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Matthew Cordell

Wednesday Morning Coffee

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>>Georgia - Russia has accused Georgia of amassing 1,500 soldiers in the upper Kodori gorge and threatened to retaliate if Georgia uses force in Abkhazi. Russia also stated that it is increasing its force levels in Abkhazi and South Ossetia. Georgia denies that it is building up troops and called the Russian action a pure provocation. EU foreign policy minister Javier Solana urged restraint during a meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. Russia has kept a peacekeeping force in Abkhazia and South Ossetia since the 1990s, when the regions broke away from Tbilisi and formed links with Moscow. There are around 2,000 Russians posted in Abkhazia and about 1,000 in South Ossetia.

>>India - President Ahmadenijad met with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday in an attempt to seal a $7.6 billion pipeline deal, under the strenuous objection of the U.S. The pipeline would be completed by 2012 and would initially transport 60 million cubic meters of gas a day to Pakistan and India. The U.S. had suggested that India instead use Ahmadenijad's visit to press Iran to stop nuclear enrichment. India responded that it didn't need any "guidance" in bilateral relations.

>>Turkey - Turkey's parliament has approved legislation that softens penalties the EU has criticized for limiting free speech. Since 2003, Article 301 of the penal code has been used to prosecute hundreds, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk, for "insulting Turkishness." Critics contend that the softening didn't go far enough; insulting the Turkish nation still carries a two-year penalty.

Yesterday in UN Dispatch

Wednesday Morning Coffee

Top Stories

>>Georgia - Russia has accused Georgia of amassing 1,500 soldiers in the upper Kodori gorge and threatened to retaliate if Georgia uses force in Abkhazi. Russia also stated that it is increasing its force levels in Abkhazi and South Ossetia. Georgia denies that it is building up troops and called the Russian action a pure provocation. EU foreign policy minister Javier Solana urged restraint during a meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. Russia has kept a peacekeeping force in Abkhazia and South Ossetia since the 1990s, when the regions broke away from Tbilisi and formed links with Moscow. There are around 2,000 Russians posted in Abkhazia and about 1,000 in South Ossetia.

>>India - President Ahmadenijad met with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday in an attempt to seal a $7.6 billion pipeline deal, under the strenuous objection of the U.S. The pipeline would be completed by 2012 and would initially transport 60 million cubic meters of gas a day to Pakistan and India. The U.S. had suggested that India instead use Ahmadenijad's visit to press Iran to stop nuclear enrichment. India responded that it didn't need any "guidance" in bilateral relations.

>>Turkey - Turkey's parliament has approved legislation that softens penalties the EU has criticized for limiting free speech. Since 2003, Article 301 of the penal code has been used to prosecute hundreds, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk, for "insulting Turkishness." Critics contend that the softening didn't go far enough; insulting the Turkish nation still carries a two-year penalty.

Yesterday in UN Dispatch

Interview: Katrin Verclas on using mobile technology for social change

Interview with Katrin Verclas, co-founder of MobileActive.org and co-author of Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in Mobile Use by NGOs What are the major findings of the publication? We found that there's a lot of activity. Lots of organizations are beginning to use mobiles for social change are are realizing the potential of mobile technology. We're really just seeing the tip of the iceberg. Right now, mobile phones are still primarily being used for staff coordination as opposed to an actual tool for advancing civil society work. However, we found that there is a huge awareness in the NGO community about the potential for doing so and quite a number of pilot projects probing that potential.

Interview: Katrin Verclas on using mobile technology for social change

Interview with Katrin Verclas, co-founder of MobileActive.org and co-author of Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in Mobile Use by NGOs What are the major findings of the publication? We found that there's a lot of activity. Lots of organizations are beginning to use mobiles for social change are are realizing the potential of mobile technology. We're really just seeing the tip of the iceberg. Right now, mobile phones are still primarily being used for staff coordination as opposed to an actual tool for advancing civil society work. However, we found that there is a huge awareness in the NGO community about the potential for doing so and quite a number of pilot projects probing that potential.

Tuesday Morning Coffee

Top Stories

>>China - China has sentenced 17 protesters who participated in the March 10 riots in Tibet and surrounding provinces. Sentences ranged from three years to life. Soi'nam Norbu, a 20-year-old driver accused of burning vehicles, throwing stones at government property, and assaulting firemen, and Basang, a monk accused of leading 10 people in destroying a local government office, looting 11 shops, and attacking police, were both given life sentences. All of the monks who followed Basang got over 15 years.

>>Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe's rival opposition factions, which had split in 2005, have reunited and could now claim a majority in parliament. The combined opposition will now hold 109 seats in parliament to ZANU-PF's 97. Meanwhile, the nation still waits, a month in, for the results of the presidential vote. Verification is set to begin today, with final results expected in a week.

>>Cuba - With the exception of three people charged with terrorism, Raul Castro has commuted all death sentences to prison terms of 30 years. Castro was quick to note that the death penalty still exists in Cuban penal code. In Cuba, the death penalty is carried out by firing squad. Last March, Cuba signed two central UN human rights agreements, which Fidel Castro had long opposed.

>>European Union - The European Union today ironed out a pact with Serbia, but failed to reach an agreement to restart stalled partnership negotiations with Russia. Lithuania still hasn't seen assurances on Russian energy, judicial cooperation, and a softer foreign policy with regard to former Soviet states. The pact with Serbia holds a caveat; EU states will not ratify the pact, nor will Serbia receive any benefits, until all EU states are convinced that Serbia is doing its due diligence with regard to war crimes suspects.

Yesterday in UN Dispatch

Tuesday Morning Coffee

Top Stories

>>China - China has sentenced 17 protesters who participated in the March 10 riots in Tibet and surrounding provinces. Sentences ranged from three years to life. Soi'nam Norbu, a 20-year-old driver accused of burning vehicles, throwing stones at government property, and assaulting firemen, and Basang, a monk accused of leading 10 people in destroying a local government office, looting 11 shops, and attacking police, were both given life sentences. All of the monks who followed Basang got over 15 years.

>>Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe's rival opposition factions, which had split in 2005, have reunited and could now claim a majority in parliament. The combined opposition will now hold 109 seats in parliament to ZANU-PF's 97. Meanwhile, the nation still waits, a month in, for the results of the presidential vote. Verification is set to begin today, with final results expected in a week.

>>Cuba - With the exception of three people charged with terrorism, Raul Castro has commuted all death sentences to prison terms of 30 years. Castro was quick to note that the death penalty still exists in Cuban penal code. In Cuba, the death penalty is carried out by firing squad. Last March, Cuba signed two central UN human rights agreements, which Fidel Castro had long opposed.

>>European Union - The European Union today ironed out a pact with Serbia, but failed to reach an agreement to restart stalled partnership negotiations with Russia. Lithuania still hasn't seen assurances on Russian energy, judicial cooperation, and a softer foreign policy with regard to former Soviet states. The pact with Serbia holds a caveat; EU states will not ratify the pact, nor will Serbia receive any benefits, until all EU states are convinced that Serbia is doing its due diligence with regard to war crimes suspects.

Yesterday in UN Dispatch

Reasons for UNAMID’s Failure

If we accept the fact that UNAMID is a failure, then we need to ask a number of questions as to why. Questions that produce answers that go beyond the obvious point that mandates are too convoluted and that peacekeeping is overstretched, and that produce useful lessons -- for example, for the Security Council as it continues to consider authorizing a UN mission for Somalia. I will touch on some of these, but first want to make the point that failure implies blame. Should Rodolphe Adada and General Martin Agwai be blamed for UNAMID failure? Obviously not at this point; they cannot be expected to deliver effectively on an ambitious mandate with only a third of their authorized peacekeepers on the ground. UNAMID points not so much to mission failure, but rather to a failure to deploy: To a failed force generation process; to failures in analysis and decision-making -- not in El Fasher, but in New York City; and to the failure of UN member states to pony up what they promised.

Reasons for UNAMID’s Failure

If we accept the fact that UNAMID is a failure, then we need to ask a number of questions as to why. Questions that produce answers that go beyond the obvious point that mandates are too convoluted and that peacekeeping is overstretched, and that produce useful lessons -- for example, for the Security Council as it continues to consider authorizing a UN mission for Somalia. I will touch on some of these, but first want to make the point that failure implies blame. Should Rodolphe Adada and General Martin Agwai be blamed for UNAMID failure? Obviously not at this point; they cannot be expected to deliver effectively on an ambitious mandate with only a third of their authorized peacekeepers on the ground. UNAMID points not so much to mission failure, but rather to a failure to deploy: To a failed force generation process; to failures in analysis and decision-making -- not in El Fasher, but in New York City; and to the failure of UN member states to pony up what they promised.

Monday Morning Coffee

Top Stories

>>Zimbabwe - Partial results from the recount of the vote in the parliamentary election, released over the weekend, confirm that President Mugabe's ZANU-PF party has lost control of parliament. Results from 18 of 23 constituencies have been retabulated and confirmed with no seats changing hands. Mugabe will now have to choose whether to appoint an opposition cabinet or attempt to run the country on presidential orders instead of parliamentary legislation. Representatives from Mugabe and opposition leadership will be invited to verify results from the presidential election today, prior to their release. It is possible that opposition leader Tsvangirai has won outright and will avoid a runoff but not likely.

>>Afghanistan - Suspected Taliban insurgents executed a well-coordinated, but unsuccessful assassination attempt against President Karzai during the Afghan national day military parade on Sunday. Three were killed in the attack -- a tribal chief, a member of parliament, and a 10-year-old boy. Afghan security forces, which the government has pressed as a replacement for foreign troops guarding Kabul, prepared for weeks in advance of the event. The Taliban, claiming to have received help from within the security forces, worked in two teams, one working a mortar and the other guns, which were fired into the V.I.P stands.

>>Olympics - On Sunday the Olympic torch traveled to North and South Korea. In South Korea, it was greeted by protesters seeking better treatment for North Korean refugees in China and thousands of young pro-China demonstrators who subsequently attacked the others with rocks and steel pipes. Two North Korean refugees attempted to light themselves on fire in protest. North Korea on the other hand, was the least contentious stop on the torch's world tour. Tens of thousands of North Koreans waving flags lined the 12-mile route. Meanwhile Chinese authorities are locking down Lhasa in advance of the torch's visit.

Yesterday in UN Dispatch