CIGI 09: Towards a Global New Deal
This report on CIGI'09: Towards a Global New Deal, CIGI's annual conference held on October 2-4, 2009, reviews the causes and consequences of the international financial crisis, and discusses measures needed to ensure a global economic recovery and to prevent another such crisis from occurring.
Iraq’s New Reality: the Politics of Governance and Federalism
Iraq is a society in transition, grappling with the universal challenges of establishing forms of governance and allocating power within the institutions of the state. As Iraqis work to develop effective systems of governance, a key debate is over the nature and appropriateness of federalism as an option for Iraq.
Climate Change and the Trading System
Two vitally important policy areas – trade and climate change - are intersecting, posing difficult questions about how to provide effective action on climate change without damage to the international trading system. On October 26-27, 2009, experts from both fields discussed the risks and possibilities for dealing with them. The participants focussed on a few key issues. The great difficulty of dealing with border carbon adjustments came in for a good deal of emphasis - but while there was a shared view that it would be best to avoid them entirely it was recognized that unfortunately they are likely to be part of the mix. On the other hand, it was felt that the prospects of accommodating “green” subsidies in the trading system are more promising, and with respect to subsidies and special fiscal arrangements a strong case was made for cutting back the very large amounts that support the production and consumption of fossil fuels.
Iraq's New Reality: Ensuring Security and Setting the National Security Agenda
Iraq’s security situation has improved since the peak of sectarian violence in 2006 and 2007. Some level of insecurity persists in parts of the country, and preventing militant attacks and outbreaks of violence continues to be a challenge for Iraqi security forces. This report, co-authored by CIGI and the Stimson Center in Washington, DC, focuses on the issues of Iraq ensuring its security and creating a national security agenda.
Iraq's New Reality: The Impact of Conflict on Minorities, Refugees and the Internally Displaced
Iraq has always been a multi-ethnic and multicultural society, home to many minority and micro-minority communities that have existed for thousands of years, even if the former regime focused on Iraq’s unity as an Arab country with Sunni Arabs and the Ba’ath Party as the dominant political actor. Since the war began in 2003, the vitality of this cultural, religious and social mosaic has been under threat.
Down and Almost Out: A Time for Reflection on the Future of the Multilateral Trading System
The third major collapse of talks in the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations on July 28, 2008, in Geneva prompted more than one participant at an international roundtable of trade experts sponsored by CIGI to suggest that it was time for reflection — on the Round, on other mechanisms to manage trade negotiations, on the future of the World Trade Organization (WTO) itself, and more generally on the institutional requirements of the emerging multipolar global economy. The participants at CIGI’s annual meeting of trade experts on September 11-12, 2008, were challenged with recommending how the international institutional framework might be reshaped to meet the needs of today’s more highly integrated globalized world economy.
The Future of Security Sector Reform
"The Future of Security Sector Reform" e-conference took place on May 4-8, 2009. CIGI and Governance Village organized the event. This e-Conference report outlines some of the urgent challenges that must be addressed for the SSR model to bridge the policy-practice divide and realize its core aims.
Inter-American Cooperation at a Crossroads
This conference report discusses the changing landscape of inter-American institutions, practices and mechanisms.
The Way Forward in Afghanistan
This report draws on the extraordinarily successful Town Hall event on "The Way Forward in Afghanistan" organized by the Canadian International Council (CIC), in cooperation with The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), at CIGI headquarters on December 9, 2008.
International Governance Responses to the Global Food Crisis
The year 2008 saw the price of food rise dramatically around the world, creating significant challenges for food security and the livelihoods of poor people around the globe. On December 4-5, 2008, The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) convened a workshop of experts as part of the project, "Agriculture, Food, and Environment in the New Global Context." Participants explored the roots of the crisis and recommended reforms to the food aid regime, agricultural governance and trade policies towards developing countries.
