USIP PeaceWatch - December 1996

Short Takes Selected Institute Events

North Korea's Food Crisis Alleviated
The immediate food crisis in North Korea--discussed in a recent Institute Special Report entitled, The Coming Crisis on the Korean Peninsula? The Food Crisis, Economic Decline, and Political Considerations--has been delayed by the autumn harvest and significant assistance from China and Syria, according to Jens Schultes, program manager for Asia at the United Nations World Food Programme. Schultes warns, however, that by March, conditions in North Korea could again become severe, and even now individuals are only getting about half the necessary minimum caloric intake normally provided to refugees in other at-risk areas. Schultes addressed an October session of the Institute's Korea Working Group, along with Faruq Achikizad, former resident representative in Pyongyang of the United Nations Development Programme, and Charles Kartman, deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific.

Conflict Resolution Skills Training
For the third consecutive year, the U.S. Institute of Peace's Education and Training Program training staff conducted a four-day International Conflict Resolution Skills Training (ICREST) workshop at the Inter-American Defense College (IADC). The training--led by program officer Lewis Rasmussen on October 28-31--introduced approximately 65 senior military officers and civilian officials from the Americas to sources and dynamics of conflict and civil-military relations in peacemaking and peacebuilding, including the roles of nongovernmental organizations, international regional organizations, and various official government actors. Participants also were introduced to negotiation practices and third-party mediation skills.

Elections in Cameroon
The people of Cameroon have lost all trust and patience with Cameroon's government, which is "bent on holding power, even if that means destroying the country in the process," charges John Fru Ndi (right), the national chairman of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) of Cameroon. He discussed the democratization process in Cameroon at the Institute September 12. As the presidential candidate for the SDF, Cameroon's main opposition party, Fru Ndi was narrowly defeated in the controversial 1992 elections. He discussed the difficulties faced by opposition groups such as his own and called for an independent electoral commission, set up under international supervision, to monitor the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections planned for 1997.

Creating New Police Forces
During political transitions from war to peace, it is usually more effective to create new demilitarized police forces than to try to reform existing security forces, says Charles Call, an Institute peace scholar in 1995-96 and doctoral student in the political science department at Stanford University. Creating new civilian forces can reduce though not eliminate human rights abuses and can help raise citizens' expectations of police performance, which should include observation of human rights, responsiveness to the community, and effectiveness in maintaining order.

Call discussed the research for his dissertation, "Constraints and Possibilities in Creating New Police Forces: The Cases of Haiti and El Salvador," at an Institute meeting October 22. He noted that several factors constrain the impact of creating new police forces, including whether the transition occurs in the context of reconciliation of former enemies, the degree of associated reform in the judiciary, and alternatives available to members of the prior armed corps. Call's study contributes to the Institute's ongoing work concerning the role of international organizations and other third parties in the restoration of personal security and the rule of law as key elements of peacebuilding. © 1996 United States Institute of Peace