacekeeper has been abducted in the capital of Darfur. All this and more, in today’s security update…

This isn't the end of the far right in India

Samir Jeraj 8 October 2010
To some observers, the recent Ayodhya verdict and lack of mass ethnic violence in India indicates the softening of nationalist tensions. But the subtler, more powerful and pervasive side of Hindu Nationalism in civil society will ensure that this is not the twilight of ethnic strife.

Afghanistan betrayed

Carlo Ungaro 8 October 2010
An overly obtuse and childish mentality by the Allied forces in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2006 has had devastating consequences for the mission. After destroying the country’s fragile social structure and abandoning the Afghan people, Carl Unargo argues that we will once again betray Afghanistan while celebrating with false confidence its “democratic” institutions.

Pakistan condemns US drone use in north-west

Josephine Whitaker 7 October 2010
Pakistan condemns US drone use in north-west as Pak-US relations hit new low. Attack on British Embassy in Yemen highlights declining security situation there. Ugandan president offers to send 20,000 troops to bolster UN peacekeepers in Somalia. Guinean officials agree to run-off presidential vote date after weeks of delay. All this and more in today's security briefing.

The AfPak endgame

Paul Rogers 7 October 2010
Behind the escalation of United States cross-border raids into Pakistan and of Taliban attacks on coalition tanker-convoys lie the cold political reality of an unwinnable war.

Kyiv’s Next Image Problem

Andreas Umland 6 October 2010
The vivid image of democracy - in colour orange - made many Europeans emotionally attached to the idea of Ukrainian EU membership. That is likely to change, writes Andreas Umland. The country is today facing a dangerous anti-democratic challenge — from the new President’s authoritarian turn on the one hand and from a new right-radical movement on the other.

NATO: fiddling with nuclear bombs while the planet burns

Rebecca Johnson 6 October 2010
Next month NATO members meet in Lisbon to agree on a new Strategic Concept. Rebecca Johnson argues that if we treated nuclear weapons as the previous century’s problem to be disposed of, instead of fetishizing them as instruments of high strategic value, we would stand a far better chance of maintaining global security

Ayodhya: verdict and consequence

Deep K Datta-Ray 5 October 2010
An Indian court’s ruling on the Hindu-Muslim dispute over the sacred site of Ayodhya sheds light on the relationship between two forms of rationality in India, says Deep K Datta-Ray.

This week's editor

Heather McRobie


Heather McRobie is a regular contributor to 50.50

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