Global Dashboard – Blog covering International affairs and global risks Ryan Gawn - Global Dashboard - Blog covering International affairs and global risks - Global risks and how to respond to them, edited by Alex Evans and David Steven

WHAM is back! And it really does Win Hearts and Minds in Afghanistan Ryan Gawn

Remember that “terrible phrase”, Winning Hearts And Minds (WHAM)? Using development programs as a tool for counterinsurgency? PRTs and Money as a Weapons System? So last decade, right? Well it’s back, and there’s some new evidence to show that it might actually work – for certain things, and when done right. From Afghanistan, of course. It’s only taken 10 years.

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December 1, 2011 at 6:02 pm | More on Conflict and security, Economics and development, Influence and networks, South Asia | Comments Off

Tweeting Yemen Ryan Gawn

Yemen and Arab Spring watchers will be fascinated by the Al Jazeera New Media team’s Interactive Twitter Dashboard, illustrating what is being tweeted about and where. Tracking tweets on Syria, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Bahrain, the recent Yemen spike (turquoise) is very telling following today’s attack on the presidential palace.

June 3, 2011 at 4:01 pm | More on Conflict and security, Global system, Middle East and North Africa | 1 Comment

Fancy tackling climate change from your desk? Ryan Gawn

March 1, 2011 at 8:28 pm | More on Climate and resource scarcity, What we're watching | 2 Comments

Avoiding the kettle – mobile phone coordination during protests Ryan Gawn

February 1, 2011 at 6:49 pm | More on What we're watching | Comments Off

A long way from lofty Lisbon Ryan Gawn

Karzai and NATO agree on a four year transition plan for handover of security. Source: NATO

Here in Lisbon at the 2010 NATO summit, President Karzai and NATO leaders today agreed a transition plan that will transfer security responsibility to Afghan security forces (ANSF). 4,000 miles away, the Afghan public are doubtful that the ANSF will actually be ready to assume this responsibility by 2014.

In a survey published yesterday by the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS), 61% of respondents in Helmand and Kandahar believe the ANSF will be unable to provide post-transition security. The survey interviewed 1500 Afghans in southern and northern Afghanistan, and reports that 56% believe Afghan police are helping the Taliban and 25% believe that police end up joining the Taliban.

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November 20, 2010 at 4:59 pm | More on Conflict and security, Global system | Comments Off

Jay-Z’s tune has changed, but has NATO? Ryan Gawn

The 2010 NATO Summit kicks off in Lisbon today. Source: NATO

1999. The year the euro was established. Gates’ personal fortune surpassed $100bn. Napster was born. Jay-Z delighted fans with lyrics such as “More money, more cash, more hoes (what)”. NATO intervened in Yugoslavia, attacking a sovereign country for the first time. It was also the year that NATO adopted its most recent “Strategic Concept”.

And how times have changed.

I’m here in Lisbon for the 2010 NATO summit (thanks to the Atlantic Council’s Young Atlanticist Summit), and there’s a buzz in town. Lauded as one of the most crucial in the organisation’s 61 year history, 28 Heads of State will arrive today to approve the alliance’s new mission statement for the next decade – the 2010 Strategic Concept.

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November 19, 2010 at 10:18 am | More on Conflict and security, Global system | Comments Off