http://www.senliscouncil.net/ http://rss.senliscouncil.net/news/logo http://www.senliscouncil.net/ The Senlis Council is an international policy think tank with offices in Kabul, London, Ottawa, Rio de Janeiro, Brussels and Paris. The Council's work encompasses foreign policy, security, development and counter-narcotics policies and aims to provide innovative analysis and proposals within these areas. The extensive programme currently underway in Afghanistan focuses on global policy development in conjunction with field research to investigate the relationships between counter-narcotics, military, and development policies and their consequences on Afghanistan's reconstruction efforts. Senlis Afghanistan has field offices in the Afghan cities of Kabul, Lashkar Gah and Kandahar. http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/publications/iraq_angry_hearts LONDON – The Senlis Council calls for a reengineering of the international community’s mechanisms for responding to global security crises. The Council’s new research in Iraq demonstrates that current policies in the country are producing a generation of angry young men who are easy prey for recruitment to extremist insurgencies. The new Iraq findings show one striking similarity with The Council’s previous research in Afghanistan and Somalia: the intense anger of the country’s young men. “This crescent of anger that runs through all three of the main theatres of the War on Terror conflict is not being effectively responded to,” said Norine MacDonald QC, President and Lead Field Researcher of The Senlis Council. “We need to win over these young men’s hearts and minds in order to starve the insurgents of recruits and support.” http://senliscouncil.net/modules/media_centre/press_releases/paris_conference PARIS – Donors at the International Conference in Support of Afghanistan must focus their attention on tackling Afghanistan’s burgeoning illegal opium economy instead of making generous but ineffective aid pledges that fail to address this major crisis, said The Senlis Council on Thursday. Empty promises from previous donor conferences have done nothing to improve the everyday situation in the war-torn country, while the illicit opium economy continues to hamper Afghanistan’s reconstruction, development and stabilisation efforts. Criticising ineffectual aid delivery mechanisms, The Senlis Council called for the international community to harness market forces to address the country’s illegal opium problem, by adopting pragmatic initiatives like Poppy for Medicine projects. By stimulating the creation of a sustainable economy, such projects can wean Afghanistan off its reliance on international aid. http://www.publicsecurity.senliscouncil.net/ The Senlis Council's Centre of Excellence on Public Security now has a website online. Based in Rio de Janeiro, the Centre of Excellence on Public Security provides innovative research, advocacy and policy analysis to promote pragmatic responses, supporting states to solve public security crises and pave the way for social and economic development. http://www.publicsecurity.senliscouncil.net/modules/events/africa_brasil_dialogue The new Senlis Council event, "Public Security in the 21st Century, Challenges and Responses", will be held at the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel in Entebbe, Uganda, on the 7th of July 2008. To reach Public Security goals more than police action alone is needed. It is clear that in the 21st century state policy needs to be innovative to meet the public security challenges. This dialogue brings to Africa expertise and experience from Brazil. The universal relevance to Africa of Brazilian experiences and responses to public security issues will be presented and discussed. http://senliscouncil.net/modules/media_centre/press_releases/insite Raymond Kendall, Honorary Secretary General of Interpol, and The Senlis Council’s President, Norine MacDonald QC, on Tuesday urged Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to keep Vancouver’s Insite safe injection centre open, citing in particular its significant positive impact on public security aside from its proven health benefits. In a piece published as the Globe and Mail’s exclusive commentary on its website on Tuesday, Kendall and MacDonald wrote that Insite and other sites like it ‘neither increase drug-related crimes, nor attract criminals to the site’. http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/publications/chronic_failures_war_terror The conflict theatres of Somalia and Afghanistan share a number of similarities, not least regarding the tactics, techniques and motivations utilised by their respective insurgencies. Field research undertaken by The Senlis Council in both countries has enabled the identification of shared dynamics and the interplay between various levels of actor engaged in both conflicts. http://www.senliscouncil.net/ The chronic failures of the US “War on Terror” - How is Smart Power a Fast Track to stabilising Somalia and Afghanistan? - What lessons can be learned from Somaliland, the Horn of Africa’s beacon of stability? The Senlis Council releases its latest report and recommendations from extensive on-the-ground field research at the PRESS BRIEFING, Wednesday 23rd April 2008 – 10:30 am, Sixty One Whitehall,London SW1A 2ET. http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/publications/Afghan_Somali_views_us_elections With both Afghanistan and Somalia strongly affected by US policy, the results of this year’s US Presidential elections are critical for both countries. In March and April 2008, a series of interviews were carried out in Afghanistan and Somalia to gauge the extent to which the United State Presidential Candidates were known in each of these countries, which candidates were favoured and why. http://www.cic.nyu.edu/afghanistan/docs/counternarcoticsfinal.pdf The Senlis Council wishes to draw your attention to an important report by the Center on International Cooperation of New York University – "Counter-narcotics to Stabilize Afghanistan: the false promise of crop eradication" - released in the run-up to a major international meeting on Afghan policy in Tokyo, warns that U.S.-driven efforts to eradicate the country's opium crop, rather than deprive the Taliban of funding, will instead make more drug money available to fund insurgency, terrorism, and corruption. http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/media_centre/press_releases/save_a_mate_award On the occasion of the 51st Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, The Senlis Council on Wednesday presented The Australian Red Cross save-a-mate (SAM) program with the inaugural Award for Innovative Drug Policy. Initially launched in 1999, the save-a-mate program's peer education comes in direct contact with more than 40,000 young people in Australia each year, and delivers training to more than 10,000. The initiative addresses the young in all communities, including vulnerable populations such as the Aboriginals, the prisoner population and sex workers. With over 300 volunteers nationally delivering training and first-aid services on a wide range of drug use and alcohol issues, the peer-to-peer campaign has been highly successful in Australia. "This initiative powerfully illustrates the effectiveness of health-based approaches to drug issues, and sends a strong message on the need for more realistic and humanitarian measures," said Emmanuel Reinert, Executive Director of The Senlis Council, who presented the award to Shaun Hazeldine, National Manager of save-a-mate, at a dinner in Vienna which was attended by delegates from the Commission on Narcotic Drugs... http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/events The Senlis Council is participating in the very first Red Cross/Red Crescent World Congress on Humanitarian Drug Policy hosted by the Spanish Red Cross in Barcelona. With the participation of over fifty National Societies of Red Cross and Red Crescent, this congress aims at engaging the whole Red Cross/Red Crescent movement in the formulation and implementation of humanitarian approaches to drug policy. http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/media_centre/letters/nato_afghan_elections Letter to the Editor - Regarding the column "A growing rift" by William Pfaff (Views, Feb. 12): NATO's internal strife over Afghanistan might spell disaster for the credibility and future of the Atlantic Alliance. However, that's not what the Afghan people are most worried about. Infighting between those countries bearing the brunt of counterinsurgency operations against the Taliban and those focusing on development and reconstruction in Afghanistan's quieter areas might put at risk the prospects of organizing presidential elections in 2009... http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/events/rio_symposium This event, co-hosted by the Brazilian Antidrug Secretariat, the Ministry of Justice's National Public Security Secretariat, Directorate of the Federal Police and The Senlis Council, brings together international authorities, experts and policy makers to discuss the most pressing challenges facing public security, and will explore the relationship between global drug policy and public security policies. Amongst others, speaking at the event will be Jose Gomes Temporao, Brazil's Minister of Health, Tarso Fernando Herz Genro, Minister of Justice for Brazil, and Luiz Fernando Correa, Brazil's Director General of the Federal Police. http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/publications/us_policy_recommendations The Senlis Council releases its latest recommendations to the US government concerning Afghanistan. It urges the United States Government to halt plans for forced poppy crop eradication in Afghanistan, and encourages George Bush to support a Poppy for Medicine initiative, which would see Afghan farmers licensed to grow their poppy for morphine. http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/media_centre/press_releases/US_halt The Senlis Council on Monday urged the United States Government to halt plans for forced poppy crop eradication in Afghanistan, citing the drastically deteriorating security situation in the country. With the US set to restart manual crop eradication any time now, Senlis said a continuation of this failing policy would undermine NATO's efforts to stabilise Afghanistan. http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/publications/Decision_Point/video_report All the videos taken by our Senlis Film crew in Afghanistan for the release of the report Afghanistan: Decision Point 2008. Videos include footage of Norine MacDonald QC discussing the problems refugees face after being forced to flee Musa Qala as a result of bombing raids; and Afghans discussing possible candidates of the upcoming presidential elections.