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18601. Think Tanks as a Cooperative Factor in NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue

Author:
Roberto Aliboni
Publication Date:
07-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
This paper discusses the perspective of setting up a network of think tanks (NTTs) dealing with international relations and security in the framework of official regional security organizations (RSOs). The paper refers, in particular, to the NATO Mediterranean Dialogue (NMD). In 1997 and 1999, the task of promoting the establishment of a non-governmental network of institutes in the NMD framework was suggested in the Reports prepared by Rand for the Italian and, then, the Spanish Ministry of Defense. The same task was then included by the Mediterranean Cooperation Group (MCG) in its agenda. The first section considers the NTTs' role in shaping public foreign and security policy in general terms. The second section analyses the characters of the NMD as an RSO. The third section argues which kind of NTTs fits with the NMD and which tasks they can pursue.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Foreign Policy, NATO, and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:
Europe

18602. Western-Mediterranean Security Relations: Issues and Challenges

Author:
Carlo Masala
Publication Date:
07-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Speaking about issues and challenges of Western-Mediterranean security relations means, first of all, reflecting about the achievements of the Western-Mediterranean policy in the past. A realistic look at Western-Mediterranean security relations in the past decade contributes to a realistic outlook for the future of this relationships.
Topic:
Security, NATO, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, and North Africa

18603. Relations Between Italy and Libya

Author:
Roberto Aliboni
Publication Date:
03-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Relations between Italy and Libya have oscillated over time, though broadly in tune with trends in international relations with this country. Despite oscillations, however, relations have never ceased to be important for both Italy and Libya.
Topic:
International Relations
Political Geography:
Europe, Libya, North Africa, and Italy

18604. Water As a Factor of Conflict Challenges Around the Mediterranean Basin

Author:
Roberto Aliboni
Publication Date:
02-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The southern shore of the Mediterranean region is an area with very high population growth. National economies haven't - but for Israel - the strength and vitality of northern-shore states. On the southern shore the state has generally a pervasive role in the society. Inefficient state-owned industries and subsidised agriculture give way to products that are scarcely competitive on the world market. Weak southern Mediterranean economies, that could somehow get along with a stable population, risk the failure in trying to keep pace with the ongoing population boom and with globalisation. For this reason, on the southern shore of the Mediterranean resource disputes have emerged, especially since the seventies, as an area of contentions between states. The latter more and more is perceived as a dangerous and hardly manageable issue.
Topic:
Security and Environment
Political Geography:
Middle East and Arabia

18605. Europe and North Africa

Author:
Roberto Aliboni
Publication Date:
01-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
In the European geopolitical perspective, North Africa does not make much sense. Rather, European relations focuses on the Maghreb, the Arab Occident, which traditionally includes Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Egypt, although part to North Africa, belongs geopolitically to another framework, i.e. the Mashreq, the Arab Orient.
Topic:
International Relations and Security
Political Geography:
Europe, Algeria, Arab Countries, North Africa, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia

18606. Assessing Scholarly Communication in the Developing World: It Takes More Than Bytes

Author:
David Block
Publication Date:
01-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Social Science Research Council
Abstract:
STUDIES of scholarly communication in Western Europe and North America describe a world in crisis. (Borgman, 2000.) By the early 1990s, the cost of print journals had reached a level that discouraged their purchase by even the richest institutions, and digital editions of these works, a feature of the next decade, raised the ante higher still. Copyright, the legally-enforced ownership of ideas in some fixed form, has become more contentious in a digital realm, which potentially makes unauthorized usage as simple as "copy and paste." And, finally, while archiving scholarly publications has been difficult in the medium of acidic paper, it has become even more problematic in electronic form where the data themselves, the media that hold them and the computer programs that make them intelligible are all subject to decay or obsolescence. This triumvirate—spiraling information costs, control of information and its preservation for succeeding generations—constitutes the developed world's central focus for research and planning in scholarly communication. (Atkinson, 2000. NINCH).
Topic:
Development, Education, International Cooperation, Science and Technology, and Third World
Political Geography:
North America and Western Europe

18607. Strategic Challenges for the Bush Administration

Author:
Stephen J. Flanagan
Publication Date:
01-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
As the Bush administration settles into office, the United States confronts an international environment marked by growing volatility and rapid change. What security challenges will the new administration face, and what strategies are available for managing these challenges? To answer these questions, leading policy specialists in the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University recently prepared a series of assessments for the Department of Defense. These perspectives are presented in this occasional paper. Together with the Institute's previously published Report of the National Defense University Quadrennial Defense Review 2001 Working Group, these assessments offer a broad menu of security policy choices.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and International Law
Political Geography:
United States

18608. A Turning Point for Turkey

Author:
Aleksandar D. Jovovic
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The Institute for the Study of Diplomacy hosted the fall 2001 meetings of the Schlesinger Working Group on the topic of Turkey. Our selection of Turkey is a reflection of the daunting choices and challenges that face this country, as well as its inherent importance. Turkey is at a crossroads not only due to its strategic geographic location, but also because of the key internal economic, social and political problems it must resolve. It faces difficult dilemmas on the question of Cyprus, its relations with Greece, and its cooperation with Israel. It has been forced to accept open-ended delays on EU membership, and it may have to yield some influence on the issue of European defense. Turkey walks a fine line between firm support for the Iraqi containment scheme and tacit admission of its dependence on the resulting smuggling business. On the home front, its tendency to ban pro-Islamist parties and its treatment of the Kurdish question may be unsustainable, while serious structural problems and rigidities in the economic system threaten to derail the impressive economic gains of past decades. And finally, the political system itself, rife with corruption and sustained by a bloated bureaucracy and entrenched party politics, is under growing strain.
Topic:
Security, NATO, and Religion
Political Geography:
Iraq, Europe, Turkey, Middle East, Israel, Asia, and Cyprus

18609. Russia's Southern Neighbors

Author:
Aleksandar D. Jovovic
Publication Date:
03-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The Institute for the study of Diplomacy hosted the spring 2001 meetings of the Schlesinger Working Group on the topic of Russian foreign policy towards its neighbors in Central Asia and the Caucasus. The potential for further conflict along Russia's periphery is real. Russia (experiencing an economic upswing and more assertive political leadership) is mired in a series of border problems as well as unresolved internal security challenges in Chechnya and continues to be a central actor in the entire Caucasus region. The civil war in Afghanistan continues to export Islamic extremism to Russia's important Central Asian neighbors. If a dramatic security downturn took shape in any of these borderlands, it would test the competence, political will, and strategic common sense of Putin and his team. Russia's government has already demonstrated its willingness to charge headlong into an internal conflict, and Putin's initial popularity has soared as a result. To provide a starting point for the discussion, the working group examined the following issues: External political and security challenges facing Russia in the near to medium term. Russia's interests and willingness to remain engaged in developments along its frontier. Prospects for strategic surprises and unanticipated events along Russia's southern border. Implications of Russia's behavior and region- al developments on US interests and capabilities.
Topic:
Security and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Russia, Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and Chechnya

18610. Post-Conflict Peace Operations and Governance in Afghanistan

Author:
Jeff Fischer
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
Over the last two decades, post-conflict military and civilian interventions have occurred with increasing frequency and scope. By illustration, the first UN peacekeeping mission in 1948, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), was mandated to supervise the truce of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, and initially deployed 93 military observers. By contrast, the current international interventions in Kosovo (UNMIK) and East Timor (UNTEAT) are de facto governments, employing thousands of international and local staff with police and military services included in the portfolio.
Topic:
Government, International Cooperation, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, South Asia, Israel, Arabia, and Kosovo