International Security
Ahmed Rashid on Afghanistan and Pakistan
Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid discusses the
situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan with Charlie
Rose. This video is a timely summary of the region’s
difficulties.
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"...we keep them alive, until they are massacred."
09/04/08 07:44 Filed in: Human
Security | NGO Security
The Carnegie Council has an interesting presentation
by Jan Egeland, former UN Under-Secretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs, in which he introduces his
book, "A Billion Lives: An Eyewitness Report From the
Frontlines of Humanity". Its all good but a couple of
quotes really caught my attention.
Jan Egeland on the need for more than just humanitarian aid:
Jan on humanitarian security in a post UN Bahgdad bombing world:
You can watch a video excerpt of the presentation below.
If you have good bandwidth you can watch the full video presentation...
or you can listen to the audio archive...
or if your connection is very slow take a look at the transcript.
Jan Egeland on the need for more than just humanitarian aid:
"...in the old days, they said, "Send the Marines." Now it's, "Send the humanitarians. They will keep them alive, and we can maybe forget about it." Well, we keep them alive, until they are massacred."
Jan on humanitarian security in a post UN Bahgdad bombing world:
"...it is a watershed when we go from just preparing ourselves to survive in crossfire with militias, with child soldiers, with drunken soldiers, with mines, and so on—we have lots of procedures to survive in such circumstances, but we do not know how to survive when a well-financed, ruthless organization plans for one month to kill you."
You can watch a video excerpt of the presentation below.
If you have good bandwidth you can watch the full video presentation...
or you can listen to the audio archive...
or if your connection is very slow take a look at the transcript.
FORA.tv: Mohammed Hafez on Suicide Bombings in Iraq
05/04/08 18:14 Filed in: Security
I don't normally cover Iraq. There are more than
enough pundits doing so. However, in this case I am
going to make an exception for one simple reason:
Iraq is a testing ground for a new model of war. The
lessons learned in Iraq, by both sides, will be used
elsewhere in the world. By the very nature of where
NGOs tend to work they will be directly and
indirectly impacted by this new, rapidly evolving,
mode of conflict.
Suicide attacks seem to be a keystone tactic in this new conflict. Suicide attacks have a disproportionate effect on world political developments because of their targets, their apparent unpredictability and inevitability, and most of all the incredible psychological impact. NGOs can no longer be confident that they will not be the target of such attacks. Even when humanitarian workers are not directly targeted the places they frequent inevitably will be. Restaurants, hotels, night clubs, public gatherings, government buildings, and UN complexes have all been attacked by suicide bombers in recent years. To make matters worse suicide bombings are no longer rare events outside Iraq. They have increased in frequency in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other countries around the world.
In the two video clips below author Mohammed Hafez discusses the strategy and ideology of suicide bombing. They are well worth watching.
Question: How do INGOs, often viewed as proxies of western governments, protect themselves from suicide bombers?
Suicide attacks seem to be a keystone tactic in this new conflict. Suicide attacks have a disproportionate effect on world political developments because of their targets, their apparent unpredictability and inevitability, and most of all the incredible psychological impact. NGOs can no longer be confident that they will not be the target of such attacks. Even when humanitarian workers are not directly targeted the places they frequent inevitably will be. Restaurants, hotels, night clubs, public gatherings, government buildings, and UN complexes have all been attacked by suicide bombers in recent years. To make matters worse suicide bombings are no longer rare events outside Iraq. They have increased in frequency in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other countries around the world.
In the two video clips below author Mohammed Hafez discusses the strategy and ideology of suicide bombing. They are well worth watching.
Question: How do INGOs, often viewed as proxies of western governments, protect themselves from suicide bombers?
The Globe and Mail "Talking to the Taliban"
"Talking to the
Taliban" is a unique look at the attitudes
and motivations of the 'average' rank and file
Taliban fighter. This six part video series is
based on standardized interviews of 42 Taliban
insurgents conducted in five districts of
Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Topics of
discussion ranged from their motivations for
fighting, their world view, relations with
Pakistan and their views on suicide bombing.
This is a view of the Taliban that is stripped
of the myth, mystique and misunderstanding.
SIPRI, ISN and FIRST - Open Source Data at its Best
24/02/08 10:53 Filed in: Security
| Technology
I believe that publicly funded data (data from
governments, the UN and other world bodies, and
INGOs) should be truly public. By this I mean that
anyone can easily, and without cost, access the data
in a non-propietary format. No locked pdf files. No
password protected databases. No one-query-at-a-time,
one-answer-at-a-time forms. Just the data in a simple
user accessible format.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and the International Relations and Security Network (ISN) understand. They have teamed up to provide an integrated database known as FIRST . FIRST contains free, open source, clearly documented information from research institutes around the world. The databases filled with hard facts on armed conflict, peace keeping, arms production and trade, military expenditure, armed forces and conventional weapons holding, nuclear weapons, security, international relations, human rights, and health statistics. Most of the data can be exported in comma-seperated value (.csv) or Excel (.xls) formats. These formats are easily imported by many analytical tools allowing the user to carry out their own processing and analysis.
As an excellent example of what can be done with data from FIRST check out Jeffrey Warren's Vestal Design interactive data visualization of world-wide arms transactions. You can view the full Java-based visualization at ARMSFLOW. I love this kind of thing. Effective data visualization allows you to quickly present complex data to senior level decision makers without overwhelming them.
Now if only there was a way to get NGOs to share security incident data in the same way!
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and the International Relations and Security Network (ISN) understand. They have teamed up to provide an integrated database known as FIRST . FIRST contains free, open source, clearly documented information from research institutes around the world. The databases filled with hard facts on armed conflict, peace keeping, arms production and trade, military expenditure, armed forces and conventional weapons holding, nuclear weapons, security, international relations, human rights, and health statistics. Most of the data can be exported in comma-seperated value (.csv) or Excel (.xls) formats. These formats are easily imported by many analytical tools allowing the user to carry out their own processing and analysis.
As an excellent example of what can be done with data from FIRST check out Jeffrey Warren's Vestal Design interactive data visualization of world-wide arms transactions. You can view the full Java-based visualization at ARMSFLOW. I love this kind of thing. Effective data visualization allows you to quickly present complex data to senior level decision makers without overwhelming them.
Now if only there was a way to get NGOs to share security incident data in the same way!
The Global Risk Report Rank Ordered
"Sources and Methods" has a great post on rank
ordering the risks from the 2008 Global Risk Report.
I'm not really conversant with all the math but his
rank ordered list is pretty interesting. Where do you
suppose international terrorism ranks compared to a
pandemic? Or how about "failed and failing states"
compared to "natural catastrophe: earthquake?"
UN Staff Union Advises Staff to Skip Sri Lanka
18/12/07 08:35 Filed in: News
Sri Lanka is among the world’s most dangerous places
for aid workers according to the United Nations Staff
Union. According to these articles the union is
expected to advise staffers not to take postings to
Sri Lanka due to the security risks that aid workers
face. Although the union places much of the blame on
the government of Sri Lanka it also notes with
concern “the lukewarm response by UN officials in
supporting their own staff”.
Avoid Lanka: UN union tells staff
UN Staffers Union urges their Members to avoid Sri Lanka
Avoid Lanka: UN union tells staff
UN Staffers Union urges their Members to avoid Sri Lanka
The Security Implications of Global Climate Change
11/11/07 09:05 Filed in: NGO Security
| Security
"The
Age of Consequences: The Foreign Policy and
National Security Implications of Global Climate
Change" is must reading for NGOs and others
doing long term security assessments. It
examines the security implications of three
climate change scenarios. The consequences of
even the most moderate scenario are alarming:
* Large-scale human migration due to resource scarcity, increased frequency of extreme weather events, and other factors, particularly in the developing countries in the earth's low latitudinal band.
* Intensifying intra- and inter-state competition for food, water, and other resources, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.
* Increased frequency and severity of disease outbreaks.
* Heightened risk of state failure and regional conflagration.
* Significant shifts in the geostrategic roles of every major fuel type.
* Increased U.S. border stress due to the severe effects of climate change in parts of Mexico and the Caribbean.
* Increased uncertainty over how China's political leadership will respond to growing domestic and international pressure to become a "responsible stakeholder" in the global environment.
* Strain on the capacity of the United States -- and in particular the U.S. military -- to act as a "first responder" to international disasters and humanitarian crises due to their increased frequency, complexity, and danger.
* Growing demand for international institutions to play new and expanded roles in the management of refugee crises and in providing forums for the negotiation of climate agreements.
The chart on page 104 summarizes the potential impacts succinctly. It would serve as a very good starting point for any longer term planning discussions by NGOs and other stakeholders.
The report is the result of a joint Center for Strategic and International Studies and Center for New American Security project.
* Large-scale human migration due to resource scarcity, increased frequency of extreme weather events, and other factors, particularly in the developing countries in the earth's low latitudinal band.
* Intensifying intra- and inter-state competition for food, water, and other resources, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.
* Increased frequency and severity of disease outbreaks.
* Heightened risk of state failure and regional conflagration.
* Significant shifts in the geostrategic roles of every major fuel type.
* Increased U.S. border stress due to the severe effects of climate change in parts of Mexico and the Caribbean.
* Increased uncertainty over how China's political leadership will respond to growing domestic and international pressure to become a "responsible stakeholder" in the global environment.
* Strain on the capacity of the United States -- and in particular the U.S. military -- to act as a "first responder" to international disasters and humanitarian crises due to their increased frequency, complexity, and danger.
* Growing demand for international institutions to play new and expanded roles in the management of refugee crises and in providing forums for the negotiation of climate agreements.
The chart on page 104 summarizes the potential impacts succinctly. It would serve as a very good starting point for any longer term planning discussions by NGOs and other stakeholders.
The report is the result of a joint Center for Strategic and International Studies and Center for New American Security project.