April 12, 2005
Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies // Nanyang Technological University

Abstract:

In an effort to make European troops more employable in out-of-area operations, the United States has urged NATO to set goals of having each member nation able to deploy 40 percent of its forces abroad with at least 8 percent of each nation's military actually deployed at any given time. The motivation behind this idea would be to help sustain the ongoing shift from reliance on territorial defenses during the Cold War to expeditionary forces in the post-September 11 era. Even so, this objective may be exceedingly difficult for new NATO members to achieve, given the competing budgetary and political pressures to which they are subjected....

April 7, 2004


Abstract:

The United States's increased interest in Eurasia over the past year has added confusion to an already muddled debate over nation- and state-building in the region. In particular, U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan drew global attention to what and who a post-Taliban regime would look like. But the Bush Administration's blanket caution over "nation-building" in Afghanistan blurred the crucial difference between state-building and nation-building: the former concerns developing institutions of governance; the latter concerns developing a shared identity. ...

October 11, 2007
Track Impunity Always

Abstract:

Mikhail Farbtukh was born around 1919. In 1940, as Latvia was being occupied by the USSR, he became head of the NKVD (former KGB) for the city of Daugavpils. As such, he took part in the deportation by the USSR of thousands of Latvians.

October 4, 2007
Track Impunity Always

Abstract:

Alfons Noviks was born in 1908. In 1940, as the USSR had just annexed Latvia, he became People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of Soviet Latvia. As such he was the head of the State Security and of the NKVD (former KGB). Between 1940 and 1953, he is believed to have been actively involved in numerous deportations carried out on behalf of the USSR. Over 100'000 Latvians are believed to have been deported to Siberia, and around 150'000 Lithuanians and Estonians have been forced to exile by this policy....

June 19, 2007
Overseas Security Advisory Council

Abstract:

The document provides an overview of crime statistics from Latvia in 2006 by type and region. It also provides information about ongoing criminal processes.

June 7, 2006
Council of Europe

Abstract:

The United States of America finds that neither the classic instruments of criminal law and procedure, nor the framework of the laws of war (including respect for the Geneva Conventions) has been apt to address the terrorist threat. As a result it has introduced new legal concepts, such as "enemy combatant" and "rendition", which were previously unheard of in international law and stand contrary to the basic legal principles that prevail on our continent. Thus, across the world, the United States has progressively woven a clandestine "spider's web" of disappearances, secret detentions and unlawful inter-state transfers, often encompassing countries notorious for their use of torture. Hundreds of persons have become entrapped in this web, in some cases merely suspected of sympathising with a presumed terrorist organisation....

March 5, 2005
European Centre for Minority Issues

Abstract:

This map of Latvia is accompanied by a backgrounder, and key statistics, documents, and links.

August 31, 2004
European Centre for Minority Issues

Abstract:

The Ethnopolitical Map of Europe is intended to cover those regions in Europe, including the Balkans, the Baltic Sea area and the Caucasus, which are currently facing or have recently experienced ethnopolitical tension or conflict. The clickable map is guiding the users to official documents which reflect international involvement in the reduction of ethnopolitical tension and resolution of interethnic conflicts in different countries and regions of Europe. Further, the map provides information on population statistics, current national legislation and relevant literature on the ethnopolitical situation in those countries. ...

December 10, 2008
International Centre for Migration Policy Development

Abstract:

A Survey and Analysis of Border Management and Border Apprehension Data from 20 States. With a Special Survey on the Use of Counterfeit Documents. Based on the contributions of the border services of 20 Central and Eastern European states, the 2006 Yearbook again provides its valuable overview and analysis of irregular migration trends in the region. Over the past ten years the annual Yearbook on Illegal Migration, Human Smuggling and Trafficking in Central and Eastern Europe has come to be regarded as an authoritative source of information on recent border trends and in particular on the phenomena of illegal migration, human smuggling and trafficking. The annual Yearbook covers the most recent trends in illegal migration and human smuggling in the region, including long-term trends in border apprehensions, shifts in source, transit and destination countries, demographic characteristics of irregular migrants, the relationship between legal and illegal border crossings, new developments in the methods of border crossings and document abuse and on removals of irregular migrants. In addition, this year’s edition for the first time features a Special Survey on the use of counterfeit documents for illegal migration purposes. This Survey is based on the contributions received from document specialists or Special Units dealing with document security in the countries under review and provides the first comprehensive overview and analysis of patterns and trends in the use of counterfeit documents for illegal migration purposes in Central and Eastern Europe....

September 5, 2008
Congressional Research Service

Abstract:

U.S. policymakers have made securing and maintaining foreign contributions to the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq a major priority since the preparation period for the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2003. This report highlights and discusses important changes in financial and personnel contributions from foreign governments to Iraq since 2003. To date, foreign donors have pledged an estimated $16.4 billion in grants and loans for Iraq reconstruction, with most major pledges originating at a major donors' conference in Madrid, Spain, in October 2003. However, only a small part of the pledges have been committed or disbursed to the World Bank and United Nations Development Group Trust Funds for Iraq. The largest non-U.S. pledges of grants have come from Japan, the European Commission, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, Japan, and Saudi Arabia have pledged the most loans and export credits. Currently, 33 countries including the United States have some level of troops on the ground in Iraq or supporting Iraq operations from nearby locations. Those forces are working under the rubric of one of several organizations — the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I), the NATO Training Mission-Iraq (NTM-I); or the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). Currently, the largest troop contributors, in addition to the United States, are the United Kingdom, Georgia, Australia, South Korea, and Poland. Some of these key contributors have announced their intention to reduce or withdraw their forces from Iraq during 2008. The total number of non-U.S. coalition troop contributions has declined since the early stabilization efforts, as other countries have withdrawn their contingents or substantially reduced their size....

October 15, 2007
Central Asia Caucasus Institute

Abstract:

The workshop from which this report originates dealt with organized crime, corruption and investment of criminal proceeds in the Baltic Sea region. This workshop report, compiled by Klas Kxc3xa4rrstrand, summarizes the presentations made during the workshop and the discussions stimulated by the each of the presentations. The main purpose is to identify recent trends and developments in order to point out potential consequences for the social, economic, legal and political development, in especially Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, but also for the region as a whole....

May 14, 2007
Government Accountability Office

Abstract:

In March 2003, a U.S.-led multinational force began operations in Iraq. At that time, 48 nations, identified as a "coalition of the willing," offered political, military, and financial support for U.S. efforts in Iraq, with 38 nations other than the United States providing troops. In addition, international donors met in Madrid in October 2003 to pledge funding for the reconstru#ction of Iraq's infrastructure, which had deteriorated after multiple wars and decades of neglect under the previous regime. This testimony discusses (1) the troop commitments other countries have made to operations in Iraq, (2) the funding the United States has provided to support other countries' participation in the multinational force, and (3) the financial support international donors have provided to Iraq reconstruction efforts....

September 5, 2006
Congressional Research Service

Abstract:

The mission of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Afghanistan is seen as a test of the alliance's political will and military capabilities. The allies are seeking to create a "new" NATO, able to go beyond the European theater and combat new threats such as terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Afghanistan is NATO's first "out-of-area" mission beyond Europe. The purpose of the mission is the stabilization and reconstruction of Afghanistan. The mission is a difficult one because it must take place while combat operations against Taliban insurgents continue. U.N. Security Council resolutions govern NATO's responsibilities. The NATOled International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) faces formidable obstacles: shoring up a weak government in Kabul; using military capabilities in a distant country with rugged terrain; and rebuilding a country devastated by war and troubled by a resilient narcotics trade. NATO's mission statement lays out the essential elements of the task of stabilizing and rebuilding the country: train the Afghan army, police, and judiciary; support the government in counter-narcotics efforts; develop a market infrastructure; and suppress the Taliban....