BOOK
Federiga Bindi and Irina Angelescu, August 15, 2011
This comprehensive volume focuses not only on the European Union's
outward expansion, but also on the internal dynamics within EU states and
those states' abilities to deal with pressing issues such as terrorism, immigration, internal crime, and energy security. The EU must prioritize stability in both its enlargement strategy and its relations with the broader international neighborhood. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Elizabeth Ferris and Chareen Stark, November 04, 2010, The Brookings Institution
In a presentation to a conference in Beirut, Lebanon hosted by the American University of Beirut and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Elizabeth Ferris and Chareen Stark examine the evolution of the concept of civilian protection, the challenges of operationalizing protection, and what international organizations in other crises can learn from UNRWA. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Walter Kälin, October 26, 2009, United Nations General Assembly
Since 2004 there have been encouraging trends related to internal displacement. Walter Kälin notes that the use of the Guiding Principles as the relevant framework for protecting IDPs and the development of national and regional laws and policies on internal displacement have been positive trends. However, despite such positive trends, the challenges presented by climate change, the disregard for civilian populations in conflict zones, a shrinking humanitarian space, and protracted displacement situations still remain unchanged. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Elizabeth Ferris, July 07, 2009, UCLA Conference on Peace and Reconciliation: Embracing the Displaced
Displacement is one of the tragic consequences of conflict. Elizabeth Ferris argues that once a conflict ends, resolving displacement and preventing future displacement is inextricably linked with achieving a lasting peace. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Walter Kälin, June 30, 2009, Parliament of Serbia
It is positive, and a clear step forward, that Serbian authorities like the Serbian Commissioner for Refguees have started programs to help IDPs leave collective centers, move to their own houses, and regain their livelihoods. Yet, as Walter Kälin points out in an address to the Parliament of Serbia, bureaucratic obstacles continue to make it unnecessarily difficult for many IDPs to access public services. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Walter Kälin, June 24, 2009, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Debate on Protracted Displacement in Europe
Over the last few years, the internal displacement situation in Europe has remained stagnant. Europe continues to have more than 2.5 million IDPs, over 99% of whom find themselves in situations of protracted displacement. In order to improve the situation of IDPs in Europe, Walter Kälin argues that both the adoption of the Draft Resolution before the Parliamentary Assembly as well as a national laws and policies "would radically change the fate of these forgotten people." Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Roberta Cohen and Francis M. Deng, June 2009, International Security, Armaments and Disarmament in 2008, SIPRI Yearbook 2009
Massive displacement of people within and across borders has become a defining feature of the post-cold war world. It is also a major feature of human insecurity in which genocide, terrorism, egregious human rights violations and appalling human degradation wreak havoc on civilians. Though there has been a critical shift in thinking at the international level with regards to forced displacement, Cohen and Deng argue that concepts of sovereignty as responsibility and the responsibility to protect remain far ahead of international willingness and capacity to enforce them. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Rhodri C. Williams, December 2008, Forced Migration Review
The emergence of the right to post-displacement property restitution represents a significant development in human rights law in the ten years since the Guiding Principles were submitted. While Guiding Principle 29 has contributed to the development of this right, significant obstacles remain to its consistent application in displacement settings. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Walter Kälin, December 2008, Forced Migration Review
In this article, Walter Kälin explains that while it is hard to take an objective view on an enterprise in which you have been closely involved, he thinks that it is fair to say that over the last ten years the Guiding Principles have demonstrated their utility and impact but also their limitations. Read More
PAST EVENT
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
to
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Kyiv, Ukraine
On December 16-17, 2008, the Brookings Center on the United States and Europe, Yalta European Strategy and the Victor Pinchuk Foundation hosted a high-level conference in Kyiv, Ukraine as part of the “Frontiers of Europe” project. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Walter Kälin, November 26, 2008, Council of Europe, Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population
While Africa could be considered the continent of internal displacement because it has more than 12 of the roughly 25 million displaced by armed conflict worldwide, Europe, with its estimated 2.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), could be called the continent of protracted displacement, since 99% of Europe's remaining displaced fled their homes some 15-25 years ago. In recent years, some governments have taken important steps to improve their situation, but overall the situation of most IDPs remains a cause for concern. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Strobe Talbott, August 15, 2008, The Washington Post
Strobe Talbott asks whether Russian policy has changed with regard to the permanence of borders. Because of its "rampage" through Georgia, the next U.S. administration will have to reexamine the underlying basis for the whole idea of partnership with Russia and its continuing integration into a rule-based international community.
Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Peter W. Rodman, John Bolton and Lawrence Eagleburger, January 31, 2008, The Washington Times
Over Serbia's strong opposition, the U.S. and other western nations recognized Kosovo's February 17, 2008 declaration of independence. Prior to that action, Peter Rodman, John Bolton and Lawrence Eagleburger had argued that this could provoke Serbia and be viewed as a direct challenge to the Russian Federation. The authors also called a re-examination of U.S. policy toward the region. Read More
PAST EVENT
Thursday, November 29, 2007
11:00 AM to 12:30 PM
Washington, DC
On November 29, the Brookings Institution welcomed David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. Mr. Cameron discussed recent developments in the Balkans and the looming challenges to stability in the region. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Steven Pifer, November/December 2007, Problems of Post-Communism, Vol. 54, no. 6
Steven Pifer retraces the events of November-December 2004, analyzes the role of the European mediators, and offers steps the European Union can take to ensure that it can rener equally effective assistance in future political crises. Read More