Business and International Crimes
Some Useful Links
Economic Agendas in Civil Wars, International Peace Academy
IPA has undertaken a major multi-year program of research focused on key economic issues in civil wars. This hitherto under-developed field of research holds particular promise of policy relevance for those international and national actors attempting to prevent or bring to an end civil wars, as confirmed by interlocutors at the United Nations, in regional organizations and in national governments.
Conflict Prevention
Initiative, Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and
Conflict Research (Web Portal)
CPI at Harvard has launched a very informative web portal exploring the linkages between economics and conflict. The "Economics and Conflict" portal provides users with free access to critical online resources. Once sers have registered, they will have unlimited access to the portal and, in addition, will receive newsletters and other regular updates.
Global Policy Forum
collection of reports and articles on natural resources and war
The Economics of Crime and Violence, the World Bank
In recognition of the devastating economic consequences of violence in
developing countries, the World Bank has launched a large research program
to study “The Economics of Crime and Violence.” The project is under the
direction of Paul Collier, Research Director at the World Bank, and Ibrahim
Elbadawi, member of the Development Economics Research Group (DECRG) and
the Africa Department.
The Bank recently launced The Governance of Natural Resources research
project. Commisioned papers from leading researchers were presented in
draft form during a workshop in Paris on Dec 9 - 10. The papers and some
of the comments are now accesible from the World
Bank website.
The PRIO Center for the Study of Civil War
This long-term, multidisciplinary initiative aims to understand why civil wars break out, how they are sustained, and what it takes to end them. The Center was awarded status as "Centre for Excellent Research" by the Norwegian Research Council in June 2002.
OECD
The OECD is involved on in a variety of initiatives to curb corruption, money laundering and promote sound economic governance. Among the initiatives are the Financial Action task Force FATF.
Recently the OECD department for Corporate Affairs published a report on corporate secrecy: Behind the Corporate Veil: Using Corporate Entities for Illicit Purposes.
International Alert
The Business of Peace: The Private Sector as a Partner in Conflict Prevention and Resolution
The Business of Peace aims to provide a framework for thinking about the issues of the linkages between the role that business plays in preventing, creating, exacerbating or resolving conflict.
The International Council On Human Rights Policy
The International Council on Human Rights Policy is independent, international in its membership and participatory in its approach. Established in 1998, it conducts research useful to organisations working in the field of human rights.
The Humanitarianism and War Project
The Humanitarianism and War Project is an independent policy research initiative based at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies in Providence, Rhode Island, and is now part of the Feinstein International Famine Center at the Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy.
Global Witness
Global Witness works to expose the link between environmental exploitation and human rights abuses. Global Witness operates in areas where natural resources and environmentally destructive trade is funding conflict or human rights violations. Information obtained through research and field investigations is used to brief governments, NGOs, the media and the world in order to achieve positive change.
ECON
ECON is an independent research and consulting company in the area of applied economics. ECON services to clients in Norway and abroad, including companies, national and international organisations, research councils and government agencies. The company is employee-owned and was founded in Oslo in 1986. ECON now has offices in Oslo, Stavanger, Paris and Stockholm.
Partnership Africa Canada
PAC continues to produce important research on the issue of conflict
diamonds and has been a participant in efforts to create a certification
regime related to conflict diamonds.
PAC has published three Occasional Papers as part of the Diamonds and
Human Security Project , available on their website:
Diamonds: Forever or for Good? The Economic Impact of Diamonds in Southern
Africa - Ralph Hazleton
Fire in the Ice: Benefits, Protection and Regulation ini the Canadian
Diamond Industry - Ian Smillie
Destablizing Guinea: Diamonds, Charles Taylor and the Potential for Wider
Humanitarian Catastrophe - Lansana Gberie
NUPI UN Programme
The United Nations Programme at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs is an applied research programme in the fields of peacekeeping, conflict resolution and conflict prevention, and post-conflict peace building.
The Overseas Development Institute
The Overseas Development Institute is Britain's leading independent think-tank on international development and humanitarian issues. An annotated bibliography as well as a report on 'the political economy of war: what relief agencies need to know' were prepared by Philippe Le Billon as part of a research on war economies.
The Political Economy Research Institute (PERI)
PERI was founded at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1998.
PERI's mission is to
facilitate research, graduate education, and outreach in the area of policy-relevant
political economy. To this end, PERI supports research by faculty and
graduate students, provides visiting professorships and post-doctoral
fellowships, organizes collaborative research projects, and
holds workshops and conferences
.
The Anatomy of Resource Wars
New publication from The Worldwatch Institute. Senior Researcher, Michael Renner assesses the anatomy of resource wars, examines a number of specific cases, and discusses efforts to break the link between resources and conflict.