Content Type: Journal Article - CIAO Search Results

10401. China-Taiwan Relations: Toward a Crucial Election

Author:: David Brown
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Comparative Connections
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: The campaign leading to the Taiwan's Jan. 14 presidential election has dominated cross-strait developments. Opposition candidate Tsai Ing-wen has continued her rejection of the “1992 consensus” and criticized President Ma Ying-jeou for suggesting he might consider negotiating a peace accord with Beijing. Meanwhile, Beijing has emphasized its wish to further develop relations on the basis of the “1992 consensus,” without which relations will regress. Therefore, the outcome of the upcoming elections will have a decisive impact. Ma's re-election would permit further gradual progress; Tsai's election will likely lead Beijing to suspend dialogue and domestic pressures would probably produce a tougher policy toward Tsai's administration.
Political Geography:: China and Beijing

10402. North Korea-South Korea Relations: A New Era?

Author:: Aidan Foster-Carter
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Comparative Connections
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: No reader of Comparative Connections needs telling that Kim Jong Il, North Korea's leader since 1994, died of a heart attack on Dec. 17. (The wider public is something else. The young woman who looks after this writer's baby had never heard of Korea, much less North Korea, or that anything had happened there. We specialists should never assume too much.)
Political Geography:: South Korea, North Korea, and Chicago

10403. China-Korea Relations: New Challenges in the Post-Kim Jong Il Era

Author:: Scott Snyder and See-Won Byun
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Comparative Connections
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: Beijing underscored maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula following Kim Jong Il's death. DPRK leadership succession raises questions about the future direction of China's Korea policy, which was most recently reaffirmed during an October visit to the two Koreas by Vice Premier Li Keqiang, the presumed successor of Premier Wen Jiabao. Prior to Kim's death, China and North Korea maintained regular contacts with senior national, party, and military officials. There have also been mutual efforts to stabilize Sino-South Korean relations despite many differences that have risen in the aftermath of North Korea's 2010 provocations. The fourth China-ROK high-level strategic dialogue was held on Dec. 27 in Seoul.
Political Geography:: China, Beijing, South Korea, North Korea, and Korea

10404. Japan-China Relations: Another New Start

Author:: James J. Przystup
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Comparative Connections
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: Noda Yoshiko succeeded Kan Naoto as prime minister of Japan in early September and met President Hu Jintao at the G20 Summit in Cannes and the APEC meeting in Honolulu. On both occasions, they agreed to take steps to strengthen the mutually beneficial strategic relationship. They reiterated that commitment during Noda's visit to China at the end of December. Meanwhile, maritime safety and security issues in the East China Sea and the South China Sea continued as a source of friction. In both areas, Tokyo worked to create a maritime crisis management mechanism while Chinese ships continued to intrude into the Japan's EEZ extending from the Senkaku Islands, keeping alive contentious sovereignty issues. Tokyo and Beijing were able to resolve a November incident involving a Chinese fishing boat operating in Japanese waters. Repeated high-level efforts by Tokyo to resume negotiations on joint development in the East China Sea failed to yield any progress.
Political Geography:: Japan, China, and East China

10405. Japan-Korea Relations: North Korean Leadership Change Overshadows All

Author:: David C. Kang and Jiun Bang
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Comparative Connections
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: The last four months of 2011 were dominated by two leadership changes – the mid-December death of Kim Jong Il and the election of Noda Yoshihiko in September. Kim's death is a watershed event that could mean changes in DPRK policies with repercussions around the region. South Korea and Japan reacted cautiously to the news of Kim's death and the rise of his son, Kim Jong Un, as the new leader of North Korea. Beyond this event, however, Korea-Japan relations showed little change. Economic relations between South Korea and Japan continue to move slowly forward, even as they remain firmly stuck arguing the same issues that have aggravated diplomatic relations for decades. North Korea-Japan relations also showed little change as both sides repeated the usual accusations, but neither showed any inclination to change. Meanwhile, there were three main trends in relations. First, external forces drove state behavior as evidenced by the almost domino-like efforts at free trade agreements. Second, there was growing recognition of the high domestic political costs associated with non-pliable issues such as the comfort women/sex slaves. Third, there was a realization that change could mean opportunity as Seoul and Tokyo contemplate the post-Kim Jong Il landscape in North Korea.
Political Geography:: Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Tokyo, and Korea

10406. China-Russia Relations: Between Geo-Economic and Geo-Politics

Author:: Yu Bin
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Comparative Connections
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: The last four months of 2011 were both ordinary and extraordinary for Beijing and Moscow. There was certainly business as usual as top leaders and bureaucrats frequented each other's countries for scheduled meetings. The world around them, however, was riddled with crises and conflicts. Some (Libya and Syria) had seriously undermined their respective interests; others (Iran and North Korea) were potentially more volatile, and even dangerous, for the region and the world. Regardless, 2011 was a year full of anniversaries with symbolic and substantive implications for not only China and Russia, but also much of the rest of the world.
Political Geography:: Russia, China, Iran, Beijing, North Korea, Libya, Moscow, and Syria

10407. India-East Asia/US Relations: Triangulate This

Author:: Satu Limaye
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Comparative Connections
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: Over a decade into the “normalization” of US-India relations and nearly 20 years into India's “Look East” policy, the US-India-East Asia nexus is regularly articulated by the US and India, generally accepted in the region, and shows some signs of gaining traction including a regular US-India dialogue on East Asia and the launch of the first-ever US-India-Japan trilateral dialogue. More broadly, US views of India as part of Asia now encompass mental as well as policy maps (though not yet bureaucratic and all geographical ones) and transcend party politics. Meanwhile, US-India bilateral relations move steadily if sometimes frustratingly forward, and India-East Asia ties continue to deepen and widen though to neither side's full satisfaction. One thing is clear: triangulation depends above all on India's own commitment and actions to build a closer relationship with the wider Asia-Pacific region. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in an echo of comments made by regional leaders over the years, told an Indian audience in Chennai in July that “India's leadership will help to shape positively the future of the Asia Pacific. That's why … we encourage India not just to look east, but to engage east and act east as well [emphasis added].”
Political Geography:: United States, Japan, India, East Asia, and Asia

10408. Editorial

Author:: Christine Leppard and Abe Roof
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: The papers in this issue were originally presented at the conference "Seventy Years On: New Perspectives on the Second World War," held in early autumn of 2009 at Lake Louise, Alberta. The core purpose of the conference was to bring together scholars from around the world who are using new methodologies and recently available archival sources to ask new questions or to revisit established narratives about the Second World War. Each of the following articles speaks to that purpose.
Political Geography:: United States and Germany

10409. Journal of Advanced Military Studies: Spring 2011

Author:: William Rosenau, Wray R. Johnson, and Tamir Libel
Publication Date:: 01-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Advanced Military Studies
Institution:: Marine Corps University Press, National Defense University
Abstract:: Libel’s article on the Israeli Defense Forces documents many parallels of doctrinal myopia that are echoed in Johnson’s piece on the U.S. military. In his interview, Young discusses how the U.S. military and State Department played key roles in flood relief in Pakistan in 2010. All four pieces, including those by Johnson (of our faculty) and William Rosenau (of the Center for Naval Analyses and Georgetown University), also touch on the challenges of dealing with nonstate actors, from al-Qaeda and the Taliban to Hezbollah and the FARC.
Topic:: Intelligence, War, Counterinsurgency, Armed Forces, and History
Political Geography:: Pakistan, Israel, and Lebanon

10410. The War Hitler Won: The Battle for Europe, 1939-1941

Author:: Robert Citino
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: In the fall of 1939, the German army (Wehrmacht) began a run of decisive victories that was quite unlike anything in living military memory. With their fearsome tank (Panzer) formations operating as an apparently irresistible spearhead, and with a powerful air force (Luftwaffe) circling overhead, the Wehrmacht ran through or around every defensive position thrown in its path. The opening campaign in Poland (Case White) smashed the Polish army in 18 days, although a bit more fighting was necessary to reduce the capital, Warsaw. Equally impressive was the invasion of Denmark and Norway (Exercise Weser), which saw two enemy capitals, Oslo and Copenhagen, fall on the first day to a well-coordinated combination of ground forces, seaborne landings, and paratroopers. Allied formations that arrived to intervene in Norway got a quick taste of the Luftwaffe, and were soon evacuating under heavy fire.
Political Geography:: Germany

10411. German Counterinsurgency Revisited

Author:: Charles D. Melson
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Regular (external) war is, by way of underlying concepts, between nations using the entire spectrum of the people, army and state. In irregular (internal) war, some parties are neither independent states nor state sponsored actors, as in the case of rebellion against a foreign occupying power. It can also be conflict within a nation such as a revolution or civil war. Regular and irregular conflicts can take place together, separately, or even on a sliding scale. Subversion, sabotage, terrorism, partisan or guerilla fighting are techniques and are not ends in themselves, and are all regarded by Clausewitz as tactics and the ultimate school of the soldier.
Topic:: Terrorism
Political Geography:: Germany

10412. Occupation Duty In The Dysfunctional Coalition: The Italian Second Army And Its Allies In The Balkans, 1941–43

Author:: Nicolas Gladstone Virtue
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: The Axis in the Second World War has been dubbed a "dysfunctional coalition." Its members failed to develop unified political objectives, joint planning, or a coherent grand strategy for the conduct of the war. As Richard DiNardo demonstrates, the lion's share of the blame must fall on Germany's shoulders; Hitler's ideological ambitions left little room for others, the Germans balked at supplying their allies with much-needed technology, and German liaison officers frequently came across as arrogant. While historical studies of the Axis coalition tend to focus on strategy and frontline operations, the Axis partners also came into contact with one another in occupied territories throughout Europe. Here, well away from the main fighting, coalition relations were even worse.
Political Geography:: Europe, Germany, and Italy

10413. Something is wrong with our army...' Command, Leadership Italian Military Failure in the First Libyan Campaign, 1940-41

Author:: Dr. Craig Stockings
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: There is no question that the First Libyan Campaign of 1940-41 was an Italian military disaster of the highest order. Within hours of Mussolini's declaration of war British troops began launching a series of very successful raids by air, sea and land in the North African theatre. Despite such early setbacks a long-anticipated Italian invasion of Egypt began on 13 September 1940. After three days of ponderous and costly advance, elements of the Italian 10th Army halted 95 kilometres into Egyptian territory and dug into a series of fortified camps southwest of the small coastal village of Sidi Barrani. From 9-11 December, these camps were attacked by Western Desert Force (WDF) in the opening stages of Operation Compass - the British counter-offensive against the Italian invasion. Italian troops not killed or captured in the rout that followed began a desperate and disjointed withdrawal back over the Libyan border, with the British in pursuit. The next significant engagement of the campaign was at the port-village Bardia, 30 kilometres inside Libya, in the first week of 1941. There the Australian 6 Division, having recently replaced 4 Indian Division as the infantry component of WDF (now renamed 13 Corps), broke the Italian fortress and its 40,000 defenders with few casualties. The feat was repeated at the port of Tobruk, deeper into Libya, when another 27,000 Italian prisoners were taken. After further success at Derna, 6 Division entered Benghazi on 7 February 1941, while 7 Armoured Division blocked and destroyed the remnants of the 10th Army trying to flee Cyrenaica at Beda Fomm.
Political Geography:: Libya, Australia, Italy, and Egypt

10414. A Stepping Stone to Success: Operation Battleaxe (June 1941) and the Development of the British Tactical Air Doctrine

Author:: Mike Bechthold
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: On 16 February 1943 a meeting was held in Tripoli attended by senior American and British officers to discuss the various lessons learned during the Libyan campaign. The focus of the meeting was a presentation by General Bernard Montgomery. This "gospel according to Montgomery," as it was referred to by Air Chief Marshal Arthur Tedder, set out very clearly Monty's beliefs on how air power should be used to support the army. Among the tenets Montgomery articulated was his conviction of the importance of air power: "Any officer who aspires to hold high command in war must understand clearly certain principles regarding the use of air power."Montgomery also believed that flexibility was the greatest asset of air power. This allowed it to be applied as a "battle-winning factor of the first importance."As well, he fully endorsed the air force view of centralized control: "Nothing could be more fatal to successful results than to dissipate the air resource into small packets placed under the control of army formation commanders, with each packet working on its own plan. The soldier must not expect, or wish, to exercise direct command over air striking forces." Montgomery concluded his discussion by stating that it was of prime importance for the army and air force to "work together at the same H.Q. in complete harmony, and with complete mutual understanding and confidence.
Political Geography:: Libya

10415. Bomber Harris and Precision Bombing – No Oxymoron Here

Author:: Dr. Randall Wakelam
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Criticisms as to the efficacy or lack thereof of the RAF's strategic bombing campaign against Germany have been fuelled in Canada in recent years first by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's docudrama miniseries, The Valour and the Horror, in the mid 1990s and more recently by a debate over the wording of the Bomber Command panel in the new Canadian War Museum. The essence of these debates centres on the morality of Sir Arthur Harris's apparently bloody-minded city busting tactics compared to the US Army Air Forces' ethical and restrained precision bombing of military and strategic target systems.
Political Geography:: Germany

10416. 'Steel my soldiers' hearts': El Alamein Reappraised

Author:: Jonathan Fennell
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: The Oxford Bodleian Library holds 293 titles under the subject of the 'North African Campaign of the Second World War', the British Library 308. That amounts to over four books a year on the subject, or about one book published every three months, for the sixty-nine years since November 1942. This constitutes a remarkable body of scholarship on what historians today might refer to as a secondary theatre in the Second World War.
Political Geography:: North Africa

10417. Airpower in the Battle of the Bulge: A Case for Effects-Based Operations?

Author:: Harold R. Winton
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: These words were penned in the introduction to Wing Commander Slessor's work, Air Power and Armies, the published version of lectures he presented to his army brethren at the Staff College, Camberley in the mid-1930s. Like Slessor's work, this paper is focused historically on an air effort to defeat an enemy army, or in this case an army group—Field Marshal Walter Model's Army Group B, the operational formation to which Adolf Hitler entrusted his last, desperate gamble to win World War II—a campaign that became known in history as the Battle of the Bulge. But in keeping with the theme of "New Perspectives," it will relate the course and consequences of that campaign to an ongoing doctrinal debate in the American armed forces over a concept known as Effects-Based Operations, or EBO. The issue on the table is to determine the extent to which the evidence of using airpower in the Bulge confirms, qualifies, or refutes the tenets of EBO.

10418. A neglected story: German prisoners of war in Italy (1945-1947)

Author:: Federico Niglia
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: The story of German military prisoners in the hands of the Allies at the end of the Second World War is progressively shifting out of living memory and becoming an interesting topic for both scholars and ordinary readers. For years, the experiences of German prisoners have been neglected by historians; rarely has it even been possible to discuss in a dispassionate way the difficult conditions in which the prisoners lived. The reason for this neglect is self-evident: the suffering of the Germans in the aftermath of their surrender could not be compared to the suffering of Germany's victims. Since the collapse of the Berlin wall, a barrier that in some ways symbolised the price that Germany had to pay to Europe for its guilt in the war, the self-perception of the German people has started changing. A new generation that has no memory of the war and Nazism has helped to move beyond the crippling guilt that haunted Germany until the 1980s. Beginning in the 1990s, a benign revival of German national pride occurred, affecting the historical memory of the country. The literary elite that once confined itself to harsh censure of the guilt and the wickedness of its own people, began also to tackle once taboo subjects, such as the suffering of German civilians during the Second World War; the romance of Günter Grass Im Krebsgang is, for example, extremely significant.
Political Geography:: Europe and Germany

10419. The Second War in Every Respect: Australian memory and the Second World War

Author:: Joan Beaumont
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: The Second World War stands across the 20th century like a colossus. Its death toll, geographical spread, social dislocation and genocidal slaughter were unprecedented. It was literally a world war, devastating Europe, China and Japan, triggering massive movements of population, and unleashing forces of nationalism in Asia and Africa that presaged the end of European colonialism. The international order was changed irrevocably, most notably in the rise of the two superpowers and the decline of Great Britain.
Political Geography:: Britain, Africa, Japan, China, Europe, and Asia

10420. Lackenbauer, Whitney P. and Peter Kikkert, eds. The Canadian Forces and Arctic Sovereignty: Debating Roles, Interests, and Requirements, 1968-1974. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2010

Author:: Adam Lajeunesse
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: The Canadian Forces and Arctic Sovereignty begins with Stephen Harper's December 2005 speech in Winnipeg. "You don't defend national sovereignty with flags, cheap election rhetoric or advertising campaigns" proclaimed the future Prime Minister, "you need forces on the ground, ships in the sea and proper surveillance"(3). This speech set the scene for a renewed government focus on Arctic sovereignty. It also foreshadowed how the issue was to be dealt with. In the years to follow, the government announced a series of significant plans for new Arctic defence programs: a new icebreaker, new patrol craft, a deep water port and a military base - to name only the most expensive.
Topic:: Security and Politics
Political Geography:: Canada

10421. Gordon P. Means, Political Islam in Southeast Asia. Boulder, CO and London, UK: Lynne Rienner, 2009.

Author:: Brian Bertosa
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: I can recall a time, prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, when any attention paid to Southeast Asia by most observers in the West (outside of Australia and New Zealand, at least) was conditioned by that region's importance within the context of the Cold War. Books with titles such as Soviet Strategies in Southeast Asia, or the preposterous assertion on the dust jacket of a volume on the Konfrontasi campaign that Britain's victory in Borneo was of "immense" importance in "stemming the spread of Communism," attest to the fact that political and military writers of that era —or at any rate their publishers—were mainly concerned with which Southeast Asian country would be the next "domino" to fall in what appeared to many to be communism's inexorable march through the region. Today, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, another simplistic, binary opposition between the West and "someone else" has been ushered in, the so-called "War on Terror," and so, like a soldier replacing the red lens of a military-issue angle flashlight with a green one, interest in Southeast Asia is now often structured around its character as an important centre of political Islam.
Topic:: Islam
Political Geography:: Britain, Australia, and Southeast Asia

10422. Globalization and Unemployment

Author:: Michael Spence
Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Abstract:: Jobs growth was slow in May, renewing pessimism about the U.S. economy. Spence, a Nobel Prize-winning economist writes that economic growth and employment in the United States have started to diverge, increasing income inequality and reducing jobs for less-educated workers.
Topic:: Globalization

10423. A Zhabdrung Phunsum Tshogpa (zhabs drung phun sum tshogs pa) Thangka from the National Museum of Bhutan Collection∗

Author:: Ariana Maki
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:: Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:: Visions, and the ability to articulate them in an accessible fashion, play a crucial role in disseminating religious tradition, lineage and claims to legitimacy. Further, visions can and do stand as testimony to significant persons, entities and events. The visions of religious masters and treasure revealers give rise to new doctrines and practices, while a leader’s vision frequently provides the impetus for the development and implementation of institutions and ideals. And the visions of artists offer tangible forms to religious and philosophical concepts. The third king of Bhutan, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck (‘jigs med rdo rje dbang phyug, 1928-1972, r. 1952-1972), was a key visionary who redefined the path of his kingdom in many ways, by bringing Bhutan into the UN, abolishing labour taxes, and significantly overhauling the structure of the government. It was also his foresight that established the National Museum of Bhutan (‘brug rgyal yongs ‘grems ston khang; Figure 1). When the National Museum opened in 1968, only a few personal guests of the royal family and some government officials visited. Today, the number of museum guests surpasses 20,000 annually. Seven floors of galleries showcase Bhutanese visual culture from its earliest phases, and span archaeological finds, paintings, postage stamps, weaponry, bronze ware, traditional crafts, natural history specimens and religious treasures. The article intends to illustrate how iconography can frequently illuminate what lies behind a particular work of art, and as a result can increase our understanding of the time, place and context that gave rise to it. This painting, like so much of Bhutanese art functions in the religious and philosophical realms, and, due to the circumstances of its creation, carries with it strong political overtones as well. Beyond attesting to a lineage, some works illustrate how particular individuals saw themselves, or, how they wanted to be perceived.
Topic:: Government, Religion, Culture, Philosophy, and Museums
Political Geography:: South Asia and Bhutan

10424. Meme Lama Sonam Zangpo’s Kurseong Years: A Note on Factors in the Foundation of a Modern Bhutanese Religious Community outside of Bhutan

Author:: Amy Holmes-Tagchungdarpa
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:: Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:: In Kurseong, a small Himalayan town in the Darjeeling district of North Bengal, India, a small stpa sits perched in a village a small trek away from the main road connecting Darjeeling with the plains. The stpa itself is simple – only about one metre in height and width - and resembles many others in the area. The fresh coat of red, blue and yellow paint on its edges though suggests that the local community at least continue to revere it, and the establishment of a new monastery just a few meters away confirms that the site is regarded as sanctified. However, the area is not associated with Guru Rinpoche, or any other major Tantric deity, or local protector. Instead, the sanctification of the site comes from the fact that it was home to a highly regarded religious master in the area: a Buddhist teacher and meditator known as Lopen Sonam Zangpo (Slop dpon Bsod nams bzang po, 1892-1984)1, the very same Sonam Zangpo who is known as Meme Lama (Me me bla ma) in Bhutan, and who is regarded as one of the most important religious figures of twentieth century Bhutanese history
Topic:: Religion, Community, and Buddhism
Political Geography:: South Asia and Bhutan

10425. From Mount Tsari to the tsechu: Bhutan’s Sacred Song and Lute Dance

Author:: Elaine Dobson
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:: Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:: For a few days in October, in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, the population of the tiny country increases two-fold as visitors from neighbouring countries in the sub-continent, and from across the world, gather to witness one of the great, annual, Buddhist, three-to-five day, religious, dance-drama festivals or tsechus. A tsechu1 celebrates the great deeds that were performed by the religious saint and teacher, Padmasambhava (also known as Guru Rinpoche2 or Ugyen Rinpoche). Tsechus are held on the tenth day of a lunar month. The exact month depends on the location. Every valley has its own tsechu, usually with some identifying traits. These festivals reinforce the social life of the community and offer opportunities for making or renewing friendships, having picnics and drinking, or trading. In Bhutan, villagers who have moved to the larger towns are expected to return for the festival and they will often sponsor a major part of it. Tsechus accrue status for the monasteries and villages that stage them, and spiritual merit for those who are their sponsors. The spectacular dances that form these tsechus are known as cham. The subjugation of evil and the purification and protection from demonic spirits are important themes in the tsechu and dances. These themes are usually interwoven with those that are morally instructive or didactic and those that proclaim the victory of Buddhism and the glory of Padmasambhava.
Topic:: Religion, Culture, Buddhism, and Dance
Political Geography:: South Asia and Bhutan

10426. Invoking a Warrior Deity: A Preliminary Study of Lo-ju

Author:: Dendup Chophel
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Bhutan Studies
Institution:: Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
Abstract:: Lo-ju1 (blo ‘gyur) is an ancient Pazap (dpa mdzangs pa) festival celebrated every three years across the villages of Shar valley in Wangdue Phodrang. This study focuses primarily on its Chungsekha version. This ritual of propitiating the Dra-lha (dgra lha)2 is conducted for the wellbeing of the Shar community and the nation at large by invoking and appeasing the pantheon of Drukpa protective deities in the martial traditions of the yore. At a glance though, it would seem like a throwback into a warlike past with an enactment of a battle scene by the village pazaps. An in-depth analysis reveals this to be a show of faith, courage and battle preparedness which, by default, is a natural deterrent against possible hostilities. An attempt has been made to bear a historical perspective on this tradition which would otherwise seem like an odd cross between vainglorious machismo, anachronistic extravaganza and mindless superstition.3 The article is based on manuscript of the rituals, hagiography of eminent Drukpa (‘brug pa) hierarchs and other sociopolitical publications though none of them directly relate to the actual rationale and period of the festival’s institution. So, this work is primarily a heuristic recreation of the festival based on stray references found in these sources that are appropriately corroborated with existing myths, legends and other grapevines.
Topic:: History, Culture, and Rituals
Political Geography:: South Asia and Bhutan

10427. Learning from Dependency and World System Theory : Explaining Europe's Failure in the 'Lisbon Process'

Author:: Almas Heshmati and Arno Tausch
Publication Date:: 11-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:: Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:: The current paper investigates the cross-national relevance of Latin American 'dependencia theory' for five dimensions of development (democracy and human rights, environment, human development and basic human needs satisfaction, gender justice, redistribution, growth and employment) on a global scale and tries to confront the very basic pro-globalist assumptions of the 'Lisbon process', the predecessor of the ongoing EU-2020 strategy, which was the policy target of the European leaders since the EU's Lisbon Council meeting in March 2000 to make Europe the leading knowledge-based economy in the world with a 'Latin American perspective'. A realistic and politically useful analysis of the 'Lisbon process' has to be a 'Schumpeterian' approach. First, we analyze the 'Lisbon performance' of the world economy by multivariate, quantitative means, looking into the possible contradictions that might exists between the dependent insertion into the global economy and other goals of the 'Lisbon process'. Dependency from the large, transnational corporations, as correctly predicted by Latin American social science of the 1960s and 1970s, emerges as one of the most serious development blockades, confronting Europe. Secondly, we analyze European regional performance since the 1990s in order to know whether growth and development in Europe spread evenly among the different regions of the continent. It emerges that dependency from the large transnational corporations is incompatible with a balanced, regional development. Finally, we discuss cross-national and historical lessons learned from the views of dependency and Schumpeterian perspectives for current policy-making in Europe, and opt for an industrial policy approach in the tradition of former EU-Commission President (1985-1995) Jacques Delors.
Topic:: Economics
Political Geography:: Europe and Latin America

10428. British Legacy and Evolution of Kurdish Nationalism in Iraq (1918-1926): What Significance the 'Mosul Question'?

Author:: Zeynep Arikanli
Publication Date:: 11-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:: Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:: This article aims to study the British modalities of managing Kurdish nationalism in the vilayet1 of Mosul in the 1918-1926 period, when both Kurdish nationalism and Iraqi state-building were in their formative (if not infancy) period. There are two inter-dependent arguments: First, the new British policies of the post-WWI period were also in their formative period, since they were being formed through the issue of a geo-political and frontier re-structuring necessitated by the new international order. Second, Kurdish nationalism in the Mosul province evolved in the prism of the British policies, constituting both a trump card for and a challenge to the Kurdish population. This duality, I will argue, became the main characteristic of Kurdish nationalism in the future configurations in Iraq in particular, and in the Middle East, in general. This duality was the direct outcome of the British policies in the post-WWI period, which were stamped with a considerable polyarchy and tergiversations, due both to the uncertainties generated by the post-WWI period, the necessity of adapting to the new principles of the international order and inter-departmental competition. These polyarchy and tergiversations became manifest in the Iraqi state-building process, especially before the settlement of the Mosul question, the old Ottoman province with a substantial Kurdish population. In other words, it was in the vilayet of Mosul during this period (1918-1926) that the re-structuring of the British policies in the post-WWI era was crystallized -with all their ups-and-downs.
Topic:: Race
Political Geography:: Iraq and Middle East

10429. Security Debates and Alliance against Terrorism

Author:: Ramazan Erdag
Publication Date:: 11-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:: Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:: This article searches the answer that how security could be defined, what the new security studies are and what can be done against global terrorism and how can be assured peace and stability condition? In this context, with new security disputes and perspectives it can be said that security is not an alone issue, it's a collective study and mostly claimed as dilemma. It also can be said that in the new era more international collaboration and alliance are need to supply international security. In this regard this article expounds global alliances' effectiveness -especially NATO for global security.
Topic:: Security, NATO, and Terrorism
Political Geography:: Europe

10430. Public Perceptions and Reactions : Gauging African Views of China in Africa

Author:: Max Rebol
Publication Date:: 11-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:: Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:: While economic and political ties between China and Africa have grown substantially in the last years, our understanding of African perceptions of China is still limited. Those pieces of cross country survey data which are available draw a positive picture of African perceptions of China but surveys are not comprehensive and only consider various African countries as a whole. Starting from here, this paper looks into how opinions on China form in different parts of African society, using case studies from unions, political elites and civil society. It comes to the conclusion that trade has an overall bigger impact on popular perceptions of China than FDI, which has been the focus of much literature. While a rising trade deficit has an overall negative impact on perceptions of China, increased Chinese trade is perceived positive by consumers that get more competitive prices and small scale vendors. Civil society organizations in Africa sometimes show critical opinions but are also increasingly engaged by China. Western Media generally tends to portrait China's relations with Africa in a more negative way, than it is perceived by most Africans. Several studies confirm that Africa is the continent that on average holds the most positive views on China.
Topic:: Civil Society and Public Opinion
Political Geography:: Africa and China

10431. Zimbabwe-Russia Relations in the 21st Century

Author:: Percyslage Chigora and Dorothy Goredema
Publication Date:: 11-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:: Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:: The 21st century has witnessed the intensification of relations between Zimbabwe and the East and other favorable states, Russia among them. Historically under the socialist rhetoric the two countries shared a common political ideology. Zimbabwe-Russia relations dates back to the era of the liberation struggle. The Soviet Union aided Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe People's Union and later the Patriotic Front which included Mugabe's Zimbabwe National African Union. The Soviet Union aided the Patriotic Front freedom fighters with training, material and logistical support. After Zimbabwe's independence in 1981, diplomatic relations between Russia and Zimbabwe were efficiently established. These relations were interrupted in 1989 with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia maintained her ties with Zimbabwe during this interruption but all the same the relations were non-eventful. The inception of the 21st century witnessed the revival intensification of relations between the two states. Russia's ties with Zimbabwe were re awakened following the invasion of Iraq by the US led coalition of the willing in March 2003which coincided with the unprecedented pressure on Zimbabwe following the 2002elections. The revival of these relations is depicted by trade agreements signed between the two states, actions of government officials concerned, in the diplomatic and academic circles as well as by the media reports. The aim of this paper is to highlight how common ideology, foreign policy principles and objectives and commonality of interests between the two states have led to cooperation. Issues characterizing the revival and intensification of relations between the two states will be highlighted and these will provide the appropriate framework upon which the relations between Zimbabwe and Russia could be understood. The paper brings to evidence that the revival of relations between the two states is partly driven by the deterioration of relations between Zimbabwe and the West.
Topic:: Foreign Policy
Political Geography:: Russia, Soviet Union, and Zimbabwe

10432. Convergence of State Policy Analyses in the Context of Globalization : An Application of the 'Herbert Kitschelt' Model

Author:: Alex Igho Ovie-D'Leone
Publication Date:: 11-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:: Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:: The effects or indeed impacts of ongoing globalization have been quite fundamental in all facets of human endeavours. The world has become closely more interconnected, interdependent within the context of a global village. Consequently, sovereign national borders have been increasingly breached with impunity and in alarming frequencies by events occurring in very remote locations across the world. There are now obvious constraints on the manner states have to make and formulate their policy decisions, knowing fully well that they could almost invariably affect trends in far flung locations worldwide. Viewed then against this backdrop, it is obvious that the borderline that traditionally separates domestic from foreign policies now also appear blurred increasingly by such intervening influences of globalization. If we then take this position as given, there appears to be an urgent need to rethink the basic theoretical props utilized over time in analyzing government policies generally. The intention here is to devise a common analytical model that could be readily applicable to both domestic and foreign policies. This paper examines critically the so-called 'Kitschelt Model' and submits that, as an analytical frame, and under the intervening influences of ongoing globalization, there is a veritable basis now to analyze almost any government policy whether they are oriented towards the domestic or foreign context from a central point of convergence.
Topic:: Government

10433. European and Asian regionalism: Form and function

Author:: Philomena Murray and Nicholas Rees
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Politics
Institution:: Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:: In investigating the relationship of the European Union (EU) and the East Asian region, and the comparisons of these two regions, this special issue on European and Asian Regionalism: Function and Form brings together a collection of articles that contributes to an understanding of these regions – and regional bodies – in an interdisciplinary and comprehensive manner. They contribute to our understanding of the EU as a political, economic! and security actor with civil society dimensions, and a clear regional integration agenda and that agenda's influence on East Asia. They further deepen our understanding of East Asian developments in regionalism. Much more than a simple examination of EU–Asia relations, this special edition critically examines the proposal that the EU may constitute a paradigm for East Asian regionalism. Among other things, it looks at EU–Asia links in the Asia Europe Meetings (ASEM) and role of formal and informal integration and networks within the East Asian region; the new wave of regionalism in Asia in the aftermath of the Asian Currency Crisis of 1997–1998; and the role of institutions and of state and non-state actors.
Topic:: Economics
Political Geography:: Europe and Asia

10434. The geopolitics of Asia – What role for the European Union?

Author:: Fraser Cameron
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Politics
Institution:: Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:: This article reviews the European Union's policy towards Asia since 2001, when an ambitious Communication from the European Commission suggested that the EU should play a political and security role in the region commensurate with its economic strength. After assessing a number of political and security issues in Asia, the article concludes that the EU has had little or no impact on the major geopolitical issues but that it is making some impact on security issues of lesser importance. The article also touches on integration as a contribution to security. It reviews the limited progress in Asian integration and suggests that the basic criteria for integration are missing in Asia. Some aspects of the EU model, however, might be useful for Asian countries wishing to move forward towards closer integration.
Topic:: Security and Politics
Political Geography:: Europe and Asia

10435. Asian perspectives on the European experience of regionalism

Author:: Ralph Pettman
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Politics
Institution:: Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:: How have European state-makers managed to coordinate various key activities to the point where many of them see the European Union as providing a model for the rest of the world in general and Asia in particular? For example, most of Europe now shares a common market and a common currency. This was originally considered unthinkable. However, most European state-makers did surrender significant aspects of their sovereign power to make this happen. State-makers in the Asian region have not yet followed suit. This tells us something about their competing politico-strategic, economic and social concerns. Asian state-makers are nonetheless capable of sustaining their own form of regionalism. This tells us something about the different politico-cultural context in which they live. This context makes it possible to promote distinctly 'Asian' perspectives. It provides an Asian alternative to European regionalism and a way of compensating for the limits and distortions of the European Union.
Political Geography:: Europe and Asia

10436. Comparative regional integration in the EU and East Asia: Moving beyond integration snobbery

Author:: Philomena Murray
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Politics
Institution:: Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:: In comparative regional integration (RI) analysis, the European Union's (EU) advancing of its own experience as a model is a significant problem. This article explores this problem by focusing on comparative aspects of RI in the EU and East Asia. It argues that there are important and valid aspects of comparison, such as the origins and objectives of these two regions, but fewer points of comparison between the two when it comes to achieving their objectives. It suggests that historical differences between the two regions constitute the major reason that a direct comparison is neither useful nor productive. It analyses the centrality and the exceptionalism of the EU in much of the comparative RI literature. It agues that the promotion of the EU experience as a form of model or paradigm is far from analytically helpful – the method of comparative analysis needs be the focus of our study as much as the objects of comparison. The article examines how the centrality of the EU in some analysis can amount to a form of de facto snobbery in the positioning of the EU on a rather unsteady pedestal. This 'integration snobbery' – to coin a phrase utilized by an EU official – is not constructive for comparative analysis of the EU and East Asia.
Political Geography:: Europe and East Asia

10437. Institutional regionalism versus networked regionalism: Europe and Asia compared

Author:: Lay Hwee Yeo
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Politics
Institution:: Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:: For much of the second half of the twentieth century, regionalism has been conceptualized with reference to Europe. The European Union (EU) is seen as the most successful example of regional integration and this 'model' is largely based on an exclusive 'institutional' regionalism where integration is achieved through endowing specific institutions with far-reaching decision-making powers to shape the behaviour of the member states. In contrast, the East Asian region-building process seems to operate on a different logic, with an emphasis on open-ended networked regionalism. This article sketches out the process of regional construction in Europe and East Asia and attempts to develop and contextualize the idea of networked regionalism in order to assess how useful it can be in explaining the trajectory and contours of region-building in East Asia.
Political Geography:: Europe, East Asia, and Asia

10438. The European Union's Asia strategies: Problems of foreign policy and international relations

Author:: Michael Smith and Natee Vichitsorasatra
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Politics
Institution:: Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:: European Union (EU)–Asia relations raise linked problems (on the one hand) of EU collective action and identity and (on the other hand) of cooperation. The relationship is characterized by complexity and variety in three dimensions: first, 'voices' and history; second, institutional engagement and structure; and third, issue structure. In order to explore the implications of this complexity and variety, and to generate propositions for further research, we deploy International Relations theories based on material interests, ideas and institutions. These help us to demonstrate not only the application of 'analytical theory' but also the role of 'practitioner theory' in the evolution of relations between the EU and Asia, and thus to reflect systematically on the problems of collective action and cooperation identified at the beginning of the article.
Topic:: International Relations and Foreign Policy
Political Geography:: Europe and Asia

10439. Regions in the world: The EU and East Asia as foreign policy actors

Author:: Cesar de Prado
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Politics
Institution:: Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:: This article argues that multidimensional regional processes have an external projection that may be explained by their semi-liberal governance structures. It analyses the European Union (EU) and the East Asian grouping of countries, focussing on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the active participation of Japan, South Korea and the People's Republic of China within ASEAN Plus Three. Both regional processes have a multi-level external projection as seen in their links with key states (especially the United States), other regional processes, and global regimes like the UN and the G20. In both cases, one finds that public actors have to collaborate with private actors, although they do so in a restricted fashion and often using think tanks and elite public-private intellectual (track-2) actors. The comparative analysis concludes with some hypotheses regarding the consolidation of regional processes in the world.
Topic:: Foreign Policy and United Nations
Political Geography:: Russia, China, Taiwan, East Asia, South Korea, and Southeast Asia

10440. China–Europe relations: The limits of strategic partnership

Author:: Pradeep Taneja
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Politics
Institution:: Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:: The China–European Union (EU) relationship has grown rapidly over the past three decades with international trade being its mainstay. China and the EU also share a number of common strategic interests and positions. To maximize the potential of this relationship, both sides decided to build a comprehensive strategic partnership. However, serious differences remain between the two sides on questions of norms and values, delaying progress on a strategic framework. This article argues that while these differences constitute a serious obstacle to the realization of a genuine strategic partnership, the growing importance of trade and investment relations between China and the EU will cushion the impact of these differences, thus allowing each side more leverage over the other in dealing with complex bilateral and international issues.
Topic:: International Relations
Political Geography:: China and Europe

10441. European and Asian monetary issues

Author:: Hee-Yul Chai
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Politics
Institution:: Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:: In recent years, there has been considerable scholarly and policy community attention accorded to comparisons between the EU's monetary integration and attempts to create monetary integration in East Asia. This article examines these attempts in comparative perspective, focusing in particular on the challenges of monetary integration in Asia. After explaining recent development of financial and monetary cooperation initiatives in East Asia, such as Post-Chiang Mai Initiative and the attempt to introduce a Regional Currency Unit (RCU), this article illustrates why it is preferable for East Asia, in its attempt to pursue monetary integration, to follow a path similar to the European experience, rather than to follow alternative paths such as a parallel currency approach or a harmonized inflation targeting. That RCU could in the future be issued by the so-called 'Asian Exchange Rate Stabilization Fund' (AERSF). The AERSF would assure the stability of regional currencies taken as a whole vis-à-vis third currencies, and between themselves as well, and as such, pave the way for full monetary integration in Asia. Comparisons with Europe are explored and implications for European and Asian regionalism are examined.
Political Geography:: Europe, East Asia, and Asia

10442. EU and ASEAN: Issues of regional security

Author:: Nicholas Rees
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Politics
Institution:: Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:: The article critically explores how, and in what ways, the EU and ASEAN have addressed contemporary security issues, including non-traditional security threats. The comparison of the EU and ASEAN responses to these threats highlights the different forms and functions that regional integration has taken in Europe and Southeast Asia, and the implications of these differences for intra- and extra-regional security cooperation. The article considers how the EU and ASEAN might work more cooperatively together, noting some existing examples in which experiences and good practice are already shared, as well as other areas in which cooperation might be possible. The article concludes that while security cooperation in the EU and ASEAN, as well as between the two regional entities, is problematic, reflecting differing regional and national interests and organisational capabilities, there are concrete areas in which cooperation is possible.
Topic:: Security
Political Geography:: Europe and Southeast Asia

10443. Intellectual legacies, ethical policies and normative territories: Situating the human rights issue in EU–Asia relations

Author:: Georg Wiessala
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Politics
Institution:: Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:: This article investigates EU foreign policies regarding Human Rights with Asia. The perspective adopted here argues for a consideration of selected, social-constructivist, perspectives. The article emphasizes ideas, identities, values, educational exchange and human rights in EU policy towards Asia. Through a number of case studies, the article demonstrates that there is both an 'enabling' and an 'inhibitory' human rights dynamism in EU–Asia dialogue. The article suggests some ways of translating this into policies. It proposes a more inclusive, 'holistic', understanding of human rights discourse in East–West relations.
Topic:: International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Human Rights
Political Geography:: Europe and Asia

10444. Positions of responsibility: A comparison of ASEAN and EU approaches towards Myanmar

Author:: Alistair D B Cook
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: International Politics
Institution:: Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:: Recent challenges have tested the approaches of both the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) to adequately respond to forced migration in Myanmar. This article provides a comparison between the European sanctions regime and ASEAN's 'constructive engagement' with Myanmar. In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, it is ASEAN, along with the United Nations (UN), that has offered an effective mechanism to access populations of concern in Myanmar. This article draws on the experience of the UN High Commission for Refugees on the western border and argues that while the new ASEAN-UN-led mechanism offers a new way to assist people in the delta region, this access is contingent on three constraints: maintenance of personal relations with military decision-makers, continuation of an ASEAN-UN-led mechanism and ongoing funding from donor nations.
Topic:: United Nations
Political Geography:: Southeast Asia and Myanmar

10445. Religion and International Relations: Some General Reflections, with Particular Emphasis on the Experience of the Islamic Republic

Author:: Dr. Hassan Rouhani
Publication Date:: 03-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: The dominant perception in the indicate that the march of modernity would lead to the marginalization of the role of religion in the public sphere, including in the politics and International Relations same lines. The emergence of a strong counter based outlook especially in t challenge that seemingly entrenched conviction. The establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in state – served as the climax of that counter implications and repercussions, for the region, for the Muslim world, and also for international relations. The present essay is an attempt to look into these issues. It will be argued that the new religious counter a process across the Islamic world geared to the preservation and revival of the Islamic identity, and also relying on Islam and its teaching to shape and guide governance in Muslim lands. The essay will also try to have a look at some of the chall involved in the process; that is, the challenges Islamic governance will face in dealing with others system and its components.
Political Geography:: Iran

10446. Reflections on Iran's Foreign Policy: Spiritual Pragmatism

Author:: Rouhollah K. Ramazani
Publication Date:: 03-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: The present essay argues that Iran's foreign policy since the Revolution has pursued an overall aspirational paradigm which I call “spiritual pragmatic”, embodying two seemingly conflicting elements – spirituality and pragmatism. It is also suggested hybrid approach to foreign policy is nothing new to Iran; rather, in fact, it dates as far back as ancient pre recently, since the reign of the Safavids in the of the argument here is to try to post-revolutionary Iranian foreign policy as either “irrational”, “paranoid” or something of that sort or order.
Political Geography:: Iran

10447. A World Free of Nuclear Weapons: Towards a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone in the Middle East

Author:: Amir H. Zamaninia
Publication Date:: 03-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: The idea of establishing a Weapons of Mass Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in the Middle East is not new; it dates back to 1970's. today has compelled most analysts to look at the idea and the concept anew. Most regard the potential arms race in the Middle East to seriously jeopardize the prospects for long term stability and balance of power in the region. Israel, Iran and Egypt seem to have the main regional role in making or breaking this idea for another forty years. The absence of real Israeli conflict and the hesitant international expectation to make some movements in that front, as well as Iran's nuclear program being considered at the UN Security Council, where Iran is being practically considered guilty until pr window of opportunity to creative thinking and planning for advancing the idea of Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone in the Middle East.
Political Geography:: Iran, Middle East, Israel, and Egypt

10448. Iran-US Nuclear Standoff: A Game Theory Approach

Author:: Mohammad Ali Mousavi and Yasser Norouzi
Publication Date:: 03-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: For almost three decades since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, there has consistently been a conflict between Iran and the United States over a host of issues. The relations between the two countries became more challenging since 2003 after it came to light that Iran had been developing its nuclear program. Since then some US officials have even gone so far as to announce - and repeat - the possibility of a military strike against Iranian facilities to end the nuclear program. In reality, up to now no such drastic action has taken place. Rather instead, in a milder reaction, the US, aided by its European allies and enjoying Russian and Chinese lukewarm acquiescence, has imposed several rounds of sanctions against Iran through the adoption of obligatory resolutions by the United Nations Security Council. But, these actions have failed to force the Iranians to end their program. As a result, many experts argue that a new policy should be pursued toward Iran vis-a-vis its nuclear dossier. So the main challenge which poses itself is to predict when and how this conflict will come to an end. In this paper, different game theory models are used to interpret the current situation of the crisis. It is shown that while at each step it may be more favorable for each party to insist on its claims, the overall result of this approach may not be so favorable for all. As a result, both parties should think about the long term effects of their decisions. It is also shown that the absence of mutual trust could be the main factor that has forced both sides to reach the current point of crisis. Therefore, any attempt towards re-establishing mutual trust between the two governments might be a major step leading to a lasting solution. Furthermore, different possible choices for the US government and the long term effects of each choice will be analyzed. The analysis will also address economic aspects of the conflict, and the long-term effects of any decision and the best possible choices for both governments will be presented.
Topic:: United Nations
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, China, and Iran

10449. Domestic Ideational Sources of Iran's Foreign Policy

Author:: Homeira Moshirzadeh
Publication Date:: 03-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: Iranian foreign policy during the post-revolutionary period has often been described as pursuing ideological objectives and means. Given the problems usually associated with the concept of ideology, the alternative concept of "domestic ideational sources" would offer a broader perspective and prove less problematic. By this concept is meant the totality of ideas, norms, rules, and discourses that in their inter-relations make the material life meaningful. The basic conceptual and theoretical aspects of the role of ideas and domestic ideational sources in foreign policy - in general and with particular emphasis on the realist outlook - are discussed in the first part of the article.
Political Geography:: Iran

10450. Islam and Nationalism in Contemporary Iranian Society and Politics

Author:: Hamid Ahmadi
Publication Date:: 03-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: The importance of national identity and national feelings in contemporary Iranian politics has been much neglected students of Iranian studies, particularly outside Iran. The establishment of the Islamic Islamically-oriented policies in its foreign policy seem to have encouraged many to believe that Islam and Iran in the contemporary context are two mutually exclusive factors. However, recent internal developments such as the presidential election, on the one hand, and the firm position of Iranians inside and outside the country toward regional political and international cultural challenges vis indicate that Iranians consider both the religious and national dimensions of their identity as important, and they consider the relation between religion and nationality as mutually inclusive opposed to an exclusive one. This article, focusing on the issue of Islam and nationalism and their relationships, tries to highlight this important factor in order to arrive at a better understanding of the political dynamics of Iranian society and p contrary to the situation in the Arab world, these two elements are both constitutive factors of the Iranian identity. Following a rather brief theoretical discussion of the relations between the two in Islamic and Middle Eastern pe explain the political reasons behind the rise of the Islam nationalism controversy in contemporary Iranian politics and emphasizes that such a dichotomous discourse has an elite rather than popular basis. The concluding s concentrates on the importance of the national factor in the Iranian society by focusing on the two recent presidential elections in Iran as well as on several external political and cultural challenges to Iranian national heritage to stance inside and outside of Iran.
Political Geography:: Iran and Arabia

10451. Mission Afghanistan: The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Goes "Out of Area"

Author:: Gulshan Dietl
Publication Date:: 03-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization achieve twin objectives: to counter and contain the US influence in Eurasia and to balance the Russian and Chinese influence within a multilateral group in that space. Since its inception, the “three evils” of terrorism, separatism and of its concerns and activities. Afghanistan, therefore, has been a virtual test- case of its commitment and the raison d'etre of its existence. It is also the first ever “Out of Area” operation that it has undertaken. Commit its mandate; not to have done so would have undermined its very credibility. Its “Out of Area” mission is modeled on the NATO example and has been duly acknowledged by NATO. Like any other regional organisati disunity. And like the rest of the world, it recognises the perils of an unstable Afghanistan. To that extent, it shares a common goal with the US that neither of them can achieve alone. It remains to be seen whet her SCO's recognition of a common goal and working towards it with the US will lead to a transcendence of its own ultimate objective of containment and eventual rollback of the US from its strategic neighbourhood.
Topic:: NATO
Political Geography:: Afghanistan, Russia, United States, Eurasia, and Shanghai

10452. Editorial Note

Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: The present Note is written with a mixed sense of pleasure, pride, and humility looking to the future and what lies ahead. It is certainly a matter of pleasure and pride for all of us at the Iranian Journal of Foreign Affairs – IRFA as it has come to be called by its slowly growing readership – that the first issue came out at long last back in mid-March, and more importantly, that it was not found to be disappointing. That proved to be a great moral boost, which I presume is critically needed to stay the course. In fact, we were truly humbled by many words of encouragement, which far exceeded what we deserved or expected. We also received many helpful suggestions and recommendations, beginning with form and format and extending to content and analysis, which we appreciate and will take into consideration.
Political Geography:: Iran

10453. The Role of the New Iraq and Neighboring Countries in the Stability and Security of the Persian Gulf

Author:: Mahmood Vaezi
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: Iraq, as a major country in the Persian Gulf region, has traditionally played an important role with regard to stability and security in the area. However, the Ba'athist Iraq, especially under Saddam Hussein, acted in large measure as a source of instability, tension and conflict in the area. That period came to an end in 2003 with the collapse of the Ba'athist regime and the emergence of a new governance system in that country. Considering Iraq's position in the region as well as its quite substantial potentials, this country can still play such an important role – perhaps more important than in the past – in the stability and security of the region. Characteristics of the “New Iraq”, particularly its unfolding democratic experience and governance, and a new collaborative approach to foreign policy, especially towards the neighboring countries, have raised hopes for Iraq's prospective positive contribution to regional stability, security, convergence, and ultimate integration, based on a new pattern of engagement and collaboration among regional states and actors. Having suffered for a long period from destructive rivalry, tension and conflict, the Persian Gulf region is acutely in need of a new collaborative, indigenous mechanism to foster and promote lasting stability and security in the area – needless to say, with the active participation of all countries in the region. The present article attempts to look into the Iraqi aggressive posture and policy during the past several decades as well as into the prospects for the future based on the mutual roles and responsibilities of the “New Iraq” and the neighboring states in the Persian Gulf, from the vantage point of peaceful intentions and conduct, interaction and collaboration towards the development of a collective regional system.
Political Geography:: Iraq and Persia

10454. The Contribution of Energy Diplomacy to International Security; with Special Emphasis on Iran

Author:: S. M. Hossein Adeli
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: This article discusses how energy diplomacy is used in today's world to secure and promote the national and international security of nations. It focuses on the case of Iran as a major energy power. It will be argued that the emergence of energy as one of the main global concerns on the one hand and the emergence of multi-polarity in the wake of the demise of the Cold War on the other, have provided a foundation for the use of energy resources as a new means to pursue the international diplomacy of nations. In this context, the isolationist outlook in international politics advocating hard power as the main anchor for a nation's security is rejected; instead a new approach based on the principles of engagement, participation, and partnership in the world's mega trends is emphasized and, in fact, recommended. It is argued here that the level and degree of the meaningful role a country plays in the current world affairs and also in contributing to shaping the prospective international system is directly correlated with the level and degree of safety and security it would be able to secure for itself. In this vein, the traditional as well as modern outlooks in Iran's energy diplomacy will be briefly examined. While the former views oil and gas resources as a source of income to be utilized – primarily – to bankroll current activities and hence, ignoring the political economy considerations of energy, the latter, fully cognizant of such considerations, is based on the new vision of engagement and partnership with global partners and calls for adoption of a comprehensive energy plan that addresses both domestic and international concerns of this sector.
Topic:: Cold War and Debt
Political Geography:: Iran

10455. Islamic Republic's Two-Tier Foreign Policy towards the US From Suspicious in the Mid-term to Proactive in the Long-term

Author:: Hossein S. Seifzadeh
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: Hopes for changes in Iran's foreign policy towards the United States (US from now) have been dashed times and again. It is argued in this article that ideational and situational factors are responsible for this. Ideationally speaking, the lagging dialectical gap between otherwise two complementary factors of the Islamic Republic's ideological disposition and perspective and Iran's mutually strategic interests with the US is the single most contributing factor in this respect. As long as the prospects for striking a “correspondence discourse” out of this “dialectical components” (ideological and strategic outlooks) remain uncertain and opaque, realistic hopes for change in Iran-US relations would remain unfulfilled. Situationally speaking, the US also needs to reconsider its anachronistic approach as well as the previous patron-client paradigm in its relation with Iran. Moreover, circumstantial events also play a significant role in tilting the weight in favor of one or the other factor. Notwithstanding the on-and-off aggravating ideological confrontation, the mutually-shared strategic interests of both countries have times and again served to ease and mitigate the post-1979 relations between them within the limits of a practically reigning “cold war.“.
Political Geography:: United States and Iran

10456. The U.N. Security Council's Approach towards Iraq: 1980-2003

Author:: Majid Takht Ravanchi
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: Between 1980 and 2003 Iraq was involved in three armed conflicts; namely, the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980's, the occupation of Kuwait in 1990- 1991, and the American-led war against Iraq in 2003. These are three different conflicts with their own distinct characteristics. A comparative study on the behavior of the United Nations Security Council with regard to each of these conflicts reveals that the Security Council has had three different and notably imbalanced reactions towards these conflicts. While At the beginning of the Iran-Iraq conflict, the Council was silent for a few days and later adopted a very ineffective resolution, the approach and conduct in the second conflict was quite different. A few hours after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the Council adopted a very strong resolution, under Chapter VII of the Charter. In the case of the third Persian Gulf conflict – 2003 - the Security Council was in the middle of discussions as to how to deal with the Iraqi crisis when the American and British forces started the military attacks against Baghdad. Furthermore, international humanitarian law has been violated during these conflicts on numerous occasions, most notably the use of chemical weapons by Iraq during the Iran-Iraq conflict. The Security Council's lack of resolve to adopt necessary punitive measures against Iraq to prevent further use of chemical weapons was considered by Iraq as a green light to continue its resort and practice with a sense of impunity. As discussed in the paper, blatant lack of resolve on the part of the Security Council towards Iraq's repeated use of chemical weapons was, as a matter of fact, the most manifest expression of the strong pro-Iraq tilt in the Council's approach and conduct; the outward expression of alternating implicit-explicit consensus among the permanent members on how to punish the revolutionary Iran and reward a friendly Iraq. The present paper concludes that a different approach and conduct by the Council vis-à-vis Iraq 's aggression against Iran would have most probably created a different situation and dynamism in the Persian Gulf area with all its significant repercussions and implications.
Topic:: United Nations
Political Geography:: Iraq, America, Iran, Kuwait, Baghdad, and Persia

10457. Ba'athist Iraq and the Three Islands of Abu Musa and the Tunbs The Genesis and Development of an Issue

Author:: Kourosh Ahmadi
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: This paper is an account of the controversy between Iran and Iraq over the issue of the three Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa and the Tunbs. It covers the time span from 1971 up to 1992 and focuses on the role of Iraq that hoisted the banner of opposition to Iran's title to these islands, following the British withdrawal, and sought to spur the reluctant Arab conservative camp along.
Political Geography:: Iraq, Iran, and Persia

10458. The "Afghan Drugs" Problem – A Challenge to Iran and International Security

Author:: Nasser Saghafi-Ameri
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: This article looks in to the issue of the Afghan drugs problems from the international security perspective. The definition of international security has evolved since the end of the cold war. In the past, there were, and there are presently, some people who perceive that only military capabilities of their rivals can pose a threat to their security. That is, while the new definition of international security has expanded to include many issues that are not necessarily in the domain of military or armed forces. In that context, drug habits that caters to the trade of illicit narcotics, and with connections to the organized crimes has become a nascent threat to international security. In recent years, the drug problem in Afghanistan has grown to a staggering proportion and its outflow threatens the security of many countries. The sheer scale of the problem and its devastating impact on regional and international security calls for a concerted effort by all in the international community, especially those who are mostly affected. However, when it comes to major anti-drug projects in Afghanistan and its adjacent regions, the stances of certain Western countries seem to be ambivalent at best. In this context, one can point to the tendencies in some of these governments making an effective cooperation with Iran in the critical fight against drugs impinging on an agreement on its nuclear dossier. That approach indeed overlooks the urgency of the problem and the scale of the threat that Afghan drugs imposes on all sides especially the Europeans. The author concludes that to find a lasting solution for this problem, it is imperative that cooperation would be based on an inclusive approach, and participation of all states, with the essential coordinating role of the United Nations.
Topic:: United Nations
Political Geography:: Afghanistan and Europe

10459. Iranian Studies: Exploring the Iranian 'Otherness'

Author:: Evangelos Venetis
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: The field of Iranian Studies was developed in the West as a means of exploring the unknown civilization of Iran in the aftermath of the Renaissance and during the political expansion of some Western countries towards East, starting from the 16th century. The establishment of Iranian Studies as a sub-field of Middle Eastern and Asian Studies resulted from practical necessities which Western nations faced in their efforts to understand the Iranian world and civilization at a time of their political advancement in the region. Throughout the twentieth century the field of Iranian Studies has advanced academically. While geopolitical balance in the region has remained essentially unaltered, and Iran has retained and even increased its geopolitical importance in the region. Thus Western interest in Iranian affairs, culture and mentality similarly increased.
Political Geography:: Iran, Middle East, and Asia

10460. Iran, the New Iraq, and the Political–Security System in the Persian Gulf (Book Review)

Author:: Zahra Tavakkoli
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: The author's main hypothesis in the book Iran, the New Iraq, and the Political-Security System in the Persian Gulf is that the overthrow of the Ba'athist regime in Iraq and the subsequent emergence of a Shi'ite-dominated government has created a favorable situation for Iran and significantly increased its potential for a much stronger role in the Persian Gulf, and on a larger scale in the entire Middle East. In his analysis, such a potential is much facilitated by the enhanced possibility of a strategic cooperation between the New Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran, hence providing greater opportunities for a more activist regional and international foreign policy. The crux of the author's argument in the book revolves around the necessity of adoption of new approaches in the Iranian foreign policy towards the New Iraq and the Persian Gulf region.
Political Geography:: Iraq, Iran, and Middle East

10461. Editorial Note

Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: The present Note is written with a mixed sense of pleasure, pride, and humility looking to the future and what lies ahead. It is certainly a matter of pleasure and pride for all of us at the Iranian Journal of Foreign Affairs – IRFA as it has come to be called by its slowly growing readership – that the first issue came out at long last back in mid-March, and more importantly, that it was not found to be disappointing. That proved to be a great moral boost, which I presume is critically needed to stay the course. In fact, we were truly humbled by many words of encouragement, which far exceeded what we deserved or expected. We also received many helpful suggestions and recommendations, beginning with form and format and extending to content and analysis, which we appreciate and will take into consideration.

10462. Russian-Iranian Relations in the Context of the Tehran Declaration

Author:: Ghoncheh Tazmini
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: There has been a marked volte face in Russia's position toward the Islamic Republic. This was made clear when at a critical political juncture – namely the watershed agreement on fuel swapping between Brazil, Turkey and Iran – Russia expressed support for the US-led UNSC resolution to impose a fourth round of sanctions against Iran. This paper argues that Russia, a country that has traditionally shielded Iran and weighed down on the US from pressuring her, obstructed the initiative out of economic and geopolitical considerations. Prompted by the eternal quest to restore Russia's former status as a great power, the Kremlin has had to reevaluate its relationship with Tehran. Moscow in is in dire need of foreign investment, advanced technology, and even markets, which requires thawed relations with the US. Moscow is ostensibly dissatisfied with the NATO's eastward encroachment and also needs the US to turn a blind eye to it geopolitical aspirations in the former Soviet space. These considerations require that Russia warm up to the West in general and the US in particular. Incidentally, Obama is offering Russia a carrot – a diplomatic reset – and Moscow is biting the bait. Today, it appears that Russia needs the US more and the Islamic Republic less. However, Russia's about turn suggests that Moscow is conscious that if the nuclear impasse is resolved, Iran would be on its way to becoming a genuine regional power. Furthermore, the Iran- Turkey cooperation axis could also suggest diversification of energy supply routes, breaking Russia's monopoly on gas. With geopolitical considerations and energy politics in the balance, the stakes are higher, explaining why Russia has acted in an increasingly unfriendly manner than Iranians seem to have expected.
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, Iran, Turkey, Brazil, and Moscow

10463. The New Role of Latin America in Iran's Foreign Policy

Author:: Saideh Lotfian
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: The present article intends to explore discernible shift in Iran's foreign policy toward Latin American countries in recent years. Iran's relations with Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru, and more recently, Brazil, have grown warmer in recent years. The ever-increasing scale and scope of diplomatic ties and bilateral economic cooperation agreements between Iran and these Latin American states, most of whom pursue generally radical, anti-US policies, demonstrate the changing orientation in the Iranian policy as well as in the dynamics of the Latin American politics. The emergence of an Iranian president in 2005 with a populist outlook and pronounced anti-US/Anti-Western rhetoric has facilitated the closer ties between Iran and the leftist Latin American governments. This aspect of the Iranian policy has drawn both domestic criticism and outside opposition, particularly from the United States. Given this, a major question that could be raised is whether the new trend will be a long term feature of Iranian foreign policy or a temporary, transient one, especially taking into account the major role played by the personality of these countries' leaders in their policymaking. A related question is whether these heads of states will be able to create the necessary institutions, processes, and coordination mechanisms to remain in place even after they leave office. The author looks at the recent developments in these politicoeconomic relations, and tries to examine the degree of long-term resilience of Tehran's current involvement in Latin America. The main conclusion of the paper is that for as long as the Islamic Republic of Iran feels the need to look for countervailing force in its ongoing conflict with the US and the West, the current policies in seeking close political and economic ties with the anti-Western and radical Latin American states, as part of a larger coalition of like-minded developing countries, will continue.
Political Geography:: Iran, Brazil, Cuba, Latin America, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia

10464. Obama's Iran Policy: Mutual Respect Matters

Author:: William Scott Harrop
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: This article analyzes President Barack Obama's thematic use of “mutual respect” in his foreign policy and in his efforts to engage the Islamic Republic of Iran. President Obama began his presidency by proclaiming that America seeks “a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.” Towards the Islamic Republic of Iran, the President spoke of constructive diplomacy, a process “not advanced by threats,” but an “engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect." As will be shown, the ideal of “mutual respect” resonates authentically with Obama's personal background and worldview. The President believes that mutual respect matters, that it positively enhances American policies toward friends and adversaries alike. “Mutual respect” also strikes a responsive chord inside Iran because it embodies a time-honored value embedded deep in Iran's diplomatic culture, transcending personalities, governments, and factions. Yet Obama's mutual respect message has not been heard clearly in Iran, in part because of contradictions emanating from simultaneous expressions of pressures, sanctions, and time limits, words perceived in Iran as threatening and disrespectful. Despite such serious problems, this essay contends that “mutual respect” still matters, that it provides a constructive rail for bridging present chasms between America and Iran, a necessary pre-requisite to overcome counterproductive habits of “mutual disrespect.”
Political Geography:: United States and Iran

10465. Roles at Odds: The Roots of Increased Iran-U.S. Tension in the Post-9/11 Middle East

Author:: Kayhan Barzegar
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: This article investigates the main roots of tension between Iran and the United States in the post-9/11 Middle East. Since 9/11 and especially after the 2003 Iraqi crisis, Iran's role has sharply risen in the region. The evolution of Iran's role and power in the regional system has led Iran to seek a bigger weight and role more in tune with its acquired stature and capabilities. The conflict between Iran and the United States has been generally attributed to either a political-ideological clash and mutual hatred, or to a simple aggregation of a number of distinct policy disputes including: Iran's nuclear program, Iran's state support for organizations that Washington regards as terrorist groups, human rights issues, and Iranian involvement in the new Iraq, the Levant, and Afghanistan. While accepting these explanations, the author takes a step further and argues that the conflict, especially since 2003, has been essentially focused on a dispute over the growth of the two sides' role in Middle Eastern politics which both regard against each other's national interests and security. The author concludes that complex and interdependent nature of regional security necessitates, on the one hand, Iran's cooperation in the wake of the end of the U.S. combat role in Iraq in Summer 2010, and on the other, that the United States recognize and respect Iran's legitimate security concerns and accept the evolution of Iran's role in the region.
Political Geography:: Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Iran, Washington, and Middle East

10466. NPT Review Conference 2010: The US Focus on Iran

Author:: Farhad Shahabi
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, held in New York, 3-28 May 2010, was of particular importance to the US, especially in view of its serious concerns for nuclear proliferation. In this context, the US perceived violation of the NPT by Iran's nuclear activities was among its major concerns. For the US, the review conference provided a unique opportunity and occasion to draw international attention to the US non-proliferation concerns in general, and work towards further containment of Iran's nuclear program in particular. To this end, the US Administration under Barack Obama has pursued an overall “containment” strategy, aiming at the twin, inter-related objectives of rehabilitation of the tarnished US image and credibility and effective exercise of the US leadership towards non-proliferation and strengthening of NPT.
Political Geography:: United States, New York, and Iran

10467. Accession of Iran to the World Trade Organization: A Legal-Political Overview

Author:: S. Jalal Alavi
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: Iran's decision to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) is now 14 years old, among the longest cases in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and WTO history. Given the fact that negotiations have not yet started, it may be the longest accession process when Iran finally joins the Organization. This paper attempts to shed some light on the procedural and substantive aspects of the case. A brief account of the WTO accession procedures and a quick glance on the history of the Iran's application provides solid background for the more analytical parts of the paper. It will be shown how unnecessary application of “consensus rule” to the purely procedural stage of accession (establishment of the working party) cost Iran 9 years. Iran could have become full member during the same period in a less demanding negotiating context. The paper will also look briefly into the political environment surrounding Iran's application for membership. The paper also presents a critical outlook on the negotiations for accession and the accession outcomes. It criticizes WTO-plus commitments/WTO-minus rights paradigm which now prevails over the accession negotiations and argues that this paradigm contradicts the contractual nature of the WTO Agreement. It emphasizes that an acceding country should have a clear picture about rights and obligations of the membership. That should be the WTO Agreement as it is. The balance of rights and obligations (terms of contract) should not be changed in the course of negotiations.
Political Geography:: Iran

10468. The Legal and Political Context of UNESCO's 2005 Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions – Will It Be Good for Iran?

Author:: Janet E. Blake
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: The Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions was adopted by the UNESCO General Conference in October 2005 and, by July 2010, 112 States plus the European Community had become Parties to this Convention. This is a relatively healthy number but, at approximately half of the Member States of the Organisation, reflects that there remains a degree of uncertainty among States as to the potential national and international policy and legal impact on Parties. Thus far, Iran has chosen not to ratify this Convention and there continues to be a national debate on this question with a wide range of views expressed. One important aim of this article, then, is to consider and address these concerns through examining both the international (Cultural) policy context of the Convention's negotiation and the rights it grants to and the duties it places on Parties. The 2005 Convention shares an ancestry with the 2003 Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in that both of them reflect different aspects of the 2001 Declaration on Cultural Diversity. Understanding this fact can provide some guidance as to the orientation and purpose of this treaty in that it addresses the rights of States and their international duty to preserve the aspect of cultural diversity that relates to the cultural marketplace. At the same time, it is by no means a 'pure' human rights text in its character or its intention as this article will show. After having examined the history of the text's development and adoption and the wider legal and political contexts within which this took place, the article will then consider the direct implications for Iran of ratification of this important international Convention.
Political Geography:: Europe

10469. Multilateral Diplomacy: Theory and Practice of Regional and International Organizations (Book Review)

Author:: Bagher Asadi
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: A 3-volume work on the theory and practice of multilateral diplomacy, written by two senior career diplomats speaks for itself. It's a huge, serious work of research, based on over two decades of teaching and complemented with the accumulated wisdom and discretion of long years of practical diplomatic experience and actual, active engagement in multilateral processes. I have found introducing the work to non challenge; there is so much information and analysis on so many issues in the first two volumes that can hardly be captured in a short narrative. That I will not even attempt at; instead I career multilateral diplomat myself, highlight the significance of the objective outlook espoused by the authors – even if between the lines.

10470. The Atlas of Persian Gulf Maps: A Journey Through Time and History (Book Review)

Author:: Reza Nazarahari
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:: Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:: The semi-closed body of water, an inland sea of a length of 989 kilometers and a size of some 251,000 km², lying to the south of the Iranian plateau, connected in the eastern end to the Gulf of Oman by the Strait of Hormuz; and marked in the western end by the major river delta of the Shatt al-Arab, which carries the waters of the Euphrates and the Tigris, is the Persian Gulf. For a host of historical reasons – beyond the purview of this brief essay – the Persian Gulf, as a water channel, appears to have been found of particular interest to geologists, archaeologists, geographers, merchants, excursionists, scholars, and politicians, both in the distant and recent past, and of course, presently. While historians can continue their scholarly interest and work on the reasons for the significance of the water channel in the past, for its critical importance present time and certainly in the foreseeable future, both to the countries sharing coastline with it as well as supra their own, is related to the huge oil and gas reserves in the area and international geo emanating from this very unique feature of the Persian Gulf will continue to be a major source of energy throughout the third millennium, the area will most probably continue to preserve its critical significance, both to the energy energy-importing countries across the world, with all the associated political, economic, security-strategic, and even military, implications during the past several decades.
Political Geography:: Oman and Persia

10471. Meaningful Technology Tranfer for Climate Disruption

Author:: David M. Driesen and David Popp
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: Any serious effort to address global climate disruption will require effective technology transfer. Developing countries with growing emissions must somehow make emission reductions without curtailing the economic development needed to alleviate poverty. This must be done in order to permit global abatement on the scale required to avoid dangerous climate disruption. Given the limited financial and technical capabilities of developing countries, this task seems impossible without technology transfer. As policymakers continue to embrace and enhance technology transfer options, it is critical to understand the relationship between technology transfer and policy development in order to formulate more effective policies. Whether through market mechanisms, such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), or direct aid programs, such as the Green Climate Fund, we argue that technology transfer programs must support the elaboration of policies in developing countries by addressing three key issues: additionality, appropriate scale and the promotion of knowledge spillovers. We use these three principles to provide a framework for assessing the potential of both the CDM and direct financial aid to foster meaningful technology transfer, which we define as technology transfer that not only lowers the overall short-run costs of carbon reductions, but also enhances the capacity of these countries to address climate change more thoroughly in the future.
Topic:: Climate Change and Economics

10472. Nuclear Power and Sustainable Development

Author:: H.-Holger Rogner
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: A central goal of sustainable development is to maintain or increase the overall assets (natural, man-made, human and social) available to future generations while minimizing depletion of finite resources and without exceeding the carrying capacities of ecosystems. The essence of the Brundtland Report's definition of sustainable development is expanding possibilities and keeping options open, not foreclosing them for future generations. The selection of technologies to advance sustainable energy development in any given country is a sovereign choice, and each country will need a mix of technologies suited to its situation and needs. As there exists no absolute yardstick for sustainable energy development and there is no technology without risk, wastes or interaction with the environment, nuclear energy's compatibility with sustainable development objectives cannot be judged in isolation but only in comparison with available alternatives. This paper will provide such comparative assessments and specifically address concerns about nuclear power, such as the longevity of radioactive wastes, operating safety, weapons proliferation as well public and political acceptance. Based on the concept of weak sustainability' and by applying a set of criteria for sustainable development, the paper will argue that the further development of nuclear power broadens the natural resource base for meeting growing global energy needs, increases technological and human capital, and, when safely handled, has little impact on human health and ecosystems along the full nuclear source-to-service energy chain. However, societies compare the benefits and risks of technologies from the menu of options available to them. As long as the real benefits exceed the risks of nuclear power, societies tend to accept the technology. The recent renaissance of interest in nuclear power is the result of changes in the risks and benefits of its key alternatives.

10473. Policy Incentives for a Cleaner Supply Chain: The Case of Green Chemistry

Author:: Kira J.M. Matus
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: There is a great deal of interest in the development and deployment of green technologies and the actions required on the part of industry, academia, governments and civil society to drive them forward. This paper uses the case of green technology in the global chemical sector to better elucidate the challenges of implementation of innovations for sustainable development, to analyze which approaches have been effective, and to provide generalizable knowledge about the types of strategies required to move these technologies from niche applications into widespread use. For green chemistry, and innovations for sustainable development more generally, there is a need for greater public intervention, including regulatory regimes that are strictly enforced, investment in basic research and education to build human capacity, more outreach programs in collaboration with industry to aid with technology transfer and implementation, and economic incentives for firms that may have the desire but not the financial capacity to make use of these innovations. Voluntary collaborations and the influence of major supply chain actors, on their own, are not powerful enough to catalyze the increases in scale that are needed for a real transition to sustainability.
Topic:: Education

10474. Can One Laptop Per Child Save the World's Poor?

Author:: Mark Warschauer and Morgan Ames
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) program is one of the most ambitious educational reform initiatives the world has ever seen. The program has developed a radically new low-cost laptop computer and aggressively promoted its plans to put the computer in the hands of hundreds of millions of children around the world, including in the most impoverished nations. Though fewer than two million of the OLPC's XO computers have been distributed as of this writing, the initiative has caught the attention of world leaders, influenced developments in the global computer industry and sparked controversy and debate about the best way to improve the lot of the world's poor. With six years having passed since Nicholas Negroponte first unveiled the idea, this paper appraises the program's progress and impact and, in so doing, takes a fresh look at OLPC's assumptions. The paper reviews the theoretical underpinnings of OLPC, analyzes the program's development and summarizes the current state of OLPC deployments around the world. The analysis reveals that provision of individual laptops is a utopian vision for the children in the poorest countries, whose educational and social futures could be more effectively improved if the same investments were instead made on more proven and sustainable interventions. Middle- and high-income countries may have a stronger rationale for providing individual laptops to children, but will still want to eschew OLPC's technocentric vision. In summary, OLPC represents the latest in a long line of technologically utopian development schemes that have unsuccessfully attempted to solve complex social problems with overly simplistic solutions.
Topic:: Development and Education

10475. Research Locally, Diffuse Globally? American Universities, Patents and Global Public Health

Author:: Bhaven N. Sampat
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: An important challenge in sustainable development is promoting the creation of new medical technologies and ensuring their diffusion in developing countries. There is growing concern that, with the implementation of the World Trade Organization's agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), pharmaceutical patents will restrict access to medicines globally. Profit-oriented companies are now aggressively pursuing intellectual property protections in developing countries, many of which had previously not allowed product patents on drugs. The concern is that absent generic competition, patients will not be able to access life-saving medications. Recent attention has focused on a perhaps unlikely set of actors to help ameliorate the access to medicines problem: American research universities. A decade-old student movement has argued that universities own intellectual property rights on many important drugs, and has pushed for inclusion of “humanitarian licensing” clauses that would compel the pharmaceutical firms that license these technologies to allow generic access in developing countries. In this paper, I discuss the emergence and evolution of this student movement, and the set of patent policy changes that got us here. I also summarize data on the feasibility of these policies: for how many drugs would changes in university policies plausibly affect access? Next, I discuss the desirability of changing university licensing practices and the tradeoffs universities face when considering humanitarian licensing approaches. I conclude with a discussion of the limits of campus-level initiatives alone, and the potentially important role for research funding agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, in promoting humanitarian licensing and access to medicines.
Topic:: Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:: America

10476. Technologies for Climate Change Adaptation: Emerging Lessons from Countries Pursuing Adaptation to Climate Change

Author:: Bertrand Tessa and Pradeep Kurukulasuriya
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: In developing countries, resource-dependent communities are disproportionately affected, yet less equipped to cope with the adverse impacts of climate change. Though generally associated with institutional adjustments, technology transfer, absorption and diffusion provide outstanding opportunities to increase the resilience of vulnerable communities and the ecosystems on which they rely to the risks of climate variability and extremes. In spite of the potential for technology diffusion as it emerges from the international regime, scientific evidence suggests that global efforts to transfer climate-smart technologies needed for successful adaptation in developing countries have fallen short. This paper examines current challenges and opportunities related to technology transfer for climate change adaptation in developing countries, as well as the contribution of the United Nations Development Programme - Climate Change Adaptation Team (UNDP-CCA) in promoting technology absorption and diffusion at the country level.
Topic:: Climate Change and United Nations

10477. The Copyright Dilemma: Copyright Systems, Innovation and Economic Development

Author:: Walter G. Park
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: This paper discusses the potential role of copyright laws in technological and economic development. Although it is more common to think of the patent system as a source of economic and technological development, copyright laws and regulations affect cultural industries such as art, films, music and literature. These industries comprise an important part of gross domestic product and are a source of employment and income opportunities. Copyright regimes also affect education and scientific research through their impacts on the diffusion of knowledge embodied in copyright media, such as print and Internet publications, software and databases, among others. The copyright system can thus have an important influence on human capital accumulation. This paper surveys some of the theoretical and empirical work to date, assesses the implications of the findings for developing economies and identifies some areas where further research is needed.
Topic:: Economics and Education

10478. The Gender Revolution in Science and Technology

Author:: Henry Etzkowitz, Namrata Gupta, and Carol Kemelgor
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: The confluence between the gender and information technology (IT) revolutions has the potential to create a new development paradigm. The transition from an industrial to a knowledge society opens up new opportunities for women in the emerging technology transfer, innovation and entrepreneurship (TIE) fields that avoid some of the negative consequences of academic science. The spread of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in developing countries empowers women by upgrading skills, enhancing employment opportunities, creating income for reinvestment and political strength. This article addresses the consequences of gender inequalities in depressing the contribution of women and the growing opportunities for them to use technology in order to take economic and social advancement into their own hands.
Topic:: Science and Technology

10479. Higher Education and Technology Transfer: The Effects of Technosclerosis on Development

Author:: William E. Bertrand
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: The merging of information technologies through digital transformation has strengthened the potential impacts of technology and education on social and economic development. Today's rapid pace of change and the globalized impacts of those changes reinforce the need to develop a global culture of continuous learning and new models of higher education that will provide a continuous resource for knowledge updating and professional development. I argue that the modern university has fallen behind the pace of technological change and has become increasingly irrelevant to the reality of life in an interconnected and globalizing world. Academic ethnocentrism has evolved within the residential, discipline-oriented and tradition-defined higher education system. American universities have not kept up with the challenge of rapidly diagnosing and responding to increasingly complex and dynamic problems such as global warming, health and disaster mitigation. Current initiatives to improve U.S. development interventions fail to recognize the need to radically redesign higher education to implement the development initiatives of the future. A global technology- based educational movement reminiscent of the original concept of the land grant colleges in the United States is needed, which would tie an aggressive research agenda to critically examine the impacts of rapidly evolving technologies to a worldwide network of community-level agents of change that transmit positive results into immediate action. I outline a tentative plan of action based upon emerging evidence of better and more efficient training and educational models that are focused on broad-based sustainable development objectives. By removing the “techno-sclerotic” blinders and challenging the American academe to become more applied and more international, American universities can reassert their relevance and maintain their status as preeminent institutions of social change and innovation in the realm of global higher education.
Topic:: Education
Political Geography:: America

10480. Open Source Mapping as Liberation Technology - An Interview with David Kobia

Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: David Kobia is a Kenyan software developer and founder of the crisis mapping platform and open source software Ushahidi. Ushahidi has been used since 2008 to crowdsource information that can be help save lives on the ground. In this interview with Jose Santiago Vericat of the Journal of International Affairs, Kobia critically reflects on the use of Internet software to assist humanitarian relief operations after a crisis.
Topic:: Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:: Kenya

10481. Accidental Activists: Using Facebook for Change - An Interview with Randi Zuckerberg

Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: With millions of users across the world from places as diverse as Colombia, Kenya and Malaysia, Facebook has revolutionized social networking. Randi Zuckerberg, who works on marketing, politics, current events and nonprofit initiatives for Facebook, Inc., explains how 500 million friends are turning the online social network into people power and change for the better. This interview was conducted by Jose Santiago Vericat for the Journal of International Affairs.
Political Geography:: Kenya and Colombia

10482. Democratizing the Internet - An Interview with Michael T. Jones

Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: That Google is changing our world is a well-known fact. How exactly this transformation is taking place and where will it lead, is not. Google's chief technology advocate Michael T. Jones reflects on Google's global impact in conversation with Jose Santiago Vericat of the Journal of International Affairs at Google headquarters in Palo Alto, California.
Political Geography:: Colombia

10483. Harnessing Technology for Development Cooperation - An Interview with Rajiv Shah

Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: Rajiv Shah, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is working to make USAID one of the premier agencies applying technology to the problems of the developing world. In conversation with Jose Santiago Vericat of the Journal of International Affairs, Shah discusses how USAID and its partners are using technology to address today's development challenges.
Political Geography:: United States

10484. Reconciling Acemogly and Sachs: Geography, Institutions and Technology

Author:: Nima Veiseh
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: This paper attempts to reconcile two models for sustainable economic growth in developing countries. I develop an empirical and theoretical case for how the geographic landscape of a country determines the ease with which it can assimilate foreign technologies and establish institutions favorable to economic growth. I explore the threshold between the seemingly conflicting geographic (Sachs at al.) and institutional (Acemoglu et al.) theories, and economic growth. I do this by developing a technologically determinant, intermediate bifurcation where growth shifts from being geographically to institutionally driven after enough technology has been assimilated. My analysis finds that the rate of technological assimilation is determined by the landscape of a country. As the technology level increases, income level converges toward the level of developed countries. After reaching a certain threshold, however, economic growth appears to shift from being geographically driven to institutionally driven.
Topic:: Economics

10485. Generational Change and the Future of U.S. - Russian Relations

Author:: Jeffrey Mankoff
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: While post-Cold War generation Americans are more sober in assessing Russia, the next Russian generation (those under 35) is in some ways more problematic. Russian youth are much more entrepreneurial and politically engaged than their elders, but also more skeptical of the US and more comfortable with intolerant nationalism. The Kremlin is also reinforcing some of the more worrying trends among Russian youths. There is no going back to the Cold War, but the coming of the new generation does not portend smooth sailing, unless current officials can figure out ways to fundamentally alter the nature of a relationship still dominated by mutual distrust.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Cold War, and Nationalism
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, America, and Soviet Union

10486. Russian Dilemmas in a Multipolar World

Author:: Fyodor Lukyanov
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: When Vladimir Putin described the breakup of the Soviet Union several years ago as “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century, his words triggered a strong reaction in the West and among Russia's neighbors. They sensed that the Russian president's words held not only nostalgia for the now-vanished great power but also hidden imperial ambitions. Indeed, Russia's political class of the late 20th and early 21st century is overcoming its post-imperial syndrome with difficulty. This phenomenon is not unique—many European empires faced the same problem in the 20th century. In Russia's case, the situation is compounded by the fact that the country's disintegration meant the loss of territories that had never been viewed as colonies but had been seen as a natural part of the country's historical and cultural core. For the first time in history, the Russian people have become a divided nation. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist, 25 million ethnic Russians found themselves living outside the Russian Federation, which could not but have an impact on the policies of Moscow and the other newly independent states. At the same time, Putin's words also carried a deeper meaning that few people noticed.
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Moscow

10487. Russia, Ukraine, and Central Europe: The Return of Geopolitics

Author:: F. Stephen Larrabee
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: Nine November 2009, marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, effectively marking the end of the Cold War. It opened the way to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the reunification of Germany, the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and the emergence of a new security order in Europe.
Topic:: Security and Cold War
Political Geography:: Europe

10488. Ukraine's Defense Engagement with the United States

Author:: Gary D. Espinas
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: Ukraine faces a number of challenges, including a deep economic crisis and a tumultuous political system. These problems, however, only underscore the importance of continued U.S. engagement with Ukraine. The causes of European stability and prosperity are best served by a Ukraine that is democratic, secure in its borders, and integrated into European and Euro-Atlantic institutions. This has been the U.S. position since Ukraine's independence in 1991. In addition to its internal challenges, Ukraine faces an external challenge: Russia. Recent Russian actions suggest that Moscow still considers Ukraine to be within its sphere of influence. Furthermore, Russia's conflict with Georgia in August 2008 demonstrates that Moscow is willing to use a wide variety of tools, including military force, to establish and enforce its sphere of influence. Such attitudes threaten to return Europe to the destructive balance of power politics of its past, rather than promote a peace in the region based on the right of sovereign nations to determine their own future. Ukraine has made a choice to be a part of Europe by undertaking a number of reforms in order to become a truly independent and democratic country. In the interest of greater European stability and prosperity, and in recognition of Ukraine's positive engagement, the United States must continue its efforts to assist Ukraine on the path to democracy.
Topic:: Economics
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, Europe, Ukraine, and Moscow

10489. Russia and Europe's Mutual Energy Dependence

Author:: Christophe-Alexandre Paillard
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: In the field of energy, Europe will be confronted with various risks in the next twenty years. Most notably, there is no clear alternative to fossil energy on a large scale with the possible exception of nuclear energy; yet few countries are able to pay for the large investment required by a nuclear industry. The need to ensure greater energy security and better regulation of energy supplies will turn energy policy into a much more politicized issue. Energy, already an important security concern, will continue to shape future military and political relations, especially if there is no other option other than oil and gas to satiate growing demand.
Topic:: Security
Political Geography:: Russia and Europe

10490. Is Russia Cursed by Oil?

Author:: Daniel Treisman
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: Russia is often thought to be a classic case of the resource curse—the idea that natural resource wealth tends to impair democratic development.1 Some see the country as doomed to authoritarian politics by its enormous endowments of oil and gas. “Russia's future will be defined as much by the geology of its subsoil as by the ideology of its leaders,” writes Moisés Naím, editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy magazine and former trade and industry minister of petroleum-rich Venezuela. “A lot of oil combined with weak public institutions produces poverty, inequality, and corruption. It also undermines democracy.” New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman sees a close relationship between world commodity prices and the extent of liberty in resource-rich states: a higher oil price means less freedom. Friedman suggests that Russia, from Gorbachev to Putin, fits this relationship perfectly.
Topic:: International Relations and Debt
Political Geography:: Russia and New York

10491. The Global Expansion of Russa's Energy Giants

Author:: Nina Poussenkova
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: In any economy, oil and gas companies are tightly linked with the government. In petro-states such as Russia, they are so closely connected that they are sometimes indistinguishable. This symbiotic relationship is particularly strong in the global expansion of Russian energy corporations such as Gazprom, LUKOIL and Rosneft . which is guided by a tangled web of commercial and political motives.
Topic:: Economics
Political Geography:: Russia

10492. Why Russia is Not South Korea

Author:: Sergei Guriev and Ekaterina Zhuravskaya
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: By January 1992, the Soviet Union had dissolved and the new Russian government had liberalized prices for most goods and services, ushering in a new Russian economy. In 2010, this economy turned eighteen years old and has, in Russian terms, come of age. In this article, we assess the current state of the Russian economy and its long-term prospects. Where is the Russian economy today, and where is it heading?
Topic:: Economics
Political Geography:: Russia and Korea

10493. Russia's Financial Crisis: Economic Setbacks and Policy Responses

Author:: Padma Desai
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: The financial turmoil originating from the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis hit Russia by early September 2008, prompting the Russian government and the Central Bank of Russia to undertake a set of speedy and concerted measures to soften the impact of the crisis. These initial measures supported the value of the ruble as ruble holders, domestic and foreign, switched to dollars. They also provided hard currency to major Russian banks and Russian big business (the so-called oligarchs) which had borrowed heavily from foreign banks for their expanding operations from 2000 to 2007.
Topic:: Government and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: Russia and United States

10494. Freedom of Expression without Freedom of the Press

Author:: Maria Lipman
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: One week after journalist Anna Politkovskaya was assassinated in Moscow, the Russian polling agency Levada Center asked her compatriots whether they had been aware of her work before the murder. Six percent said they had read her articles in which she investigated atrocities in Chechnya and other grim aspects of Russian life. Of this small group of readers, very few chose to join the rally the day after Politkovskaya's death at the hands of a contract killer.
Political Geography:: Russia and Moscow

10495. A Balanced Assessment of Russian Civil Society

Author:: Debra Javeline and Sarah Lindemann-Komarova
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: Most analyses of civil society development in contemporary Russia tend to focus geographically on the city of Moscow and substantively on political elites, elections, and human rights violations. To the extent that the 141 million Russian citizens are mentioned, their experiences are usually represented by a handful of Muscovite human rights leaders. These leaders are certainly part of Russia's civil society, as are the many Russian citizens who have been victimized by the brutal war in Chechnya and other actions in the Caucasus. However, what of the other Russians? The story of the remaining 141 million matters and is yet untold.
Topic:: Human Rights
Political Geography:: Russia and Moscow

10496. U.S.-Russian Relations in an Age of American Triumphalism

Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: Stephen F. Cohen is Professor of Russian Studies and History at New York University and Professor of Politics Emeritus at Princeton University. His books include Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution; Rethinking the Soviet Experience; Failed Crusade: America and the Tragedy of Post-Communist Russia; and, most recently, Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War. His forthcoming book, The Victims Return: Survivors of the Gulag After Stalin, will be published in August.
Topic:: Cold War
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, and America

10497. The View from Moscow

Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: Sergei Ryabkov is the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. He has served the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1982 in Moscow and abroad. He has been head of the OSCE Unit of the Department of European Cooperation, minister counsellor of the Russian Embassy in the USA, and director of the Department of European Cooperation. Mr. Ryabkov was named Deputy Minister in 2008. As part of his duties, he chairs the Policy Steering Group and Arms Control and International Security Working Group under the U.S.–Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission set up by President's Obama and Medvedev.
Topic:: Arms Control and Proliferation
Political Geography:: Russia and Moscow

10498. The Russian Soldier Today

Author:: Iva Savic
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: The first decade of the post-Cold War era left the Russian military neglected, impoverished and, to a large extent, structurally and technologically obsolete. During the presidency of Vladimir Putin, however, the Russian leadership became determined to regain the country's military prowess. In 2003, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov declared the end of the era when the military had to struggle to survive. Concurrently, the Russian Armed Forces began reforms aimed at creating a smaller, highly mobile, modern professional army that would be equipped to deal with regional wars and insurgencies, while larger threats would be deterred by the nuclear arsenal. The security budget rose from RUB 214 billion in 2000 to RUB 1017 billion in 2008, 400 new types of armament and hardware were introduced, reorganization of command and control was initiated, and the professionalization of the once all-conscript army commenced.
Topic:: Cold War and Reform
Political Geography:: Russia

10499. Re-Examining Russian Energy Power

Author:: Michael Broache
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: The conventional wisdom concerning Russian energy policy is overwhelmingly alarmist: Russia's role as a major oil and gas producer has strengthened the Russian state vis-à-vis domestic civil society, undermined democratization and market reforms, and emboldened Russia to pursue a more aggressive foreign policy. Russian Energy Power and Foreign Relations, a compilation of essays edited by Jerome Perovic, Robert W. Orttung, and Andreas Wenger, confronts this conventional wisdom by presenting a nuanced account of recent developments in Russian energy policy and their implications for global energy security and Russian foreign relations.
Topic:: Security, Foreign Policy, and Reform
Political Geography:: Russia

10500. Unwrapping Russian Foreign Policy

Author:: Thomas J.R. Kent
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: A typical outsider's concept of Russian foreign policy might envisage Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin seated comfortably in the Kremlin, deciding what they want to accomplish, then skillfully selecting from an array of policy tools readily at their command: the military and security services, Gazprom's collections department, state-controlled media (i.e. drivers of public opinion), and state businesses ready to ship arms and build nuclear power plants wherever needed.
Topic:: Foreign Policy
Political Geography:: Middle East

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS