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16901. Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of COVID-19 and Policy Implications for Bangladesh

Author:
Sultan Hafeez Rahman, Abdur Razzaque, Jillur Rahman, and Wasel Bin Shadat
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), Brac University
Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic is causing unprecedented health and economic crisis for global economies, including Bangladesh. The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic as reflected in a massive loss of human life worldwide, drastic decline in economic activities and employment, huge pressure on public health and other support services, social and physical distancing, etc. has been devastating. Since the first confirmed case of infection in March 2020, Bangladesh, like many other countries, had to consider some extraordinary measures including, amongst others, closure of all educational institutions, enforcement of economic shutdown measures and gradual reopening of economic activities, rolling out a stimulus package for business enterprises, etc. This study is motivated by the fact that understanding the economywide impact of Covid-19 has been challenging in Bangladesh. Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model – a multi-region/multi-country computable general equilibrium comparative static framework – is utilized in this study to explore the potential impacts of COVID-19 induced disruptions for Bangladesh under three different alternative – low-shock, medium shock and high-shock scenarios. It outlines the transmission mechanisms through which the Bangladesh economy is being affected to assess the impact on major macroeconomic variables and sectoral outputs. These results are then incorporated into the social accounting matrix for Bangladesh to simulate the likely income and poverty effects for various types of households. This study also explores the likely impact of government support measures through the stimulus package in mitigating the adverse consequences.
Topic:
Economy, Public Policy, COVID-19, Health Crisis, and Socioeconomics
Political Geography:
Bangladesh and South Asia

16902. Mapping China’s Global Future: Playing Ball or Rocking the Boat?

Author:
Axel Berkofsky and Giulia Sciorati
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)
Abstract:
China’s future role on the global stage hinges upon a mixture of strengths and weaknesses. Beijing’s meteoric rise in economic terms has been coupled by increasing military expenditures and a more assertive foreign policy stance. But the country is also facing a potential backlash, exemplified by protests in Hong Kong, while it remains to be seen whether (and how) the governance of the coronavirus outbreak will affect China's image abroad. This report sets out to explore some of the key aspects of China’s regional and global foreign policy. It analyses the core tenets that motivate and shape China’s preferences, ideals, and actions, and explores how they interact with its partners, allies, and rivals.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Governance, Military Spending, COVID-19, and Future
Political Geography:
China and Asia

16903. The Future of Migration to Europe

Author:
Matteo Villa
Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)
Abstract:
Even as migration pressure at the Greek border is on the rise, the 2013-2017 “migration crisis” is increasingly in the past. Yet, EU countries still struggle to come up with solutions to foster safe, orderly, and regular migration pathways. Europeans continue to look in the rear-view mirror. This Report is an attempt to reverse the perspective, by taking a glimpse into the future of migration to Europe. What are the structural trends underlying migration flows to Europe, and how are they going to change over the next two decades? How does migration interact with specific policy fields, such as development, border management, and integration? And what are the policies and best practices to manage migration in a more coherent and evidence-based way?
Topic:
Migration, European Union, Regional Integration, and Borders
Political Geography:
Africa and Europe

16904. Latin America and the New Global Order

Author:
Antonella Mori
Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)
Abstract:
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, global geopolitical relations are being shaken to their roots, and Latin America is no different. The region is experiencing new transformations in political, economic, and societal terms. In turn, all these rapid changes are having an impact on how Latin American countries shape their own foreign policies, and on how they adapt to the challenges of an increasingly multipolar world. How are the US, China, and the EU competing in terms of political alliances and economic projection on the Latin American region? And how are some of the main Latin American countries (namely Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela) contributing to shape these new regional dynamics?
Topic:
Politics, European Union, Economy, Strategic Competition, COVID-19, and Multipolarity
Political Geography:
China, Brazil, Latin America, Venezuela, Mexico, and United States of America

16905. The Balkans: Old, New Instabilities

Author:
Giorgio Fruscione
Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)
Abstract:
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 could be a crucial year for the Western Balkans. For over twenty years, the region has been stuck in a never-ending transition. Politics, economics, and geopolitics are still falling prey to old and new sources of instability. With the path towards the EU integration still uncertain, today many governments are marked by autocratic stances and international actors strive for a bigger say in the region. NATO is expanding to the Balkans, but regional security still depends on foreign soft power and influence. And while recipes for economic transition focus mainly on foreign direct investments that often lack transparency, Balkan societies are losing their citizens to substantial emigration. What are the factors contributing to the Western Balkans instability in the age of Covid-19? Will the region be the ground for renewed geopolitical competition? How can the Balkans exit the transition and find a sustainable balance between all these tensions?
Topic:
NATO, European Union, COVID-19, and Instability
Political Geography:
Europe and Balkans

16906. Between Politics and Finance: Hong Kong's "Infinity War"?

Author:
Alessia Amighini
Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)
Abstract:
As the Covid-19 pandemic strikes hard, protests in Hong Kong appear to have abated. Distant seem the days when yellow umbrellas and balaclavas saturated global media. And yet, just like at the start of what has now come to be known as the 2019 “global protest wave”, Hong Kong remains at the frontline of political contestation worldwide. The protests against the 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition law unearthed one of the main points of contention between Hong Kong and mainland China. Through the protests, China’s increasingly assertive stance has found a counterweight, revealing how important the city is to Beijing. Apart from Hong Kong’s role as a major global trade and financial area, China’s actions towards Hong Kong might also serve as a litmus test for Beijing’s ability to mediate and pacify its neighbourhood. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic risks further heightening tensions between the two. What makes Hong Kong special? To what extent have the protests exacerbated or eased over time? How will the city’s role in mainland China’s outward-looking plans change, if the protests continue?
Topic:
Politics, Finance, Protests, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
China, Asia, and Hong Kong

16907. Forward to the Past? New/Old Theatres of Russia’s International Projection

Author:
Aldo Ferrari and Eleonora Tafuro Ambrosetti
Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)
Abstract:
The Covid-19 emergency will likely exacerbate many longstanding vulnerabilities that Russia has been facing for years: excessive dependence on energy exports, clashes with the West, demographic problems, and a constant foreign policy overreach. On foreign policy, however, Russia is not expected to take a step back. Today's Russia is back in many “old” theatres where the Soviet Union was actively engaged. More than a quarter of a century after the fall of the USSR, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has made restoring his country's great power status a primary goal of his 20 years in power. What are the elements of continuity and change between Russia’s foreign policy and the Soviet Union’s? What are the political, historical, military and economic dimensions of Russia’s return to old Soviet theatres of influence? And how does this interact with Moscow's long-standing narrative of a return to a multipolar world?
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Power Politics, COVID-19, and Multipolarity
Political Geography:
Russia

16908. Infrastructure in a Changing World: Trends and Challenges

Author:
Carlo Secchi and Alberto Belladonna
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)
Abstract:
In a world on the brink of a global recession caused by COVID-19, the Infrastructure efforts of today and tomorrow are more crucial than ever. They are an indispensable countercyclical tool to mitigate the negative effects of the economic paralysis. But they also constitute a pivotal component of a country’s development and competitiveness in the long term. That is why infrastructure will continue to play a critical role even when the pandemic crisis has been tamed. Rapid demographic growth, increasing urbanization, especially in developing countries, coupled with the mounting climate change are challenges that won’t disappear with the virus. These significant challenges will come with equally difficult questions. How to cope with these long-term trends? How to finance the increasing need of infrastructure? Which major international actors will take the lead? And finally, what role will technology play in shaping the future of infrastructure efforts?
Topic:
Development, Infrastructure, Strategic Competition, COVID-19, and Recession
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16909. The Logic of Geopolitics in American-Russian Relations

Author:
Allen C. Lynch
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
One of Zbigniew Brzezinski’s first requests as President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Advisor in 1977 was to ask the Pentagon for its plans – including targets – for nuclear war against “Russia”. Brzezinski was outraged when he was presented with the plan for nuclear war against the Soviet Union. He could not believe that the U.S. military had no plans to spe- cifically weaken the Russian core of the Soviet empire. For the Pentagon planners, Russia and the Soviet Union were one and the same.1 I begin with this anecdote because it reflects well an enduring geopolitical logic to American-Russian relations: American policy toward Russia, whether it be in the Tsarist, Soviet, or post-Soviet period, has not been based on opposing a strong Russian state per se. (That state married to communist ideology was something else altogether.) In the after- math of the Russian Civil War, for instance, the United States delayed recognition of Baltic independence until 1922, two years after Soviet Russia had recognized the independence of Estonia in the Treaty of Tartu, on the grounds that Polish and Finnish independence apart nothing should be done to call into question the territorial continuity of the Russian Em- pire.2 Indeed, American officials seldom viewed the Soviet Union as an empire, as the Pen- tagon war plans just cited illustrate. Historically, the logic of geopolitics i.e., the influence of organization in space on international political relationships has often tended to frame American-Russian relations in terms of complementarities of interest. Of course, geopolitics is not the only logic in AmericanRussian relations; ideology, domestic politics, as well as vested institutional interests all play their role in varying degrees under varying circum- stances. But historically, insofar as geopolitical factors have prevailed, American-Russian relations have generally been harmonious, if also remote and indirect in nature. (By indirect I mean that each sees the other mainly in terms of other powers or processes, e.g., the state of the balance of power in Europe and/or Northeast Asia.) Let us recall that Russia, whether it be under Imperial, Soviet, or post-Soviet auspices, is an essentially continental Eurasian power. Its primary state interest for centuries has been to build and consolidate a trans-continental, multi-national and imperial state while also man- aging international power politics with a series of powerful adversaries throughout Asia and Europe. Above all, Russia sought to ensure that no powerful coalition of external (and in Eu- rope technologically superior) powers could unite to challenge the Russian Empire’s territorial or political integrity. Russian diplomats and rulers thus learned to play the European balance of power with considerable finesse (e.g., the Treaty of Nystadt, 1721, under Peter the Great; the Congress of Vienna, 1815, under Alexander I; the Treaty of Rapallo between Soviet Russia and Weimar Germany, 1922; the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, 1939; the Grand Alliance with the United States and Great Britain, 1941–45; and the Helsinki Final Act, 1975, to name just a few instances). As with Great Britain, maintaining a favorable European balance of power has been central to Russian statecraft.3 The United States, by contrast, is functionally an insular power (albeit on a continental scale) with respect to the rest of the world, surrounded as it is by two great oceans and militarily weak and isolated neighbors (i.e., Canada and Mexico). America’s primary foreign policy concern throughout most of its history has thus been, like Russia’s, to prevent the emergence of a hostile European hegemon that could threaten the country’s expansion in North America and its own hegemony in the Western Hemisphere. Once the United States had stabilized its independence from Britain after the War of 1812, U.S. and British geopo- litical interests tended to coincide.4 In this context, American and Russian interests have more often been complementary than antagonistic. It has been primarily the intrusion of ideological elements, reflecting for example Americans’ global democratic aspirations or the Soviet Union’s ultimate objec- tive of the triumph of communism worldwide, that have rendered the bilateral relationship intransigent and even dangerous.5
Topic:
International Relations, Cold War, Diplomacy, Bilateral Relations, Hegemony, Post Cold War, and Rivalry
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Soviet Union, North America, and United States of America

16910. Fluctuating Images of Enemies and Friends: Abkhazia, With Turkish Cyprus’ Lens

Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
Since1the 2008 Russian-Georgian war over breakaway regions, journalists talk about the undergoing colonization of Abkhazia by Russia through a number of processes: finan- cial and military aid, missiles installation in the region, infrastructure and telecommuni- cations control, Russian business and migration. Although, for various security reasons, welcomed by the Abkhaz elites while building their political entity against Georgians, one cannot but think of parallels with the Northern Cyprus developments over the last 30 years. In a similar process, Turkey sponsored the construction of the Turkish Cyprus de facto state. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, considerable resources were used to ‘prove’ the affinity with Turkey and Turks, to construct the enemy image of Greek Cypriots and, in so doing, to legitimate the separatist cause and friendship with the sponsor-State. However, anthropological studies in the North of the island show how living side by side with settlers from Turkey modified Turkish Cypriots’ self-identification as distinct from their new neighbours. Turkish Cypriots of all political convictions are uncomfortable and count critical stories about “people from Turkey.” They distinguish “us” Cypriots from “them” the settlers and simultaneously the image of former ‘enemy’, the Greek Cypriots, is vested with less hostile shapes. A civic identification develops as collective perceptions change. This, in turn, has implications for political cleavages as new options for (de)constructing the de facto state and new party programs emerge. How this identity transformation oc- curs? What triggers changing policies towards our enemies and friends? The article’s objective is to map and compare the ‘colonization’ process that took place in Northern Cyprus and the one observed in Abkhazia and to detect changes that occur in the image of ‘friends and enemies of the nation’ during this process and in the ethnic versus civic State-building endeavours. How external factors affect these transformations? Following Anthony Smith and George Schöpflin, enemies and friends are constantly redis- covered and re-interpreted, and their (re)construction account for “our” territory, justify col- lective claims and mobilize collective action. These fluctuations adapt to the needs of the moment, to an external threat, and to structural changes. When fluctuations in perceiving the ‘Other’ take place and how do they translate into the political construction of de facto states? Although the Abkhazian case is recent and in the making, establishing parallels with the Turkish Cyprus case may shed light on patterns of fluctuating nation-building processes, and by the same token, in (de facto) state-building.
Topic:
Development, Conflict, Rivalry, and Identity
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, and Cyprus

16911. Economic Transformation and Privatization

Author:
Richard J. Hunter Jr. and Leo V. Ryan
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
In its simplest form, privatization is de-statism – that is, removing the state as the owner of property and assets. From the outset of the transformation process in Poland, significant systemic limitations to the privatization process existed1. A developed market infrastructure was absent. Businesses that were being prepared for privatization lacked the ability to conduct market research, and advisory and consulting services were in short supply. Procedures and benchmarks for property valuation were almost non-existent. The financial infrastructure was immature and data on the profitability of firms being prepared for privatization was problematic. In addition, both the quality and level of competency of civil servants (the nomenklatura) and private managers remained low-largely due to the negative legacy of Poland’s communist past.
Topic:
Economics, Privatization, Governance, and Economic Transformation
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland

16912. Micro level factors leading to a migratory decision: Migrant groups in the Czech Republic

Author:
Zivka Deleva and Antonin Mikes
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
Multidisciplinary work has yielded a variety of attempts to formulate unified theoretical frameworks to aid our understanding of the complex flow of individuals under the rubric of migration. While these attempts have greatly enhanced our understanding of determi- nates of aggregate flows comparatively little is known about remigration trends, second generation returnees or migrant resettlement during multistage migratory phases. Taking into account the reality that migrant itineraries are continuously under development and are subject to change, this work seeks to clarify our understanding of migratory flows into the Czech Republic with a particular focus on highly educated migrants2. This has been made possible by analysis of the responses collected from a snowball sample of migrants in the Czech Republic3. In the interest of developing a better understanding of the complex web of flows and micro flows within and across the target region the researchers have targeted several dis- tinct migrant groups. These groups have been divided into distinct linguistic groupings; Slovak speakers, Russian speakers (including Ukrainians and Belarusians) and English Language speakers (from a variety of source countries)
Topic:
Migration, Immigrants, Language, Identity, and Microaggression
Political Geography:
Europe and Czech Republic

16913. Stereotypes of the political left and right in Hungary

Author:
Nora Anna Lantos and Nora Orsolya Balazs
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
The meaning, perception and psychological correlates of liberal-conservative or left- wing – right-wing ideologies are very popular topics in political psychology. This direction of research focuses on the affective/ motivational background of party and ideological preferences, assuming essential psychological differences behind them. These differ- ences were detected by multiple methods in previous studies. Some, using self-reporting questionnaires, focus on the personality, attitude or value differences between partici- pants with a left-wing or right-wing orientation1, 2, 3, while others place the emphasis on the general perception of differences between leftist-rightist orientation and the attributions given to them4, 5. The latter approach is related to the concept of stereotype.
Topic:
Leftist Politics, Identity, Stereotypes, Partisanship, and Right-Wing Politics
Political Geography:
Europe and Hungary

16914. Georgia’s Road to NATO: Everything but Membership?

Author:
Marion Kipiani
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
The ongoing crisis in Ukraine continues to jolt the architectural plans of Euro-Atlantic security developed over the past 25 years. Predictions of a “new Cold War,” and anxiety over Russia’s ambitions in its neighborhood, have led to calls for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to step up efforts to ensure security on the European continent and protect its newer members in close geographic proximity to the Russian Federation. After more than two decades, during which NATO was transforming into a military alliance fo- cused on out-of-area missions, the collective defense at the heart of the 1949 Washington Treaty has suddenly appeared to regain its relevance. Since the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and the escalation of military conflict in Ukraine’s Donbas region a year ago, NATO has demonstrated its commitment to the security of its Eastern European member states through reassurance measures that have included increased air and maritime patrols, as well as the rotation of ground forces. There are however countries partnering with NATO – but not covered by its collective defense protective umbrella – which fall into a gray zone of influence between Russia and the Euro-Atlantic allies. These countries, including Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine itself, are particularly concerned by Russia’s strategic objective of keeping a sphere of i
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, NATO, Regional Cooperation, Military Strategy, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Georgia, and North America

16915. Where are We on the European Map? Comparing Public Service Motivation in Central and Eastern Europe with Neighboring Countries

Author:
Palina Prysmakova
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
Despite some similarities within regions, the composition of the public sector differs across the world. This also applies to the working culture of this sector. While recogniz- ing the desire to help others and to improve one’s personal financial situation as essen- tial work motives, all around, the public sector, employees emphasize the importance of these purposes with varying degrees of strength in different areas. Shaped to a large extent by the communist past, the public sector of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries continues to stand out amongst other countries on the continent. Much has been said about the historical determinants that have shaped the motivation of people from the region. While acknowledging the significance of the former regime, this article aims to analyze the current state of the public sector workforce in CEE and to examine its present distinctions from the private sector. The main research question of this article is what type of motivation drives public sec- tor employees and whether this motivation is different from the private business sector. Thus, the article compares intrinsic and extrinsic work motives of both sectors within the region and contrasts them to other European countries. Being a part of a larger compara- tive research project, this particular piece is devoted to CEE countries from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc, namely, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, the Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine.
Topic:
Public Sector, Private Sector, Public Service, and Public-Private Partnership
Political Geography:
Europe

16916. Reconsidering Russian Foreign Policy in the 21st Century

Author:
Teimuraz Papaskiri
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
The Russian occupation of Crimea in February-March 2014, marked the beginning of a new phase of tension between the Western world and Russia. Although it was predicted several years prior to the conflict that Ukraine would be Russia’s next victim,1 nobody paid much attention to these warnings. Thus, the Russian moves proved surprising for most Western societies, especially for the leaders of Western countries. It effectively ended the inefficient policy of “reset”, which was actually stillborn, because of the inability of the American administration to understand Vladimir Putin’s person and his goals. In June 2001, Putin met US President George W. Bush, who said after this meeting: “I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country.”2 President Bush was ridiculed for these words, yet even nine years later, he did not acknowledge his mistake. In 2010, he said: “I did not make a mistake in [my] assessment of Russian leader Vladimir Putin [...] Putin became a different person [...] I think, to a certain extent, he changed.”3 It seems that George W. Bush was not able to figure out that it was not Putin who had changed. It was the fact that U.S. and Eu- ropean leaders did not grasp which country Vladimir Putin was “deeply committed” to. For the Russian president, “his country” meant the Soviet Union, not the Russian Federation. He even officially declared that, “the collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopo- litical catastrophe of the century”.4 (Emphasis added – T.P.) This phrase was not just mere nostalgia for the “good old times”, otherwise no one in his right mind would ever call the break-up of the Soviet Union “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.” When talking about the 20th century, during which two world wars cost more than 80 million lives combined, the break-up of one empire with nearly no casualties cannot be considered “the greatest catastrophe.” Therefore, those words meant that Putin’s intention was to re- store, at least, to some extent, the “old greatness” of the Soviet Empire.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Hegemony, Empire, and Strategic Interests
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe

16917. Russia’s Peacekeeping Operations in the Post-Soviet Space: “Mirotvorchestvo” Applied

Author:
Agnieszka Legucka
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
According to a general definition, a conflict is a process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party1. Conflict is manifested through adversarial social action involving two or more actors and the ex- pression of differences is often accompanied by intense hostilities. Most significantly, pro- tracted conflict arises from failure to manage an antagonistic relationship2. A special kind of conflict involves force being used by both parties to the conflict. Armed conflicts in the neighbourhood of Russia emerged during the disintegration of the USSR, when parts of former Soviet republics began to claim independence. This is when Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Transnistria decided to form inde- pendent states, thus infringing on the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Mol- dova – all states with international recognition. The parties on both sides of these ethnic and political conflicts had been attempting to resolve these situations by themselves, but the management process was then joined by “third parties”: Russia, Iran, Turkey, CIS and other international organizations such as the UN and the OSCE, and, recently, also the EU.
Topic:
Hegemony, Peacekeeping, Military Intervention, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Post-Soviet Europe

16918. The Kaliningrad Region – Key to Security in East-Central Europe

Author:
Krzysztof Zegota
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
Political transformations in East-Central Europe after 1989, and the advancing pro- cesses of integration, have resulted in a significant increase in the importance of the Ka- liningrad region of the Russian Federation for the stabilisation of this part of Europe in two dimensions: the Kaliningrad region provides a unique example and a specific “testing ground” for cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Russia, and also plays a crucial geopolitical role for the southern part of the Baltic Sea region. For the Russian Federation, this region has become especially important in view of the integration pro- cesses occurring in East-Central Europe over the last twenty-five years. The European integration process has been ongoing, with significant milestones marked by two stages of the EU expansion in 2004 and 2007, when a series of East-Central European states gained membership. An increase in the cohesion of this part of Europe was also affected by progressive Euro-Atlantic integration, a subsequent step of which was the eastward expansion of NATO in 1999 and in 2004. Thus, the area of European and Euro-Atlantic inte- gration significantly neared the borders of the Russian Federation. It is important that the Kaliningrad region has entered into intensive interactions with various entities from the EU member states, becoming involved – to some extent – in the network of relations with the EU: through the integration of local governments, universities, non-governmental organi- zations, and by utilizing various cross-border cooperation programmes.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Diplomacy, Regional Cooperation, and European Union
Political Geography:
Europe

16919. Price of Aggression: The Impact of Sanctions on the Russian Economy

Author:
Kazimier Dadak
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
In late February of 2014, president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, a staunch ally of Russia, lost power. This event sent into motion a sequence of events that pitched Rus- sia against its neighbour and the West. Faced with the loss of influence, if not control, over Ukraine, Vladimir Putin immediately took steps that, in his mind, were to secure the interests of his country. First, in March 2014, Russia seized and annexed Crimea; soon af- terwards a Russian-inspired rebellion engulfed eastern Ukraine. These measures drastically increased Putin’s popularity at home, but made him a pa- riah abroad. Initially, the West, including the European Union, imposed diplomatic sanc- tions1. They had no effect on Russian behaviour and, in July, the West expanded punitive measures to the economy2. President Putin did not budge, and in September, the United States and the European Union increased the pressure by imposing additional sanctions on the financial sector3. As a result, Russian companies, including large banks, were effec- tively cut off from western financial markets. Past experience, such as the U.S. led sanc- tions on Iran, shows that this type of punishment is very effective and this paper illustrates that they exacted a price on the Russian economy as well.
Topic:
Economics, Sanctions, Conflict, and Rivalry
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe

16920. How the Socialist Economy was destroyed in the USSR (One reason for the collapse of the country)

Author:
Rudolf Pikhoia
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
On 25 September 1990, one of the first meetings of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Russia was held in the building of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. The agenda consisted of the issue of ensuring the economic sovereignty of Russia in the USSR. Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Yuri Skokov, responsible for industrial policy, spoke with bitterness about his meeting with Minister of Metallurgy of the USSR Seraphim Baibakov: “We spoke to him about our sovereignty, and he said: ‘I’m sorry, but last year I became an owner of property and a legal successor of state property.’ Kolpakov became Krupp. Now he cre- ates 10-15 companies, leaving a small management structure. It is presidential rule in the steel-casting complex.” Frankly speaking, after I became familiar with the transcript of this meeting, it made me think. When assessing the reforms that took place in the late 1980s and early 1990s it is, perhaps, the only question to which all representatives of Russian political science an- swer in the same fashion. Both supporters of radical reforms (we shall call them, conven- tionally, the E. T. Gaidar-Anatoly Chubai school) and their opponents in the wider political spectrum – from former Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers N.I. Ryzhkov, to pre- sent Assistant to the President and scholar, S. Y. Glazyev, answer the question about the beginning period of privatisation and destruction of the public sector in the same manner. They are unanimous in recognising that privatisation dates back to the early 1990s, and is concentrated in the period from 1992 to 1996.
Topic:
Economics, Industrial Policy, Empire, and State Building
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Soviet Union

16921. Public and Private Hate Speech in Poland

Author:
Magda Stroinska and Grażyna Drazazga
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
“W ords can be like tiny doses of arsenic: they are swallowed unnoticed, appear to have no effect, and then after a little time the toxic reaction sets in after all,” wrote Vic- tor Klemperer in his study of the language of the Third Reich (Klemperer 1946/2000: 15- 16). The importance of language for effective persuasion has been acknowledged by the teachers of rhetoric and orators since the age of antiquity. In modern times, there were both politicians who practiced deception through language for political or other gains, and also those who studied the effects of language-based manipulation. Among the most profound research on the mechanisms and effects of propaganda, one could name the writings of George Orwell, Friedrich Hayek, or Michał Głowiński. In this paper, we focus on one particularly disturbing aspect of propaganda: the use of hate speech. The reason for this choice of topic is the unprecedented explosion of populism all over the world, and the spread of perhaps its strongest weapon – hate through political and social fearmongering and use of what Klemperer referred to as ‘poisonous language’. Both political discourse in general and political propaganda in particular, tend to use a number of linguistic mechanisms in order to maximize the way they affect their target audiences and stir up hostility towards certain minorities. The most effective techniques, proven throughout history, include stereotyping for the purpose of singling out individu- als or groups as the proverbial “other” and, making that “other” out to be the scapegoat (cf. Stroińska 1998), as well as ad hominem attacks and redefining the meaning of certain keywords.
Topic:
Minorities, Discrimination, Language, Hate Speech, and Speech
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland

16922. Shaking the Foundation: the Trump Administration and NATO’s East

Author:
Metthew Bryza
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
Ultimately though, my very last remarks are ultimately optimistic, because President Trump lacks geopolitical vision, lacks historical insight or, really even, frankly – I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but – curiosity about history. Everything is about the deal. One and one, the individuals, the people – that’s why he had nobody in a room which is what Putin wanted, besides Rex Tillerson and the interpreter when they met. And so, what’s inevitably going to happen is he will start up with a grand bargain, where something hap- pens in Ukraine mostly cut over the heads of the Ukrainians. But thank goodness with Am- bassador Volker there, I know he’s no fool and will fight against that, but probably though there will be an agreement which I know that the Trump administration, from my own contacts within, has been cooking up, hoping for, for a longtime, whereby President Putin gets what he needs. He gets an excuse to exit Donbass, because that’s a failed operation, the uprising that he expected never happened, Russian troops are dying, it’s an economic albatross around the neck of Russia. But he can’t just leave, he can’t just pull out Russian troops, because that would really hurt him domestically, politically. So, okay, he says: “We’ve reentered the geopolitical stage, we’re at the center of it with President Trump”. Putin will say “We’ll pull out of Donbass, we’re never leaving Crimea”, That will be the deal I think. Donbass – if the Ukrainian government offers autonomy – will have a sort of a frozen political conflict, troops gone, heavy weapons pulled back on the Russian side, Crimea still what it is – anschlussed by Russia. And then the other area where there will be coopera- tion is in Syria. And we’ve already seen in Southeastern Syria there is a modest cease-fire that seems to be holding – that’s great, may it work, however it also provides U.S. bless- ing for Russian troops to base deeper in the Middle East, and that has never happened before. But leave that aside, maybe it will bring peace. Eventually that cooperation in Syria will collapse. Russia has no history of successfully establishing peace and rebuilding economies and complex cultures. It used brutality in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, to build the Soviet Union, but it doesn’t have the finesse to rebuild something on the scale of Syria. And so, Trump is going to be disappointed with President Putin. President Putin will inevitably overplay Russia’s hand, and finally at that point my last remark – if the EU and NATO have maintained their cohesion, remain strong, maintain the geopolitical vision of President Duda and Secretary of State Szczerski, then we have a chance to take these positive developments and push away the lack of clarity, the dalliance with Putin and the security services on the part of team Trump, and finally wake up – just as Obama woke up, just as President Bush woke up and realized he that he hadn’t see Putin’s soul, and then maybe we can rebuild. So, the key to all this is that you all are doing exactly what you’ve said, Mr. Secretary of State – taking the strategic reins in your own hands, pursuing initia- tives like the Three Seas, changing the geopolitical facts on the ground so that when the U.S. does finally wake up – we know which way to move. Thank you very much!
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, NATO, Regional Cooperation, Military Strategy, and Leadership
Political Geography:
Europe, North America, and United States of America

16923. Remarks on Regional Security

Author:
Graeme P. Herd
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
I am delighted to be in Warsaw on this panel. In 1994 when I graduated with a PhD, and held my first academic post, the first international conference I went to was in Wrocław, and obviously I had to travel through Warsaw. So, it’s really nice to be back in Poland and have the opportunity to present in the capital when older and wiser. Today, I am going to try and look at how we understand the rationality, the logic of Russia’s foreign policy, particularly the destabilization efforts against neighbours and come to a conclusion has to how sustainable and long-term this approach will be. Will it gradually diminish or is it set to stay as it is or even increase? To try and understand Russia’s foreign policy, we need to look into the domestic eco- nomic, political, and social system created by a system-forming figure that is President Vladimir Putin. The two key data points here really are two strategic vulnerabilities that Russia has to deal with. The first is the hydrocarbon dependence, 50% of GDP and 70% of exports, and 98% of corporate tax. The vulnerability is that Russia is dependent on hy- drocarbon revenues but cannot affect the price of oil globally (which sets the price of gas). Oil can be priced at $110pb or at $25pb and the shift can take place over a matter of months. The second vulnerability is the popularity of the president. When Putin has de-modernized Russia, de-institutionalized and de-globalized Russia it means that if his popularity decreases then you have an existential crisis within the federation. The destabi- lizing question is: “If not Putin, then whom?” There are no contingency plans, no succession mechanism to replace the leader. So, essentially we are looking at Russia’s foreign policy operating in a context where the economy is in the toilet as reflected in a 0.2% average GDP growth since 2009; 2012 – 0% growth and since 2012 when Kudrin resigned from the government. Normally, the popularity of a president – as was the case in the first 8 years of Putin’s presidency from 2000 to 2008 – tracks the economy, or maybe lags a little bit behind. As economic performance increases and revenues distributed to the population, so the popularity of the president. So, this is very abnormal politics.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe

16924. Kremlin Propaganda and Disinformation in Georgia: tools, channels, narratives

Author:
Małgorzata Zawadzka
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
Georgia is an object of special interest for the Russian Federation for several reasons, mainly due to its strategic location. First of all, Georgia connects oil-rich Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea with Turkey and the Black Sea. The route through Georgia is also the shortest way from Russia to Armenia, which would shorten and ease the transport of military equip- ment to the Middle East. Further, the trade route through Georgia is one of the few routes connecting China with European markets simultaneously omitting Russia. Finally, Georgia is situated in the area called Russia’s “soft underbelly”, territory considered by Moscow as its natural sphere of influence, hence NATO’s or the European Union’s presence there is unwelcome. Yet Georgia is important to Russia for one more reason. Although the Au- gust war in 2008 was in general won by the Russian Federation, to Moscow’s surprise international public opinion did not follow the Kremlin narration of the events’ course. Rus- sia lost the war on information and is unable to dispose of the occupant-aggressor image.
Topic:
Hegemony, Propaganda, Disinformation, and Strategic Interests
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Georgia

16925. Turkey and East Central Europe: idealism, pragmatism, misperception or clash of interests?

Author:
Konrad Zasztowt
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
Turkey is Russia-centric in its East European policies. This approach is a legacy of the Cold War, when the Communist bloc countries were regarded not as sovereign states, but merely the Soviet Union’s “satellites”. Even when they regained full independence after 1989, from Turkey’s point of view, they constituted rather a kind of Russia’s backyard and were generally little known to the Turkish public. Obviously the newly independent states established after the collapse of the Soviet Union were to an even greater extent than the post-communist states perceived in Turkey in the sphere of influence and special interests of Russia. These clichés were shared by Turks and with many in Western societies, as Tur- key remained on the other side of the Iron Curtain.
Topic:
Security, Regional Cooperation, Hegemony, and Strategic Interests
Political Geography:
Europe and Turkey

16926. From a Common to a National State(s) and the Lithuanian-Polish Dispute

Author:
Alfonsas Eidntas
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the independent states of Poland and Lithuania, we will return to a fundamental question, namely, whether the relationship between our contemporary states, which had already become hostile during the restoration process, is a time of missed opportunities? Or maybe the interests of both sides were simply so different that it was impossible for them to agree on a matter of major importance – state territory (partly also on the issue of national minorities) – and to balance their interests, thus avoiding conflict and a particularly hostile bilateral relationship which lasted until the tragic developments for both Poland and Lithuania in 1939-1940, when our countries fell victim to two tyrants. It is necessary to adopt new approaches to history. As time passes, new generations lose the memory of how events developed. Moreover, old beliefs, suspicions, and phobias are even revived. I would like to tell you a personal story in order to illustrate this point. At the end of December 1993, an annual convention of Lithuanian ambassadors was held in Vilnius. I had just flown in from Washington, D.C., and so I was reflecting on the attitude of the U.S. Administration and the conclusions that were arrived at after some friendly dis- cussions with the staff of the Polish Embassy in Washington D.C., and I shared my thoughts.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Bilateral Relations, Territorial Disputes, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Europe, Poland, and Lithuania

16927. The Structure of Government Elites within the Regime of Alaksandar Lukashenka

Author:
Francisak Viacorka
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
Belarus under the authoritarian rule of President Alaksandar Lukashenka claims the status as the last free country in Europe1. In contrast to neighboring Ukraine, Russia, and the Baltic States, no structural reforms have been implemented in Belarus: the system of power remains strictly centralized; the government replicates the Soviet vertical system with its multiple bureaucratized ministries and departments; the economy is mainly state- owned, and the opposition is excluded from all state institutions and the government. The personalistic dictatorship of Lukashenka who has uncompetitively remained in power since 1994, lets neither politicians nor officials accumulate sufficient economic or political power. The bureaucracy in Belarus is formed primarily of people who demonstrate full loyalty to the regime. This makes the cabinet of ministers a purely technical, not political body. However, could not this be the evidence of its unprofessionalism? The research statement of the current paper is that Belarus government appointees and bureaucrats take their offices according to their experience and competence, not only because of their personal or political ties. In particular, I assume that for an absolute ma- jority of ministry staffers their way to power was paved with specialized education and professional careers in their area, and later they were appointed to leading positions in the Government or state-building institutions without building political careers.
Topic:
Governance, Authoritarianism, Reform, Leadership, and Elites
Political Geography:
Europe and Belarus

16928. The Balkan Front in the New Cold War

Author:
Gordon S. Bardos
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
As relations between Russia and the U.S.1continue their downward spiral, the Balkans have become another front in what scholars such as Stephen F. Cohen and Robert Leg- vold have dubbed “the New Cold War.”2 Yet the return to cold war, as Legvold notes, in- volves numerous opportunity costs for both countries—and considerable collateral dam- age as well. One of the areas in which the collateral damage will be most severe is the Balkans. Indeed, the costs of the new confrontation between Washington and Moscow are already evident in the democratic backsliding that has occurred throughout the region over the past decade. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index 2016, shows that of the nine countries in southeastern Europe (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croa- tia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia), only one (Bulgaria) showed any improvement, one (Albania) showed no improvement, and the remaining sev- en all regressed in terms of their democratic development.3 Freedom House’s Nations in Transit and the Bertelsmann Transformation Index have similarly shown significant demo- cratic backsliding in the Balkans since 2008.4
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Cold War, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Europe and Balkans

16929. Nord Stream 2 Current State of the Project and its implications for European Energy Security

Author:
Nicola Mellere
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
Nord Stream 2 is a planned pipeline through the Baltic Sea within the project Nord Stream. The pipeline Nord Stream 2 would flank the already existing Nord Stream 1 in transporting natural gas over 1,220 km from the large reserves in North-Western Russia to the German Baltic coast. In particular, Nord Stream 2 is expected to link Ust Luga in Russia with Greifswald in Germany. The project is planned to double the existing Nord Stream 1 pipeline, with the total volume of both ventures being a maximum of 110 bcm per year. In- deed, Nord Stream 2 is expected to transport annually 55 billion cubic metres (bcm), which is the same amount of Nord Stream 1. The history of Nord Stream project began in 1997, when the Finnish-Russian consor- tium “North Transgas Oy” was established to explore the possibilities of transporting gas from Russia to Europe. In 1999 the consortium concluded the exploration stating that an offshore route through the Baltic Sea is the best option from economic, technical and en- vironmental points of view. Then, in 2000 the EU recognized the need for a new pipeline. In 2005, the North Stream consortium was formed with the participation of Gazprom, the German companies Wintershall and E.ON Ruhrgas. Later two other companies joined the consortium: the Dutch company Gasunie and the French GDF SUEZ SA. The construction of the lines of Nord Stream 1 lasted from April 2010 until October 2012, when Line 2 of Nord Stream 1 officially became operational.
Topic:
Security, Energy Policy, Natural Resources, Gas, and Nord Stream 2
Political Geography:
Europe

16930. Power down to level up: resilient place-shaping for a post-Covid age

Author:
Andrew Walker and Patrick Diamond
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
It has become commonplace in 2020 to say that the Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light on severe problems and iniquities in the delivery of local services. But it is true. It is also true returning to pre-Covid “normality” is not an option, nor is it really desirable. Crisis issues in council finances, social care, children’s services, housing, homelessness, high streets and local growth, did not spring up overnight. LGIU and others have been shouting about these things for years and trying to get decision makers to pay proper attention. We understand that this is challenging. There are no easy solutions. Tackling the problems will involve choices and trade-offs. But that is politics. If we don’t take this opportunity to empower communities, so that they can flourish in the future, then when will we? At present, central government is concerned with issues of council structure and is pursuing a strategy of reorganisation that will reflect central government priorities, not those of local communities. This is a distraction from the important, longstanding problems that the government has so far refused to engage with: a finance settlement for local government; the crisis in adult social care and children’s services; and the unanswered problems of English devolution. At its root, this is a longstanding crisis of governance. The UK, remarkably centralised in comparison with similar economies around the world, has a moribund system of governance. Its outdated and inadequate constitutional framework, which wouldn’t be (and isn’t) looked upon as a model worth following elsewhere, is supported by a set of assumptions, ideas and beliefs that dominate in national political discourse. These hold that Whitehall knows best. Ministers hand down decisions that must be delivered across a varied and diverse geography by local authorities, regardless of local circumstances, assets, or democratic support. This is blind to the importance of place and it should be reversed. In this paper we show how local councils have already demonstrated their capacity for effective place-based It has become commonplace in 2020 to say that the Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light on severe problems and iniquities in the delivery of local services. But it is true. It is also true returning to pre-Covid “normality” is not an option, nor is it really desirable. Crisis issues in council finances, social care, children’s services, housing, homelessness, high streets and local growth, did not spring up overnight. LGIU and others have been shouting about these things for years and trying to get decision makers to pay proper attention. We understand that this is challenging. There are no easy solutions. Tackling the problems will involve choices and trade-offs. But that is politics. If we don’t take this opportunity to empower communities, so that they can flourish in the future, then when will we? At present, central government is concerned with issues of council structure and is pursuing a strategy of reorganisation that will reflect central government priorities, not those of local communities. This is a distraction from the important, longstanding problems that the government has so far refused to engage with: a finance settlement for local government; the crisis in adult social care and children’s services; and the unanswered problems of English devolution. At its root, this is a longstanding crisis of governance. The UK, remarkably centralised in comparison with similar economies around the world, has a moribund system of governance. Its outdated and inadequate constitutional framework, which wouldn’t be (and isn’t) looked upon as a model worth following elsewhere, is supported by a set of assumptions, ideas and beliefs that dominate in national political discourse. These hold that Whitehall knows best. Ministers hand down decisions that must be delivered across a varied and diverse geography by local authorities, regardless of local circumstances, assets, or democratic support. This is blind to the importance of place and it should be reversed. In this paper we show how local councils have already demonstrated their capacity for effective place-based leadership, without input from Westminster. This is despite decades of chipping away at their power and institutional resilience by central government., without input from Westminster. This is despite decades of chipping away at their power and institutional resilience by central government.
Topic:
Governance, Local, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

16931. Faith-Based Actors & Transitional Justice

Author:
Simon Robins
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Public International Law Policy Group
Abstract:
With funding from the Global Initiative for Justice, Truth, and Reconciliation, The Public International Law and Policy Group worked with two Consortium partners—the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience and the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation on a research project with the aim of examining how engagement with faith-based actors can strengthen transitional justice processes, in light of the varied roles that religious and faith-based actors have played during periods of conflict and/or authoritarian rule.
Topic:
Religion, Transitional Justice, Transition, and Faith
Political Geography:
Asia and Sri Lanka

16932. The Belt and Road Initiative: The Sources of China’s Conduct, and India and Japan’s Responses

Author:
Hao Nan
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Pacific Forum
Abstract:
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is now more than seven years old, projecting ever-increasing influence throughout the world while stimulating growing concerns about China’s motives and behavior. This large-scale and multifaceted program benefits China, and not only economically, but in the politico-security sense. In response, India has stuck to its stance of distancing itself from the BRI while Japan has evolved past its initial rejection to selectively engage with the initiative. Tracing Chinese motives and conduct, along with the Indian and Japanese responses, back to the respective countries’ long-existing schools of strategic thought enables us to better decode current affairs and predict future dynamics.
Topic:
Security, Politics, Natural Resources, Infrastructure, Economy, and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
Political Geography:
Japan, China, South Asia, India, and Asia

16933. On the Value of Nuclear Dialogue with China

Author:
David Santoro and Robert Gromoll
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Pacific Forum
Abstract:
This paper was written by Dr. David Santoro, Vice President and Director for Nuclear Policy at the Pacific Forum, and Dr. Robert Gromoll, former Director of the Office of Regional Affairs at the US Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation; Dr. Gromoll is now retired. Both Drs. Santoro and Gromoll participated in numerous dialogue rounds, and Dr. Santoro was a co-organizer. The paper is based primarily on the contents of the dialogue’s written reports, several of which were authored or co-authored by Dr. Santoro. By and large, the paper draws directly from these reports and reviews how the topics addressed in the dialogue were approached and discussed by the US and Chinese sides over time. (A list of these reports is included at the end of the paper; some have been published, others have not.) The paper is also based on the authors’ broader experience in participating in the Track-1.5 dialogue; the conversations they have had with US and Chinese participants on these issues over the years, both during the dialogue and on the margins; and their own personal research. This paper represents the views of the authors and not those of Pacific Forum or the US State Department.
Topic:
International Relations, Diplomacy, Nuclear Weapons, and Dialogue
Political Geography:
China and Asia

16934. Securing the Sonobuoy Supply Chain: How Australia Can Help Underwrite Anti-Submarine Warfare Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific

Author:
Tom Corben
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Pacific Forum
Abstract:
This paper highlights the challenges afflicting the sonobuoy supply chain, a key item in the prosecution of anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations by the United States and many of its key allies. It argues that Australia is well-placed to address these issues, and that doing so would better underwrite collective ASW operations in the Indo-Pacific. After a brief post-Cold War hiatus, significant improvements in the submarine fleets of China and Russia have seen ASW revived as a core mission for the United States Navy. However, growing demand for ASW operations has exposed shortcomings in the maintenance, procurement and readiness of US maritime aircraft fleets essential to prosecuting those missions. This paper argues that, as a result, US allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific—many operating US-made maritime aircraft—will likely be required to step-up their own contributions to regional ASW operations. However, serious vulnerabilities in the sonobuoy supply chain accessed by all of these states threatened to undermine collective efforts, challenges which predate the global COVID-19 pandemic. A single US-based supplier presently provides sonobuoys to the US and many of its key partners, but its long-term capacity to meet soaring demands is in question. In its current form, any disruption to the sonobuoy supply chain would disproportionately impact allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific at the same time they are being asked to step-up their contributions to collective ASW. Securing the long-term future of the sonobuoy supply chain should therefore be an urgent priority. This paper argues that Australia is well-positioned to address these challenges, given its history of innovation and manufacturing in advanced sonar technologies; recent investments in sovereign defense industry capabilities and military infrastructure; deep alliance relationship with the US; and growing network of ASW-oriented regional security partnerships. To this end, Australia should pursue several interrelated lines of effort: 1) increase interim sonobuoy stockpiles while rebuilding its independent manufacturing capacity; 2) deepen defense industry cooperation with the US and Five Eyes partners on defense industry and supply chain issues; 3) strengthen cooperation in the defense industry, especially research and development within key regional security partnerships already predisposed towards ASW, such as with South Korea. Addressing the vulnerabilities in the sonobuoy supply chain would not only improve Australia’s independent ASW capacity, but would help underwrite collective ASW in the Indo-Pacific for years to come.
Topic:
Security, International Cooperation, Supply Chains, and Submarines
Political Geography:
Australia and Indo-Pacific

16935. Conflict and Coronavirus: How COVID-19 is Impacting Southeast Asia’s Conflicts

Author:
Jennifer Howe
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Pacific Forum
Abstract:
Since COVID-19 spread out of China in January 2020, it has caused unprecedented damage to the global economy and national health systems. The virus also having serious ramifications for conflicts throughout the world. This paper reviews the literature up to its time of writing in July 2020 in order to assess how the coronavirus crisis has impacted conflicts in Southeast Asia. The paper found that the pandemic has been detrimental to conflict resolution in the region—it has hampered peacebuilding efforts and contributed to rising tensions. Moreover, the outbreak has enabled extremist organizations to operate more freely and make government lockdowns and the economic downturn a part of their recruitment messaging. Conflict-affected populations are confronted by the dual impact of disease and violence—health systems have been weakened by years of conflict, violence is obstructing the delivery of aid, and forcibly displaced communities are living in unsanitary and crowded camps, incapable of handling a viral outbreak. Women in unstable settings are particularly vulnerable as gender-based violence increases, while services essential to their health and wellbeing are being forced to close. The paper concludes with policy recommendations in view of the effects the virus is having on Southeast Asian conflicts. Recommendations emphasize the importance of supporting local peacebuilders and implementing response and recovery measures that work towards a fairer post-pandemic society.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Economy, Conflict, COVID-19, Peacebuilding, and Gender
Political Geography:
Southeast Asia

16936. The role of regional organizations in building cyber resilience: ASEAN and the EU

Author:
Eugenio Benincasa
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Pacific Forum
Abstract:
This paper explores the role of regional organizations in crafting solutions that are able to address both the scale and cross-border nature of cyber threats, as well as the challenges inherent to an anarchical international system. It focuses on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) and the cybersecurity frameworks they have developed in the last few years. The EU has significantly improved regional cyber resilience and cooperation by setting out ambitious goals, enhancing information sharing and harmonizing practices across its member states. In contrast, ASEAN has a lack of a strong unifying governance or legal framework, which limits the collective capability of the region to capitalize on shared knowledge to prevent and mitigate cyber threats. The paper aims to elaborate on relevant measures that could be implemented in ASEAN based on a comparative analysis with the EU. Despite the stark differences between the two organizations, there is common ground in some areas for the development of policy recommendations aimed at enhancing ASEAN’s cyber resilience, eliminating the need to reinvent the wheel in key policy areas. To this end, this paper analyzes the two organizations’ cybersecurity frameworks in line with the four pillars of cyber capacity building identified by the European Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) and adjusted to a regional context: overarching regional strategy, institutional framework for cyber threat prevention and response, harmonization of cybercrime and data privacy legislation, and cyber awareness and hygiene.
Topic:
European Union, Cybersecurity, ASEAN, and Regional Organizations
Political Geography:
Europe and Asia

16937. Far, Far More Than Meets the Eye: Extended Deterrence in Complex Crises in Northeast Asia

Author:
Brad Glosserman
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Pacific Forum
Abstract:
The Pacific Forum, with support from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), brought 41 officials and experts from the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK), along with eight Pacific Forum Young Leaders, all attending in their private capacity, to Maui, Hawaii, Sept. 5-6, 2019 to explore the three countries’ thinking about extended deterrence and prospects for and obstacles to strengthened trilateral security cooperation. A two-move tabletop exercise (TTX) was focused on concerted and coordinated efforts by China and North Korea to revise the status quo in Northeast Asia. Key findings include: Despite political difficulties, there was little difference among participants regarding assessments of the situation and dynamics in Northeast Asia. They were generally aligned and this was evident in responses to the TTX: they sought to prevent opportunism, provide off-ramps for adversaries, and didn’t rush to connect the incidents.
Topic:
Security, International Cooperation, Armed Forces, Crisis Management, and Deterrence
Political Geography:
Asia

16938. Armenia's Foreign Policy: Where values meet constraints

Author:
Alexander Iskandaryan
Publication Date:
08-2020
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Argentine Council for International Relations (CARI)
Abstract:
The official foreign policy doctrine of Armenia is called "complementarism"; the idea at the core of this approach is that various foreign policy dimensions can and should complement each other and need not be perceived as mutually exclusive.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Politics, and Complementarism
Political Geography:
Russia, Caucasus, and Armenia

16939. Volkswagen Since World War Two: Rebuilding the Corporate Reputation of the World’s Largest Car Manufacturer

Author:
Charlie Harris, Jamie Haworth, Scarlett Mansfield, and Christopher McKenna
Publication Date:
02-2020
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Oxford Centre for Global History
Abstract:
The VW badge is a common sight around the world. Driven by millions across Europe and the Americas, Volkswagen automobiles are also familiar to consumers across Latin America, Africa and Asia. The German carmaker’s cultural resonance is hard to miss: most famously, the Volkswagen Beetle ‘Love Bug’ is romanticised in stories of the 1960s counterculture. Alongside the iconic Volkswagen Type 2 camper van, the Beetle came to symbolise freedom and adventure for many young people in the United States. Given this, it is perhaps easy to forget the company’s roots did not exactly emphasise peace and love. Volkswagen started out in late-1930s Germany as a Nazi-funded prestige project; Adolf Hitler took a personal interest in the early development of the Beetle, seeing it as the vehicle that would motorise the Third Reich and displace Ford’s Model T as the “People’s Car”. Burdened with one of the worst origin stories imaginable, Volkswagen needed to put distance between itself and Nazi Germany in the postwar period. To achieve this, it refocused its factory towards delivering the Volkswagen Beetle: a cheap, reliable product that it hoped would appeal to domestic and export markets alike. The iconic car came to be embraced by diverse communities from around the world over the following decades, transforming the German carmaker into a company with a global ubiquity by the 1980s. Its portfolio expanded to include sports cars and trucks, while its factories employed workers across the globe. Entering the new millennium full of ambition, Volkswagen strove for growth in new markets and dominance in long-standing car cultures; in the process, the crisis-prone company attracted a new set of risks to its corporate reputation.
Topic:
History, Business, Manufacturing, Automotive Industry, and Reputation
Political Geography:
Germany and Global Focus

16940. The Globalization of Mexican Tortillas: GRUMA and the Mass Production of Corn Flour

Author:
Rosalía del Carmen Ríos Arreguín, Rebecca Orr, and Christopher McKenna
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Oxford Centre for Global History
Abstract:
In 2001, Disney opened the gates to the California Adventure Park. Billed as a celebration of the history and culture of the Golden State, the park featured Disneyfied versions of Wine Country, the Hollywood Backlot and other Californian landmarks. In the park’s top left corner, stood the Mission Tortilla factory. The attraction run by Disney in partnership with Mission Foods (a division of the GRUMA corporation) showcased ‘the history and the making of the traditional food of ancient and modern Mexico—the tortilla’.1 In the first half of the exhibition, visitors watched a film about the ancient origins of the tortilla and learnt about the lengthy process in which women ground maize into dough. The second half of the exhibition celebrated all things modern. Visitors observed a working factory production line staffed by Mission employees who handed out free tortillas to passing customers. The final room told the story of Mission’s role in transforming the corn tortilla from a dietary staple of the Mexican masses to a Californian delicacy.
Topic:
Globalization, History, Food, and Capitalism
Political Geography:
North America, Mexico, and United States of America

16941. Fighting Imagined Invasions with Administrative Violence. Racism, Xenophobia and Nativism as a Cause of Statelessness in Myanmar, the Dominican Republic and Assam (India)

Author:
Jose-Maria Arraiza, Phyu Zin Aye, and Marina Arraiza Shakirova
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
Discriminatory policies have the capacity to create statelessness on a massive scale and the majority of stateless persons around the world belong to impoverished minority communities. The intentionality of such discrimination is guided by xenophobia, racism and particularly nativism: the belief that an internal minority with foreign connections is a threat to the nation. Hence, target communities are re-imagined as an enemy invader. This article analyses and compares how such ideologies have resulted in statelessness in the cases of Myanmar, the Dominican Republic and the State of Assam in India. These three scenarios have internal minorities (Rohingya in Myanmar, ethnic Haitians in Dominican Republic and Bengalis in India) that have been represented, based on kinship lines with neighbouring states, as enemy intruders by public officials and institutions. The authors compare how in the three scenarios nativist policies, the erosion of jus soli in citizenship laws and administrative violence have been used to ‘fight’ these imagined invasions and identify common trends.
Topic:
Poverty, Citizenship, Discrimination, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
India, Asia, Burma, Caribbean, Dominican Republic, North America, and Myanmar

16942. Addressing Statelessness through the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (‘ICERD’)

Author:
Michiel Hoornick
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
Discrimination is one of the root causes for deprivation and denial of nationality. This work presents an analysis of the right to nationality under art 5(d)(iii) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the interpretation of the obligations under art 2, related to this right by its monitoring body, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This reflection focuses on obligations regarding deprivation of nationality, acquisition of nationality and other obligations to facilitate and fulfil the right to nationality of the individuals living within its jurisdiction. An assessment is made on the effectiveness of the Convention and its Committee in protecting the right to nationality.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Race, Discrimination, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16943. ‘Legal Identity for All’ and Statelessness Opportunity and Threat at the Junction of Public and Private International Law

Author:
Bronwen Manby
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
This article considers the impact of Target 16.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals (‘SDGs’), ‘to provide legal identity for all, including birth registration’ on the objective of eradicating statelessness. This SDG Target has given a significant boost to initiatives for the strengthening of civil registration and identification systems, supported by the United Nations and World Bank. Yet its impact on the resolution of statelessness is not clear, because of the immense complexity of the definition of ‘legal identity’. Proposed definitions, adopted after the target was established, fail to take on board the challenges involved in cross-border recognition of civil status documents and the determination of nationality of a child for parents who hold no documents. The article concludes that SDG Target 16.9 is both an opportunity and a threat. If the objective of providing universal ‘legal identity’ is to have a positive impact for stateless persons there is a need for new engagement with the regulation of civil status in private international law, and new insistence in public international law on legal frameworks that facilitate recognition and registration of the different elements of a person’s identity, including nationality, even and especially where they are officially in doubt. Short cuts in this process risk long delays.
Topic:
International Law, Law, Identity, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16944. The Broadening Protection Gap for Stateless Palestinian Refugees in Belgium

Author:
Wout Van Doren, Julie Lejeune, Marjan Claes, and Valerie Klein
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
This paper reflects upon the issue of statelessness, Palestinians and a recent evolution of Belgian caselaw. When seeking to apply the definition of a ‘stateless person’, as found in art 1 of the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons to Palestinians, judges are confronted with specific challenges. Since 2016, divergent standards are developing as to the question of whether, and in which circumstances, Palestinians may be stateless for the purposes of international law. This evolution takes place in a national landscape characterised by a statelessness determination procedure that falls short of standards set out in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons in a number of areas, while a growing number of asylum seekers originating from Palestine are registered over the period 2016–19. This paper exposes, anno 2020, the protection gaps left open by the remarkably divergent approaches to this question taken by the different national actors involved.
Topic:
Territorial Disputes, Citizenship, Stateless Population, and Protection
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, Palestine, and Belgium

16945. Nomads and the Struggle for a Legal Identity

Author:
Heather Alexander
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
Over the past century, governments around the world have greatly expanded civil registration and the issuance of identity documents of all kinds. The process of identifying and registering individuals is sometimes called establishing their ‘legal identity’.1 Establishing a legal identity is crucial for people to access many rights.2It is also a basic prerequisite for establishing a nationality. A legal identity is also important for governments to surveil their populations. Yet, as more research is done on the legal identity of nomadic and mobile peoples,3 it is emerging that establishing a legal identity is not easy for them, nor is it a panacea that automatically helps them access their rights. Instead, it can lead to their assimilation.4 This comment summarises my recent research into the establishment of legal identity for nomadic and mobile peoples, uncovering important and disturbing new insights into this fraught process.
Topic:
Law, Identity, Nomad, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16946. Rohingyas and the (Il)Legal Quest for an Indian Identity

Author:
Tejal Khana
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
The arrests of Rohingyas who have tried to obtain Indian identity documents, like the Aadhaar card,1 has been on the rise. Across several states of India, and particularly in the city of Hyderabad, Rohingyas have been held by police under allegations that they are in possession of fake Aadhaar cards.2 Apart from the Aadhaar card, there have also been reported cases of the community acquiring other Indian documents such as the PAN Card,3 Voter ID card and even the Indian passport. Just last year, in May 2019, Mohammed Faisal, a young Rohingya, was arrested at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport for posing as an Indian national with a fake passport in an attempt to travel to Indonesia.4 It was later revealed during an investigation that he was able to acquire the Indian passport through his contacts in Hyderabad while his asylum application to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (‘UNHCR’) was still under consideration. Similar cases continue to occur even in times of the COVID-19 public health emergency. For example, in June 2020, in the southern state of Telangana, five Rohingyas, including three women, were arrested for illegal immigration when they procured Aadhaar cards and Indian passports through the provision of false information.5Prima facie, there seems nothing wrong with these arrests; these are acts of forgery, cheating and giving false declaration — all of which violate Indian laws, particularly the Indian Penal Code and the IndianPassports Act.6 However, it is important to note the overall context within which these crimes have been committed. Two entities are prominent in this context. On the one hand are the Rohingyas, one of the world’s most persecuted stateless minorities, who have been arbitrarily denied nationality by Myanmar and are without the citizenship of any country. On the other hand, is India, the world’s largest democracy, which has held a good reputation for being a host to refugees for several years. This commentary does not justify crime in any way. Rather, by examining the case of Rohingyas committing crimes against Indian laws, it seeks to draw attention to responsibility on the part of sovereign states when stateless persons — that is, persons without the citizenship of any country — commit crimes against sovereign laws
Topic:
Rohingya, Identity, Stateless Population, and Migrants
Political Geography:
India and Asia

16947. Digital ID and Risk of Statelessness

Author:
Grace Mutung'u and Isaac Rutenberg
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
tate issued digital identity is trending in sub-Saharan Africa,1 and Kenya has not been left behind. The government of Kenya launched the National Integrated Identity Management System (‘NIIMS’) in March 2019.2 Dubbed ‘Huduma Namba’, which translates to ‘service number’ in Swahili, the programme envisages a centralisation of identity programmes and the issuance of new unique personal identifiers to all citizens and registered foreigners in Kenya, but it has not been without problems. The legal situation for NIIMS is defined by an Executive Order, an amendment to the national ID law, Huduma Namba Regulations and a judgement from the High Court. Through Executive Order No 1 of 2018, the President directed the development of NIIMS to create and manage a central master population database, to be the ‘single source of truth’ on all Kenyan citizens and foreign nationals residing in Kenya.3 NIIMS was to serve as a reference point for personal data for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and other approved stakeholders.
Topic:
Governance, Identity, Digitalization, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

16948. Mapping Minorities’ Vulnerability to Hate Speech and Denationalisation with a Focus on East and Southeast Asia

Author:
Katalin Berenyi
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
This paper explores whether minority groups are more vulnerable to hate speech, human rights violations, denationalisation and mass atrocities in light of the deliberate lack of state protection through the lens of recent incidents in East and Southeast Asia. The paper also examines the role of social media giant Facebook in spreading hate speech online and whether it may have had any liabilities in relation to the hateful posts that were spread online against the Rohingyas in Myanmar and, more recently, against the Muslim minorities living in the State of Assam in India. The paper concludes by (1) advising policy-makers to adopt and implement strong anti-hate speech laws, clearly criminalising both online and offline hate speech on the national level, as well as to (2) refrain from denationalising minority groups leaving them stateless or at the risk of statelessness and thus avoid instrumentalising nationality for political gains.
Topic:
Minorities, Hate Speech, Stateless Population, and Nationality
Political Geography:
Asia and Southeast Asia

16949. Statelessness in the European Union Exploring the Potential Value of Union Citizenshi

Author:
Anne Brekoo
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
Nearly half a million people find themselves stateless within the Member States of the European Union. Lacking an overarching mechanism to address statelessness and its consequences at the EU level, the problem remains. In a different citizenship context, however, the EU has demonstrated that it is capable of devising a framework of rights that transcends national boundaries: citizenship of the EU. With the aim of inspiring renewed debates on, and reconsideration of, the institution of EU citizenship as a potential approach to mitigating the human impact of statelessness, this article examines the value that EU citizenship might have for stateless persons.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, European Union, Citizenship, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
Europe

16950. Feminist Foresight in Statelessness Century-Old Citizenship Equality Campaigns

Author:
Deirdre Brennan
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
It may have appeared to many working in the statelessness sector, or those campaigning against gender discriminatory nationality laws, that until the launch of the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights in 2014, efforts to eradicate such laws were largely only coordinated on a national level. This article, however, uncovers a hidden period in statelessness history: the citizenship equality campaigns of the early 1900s. Through an exploration of these campaigns, their vibrant tactics and eccentric characters, this article provides a feminist revisionist history of statelessness activism and academia that aims to adjust dominant narratives in contemporary statelessness literature.
Topic:
Citizenship, Feminism, Equality, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16951. ‘Rainbow Statelessness’ — Between Sexual Citizenship and Legal Theory Exploring the Statelessness–LGBTIQ+ Nexus

Author:
Thomas McGee
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
This article responds to the literature gap within both discourses on ‘sexual citizenship’ and statelessness studies on the nexus between statelessness and sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (‘SOGIESC’). It explores the intersectional experiences of stateless lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer plus (‘LGBTIQ+’) individuals as well as circumstances in which discrimination on SOGIESC grounds can cause statelessness for LGBTIQ+ persons or their children. In addition to rare reports of arbitrary deprivation of citizenship from LGBTIQ+ persons, the non-recognition of post-transition statuses and intersex realities may lead to situations of statelessness. Finally, complex legislation and administrative practices around assisted reproductive technology — and especially international commercial surrogacy — can leave children born within ‘rainbow families’ at particular risk of statelessness. In arguing that a global nexus does indeed exist between SOGIESC and statelessness, this article calls for further empirical research in order to provide greater nuance and context-specific understandings of the intersectional experiences and causes of statelessness for LGBTIQ+ individuals around the world.
Topic:
Citizenship, LGBT+, Sexuality, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16952. Statelessness Determination Procedures Towards a Bespoke Procedure for Nigeria

Author:
Solomon Oseghale Momoh, Hanneke Van Eijken, and Cedric Ryngaert
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
Statelessness is a phenomenon that affects every region and almost every country of the world. However, not very many states have mechanisms in place to identify and prevent it, and protect stateless persons. This article ascertains international norms and best practices regarding the establishment and operation of a Statelessness Determination Procedure (‘SDP’), and to apply these to a future SDP in Nigeria. The requirements for an SDP are drawn from conventions, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees instruments and state practice. In proposing an SDP for Nigeria, in this contribution we strive for the most extensive protection for stateless persons, while taking the particular legal and institutional framework of Nigeria into account. We conclude that Nigeria, and in fact any state, may want to devote particular attention to standards relating to the legality and ‘bindingness’ of the proposed SDP, to procedural access and to procedural guarantees.
Topic:
Governance, Norms, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

16953. Identifying the ‘Outsider’ An Assessment of Foreigner Tribunals in the Indian State of Assam

Author:
Talha Abdul Rahman
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
The State of Assam in the Union of India has a peculiar history of the movement of people from across India’s international borders into Assam. There is no credible way to arrive at specific numbers. Arrival of people in Assam has become a point that has been abused by those in power to utilise local sentiments regarding the dilution of ‘Assamese culture’. This article briefly discusses the timelines leading up to the preparation of the Assam’s National Register of Citizens that presently excludes approximately 1.9 million residents. The citizenship status of those excluded is to be determined by Foreigners Tribunals (‘FT’) functioning under the Foreigners Act, 1946 — a post-Second World War and pre-Constitution legislation whose validity is also in doubt. This article examines the Foreigners Act, 1946, as well as the constitution and performance of the FTs with reference to the yardsticks of the rule of law and constitutional values. Towards this end, the article analyses the law discernible from the judgments of the Indian Courts as well as some judgments of the Assam High Court and the FTs. It concludes by stating that the framework of adjudication by FTs is not able to keep up with the promise of effective adjudication under the Constitution of India. It calls for an urgent need for academic scrutiny of all aspects of the citizenship verification process in India.
Topic:
Migration, Identity, Tribunal, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
India and Asia

16954. Symposium Introduction Identifying a Cross-Disciplinary Dialogue between Statelessness and Slavery

Author:
Alice Eckstein
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
Researchers working on slavery or statelessness will know there are overlaps in condition and population between stateless persons and those living in conditions of slavery, as well as common problems in carrying forth work focused on these communities. These overlaps are easy enough to identify, and the dangers presented by one status to fall into the other are similarly apparent. A stateless person is likely to experience restricted access to financial services, education, healthcare and legal services, as well as limitations on regular movement across borders. These restrictions create vulnerability to exploitative labour practices, including slavery. Those people who are living in slavery, or who have exited slavery, may have moved across borders or lost documentation as part of their exploitation. They risk their ‘citizen’ identity and the state’s protections, and may thus be exposed to the risk of becoming stateless. Listing similarities and common or overlapping risk factors aside, what knowledge and practices can be shared among scholars working on these two separate violations of human rights? Where and how can researchers identify similar challenges and resources, as well as collaborate on a common research agenda? This symposium brings together researchers and scholars working in various ways on responses to slavery to offer their perspectives on challenges and paths forward that may resonate with those engaged in understanding statelessness. These range from the challenge of effective measurement, to tracking legislation, to the activation of local communities and the lived experiences of survivors. Working as Programme Manager on Modern Slavery, I hoped in coordinating this symposium to identify areas where slavery researchers can consider their own work and present it here to the statelessness research community. I was fortunate in engaging contributors who have richly engaged with these questions.
Topic:
Health, Law, Slavery, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16955. Lessons Learned from Modern Slavery Addressing Shared Challenges in Measurement for Statelessness Researchers

Author:
Davina P. Durgana
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
Modern slavery and statelessness research efforts present an opportunity for a collaborative and shared research agenda. This discussion focuses on the importance of measurement for both modern slavery and statelessness research, a proposed shared research agenda for statelessness and modern slavery in the Americas, and challenges statelessness researchers face that can be addressed by best practices from the modern slavery field. This discussion is informed by the work of Walk Free — made possible by the Minderoo Foundation — a leader in the modern slavery space and producer of the Global Slavery Index ( ‘GSI’).1 The GSI is the world’s most comprehensive study on the prevalence of modern slavery and enables us to refine our thinking on how to better respond to this crime, and how to prevent modern slavery in the future.2 Effective measurement of modern slavery is the cornerstone of evidence-based policy making in our field and can have a similarly powerful impact on statelessness research. This symposium on the challenges, solutions and best practices of measurement in modern slavery — and how it can inform statelessness research — is a critical opportunity to ensure that all stakeholders feel empowered to interpret and use our collective findings.
Topic:
Governance, Slavery, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16956. A ‘Place’ for Stateless People? Connecting Place-Based Research with Statelessness

Author:
Alison Gardner and Phil Northall
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
This symposium contribution presents something of a paradox: what can techniques that are designed to address policy and practice in a particular space offer to researching the issue of statelessness? Statelessness, after all, is often characterised as a condition of legal and sometimes physical limbo. Connections between statelessness and forms of contemporary slavery also tend to focus on the ramifications of movement. For example, the trafficking of people across borders results in many people losing evidence and benefits of citizenship, at least temporarily. In cases where people are exploited by members of their own family or by organised gangs operating within their own community, the ability to return to their home nation may be severely compromised. As a foreign national in the United Kingdom, being without a ‘conclusive grounds’ decision in regard to your claim of modern slavery can be detrimental to your case for asylum,1 leaving you effectively stateless.However, if we want to address the challenges faced by individuals in respect to statelessness, it is also valuable to understand the personal, local, cultural, legislative and structural context in which those issues occur. Place-based approaches provide a framework for this synthesis. The British Academy describes place-based policy-making as ‘aligning the design and resourcing of policy at the most appropriate scale of place, in order to develop meaningful solutions, which improve people's lives’.2 The optimal size and scope of any place-based initiative can vary, but relate to the nature of the problem and to resources, institutions, assets and communities that contribute to improving outcomes. Place-based research, policy-making and activism are often developed in response to complex social problems with the aim of achieving transformation.3This approach may be targeted at specific population groups or communities, or concentrate on a particular issue in a given location. ‘Place’ may also be thought of not just as a material concept, but also as the product of social relations, networks and the integration of global and local influences. It is constructed through time, and contested through power relations, creating an arena for debate, conflict and co-production.4Much antislavery activity in the UK is now delivered by local place-based partnerships, which bring together statutory and non-statutory stakeholders across a defined area to offer a wide spectrum of prevention activity, awareness raising and survivor support. While the approach to modern slavery in the UK has been dominated by a criminal justice framing at the national level, partnerships at the local level enable a more nuanced response, which can incorporate attention to the wider ‘social determinants’ of modern slavery including societal drivers for exploitation, legislative and structural barriers to assistance, and community and corporate responsibilities in response to the problem. Place-based responses also offer a forum to engage a wider cross-section of voices — including those directly affected by exploitation — towards identifying solutions and assets that can help individuals and communities to flourish. We can illustrate this in more depth through considering a case study of the development of place-based antislavery action and research in Nottinghamshire, a county in the Midlands of the UK.
Topic:
Governance, Identity, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16957. Critical Allies On Contemporary Enslavement and Statelessness

Author:
Jane Anna Gordon
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
When I began reading about and researching contemporary enslavement some twenty years ago, I did so primarily as a political theorist rooted in Africana Studies, a field animated, among other core problems, by grappling with how the African diaspora has resisted institutions of racialised slavery and colonisation. I had always gravitated toward the Marxist camps of Black Studies, which rooted analyses of colonialism in those of racial capitalism, and to those that coalesced around the framework of Global Southern feminisms, which insisted that one could not understand race and class separately from gender. I was therefore very surprised to learn that many of my most valued colleagues were profoundly sceptical of — if they did not outright reject — work on contemporary enslavement or ‘modern slavery’.1Similarly, while none of my colleagues whose work is rooted in Indigenous thought and politics would diminish the significance of what is at stake in documented instances of statelessness, nor the value of the complex and difficult labour of counteracting it, few saw such efforts as immediately relevant to the political issues that they prioritise. If we step back to consider both contemporary enslavement and statelessness through a more capacious lens, we can see why neither should be understood as the siloed purview of human rights or international law — why they are instead directly pertinent to scholars motivated by the many legacies and continued challenges of racialised enslavement and settler colonialism.
Topic:
Diaspora, Capitalism, Slavery, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
Africa and Global South

16958. Tracking the Implementation Gap Empirically Assessing the Translation of International Antislavery Commitments in Domestic Legislation Globally

Author:
Katarina Schwarz and Jean Allain
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
The prohibition against slavery in international law is unique in several significant ways. First, it has been recognised by the International Court of Justice as a jus cogens norm carrying obligations erga omnes.1 That is to say, it is a norm of international law binding on all states, from which no derogation is permissible and violation of which attracts the legal interest of the international community as a whole entailing an obligation to cooperate to bring such a breach to an end.2Second, it represents the first universal effort enshrined in international law to influence the domestic legislation of all states on a normative question.3 Third, it is often seen as the first global human rights movement and the root of international human rights law, centring the concept of individual human dignity within the traditionally statist constructs of international law.4 And finally, given its importance at the international level, it is often presumed that its prohibition at the domestic level is already complete everywhere
Topic:
International Law, Slavery, Courts, Justice, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16959. Professor Sophie Harman and Vaccine Hesitancy

Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this clip from radio station LBC, Professor Sophie Harman discusses the latest MEI poll showing that Londoners are divided when it comes to having a Covid-19 vaccine.
Topic:
Public Health, Vaccine, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

16960. Reforming the House of Lords

Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
As part of the Mile End Institute’s “Future of Democracy” series, our expert panel explored the future of the House of Lords and its place in a democratic state.
Topic:
Reform, Democracy, and Parliamentarism
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

16961. Uncertainty & Hope in Chile

Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
On October 25th, 77% of Chileans voted to draft a new constitution through an elected constitutional assembly with gender parity. This will be the first in its kind and represents a break for Chile from the legacy of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. This seminar discussed the prospects of this new process, the related uncertainty, and the hopes for the country’s institutional trust crisis.
Topic:
Reform, Democracy, Constitution, and Gender
Political Geography:
South America and Chile

16962. Corruption and the British State

Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
Is the British state corrupt? The UK has traditionally scored well in global anti-corruption rankings, but concerns about corruption, cronyism, and the conduct of elections have become increasingly prominent in public debate.
Topic:
Corruption, Government, Governance, and Leadership
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

16963. Global Health Security and Pandemics: COVID-19 and Vaccines

Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this episode, Professor Sophie Harman responds to the news that a vaccine, developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, has been put forward for emergency approval. She discusses the issues of vaccine nationalism, vaccine hesitancy, and what might happen politically when the vaccine arrives.
Topic:
Security, Public Health, Vaccine, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16964. Global Health Security and Pandemics: Joe Biden and COVID-19

Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this episode, Professor Sophie Harman discusses President-elect Joe Biden’s proposed plans to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic on both a domestic and international scale. She examines what Biden’s plans entail and what challenges may lie ahead in his pandemic response.
Topic:
Security, Leadership, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

16965. Dr Richard Johnson and the 2020 US Presidential Election

Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this clip from radio station LBC, Dr. Richard Johnson (Queen Mary University of London) discusses the upcoming US Presidential Election in the context of the Electoral College.
Topic:
Elections, Voting, Political Participation, and Electoral College
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

16966. New Directions in Black British History

Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
This webinar brought together three emerging researchers on Black British History. The panel discussed their current research and touched on their experiences of studying Black British History in the context of Black Lives Matter and COVID-19.
Topic:
Race, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Black Lives Matter (BLM)
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

16967. A Hard Rain'? Reforming the Civil Service

Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this video, the first in our season on the future of British democracy, Robert Saunders (MEI Co-Director) hosts Hugh Pemberton (The Official History of the British Civil Service), Wendy Williams (Lessons Learned Review into the Windrush Scandal) and Jill Rutter (Senior Research Fellow, The UK in a Changing Europe).
Topic:
Labor Issues, Democracy, Civil Servants, Land Reform, and Civil Services
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

16968. Welcome to the Mile End Institute

Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this video, Professor Tim Bale and Dr. Robert Saunders, who co-direct the Mile End Institute, welcome new QMUL students and highlight what the MEI can offer to those interested in politics, policy and public life.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Politics, Think Tanks, and Public Policy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16969. Global Health Security and Pandemics: The Politics of Loneliness in Pandemic Britain

Publication Date:
08-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this episode, Professor Barbara Taylor, Professor of Humanities in the Schools of History and English & Drama discusses the loneliness crisis that has engulfed Britain during the pandemic and highlights how individuals have turned to each other in acts of kindness to fulfil social obligations that are not necessarily being met by Government.
Topic:
Security, Mental Health, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

16970. Global Heath Security and Pandemics: The Equality and Diversity Implications of COVID-19

Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this video, colleagues from the Centre for Research in Equality and Diversity (CRED) discuss the equality and diversity implications of the coronavirus pandemic. The conversation touches on valuing essential workers, gender, leadership, and remote working, whilst flagging opportunities and threats for equality and diversity that will be critical in ensuring the inclusivity of our workplaces and societies in the aftermath of COVID-19.
Topic:
Mental Health, Diversity, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16971. Global Health Security and Pandemics: Covid-19 and Captivity

Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this episode, Gabriel Lawson, PhD student in the School of History at QMUL discusses the emotional impact of COVID-19 and makes comparisons with prisoners of war dealing with isolation and its absence.
Topic:
Security, Mental Health, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16972. Global Health Security and Pandemics: How the UK Parliament has adapted to COVID-19

Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this video, Dr Daniel Gover (Lecturer in British Politics, Queen Mary University of London) discusses COVID-19 and the challenges that it has presented for the UK Parliament. He discusses how both the House of Commons and the House of Lords have adapted to the crisis and offers his thoughts on which reformed elements may continue to be used in the future.
Topic:
Governance, Legislation, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

16973. Global Health Security and Pandemics: COVID-19, Mental Health and Trauma

Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this video, Dr Jonathan Kennedy (Queen Mary University of London) and Dr Talya Greene (University of Haifa) discuss COVID-19 in the context of mental health. They highlight the groups at particular risk of experiencing trauma as a result of the pandemic, and note the possible long term consequences and challenges, including the entrenchment of existing societal inequalities.
Topic:
Security, Trauma, Mental Health, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16974. Global Health Security and Pandemics: COVID-19 in Syria, Palestine and Lebanon

Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this video, Dr Andreas Papamichail (Queen Mary University of London) speaks to Dr Abdulkarim Ekzayez (King’s College London), Dr Weeam Hammoudeh (Birzeit University) and Dr Nassim El Achi (American University of Beirut) about the current situation with respect to the coronavirus pandemic in Syria, Palestine and Lebanon, and how the political situation in the three countries is affecting the response to the outbreak.
Topic:
Security, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Middle East, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria

16975. Global Health Security and Pandemics: COVID-19 and Climate Change

Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this video, Leonardo Martinez-Diaz, Global Director, Sustainable Finance Center of the World Resources Institute discusses policies and measures that can fight against both COVID-19 and the climate emergency.
Topic:
Security, Climate Change, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16976. Global Health Security and Pandemics: Africa and COVID-19

Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this episode, Dr Simukai Chigudu (University of Oxford) and Professor Sophie Harman (Queen Mary University of London) discuss COVID-19 and Africa. They highlight that Africa is not a blank canvas in which the pandemic will play out in a uniform fashion and also question why the word ‘catastrophe’ is often used when discussing COVID-19 in relation to the African continent.
Topic:
Security, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Africa

16977. Global Health Security and Pandemics: Slums, Informal Settlements and COVID-19

Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this video, Professor Sophie Harman (Queen Mary University of London) and Dr Annie Wilkinson (Institute of Development Studies) consider how simple COVID-19 prevention methods in slums and informal settlements are often difficult or impossible to administer. They also highlight how a lack of available data can impact the effectiveness of strategies for responding to the pandemic.
Topic:
Security, Poverty, Inequality, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16978. Global health Security and Pandemics: Coronavirus and Conflict

Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
Conflicts exacerbate inequalities that have already been brought to light by COVID-19. In this video, Dr Andreas Papamichail (Queen Mary University of London) discusses how weakened health systems will hinder the response to the virus, the increased risks faced by vulnerable populations, and how the dynamics of conflict can become wrapped up in responses to the pandemic.
Topic:
Security, Inequality, Conflict, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16979. Global Health Security and Pandemics: When Will This End? Lessons from the Ebola Response

Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this episode, Professor Sophie Harman (QMUL) discusses lessons that can be learned from the Ebola response in relation to COVID-19 with Daniel Kettor (Rainbo Initiative). He highlights, from his experiences of Ebola in Sierra Leone, that social behaviours towards the end of the COVID-19 pandemic will be crucial in ending transmission.
Topic:
Security, Ebola, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Africa and Sierra Leone

16980. Global Health Security and Pandemics: Coronavirus and the United Nations Security Council

Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
n this video, Professor Sophie Harman (Queen Mary University of London) and Dr. Simon Rushton (University of Sheffield) discuss the response of the United Nations Security Council to COVID-19. They note that thus far, tensions between the USA and China have resulted in a deadlock among the P5 (China, France, Russia, USA, UK) and have prevented the agreement and adoption of a Security Council resolution.
Topic:
Security, International Cooperation, United Nations, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16981. Global Health Security and Pandemics: Coronavirus and Radical Right Anti-globalism

Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this video, Dr. Toby Greene (QMUL) discusses the impact of Coronavirus on the actions of radical right politicians and political parties. He also asks whether anti-globalist thinking will be strengthened or weakened in light of the global health pandemic.
Topic:
Security, Globalization, Public Health, Pandemic, Radical Right, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16982. Global Health Security and Pandemics: Donald Trump's response to COVID-19

Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
n this video, Professor Sophie Harman (Queen Mary University of London) and Professor Sara E. Davies (Griffith University) discuss Donald Trump's response to the Coronavirus pandemic. They note that, whilst Trump has been criticised for his actions with regard to the USA's initial response, this has not differed vastly from that of other countries, such as Indonesia and Brazil.
Topic:
Security, Leadership, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

16983. Global Health Security and Pandemics: COVID-19 and Gender Inequality

Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this episode, Professor Sophie Harman explores the gendered nature of pandemics and the extent to which the coronavirus crisis impacts on women in terms of health, but also in terms of personal and economic security.
Topic:
Security, Gender Issues, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16984. Global Health Security and Pandemics: The Role of the WHO (World Health Organisation)

Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In this video, Professor Sophie Harman (QMUL) discusses the role of the WHO in relation to COVID-19. She explains that the current pandemic provides an opportunity for the WHO to increase its popularity and profile, given previous criticism of its policies and actions.
Topic:
Security, Health, International Cooperation, World Health Organization, Pandemic, COVID-19, and WHO
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16985. Global Health Security and Pandemics: The UK Government Response to COVID-19

Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
n this video, Dr. Jonathan Kennedy (Queen Mary University of London) discusses the response of the UK Government to the Coronavirus pandemic and what lessons can be learned from other nations, such as China and Italy.
Topic:
Security, Health, Governance, Leadership, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

16986. Global Health Security and Pandemics: Militaries and Militarism

Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
The third episode in the series with Professor Sophie Harman on global health security and pandemics will focus on the role of the military in relation to the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic and other global health emergencies.
Topic:
Security, Health, Military Strategy, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16987. Global Health Security and Pandemics: Why didn't we know this was coming?

Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
This video is the first in a series on global health security and pandemics, presented by Professor Sophie Harman (QMUL). In this episode, she will explore whether we should have seen the current global health crisis coming
Topic:
Security, Health, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Health Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16988. 16 years on the road to Brexit - Gawain Towler in Conversation with Dr. Robert Saunders

Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
Gawain Towler served as Director of Communications for the Brexit Party and was previously Head of Press for UKIP. He now runs his own Communications and Strategy agency. He has worked for several years at a high level in politics, policy, charity and the commercial sector, based in both the UK and Brussels and is widely recognised and respected by peers as one of the country's top political PR professionals. In this event, co-hosted by the Mile End Institute and The UK in a Changing Europe, he will reflect on a 16-year political journey towards Brexit.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, European Union, and Brexit
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

16989. Feminist Studies # 1: Women of Struggle, Women in Struggle.

Author:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:
Lenin announced in 1918 that the experience of all liberation movements attests to the fact that the success of a revolution is dependent on the level of women’s participation. Over a century later, this statement continues to tell the story of the women who have built revolutionary movements and movements of resistance to neoliberalism and – most recently – to reactionary populism. The inspiration of the October 1917 Russian Revolution arrived early in the colonised agrarian continents of the Global South; it raised the hope that the working majority could defeat the exploiting minority. This belief motivated popular struggles and stimulated political organisations around the world. National liberation struggles emerged in Africa and Asia during the 20th century, while the capitalist economies in Latin America experienced the contradictions of dependent growth and saw the rise of their own resistance movements. Women played a crucial role in all of these struggles. In a time of resistance against an aggressive assault of conservative neoliberalism, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research offers its first publication of Women of Struggle, Women in Struggle. This is an introductory analysis of women’s struggles on the continents of Africa, Asia, and America. The policies of neoliberalism and neofascism put immense pressure on women, who become the primary and principal targets of precariousness, oppression, and exploitation. In this series, Women of Struggle, Women in Struggle, we will present the stories of women in struggle who contributed not only to the wider arena of politics, but in particular those who pioneered the establishment of women’s organisations, opening up paths of feminist resistance and struggle throughout the 20th century. It is the task of militants to study the diverse theories of the organisational methods of these women, not only to better understand their political contributions, but also to inspire us as we build our own necessary organisations to fight against oppression and exploitation today.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Social Movement, Feminism, and Resistance
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16990. CoronaShock and Patriarchy

Author:
Eli Gomez Alcorta
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:
When mandatory preventative social isolation was announced in our country, only a few weeks had passed since 8 March, the date when women’s and the LGBTQIA+ movements once again put a political agenda and series of demands on the table. This agenda is linked to eliminating gender-based violence and inequality, which confront us in every aspect of life. The COVID-19 pandemic brought visibility and clarity to many of the things that feminist and socialist movements have been saying for some time. First of all, that we live in a system that has reached atrocious and unprecedented levels of inequality, exclusion, hate, and discrimination as if it were ‘normal’ or ‘natural’. It is not an exaggeration to say that if we don’t put an end to this ‘normalcy’, we will drive straight towards the destruction of the planet and of humanity. Second, on a global level, COVID-19 has also made clear the importance of the state, once again shedding light on the vitality of state intervention — not just any kind of intervention, but the intervention of a state that cares for people and health and that preserves life. The pandemic has also put care work into the spotlight like never before, shedding light on tasks that have historically been feminised, socially and economically devalued, and which have become increasingly precarious. Existing inequalities remain apparent. It is not the same to experience quarantine for those who live in houses and for those who live in shacks; for those who have work and those who do not; for those who have access to adequate infrastructure such as roads, internet, and transportation, and those who do not; those who have running water and those who do not; for women and for men; for cis women and for trans women… This inequality — which is normalised as if it were a natural phenomenon and not a political one — corresponds directly to the severity of the impact of today’s health crisis felt by different sectors of society. For women and the LGBTQIA+ community, the inequality and oppression associated with this ‘normalcy’ are reflected by the exacerbation of gender-based violence, the increase in poverty, and the increase and overload of care work. The enormous challenges that we face today are how to craft a strategy that takes the current emergency into account and that transcends it, and how to make sure that the impact of the pandemic doesn’t leave us even poorer, more subjected to violence, and more exploited. At the same time, we must work towards structural transformations that disarm relationships of power that reproduce violence and inequality. The role that we have as militants of popular feminism is central in the tasks that lie ahead of us. In our country, thousands of us have met for over thirty-four years[1] to discuss a political agenda for the women’s and feminist movement, sharing with each other and organising ourselves in various parts of the country. We have a history of labour organisation, of fighting for our rights and fighting for our work to be recognised. We see ourselves reflected in the struggle for human rights in our country, in the madres and abuelas[2] who are part of the history of our movement. In the last few years, the women’s movement has gained resounding strength. For five years, the Ni Una Menos (‘Not One Less’) movement has erupted in the streets of Argentina, putting on the agenda the urgent need of public policies to prevent gender-based violence and to provide aid to those who are subjected to such violence, demanding no nos maten más: stop killing us. With the Cambiemos (‘Let’s Change’) party in office[3] and the advance of neoliberalism, these debates of the movement lined up behind a new agenda. When there is an economic crisis, there is also a feminisation of poverty and of neoliberal policies, which hit women and the LGBTQIA+ community even harder, further exacerbating inequality. But the movement responded with organised resistance. The women’s movement led the first national women’s strike in 2016 and the massive ‘green wave’ during the debate on abortion in 2018, making it clear that the women’s and the LGBTQIA+ movement is among the most dynamic actors of our time. Standing on the shoulders of the struggles that came before us and the sisters of our Patria Grande (‘Great Homeland’)[4] and of the world, we must work to emerge from this crisis better off than we are now, to put everything up for debate, and to assure ourselves that this debate comes from a popular, progressive, and feminist consensus.
Topic:
Politics, Social Movement, Feminism, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Argentina and South America

16991. CoronaShock and Socialism

Author:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Publication Date:
02-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:
In late December 2019, the Wuhan Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in central China’s Hubei Province detected cases of pneumonia of an unknown cause. In the first few days of January 2020, Chinese authorities were regularly informing the World Health Organisation (WHO) as well as other major countries and regions with close ties to China’s mainland, such as Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan about the outbreak. On 5 January, the WHO released its first briefing on a ‘pneumonia of unknown cause’ in Wuhan. Little was known about the virus, neither how to properly understand it nor whether transmission could occur between humans. The genome sequence for the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was published by the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) on 12 January. Dr. Zhong Nanshan, a leading Chinese pulmonologist who is advising the Chinese government on this pandemic, confirmed human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus on 20 January. As soon as it was clear that this virus could be transmitted between humans, the Chinese authorities acted. Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, was shut down, the scientific establishment in China – and its collaborators around the world – went to work to understand the virus and the disease (COVID-19), and medical personnel in China rushed to be trained and to help break the chain of the infection. Inside Wuhan, the neighbourhood committees, which include members of a range of other associations, Communist Party cadres, and volunteers of all kinds, hastened to assist with temperature checks, food and medicine distribution, and assistance in hospitals. After ten weeks in lockdown, Wuhan opened once more on 8 April. On 15 May, the authorities started to test all the residents of Wuhan once again in order to protect public health and to resume social and economic activities (China shared the results of this test to aid with studies on the feasibility of the herd immunity theory). On 30 January, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared that the outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). From its Geneva headquarters, the WHO sent up a flare which effectively read: a highly contagious virus has been detected that requires stringent measures of tests, physical distance, and aggressive sanitation. At this point, in the aftermath of 20 January, a gulf opened between the capitalist states and the socialist states. Our analysis shows four main areas of differentiation between the socialist and capitalist approach to the virus. The socialist approach is based on: Science-based government action Public sector production of essential materials Public action mobilised to facilitate social life Internationalism In the capitalist states (such as the United States, Brazil, and India), the governments have instead operated in a hallucinatory manner, pretending that the virus is either not real or not contagious and hoping that some extraneous factor would protect their citizens from its dangers. For-profit sector firms have failed to provide the necessary equipment, while public action has been hard to galvanise in atomised societies that lack the habit of organisation and struggle. Finally, to cover up their incompetence, the ruling political class in these states has resorted to stigmatisation and jingoism, using – in this case – the lethal combination of racism and anti-communism to blame China. In this report, we look at three countries (Cuba, Venezuela, and Vietnam) as well as one state (Kerala, India) to investigate how these socialist parts of the world have been able to handle the virus more effectively.
Topic:
Governance, Capitalism, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Socialism
Political Geography:
India, Asia, Brazil, Vietnam, South America, Cuba, Caribbean, Venezuela, North America, and United States of America

16992. CoronaShock and the Hybrid War Against Venezuela

Author:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:
Swiftly moves the Coronavirus and COVID-19, dashing across continents, skipping over oceans, terrifying populations in every country. The numbers of those infected continue to rise, as do the numbers of those who have died. Hands are being washed, tests are being done, physical distance is being observed. It is unclear how devastating this pandemic will be or how long it will last. On 23 March, twelve days after the World Health Organisation declared a global pandemic, the UN Secretary General António Guterres said, ‘The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war. That is why today I am calling for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world. It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives’. Secretary General Guterres talked about silencing the guns, stopping the artillery, and ending the airstrikes. He did not refer to a specific conflict, leaving his plea to hang heavily in the air. After six weeks of deliberation and delay caused by Washington, in the first week of May, the United States government blocked a vote in the UN Security Council on a resolution that called for a global ceasefire. The United States blocked this resolution, but even this resolution did not turn its attention to the kind of war that the US is prosecuting against Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela – among others. Instead, it has imposed a hybrid war. The US military complex has advanced its hybrid war programme, which includes a range of techniques to undermine governments and political projects. These techniques include the mobilisation of US power over international institutions (such as the IMF, the World Bank, and the SWIFT wire service) in order to prevent governments from managing basic economic activity; the use of US diplomatic power to isolate governments; the use of sanctions methods to prevent private companies from doing business with certain governments; the use of information warfare to render governments and political forces to be criminals or terrorists; and so on. This powerful complex of instruments is able – in the plain light of day – to destabilise governments and to justify regime change (for more on this, see the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research dossier no. 17, Venezuela and Hybrid Wars in Latin America). During a pandemic, one would expect that all countries would collaborate in every way to mitigate the spread of the virus and its impact on human society. One would expect that a humanitarian crisis of this magnitude would provide the opportunity to end all inhumane economic sanctions and political blockades against certain countries. On 24 March, the day after UN Secretary General Guterres’s plea, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet agreed that ‘at this crucial time, both for global public health reasons, and to support the rights and lives of millions of people in these countries, sectoral sanctions should be eased or suspended. In a context of [a] global pandemic, impeding medical efforts in one country heightens the risk for all of us’. A few days later, Hilal Elver, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, said that she was gratified to hear both Guterres and Bachelet call for an end to the sanctions regime. The problem, she indicated, lies with Washington: ‘The US, under the current administration, is very keen to continue the sanctions. Fortunately, some other countries are not. For instance, the European Union and many of the European countries are responding positively and easing sanctions during this time of the coronavirus. They are not completely lifting sanctions but interrupting them, and there are some communications going on, but not in the US, unfortunately’. On 6 May, three other UN Special Rapporteurs – Olivier De Schutter (on extreme poverty and human rights), Léo Heller (on human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation), and Koumbou Boly Barry (on the right to education) – said that ‘in light of the coronavirus pandemic, the United States should immediately lift blanket sanctions, which are having a severe impact on the human rights of the Venezuelan people’. Nevertheless, the Trump administration has brushed aside all concern and continued with its agenda of hybrid war towards regime change.
Topic:
Conflict, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Hybrid Warfare
Political Geography:
South America, Venezuela, North America, and United States of America

16993. China and CoronaShock

Author:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:
This is the first in a multiple part series of studies on CoronaShock. It is made up of three articles on how China identified the novel coronavirus and then how the Chinese government and Chinese society fought against its wider diffusion. The report is researched and written by Vijay Prashad (Director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research), Du Xiaojun (a translator and linguist from Shanghai), and Weiyan Zhu (an attorney from Beijing). These articles first appeared through the Globetrotter service of the Independent Media Institute. The paintings in this booklet have been done by Li Zhong, an artist from Shanghai. At the end of the booklet is an interview with Li Zhong conducted by Tings Chak (Lead Designer at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research).
Topic:
Governance, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
China and Asia

16994. Paulo Freire and Popular Struggle in South Africa

Author:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:
The ideas of the radical Brazilian educationalist Paulo Freire had a profound impact on popular struggles in South Africa. Initially taken up by Steve Biko and others in the Black Consciousness movement in the early 1970s, Freire’s ideas spread to the trade union movement and to the community movements. Today, Freire’s ideas continue to be used in progressive organisations in South Africa and to guide the work of many people undertaking political education work.
Topic:
Education, Politics, Radicalization, Community, and Black Politics
Political Geography:
Africa and South Africa

16995. Youth in Brazil’s Peripheries in the Era of CoronaShock

Author:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:
Today’s youth tend to feel lost amidst organisations forged in previous decades. Major left-wing organisations created in the 1980s now face challenges to incorporate them. That doesn’t mean that youth are not engaged in politics, that they are not taking part in collectives, or that they are not forging their own social networks. Our challenge is to understand where and how young people are taking part in politics, becoming collective actors, and sharing their experiences, distress, dreams, and solutions.
Topic:
Culture, Youth, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Brazil and South America

16996. One Hundred Years of the Communist Movement in India

Author:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:
Dossier no. 32 provides a brief introduction to the history of the communist movement in India, which turns one hundred years old on 17 October 2020. Founded by a handful of Indian freedom fighters who were inspired by the October Revolution, the Indian communist movement has a history of glorious struggles and significant achievements. The communists in India have tirelessly worked to advance the rights of the working people, and to demonstrate the possibility of a future without the exploitation of human beings by human beings.
Topic:
Communism, Social Movement, Radicalization, and Activim
Political Geography:
India and Asia

16997. ‘The Politic of Blood’: Political Repression in South Africa

Author:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Publication Date:
08-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:
In South Africa, grassroots activists talk of ‘the politic of blood’, referring to ongoing assassinations and other forms of repression. This dossier shows how grassroots activists and trade unionists have been subjected to ongoing repression by the state, beginning under apartheid and continuing under the rule of the African National Congress (ANC), much of which has never been fully acknowledged outside of activist circles.
Topic:
Repression, Political Participation, Activim, and Grassroots Organizing
Political Geography:
Africa and South Africa

16998. Latin America Under CoronaShock: Social Crisis, Neoliberal Failure, and the People’s Alternatives

Author:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:
The emergence of COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean has accelerated – sometimes dramatically – a series of economic and social processes that had long been underway and revealed the result of decades of neoliberal policies. The increasingly authoritarian policies, precariousness of labour, and the current social crisis are among the consequences of the neoliberal model, which puts capital before people.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Neoliberalism, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Political Crisis
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, and North America

16999. Health Is a Political Choice.

Author:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:
In dossier no. 29, we argue against the return to normal – specifically in the healthcare systems of the bourgeois order. In part 1, we go over what the pandemic has shown us about the healthcare system; in part 2, we attend to the voices of leaders of healthcare workers; and in Part 3, we lay out an agenda for a new healthcare compact based on the demands of healthcare workers, their unions, and their movements.
Topic:
Health, Politics, Governance, and Leadership
Political Geography:
Global Focus

17000. CoronaShock: A Virus and the World

Author:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:
This dossier on the global pandemic focuses on three main elements: the structural features that resulted in our present crisis (from policies of austerity to the increasing wave of financialization), the most dire and immediate needs for the global working class, and a brief introduction to the idea of the Universal Basic Income (UBI) – including some critiques of the concept and some ways to sharpen the way we think about it.
Topic:
Economics, Universal Basic Income, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus