Four years after the declaration of independence the Serbs in Northern Kosovo voted against the institutions of the young state. But although official Belgrade and Priština have opposite opinions on the future status of Kosovo none of them supported the referendum. Why is this so and what are the possible consequences of the referendum?
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Between July 2010 and June 2011 the NGO Human Rights Watch performed a thorough examination of the activities undertaken by the UN Human Rights Council. Although some positive improvements have been detected more efforts should be done to eliminate some of the negative remnants of its predecessor.
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Some basic humanitarian principles have been accorded to be put in practice by humanitarian workers. Which are these basic principles and how have they been implemented in practice? We will take a closer look at the case of Afghanistan.
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The reintegration of child soldiers is one of the major challenges confronting most postconflict societies in the world. The following article presents the main features of child reintegration on the case of Liberia.
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The Common Humanitarian Funds (CHFs), pools of un-earmarked funds made available at the country level for UN agencies and NGOs, were established in 2006 as a new tool to improve the already existing Consolidated Appeal Process, which lacked strategic planning when allocating funds. 5 years later the third evaluation report of the CHFs has been released. Which are the main findings of this report?
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NGOs have proven to be the best providers of international aid because of their direct involvement with the local community and knowledge of its culture. What is the role of NGOs in relief missions and how to they coordinate with other actors involved?
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Once the people of Libya have dealt with Gaddafi and declared the country liberated there are new challenges ahead of them. Big and important challenges. With the start of the civil war many organizations and individuals emerged that will play a key role in the post-Gaddafi Libya.
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Immediately after the attack in Oslo everyone began speculating of Islamic terrorism and started analyzing Norwegian foreign policy to find possible reasons for another al Qaeda-related attack. It turned out, however, that this brutal crime was the work of a Muslim-hating native Norwegian. Perhaps the time has come to reflect on the western understanding of terrorism, so closely related to Islam in the last decade.
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Syria’s dictator Bashar al-Assad hasn’t been behaving much better than Gaddafi at using brutal methods against the protesters demanding democratic reforms. Yet the international community is much more reluctant to start a military intervention similar to the one in Libya. Let’s analyze the reasons for this hesitance.
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Achieving independence is no easy task and usually involves armed conflicts and humanitarian crises. The latest country to declare independence, South Sudan, is no exception in this sense. The following article aims to analyze the external factors that make the path to sovereignty so difficult.
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Last week the Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj warned that partition of Kosovo along ethnic lines could unleash a new wave of violence across the Balkans thus causing a domino effect. United Explanation analyses which are the factors that could lead to such a result in case the partition of Kosovo would indeed happen.
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Last week the King of Morroco announced a draft of the new Constitution which will be voted on the referendum on July 1. The new text introduces some notable democratic advances but still leaves many Moroccans, particularly the young, unsatisfied, which already led to yesterday’s demonstrations. Let’s see what foes the new Constitution brings and why it is being criticized.
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The person responsible for the Srebrenica massacre has finally been caught by the Serbian government. United Explanations analyzes the possible effects this might have in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as in Serbia.
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How is it possible that a once prosperous West African country, which used to be a magnet for all migrant workers in the neighbouring countries, drifts further more in the chaos of violence and civil war? How has the international community reacted? United Explanations provides the answers.
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From a Westerner’s point of view it seems nearly incomprehensible how someone can commit suicide in order to kill others. When planning suicide attacks, Islamic terrorists use religion to motivate volunteers by promising them Paradise filled with pleasure. The preparation of the volunteers is a carefully scrutinised process.
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The EU’s democratization policies in the southern Mediterranean and particularly in Egypt during the dictatorship have been severely criticized. However, this article aims to show that the political change achieved by the people of Egypt has many more possibilities to evolve into a democracy than it would have if the EU had been actively pursuing full democratic reforms.
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