Who is international crisis group

Please kindly follow the link to access the document: Crutch to Catalyst? According to the International Crisis Group, Zimbabwe is floundering, with little sign of meaningful reform and sustainable, broad-based recovery. Governance deficits, political violence, corruption, electoral reform, human rights and rule-of-law violations are deep challenges that must be faced.

Therefore, international actors should seek common ground and action that addresses these sensitive political challenges and also promote an inclusive, sustainable economic recovery.

Southern African Development Community SADC countries — South Africa, in particular — have specific interest in ensuring Zimbabwe recovers its position as a lynchpin of stability and an engine for regional development. To do so, they, the U.

Access the full report on Zimbabwe: Stranded in Stasis by following the link. ICG then presents recommendations to all implicated actors, national or international, state or non-state, in order to reduce tensions and restart the dialogue, prevent a descent into ethnic conflict and be ready to intervene in case of mass violence, and mitigate the impact of the economic and social crisis on the population.

The full report in French can also be downloaded. After almost 70 years of armed conflict that has targeted and devastated the lives of minority communities, the new government of Myanmar, which took power on 30 March , inherited a peace process. Seeking for a political settlement, the efforts are currently oriented towards the negotiations to convince the armed groups to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement NCA in order to have a broader political dialogue.

To ensure such goal, the government is recommended to demonstrate a less unilateral approach to the process in general and to guaranty that the civil society women and youth are fully and equally involved. However, several challenges are facing this process including the weak capacity of the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre NRPC , the forceful posture of the military on the ground, the difficulty to include all the parties of the political society and the fragility of the political and security environment.

This paper presents in its first part an overview on the roots of the peace process and its framework as well as the role played by the NCA. The second part will be devoted to the features of the new approach which has been set up and followed by the current government in order to tackle in priority the peace process.

Finally, the paper attempts to highlight the fundamental doubts concerning the peace process such as the possibility of implementing a negotiated federal solution, the concerns of sub-minorities and the question of the legitimacy of the negotiated solutions. This briefing paper analyses the current situation in Kyrgyzstan and highlights some factors which create a favourable environment for radical groups and the need for weaknesses such as high unemployment, inadequate education and absence of rule-of-law to be addressed for the state to be stable.

The author argues that the most effective response is to look for political solutions with the goal of winning over communities and thus reducing extremists' space.

He explains why, framing the response as "Countering Violent Extremism" CVE is a term that may alienate the communities needing help as well as give an excuse for more represseive policies if reconciliation fails. To access the briefing paper Kyrgyzstan: State Fragility and Radicalisation kindly follow the link. They also need to use their leverage and public positions to minimise violence while the political blockage continues.

This report is a detailed assessment on the failure of the UN-brokered peace process in Libya and on the unresolved pressing issues like worsening living conditions, control of oil facilities, people-smuggling, and the struggle against jihadist groups. The report concludes that regional and global actors involved in the diplomatic process over Libya should converge on common goals, push for a renegotiation of the accord, use their influence to restrain the belligerents and nudge them toward a political solution and participation in a security track.

The death toll in Turkey's Southeast rose nearly 10 per cent over the past three months as domestic political and regional dynamics propel the year-old conflict deeper into a more violent trend. This brief comprises of a multi-layered collection of open-source data collected over the past five years by Crisis Group to aid policymakers and public opinion better understand what exactly is happening and what options are available to de-escalate the conflict. But a policy of isolating the people living in these conflict regions narrows the road to peace.

Based on the daily experiences of people in regions of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Donetsk, Lugansk and Transnistria this paper sheds light on the daily life in conflicts that are unlikely to be resolved soon. To consolidate gains and bring lasting peace to the Far North, the government must now shift to long-term socioeconomic development, countering religious radicalism and reinforcing public services. For full access to the report Cameroon: Confronting Boko Haram available only in French , kindly follow the link.

It is important to know and acknowledge the perspectives of Rakhine Buddhists and their strongly-felt grievances. The report looks at the establishment of a new armed group, its objectives and international links; the response of the government and security forces; and the implications for the people of Rakhine State and the country.

Since then, Kiir has played a weak hand well, reconfiguring domestic and regional politics in his favour. The result has been calm in the capital, while national peace remains distant with much of the country under fragile local truces or in conflict. Regional and wider international powers should seize the opportunity to push strongly for inclusive national dialogue and negotiations with rebel groups focused on politics eg, governance arrangements , local security dynamics, the economy and communal relations rather than military-based solutions.

For full access to the report South Sudan: Rearranging the Chessboard , kindly follow the link. Central American gangs are responsible for brutal acts of violence, abuse of women and forced displacement of thousands. Based on interviews with officials and experts in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, this report discusses new forms of regional collaboration in law enforcement among the countries of the Northern Triangle.

Secondly, it looks at the current state of the military and to a lesser extent other security forces, considering recruitment issues, indiscipline, impunity, factionalisation, civil-military relations and life in the armed forces. Thirdly, it considers the efforts at army reform and lays out a way to make them succeed. This background report explains the challenges facing Guinea-Bissau. It is the first in a series of reports which will focus on the national and international policies needed to take the country out of its incessant cycle of political crises and become a point of stability in the region.

The lack of political will of successive Haitian governments has been the major factor but donor approaches have also suffered from flawed methodology. The earthquake that hit Haiti was the deadliest natural disaster ever in the Western Hemisphere. A long history of corrupt and inefficient governments, centralised political power, extremely inequitable income distribution and by no means always benign foreign interventions has been immensely compounded by the natural disaster.

This report surveys the Kosovo domestic legal system. More than two years after declaring independence, Kosovo struggles with uneven rule of law and a weak justice system that is failing its citizens.

The police, public prosecutors and courts are erratic performers, prone to political interference and abuse of office. Organised crime and corruption are widespread and growing. Realising that prosperity, relations with the European Union EU and affirmation as an independent state depend on the rule of law, the government has taken important steps, replacing key officials and passing long-delayed reforms.

But critical weaknesses remain, notably in the courts, and the government, supported by the international community, must act swiftly to curtail them. Two years on, the Burundi crisis shows little sign of resolution.

Political and ethnic polarisation are now tearing apart the integrity of the army, long seen as the primary achievement of the Arusha peace agreement in which brought an end to protracted civil conflict. For full access to Burundi: The Army in Crisis , kindly follow the link.

Il est plus urgent que jamais. Depuis deux ans, le Niger est en guerre contre Boko Haram. It is based on interviews with serving officers in Abuja, retired officers at various locations in the country, personnel involved in operations in the north east and the Niger Delta, defence scholars in research institutions and diplomats in Abuja. The International Crisis Group analyses the tensions surrounding Tunisia's fight against corruption and "revolutionary justice" measures. Can a renewed commitment by the political class on transitional justice prevent the further spread of corruption and defuse the risks of polarisation in the country?

It is part of a broader reflection on the changing nature of conflict and growing transnational threats, problems requiring novel solutions which regional bodies are well placed to find. This report also exists in French. Depuis octobre , le Cameroun traverse une crise politique.

The government and international actors must include their voices and address their injustices and difficult economic situation to ensure lasting peace. Reversing public distrust will need swift and effective implementation of the accord — including full apologies for past crimes and the visible handover of weapons by insurgents. As weak African states face growing insurgencies, they do what weak states tend to do: subcontract certain security functions to non-state actors or vigilante groups, many of which had taken up arms to protect their communities.

This approach at times is viewed as a necessity, but is often dangerous, particularly in politically fluid and fractious states. The more fragile the state, the more it is dependent on vigilantes, but also the less able it is to police them or prevent abuse of power. Reliance on vigilante groups often is a faute de mieux solution for states facing a threat they cannot address alone. But as the cases in this report illustrate, there are better and worse ways of doing so, and of ensuring that a short-term expedient not turn into a long-term headache.

For full access to Double-edged Sword: Vigilantes in African Counter-insurgencies , kindly follow the link. The front lines between the Ukrainian army and Moscow-backed forces in eastern Ukraine may be static but see frequent and violent firefights.

Diplomatic manoeuvering over new U. Another new dimension to the international struggle over Ukraine are competing proposals from Moscow and Kyiv for a new UN peacekeeping operation that would keep armed forces apart in the main conflict areas in eastern Ukraine. So far, however, it is unclear whether these are schemes designed to sow confusion or genuinely intended to lead to a separation of forces Weapons, UN Peacekeepers , kindly follow the link.

Extreme Buddhist nationalist positions including hate speech and violence are on the rise in Myanmar. For full access to Buddhism and State Power in Myanmar , kindly follow the link. To prevent the crisis from escalating, the government should strengthen security for herders and farmers, implement conflict resolution mechanisms and establish grazing reserves.

Resurgent armed groups in Central African Republic are killing many civilians and causing widespread displacement. Government forces and the UN are in a weak position, and there are no quick solutions.

To contain the violence, the government and international actors must agree on a roadmap for peace with armed groups that combines both incentives and coercive measures. For full access to the report Avoiding the Worst in Central African Republic , kindly follow the link.

A legitimate civilian government, economic improvement and an army that has lost credibility are an opportunity for Guinea-Bissau. Regional and international partners meeting in Brussels on 25 March should commit to finance security sector reform to help the small state move beyond its history of military coups.

Ouagadougou and its foreign partners recognise that their response requires more than military offensives and that a definitive resolution of the crisis hinges in part on the situation in Mali. However, their approach needs to better take account of the local and social roots of the crisis, which are more profound than its religious and security dimensions. It provides a detailed analysis of the relationship between the two institutions, identifying and assessing key points of divergence, elucidating concerns and complaints, and suggesting ways to strengthen future relations by bridging the divides that currently separate them.

To date, there is no evidence of jihadists making inroads among the separatist fronts fighting for what they see as liberation of their homeland, Patani. But the conflict and a series of ISIS scares in Thailand are fanning fears of a new terrorist threat. Such fears are not irrational, though are largely misplaced and should not obscure the calamity of the insurgency and the need to end it. Direct talks between insurgent leaders and the government are a priority; a decentralised political system could help address the principal grievances in the south while preserving the unitary Thai state.

The seventh anniversary of the 14 January Tunisian uprising is overshadowed by dangers of political polarisation and an illusory nostalgia for strong, centralised government. To save the sole successful Arab transition, the governing coalition should enact promised reforms, create a Constitutional court and hold long-delayed local elections. This briefing presents the Seven priorities for the African Union in , the AU having embarked on a potentially radical reform process, which if fully implemented could prove as significant as the transformation of the Organisation of African Unity into the African Union.

For full access to the report, Seven Priorities for the African Union in , please follow the link. From its inception in , the Islamic State ISIS has both recruited widely from the Maghreb and sought to build a presence there in multiple ways, from the creation of recruitment and operational cells to seizing and governing territory. In Tunisia, it has staged spectacular attacks aimed at undermining a democratic transition and made a failed attempt to seize control of territory.

In western Tunisia and eastern Algeria, some of its affiliates, in some cases drawn from jihadists previously aligned with al-Qaeda, conduct low-level guerrilla warfare in hard-to-reach mountainous areas. In Morocco, it has tried but failed to carry out operations but recruited hundreds. The relatively high numbers of Maghrebi fighters that have joined ISIS, particularly from Tunisia and Morocco, and its success in establishing itself in Libya, caused alarm in that the group could further ensconce itself in the Maghreb and destabilise a region at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Since then, however, ISIS has suffered setbacks in both its core territory in the Levant and in the Maghreb, as regional states, a variety of sub-state actors and international powers confronted it. Finally, it suggests principles to consolidate achievements against ISIS and address some of the underlying violent conflicts or political and societal tensions that create an enabling environment for jihadist recruitment.

How can the dizzying changes, intersecting crises and multiplying conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa since the Arab uprisings be best understood, let alone responded to? Attacks on the Burkina Faso army headquarters and the French Embassy on 2 March were better organised, involved heavier weapons and were more sustained than anything seen so far in Burkina Faso.

Four Central Asian states — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — have argued over their water resources since the collapse of the Soviet Union. At times these disputes have seemed to threaten war. The forthcoming presidential summit in Astana can help banish that spectre.

But the fact that key military units remained loyal to President Pierre Nkurunziza has not solved the crisis over his push to win a third five-year term in power. Burundi needs international peacekeeping missions to keep its troops paid and happy. Peacekeeping missions need Burundian troops. But for how long? The prospect of a UN peacekeeping force in Ukraine's Donbas offers a rare opening to discuss how to resolve the conflict.

But Moscow's diplomatic overtures also risk fueling political infighting in Kyiv in the run-up to next year's presidential and parliamentary elections.

This in-depth commentary looks at the opportunities, challenges and risks of a UN peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. A UN mission has largely succeeded in keeping the peace in Abyei, an oil-rich area claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan. But there has been less progress made on the mission's work in aiding political mechanisms to determine the final status of Abyei and demilitarise and demarcate the border.

As the UN Security Council debates the mission's scope, these mechanisms deserve ongoing support. It includes a global overview, regional summaries, and detailed analysis on select countries and conflicts. This annual early-warning report identifies conflict situations in which prompt action by the European Union and its member states would generate stronger prospects for peace.

On 29 May France will host a summit on Libya bringing together the country's four principal competing leaders to sign an agreement on a roadmap to new elections in It also highlights a number of problems with the proposed agreement as well as suggesting ways to improve the agreement's effectiveness. The new presidential administration in Zimbabwe offers an opportunity for much-needed democratic and economic reform after years of stagnation. There are four key areas on which the EU and its member states should focus its support: the security sector, elections, the economy and national reconciliation.

For full access to the article on Zimbabwe: An Opportunity for Reform? Zimbabwe is floundering, with little sign of meaningful reform and sustainable, broad-based recovery.

Conditions are likely to deteriorate further due to insolvency, drought and growing food insecurity. Economic constraints have forced Harare to deal with international financial institutions IFIs and Western capitals, but to regain the trust of donors, private investors and ordinary citizens, the government must become more accountable, articulate a coherent vision and take actions that go beyond personal, factional and party aggrandisement.

For full access to the article Zimbabwe: Stranded in Stasis , please kindly follow the link. A new insurgency is developing along the Niger-Mali border.

Jihadist groups, including a local Islamic State branch, have established a foothold in the region, exploiting recent instability in neighbouring Mali and insecurity that has plagued border areas for decades. The Nigerien government should adopt a more political approach including reconciliation among communities, dialogue, even with militants, and pardons for insurgents who have committed no serious crimes.

Western partners should subordinate their military operations to such an approach, which would be more in tune to local needs. Online Event, 2nd November Podcast U. German Foreign Policy After Merkel.

Online Event, 13th October United States. Online Event, 20th October Interactive U. Support Us Your investment helps us to meet the growing demand for our work as we confront a terrible trend toward more wars, more civilians killed and more people displaced worldwide.

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Austria Austrian Development Agency. Denmark Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Finland Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Ireland Department of Foreign Affairs. Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Crisis Group has campaigned for this outcome since , first as a lone voice and then in intimate engagement with the complex negotiations, presaging the breakthrough compromise.

We roll out an all-new website that better presents our long-form reports and shows off our fresh and attractive multimedia content. Average read times of our publications online double. Our reorganisation assigns top staff to specialise in cross-cutting areas of expertise. They showcase our thought leadership in debates on themes present in many conflicts: transnational violent jihadism; humanitarian fallout, including refugee crises; economic drivers; and the role of gender.

We build a new lineup of outputs alongside our gold-standard reports. More accessible commentaries appear in tandem with our main analytical publications. Briefings become shorter and sharper. Impact notes start to describe in public the complex, incremental way our conflict prevention methodology helps the cause of peace.

One impact note shows how the Colombia peace deal draws in part from our steady, fifteen-year engagement that included 36 reports and briefings and many hundreds of meetings. We pioneer the flexible approach to transitional justice that, while at first controversial, becomes a cornerstone of the peace accord. In , we organise a new consortium of French government agencies to steer France into a funding relationship with us, bring Germany back as a donor after a two-year gap. We win a bid for a second three-year partnership with the European Union that ensures the future of our much-read Watch List, a detailed quarterly early warning publication from a European perspective.

In we also turn our attention to upgrading our work in languages other than English. We start to publish regular simultaneous translations of publications in French and Spanish, and we open mass-mailing channels in these two languages.

The communications department also introduces a new campaigning strategy with our field analysts. Our new approach helps drive strong rises in citations, online media reach, website views and multimedia outputs. He was a Special Assistant to former U. This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Review our privacy policy for more details. Andes Central America. Overkill: Reforming the Legal Basis for the U. War on Terror.

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