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Begin New Search Political Geography United States Content Type Journal Article

2131. Future of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and China

Author:
Selçuk Çolakoglu
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
Sino-Russian bilateral relations have steadily developed during the 1990s. With the help of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which was established in 1996, China and Russia had the chance to balance the hegemony of the US in the world and to prevent the interfering of other great powers to central Eurasian issues. Central Asian countries, which have been historically and strategically squeezed between Russia and China, have also taken part in the SCO. With the US military operation of Afghanistan after September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001, the new era has started in Central Asia and the SCO has been affected negatively within this process. The attitude of Russia and China is very important for the future of the SCO as an organization. The SCO will be able to protect its entity and continue to develop, as long as the cooperation between China and Russia carries on depending on mutual interests.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, China, Central Asia, and Asia

2132. Political Conditionality of Economic Interactions in the Middle East; Turkey's Relations with Iran, Iraq, and Syria

Author:
Mustafa Aydin and Damla Aras
Publication Date:
06-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
The political logic (i.e., political perceptions of the ruling elite in a given country and nature of the political relations with other countries) determines economic activity, not the other way around, among the proto-capitalist states of the Middle East. As the political ties has primacy in the region in determining the course of economic relations, even market oriented democratic (or quasi-democratic) countries have to accept the prominence of political-strategic relations when dealing with such states. This paper will examine the interrelated fluctuation of trade and political tensions between Turkey and its immediate Middle Eastern neighbours - Iran, Iraq, and Syria. It will highlight the political determinants of the relationship between these countries; will discuss the role of the US as the independent variable; and will assess the possible effects of the emergence of Justice and Development Party government in Turkey on country's political and economic relations with its Middle Eastern neighbours.
Topic:
International Relations, Economics, and International Political Economy
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Europe, Iran, Turkey, Middle East, and Syria

2133. Foreign Policy of Islamic Republic of Iran towards Central Asia and Azerbaijan

Author:
Atay Akdevelioglu
Publication Date:
06-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
While Iran did not have a clearly deliniated policy towards Central Aisa (and Azerbaijan) during the Soviet period and conducted its relations through Moscow, it tried to develop constructive engagement with the regional states since the collapse of the Soviet Union. At the same time, Iran clearly came to accept the dominant postion of Russia in the region. Although it avoided involvement in internal affairs of the regional countries, Iran's political relations with them have not develop into a satisfactory level. In this, American discouragement of the regional countries to enter close relations with Iran, their identification of political Islam as domestic threat and Iran as its external hub, as well as Iran's own economic and technological weaknesses played important roles. Despite this political weaknesses and US pressures, however, Iran, with its suitable geographic location and acceptance of trampa with the energy reach countries, has emerged as an importan regional economic partner and alternative transit route.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Islam
Political Geography:
United States, Iran, Central Asia, Asia, and Azerbaijan

2134. US Policies toward Central Asia and Effects of the September 11

Author:
Çagri Erhan
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
As is had been the case during the Cold War, Central Asian region was one of the priorities in the US foreign policy in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Howevwr, this gegan to change in the second half of the 1990s as the US became aware of its vital interests in the region. This led to a situıation in which the place accorded to Central Asia in the American national security strategies began to increase. Following September 11 attacks the US started cooperating with the Central Asian republics closely. US troops began to enter the region under the rhetoric of "fight against terrorism" since the end of 2001. Thus, US administration began its military opening toward the region as it had been seeking ways to gain influence in the region since the second half of the 1900s. Wahington realized its aim guickly due to the "temporary approval" of Russia and willingness of the regional countries to cooperate.
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, America, Central Asia, Asia, and Soviet Union

2135. US-Japan Security Treaties: Formation, Evolution and Consequences

Author:
Hakan Gönen
Publication Date:
12-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
This study examines the formation, evolution and consequences of the US-Japan post-war security relations. Since the end of World War II, the close US-Japan security relationship has benefited both nations. Japan relies on the US for protection from outside attacks by either conventional or nuclear forces. In turn, under the terms of the security treaty, Tokyo lends military bases on Japanese soil to American forces. In this context, Japan has been able to concentrate on rebuilding its economy with relatively little concern for its own defense. But both Tokyo and Washington have begun to reassess their security requirements in view of changing global threats in the post-cold war era.
Topic:
Security and Cold War
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, and America

2136. Beginning Again: From Refugee to Citizen

Author:
Ahmed I Samatar
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
A key feature of this phase of globalization is a speedy catalyzation of a heretofore unseen degree of human mobility and cultural interpenetration. Unlike the earlier epochs in the making of the modern world (16th through the early 20th-century), when Europeans were the main groups leaving their homelands to find better lives in other parts of the word, the contemporary era is witness to a dramatic reversal movement. Many in Africa, Central and South America, and Asia have come or are earnestly planning to lift their heels for the “old” West (even to Southern and Eastern Europe) and “neo-Europe” (e.g., the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand). The phenomenal arrival of tens of thousands of Somalis in the United States within the last two decades (first as a trickle and then in larger numbers since the 1990s) is to a great extent part of this trend. It is a happening that is, in one sense, part of an old story, as President Roosevelt correctly asserted, and a continuous aspect in the quintessential making of these United States, marked by the settlement of people from almost every region of the world. As a matter of fact, since the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965 and the Refugee Act of 1980, more than twenty million legal immigrants have entered the U.S. A dramatic demographic consequence of these flows of people, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, is this: At present, those Americans who are foreign-born and their children compose around one-fifth of the American population. If the Somali presence in America is one slice of the latest iteration, the potential for a decent, let alone notable success—in both material and mental terms—depends on how, individually and collectively, they assess the complexities of the new environment and, subsequently, snatch any legitimate turns of chance. To state this point is not to under estimate how difficult circumstances have been, are, or could be. The life histories of others who came before Somalis, including some of European ancestry (e.g., the Irish and southerners from around the Mediterranean),testify to the cruel treatment that might await and the bogushindrances that one must struggle against during the transition.
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand

2137. Local Lives, Transnational Ties, and the Meaning of Citizenship: Somali Histories and Herstories from Small Town America

Author:
Helga Leitner
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
United States immigration policy is based on the assumption that every legal immigrant to this country is on the road to becoming a U.S. citizen. In order to become a citizen, immigrants are explicitly or tacitly expected to assimilate into the U.S. sociocultural and economic system, to shed their attachment and allegiance to their home country, and to devote their loyalty to just one country, the United States. The first line of the citizenship oath makes this clear: “I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign…state…of…which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen.” Viewing loyalty in such zero-sum terms has blinded American policymakers to migrants' transnational practices, ties, and multiple allegiances.
Political Geography:
United States and America

2138. Somali Mental Health

Author:
David McGraw Schuchman and Colleen McDonald
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Over the past seven years, there has been a vast influx of Somali refugees and immigrants making their new home in Minnesota, with the overwhelming majority residing in the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. While official estimates indicate that less than 20,000 Somalis are in Minnesota, it is well accepted that there are actually 50,000–75,000. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact number due to limitations in census data collection and the continual growth resulting from such factors as secondary migration. Since Minnesota has welcomed African immigrants, family members who live in other states within the U.S. and Canada continue to join many newly arrived families. The prospect of Somali immigrants and refugees returning to their homelands is unlikely. Continuing war, civil strife, and economic crises make the outlook for return bleak. Therefore, it is important that Minnesota continue to embrace and welcome Somalis into the community and assist in their acculturation process.
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, and Canada

2139. France's Double-Talk on Globalization

Author:
Sophie Meunier
Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
French Politics, Culture Society
Institution:
Conference Group on French Politics Society
Abstract:
France has become a worldwide champion of anti-globalization. French intellectuals have long denounced the cultural and economic shortcomings of US-led globalization, while French politicians, on the Left as on the Right, load their speeches with rhetoric critical of a phenomenon that gets a lot less attention in other European countries and in the United States. Yet, at the same time, France is a country whose economy and society have adapted well to this much-criticized globalization. Why this double-speak? Why this disjuncture between words and actions? This article explores this paradox, analyzes the role that France's double discourse on globalization has played in producing the surprising outcome of the 2002 elections, and reflects on the options open to the main political parties today.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and France

2140. Creating a Tourist's Paradise: The Marshall Plan and France, 1948 to 1952 [Dossier: Promoting American Tourism in Postwar France]

Author:
Brian A. McKenzie
Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
French Politics, Culture Society
Institution:
Conference Group on French Politics Society
Abstract:
This article examines the promotion of American tourism to France during the Marshall Plan. The paper assesses the cultural and economic goals of the tourism program. Economic aid provided by the United States was essential for the post-war reconstruction of the French tourism industry. Furthermore, transatlantic air carriers adopted new guidelines for tourist class airfares at the urging of U.S. officials. The paper also examines marketing strategies and the creation of tourism infrastructures that facilitated transatlantic tourism. Representatives from the French tourism industry visited the United States to study American hotels and they agreed to adopt practices and rebuild French hotels in ways that would be congenial to American tourists. The paper demonstrates that French and American officials and tourism professionals Americanized the French tourism industry during the Marshall Plan.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
United States, America, and France