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56951. Strengthening of the Balkan Civil Society: The Role of the NGOs in International Negotiations

Author:
Plamen Pantev
Publication Date:
01-1995
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Abstract:
Civil society building-up in Bulgaria as well as in the other countries of the Balkans is a process of adapting their social life and organisation to the changed economic, political and cultural environment at the beginning of the 90s of this century in Eastern and Central Europe and in the world in general. The construction and stabilization of the Bulgarian civil society cannot be separated from the broader and encompassing process of extending the European and Euroatlantic Civic Space eastwards. This holds true also for the other Balkan countries. These developments can hardly be treated out of the context of a changing security environment. Global, regional, sub-regional, national and societal security is influenced and strongly influences the processes of civil society building-up and of the eastward extension of the Civic Space in Europe. Existing security communities in Europe and the Euroatlantic area create strong incentives of converging an expected stability zone as Central and Southeastern Europe is going to be and the local civil societies. The very progress of the civil societies in the region, including the Balkans, will strongly shape the security environment of Europe at the end of the present and the beginning of the next centuries. If civil societies are not developed and the Civil Space – not widened in Central/Eastern Europe, a complex and volatile security situation may develop and unpredictability eventually get the upper hand with more and greater risks and threats endangering the area.
Topic:
Civil Society, Political stability, Negotiation, and NGOs
Political Geography:
Europe, Bulgaria, and Balkans

56952. Vital Force: A Proposal for the Overhaul of the UN Peace Operations System and for the Creation of a UN Legion

Author:
Carl Conetta and Charles Knight
Publication Date:
10-1995
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Project on Defense Alternatives
Abstract:
Reviews the problems of contemporary peace operations, recent reform proposals, and the requirements for successful operations. Includes a detailed proposal for enhancing and reorganizing the capacities of the UN to support and direct peace operations and for establishing a UN legion of three brigades.
Topic:
Defense Policy, United Nations, Peacekeeping, Reform, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

56953. Bulgaria and the Balkans in the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union

Author:
Plamen Pantev, Valeri Ratchev, and Venelin Tsachevski
Publication Date:
07-1995
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Abstract:
Bulgaria's integration in the European Union (EU) became an undoubted strategic objective of the country, forming the basis of a national consensus among the political forces and society in general. The association stage of the integration process implies the beginning of an active, purposeful adaptation of the different branches of national policy to the main directions of EU's common undertakings. This means that the country's foreign relations and national security policy need to adapt to the Common foreign and security policy (CFSP), Common defence policy (CDP) and Common Defence (CD) of EU. A short study cannot cover all essential details about the character, history, formation and implementation of CFSP of EU, as well as specific issues touching certain Bulgarian interests. The Institute for Security and International Studies, recognising the special meaning of the forthcoming Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) in 1996 of EU member states, will carry out three other shorter studies, in addition to the present one. This should help develop a better picture of the following issues: the political dialogue of EU with the associated countries in Central and Eastern Europe (ACCEE); the economic factors of stability on the Balkan peninsula; and Russia's relations with EU and the repercussions for Southeast Europe.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Politics, European Union, and Dialogue
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, Bulgaria, and Balkans

56954. Capitalists and Revolution

Author:
Rose J. Spalding
Publication Date:
03-1994
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper explores the relationship between the state and the economic elite during four cases of structural reform. Analyzing state-capital relations in Chile under the Allende government, El Salvador following the 1979 reforms, Mexico during the Cárdenas era, and Peru under the Velasco regime, the author finds substantial variation in the ways in which the business elite responded to state-led reform efforts. In the first two cases, the bourgeoisie tended to unite in opposition to the regime; in the second two, it was relatively fragmented and notable sectors sought an accommodation with the regime. To explain this variation, the paper focuses on the role of five factors: the degree to which class hegemony is exercised by a traditional oligarchy; the level of organizational autonomy attained by business elites; the perception of a class-based threat; the degree to which the regime consolidates politically; and the viability of the economic model introduced by the reform regime.
Topic:
Reform, Capitalism, Business, Economic Development, and Elites
Political Geography:
South America, Chile, and El Salvador

56955. Renovation in the Revolution? Dictatorship, Democracy, and Political Change in the Chilean Left

Author:
Kenneth Roberts
Publication Date:
03-1994
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper provides an analysis of political learning and change in the Chilean Socialist and Communist parties since the overthrow of Salvador Allende in 1973. It argues that 'prodemocratic' patterns of political learning identified by other researchers are not an inevitable outcome of authoritarian experiences. Instead, they are contingent upon the interaction of several organizational and strategic factors. A 'most similar systems' comparison suggests that the flexible organizational structure and relative autonomy of the Socialist Party facilitated ideological and strategic 'renovation' under authoritarian rule, whereas the organizational rigidity and dependence of the Communist Party combined with its environmental constraints to produce a process of radicalization. These divergent patterns of change caused the two parties to reverse their respective positions within the Chilean party system, with important implications for Chile's democratic transition.
Topic:
Democracy, Dictatorship, Leftist Politics, Political Change, Political Behavior, and Salvador Allende
Political Geography:
South America and Chile

56956. Asian Economic Success and Latin American Failure in the 1980s: New Analyses and Future Policy Implications

Author:
Ajit Singh
Publication Date:
03-1994
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
A striking feature of the world economy during the last decade has been the collapse of economic growth in Latin America whilst industrialization and development have proceeded apace in the Asian countries. This paper first assesses alternative explanations of the Asian economic success and the Latin American failure during the 1980s. Secondly, it examines the related question of the long-term development strategies followed by the outstandingly successful East Asian economies. The paper arrives at rather different analyses and policy conclusions on these issues from those of the international financial institutions and the mainstream economists.
Topic:
Economic Growth, Economic Development, and Financial Institutions
Political Geography:
Asia and Latin America

56957. Religious Change and Women's Status in Latin America: A Comparison of Catholic Base Communities and Pentecostal Churches

Author:
Carol Ann Drogus
Publication Date:
03-1994
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The last 20 years have seen the emergence in Latin America of two religious trends that challenge the traditional Catholic culture. These are the Catholic comunidades eclesiales de base (base communities or CEBs) and Protestant pentecostal religious groups. The author examines the ways in which women's experiences in CEBs and pentecostal groups may change their gender attitudes and roles and describes the new forms of symbolic and participatory opportunities for women within each group. Do women respond to these opportunities by demanding greater access to traditionally male roles in the religious and public spheres? On the other hand, do women tend to gain greater stature and authority in their more traditional roles within the family as a result of their participation in religious groups? The author finds that while both CEB and pentecostal women reconceptualize gender roles, the two religious settings produce different outcomes. Due to the heterogeneity of available sources and methods, the analysis offers necessarily tentative conclusions. It does yield interesting and suggestive contrasts between the two religious groups, however, which can inform both theory and future empirical research.
Topic:
Religion, Women, Catholic Church, Society, and Gender
Political Geography:
Latin America

56958. The Politics of Economic Liberalization: Argentina and Brazil in Comparative Perspective

Author:
Robert A. Packenham
Publication Date:
04-1994
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The recent trends toward economic liberalization in Latin America provide an unusual opportunity to analyze a number of important questions in the political economy of development and underdevelopment. Why has virtually every Latin American country suddenly reversed the direction of the economic policies that had been in place for a full half-century or more? Why is the pace of such change rapid in some countries and slow in others? What are the already discernible and likely future consequences of such changes for development? What are their implications for theories of development and underdevelopment? What conceptual, theoretical, and methodological tools are available and fruitful for analyzing these topics? This paper examines these questions with particular reference to the difference in the pace of change toward economic liberalization between Argentina under Menem and Brazil under Collor.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Political Economy, Economic Growth, and Liberalization
Political Geography:
Brazil, Argentina, and Latin America

56959. Economic Integration in the Western Hemisphere: A Rapporteurs' Report

Author:
Caren Addis and Matthew A. Verghis
Publication Date:
04-1994
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper summarizes the discussion at an academic workshop titled "Economic Integration in the Western Hemisphere," held at the Kellogg Institute on 17 and 18 April 1993. Debate centered around an overview paper and papers on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the South American Common Market (Mercosur), the Andean Pact, the Chilean experience, the Central American countries, and the Caribbean group.
Topic:
NAFTA, Trade, Economic Integration, and Mercosur
Political Geography:
South America, Caribbean, North America, and Chile

56960. Entrepreneurial Response to Economic Liberalization and Integration: An Inquiry about Recent Events in Uruguay Aimed at Developing Better Hypotheses about Economic Behavior

Author:
Hugh Schwartz
Publication Date:
04-1994
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This study outlines behavioral hypotheses drawn from actual decision-making processes. It is based on in-depth interviews with decision-makers in manufacturing enterprises in a small, relatively conservative and stable Latin American country (Uruguay) and on detailed questionnaires given to members of those firms as well as to economic agents in government, the service sector, and labor unions whose activities may have influenced the enterprises' decision-making. The paper considers the responses to major new incentives that have accompanied an ongoing process of economic liberalization and integration. It offers the tentative conclusion that while serious perception and judgment problems do not characterize all areas, where they are present they are more important than generally recognized and distort decision-making. Some important problems are difficult to ascertain ex post, and there may be serious limits to the ability to verify a number of hypotheses except by direct involvement in the decision-making process.
Topic:
Development, Entrepreneurship, Economic Integration, and Liberalization
Political Geography:
South America and Uruguay