Development and Economics

The U.S. Institute of Peace is hosting a conference on July 14, 2010 from 10:00-11:30 am on High-Value Resource Contracts, Conflict, and Peace in Afghanistan.

Conference Subject:

Competition for access to, and control of, abundant natural resources often triggers and sustains violent conflict.  A number of seemingly intractable conflicts can be linked to weak management or mismanagement of high-value resources like mineral ores and petroleum.  Similarly, building peace in fragile regions presupposes the judicious management of these resources.  The design, content, execution and monitoring of mining and exploration contracts is central to positive human security outcomes.
 
In Afghanistan, the award of the lucrative Aynak copper mines to the Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) in 2007 has raised a number of eyebrows.  Some questioned the validity of the $2.8 billion contract, while others doubted the MCC’s capacity to fulfill its contractual obligations – which include the provision of infrastructure and amenities in the mining area.   Recent disclosures identify that Afghanistan has significant untapped deposits such as iron ore, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium worth an estimated $1 trillion have once more brought the contracting issues to the fore.  Would reputational risk from the Aynak contract affect subsequent bidding in Afghanistan’s extractive sector?  What steps should be taken to ensure transparency?  How could Afghanistan ensure that mining does not foster or fuel conflict?  The panel will explore these questions.

To RSVP or to learn more, click here.

USIP: Countdown to Copper in Afghanistan-Pitfalls and Possibilities

Copper deposits worth over $50 billion in Afghanistan’s Aynak valley, some 30 miles south of Kabul in Logar province, could either present an opportunity for economic sustainability and political stability or become the focus of violent competition and grand corruption.

The Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) secured mining rights in November 2007 after outbidding a world class field (including Canada-based Hunter Dickinson, U.S.-based Phelps Dodge and UK-based Kazakhmys Consortium.  As part of the deal, the MCC will build a 400 megawatt power plant, construct vital infrastructure (like the railway linking Afghanistan to Tajikistan and Pakistan) and provide social amenities like schools, clinics and mosques. Annual royalties are expected to average over $300 million after operations start around 2012-13 and could play a role in shifting the focus of Afghanistan’s economy away from the opium trade.

The project is expected to employ as many as 5,000 directly and 30,000 indirectly. This is the largest investment in Afghanistan’s recent history; roughly equivalent to one-third of all foreign aid spent in the country between 2002 and 2007.  Translating this investment into meaningful and lasting improvements in the quality of life for all Afghan citizens would require community-focused interventions, sustained capacity-building, effective environmental management and an enhanced security climate.  Panelists will address the following questions:

• What steps should be taken to ensure that a viable copper industry benefits local communities and promotes peace in Afghanistan?


• How should the Afghan business sector prepare to be fully integrated in the copper value chain?


• How should external parties, like the United States, help the Afghan government and community-based organizations to build capacity  that would improve coordination and effectiveness?


• What lessons from other mining-based economies would be most useful in Afghanistan?

Speakers

• Lorenzo Delesgues
  Director, Integrity Watch Afghanistan


• Gary McMahon
  Senior Mining Specialist, The World Bank


• Said Mirzad
  Afghanistan Program Co-Coordinator, U.S. Geological Survey


• Raymond Gilpin, Moderator
  Director, Center for Sustainable Economies, U.S. Institute of Peace

"State Capacity for Development"

Hosted By: International Development Program

Time: 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Location: Room 500, The Bernstein-Offit Building

Summary: Atul Kohli, David K. E. Bruce Professor of International Affairs at Princeton University, will discuss this topic.

 For more information and to RSVP, contact 202.663.5943 or developmentroundtable@jhu.edu.

From the University of Ottawa's Centre for International Policy Studies: Call for Proposals "Breaking Down Barriers: Challenges of Security and Development.”

http://www.socialsciences.uottawa.ca/cepi-cips/eng/gradconf.asp

The second annual Centre for International Policy Studies (CIPS) Graduate Student Conference will be held at the University of Ottawa on March 25-26, 2010. The theme of the conference will be “Breaking Down Barriers: Challenges of Security and Development.”

The purpose of this conference is to showcase graduate student research and promote debate on topics relating to international security and development, and the nexus between these two domains. Papers may address specific issues or develop more conceptual analysis related to the challenges of security and development. In particular, the conference wishes to:

Address questions related to the barriers (conceptual, physical, legal, etc.) surrounding local, national and global actors in the context of security and development;
Examine the ways security and development are configured in different contexts;
Identify challenges facing actors in both fields (changing roles, traditional and non-traditional actors, etc.);
Discuss the future viability of the current system, including links between conceptualization and practice.
The conference aims to include both theoretical and policy-oriented research.

The conference is organized by graduate students with the support of the Centre for International Policy Studies and is intended to be fully interdisciplinary in nature. The conference aims to include contributions from graduate students in various disciplines such as law, political science, gender studies, geography, economics, and sociology, among others, and from universities across Canada and beyond.

To this end, CIPS is calling for paper proposals in English or French from graduate students at any university. Paper proposals should be no more than 500 words in length and should be submitted along with a biography or CV to cepi.cips.conference@gmail.com . Consideration of proposals will begin on December 22, 2009. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by e-mail at the end of January 2010.

Some financial assistance may be available to defray travel costs of participants coming from outside Ottawa. Please indicate whether you wish to be considered for financial assistance when you submit your paper abstract.

For further information, please contact us at the above email address.