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KAS International Reports 10/2015
38 KAS INTERNATIONAL REPORTS 10|2015 MICROSTATE AND SUPERPOWER THE VATICAN IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS Christian E. Rieck / Dorothee Niebuhr At the end of September, Pope Francis met with a triumphal reception in the United States. But while he performed the first canonisation on U.S. soil in Washington and celebrated mass in front of two million faithful in Philadelphia, the attention focused less on the religious aspects of the trip than on the Pope’s vis- its to the sacred halls of political power. On these occasions, the Pope acted less in the role of head of the Church, and therefore Christian E. Rieck a spiritual one, and more in the role of diplomatic actor. In New is Desk officer for York, he spoke at the United Nations Sustainable Development Development Policy th and Human Rights Summit and at the 70 General Assembly. In Washington, he was in the Department the first pope ever to give a speech at the United States Congress, of Political Dialogue which received widespread attention. This was remarkable in that and Analysis at the Konrad-Adenauer- Pope Francis himself is not without his detractors in Congress and Stiftung in Berlin he had, probably intentionally, come to the USA directly from a and member of visit to Cuba, a country that the United States has a difficult rela- its Working Group of Young Foreign tionship with. Policy Experts. Since the election of Pope Francis in 2013, the Holy See has come to play an extremely prominent role in the arena of world poli- tics. The reasons for this enhanced media visibility firstly have to do with the person, the agenda and the biography of this first non-European Pope. -
Lesotho the Commonwealth Yearbook 2014 the Commonwealth Yearbook the Most Significant Issue Is Overgrazing, Resulting Maseru (Capital, Pop
Lesotho Lesotho KEY FACTS Africa is Thabana–Ntlenyana (3,842 metres) in eastern Lesotho. The land descends to the west to an arable belt, known as the Joined Commonwealth: 1966 lowlands, where the capital is situated and two-thirds of the Population: 2,052,000 (2012) population live. The country is well-watered in a generally dry GDP p.c. growth: 2.8% p.a. 1990–2012 region, the Orange river and its tributary the Caledon both rising in UN HDI 2012: world ranking 158 Lesotho. Official languages: Sesotho, English Climate: The climate is temperate with well-marked seasons. The Time: GMT plus 2hr rainy season (receiving 85 per cent of total precipitation) is October Currency: loti, plural maloti (M) to April, when there are frequent violent thunderstorms. Rainfall averages 746 mm p.a. Temperatures in the lowlands range from Geography 32.2°C to –6.7°C; the range is much greater in the mountains. From May to September, snow falls in the highlands with heavy Area: 30,355 sq km frosts occurring in the lowlands. Coastline: none Capital: Maseru Environment: The most significant issue is overgrazing, resulting The Kingdom of Lesotho is a small landlocked country entirely in severe soil erosion and desertification. surrounded by South Africa. It is known as the ‘Mountain Vegetation: Mainly grassland and bushveld, with forest in ravines Kingdom’, the whole country being over 1,000 metres in altitude. and on the windward slopes of mountains. Forest covers one per The country is divided into ten districts, each named after the cent of the land area and arable land comprises ten per cent. -
Mediation Start-Up GUIDELINES 2011
UNITED NATIONS DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL AFFAIRS Mediation Start-up GUIDELINES 2011 POLICY AND MEDIATION DIVISION DPA MEDIATION SUPPORT UNIT While much guidance has been written on the art of mediation itself, very little attention has been paid to operational aspects. These Guidelines seek to fill this gap by providing guidance to managers, desk officers and field staff of the UN Department of Politi- cal Affairs (DPA) on the start-up and establishment of mediation initiatives led, co-led or supported by the United Nations. Their purpose is to consolidate DPA’s institutional knowledge on strategy develop- ment, planning, support and coordination aspects of mediation initiatives. www.un.org/depts/dpa www.un.org/peacemaker United Nations New York, 2011 iii UN/DPA Mediation Start-up Guidelines Contents click on any title to jump to its location A. RATIONALE AND PURPOSE . 1 B. SCOPE . 3 C. GUIDELINES . 5 1. Introduction: overview of the start-up phase and specific objectives . 5 2. Sequencing priorities in the short and medium term . 8 PART I. STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR MEDIATION ENGAGEMENTS . 11 3. Assessment and decision-making . 11 3.1. Understanding a conflict and opportunities for resolution: Click on any title to title any on Click conflict analysis . 11 jump to its location 3.2. Mediation vs. other forms of third-party intervention . 12 3.3. The importance of strategic coordination with other actors . 14 3.4. Leadership of the mediation effort . 16 3.5. Deciding on a mode of engagement . 18 3 .5 .1 . Indirect roles . 19 3 .5 .1 .1 . Diplomatic support for a process led by another organization . -
U.S. Engagement in Libya: Diplomacy in a Protracted Conflict
U.S. Engagement in Libya: Diplomacy in a Protracted Conflict January 2019 AUTHORS Princeton University | Woodrow Wilson School | 3 U. S. Engagement in Libya: Diplomacy in a Protracted Conflict Authors Advisor Jessie Durrett Amb. (r) Daniel Kurtzer James Fromson Sakari Ishetiar Hanna Kim Amn Nasir Mia Newman Sepideh Soltaninia 4 | U . S . Engagement i n L i b y a PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS _____________________________________________________________________________________ This is the final report of a 2018 Policy Ambassador Kurtzer, anyone interviewed for Workshop, the capstone project of the Master this workshop, or any individual student. in Public Affairs program at Princeton We would like to thank Dean Cecilia E. Rouse, University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public Associate Dean Karen McGuinness, Associate and International Affairs, produced by 10 Director of Finance and Administration Jeffrey graduate students under the direction of Oakman, Faculty Assistant Bernadette Yeager, Daniel Kurtzer, former U.S. Ambassador to and everyone at the Woodrow Wilson School Egypt and Israel. who helped make this workshop possible. This report is based on nearly 50 interviews conducted with Libyan and international diplomats, policymakers, UN personnel, researchers, NGO staff, Libyan civil society leaders, and journalists in the United States, Tunisia, and Egypt. All interviews, both in English and Arabic, were conducted off-the- record to ensure interlocutors’ maximum candor. Desk review of primary documents (Arabic and English) and secondary literature related to Libya also informs this report. As a collaborative project, the report does not represent the views of Princeton University, 1 1 Cover Image: “Libyan Rebels Fighting Forces of Gadhafi: Libyan Conflict”, courtesy of Global Military Review. -
Preventive Diplomacy: Regions in Focus
Preventive Diplomacy: Regions in Focus DECEMBER 2011 INTERNATIONAL PEACE INSTITUTE Cover Photo: UN Secretary-General ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ban Ki-moon (left) is received by Guillaume Soro, Prime Minister of IPI owes a debt of thanks to its many donors, whose Côte d'Ivoire, at Yamoussoukro support makes publications like this one possible. In partic - airport. May 21, 2011. © UN ular, IPI would like to thank the governments of Finland, Photo/Basile Zoma. Norway, and Sweden for their generous contributions to The views expressed in this paper IPI's Coping with Crisis Program. Also, IPI would like to represent those of the authors and thank the Mediation Support Unit of the UN Department of not necessarily those of IPI. IPI Political Affairs for giving it the opportunity to contribute welcomes consideration of a wide range of perspectives in the pursuit to the process that led up to the Secretary-General's report of a well-informed debate on critical on preventive diplomacy. policies and issues in international affairs. IPI Publications Adam Lupel, Editor and Senior Fellow Marie O’Reilly, Publications Officer Suggested Citation: Francesco Mancini, ed., “Preventive Diplomacy: Regions in Focus,” New York: International Peace Institute, December 2011. © by International Peace Institute, 2011 All Rights Reserved www.ipinst.org CONTENTS Introduction . 1 Francesco Mancini Preventive Diplomacy in Africa: Adapting to New Realities . 4 Fabienne Hara Optimizing Preventive-Diplomacy Tools: A Latin American Perspective . 15 Sandra Borda Preventive Diplomacy in Southeast Asia: Redefining the ASEAN Way . 28 Jim Della-Giacoma Preventive Diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula: What Role for the United Nations? . 35 Leon V. -
Chapter 2: Democracy, Democratic Consolidation, Chieftainship and Its
Consolidating Democracy through integrating the Chieftainship Institution with elected Councils in Lesotho: A Case Study of Four Community Councils in Maseru A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Rhodes University By Motlamelle Anthony Kapa December 2010 Abstract This study analyses the relationship between the chieftainship institution and the elected councils in Lesotho. Based on a qualitative case study method the study seeks to understand this relationship in four selected councils in the Maseru district and how this can be nurtured to achieve a consolidated democracy. Contrary to modernists‟ arguments (that indigenous African political institutions, of which the chieftainship is part, are incompatible with liberal democracy since they are, inter alia, hereditary, they compete with their elective counterparts for political power, they threaten the democratic consolidation process, and they are irrelevant to democratising African systems), this study finds that these arguments are misplaced. Instead, chieftainship is not incompatible with liberal democracy per se. It supports the democratisation process (if the governing parties pursue friendly and accommodative policies to it) but uses its political agency in reaction to the policies of ruling parties to protect its survival interests, whether or not this undermines democratic consolidation process. The chieftainship has also acted to defend democracy when the governing party abuses its political power to undermine democratic rule. It performs important functions in the country. Thus, it is still viewed by the country‟s political leadership, academics, civil society, and councillors as legitimate and highly relevant to the Lesotho‟s contemporary political system. Because of the inadequacies of the government policies and the ambiguous chieftainship-councils integration model, which tend to marginalise the chieftainship and threaten its survival, its relationship with the councils was initially characterised by conflict. -
1.The Challenges of 21St-Century Diplomacy
Introduction Oxford Handbooks Online Introduction: The Challenges of 21st-Century Diplomacy Andrew F. Cooper, Jorge Heine, and Ramesh Thakur The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy Edited by Andrew F. Cooper, Jorge Heine, and Ramesh Thakur Print Publication Date: Mar 2013 Subject: Political Science, International Relations, Political Institutions Online Publication Date: Aug DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199588862.013.0001 2013 Abstract and Keywords This introductory article first sets out the book’s main purpose, which is to display the importance of diplomacy along with its attendant capacity for adaptation. It then discusses the nature and meaning of diplomacy, its emerging patterns of practice, and its relevance for not only policy-makers but also a wider cast of actors and set of social interaction. The subject matter of diplomacy has expanded, from the high politics of war and peace to health, environment, development, science and technology, education, law, and the arts. Diplomats are engaged in an expanding range of functions, from negotiation, communication, consular, representation, and reporting to observation, merchandise trade and services promotion, cultural exchange, and public relations. At the same time, with more work has come a greater amount of ‘bureaucratization’, where routine, precedent, and standard operating procedures dominate the daily administrative tasks. Keywords: diplomacy, adaptation, diplomatic practice, social interaction ‘Can it be that in wading through the plethora of business plans, capability reviews . and other excrescences of the management age, we have indeed forgotten what diplomacy is all about?’—Sir Ivor Roberts, the departing British ambassador to Italy.1 The essence of diplomacy has never disappeared. Yet amid the complexities of the 21st century, the manner by which these core ingredients express themselves can be overshadowed by a myriad of contextual factors both structural and situational. -
International Relations in a Changing World: a New Diplomacy? Edward Finn
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN A CHANGING WORLD: A NEW DIPLOMACY? EDWARD FINN Edward Finn is studying Comparative Literature in Latin and French at Princeton University. INTRODUCTION The revolutionary power of technology to change reality forces us to re-examine our understanding of the international political system. On a fundamental level, we must begin with the classic international relations debate between realism and liberalism, well summarised by Stephen Walt.1 The third paradigm of constructivism provides the key for combining aspects of both liberalism and realism into a cohesive prediction for the political future. The erosion of sovereignty goes hand in hand with the burgeoning Information Age’s seemingly unstoppable mechanism for breaking down physical boundaries and the conceptual systems grounded upon them. Classical realism fails because of its fundamental assumption of the traditional sovereignty of the actors in its system. Liberalism cannot adequately quantify the nebulous connection between prosperity and freedom, which it assumes as an inherent truth, in a world with lucrative autocracies like Singapore and China. Instead, we have to accept the transformative power of ideas or, more directly, the technological, social, economic and political changes they bring about. From an American perspective, it is crucial to examine these changes, not only to understand their relevance as they transform the US, but also their effects in our evolving global relationships.Every development in international relations can be linked to some event that happened in the past, but never before has so much changed so quickly at such an expansive global level. In the first section of this article, I will examine the nature of recent technological changes in diplomacy and the larger derivative effects in society, which relate to the future of international politics. -
Societe Generale Ghana 2019 Annual Report
ANNUAL REPORT 2019 2019 ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Major Events WE INTRODUCED NEW INNOVATIONS Electronic billboard to communicate Our 24/7 drive-in ATM to the public about our product offers at Achimota branch & Our solar project. A cleaner, more effective energy source at our head office WE LAUNCHED NEW SERVICES 2019 Major Events WE LAUNCHED EXCITING COMMERCIAL PROMOTIONS & CAMPAIGNS Loans Promotion Deposit and Win Promotion WE OPENEDM ORE OUTLETS Achimota Branch Osu Branch TABLE OF CONTENTS Overview 02 Notice and agenda for annual general meeting Corporate Governance 03 Corporate information 04 Profile of the board of directors 07 Key management personnel Strategic report 10 Chairman's statement 13 Managing director’s review Financial statements 16 Report of the directors 31 Statement of directors responsibilities 32 Independent report of the auditors 36 Financial highlights 38 Statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income 39 Statement of financial position 40 Statement of changes in equity 41 Statement of cash flows 42 Notes to financial statement 94 Proxy form 95 Resolutions 97 Branch network 2019 ANNUAL REPORT & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 1 Notice and Agenda NOTICE AND AGENDA FOR ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT the 40th Annual General Meeting of Societe Generale Ghana Limited (the “Company”) will be held on Thursday, 26 March 2020 at 11am at the Alisa Hotel, Ridge Arena, Accra Ghana for the following purpose:- Ordinary Business: Ordinary Resolutions 1. To elect Directors, the following directors appointed 5. To approve Directors’ fees. during the year and retiring in accordance with Section 72(1) of the Company’s Regulations: 6. -
PRESS RELEASE PR. No 105/2020 SOCIETE
PRESS RELEASE PR. No 105/2020 SOCIETE GENERALE GHANA LIMITED (SOGEGH) - 2019 ANNUAL REPORT SOGEGH has released its Annual Report for the year ended 31 December, 2019 as per the attached. Issued in Accra, this 18th day of March, 2020. - E N D – att’d. Distribution: 1. All LDMs 2. General Public 3. Company Secretary, SOGEGH 4. NTHC Registrars, (Registrars for SOGEGH shares) 5. GSE Securities Depository 6. Securities & Exchange Commission 7. Custodian 8. GSE Council Members 9. GSE Notice Board For enquiries, contact: Head of Listings, GSE on 0302 669908, 669914, 669935 *GA ANNUAL REPORT 2019 2019 ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2019 Major Events WE INTRODUCED NEW INNOVATIONS Electronic billboard to communicate Our 24/7 drive-in ATM to the public about our product offers at Achimota branch & Our solar project. A cleaner, more effective energy source at our head office WE LAUNCHED NEW SERVICES 2019 Major Events WE LAUNCHED EXCITING COMMERCIAL PROMOTIONS & CAMPAIGNS Loans Promotion Deposit and Win Promotion WE OPENEDM ORE OUTLETS Achimota Branch Osu Branch TABLE OF CONTENTS Overview 02 Notice and agenda for annual general meeting Corporate Governance 03 Corporate information 04 Profile of the board of directors 07 Key management personnel Strategic report 10 Chairman's statement 13 Managing director’s review Financial statements 16 Report of the directors 31 Statement of directors responsibilities 32 Independent report of the auditors 36 Financial highlights 38 Statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income 39 Statement of financial position 40 Statement of changes in equity 41 Statement of cash flows 42 Notes to financial statement 94 Proxy form 95 Resolutions 97 Branch network 2019 ANNUAL REPORT & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 1 Notice and Agenda NOTICE AND AGENDA FOR ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT the 40th Annual General Meeting of Societe Generale Ghana Limited (the “Company”) will be held on Thursday, 26 March 2020 at 11am at the Alisa Hotel, Ridge Arena, Accra Ghana for the following purpose:- Ordinary Business: Ordinary Resolutions 1. -
Ethnolinguistic Favoritism in African Politics
Ethnolinguistic Favoritism in African Politics Andrew Dickensy 10 August 2016 I document evidence of ethnic favoritism in 164 language groups across 35 African countries using a new computerized lexicostatistical measure of relative similarity between each language group and their incumbent national leader. I measure patronage with night light lu- minosity, and estimate a positive effect of linguistic similarity off of changes in the ethnolinguistic identity of a leader. Identification of this effect comes from exogenous within-group time-variation among lan- guage groups partitioned across national borders. I then corroborate this evidence using survey data and establish that the benefits of fa- voritism result from a region's associated ethnolinguistic identity and not that of the individual respondent. yYork University, Department of Economics, Toronto, ON. E-mail: [email protected]. I am indebted to Nippe Lagerl¨offor his encouragement and detailed feedback throughout this project. I thank Matthew Gentzkow and two anonymous referees for helpful sugges- tions that have greatly improved this paper. I also thank Tasso Adamopoulos, Greg Casey, Mario Carillo, Berta Esteve-Volart, Rapha¨elFranck, Oded Galor, Fernando Leibovici, Ste- lios Michalopoulos, Stein Monteiro, Laura Salisbury, Ben Sand, Assaf Sarid and David Weil for helpful comments, in addition to seminar participants at the Brown University Macro Lunch, the Royal Economic Society's 2nd Symposium for Junior Researches, the PODER Summer School on \New Data in Development Economics", the Canadian Economics As- sociation Annual Conference and York University. This research is funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. All errors are my own. 1 Introduction Ethnolinguistic group affiliation is a salient marker of identity in Africa. -
Essays on the Economics of Ethnolinguistic Differences
Essays on the Economics of Ethnolinguistic Differences Andrew C. Dickens A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ECONOMICS YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO APRIL 2017 c Andrew C. Dickens, 2017 Abstract In this dissertation, I study the origins and economic consequences of ethnolinguistic differences. To quantify these differences, I construct a lexicostatistical measure of linguistic distance. I use this measure to study two different outcomes: ethnic politics and cross-country idea flows. I then take the economic importance of ethnolinguistic differences as given, and explore the geographic foundation of these differences. In chapter 1, I document evidence of ethnic favoritism in 35 sub-Saharan countries. I use lexi- costatistical distance to quantify the similarity between an ethnic group and the national leader’s ethnic identity. I find that a one standard deviation increase in similarity yields a 2 percent in- crease in group-level GDP per capita. I then use the continuity of lexicostatistical similarity to show that favoritism exists among groups that are not coethnic to the leader, where the mean ef- fect of non-coethnic similarity is one quarter the size of the coethnic effect. I relate these results to the literature on coalition building, and provide evidence that ethnicity is a guiding principle behind high-level government appointments. In chapter 2, I use book translations data to capture cross-country idea flows. It has been conjectured that income gaps are smaller between ancestrally related countries because they com- municate more ideas.