csds bulletin
Newsletter of the Centre for Security and Defence Studies
27 January 2012


In this issue

Centre news and events
General announcements and events
Opportunities

 

 
Centre news and events

Percival and Brison on Islamic NGOs

"Trojan Horse or Saving Grace? Islamic NGOs in Humanitarian Assistance"

Valerie Percival and Mike Brison
Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University

While faith-based organizations have long been a staple in the delivery of humanitarian assistance, the role of Islamic groups in delivering this assistance has recently generated controversy. Islamic charities have been accused of channeling financial assistance to terrorist organizations, and providing social services to win the support of local populations for radical political agendas. In this presentation, Valerie Percival and Mike Brison explore the delivery of humanitarian assistance by Islamic non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in northern Pakistan. While the number of Islamic groups providing essential services does appear to be growing, this phenomenon is perceived very differently by the international relations/intelligence and the humanitarian communities. The former tends to view these organizations as a threat, while the latter recognizes the broad spectrum of Islamic NGOs and the important role that they have played in reaching vulnerable and hard to access populations during humanitarian crises. As will be outlined in this talk, significantly different policy prescriptions flow from these contrasting perspectives, and the feasibility of these different policy approaches is explored.

Valerie Percival is an Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the Health and Foreign Policy Initiative at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University. Prior to this position, she worked on health and foreign policy at the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs; was the director of the International Crisis Group’s office in Kosovo; worked as a field officer with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the borders of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia; and researched the relationship between environment and violent conflict with the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and the University of Toronto. Her current work examines the links among conflict, peace, and health; the challenges of rebuilding health systems in post-conflict states; and the role of international diplomacy and foreign policy in shaping global health priorities.

Mike Brison completed his undergraduate degree at Dalhousie Universtiy in Political Science and History. He is currently an MA candidate at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton. His main area of focus is global health, with research interests ranging from infectious disease management to humanitarian action.

Thursday, 2 February 2012
12:30 - 2:00 pm
Alumni Boardroom, 617 Robertson Hall
Carleton University

Metered public parking is available in Parking Garage P9, adjacent to Robertson Hall.

Light sandwich lunch will be provided.

Registration is required by Monday, 30 January 2012.

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Wallace on Public Attitudes toward Wartime Violence

"International Law and Public Attitudes toward Wartime Violence"

Geoffrey P.R. Wallace
University of Kentucky

What effect does international law have on public attitudes toward violence during wartime? In this talk, Professor Wallace considers the effects of international law on mass attitudes toward wartime violence. In particular, Wallace focuses on public support for torture, an issue area where national security concerns are often considered paramount. Contrary to the common contention of the inefficacy of international law, he finds that legal commitments exert a discernible restraint on public support for the use of torture. The effect of international law is also strongest in those contexts where pressures to resort to torture are frequently at their highest. Professor Wallace also finds that the relative precision of the rules, along with the degree to which enforcement is delegated to third parties, plays a much greater role in shaping public preferences than the actual level of obligation under international law.

Geoffrey P.R. Wallace is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Kentucky and author of the forthcoming book, Surrendering the Higher Ground: Explaining the Abuse of Prisoners During War, which examines variation in the treatment of prisoners across armed conflicts. His research interests include international security, international law, and public opinion toward foreign policy. Wallace holds a PhD in Political Science from Cornell University. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation(NSF), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), among others.

Thursday, 9 February 2012
12:30 - 2:00 pm
Alumni Boardroom, 617 Robertson Hall
Carleton University

Metered public parking is available in Parking Garage P9, adjacent to Robertson Hall.

Light sandwich lunch will be provided.

Registration is required by Monday, 6 February 2012.

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General Announcements and Events

Please note that funding may be available to NPSIA graduate students who wish to attend any of the conferences listed below. For more information, contact Prof. David Mendeloff or visit: www.carleton.ca/csds/funding.html.

2012 Ottawa Conference on Defence and Security

From: CDA Institute <director@cda-cdai.ca>
Subject: 2012 Ottawa Conference on Defence and Security, 23-24 February

The Conference of Defence Associoations (CDA) and the CDA Institute are pleased to announce that registration for the 2012 Ottawa Conference on Defence and Security is now open!

23-24 February 2012
Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel, Ottawa, Canada

Click here for more information on registration, or call (613) 236-9903.

Keynote speakers include:

The Right Honorable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada (invited)
The Honorable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence (invited)
General Walter Natynczyk, Chief of the Defence Staff
General Sir David Richards, UK Chief of Defence Staff
General James Mattis, Commander US Central Command
Dr. Uzi Arad, former Israeli National Security Advisor
Ray Mabus, US Secretary of the Navy
Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, commander NATO forces in Libya

Panels and speakers include:

Asia-Pacific security concerns
Rear-Admiral (ret'd) Tyrone Pile, former commander, Maritime Forces Pacific
Dr. Jim Boutilier, Maritime Forces Pacific
Dr. John Blaxland, Australian National University
Captain(N) Raul (Pete) Pedrozo, US Naval War College

Fragile, failing and failed states in the Arc of Instability
Ferry de Kerckhove, former Canadian Ambassador to Egypt, CDA Institute
Dr. Ann Fitz-Gerald, Cranfield University
Reuel Marc Gerecht, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Dr. Fawaz A. Gerges, London School of Economics

Energy security
Colin Robertson, CDA Institute
David Collyer, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers
David McLaughlin, National Roundtable on the Environment and Economy
Jeffrey Schott, Peterson Institute for International Economics

Canadian Forces environmental updates
Lieutenant-General (ret'd) Michel Maisonneuve, CDA Institute
Vice-Admiral Paul Maddison, Commander, Royal Canadian Navy
Lieutenant-General Peter Devlin, Commander, Canadian Army
Lieutenant-General André Deschamps, Commander, Royal Canadian Air Force

Canadian Forces and operations
Lieutenant-General (ret'd) Michel Gauthier, CDA Institute
Lieutenant-General Stuart Beare, Commander, Canadian Expeditionary Force Command
Lieutenant-General Walter Semianiw, Commander, Canada Command

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NSPS Conference on Defence Procurement

From: Heather Salsbury <salsburh@queensu.ca>
Subject: NSPS Conference in February 2012 - Queen's University

Good afternoon:

On behalf of Ugurhan Berkok, Chair of Defence Management Studies at Queen?s University, I would like to draw to your attention our upcoming conference entitled ?New Paradigms for Defence Procurement and Industrial Policy?? being held on 27 February 2012 in Kingston. The conference aims at exploring whether a new Canadian industrial policy is in the works, feasible, and desirable in light of the NSPS. For more information please visit our web pages at www.queensu.ca/dms/Ship2012/home2012.htm.

Attached please find the conference poster in English and French ?could we please impose upon you to circulate and/or post these on our behalf.

Many thanks, and wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Heather Salsbury
Rm 417 - Defence Management Studies
School of Policy Studies
Queen's University
Kingston, ON K7L 3M6
salsburh@queensu.ca
phone/ext.: 613-53(3-6483)

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Opportunities

Please note that travel funding is available to NPSIA graduate students who wish to participate formally in conferences listed below. For more information, contact Prof. David Mendeloff or visit: www.carleton.ca/csds/funding.html.

2012 ISA Canada Graduate Student Paper Prize

From: Andrew Grant <andrew.grant@queensu.ca>
Subject: Call for Papers for 2012 ISA Canada Graduate Student Paper Prize

ISA Canada is pleased to announce the call for papers for the 2012 ISA Canada Student Paper Prize.

Value: $300.00

According to the terms of reference adopted by the membership of ISA Canada in March 2011, the ISA Canada Student Paper Prize is:

  •     Open to all PhD students who are members of ISA and ISA-Canada
  •     Open to PhD students in any of the disciplines that fall under the aegis of International Studies
  •     To be awarded for a previously unpublished, single authored paper delivered at the ISA meeting in that given year.
  •     PhD dissertation chapters will be accepted if they are previously unpublished.
  •     To be awarded to a paper written in either French or English.
  •     To be awarded at the reception held by ISA-Canada at the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association.
  •     Papers must be received by the prize jury three weeks in advance of the ISA meeting.

In addition to the criteria above:

  •     Submissions are to be no longer than 8000 words
  •     Submissions will be evaluated for: originality, strength, clarity of argument, and contribution to the appropriate literature.
  •     Submissions are due Monday, March 12, 2012.
  •     Submissions will be made to members of the jury. Jury members will be announced by January 15, 2012.

Dr. J. Andrew Grant, Queen's University
Secretary/Sécrétaire, ISA-Canada
andrew.grant@queensu.ca

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CIPS Annual Graduate Student Conference

From: Saskia Tolsma <cepi.cips.conference@gmail.com>
Subject: Centre for International Policy Studies (CIPS) Annual Graduate Student Conference / Conférence annuelle des étudiants diplômés - Centre d’études en politiques internationales (CÉPI)

I am writing you in regards to a graduate student conference put on through the Centre for International Policy Studies. I was advised that you may be able to assist in passing along the information of a newly extended deadline for submissions to the conference to the graduate students in the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs. I have attached the call for papers in French and English, and have included a message below. I would appreciate your help in this matter.

Thank you very much,

Saskia Tolsma
Director of the CIPS Graduate Student Conference
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

CIPS Conference:
Coping with Change in Global Affairs

The deadline for submissions for the Centre for International Policy Studies fourth annual Graduate Student Conference has been extended from January 15 to January 31, 2012.

The conference, “Coping with Change in Global Affairs” will be held at the University of Ottawa on March 22-23, 2012. We are seeking submissions from a variety of disciplines such as the political sciences, history, geography, economics, security and development, anthropology, international relations and studies, sociology, and military strategy. Graduate students are encouraged to submit their proposals by January 31, 2012.

We have attached a call for submissions in both French and English detailing the conference and deadlines. We encourage all students to apply.

Sincerely,

The Organizing Committee,
CIPS Graduate Student Conference

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About the CSDS Bulletin

The CSDS Bulletin is a weekly newsletter of news, upcoming events, and items of interest to CSDS Associates and students in the NPSIA conflict and intelligence clusters. This is an internal newsletter and is not intended for general circulation.