The Foreign Service Journal, December 2005

objective: that the Bureau of Inter- national Information Programs ought to become a technology hub, not only for the department, but for the U.S. government. “We’re going to make that one of IIP’s core missions, and we’re convening a private-sector advi- sory council where I’m reaching out to some of the best minds in the technology world to try to get them to help me,” says Hughes. These measures and plans may be driving a healthy institutional shake- up at State, thanks to Karen Hughes’ close friendship with President Bush. But whether that political backing will translate into financial back- ing, enabling her to command the resources necessary to actually imple- ment her ideas, remains to be seen. As on previous occasions, Hughes reiterated her determination to step up exchange programs and institute a vigorous citizen ambassador pro- gram. Some “new money” has been diverted into both exchange and English-language training programs already, Hughes reports, and a “sig- nificant” increase is planned for Fiscal Year 2006: $74 million. But fully $180 million of the $430 million requested for educational and cultural exchange programs in FY 2006 is specifically earmarked for “Muslim Outreach” programs — despite the fact the America’s image is no less tarnished among non-Muslims. The $74 million increase will only allow the mainline exchanges to con- tinue at about 2005 levels, and there is no telling whether more will be cut in the post-Katrina budgetary universe. — Susan Maitra, Senior Editor New Report Finds Decline in Global Violence The Human Security Report , a comprehensive study released by The Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Colombia, has found surprising evidence of a decline in the number of wars, genocides and human-rights abuses over the past decade. Terrorism is an anomaly, being the only category in which armed conflict has risen. (The full report is available online at http:// www.humansecurityreport.info/ .) The report credits three major political changes over the last 30 years for the decline in violence. First came the process of decolonization. Wars of national liberation accounted for 60 to 100 percent of the conflicts from the early 1950s to the 1980s, depending on the year. But since colonialism’s virtual demise, no such wars have occurred. Second was the end of the Cold War, which has resulted in an end to the instigation of proxy wars in the Third World. During the Cold War period these accounted for approxi- mately one-third of all conflicts. The report pays special attention to the upsurge of international activism from the World Bank, donor states, a number of regional security organiza- tions and NGOs. However, the United Nations is given most of the credit for its effectiveness in spear- heading these international opera- tions. This may be surprising in light of some of the U.N.’s recent and high- ly publicized failures, but the report maintains this is because success is never as widely reported. The report details a sixfold increase in U.N. pre- ventive diplomacy initiatives and a fourfold increase in peacemaking efforts since 1990. “The increase in preventive diplo- macy helped prevent a number of latent conflicts from crossing the threshold into warfare, while the rise in peacemaking activities has been associated with a major rise in peace settlements,” the report concludes. Further resources on the subject are available at the Human Security Gate- way ( http://www.humansecurity gateway.info/ ), a r esearch and infor- mation database affiliated with the Liu Institute. The site offers a trea- sure trove of electronic and biblio- graphic resources on human security, including access to maps. The decreasing trend in armed conflict runs counter to common per- ceptions of an increasingly violent and chaotic world, though the researchers insist their positive findings are no grounds for complacency. The report is ultimately intended to help the international community learn the lessons of conflict prevention and con- flict resolution, both when policies work and when they do not. — Daniel Zussman, Editorial Intern Video Games: A Changing Medium A new generation of nonconven- tional video game-makers is promot- ing world peace through a medium notorious for embracing violence. Those concerned about the effects of exposure to video-game violence on young people have reason to hope the newest line of constructive video games will produce a similar, yet D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 13 C YBERNOTES