The emblematic statement of the Nobel Peace Prize. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 13 No. 1, January 2013

From the Introduction. On October 12th the Nobel Committee announced that the annual Nobel Peace Prize would be awarded to the European Union for, “promoting peace, democracy and human rights over six decades”.1 This was a bit of good news for the EU who had produced nothing but bad press with the Euro Crisis, the bailouts of struggling countries like Greece, and protests in the southern member states of Spain, Portugal, and Italy. At such a momentous occasion the EU’s next challenge was to figure out who would be the rightful head of the EU to accept the award. The EU has made their decision by opting to send its top three officials Jose Manuel Barroso the President of the European Commission, Herman Van Rompuy the President of the European Council, and Martin Schulz the President of the European Parliament2 as a sign that the EU is not headed by one person but instead is an supranational economic and political bloc that seeks to unify the European continent. Their symbolic acceptance of the award is in response to what Geir Lundestad, the Secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, called, “an accumulated record.”3 This record has ushered the EU into the international spotlight as a beacon for countries in the EU’s periphery to want to join the bloc.

EU global peace diplomacy. CEPS Commentary, 15 October 2012

Steven Blockmans characterises the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the EU as “a marvellous honour and a much-needed boost" for an integration project that is suffering grave economic difficulties and considerable social unrest, but he regrets that the growing role of the EU to act as a peacemaker beyond its geographical borders was not acknowledged in the award announcement.

From chemical warfare to peace

Following the horrors of chemical warfare in two World Wars and the Vietnam War (see box), the international community worked to develop an encompassing treaty to prevent the use of chemical weapons. After extensive work, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction came into force in 1997. Commonly known as the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), it requires member states to declare and destroy chemical weapons and provides for inspection of facilities and investigation into alleged use. The CWC has been ratified by 190 countries and is administered by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Warfare (OPCW). In 2013, the OPCW won the Nobel Peace prize "for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons". Notable in the official announcement is the reminder that neither the US nor Russia met the 2012 deadline for destruction of their stockpiles of chemical weapons, although both have made significant progress. In July 2005, an invitational joint International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC)/OPCW Conference concluded that for the work of OPCW to succeed and be sustainable, engagement in formal educational contexts and public outreach was needed. To this end, the Multiple Uses of Chemicals website

The presidential persona paradox of Barack Obama : man of peace or war president?

On a wave of hope and rousing talk of building global bridges, President Barack Obama won office in 2008, in part on a pledge to end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. In contrast to his predecessor, who launched America into long, costly and ineffectual wars, Obama was seen to be more of a dove than a hawk. However, at the end of his two-term tenure America has been in a state of foreign belligerence for all eight years, making Obama the longest serving U.S. war president in history.The political persona of Obama as a dove originated with his opposition to the 2003 intervention in Iraq while he was still a senator. This was then cemented early in his presidency with his 2009 speech in Cairo, which seemed to signal a profound and optimistic realignment of America’s intentions towards the Middle East and its peoples. This speech was a watershed in defining his political persona and was instrumental in his being the only U.S. president to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize while still in office. However, during his term the underlying political landscape of the Middle East changed significantly, with the withdrawal from then return to Iraq, the nuclear agreement with Iran, the increasingly chaotic legacy of the Arab Spring, the continued impasse of the Israel-Palestinian peace, the disintegration of Yemen and Libya and the rise of the Islamic State as the new threat in the political vacuum of northern Iraq and eastern Syria, and a resurgent Russian role in the region. All of these have provided novel challenges to Washington and a president attempting to live up to the positivity of his early days in office.At the end of his presidency Obama is faced with a public burned by the disappointments of the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns and the new entanglements in the Middle East. This paper seeks to offer insights into the juxtaposition of Obama’s political persona and reality, as well as exploring what his political legacy might really be.

Cents and Sustainability : Securing Our Common Future by Decoupling Economic Growth from Environmental Pressures

The focus of Cents and Sustainability is to respond to the call by Dr Gro Brundtland in the seminal book Our Common Future to achieve, 'a new era of economic growth - growth that is forceful and at the same time socially and environmentally sustainable'. With the 20th anniversary of Our Common Future in 2007, it is clearly time to re-examine this important work in a modern global context. Using the framework of ‘Decoupling Economic Growth from Environmental Pressures’, Cents and Sustainability investigates a range of new evidence and research in order to develop a deeper understanding of how, and under what conditions, this 'forceful sustainable growth' is possible. With an introduction by Dr Jim MacNeill (former Secretary General to the Brundtland Commission, and former Director, OECD Environment Directorate 1978 -1984), the book will carry forewords from Dr Gro Brundtland (former Chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development), Dr Rajendra Pachauri (Chief, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and joint recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC), and Dr Kenneth Ruffing (former Deputy Director and Chief Economist of the OECD Environment Directorate 2000 - 2005). Beginning with a detailed explanation of decoupling theory, along with investigation into a range of issues and barriers to its achievement, the book then focuses on informing national strategies for decoupling. Then putting this into action the book focuses on five key areas of decoupling, namely greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, freshwater extraction, waste production, and air pollution, and in each case showing compelling evidence for significant cost effective reductions in environmental pressures. The book concludes with a detailed case study of the groundbreaking application of public interest litigation to combat air pollution in Delhi, India.

The European Union and Peacebuilding: The Cross-Border Dimension

The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union in 2012 was a reminder of the role of European integration in peacebuilding after the Second World War. For the 'Founding Fathers' of the European integration project, cross-border-cooperation was an integral element in building Europe's peace. Yet, in a Western Europe largely at peace for generations, peacebuilding as a relevant objective for European integration may be questioned. Moreover, the contribution of cross-border cooperation to conflict amelioration may be challenged on the grounds of its overwhelming economic focus. However, enlargement into Central Eastern Europe highlights once again the necessity of a peacebuilding objective for the European Union because of the multitude of real and potential conflicts encompassed within its expanded policy orbit. Drawing on evidence from selected 'borderscapes', this study examines 25 years of European Union cross-border cooperation as conflict amelioration and assesses its prospects in a political climate that emphasises borders as security barriers.

Análisis del papel del Dalai Lama en relación con la movilización internacional en defensa de los derechos humanos, en el caso China - Tibet, periodo de estudio: 1989 - 2008

Luego de obtener el premio Nobel de paz, el XIV Dalai Lama inició una estrategia de movilización internacional para obtener la Luego de obtener el premio Nobel de paz, el XIV Dalai Lama inició una estrategia de movilización internacional para obtener la independencia tibetana. El trabajo ilustra las reacciones del gobierno de la República Popular frente a la posición del líder tibetano y finalmente presenta un anàlisis de la estrategia del Dalai Lama.

La pelota no se mancha: Un estudio histórico sobre el desarrollo y la política en FIFA

Esta investigación se centra en la Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) como organización política. Intenta responder dos interrogantes primordiales: 1) ¿cómo la FIFA ha constituido el poder que tiene actualmente y, así, hacerse del monopolio indiscutido del fútbol? Y 2) ¿cómo ha cambiado en el tiempo la política interna de FIFA y su vínculo con la política internacional? Para lograr esto, se realiza un estudio histórico, basado principalmente en documentos, que intenta caracterizar y analizar los cambios de la organización en el tiempo. Se enfatizan las últimas dos presidencias de FIFA, de João Havelange y Joseph Blatter, como casos de estudio.

A União Europeia, actor da segurança humana

O presente ensaio pretende situar o conceito de Segurança Humana no seio de uma vasta reflexão académica que entronca nas questões de segurança e reflectir sobre se a Segurança Humana, enquanto abordagem académica aparentemenete demasiado ampla e indefinida, é operacionável pela União Europeia enquanto actor de gestão de crises internacionais. Terminamos com a lembrança da atribuição do Prémio Nobel da Paz à União Europeia, questionando o impacto desta distinção no projecto normativo dos pequenos passos e da solidariedade partilhada que os seus pais fundadores preconizaram.

Good practice in microfinance: the challenges of a poverty focus in an evolving industry

The awarding of the 2006 Nobel Peace prize to Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus has further highlighted how microfinance has come to be regarded as a significant and effective tool in making finance available to the poor. However, much debate still centres on both how microfmance should be delivered and its effectiveness measured. Microfinance funding is not something that should be undertaken lightly, and an awareness of all the cogent issues is essential for any donor looking to undertake effective microfinance programming. This chapter will outline some of the key arguments in the contested debate on effective microfinance programming. It will focus on a discussion of poverty and impact assessments and argues that the effective funding of microfinance is dependent on the ability of an NGO to recognise the many forms which micro finance can take and direct their funding accordingly.

Correspondentes bancários e microcrédito no Brasil: tecnologia bancária e ampliação dos serviços financeiros para a população de baixa renda

Dois importantes fenômenos têm sido observados recentemente nos mercados financeiros: microcrédito e correspondentes bancários. Microcrédito, ressaltado pelo Nobel da Paz que foi concedido em 2006 a Muhammad Yunus pelo seu trabalho no Grammen Bank, está cada vez mais sendo reconhecido como um poderoso instrumento de geração de renda e redução de pobreza nos países em desenvolvimento. Correspondente bancário, que tem tido um recente destaque particularmente no Brasil, está relacionado com a criação de canais de oferta de serviços financeiros em estabelecimentos de varejo, resultando em baixos custos de distribuição e ampliação da penetração dos serviços bancários direcionados à população de baixa renda. Apesar de terem sido ambos, microcrédito e correspondentes bancários, desenvolvidos com foco nas populações de baixa renda, na prática existe pouca interação entre eles. Este estudo apresenta uma investigação sobre o potencial dos correspondentes como canal de distribuição do microcrédito. Foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa com alguns dos principais atores ligados tanto ao universo dos correspondentes bancários quanto ao das microfinanças. Os resultados sugerem que adaptações ao do modelo dominante atualmente de correspondente pode gerar oportunidades para os bancos, as organizações de microfinanças e para a população de baixa renda no Brasil.