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The report finds that most green economy plans lack meaningful participation from marginalised groups, fail to specifically target the poorest to reduce inequality, and do not sufficiently address the limits to growth or the urgency of the low-carbon transition.

The document examines Indonesia's energy subsidy regime, covering gasoline, diesel, kerosene, LPG, electricity, and coal. It argues that these subsidies are regressive, primarily benefiting wealthier households while straining the national budget and discouraging investment in clean energy. The guide details the economic and environmental risks of maintaining these subsidies and outlines strategies for reform, such as targeted cash transfers and gradual phase-outs, drawing on Indonesian and international experiences.

While the MENA region has low direct exposure to US tariffs, it faces significant indirect risks including energy price volatility, trade diversion (specifically 'dumping' of Chinese steel and aluminium), and inflationary pressures. Certain countries are more exposed than others, with Jordan facing risks to its garment exports, while Türkiye may gain competitiveness in textiles. The region's long-standing policy of non-alignment between the US and China is under pressure as trade is increasingly weaponized, though the Gulf's strategic geography and investments in digital infrastructure offer paths toward resilience.

The document outlines a multisectoral approach to preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) at the sub-national level. It details a five-step process for creating Local Action Plans (LAPs): securing political buy-in, conducting risk assessments, developing a Theory of Change, establishing coordination structures like Local Prevention Networks (LPNs), and legislating the plan. The guide emphasizes a 'whole-of-city' approach, drawing heavily on the Kenyan County Action Plan (CAP) model, and provides frameworks for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to ensure sustainability beyond donor funding.

The Strong Cities Network (SCN) toolkit, developed by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, guides local authorities in managing the social consequences of terror attacks. It emphasizes the shift toward 'soft targets' in urban centers and the critical role of municipal leadership in preventing social division. The guide details strategies for community engagement, including mapping vulnerable groups and using both direct and indirect outreach. It provides a comprehensive communications framework to de-escalate tensions, combat misinformation, and avoid the glorification of perpetrators. Additionally, it outlines the establishment of psychosocial support working groups to address collective and individual trauma. The document includes leadership checklists and worksheets to help city officials coordinate with national authorities and local stakeholders to build long-term urban resilience.

The document examines the breach of arms control systems during the Libyan conflict, specifically focusing on France and Qatar's admission of supplying arms to rebels. It highlights the failure of end-user monitoring and the potential violation of contractual obligations, noting that Qatar may have re-exported arms sourced from the US and other nations, including Swiss ammunition. The author notes the inconsistent international response and the silence of South Africa regarding these transfers despite its own claims of being a responsible arms exporter.

This document is an introductory text for Monograph 46, which compiles papers from a November 1999 conference in Pretoria, South Africa, titled "Building stability in Africa: The challenge for the next millennium." The conference was part of a larger international project, "Challenges of peacekeeping and peace support: Into the 21st century," coordinated by the National Defence College in Stockholm to explore more effective ways of managing regional conflicts and peace support operations.

The research paper examines the 'triangular drama' between Israel, Transjordan, and the UN during the 1949 armistice negotiations. It argues that while official talks occurred at Rhodes under UN Acting Mediator Ralph Bunche, the substantive agreements were reached through secret bilateral channels in Jerusalem and Shuneh. Israel exploited a significant power asymmetry, using military 'facts on the ground' (such as Operation Uvda) and direct blackmail regarding Iraqi troop withdrawals to coerce Transjordan into conceding strategic territory. The author contends that Ralph Bunche, acting as a 'weak mediator' without the support of Great Powers, allowed these secret talks to proceed to expedite the mission, ultimately granting international legitimacy to a treaty negotiated through coercion. The document concludes that the lack of a strong third party to counterbalance Israel's power established a precedent of unsustainable peace in the region.

The research examines nine donor-supported active citizenship programs implemented between 2010 and 2015 in Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, and Tunisia. The authors argue that these programs, primarily funded by the US and Europe, employ a 'neo-liberalization of citizenship' approach that emphasizes formal participation and technical skill-building over political dissent and social mobilization. Through interviews with approximately 250 activists, the study finds a significant gap between the normative, Western-inspired training modules and the actual political constraints in the MENA region, such as secretive decision-making, unreliable judicial systems, and the dominance of informal power networks. The paper concludes that these programs risk bolstering the legitimacy of non-democratic regimes by encouraging tokenistic engagement and disconnecting activists from their local communities.

The document examines the complex geopolitical landscape of the Middle East through a series of expert perspectives. Key themes include the failure of Western 'exceptionalism' in diplomacy, the systemic human rights abuses in countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and the critical role of water scarcity as a driver of intra-state conflict. It provides detailed analysis of the 'bottom-up' stabilization efforts in Iraq via local ceasefires, the strategic threat of Iranian nuclear proliferation, and the use of public diplomacy by non-state actors like Hizbollah. Additionally, it addresses the stalled peace process between Israel and Palestine and the specific challenges of the Cyprus division.

The document argues that mediation gatekeeping—the process of defining the 'terms of reference' for who may participate in negotiations—has systematically excluded Palestinians, either as a whole people, as a political entity (the PLO), or as a specific political group (Hamas). It examines three phases: the 1940s UN-led armistice negotiations, the 1970s US-led diplomacy, and the 2000s Quartet demands. The author contends that while exclusionary formats can simplify processes or end specific bilateral conflicts, they often fail to address the core grievances of the conflict, thereby making long-term, sustainable peace more difficult to achieve.

The document analyzes Israel's systematic effort to delegitimize and dismantle UNRWA through a 'shadow war' involving physical attacks, legal prohibitions, and an information campaign. It argues that Israel uses accusations of terrorism and antisemitism—specifically targeting school textbooks—as a proxy to undermine the agency's existence and, by extension, the Palestinian right of return. The authors detail the severe humanitarian impact of these actions in Gaza and the West Bank, noting that the culmination of this process was the passage of laws in October 2024 to ban UNRWA's operations in Israel and the occupied territories.

The document argues that the Palestinian self-rule scheme launched by Menachem Begin in December 1977 was a strategic mechanism of 'preventive diplomacy' designed to facilitate the Egyptian-Israeli peace process without conceding any sovereignty or territory to Palestinians. While President Jimmy Carter initially sought a comprehensive peace including Palestinian representation and Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza, he eventually accepted self-rule as a temporary starting point. The author contends that Begin never intended to implement the scheme, using it instead to sideline the PLO and maintain Israeli control over the West Bank and Gaza. The process culminated in the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, after which Begin further watered down the autonomy plan and eventually torpedoed the negotiations entirely with the July 1980 Jerusalem Basic Law, which declared Jerusalem the indivisible capital of Israel.

The author replicates and extends the civil war model of Collier & Hoeffler (2002), finding that while natural resources correlate with conflict, the drivers differ by region. In the Middle East, the 'greed' explanation—where rebels fight to seize resources—is less plausible than a 'rentier-state' model, where oil-funded authoritarianism, corruption, and slow growth generate grievances. The study also finds that democracy is significantly and negatively related to civil conflict, a finding absent in the original Collier & Hoeffler analysis.

The document critically examines the 'turn towards technology' in humanitarian aid, specifically regarding sexual violence. It warns that technological solutions often fail due to inadequate problem definitions and the exclusion of affected populations. The author identifies four key areas of concern: the creation of 'digital bodies' (data representations of physical people), the use of intrusive wearables for reproductive and health tracking, the 'technologization' of safeguarding through quantification and criminal law, and the use of data-driven vulnerability assessments that may render male victims invisible. Finally, it cautions against 'humanitarian experimentation,' where untested technologies are deployed in fragile environments without sufficient ethical frameworks, potentially introducing new harms to victims of gender-based violence.

The document examines how ethno-national diasporas influence civil wars through financial contributions, military and political involvement, and international advocacy. It analyzes the dual nature of this influence, noting that while diaspora resources can prolong conflict by sustaining armed groups and hardening political stances, they also offer significant potential for peace through post-conflict reconstruction, the provision of skilled personnel for new institutions, and the promotion of human rights discourses.

Colombia is utilizing the CCAC SNAP initiative and the LEAP-IBC tool to identify priority emitting sectors and integrate short-lived climate pollutant (SLCP) mitigation into its national air quality and climate change policies. The process involves quantifying emission scenarios to inform legal frameworks and funding, with specific focus on agriculture (rice paddies, sugar cane, manure management), transport, brick kilns, and cookstoves. To date, 60 regional climate change plans have been reviewed to identify implementation opportunities, and 15 of the 100 measures in Colombia's INDC resulted from SNAP Phase I.

Nigeria is implementing the SNAP initiative by establishing a coordination office within the Federal Ministry of Environment to identify emission sources and develop a national action plan. The process involves integrating the LEAP-IBC tool to model the impacts of emission scenarios on health, climate, and crop yields. Priority sectors for mitigation include cookstoves, agriculture, transport, brick kilns, and the oil and gas industry, with a focus on improving regulation, enforcement, and legislative frameworks to align with Nigeria's Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).

Côte d’Ivoire is utilizing the SNAP initiative to identify and mitigate short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) to improve public health, agriculture, and climate. Priority areas for action include the transportation sector, waste management, industrial processes, oil refineries, and the use of traditional cookstoves. The country is employing the LEAP-IBC tool for emission inventories and planning, with the goal of informing its air quality strategy and the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

The document identifies bottling partners across the Coca-Cola system that have implemented ten energy-efficiency measures. These measures are designed to help the company achieve up to 70 percent of its carbon reduction target while providing financial returns and environmental benefits. The text provides a chronological list of plants that completed the challenge between August 2012 and May 2018.