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53441. Democracy and Human Rights in the European-Asian Dialogue: A Clash of Cooperation Cultures?

Author:
Howard Loewen
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Whereas the European Union (EU) favors a formal, binding, output-oriented, and to some extent supranational approach to cooperation, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is based on informal, non-binding, process-oriented intergovernmental forms of cooperation. This article addresses the question of whether these differences between European and Asian cooperation norms or cultures can account for interregional cooperation problems in the areas of democracy and human rights within the institutional context of EU-ASEAN and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). The author argues that a clash of cooperation cultures basically occurs in both forms of interregional collaboration between Asia and Europe, with slight differences due to the institutional context: while disagreements over the question of democracy and human rights between the EU and ASEAN have led to a temporary and then a complete standstill in cooperation, the flexible institutional mechanisms of ASEM seem, at first glance, to mitigate the disruptive effects of such dialogues. Yet informality does not remove the issues from the agenda, as the recurrent disputes over Myanmar's participation and the nonintervention norm favored by the Asian side of ASEM clearly indicate. Antagonistic cooperation cultures thus play a significant role in explaining the obstructive nature of the interregional human rights and democracy dialogue between Asia and Europe.
Topic:
International Relations, Government, Human Rights, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Asia, and Myanmar

53442. North Caucasus Weekly- Volume IX, Issue 46

Author:
Alexander Melikishvili
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
Abstract:
IN THIS ISSUE: Women Found Murdered in Chechnya Aushev: Moscow Should Talk to Rebels in the North Caucasus Assassination of Vladikavkaz Mayor: Business or Politics? Briefs Kadyrov Claims Demise of Insurgency: Rebels Respond with Wave of New Attacks By Mairbek Vatchagaev Lezgin Refugees from Dagestan Seek Refuge in Georgia's Kakheti Region.
Topic:
Security and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

53443. North Caucasus Weekly - Volume IX, Issue 45

Author:
Fatima Tlisova
Publication Date:
11-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
Abstract:
IN THIS ISSUE: Medov Removed as Ingushetia's Interior Minister Human Rights Violations Remain Rife in Ingushetia Sulim Yamadaev Says a Chechen Unit Has Been Sent to Moscow to Kill Him Briefs Dagestan's Sharia Jamaat Expands and Reorganizes By Mairbek Vatchagaev Circassian Congress Calls for Unification of Circassian Republics in North Caucasus.
Topic:
Security and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

53444. North Caucasus Weekly - Volume IX, Issue 47

Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
Abstract:
IN THIS ISSUE: Ingush President Makes Opposition Lawyer His Adviser Kadyrov Performs the Hajj Pilgrimage Sharia Jamaat Threatens Dagestani Police, Officials, Clergy KBR Authorities Again Vow to Catch Anzor Astemirov Militant Actions Shake Up Dagestan.
Topic:
Security and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

53445. Chemical and Biochemical Non-lethal Weapons: Political and Technical Aspects

Author:
Ronald g. sutherland
Publication Date:
11-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
The possibility that chemical or biological substances might be used for hostile purposes or as a method of warfare is of concern to those involved in ensuring that the international prohibition against chemical and biological warfare (CBW) is effectively implemented. The 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) are the principal international legal instruments against CBW. If any chemical or biological substance— including toxins and, in principle, various pharmacologically active drugs—were used for 'hostile purposes or in armed conflict' or as a 'method of warfare' it would constitute a violation of the BTWC and the CWC, respectively. The BTWC has weak verification mechanisms, while the CWC has quite strong verification mechanisms and procedures which are implemented by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), located in The Hague.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, War, and Weapons of Mass Destruction

53446. Transparency in transfers of small arms and light weapons

Author:
Paul Holtom
Publication Date:
07-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
Intergovernmental and public transparency in international transfers of small arms and light weapons (SALW) lags behind transparency levels for other conventional weapons. In recent years, intergovernmental organizations, export control regimes and states have worked to provide more information to other states and the public on SALW transfers. In December 2003 the United Nations General Assembly invited member states to provide information on SALW transfers to the UN Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA).
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Arms Control and Proliferation, and War

53447. The Impact on Domestic Policy of the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports The Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Spain

Author:
Mark Bromley
Publication Date:
08-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
In the 17 years since the European Union (EU) first formulated common standards to be applied in arms export decision making, there has been a rapid expansion in the EU's role as a coordinator and generator of policy in an area that was previously the exclusive domain of national governments. Most relevant to this change has been the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports (EU Code of Conduct), which was adopted by the Council of the EU in June 1998 and will celebrate its 10th anniversary in June 2008. The Code takes the form of a Council declaration— it contains political commitments but is not legally binding. Under the Code, EU member states commit themselves to set 'high common standards which should be regarded as the minimum for the management of, and restraint in, conventional arms transfers' and 'to reinforce cooperation and to promote convergence in the field of conventional arms exports' within the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). It lists eight criteria that member states agree to take into account when assessing applications for arms export licences. More importantly, the Code outlines reporting procedures and consultation mechanisms intended to ensure consistent interpretation of the criteria.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Arms Control and Proliferation, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Spain, and Netherlands

53448. Aggregate Supply-Driven Deflation and Its Implications for Macroeconomic Stability

Author:
David Beckworth
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Cato Journal
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Deflation is generally considered to be inconsistent with macroeconomic stability. Any sustained decline in the price level is widely believed to be associated with weak to negative economic growth, a lower bound of zero on the policy interest rate, and an increase in financial disintermediation. However, a number of recent studies examining both historical, cross-country experience with deflation and more recent developments find that these concerns are not necessarily associated with deflation (Selgin 1997, 1999; Cleveland Federal Reserve 1998; Stern 2003; Bordo and Redish 2004; Bordo, Lane, and Redish 2004; Bordo and Filardo 2005; Borio and Filardo 2004; Farrell 2004; King 2004; The Economist 2004, 2005; White 2006). They show that the deflationary experiences that shape the modern economic psyche, the Great Depression in the 1930s and Japan in the 1990s, are not truly representative of all deflation outcomes. These studies contend that a broader, historical perspective reveals a more nuanced view of deflation, one that requires taking seriously the possibility of both a malign deflation, a deflation originating from a collapse in aggregate demand, and a benign deflation, a deflation originating from an increase in aggregate supply.
Political Geography:
Japan

53449. Control y sanción: El financiamiento público a las Agrupaciones Políticas Nacionales en México (2000-2005)

Author:
Anselmo Flores Andrade
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
Democracia y transparencia son una demanda cada vez más presente en nuestros sistemas políticos contemporáneos (Peschard, 2005; Rivera, 2005). Si bien el adjetivo democrático ha sido utilizado para legitimar el origen, actuación y acciones tanto de los funcionarios como de los órganos públicos, esto ya no es razón suficiente. Cada vez es más imperativo informar, justificar y transparentar la toma de decisiones; así mismo, las acciones emprendidas (Shedler, 2004); es decir, ejercer la rendición de cuentas. Esta tarea, es cada vez más necesaria en la relación dinero y política, pues dicha relación, en los últimas décadas, ha generando graves casos de corrupción que han influido en el descrédito de la política, en general, y de los partidos políticos, en particular. De hecho, los efectos negativos de esa relación han colocado el tema como uno de los centrales en la agenda política latinoamericana (Carrillo, Lujambio, Navarro y Zovatto, 2003; García, 2000; Griner y Zovatto, 2004). Especialmente, el financiamiento de los partidos políticos ha sido motivo de preocupación por lo que, en la última década, se introdujeron, en la mayoría de los códigos electorales del continente, normas y mecanismos tendientes a controlar e inhibir las acciones prohibidas por la ley (Zovatto, 2003). A pesar de ello, los escándalos políticos por el uso ilícito de dinero y tráfico de influencias en las campañas electorales continuaron.
Topic:
Democratization, Government, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Latin America

53450. Brasil, Argentina y la integración regional durante la década de 1960 en el marco de las relaciones con Estados Unidos

Author:
Silvina María Romano
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
El siguiente trabajo se centra en las relaciones entre Argentina y Brasil y el rol que cada uno de estos países desempeñó en el marco del proceso de integración institucionalizado en la Asociación Latinoamericana de Libre Comercio (ALALC) a principios de 1960, teniendo en cuenta la incidencia del gobierno norteamericano en orden a su condición de potencia hegemónica continental. El centro de reflexión lo constituyen las relaciones entre Argentina y Brasil por ser los países de mayor gravitación en el Cono Sur, considerando que, históricamente, se han desarrollado de manera complementaria o, a veces, contradictoria con respecto a la política exterior de las grandes potencias, siendo Estados Unidos el gobierno que demostró mayor gravitación en la región durante el período abordado (Rapoport y Laufer, 2000).
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Trade and Finance, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Brazil, Argentina, and Latin America