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11051. Quelle politique pour l'UE au Zimbabwe aujourd'hui?

Author:
Vincent Darracq
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:
Après l'entrée en vigueur au Zimbabwe du Global Political Agreement (GPA) en septembre 2008 et la formation du Gouvernement d'Unité nationale (GNU) rassemblant ZANU-PF et opposition en février 2009, la politique européenne n'a pas connu de modification fondamentale : elle s'articule toujours autour d'un double arsenal de « sanctions » établi en 2002, constitué de mesures restrictives et appropriées, et seulement révisé à la marge en février 2010. De nouveaux développements ont cependant eu lieu : la reprise du dialogue politique dans le cadre de l'Article 8 de l'Accord de Cotonou et une augmentation substantielle d'une aide humanitaire s'apparentant à de l'aide au développement qui ne dit pas son nom. Une relation nouvelle s'est également engagée sur le sujet entre l'UE et l'Afrique du Sud, l'acteur régional dominant, depuis l'arrivée au pouvoir à Pretoria du président Jacob Zuma en mai 2009. Sur le problème zimbabwéen, l'Afrique du Sud s'est imposée depuis 2000 comme l'interlocuteur et l'intermédiaire incontournable, et a de fait pris en charge, sous mandats de l'Union Africaine, de la SADC ou du Commonwealth, les discussions successives entre acteurs zimbabwéens. Sous Zuma, les échanges UE-Afrique du Sud sur la question zimbabwéenne sont plus francs et cordiaux. La tenue probable d'élections anticipées en 2011 a en particulier été identifiée par les deux partenaires comme une opportunité de travailler en bonne entente pour favoriser une sortie de crise. Mais l'Afrique du Sud reste contrainte dans son action par la SADC, ce qui incarne la dimension proprement régionale de la crise zimbabwéenne, et par l'intransigeance de l'UE sur sa politique de sanctions.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
Africa and Zimbabwe

11052. Peacebuilding in Asia: refutation or cautious engagement?

Author:
Amaia Sánchez Cacicedo
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:
This Occasional Paper explores the features and implications of an 'Asian' approach to peacebuilding and seeks to define what is distinctive about this approach. In attempting to answer this question, the author aims to establish what characterises peacebuilding activities undertaken by Asian countries and how their attitudes to peacebuilding differ from Western-dominated mainstream views of peacebuilding. It is argued here that in an Asian context peacebuilding is conditioned by a Westphalian vision of the world as opposed to the post-Westphalian views of liberal interventionists. Thus, for Asian countries peacebuilding does not imply conflict resolution activities along the lines of peacemaking. Instead, peacebuilding practice in Asia is exercised through peacekeeping and economic assistance flows. Official involvement in a country's internal political affairs, including humanitarian interventions that involve the use of force, or in domestic peace processes is commonly avoided. Yet, as in Western contexts, there is a growing niche for civil society in Asian peacebuilding activities as well as in the domain of non-traditional security issues. This development is explored in this paper. As a way of structuring the analysis, a distinction is made between peacebuilding within and beyond the Asian region, a key factor in influencing different actors' approach. In the context of peacebuilding activities undertaken within Asia, the emphasis is on the nurturing of bilateral relationships and on 'limited' multilateral peacebuilding. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is examined as a case study in order to explore this last aspect further. When looking into Asian actors' peacebuilding activities beyond the region, the cases of China, India and Japan are addressed. With the exception of Japan, the other countries under scrutiny in this paper have focused the bulk of their peacebuilding activities outside the region to contributing troops to UN Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO), hence the emphasis on the latter. In the conclusion, the existence of common features that distinguish a cautious Asian engagement in mainstream peacebuilding activities is confirmed; however, caution is different from complete refutation. Indeed, the Westphalian nature of Asian actors' approach to peacebuilding pervades both the regional and the global spheres, although the challenges are inevitably bigger at a global level. This further explains differences in motivation as well as in attitudes to the purpose of peacebuilding among Asian actors at different levels of analysis as addressed in this paper.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Peace Studies, United Nations, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Israel and Asia

11053. Transforming the Quartet principles: Hamas and the Peace Process

Author:
Carolin Goerzig
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:
Despite the clear necessity of an inclusive approach that involves all relevant actors, the Middle East Quartet (comprising the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia) has made political and financial cooperation with the Palestinian Authority dependent on the recognition of the three Quartet principles — the recognition of Israel, the renunciation of violence and adherence to previous diplomatic agreements — in exchange for the recognition of a Palestinian government. But instead of compelling Hamas to consider compliance, the Quartet principles have in fact led the group to become more entrenched in its defiant stance. There is a fundamental problem with the three Quartet conditions. While decision-makers proclaim that the three principles come as a package and are inseparable, it is precisely the fact that they are so interlocked and that Hamas is required to comply with them simultaneously that makes compliance problematic. This is the case because the three principles are mutually constraining to such an extent that complying with one principle effectively prevents Hamas from complying with another. Originally, the three Quartet principles were intended as a basis or a framework for a potential peace process. They define the conditions a negotiating partner has to fulfil in order to take part in Middle East peace talks. In reality, however, they have acted as an impediment. This paper seeks to find a way of overcoming the constraints that the EU has imposed upon itself by insisting on simultaneous adherence to the three Quartet principles. It looks at what room for manoeuvre there remains for the EU within the framework of the Quartet conditions and at how they can be modified in such a way that they facilitate rather than obstruct compliance.
Topic:
Political Violence, Islam, Politics, Terrorism, Armed Struggle, and Territorial Disputes
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Arabia, and United Nations

11054. Power, Politics, and Change: How International Actors Assess Local Context

Author:
Paul Romita and Vanessa Wyeth
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
In recent years, donor governments and international organizations such as the UN and the World Bank have developed a number of frameworks and tools to assess governance, conflict, and fragility. This report argues that there are multiple, and often contradictory, objectives underlying the development and use of such assessment tools. Underpinning this multiplicity of objectives are deep assumptions, many of which remain unstated. Different agencies tend to define the problem through their own institutional lens, and the assessment tools they create reflect these biases. As the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development—Development Assistant Committee's (OECD-DAC's) work on governance assessments has pointed out, assumptions underlying governance assessment methodologies are usually not explicit, but tend to measure governance against existing norms in OECD countries. Similarly, the different approaches to conflict assessment adopted by major bilateral and multilateral actors demonstrate conceptual and intellectual differences in their understanding of the nature of conflict; the same may be said for various donors' approaches to assessing state fragility.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, International Relations, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
United Nations

11055. North Korea: The Risks of War in the Yellow Sea

Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The Yellow Sea off the Korean peninsula has become a potential flashpoint for a wider conflict. An escalating series of confrontations by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has seen the sinking of a Republic of Korea (ROK) naval vessel and the shelling of civilian settlements on an island near the boundary. The disputed nature of this maritime boundary, known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL), as well as the volatility of DPRK politics has created a serious risk that any further provocation might turn into a wider conflict. While international attention is once again focused on the North's nuclear program, there is an urgent need to implement measures that could reduce the possibility of a clash in the Yellow Sea becoming something worse.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Nuclear Weapons, War, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
South Korea, North Korea, and Island

11056. Corruption and Public Procurement

Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Transparency International
Abstract:
Public procurement affects all aspects of people's lives and assumes a large share of government budgets. The acquisition of buildings and land by municipal and national governments, the construction of roads, the provision of health and education services, and the construction and operation of drinking water and sanitation systems are just a few examples of public investments that involve procurement. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has estimated the value of government procurement markets worldwide to be US$ 2 trillion annually. Wherever such large quantities of money change hands, the risk of corruption is high.
Topic:
Corruption, Economics, Health, and Infrastructure

11057. Regulating the Revolving Door

Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Transparency International
Abstract:
In recent years, the public sector has developed an increasingly close relationship with the private sector. The rise of public-private partnerships, the continued push toward privatisation, the increased role of lobbying, and the reliance on public contracting have all put government in more intimate contact with business.
Topic:
Corruption, Government, and Politics

11058. After the Conflict: Nation-Building and Corruption

Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Transparency International
Abstract:
Globally, there are 26 ongoing armed conflicts and nearly onesixth of the world's population lives in so-called 'weak governance' zones. In 2009 alone, the United Nations estimated that 42 million people were displaced due to conflict and persecution.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Corruption, and Development
Political Geography:
United Nations

11059. Corruption in Logging Licenses Concessions

Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Transparency International
Abstract:
Corruption is one of the main drivers of illegal logging. It runs through the whole timber production and marketing chain. Corruption in logging is fuelled by a range of factors, such as the lack of institutional capacity to monitor and enforce existing legal and policy frameworks, low transparency and accountability, and overall weak governance.
Topic:
Corruption, Globalization, Markets, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
United States

11060. Corruption and Gender in Service Delivery: The Unequal Impacts

Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Transparency International
Abstract:
It is increasingly recognised that gender acts as a lens to magnify the impacts of corruption, particularly when it comes to service delivery in developing countries. Corruption in the provision of basic services such as health and education can have disproportionate and negative consequences for women and girls. It can seriously compromise their access to quality schools and clinics, their own social and economic empowerment and even their country's prospects for growth, gender equality and wider social change.
Topic:
Corruption, Development, Education, and Gender Issues

11061. Transparency International's Annual Report 2009

Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Transparency International
Abstract:
Political corruption doesn't just mean electoral fraud; it includes the growing role of private rather than public interests in elections and public policy making. Along with the increasing influence of money in politics, this undermines public trust in democracy and its institutions. Transparency International's 2009 Global Corruption Barometer found that the general public see political parties as the most corrupt domestic institution, followed by civil servants and parliaments. In developing and transition countries, where democratic institutions remain fragile, political corruption diverts resources from providing basic social services for millions of poor and disadvantaged people.
Topic:
Corruption, Democratization, and Politics

11062. Patterns of Power. The EU's External Steering Techniques at Work - The Case of Democratization Policies in Morocco

Author:
David Budde and Mathias Großklaus
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
This paper conceptualizes a framework of political steering that includes modern conceptions of power as formulated by Foucault, Habermas, Bourdieu and others and applies it to the empirical analysis of the EU neighborhood policies. Analyzing the promotion of human rights and democracy as part of a comprehensive security strategy in Morocco since 2003, the authors scrutinize the use and the resonance of hierarchic, indirect and soft steering modes in EU external governance in the Southern Mediterranean. The findings suggest that Europe employs a complex strategy that targets governing officials, civil society actors and society at large, each with a respective mix of steering modes. Whereas classic incentives failed to initiate reforms at the government level, they proved effective in empowering Moroccan civil society actors. Soft modes are shown to play a decisive role in shaping the self-image of the administration officials vis-à-vis the EU and the parameters of public discourse on human rights and democracy, thus allowing for non-governmental actors to encroach on the government and demand democratic reforms. The integrated perspective on steering mechanisms in EU neighborhood policies thereby reveals the need to further explore micro-techniques of power in external governance analysis.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Arabia, North Africa, and Morocco

11063. Democray and Legitimacy in the European Union Revisited: Input, Output and Throughput.

Author:
Vivien Schmidt
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
Whether their analytic frameworks focus on institutional form and practices or on its interactive construction, scholars have analyzed the EU's democratic legitimacy mainly in terms of the trade-offs between the output effectiveness of EU's policies outcomes for the people and the input participation by and representation of the people. Missing is theorization of the “throughput” efficiency, accountability, transparency, and openness to consultation with the people of the EU's internal governance processes. The paper argues that adding this analytic category facilitates assessment of these legitimizing mechanisms' interdependencies and facilitates consideration of reforms that could turn this democratic trilemma into a “virtuous circle”.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Europe

11064. Networks, Courts and Regional Integration. Explaining the Establishment of the Andean Court of Justice.

Author:
Osvaldo Saldías
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
Legal transplants have traditionally been believed to be the product of reason and informed decision-making that follow arduous deliberations and bargaining between lawmakers. This paper argues that some major legal transformations can be better explained with the help of networks. It delves into the history of the establishment of the Andean Court of Justice and asks who got to decide the major questions in regard to the institutional design of the court. I argue that contrary to dominant assumptions, consultants and think tanks play a decisive role in the shaping of legal transplants. They are the ones that decide which model to follow. They get to choose participants in relevant working groups and it is them who shape the final proposal that will be voted by the lawmaker. As the complexity of the topic increases, professional networks can use technical discourse that makes scrutiny unlikely. The research shows that in case of Andean regional integration, the personal background of consultant is also very relevant, because it determines what models will be considered for eventual benchmarking. However, the mere existence of networks is not enough for producing legal change; a window of opportunity is a necessary condition.
Topic:
International Law and Law
Political Geography:
Latin America

11065. How European is European Identity? Extent and Structure of Continental Identification in Global Comparison Using SEM

Author:
Jochen Roose
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
European identification has been previously explained by the selective gains brought by the European integration process, by personal transnational experiences and by the influence of political programs aiming at increasing levels of identification. All these explanations imply that identification with one's continent would be specific in extent and distribution across the social structure in comparison to other continents. These implicit assumptions of the discussion are tested with a global comparison using International Social Service Programme (ISSP) data and a longitudinal analysis using Eurobarometer data. The results show that, firstly, the current extent of continental identification in Europe is not higher than in other continents. Secondly, they reveal that there has been no increase in European identification in recent decades and thirdly, group comparing structural equation modeling (SEM) shows, that distribution of continental identification is similar on all continents. Accordingly, explaining European identification with respect to policy output of the EU is questioned by the findings. European identification proves to be independent of European political integration. Conclusions for transnational identity research and the European integration process are discussed.
Topic:
Civil Society, Regional Cooperation, and Culture
Political Geography:
Europe

11066. Post-Accession Conditionality: Support Instrument for Continuous Pressure?

Author:
Eli Gateva
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
The establishment of a Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for monitoring Bulgaria's and Romania's progress in the areas of judiciary and fight against corruption not only confirms the evolutionary nature of EU conditionality, but introduces a new feature, that of post-accession conditionality. More than three years after accession, neither Bulgaria nor Romania have managed to tackle the remaining issues and the scrupulous monitoring mechanism is still maintained. What are the main features and limitations of post-accession conditionality? Why does the effectiveness of EU conditionality deteriorate after accession? The article outlines a conceptual framework for comparative study of pre-accession and post-accession conditionality. On the basis of a stage-structured conditionality model, it discusses the transformations of the main elements of conditionality before and after accession and argues that the absence of accession advancement rewards combined with toothless explicit threats for sanctioning non-compliance produce very weak negative incentive structure which undermines the effectiveness of post-accession conditionality. The study, which draws on extensive interviews with senior EU officials and examination of key EU documents, highlights the growing application of differentiated and targeted conditionality and concludes with a reflection on the future of the mechanism and its implications for the ongoing enlargement of the Union with countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Bulgaria, Balkans, and Romania

11067. Do Regional Organizations Travel? European Integration, Diffusion and the Case of ASEAN

Author:
Anja Jetschke
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
Why do regional organizations share a number of key institutions and policies? Why do regional organizations like the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) or the Carribean Community (CARICOM) look like the European Union? And why do we find the norms of the Helsinki Final Act in treaties of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)? The simple answer is that policy solutions developed in the context of regional integration diffuse. The paper contends that regional integration efforts in Europe have had a decisive but often unacknowledged influence on regional cooperation outside of Europe. The influence of European integration on regional organizations beyond Europe will be illustrated with a case that is unsuspicious of having emulated the European integration experience: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Since 1957, Southeast Asian states have selectively taken over policies and institutions from the European context. The most recent adoption, it will be argued, is the ASEAN Charter, in effect since November 2008. In accounting for this adoption, the paper argues that ASEAN members' decision is only partially driven by genuine regional or functional demands. Members borrowed from “abroad” expecting the Charter to provide a policy solution to the cooperation problems members faced. Thus, the paper makes an original general contribution to the existing literature on regional integration: It argues that a full account of regional integration processes needs to take diffusion processes into consideration.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia

11068. Emotions, Media Discourse and the Mobilization of Citizens: Conceptual Considerations and a Plausibility

Author:
Marianne van de Steeg
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
The political game in the European Union has changed. Nowadays, EU issues are politicized in the public mass arena and demand from the European leadership more than the traditional, thin top-down communication. Concerns about the European democratic deficit and the legitimacy of the EU have made it important to engage citizens in EU issues and actively win their support.
Topic:
Civil Society, Regional Cooperation, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Europe

11069. The Emergence of a European Community of Communication: Insights from Empirical Research on the Europeanization of Public Spheres

Author:
Thomas Risse and Marianne van de Steeg
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
A European public sphere emerges out of Europeanized national public spheres if the following two phenomena are verified. First, if and when the same (European) themes are discussed at the same time with similar frames of reference, meaning structures, and patterns of interpretation across the various media sources. Second, if and when a transnational community of communication emerges in which speakers and listeners recognize each other as legitimate participants in a discourse that frames the issues at stake as common European problems. We present empirical evidence from other scholars and two case studies of our own, namely Eastern enlargement and the sanctions against the Austrian ÖVP/FPÖ-government. The main finding is that at least when European issues are discussed, that a European public sphere is constituted and re-constituted through the discursive connections and debates across borders.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Regional Cooperation, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Europe

11070. Unpacking the Compliance Puzzle. The Case of Turkey's AKP under EU Conditionality

Author:
Beken Saatçioğlu
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
What explains the EU compliance of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)? Since it came to power in 2002, AKP has launched legislative reforms in order to meet the European Union's political membership criteria (i.e., democracy, rule of law, human rights and minority rights). These reforms are puzzling since they happened in the absence of the two conditions of compliance argued in the literature: (1) credible EU political conditionality, (2) liberal ruling parties in EU candidate states. I argue that AKP's pro-EU reform agenda is explained by neither a belief in the possibility of membership via democratization (credible conditionality) nor liberal political identity. Rather, democratic measures under AKP are instrumentally induced. Two broad political motivations have guided AKP's reform commitment: (1) the electoral incentive to please Turkey's pro-EU membership electorate as well as AKP's conservative/religious constituency eager to see freedom of religion expanded under EU conditionality, (2) the motive to use reforms to weaken domestic secular forces (i.e. the military and high courts) and “survive” as a party with Islamist roots in Turkey's secular political system. The paper supports the argument with evidence gathered from original coding data for both conditionality and compliance as well as process-tracing.
Topic:
Democratization
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, and Asia

11071. How International Law Standards Pervade Discourse on the Use of Armed Force: Insights into European and US Newspaper Debates between 1990 and 2005

Author:
Swantje Renfordt
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
For almost a decade, 'public legitimacy' has remained largely unaddressed in empirical international relations (IR) analyses of international legalization. Yet, this concept has behavioral consequences. IR scholars for long assume that a belief in the legitimacy of a norm may be one reason for a 'compliance pull' on the international stage. The present study addresses this gap. It suggests a sociological conception of legalization observable in mass media debates and encompassing law's 'public legitimacy', understood as the congruence between legal regulations and discursive practices to that effect that these rules are also accepted by the larger public. This conception is illustrated in European and US newspaper reporting about military interventions in the post-Cold War era (1990-2005). Based on a large-n media analysis, the study not only concludes that an 'international rule of law' frame is heavily diffused across the communicative practices of European and US public spheres. It also shows that two legal norms in particular – human rights and United Nations (UN) multilateralism – generate a shared sense of 'public legitimacy' across the six countries analyzed.
Topic:
International Law and Mass Media
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and United Nations

11072. A New Society in the Making: European Integration and European Social Groups

Author:
Juan Díez Medrano
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
Abstract:
This paper connects with a recent and growing interest in the study of the societal impact of European integration and in the distinction of globalization and European integration effects. The paper uses the Eurobarometer study 67.1 to examine two related issues: 1) the segmentation of national social groups into “national” and “European” segments and 2) the contribution of the European integration process to this segmentation. Through statistical analysis, I argue that there is some segmentation of national social groups and that this segmentation is more advanced at the level of consumer practices than at the level of identification and political attitudes and values. I also contradict prevailing beliefs in showing that although European integration underlies changes in the Europeanization of personal networks in general, its impact may have been greater, or at least as great, on the lower classes than on the middle classes. I propose that the main mediating mechanism for this effect is the cheapening of opportunities for travel in Europe.
Topic:
Globalization and Social Stratification
Political Geography:
Europe

11073. The Transformative Power of Europe Reloaded: The Limits of External Europeanization

Author:
Tanja A. Börzel
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
With the borders of the European Union (EU) moved eastwards, students of Europeanization have been awarded yet another real-world experiment. This paper explores to what extent existing Europeanization approaches travel beyond the EU's border to its South Eastern and Eastern neighbours, which are marked by “bad governance” with regard to both the effectiveness and democratic legitimacy of their domestic institutions. The first part outlines key insights of the literature on “Europeanization West” regarding the outcomes and the mechanism of the domestic impact of the EU. Then, I summarize the main findings of research on “Europeanization East” focusing on factors that have limited or at least qualified the domestic impact of the EU in the ten Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries in comparison to the EU 15 (those that were members before the 2004 enlargement). This paper discusses to what extent the concepts and causal mechanisms need even further qualification when applied to countries, such as the European Neighbourhood Countries (ENC), that are neither willing nor necessarily capable of adapting to Europe and that do not even have the incentive of EU membership to cope with the costs. I will argue that the EU is unlikely to deploy any transformative power in its neighbourhood as long as it does not adjust its “accession tool box” to countries the EU does not want to take on as members. The paper concludes with some considerations on the policy implications of the EU's approach of “move closer but don't touch” which has started to creep into its relations with the Western Balkans and Turkey.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, and Balkans

11074. Europe as a Symbolic Resource. On the Discursive Space of Political Struggles in Poland

Author:
Artur Lipiński
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the structure of discursive positions pertaining to the relationship between Poland and the European Union (EU). Such a problematization draws on the assumption that Europe is always understood in relation to the nation state and, in turn, the image of the latter is explicitly referred to or can be inferred from the vision of the EU. The analysis of the empirical data has revealed three discursive positions which organize the production of meaning and govern the strategies of representation. The first position represents the EU as a chance for the further modernization of Poland. The second position perceives the EU as the game of interests between sovereign nation states. The task of the nation state is to benefit from cooperation within an extra-state structure and to retain maximum sovereignty at the same time. The third identifies the EU as “a threat” hostile to the nation state and its interests. The chain of equivalence connects the EU with almost all negative social phenomena. The discursive analytical assumptions adopted in the paper help to show how the same topics and words (chance, threat, interests, nation, state, sovereignty, “Europe of fatherlands”, and modernization) acquire different meanings in the context of particular interpretations of other words.
Topic:
Nationalism, Regional Cooperation, Sovereignty, and Territorial Disputes
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland

11075. Does Fairness Matter in Global Governance?

Author:
Hakan Altinay
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Worldwide, there has been a recent increase in expressions of cynicism. We are reminded that all power is hard power, and that being loved or respected is no substitute for being feared. The great power game of nations always continues, we are forewarned, even when a higher goal or rhetoric is evoked. Superpowers are selfish, arbitrary, and dangerous nations, and they should not be embarrassed to be so and not feel constrained by international legitimacy and laws. We are cautioned against assuming that the rise of the world's emerging powers is doing anything to the status of the United States as the sole superpower. Naturally, it would be a folly to think that global public opinion is, in effect, a “second superpower,” or is even a crucial factor. Such concerns are akin to the Lilliputians binding an unsuspecting Gulliver. Anyone harboring naive views needs to be told that good intentions are, at best, a distraction and a nuisance and, at worst, a recipe for disaster, given their imprudence. Cynics prefer to be unconcerned about the achievements of transnational normative actions, such as abolishing the slave trade or establishing the International Criminal Court.
Topic:
Globalization, Post Colonialism, Power Politics, and Governance
Political Geography:
United States

11076. Vulnerable Communities and Community Ownership in Scotland: A review of literature, policy and practice

Author:
Malcolm Sayers and Eddie Follan
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The ownership of assets by communities has gained increasing prominence in recent years as a practical way by which local services can be owned and/or managed by local people. Proponents of community ownership argue that the development of such models contributes to increased community cohesion and confidence, community regeneration and enhanced sustainability through the development of income-generating initiatives.
Topic:
Civil Society and Communism
Political Geography:
Europe and Scotland

11077. Dashed Hopes: Continuation of the Gaza blockade

Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
on June 20, 2010, following concerted international pressure, the Government of Israel announced a set of measures to 'ease' its illegal blockade of the Gaza strip. This included: publishing a list of items not permitted into Gaza and allowing all other items to enter; expanding and accelerating the inflow of construction materials for international projects; expanding operations at the crossings and opening more crossings as more processing capacity becomes necessary and security conditions allow; streamlining entry/exit permits for medical and humanitarian reasons and for aid workers; Facilitating the movement of people in additional ways as conditions and security allow.
Topic:
Government, Imperialism, Terrorism, and Territorial Disputes
Political Geography:
Middle East, Arabia, and Gaza

11078. Women and Men: Hand in Hand Against Violence Strategies and approaches of working with men and boys for ending violence against women

Author:
Ola Ataya
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Violence against women (VAW) hinders the realization of a wide range of development goals, from the elimination of poverty to the fulfillment of human rights. In Arab countries, many forms of VAW exist and are perpetuated by the deep-rooted sociocultural factors.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Human Rights, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Middle East and North Africa

11079. Nowhere to Turn: The failure to protect civilians in Afghanistan

Author:
Ashley Jackson
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Despite an increase in the size of international military forces (IMF) from 90,0 00 to 14 0,00 0 over the past year , AOG have continued to expand their presence into the north, center and west a n d now have control of or significant influence in over half of the country. Attacks initiated by AOG have increased by 59% between July and September compared with the same period last year. In 200 9, they increased 43 % on 20 08. Government officials can barely access one-third of the country and there are districts outside government control in almost all of Afghanistan's 3 4 provinces.
Topic:
Political Violence, NATO, War, and Insurgency
Political Geography:
Afghanistan

11080. Better Returns in a Better World: Responsible investment: overcoming the barriers and seeing the returns

Author:
Rory Sullivan, Helena Viñes Fiestas, and Rachel Crossley
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
“We can't afford not to invest in the developing world. We all know that's where the greatest need is; but that is also where some of the greatest dynamism is.” Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary-General speaking at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit, June 2010.
Topic:
Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Poverty
Political Geography:
United Nations

11081. Die Herausforderung lokaler Vielfalt jenseits der westlichen Welt

Author:
Anke Draude and Sonja Neuweiler
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700
Abstract:
In this paper we intend to examine how postcolonial approaches can be used productively for governance research. The research of the research center (SFB) 700 focuses mainly on areas of limited statehood in postcolonial settings. Postcolonial theories are relevant to this research because they critique the application of Western categories to non-Western contexts. Eurocentric conceptions of governance tend to see the development of Western modernity as a norm by which social phenomena in the non-Western world are measured. By employing such a conception, SFB 700 risks overlooking the diversity of local governance configurations. In this paper we explore the potential of postcolonial critique, when applied to governance research, to better capture these alternative developments in non-Western contexts. The postcolonial discourse focuses on a variety of social, cultural and political developments in postcolonial settings. As a result, it seems particularly qualified to provide insights into concrete governance phenomena in the postcolonial world and to reveal the contingency of Western ideas about governance. To what extent can postcolonial approaches in the humanities and social sciences help us understand the geographical, institutional, and social diversity of governance in postcolonial areas of limited statehood?
Topic:
Political Economy, Post Colonialism, Political Theory, and Governance

11082. Progressive and Regressive Taxation in the United States: Who's Really Paying (and Not Paying) their Fair Share?

Author:
Brian Roach
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
Abstract:
The 2010 debate over extending the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts often focused the fairness of the tax distribution in the United States. Unfortunately, discussions of tax fairness rarely take into account the distribution of the overall tax system, typically focusing only on the federal income tax or on federal taxes without consideration of the state and local tax system. This paper updates a 2003 analysis (Roach, 2003) to present a current assessment of the distribution of all components of the U.S. tax system, including recent trends. The results show that the overall federal tax system is quite progressive. But when state and local taxes are included as well, the overall U.S. tax system is only slightly progressive. Further, most of the progressivity of the overall tax system occurs in the lower half of the income spectrum. At upper-income levels, progressivity levels off and actually reverses at the highest income levels. Median-income taxpayers pay about 25% of their total income in taxes, while taxpayers in the top 1% pay about 31% of their income in taxes. Thus claims that America has a “highly progressive” tax system do not appear to be valid.
Topic:
Economics, Social Stratification, and Monetary Policy
Political Geography:
United States

11083. El Grito: Four Years of Female Clandestine Journalism Against the Military Dictatorship in Panama (1968–1972)

Author:
Carlos Guevara Mann and Brittmarie Janson Pérez
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Most countries of Latin America lived through long dictatorships before transitioning to democracy in the late twentieth century. Who keeps the spirit of resistance alive during bleak periods of intense repression? Who reaffirms the principles of democracy when they are violated with impunity? In Panama, a clandestine weekly titled El Grito (The Cry), published during the first four years of the military dictatorship installed in 1968, became a reliable source of information, a vehicle of protest, and a mouthpiece of democratic education. Never divining that those responsible for the clandestine publication were women, the military regime was unable to stop it. Uncovering unknown details of the weekly, this paper retrieves the effort made by a small group of middle-class women who did not identify with any political party and had no financial support other than their own limited resources. We suggest that attention be paid to the actors—often from relegated social groups—who keep the spirit of protest alive in countries during long periods of political repression. We show that, contrary to general expectations, those occupying subordinate positions in society may have an advantage in carrying out resistance activities against authoritarian regimes.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Latin America

11084. The Iron Cage of Democracy: Institutional Similarity and Stasis in African Political Party Systems

Author:
Rachel Beatty Riedl
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper asks (a) how to understand the development of new institutions in nascent democracies, and (b) what explains the persistence of institutional forms that do not conform to rationalist expectations of competitive efficiency. Much scholarship focuses on the power of strategic coordination under formal rules to shape democratic institutions, such as the form of the party system. This article contends that strict rationalist explanations of party systems leave unexplored the ways in which individual politician's and voter's strategic calculations are bounded by the organizational imperatives of systemic competition. Sociological theories of institutional development better explain the organizational logic driving party system origin and endurance in new democracies. The article uses original interview data from three contrasting cases of party system development in Africa to highlight the empirical puzzle that drives this conclusion: despite seemingly analogous democratic origins, largely similar conditions of low economic development, high ethnic heterogeneity, and weak state capacity, as well as comparable formal electoral rules in pairwise combinations, the party systems across Africa demonstrate incredible cross-national variation in the ways in which political parties organize and compete for power. Additionally, party systems maintain these varied forms over time rather than converging on a “most efficient” model. A focus on the particular mechanisms of reproduction through institutional isomorphism contributes to the research agenda of explaining institutional development, change, and stability.
Topic:
Democratization, Political Theory, and Sociology
Political Geography:
Africa

11085. Mining Water for the Revolution: Marte R. Gómez and the Business of Agrarian Reform in "La Laguna," Mexico, 1920s to 1960s

Author:
Mikael Wolfe
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
In this paper I examine the little explored historical relationship between advances in “ecotechnical” knowledge of Mexico's scarce and fragile water resources and the state developmental imperatives of agrarian reform from the 1920s to the 1960s. In particular, I focus on how this relationship played out in the Comarca Lagunera of north-central Mexico, which was the emblematic region of Cardenista agrarian reform in the 1930s. Drawing on primary documentation, technical journals, newspapers, and secondary sources, I argue that the key actor in this history, hydraulic engineer-agronomist and Secretary of Agriculture Marte R. Gómez, epitomized the contradictions among advances in scientific understanding of Mexico's hydrology, agricultural development, and business. I further contend that these contradictions were at the heart of Mexican agrarian reform and its long-term ecological as well as social and economic unsustainability.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, Natural Resources, and Water
Political Geography:
Latin America and Mexico

11086. Timber Trafficking and Laundering: An Anti- Corruption Approach

Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Transparency International
Abstract:
The trade in illegal timber and timber products leads to massive economic losses and environmental damage for the countries that are exploited. The World Bank has estimated that up to US$23 billion worth of timber is illegally felled or produced from suspicious origins each year, leading to revenue losses from uncollected logging licenses or taxes.
Topic:
Corruption, Crime, Globalization, Natural Resources, and World Bank

11087. Israel's troubled relationship with Turkey and Iran: the "periphery" dimension

Author:
Yossi Alpher
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
Israel's approach to Turkey and Iran must be understood against the backdrop of its “periphery doctrine” of forming alliances with non-Arab and non-Muslim regional actors and its search for a Middle Eastern identity. The “periphery strategy” it pursued in the 1950s led to alliances with, among others, Turkey and Iran, who were viewed as natural allies against the hostile and powerful Arab “centre” spearheaded by Nasserism. In Israel's eyes, “periphery” peoples also seemed to have broadly accepted the legitimacy of having a Jewish state in the heart of the Middle East.
Topic:
Diplomacy and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
Iran, Turkey, Middle East, Israel, and Arabia

11088. The "new" Turkish foreign policy and its implications for Norwegian peacebuilding

Author:
Jean-Paul Marthoz
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
This paper is based on interviews with diplomats, experts and political analysts and provides an overview of Turkey's foreign policy, particularly in relation to peacebuilding. In the past year, Turkey has moved to the centre stage on the international scene. After making the headlines with its joint mediation initiative with Brazil on Iran's nuclear issue, in May Ankara clashed with Israel over the storming of the Gaza-bound “humanitarian flotilla”. Suddenly all eyes were on a country situated in this most turbulent and strategic region of the world – a country that had appeared at least until recently to be a reliable and predictable ally of the West, and of Israel. However, the country's actions and reactions should not have come as a surprise. Over the past ten years Turkey has been busy developing a very active foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East and Central Asia. It has reached out to countries traditionally considered as adversaries, such as Russia, Iran and Syria. Ankara has also not been afraid to express its differences and diverge from the West on certain issues, from Cyprus to Armenia to Palestine.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, Israel, Asia, Palestine, Armenia, Syria, and Cyprus

11089. "Politics is dirty" – the view of Haitian youth

Author:
Ketty Luzincourt and Henriette Lunde
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
On 28 November 2010, ten months after an earthquake devastated the capital and surrounding areas, presidential and legislative elections are due to be held. Apart from the logistical and technical challenges posed by the elections, the findings of a study carried out by the authors in July 2010 indicate that the real challenge is the legitimacy of politics per se among the Haitian population, particularly the youth. A series of focus groups were held with young people from differing educational and socioeconomic backgrounds in three cities, as well as surrounding rural areas.
Topic:
Corruption, Democratization, Politics, and Social Stratification
Political Geography:
Caribbean and Haiti

11090. Transnational Organized Crime and the Palermo Convention: A Reality Check

Author:
André Standing
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Ten years have passed since the adoption of the Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (the Palermo Convention) by the UN General Assembly on November 15, 2000. At the signing of the convention in Palermo, Sicily, in December 2000, many government delegations welcomed the Palermo Convention as an important step in the fight against organized crime. Some warned against viewing it as a final measure and stressed that the convention and its protocols should be considered as a starting point rather than an end in itself.
Topic:
Crime, Globalization, International Cooperation, Terrorism, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States

11091. Sovereign Bankruptcy in the European Union in the Comparative Perspective

Author:
Leszek Balcerowicz
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
This paper distinguishes four alternative sovereign debt resolution mechanisms: pure market solutions, modified market solutions, crisis lending by the IMF and other institutions, and the proposed Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism (SDRM). It is hard to find—at the general level of analysis—the unique advantages of SDRM. The assessment of the European Stabilization Mechanism will ultimately depend on its operation, especially whether it will be a tool of subsidizing countries in debt distress or an instrument of fiscal crisis lending. The present fiscal problems in the eurozone are due to the erosion of fiscal discipline and not to the lack of strong compensatory transfers within the eurozone. The right model to look at the conditions for the stability of the eurozone is not a single state but the gold standard–type system, a system of sovereign states with a (de facto) single currency. Based on this analogy and considering modern developments, three types of measures are needed to safeguard the stability of the eurozone: (1) measures that would reduce the procyclicality of the macroeconomic policies and of the economy; (2) reforms that would help the eurozone economies grow out of increased public debt; and (3) steps to increase the flexibility of the economy so that it can deal with the future shocks in a better way.
Topic:
Debt, Economics, Markets, Monetary Policy, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe

11092. Trade Disputes Between China and the United States: Growing Pains so Far, Worse Ahead?

Author:
Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Jared C. Woollacott
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
This study covers the history of Sino-US trade relations with a particular focus on the past decade, during which time each has been a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Providing a brief history of 19th and 20th century economic relations, this paper examines in detail the trade disputes that have arisen between China and the United States over the past decade, giving dollar estimates for the trade flows at issue. Each country has partaken in their share of protectionist measures, however, US measures have been characteristically defensive, protecting declining industries, while Chinese measures have been characteristically offensive, promoting nascent industries. We also cover administrative and legislation actions within each country that have yet to be the subject of formal complaint at the WTO. This includes an original and comprehensive quantitative summary of US Section 337 intellectual property rights cases. While we view the frictions in Sino-US trade a logical consequence of the rapid increase in flows between the two countries, we caution that each country work within the WTO framework and respect any adverse decisions it delivers so that a protracted protectionist conflict does not emerge. We see the current currency battle as one potential catalyst for such conflict if US and Chinese policymakers fail to manage it judiciously.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
United States and China

11093. Chief of Mission Authority as a Model for National Security Integration

Author:
Edward Marks and Christopher J. Lamb
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
The inability of the President of the United States to delegate executive authority for integrating the efforts of departments and agencies on priority missions is a major shortcoming in the way the national security system of the U.S. Government functions. Statutorily assigned missions combined with organizational cultures create “stovepipes” that militate against integrated operations. This obstacle to “unity of effort” has received great attention since 9/11 but continues to adversely affect government operations in an era of increasingly multidisciplinary challenges, from counterproliferation to counterinsurgency in Afghanistan. Presidents have tried various approaches to solving the problem: National Security Council committees, “lead agencies,” and “czars,” but none have proven effective.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Governance
Political Geography:
United States

11094. Drug Production and Trafficking, Counterdrug Policies, and Security and Governance in Afghanistan

Author:
Jonathan P. Caulkins, Mark A.R Kleiman, and Jonathan D. Kulick
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
Drug production and drug trafficking are effects as well as causes of political instability. They flourish under weak states and sustain that weakness by financing insurgency and warlordism and by intimidating or corrupting the officials of enforcement agencies and security forces. Afghanistan is a primary instance of this complex of social and political pathologies.
Topic:
Security, Government, War on Drugs, Counterinsurgency, Narcotics Trafficking, and Governance
Political Geography:
Afghanistan

11095. Globalization and Scarcity: Multilateralism for a world with limits

Author:
Alex Evans
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
Globalization has improved the living standards of hundreds of millions of people – but growing resource scarcity means it risks becoming a victim of its own success. Left unaddressed, scarcity of food, energy, water, land and other key 'natural assets' has the potential to trigger intensifying zero sum competition between states – in the process, increasing poverty, state fragility, economic instability, inflation, and strategic resource competition between major powers.
Topic:
Security, Agriculture, Economics, Energy Policy, Environment, Globalization, Natural Resources, Water, and Food
Political Geography:
Global Focus

11096. Conjuring Spirits from the Vasty Deep: A User's Guide to Proposals for Strengthening UN Civilian Capacity in Peace Operations

Author:
Eric Morris
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Stanford University
Abstract:
Although civilian specialists in peace operations have been in short supply, the same cannot be said of proposals to alleviate the problem. Governments, non - governmental organizations, think tanks, and even the United Nations itself have issued reports to address the civilian deficit in peace operations. Most of these papers acknowledge that there has been halting improvement over time, but express concern over a wide array of gaps and shortages in response capacity. Almost all agree that demand will continue to outrun supply. Almost all warn that failure to close the gaps and address the shortages will call into question the credibility and legitimacy not only of international peace operations but also of the fragile national and local institutions that these operations hope to build.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Civil Society, Peace Studies, United Nations, and Peacekeeping

11097. North Korea's Yongbyon Nuclear Complex

Author:
Siegfried S. Hecker
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Stanford University
Abstract:
On November 12, during my most recent visit to the Yongbyon Nuclear Complex with Stanford University colleagues John W. Lewis and Robert Carlin, we were shown a 25 to 30 megawatt-electric (MWe) experimental light-water reactor (LWR) in the early stages of construction. It is North Korea's first attempt at LWR technology and we were told it is proceeding with strictly indigenous resources and talent. The target date for operation was said to be 2012, which appears much too optimistic.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Energy Policy, Nuclear Weapons, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Asia and North Korea

11098. Beyond the 'New Horizon': Proceedings from the UN Peacekeeping Future Challenges Seminar, Geneva, 23–24 June 2010

Author:
Cedric H. de Coning, Thierry Tardy, and Andreas Øien Stensland
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
The past decade has seen a nine-fold increase in UN peacekeeping operations. With over 123,000 deployed personnel across 16 missions, and at a cost of approximately USD 8 billion per year, the scale of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping today is unprecedented. While prior reforms have enabled growth and helped to define the core strengths of operations, UN peacekeeping now finds itself, once again, at a crossroads: 'The scale and complexity of peacekeeping today are straining its personnel, administrative and support machinery.' The peacekeeping partnership is under stress – among contributors, the Security Council, and the UN Secretariat. Several current peacekeeping missions are deployed beyond their doctrinal and capacity comfort zones.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Peace Studies, Regional Cooperation, United Nations, International Affairs, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
United States

11099. Cooperating for Peace: The Challenges and Promises of Partnerships in Peace Operations

Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
In the over two decades since UN peacekeepers won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988, the mechanisms and means for providing peacekeeping “supply” where it is needed continue to bedevil policy makers and those on the ground tasked with the difficult job of international intervention. Today, the peacekeeping agenda is packed with concerns such as the protection of civilians, peacekeeping when there is no peace to keep, managing spoilers, balancing humanitarian, peacebuilding and development imperatives, and the realization that vulnerability to relapse into conflict means that peacekeepers may be required for years and indeed decades to come.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation, Peace Studies, United Nations, and Peacekeeping

11100. Safety and Security in the Biotechnological Age

Author:
Marc Finaud and Sunjay Chandiramani
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
In many ways, the world is at the beginning of what some are already calling the “Biological Century.” Discoveries in the life sciences have the potential to reshape the worlds of health, food production, energy, and climate change, to produce new fuels, heat- and drought-resistant food crops, and to eradicate deadly diseases. But biotechnological discoveries also have a dark side – potential immense harm may be caused through accidental or intentional release of designer pathogens. The globe is also facing a myriad of natural biological threats. Fifteen million people die each year of deadly infectious diseases, with new ones emerging every year, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Avian Flu. In a world of 700 million international air passengers yearly, and almost all on flights shorter than the incubation period of infectious diseases, national health has become only as safe as global health.
Topic:
Security, International Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
United Nations