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Begin New Search Political Geography Global Focus Content Type Research Paper

101. Explaining Variation in Public Debt: A Quantitative Analysis of the Effects of Governance

Author:
Andreas Eisl
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Sciences Po Center on Coping with Instability in Market Societies (MaxPo)
Abstract:
This paper examines the main political influence factors accounting for the variation in public debt accumulation on a global scale. This allows for a reassessment of the recent focus on a regime type theory of public debt and for a test of an alternative governance theory. I argue that political stability, the rule of law, the control of corruption, government effectiveness, and regulatory quality promote lower public debt accumulation by reducing the incentives for governments to “borrow from the future,” by increasing state capacity to collect taxes and effectively use public funds, and by providing more security and equity to private investment, inducing higher economic growth and tax revenues. Both theories are tested against a number of controls stemming from theories of public choice, theories of governmental distributional conflict, as well as from politico-institutional and macroeconomic explanations of public debt accumulation. Applying different specifications of quantitative models, the two governance indicators political stability and regulatory quality show consistent effects on public debt accumulation, partly confirming the proposed governance theory. Furthermore, the paper can reproduce a public debt-reducing effect of more democratic regime types across a number of model specifications – though without a high degree of robustness.
Topic:
Corruption, Economics, International Political Economy, Regulation, Rule of Law, Macroeconomics, and Public Debt
Political Geography:
Global Focus

102. Russian Forward Military Basing in Armenia and Moscow’s Infl uence in the South Caucasus

Author:
Can Kasapoglu
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
In military history, bastions were defensive strongholds, mostly with a pentagonal outline, which off ered perfect combat emplacements for crossfi re. Th ereby, they off ered excellent advantages to defenders and enabled counter-balancing capabilities against besiegers’ artilleries. Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, a famous French military engineer, Marshal of France (mid-17th to early 18th centuries), and a master of the bastion system along with other fortifi cations, even designed ‘bastioned towers’ to protect main walls by fl anking enemy fi re.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

103. The Western Balkans and the Revenge of History

Author:
Ian Hope
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
Th e Warsaw Summit affi rmed Alliance interest in and commitment to many geographic regions and nations, without stating priorities. Th e Western Balkans drew attention, with Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro receiving specifi c mention in the Summit Communiqué.2 However, the Summit promoted a continuance of current NATO activity in this region, not a shift or amelioration. Implicit in this is that the status quo, a small NATO force in Kosovo to enhance security and several liaison offi ces to monitor partnership activity and the application of the Membership Action Plan in the other Western Balkans states, is suffi cient. Th is paper will argue that such eff orts are too small and disjointed to meet the growing challenges in the region, especially given NATO’s obligation to confl ict prevention in the wake of its signifi cant and successful interventions there in 1996 and 1999.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

104. NATO in the Black Sea: What to Expect Next?

Author:
Zviad Adzinbaia
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
Black Sea security directly impacts the economic development, peace and stability of the Euro-Atlantic theater. NATO and the EU, as well as their members and partners, have immense interests in ensuring a secure and prosperous environment in the Black Sea, advancing trade relations through the East-West corridor, and further promoting the notion of a Europe “whole, free and at peace.”
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

105. Trust (in) NATO Th e future of intelligence sharing within the Alliance

Author:
Jan Ballast
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
On 21 October 2016, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) appointed its fi rst Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security (ASG-I&S), Dr. Arndt Freiherr Freytag von Loringhoven.2 His appointment was the result of a meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) on 8-9 July 2016 in Warsaw, where the Heads of State and Government stated the requirement to strengthen intelligence within NATO.3 In doing so, the Alliance underlined that improved cooperation on intelligence would increase early warning, force protection and general resilience.4
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

106. The Evolution of the Hybrid Threat, and Resilience as a Countermeasure

Author:
Uwe Hartmann
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
The year 2014 marks a strategic ‘inflection point’ in world history. To make sense of the new security challenges, NATO offi cials and member states’ governments have used the term ‘hybrid warfare,’2 although some scholars have criticized it as a buzzword lacking a clear defi nition. However, since hybrid warfare is rather more about exploiting the vulnerabilities of statecraft than about destroying armed forces, states have slightly diff erent understandings of it consistent with their own specifi c security challenges. Consequently, for scientifi c research, as well as for security organizations such as NATO, finding a common definition is not easy and probably not useful.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

107. Winning Peace and Exporting Stability: Colombia as NATO’s next Global Partner?

Author:
Robert Helbig and Guillaume Lasconjarias
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
Is Colombia going to be NATO’s next global partner? In June 2013, the question was alreaady worthy of attention, when Colombia and NATO entered into an “Agreement on the Security of Information” that was signed between then-NATO Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Alexander Vershbow and Colombia’s Defence Minister Juan Carlos Pinzón. While the deal encompassed not much more than sharing intelligence in areas of common concern, the agreement surely was “a fi rst step for future cooperation in the security fi eld” and Ambassador Vershbow remarked that “Colombia’s expertise in enhancing integrity in the military is precisely the kind of substantive contribution that exemplifi es the added value of cooperation.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

108. The future of NATO and R2P Ten lessons in norm formation

Author:
Brooke Smith-Windsor
Publication Date:
03-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
To this day, a visit to NATO’s offi cial website paints a glowing account of its 2011 military intervention in Libya under United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1973:2 Following the Gaddafi regime’s targeting of civilians in February 2011, NATO answered the United Nation’s (UN) call to the international community to protect the Libyan people … a coalition of NATO Allies and partners began enforcing an arms embargo, maintaining a no-fl y zone and protecting civilians and civilian populated areas from attack or the threat of attack under Operation Unifi ed Protector (OUP). OUP successfully concluded on 31 October 2011.3 While immediate operational goals may have been achieved, and urgent threats to lives in Benghazi and elsewhere averted, more than half a decade hence the post-intervention legacy is far from rosy. What followed the collapse of the Gaddafi regime in October 2011 is a Libya and neighbourhood still rife with instability and violence facing the spectre of widespread civil strife and even collapse
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

109. The Long March: Contentious Mobilization and Deep Democracy

Author:
Mohammad Ali Kadivar, Adaner Usmani, and Benjamin Bradlow
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:
Over the last several decades, dozens of authoritarian regimes have fallen and been replaced by formal democracies. These new democracies are not all of identical quality -- some have made substantially greater progress than others towards deepening democratic institutions. We make use of a new dataset which identifies five distinct dimensions of democratization in order to study this variation. We argue that prolonged unarmed contentious mobilization prior to transition drives democratic progress in each of these five dimensions. Mobilization matters because it generates a new, democratically-oriented political elite and because it furnishes non-elites with the capacity for autonomous collective action. In panel regressions spanning the 1950 to 2010 period and using original data, we show that the duration of antecedent anti-authoritarian mobilization is a significant and consistent predictor of subsequent democratic deepening. To illustrate the mechanisms, we present a historical analysis of democratic transition in Brazil. This case study shows how both formal political actors and non-elite collective actors, emboldened by prolonged mobilization, drove deepening of democracy post-transition.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

110. Getting it Righter, Faster The Role of Prediction in Agile Government Decisionmaking

Author:
Kathryn McNabb Cochran and Gregory Tozzi
Publication Date:
08-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Center for a New American Security (CNAS)
Abstract:
Humanity is fascinated by prediction failures. The failure to predict the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks has replaced the failure to predict the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as the United States’ canonical intelligence failure, but the failure to predict the Arab Spring is gaining ground. These failures have prompted some to argue that because prediction is a futile exercise, organizations are better served by investing in agile systems that can react rapidly to change rather than investing in predictive systems that help them anticipate change. The authors argue that this is a false dichotomy. Predictive systems can support agility, and recent advances in the science of forecasting offer multiple tools for organizations seeking to see around the corner faster and with more acuity.
Topic:
Cybersecurity
Political Geography:
Global Focus

111. Linking Heterogeneous Climate Policies (Consistent with the Paris Agreement)

Author:
Michael A Mehling, Gilbert E. Metcalf, and Robert Stavins
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
The Paris Agreement has achieved one of two key necessary conditions for ultimate success—a broad base of participation among the countries of the world. But another key necessary condition has yet to be achieved—adequate collective ambition of the individual nationally determined contributions. How can climate negotiators provide a structure that will include incentives to increase ambition over time? An important part of the answer can be international linkage of regional, national, and sub-national policies—that is, formal recognition of emission reductions undertaken in another jurisdiction for the purpose of meeting a Party’s own mitigation objectives. A central challenge is how to facilitate such linkage in the context of the very great heterogeneity that characterizes climate policies along five dimensions: type of policy instrument; level of government jurisdiction; status of that jurisdiction under the Paris Agreement; nature of the policy instrument’s target; and the nature, along several dimensions, of each Party’s Nationally Determined Contribution. We consider such heterogeneity among policies, and identify which linkages of various combinations of characteristics are feasible; of these, which are most promising; and what accounting mechanisms would make the operation of respective linkages consistent with the Paris Agreement.
Topic:
Climate Change and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

112. Notice and Takedown in Everyday Practice

Author:
Jennifer M. Urban, Joe Karaganis, and Brianna L. Schofield
Publication Date:
03-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
American Assembly at Columbia University
Abstract:
It has been nearly twenty years since section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act established the so-called notice and takedown process. Despite its importance to copyright holders, online service providers, and Internet speakers, very little empirical research has been done on how effective section 512 is for addressing copyright infringement, spurring online service provider development, or providing due process for notice targets. This report includes three studies that draw back the curtain on notice and takedown: 1. using detailed surveys and interviews with more than three dozen respondents, the first study gathers information on how online service providers and rightsholders experience and practice notice and takedown on a day-to-day basis; 2. the second study examines a random sample from over 100 million notices generated during a six-month period to see who is sending notices, why, and whether they are valid takedown requests; and 3. the third study looks specifically at a subset of those notices that were sent to Google Image Search.
Topic:
Intellectual Property/Copyright and Information Age
Political Geography:
Global Focus

113. Toward A Nuclear Firewall: Bridging the NPT’s Three Pillars

Author:
Toby Dalton, Wyatt Hoffman, Ariel Levite, Li Bin, George Perkovich, and Tong Zhao
Publication Date:
03-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
There is no clear, internationally accepted definition of what activities or technologies constitute a nuclear weapons program. This lack of definition encumbers nuclear energy cooperation and complicates peaceful resolution of proliferation disputes. A “nuclear firewall” could enhance the distinction between nuclear weapons–related activities and other non-weapons uses of nuclear technology. Applying a firewall framework for analyzing nuclear programs could improve international governance of nuclear technology and facilitate peaceful nuclear cooperation and disarmament. It could also expand the time and means available to key states and international bodies, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency and United Nations Security Council, to diplomatically resolve impending proliferation crises.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Nuclear Weapons
Political Geography:
Global Focus

114. Illusions vs Reality: Twenty-Five Years of U.S. Policy Toward Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia

Author:
Eugene Rumer, Richard Sokolsky, Paul Stronski, and Andrew Weiss
Publication Date:
02-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
The U.S.-Russian relationship is broken, and it cannot be repaired quickly or easily. Improved personal ties between President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin may be useful, but they are not enough. The Trump administration needs to temper expectations about breakthroughs or grand bargains with Moscow. Instead, the focus should be on managing a volatile relationship with an increasingly emboldened and unpredictable Russian leadership. The real test for any sustainable approach will be whether it advances U.S. interests and values, especially in the wake of Moscow’s reckless meddling in the November presidential election.
Topic:
International Relations, International Security, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:
Global Focus

115. Reducing All Violent Deaths, Everywhere: Why the Data Must Improve

Author:
Rachel Kleinfeld
Publication Date:
02-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
The new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include a target to “Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related deaths everywhere.” Given the vast decline in violence since the Middle Ages, particularly since the end of the Cold War, this ambitious target is achievable. But policymakers know the least about the countries receiving the most aid. To ensure that aid and policy are effective, current data gaps and deficiencies must be fully understood and improved. Equally important, the target must include indicators that capture all the main types of violence, not just homicide.
Topic:
Political Violence, Basic Data, and Political and institutional effectiveness
Political Geography:
Global Focus

116. Dynamic Cities? The Role of Urban Local Governments in Improving Urban Service Delivery Performance in Africa and Asia

Author:
Jamie Boex, Ammar A. Malik, Devanne Brookins, and Ben Edwards
Publication Date:
07-2016
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Cities are engines of economic growth that provide spaces for social transformation and political inclusion. Their ability to deliver widely accessible and efficiently functioning public services drives productivity and sustains development. We design and apply an assessment framework to 42 cities in 14 African and Asian countries to better understand the functional, administrative, and political dimensions determining the quality and coverage of water, sanitation, and solid waste collection services. We find that urban local governments are constrained in their authority and discretion to deliver basic public services. Reforming intergovernmental institutional structures to better match responsibilities is essential for realizing cities’ full economic potential.
Topic:
Government, Water, Governance, International Development, Economic Growth, Urban, Sanitation, Services, and Cities
Political Geography:
Africa, Asia, and Global Focus

117. Women’s Economic Empowerment: A Review of Evidence on Enablers and Barriers

Author:
H. Elizabeth Peters, Nan Marie Astone, Ammar A. Malik, Fenohasina Rakotondrazaka Maret, and Caroline Heller
Publication Date:
10-2016
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Besides human rights protection and social welfare improvement, fostering female participation in the economy can stimulate growth with human capital accumulation and enhance the competitiveness of businesses. But women face many barriers to participating in the labor market, particularly in high productivity sectors, due to limited investments in education, time burdens from care responsibilities, legal prohibitions to land ownership, and sexual harassment and violence. We find evidence that improving access to infrastructure and public services, reforms in inheritance laws, family friendly workplace policies, and reduction in levels of violence can significantly improve women’s economic empowerment.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Labor Issues, Women, International Development, Economic Growth, and Cities
Political Geography:
Global Focus

118. A Political Economy Framework for the Urban Data Revolution

Author:
Benjamin Edwards, Solomon Greene, and G. Thomas Kingsley
Publication Date:
04-2016
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
As the global population grows increasingly urbanized, city governments will assume ever-greater responsibility for addressing the challenges of poverty, inequality, and environmental sustainability. To meet these challenges effectively, city leaders must base their efforts on good data and reliable evidence. This paper develops a framework for understanding the conditions under which city leaders access, analyze, and apply data to solve problems. We also suggest how the new UN Sustainable Development Goals can help overcome the institutional constraints and competing incentives that cities face in using data to drive decisionmaking for sustainable development.
Topic:
Urbanization, Sustainable Development Goals, International Development, and Cities
Political Geography:
United Nations and Global Focus

119. Valuation of World Heritage

Author:
Indira Rajaraman
Publication Date:
08-2016
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
India International Centre (IIC)
Abstract:
World Heritage sites are classified in two categories—cultural heritage, and natural heritage. Outstanding Universal Value—the basis for identification of a World Heritage site implies that valuation, from a global perspective, might be sufficiently greater than the valuation of that site in its immediate location for the World Heritage tag to provide a significant incentive for the preservation of it. The rise in tourist traffic consequent upon recognition, statistically validated in several contexts, seemingly justifies that prior. The common cliché of the historical structure allowed to fall into ruin, its stones prised out for constructing nearby dwellings, or the area within what remains of the structure put to base uses, conforms to that conception. Likewise, there are natural biodiversity reserves threatened by unregulated cutting of trees, where recognition as a World Heritage site may well be the statement of superior valuation needed to put a stop to such practices and preserve what remains. This paper does not therefore argue that the World Heritage convention should be abandoned, and its sites de-recognised. What it does argue is that the basis of indigenous valuation should be investigated for its constituents, so as to bring about a better alignment between global and local valuation.
Topic:
Globalization, History, Tourism, Culture, and Architecture
Political Geography:
Global Focus

120. Against the Grain: Student Movement in Private Universities

Author:
Ismail Fayad
Publication Date:
06-2016
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
Research focusing on non-formal political and social stakeholders/activists has been generally side-lined as a subject of political, sociological, and economic studies in the Arab world. This has been the case since the emergence of these sub-fields in the post-independence period of the 1960s, as Arab universities and research centres were founding their academic fields, until today. The exception that confirmed the rule was the Marxist approaches that succeeded in fostering a small but steady number of research groups interested mainly in workers’ and labor movements, and in particular unions, or in rural sociology as a reflection of the expression of class struggle within Arab societies.
Topic:
International Organization and Political Activism
Political Geography:
Global Focus