Suchergebnisse

The focus of research was the state and evolution of UN arms embargoes and their implementation including monitoring and enforcement. The objective was to build a comprehensive database on the topic that had received much less academic attention previously in order to identify obstacles and options for arms embargoes' contribution to conflict resolution.
In doing so, the project builds in particular on the current state of research on UN sanctions and seeks to address their contribution and shortcomings under changing conditions in conflict areas as well as in the UN system, especially within the governance architecture for sanctions.
As a starting point, the research design built on the analysis of all ongoing UN arms embargoes addressing armed conflict as well as a basic overview of previous, terminated embargoes. The analysis of ongoing UN arms embargoes is not a structured comparison; rather the study traces their evolution along several categories in order to identify common and differing patterns that are relevant to answer the overall research question.

The present dataset contains information on illicit economies in African conflict areas between 2015 and mid-2021 from UN Panel of Experts reports. It was collected in the context of a research paper on "Key features of illicit economies in African conflicts: Insights from the reports of UN Panels of Experts". Useful data sources on illicit economies and transnational organized crime in conflict zones are scarce and options for field research in several conflict zones over longer periods of time limited. Panels of Experts provide regular reports based on official mandates and guidelines for monitoring UN sanctions implementation. In order to address the research question, the reports on five out of ten conflict-related UN sanctions regimes that have been ongoing in mid-2021 have been selected. The choice was to focus on African cases (which are seven out of the ten) and those where UN sanctions as well as other UN actors (especially peacekeeping or support operations) have been actively involved. Initially, coding was conducted for CAR, DRC, Libya, Mali, and Somalia based on all UN PoE reports from the last five years (2015 to mid-2021). For Mali, reports are only available since 2018 as the sanction's regime was only established in 2017.

Weltweit gibt es eine beträchtliche Zahl an bewaffneten Konflikten, die als langwierig gelten. Als Grund für ihre Fortdauer werden häufig illegale Ökonomien und deren Verbindungen zu Gewaltakteuren genannt. Immer wieder in den Fokus geraten ist die Drogenwirtschaft in Ländern wie Afghanistan, Kolumbien und Myanmar, weil sie Friedensprozesse untergräbt und Unsicherheit schürt. Dabei macht es die begrenzte Informationsbasis schwierig, die genaue Lage in Konfliktgebieten zu erfassen und hinter illegalen Geschäften die Netzwerke interner wie externer Akteure zu identifizieren. Dies gilt auch für die Gewaltkonflikte in Mali, der Demokratischen Republik Kongo (DRK) und der Zentralafrikanischen Republik (ZAR). Doch in allen drei Fällen bestehen Sanktionsregime der Vereinten Nationen (UN). Daher existieren mit den Berichten der UN-Expertengruppen, die die Umsetzung der Maßnahmen überwachen, umfangreiche und regelmäßig aktualisierte Informationsquellen, auch zu illegalen Ökonomien in den betreffenden Konfliktgebieten. Ein Blick in die Berichte für Mali, die DRK und die ZAR aus den letzten fünf Jahren lässt einige Muster erkennen, die Ansatzpunkte für ein externes Engagement aufzeigen, auch wenn es dabei keine einfachen Lösungen gibt. (Autorenreferat)

There are currently a significant number of protracted armed conflicts worldwide. Illicit economies and their links to violent actors are frequently cited as reasons for their persistence. Drug cultivation, production, and trafficking in places as diverse as Afghanistan, Colombia, and Myanmar have been garnering attention recently since they can undermine peace processes and contribute toward rising levels of insecurity. Nevertheless, it is particularly difficult to grasp the situation in conflict zones and understand the networks of internal and external actors linked to illicit economies due to the limited information base. This also holds true for the violent conflicts in Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the Central African Republic (CAR) that have been going on for extended periods of time. However, since United Nations (UN) sanctions apply in all three contexts, there are extensive and regularly available sources of information provided by the reports of the UN Panels of Experts that moni­tor sanctions implementation. These investigative teams provide valuable insights into illicit economies in conflict zones and their links to peace and security. Looking at the reports for Mali, the DRC, and CAR from the last five years helps to identify some common patterns that defy simple solutions, but that can also show entry points for action. (author's abstract)