Institute for Security Studies and Strauss Center Announce Partnership
16 July 2010
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA, AND AUSTIN, TEXAS
The Strauss Center announced today (Friday, 16 July) that it has entered into a partnership with the Institute for Security Studies, Africa`s leading applied policy research institute.
The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) has a long-standing reputation as the premier think tank on security issues in Africa. The partnership brings a new collaborator into the Strauss Center`s programme on Climate Change and African Political Stability (CCAPS), a $7.6 million initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.
`Developing international relationships is increasingly important given the interdependence of countries on climate change and security,` said Dr Francis J. Gavin, Director of the Strauss Center. `This partnership with such an esteemed African organisation will only further CCAPS` goals of analysing the challenges of climate change and security and developing effective policy strategies to meet them.`
With the shared goal of producing policy-relevant research, the Strauss Center and ISS plan to work together on implementing CCAPS programme activities in Africa. They will share research and information to further analysis on the links between climate change, governance and security in Africa. The two organisations will co-sponsor the CCAPS annual Call for Papers, designed to create opportunities for African scholars and practitioners to discuss themes in climate and security research. In addition, Dr Jakkie Cilliers, founder and Executive Director of ISS, will serve on the CCAPS Advisory Board.
Commenting on the partnership Dr Cilliers explained that: `The ISS is exited about its partnership with CCAPS that will complement our increased focus on the future of the African continent, within which the impact of climate change is a key consideration.` In June, members of the CCAPS research team visited South Africa and shared their initial findings with ISS staff while learning more about current ISS policy initiatives and research.
Dr Josh Busby, one of the lead researchers on the CCAPS programme, discussed his study mapping variations in vulnerability to climate change across Africa. `The partnership with ISS broadens the reach and impact of our research,` Busby said. `It will enable us to share our findings with key stakeholders in African policy circles and, of equal importance, learn from them.`
The partnership leverages the multidisciplinary approach of the Strauss Center and the pan-African presence of ISS to apply a broad range of disciplines, experience and intellectual firepower to critical issues around climate change and African political stability.
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For more information please contact:
Thembani Mbadlanyana
About the Institute for Security Studies
The Institute for Security Studies is an applied policy research institute headquartered in Pretoria, South Africa with offices in Cape Town, South Africa, Nairobi, Kenya and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It seeks to mainstream human security perspectives into public policy processes and to influence decision makers within Africa and beyond. For more information, please visit www.issafrica.org
About the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security
The Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law is a nonpartisan research center at The University of Texas at Austin dedicated to promoting policy-relevant scholarship on the problems and opportunities created by our increasingly globalised and interconnected world. For more information on the Strauss Center, please visit www.StraussCenter.org
