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The research finds that increased trade openness is associated with better economic rights for women and a lower incidence of forced labor, both in global and developing country samples. In contrast, the level of foreign direct investment (FDI) penetration generally shows no statistically significant impact on these specific labor rights.

The report examines the remittance landscape for immigrants in Norway, comparing 42 services across 21 mechanisms, including banks, money transfer operators (MTOs), and informal hawala systems. It highlights a restrictive regulatory environment that often drives users toward illegal services, particularly for transfers to Somalia and Iraq. The analysis reveals that real costs are often hidden through exchange rate spreads, with typical costs for NOK 1,000 transfers ranging from 5% to 25%. While bank transfers can be cheaper for larger amounts, they are often slower and less predictable than MTOs. The report argues that improving financial literacy and regularizing informal services could enhance the development impact of remittances and improve immigrant integration.

The provided text is an addendum to a 2007 research paper by Nils Petter Gleditsch, Ragnhild Nordås, and Idean Salehyan. It does not contain original analysis or findings but instead lists the data sources and references used in the main paper. The authors specify that data on armed conflict and war were sourced from the Uppsala/PRIO conflict database and the PRIO battle deaths data. The extensive reference list covers literature on environmental security, climate-induced migration, water conflicts, and the relationship between resource scarcity and violent conflict, with particular mentions of studies in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa, and India.

The policy brief examines the tension between peace and justice in the context of war terminations, specifically analyzing the role of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). It argues that the ICTY's early lack of effectiveness was due to a lack of political will, as it was initially used as a 'public relations devise' to avoid military action. However, the author contends that resolute justice serves as a deterrent to war criminals, incapacitates political actors through isolation, and consolidates peace by preventing future cycles of violence. The text highlights that when peace processes prioritize impunity, they incentivize the accumulation of power over the cessation of atrocities.

The author examines the 'credible commitment problem' in political transitions, where outgoing regimes or armed groups require guarantees that peace accords and amnesties will be honored. Using examples from Eastern Central Europe and Colombia, the text posits that the possession of incriminating information about government elites—often gained through infiltration—acts as a strategic insurance policy that compels governments to adhere to agreed-upon terms.

The report examines the drive to increase the proportion of women in the Norwegian armed forces from 7% to 15% by the end of 2008. It identifies two primary motivations: a symbolic political goal to reflect Norwegian society's gender equality and a military goal to acquire diverse qualifications for new security challenges. The author highlights structural barriers, such as gender-biased equipment (specifically safety vests) and a highly masculine organizational culture, and recommends improvements in family policy, leadership training, and equipment design. Internationally, the report notes the slow implementation of UNSCR 1325, with women making up only about 1.8% of military personnel in UN peacekeeping missions as of early 2007, and argues that Norway's efforts are critical for supplying female military leaders to the UN system.

The report analyzes power-sharing as a tool to mitigate civil conflict by guaranteeing political roles to potential 'spoilers'. It argues that while power-sharing can promote peace when parties are evenly matched and conflict costs are high, it may increase conflict risks when groups are unevenly matched. The authors highlight significant trade-offs, noting that power-sharing prioritizes 'ex post fairness' over democratic 'ex ante uncertainty' and can lead to high transaction costs and agency losses, such as the selection of intransigent, group-based politicians.

The report analyzes 26,170 foreign-made weapons seized by Rio de Janeiro police, cross-referencing them with international trade data to identify diversion points. It finds that while most seized weapons are Brazilian-made, foreign weapons—particularly from the US and Argentina—often enter Brazil via neighboring countries with lax regulations, such as Paraguay, or leak from official government stockpiles. The authors argue that exporting nations fail to adequately assess diversion risks and recommend stricter export licensing and stockpile controls.

The research introduces the first quantitative effort to document the small arms market using a dataset of AK-47 prices across 117 countries from 1986 to 2005. By applying a simultaneous equations model, the author finds that regulatory effectiveness and supply costs—specifically neighbours' military expenditure and border porousness—are the primary drivers of weapon prices. The study concludes that the collapse of the Soviet Union did not cause a supply shock as significant as commonly believed, and that regional trade dynamics, particularly in Africa, play a critical role in price determination.

The study analyzes conflict rates in over 1,600 Cambodian communes to identify how war legacy, poverty, urbanity, and governance quality influence violence. Using semi-parametric Bayesian models, the authors find that many relationships are non-linear, with specific socio-economic thresholds triggering significant changes in conflict rates. Notably, governance improvements only significantly reduce violence at very high levels of service provision, and rapid population growth strongly correlates with increased domestic and land conflicts. Spatial effects are found to be the strongest predictors, suggesting that unobserved, spatially correlated factors—such as the demographic impact of genocide—play a critical role in human security.

The document identifies significant barriers to establishing a sustainable national mine action programme in Sudan. It highlights a severe human resource deficit caused by brain drain and conflict-driven changes in work culture, alongside political tensions between North and South Sudan that impede information sharing and coordination. Furthermore, it argues that international assistance is often contradictory, prioritizing rapid emergency response over long-term capacity building, and is hampered by funding delays and a reliance on expensive international contractors.

The report evaluates the EU's approach to combating the illicit trade of small arms and light weapons (SALW) and managing explosive remnants of war (ERW). It argues that while the EU has established a Small Arms Strategy and various funding instruments, there is a need for greater policy coherence, a formal extension of mine action assistance to include ERW, and a more comprehensive approach that links security and development. The document specifically examines the situation in North Africa, highlighting gaps in border management and the need for technical assistance in stockpile management and mine clearance.

This research paper investigates the impact of democracy measurement on the 'democratic peace' proposition, which posits that democracies rarely go to war with one another. The author compares the widely used Polity dataset with Vanhanen's Polyarchy dataset, which uses a simpler index based on electoral competition and participation. Through bivariate and multivariate analyses of conflict data from 1816 to 2002, the study finds that the choice of indicator does matter; specifically, electoral competition appears to be a stronger predictor of peace than the aggregated democracy scores. The author concludes that while different measures often correlate, they are not interchangeable and can lead to different inferences about the causes of international peace.

India and China are experiencing rapid economic growth and a corresponding surge in energy consumption, leading to an increasing reliance on imported oil, primarily from the Persian Gulf. Both nations are pursuing similar strategies to mitigate this vulnerability: diversifying import sources, acquiring equity oil through overseas investments, building strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs), and shifting toward natural gas and nuclear power. While there are efforts toward Sino-Indian energy cooperation, such as joint bids for oilfields in third countries, competition remains high, particularly in contested areas like Burma. The report outlines three future scenarios: 'Increased cooperation,' 'Conflict in East Asia' (centered on Taiwan and Japan), and 'The Middle East explodes' (a full-scale resource war). It recommends that Norway support energy efficiency, clean coal and gas technologies, and the inclusion of China and India in the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The policy brief examines the transition of mine action from international management to national authority, focusing on the roles of government, civil society, and capacity building. Through case studies of Mozambique, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Afghanistan, it argues that national ownership is often hindered by donor-driven funding, a lack of early accurate data, and weak institutional structures. The document concludes that there is no universal recipe for ownership and recommends flexible, coordinated strategies that prioritize local capacity mapping and strategic national planning over rapid operational deployment.

The document examines the 'political architecture' of liberal peacebuilding, which seeks to establish liberal market democracies in post-conflict states. It argues that while this approach is dominant in international politics, it faces significant legitimacy challenges. Communitarians argue it imposes external Western values over local cultures; critical theorists contend it reinforces a hegemonic and unjust global order; and postmodernists critique its reliance on technocratic 'social engineering.' The author proposes alternative frameworks, such as 'building the capacity for peaceful self-governance' and 'dialogic peacebuilding,' to reconcile liberal ideals with local autonomy and global justice.

The study finds that energy wealth, but not mineral wealth, increases the risk of civil war onset, provided a lower threshold of 25 annual battle deaths is used. The results provide evidence against the 'looting rebels' model, which predicts a non-linear relationship where very high resource wealth eventually deters rebellion, and instead tentatively support state capacity models suggesting that fossil fuel dependence weakens state institutions.

The article analyzes post-conflict institution-building in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq, finding that an 'assumption of intransigence' led to the institutionalization of ethnicity, which has hindered peacebuilding. It argues for flexible institutional designs based on in-depth conflict assessments to de-ethnicize politics and ensure inclusivity.

The document examines the political economy of military finance in 18th and 19th-century South Asia, comparing the Mughal Empire, the Kingdom of Mysore, the Maratha Confederacy, and the Khalsa Kingdom against the East India Company (EIC). It argues that while indigenous powers attempted military-fiscal modernisation, they were hindered by diplomatic failings and internal fragmentation. The EIC succeeded by integrating local revenue systems, such as zamindari land taxes, with global maritime trade and Western military structures, eventually establishing the British Raj.

The document examines religion as a multifaceted phenomenon—comprising normative systems, identities, and organisational structures—and evaluates its dual potential to both fuel and resolve armed conflict. It argues that while religion is rarely the sole cause of war, it often perpetuates conflict by hardening identity boundaries. The authors propose a typology of peace brokerage (Liaison, Representative, and Coordinator) and emphasize that successful peacemaking requires 'religious awareness,' including the use of a 'Language of the Second Order' to transcend confessional boundaries. The paper concludes that religious actors are particularly suited for Track-Two diplomacy due to their grassroots and international networks, but warns that excluding religiously identified parties from formal processes can create 'spoiler groups.'