I've put some new papers up on SSRN, you can view them at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=425153

My deepest thanks and appreciation to my co-authors! We're looking forward to hearing any comments people may have; post them here or write me at nomebner@creighton.edu .

Noam

I thought this extract would help some peace activists reflect.

The difference between the poor and rich nations is not the age of the Nation. This can be demonstrated by countries like India and Egypt, which are more than 2000 years old and are still poor countries.

On the other hand, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which is just 150 years back were insignificant, today are developed and rich countries. The difference between the poor and rich nation does not also…

Then you should take this survey.

In other words, it’s for people who read aid blogs.

Why should you bother? For one reason, it's short. It's also anonymous. And most notably, your interests and habits are important to us, the bloggers.

See what the @SmartAid folks and other bloggers have to say about the survey via…

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Syria and Bahrain: Two poles of the Arab revolt highlight a slide toward sectarianism

By James M. Dorsey

If Syria and Bahrain represent two poles of the 10-month old popular revolt sweeping the Middle East and North Africa, they also highlight the increasing danger of the uprising descending into a sectarian confrontation between Sunni and Shiite…

Hello everyone!

I am making an endeavor to establish a research institute namely Research Institute of Pakistan Affairs (RIPA). I need your experienced guidence and help in order to establish the institution. A brief introduction and proposed responsibilities of RIPA is as under:-

Introduction

Research Institute of Pakistan Affairs (RIPA) is an endeavor of the young researchers to carry out research on the issues of internal situation of country and to…

How does one commemorate 9/11 in a way that acknowledges the impact of lives lost ten years ago as the smoke rose against a balmy September sky?  How does one commemorate in a way that acknowledges the tens of thousands who have died around the world since that day from the aftershocks of 9/11? 

One of the ways the Center for…

Gadaffi’s intelligence files are being exposed, and there is a lot ammunition in them for various groups to condemn each otherwith.

 …

When my fraud complex kicks in and I question my competence, as I've done in situations like this, I ask myself what I'm really, really good at.

Malcolm Gladwell believes it takes 10,000 hours to become…

BANGLADESH & NETHERLANDS COOPERATION ON FLOOD RESEARCH

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

If there is any common denominator between Bangladesh and the Netherlands, it is this: floods! This is not to say that both countries are a-cursed by nature to be flood impounds of sorts, which is as ridiculous a hubris as it can get.

Both countries are prone to geo-hazards, and it remains as a gargantuan challenge for both to shift…

GENOMICS & RACIAL-ETHNIC DIVERSITY

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Genetic research & development (R&D) has gone a very long way since the time of theorizations of the same in the 19^th century. Genetics applied to human health had benefited immensely from genomics, albeit the samples utilized for the studies were largely of European (White) descent.

Conclusions generated from largely fixed samples raise…

We’ve all seen many participation typologies over the years. But with the one below, which I created when examining local partners’ final reports in 2009, I was trying to describe some simple categories of approaches to working with communities that local non-governmental organizations utilize. It was also meant to capture that fine line that can exist between a community-based organization (CBO) and a community,…

Who reads international aid and development blogs?

Wamkelekile! Welkom! Emukela! A warm Ubuntu welcome to you!



On behalf of the Global Alliance for Ministries and Departments of Peace and the South African Peace Alliance, we invite you to attend our Fifth Global Summit - October 2-6, 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa.



We are thrilled to…

Brad Heckman- ...We use a  facilitative approach to mediation at the New York Peace Institute -- with some transformative techniques thrown in. (I've written …

Is Iran Turning its Back on Syria? 

By James M. Dorsey

Synopsis

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s staunchest ally, Iran, is hinting that its support for the embattled leader is not unconditional. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is preparing for the likelihood that Assad will…

The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a relatively new international security and human rights norm to address international community's failure to prevent and stop genocides, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against…

Winners and losers in Libya: Western companies win, Chinese lose

By James M. Dorsey

The winners and losers in the competition for post-Qaddafi reconstruction contracts are starting to emerge as rebel officials turn their attention to rebuilding their nation’s severely damaged oil industry even as they are posed to attack the former Libyan leader’s last remaining…

PIONEERING ASEAN’S REGULATORY REFORM FRAME

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Instituting regulatory reform frameworks within the ASEAN is truly a tough job to perform. Being an evolving economic union, the first set of regulatory frames is naturally the trade regimes. This can move on to the financial-monetary regimes, which will be capped by the formation of the ASEAN Central Bank comes 2015 union.

But ASEAN has gone beyond the…

ASEAN-CHINA BILATERAL RELATIONS WARMING UP

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

ASEAN-China relations has been warm all along, save for the nuisance obtaining from the disputed territories. China’s flexing of its muscles by releasing its first aircraft carrier—indicative of its naval evolution from ‘brown water’ to ‘blue water’ navy—worked to escalate the tensions and insecurities of China’s neighbors particularly ASEAN, Taipeh, and Japan, tensions that…