International Crisis Group

International Crisis Group
legal form	Non-governmental organization
founding	1995
founder	Morton I. Abramowitz, Mark Malloch Brown , George J. Mitchell
Seat	Brussels ( ⊙ coordinates: 50 ° 49 ′ 42.6 ″  N , 4 ° 21 ′ 42.3 ″  E )
motto	Working to prevent conflict worldwide.
Chair	Robert Malley , President
sales	20.4 million US dollars
Employees	154
Website	crisisgroup.org

The International Crisis Group (ICG) is a non-governmental organization that provides analyzes and proposed solutions to international conflicts. It is largely funded by Western governments, foundations and corporations. In her policy area she is generally recognized as the key point of contact for governments and international organizations such as B. the United Nations , the European Union and the World Bank . ICG offers analyzes and political advice on over 50 current or threatened conflict situations worldwide.

history

The organization was founded in 1995 by Morton Abramowitz (former US Ambassador to Turkey and Thailand and later President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace ), Mark Malloch Brown (later UNDP Administrator, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and Secretary of State for Great Britain ) and George J. Mitchell , US Senator and first chairman of the Crisis Group.

George Soros was and is involved in the founding and financing of ICG . He and his son Alexander Soros are members of the Board of Trustees of the ICG.

Former Australian Foreign Secretary Gareth Evans was President and Chief Executive Officer of the organization from 2000 to 2009 . From 2009 to 2014, Louise Arbor was President and Chief Operating Officer . She was previously the United Nations High Representative for Human Rights and a judge at the Supreme Court of Canada. The ICG board consists of former international politicians and diplomats . Wolfgang Ischinger from Germany was represented until June 30, 2018 . He was replaced by Sigmar Gabriel on July 1, 2018 . The Switzerland represents Maria Livanos Cattaui . External German senior consultants are Volker Rühe , Gernot Erler , Christoph Bertram and Uta Zapf .

From September 2014 to December 2017, Jean-Marie Guéhenno was President and Managing Director. The French diplomat was previously among other things special envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League for Syria and head of the Center for International Conflict Resolution at Columbia University .

Robert Malley, a former member of the Obama administration, has headed the organization since January 2018.

The ICG works very closely with the UN , also in terms of personnel . For example, in 2017 three members of the ICG Board, including President and CEO of ICG Jean-Marie Guéhenno, were appointed to the newly created UN Advisory Board on Mediation (High-Level Advisory Board on mediation). Several ICG employees switched between positions at the ICG and the UN. For example, Louise Arbor was a member of the ICG Board in 2000, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2004 to 2008 , President and CEO of the ICG from 2009 to 2014, and from 2017 UN Special Representative for International Migration.

Guiding principle

The organization was founded in response to the Somalia , Rwanda and Bosnia conflicts in the early 1990s. ICG wants to help ensure that such tragic events are recognized early enough and that there is an effective response to them.

It should be a new kind of organization that supports governments, international organizations, as well as the entire international community in the early detection and prevention of impending conflicts. On-site analysts should warn of potential conflicts early on. At the same time, an influential board of directors should enable effective action at the highest political level worldwide.

Fields of work

Conflict prevention and resolution are part of the core business of the Crisis Group. As the NGO itself states, it performs its tasks in different ways:

• With early warning, with the monthly CrisisWatch report and with "crisis alerts" that draw attention to the escalation of a conflict.
• By engaging in and contributing to peace negotiations.
• By producing highly detailed analysis and advice. In this way, the ICG helps decision-makers in governments and international organizations (UN Security Council, EU) to better anticipate and react to conflicts.
• By providing detailed information on the topics of conflict, mass violence and terrorism. They are particularly useful for policy makers, e.g. For example, when it comes to the radical Islamist terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah in Indonesia , the various Jihadi groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan or the Islamic courts in Somalia .
• The ICG offers strategic approaches to solving some of the most complex conflicts and crisis situations in the world. The nuclear armament of Iran, the role of Islamism , the Arab-Israeli conflict, the situation in Myanmar / Burma, Cyprus , Kosovo and Iraq are some examples.

financing

The annual budget of the Crisis Group is now over 15 million US dollars (approx. 11 million euros). About 54 percent of this comes from governments, 26 percent from international foundations, and 20 percent from individual patrons and corporations. 70 percent of all donations are not tied to specific projects, so that the ICG can decide independently about these funds.

The donors include the governments of 13 EU member states , including Germany and Austria, as well as the European Commission itself. The governments of Australia, Canada, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, Qatar and the USA are also donors.

Non-governmental donors include a. the Carnegie Corporation of New York , McKinsey & Company , Goldman Sachs and the Open Society Foundations by George Soros.

Workforce and locations

The organization employs more than 135 people from over 50 countries as well as approximately 20 consultants and 40 interns. These employees are spread across nine regional offices and fourteen other locations worldwide and cover over 60 current or potential conflicts. The Crisis Group also has advocacy offices in Brussels (headquarters), Washington, DC , New York and London , as well as liaison offices in Moscow and Beijing . The ICG reports are used by foreign ministries , international organizations and non-governmental organizations . They are freely available to the public and can be downloaded from the organization's website.

Regions and countries that ICG reports on

The global presence is reflected in up to 80 detailed reports annually as well as hundreds of interviews and articles. Crisis Group currently reports on around 60 countries. In Africa, these include : Burundi , Cameroon , the Central African Republic , Chad , Ivory Coast , the Democratic Republic of the Congo , Eritrea , Ethiopia , Guinea , Guinea-Bissau , Kenya , Liberia , Madagascar , Nigeria , Rwanda , Sierra Leone , Somalia , Sudan , Uganda and Zimbabwe .

In Asia : Afghanistan , Bangladesh , China and Taiwan , Indonesia , Kashmir , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Myanmar / Burma, Nepal , North Korea , Pakistan , the Philippines , Singapore , Sri Lanka , Tajikistan , Thailand , East Timor , Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan .

In Europe : Armenia , Azerbaijan , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Cyprus , Georgia , Kosovo , Macedonia , North Caucasus , Serbia and Turkey .

In the Middle East and North Africa : Egypt , Tunisia , Algeria , Libya , Israel / Palestine , Lebanon , Yemen , Syria , Bahrain , Jordan , Saudi Arabia , Iran and Iraq .

And in Latin America and the Caribbean : Bolivia , Colombia , Ecuador , Venezuela , Guatemala and Haiti .

criticism

The organization is accused of being biased in some conflicts, such as in 2007 made the ultimate call on the EU , the independence of the international law to rapidly Serbia belonging to Kosovo recognition. This was viewed as a provocation by Serbia and Russia .

Web links

• Official website
• The Guardian Editorial, 23 March 2009
• Global Go To Think Tanks 2010 (PDF; 1 MB)
• 2009 Global Go To Report Think Tank Index ( Memento of June 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
• Tagesspiegel, January 26, 2010: "Crisis Group: Seismograph of horror"
• Evangelisch.de, October 18, 2010: "The 'International Crisis Group' goes to the roots of wars"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} About Crisis Group. (No longer available online.) International Crisis Group, formerly the original ; accessed on February 13, 2018 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
2. ↑ International Crisis Group: Annual Report 2013. p. 23 ( PDF; 2.3 MB ( Memento of the original from May 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ). 
3. ↑ History of ICG in crisisgroup.org. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
4. ^ Board of Trustees of the ICG at crisisgroup.org. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
5. ↑ https://regionalgoslar.de/gabriel-im-board-of-trustees-der-international-crisis-group/
6. ↑ ICG members switch to the UN at crisisgroup.org. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
7. ↑ Louise Arbor at Time. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
8. ↑ Financing the ICG at crisisgroup.org. Retrieved November 28, 2018.