Search

Begin New Search Content Type Working Paper

18401. Australian Unemployment Protection: Challenges and New Directions

Author:
Wayne Vroman and Vera Brusentsev
Publication Date:
07-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
This paper examines Australia's scheme of unemployment protection and makes some comparisons with unemployment protection in the United States of America. A major concern of the paper is to understand the differences in unemployment duration between these two economies. Policies followed in the United States intended to reduce duration are reviewed for possible applicability in Australia.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States, Australia, and Southeast Asia

18402. The Integration of Immigrant Families in the United States

Author:
Michael Fix, Wendy Zimmermann, and Jeffrey Passel
Publication Date:
07-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
What do we know about the integration of immigrant families within the United States—the progress these families are making and their reception in the communities where they settle? How are immigrants affected by the nation's integration policies or lack thereof? What directions might immigrant integration and the policies governing it take in the future?
Topic:
Government, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States

18403. Are Immigrants Leaving California? Settlement Patterns of Immigrants in the Late 1990s

Author:
Wendy Zimmermann and Jeffrey S. Passel
Publication Date:
04-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
For at least the last century and a half, the immigrant population in the United States has been highly concentrated in a handful of states. Even at the beginning of the 20th century, when the foreign-born population was less than half its current size, just over half of all immigrants lived in only six states. By 1990, that share had increased to nearly three-quarters. But, between 1990 and 1999, the geographic concentration of immigrants began to wane slightly, as the foreign-born population grew substantially faster in states that have not traditionally received large numbers of immigrants. This dispersal of the immigrant population is particularly noteworthy in the face of dramatically increased numbers, especially in the new settlement areas, and policy changes surrounding the noncitizen population.
Topic:
Demographics, Economics, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States and California

18404. Hardship Among Children of Immigrants: Findings From the 1999 National Survey of American Families

Author:
Randy Capps
Publication Date:
02-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
The 1999 National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) reveals that hardship is greater for children of immigrants than for children of U.S. natives in three areas of basic need: food, housing, and health care. The data also indicate that the relative generosity of differing state policies on noncitizens' access to public benefits generally corresponds with hardship levels. Because the NSAF cross-sectional data do not allow assessment of changes over time, these hardship levels cannot necessarily be ascribed to federal welfare reform or state policies. Nonetheless, these findings reinforce observations on the vulnerability of a population whose access to the social safety net has been diminished by recent policy changes. This analysis is one of the first studies based on nationally representative data to examine hardship among immigrant families in the post-welfare-reform era.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Migration, and Poverty
Political Geography:
United States

18405. The Politics of Pensions in European Social Insurance Countries

Author:
Martin Schludi
Publication Date:
11-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
This paper analyzes national processes of pension reform in countries with systems of old-age provision largely following the Bismarckian type (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden). Operating on a defined benefit/pay-as-you-go basis and mainly financed out of wage-based social contributions, pension systems in these countries are highly vulnerable to demographic and economic pressures. Therefore, pension reform has emerged as a major issue in these countries since the early 1990s. Although there are substantial similarities in the direction of reform, the degree of policy change varies considerably even among countries with similar legacies in pension policy. As a closer inspection of national patterns of pension policy-making shows, the political feasibility of pension reforms and the degree of adjustment in pension policy critically depends on the government's ability to orchestrate a reform consensus either with the parliamentary opposition or with the trade unions. The paper tries to identify the conditions under which a “pension pact” between those actors is likely to emerge.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and International Trade and Finance

18406. Do Affluent Countries Face an Incomes-Jobs Tradeoff?

Author:
Lane Kenworthy
Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
A commonly-held view suggests that affluent nations face a tradeoff between incomes and jobs. According to this view, in the United States pay for workers at the bottom of the earnings distribution (relative to those in the middle) is very low and government unemployment-related benefits (the “replacement rate”) are stingy, but this facilitates the creation of lots of new jobs and encourages such individuals to take those jobs. The result is a high rate of employment and low unemployment. In much of Western Europe relative pay levels are higher for those at the bottom and benefits are more generous, but this is said to discourage job creation and to reduce the willingness of the unemployed to accept low-wage jobs. The consequence is low employment and high unemployment. I undertake a comparative assessment of this tradeoff view, based on pooled cross-section time-series analyses of 14 OECD countries in the 1980s and 1990s. The findings suggest that greater pay equality and a higher replacement rate do reduce employment growth in low-productivity private-sector service industries and in the economy as a whole. However, these effects are relatively weak. The results point to a variety of viable options for countries wishing to maintain or move toward a desirable combination of jobs and equality.
Topic:
Economics and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

18407. Global Markets, National Tax Systems, and Domestic Politics: Rebalancing Efficiency and Equity in Open States' Income Taxation

Author:
Steffen Ganghof
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
Competitive pressure on some capital income tax rates reinforces a generic "quadrilemma" or a four-way tradeoff in domestic income taxation. To maintain competitiveness, governments have to cut some tax rates on capital income down to "international standards." If these cuts lead to a de-alignment of different rates on capital income, domestic allocation becomes more inefficient, all else being equal. Cutting all tax rates on capital income to a uniform low level, while maintaining high and progressive tax rates on labor incomes, avoids this inefficiency, but sacrifices comprehensive income taxation, that is, joint and equal taxation of capital and labor incomes. Finally, reducing all income tax rates to international standards, including top rates on labor income, implies a strong significant reduction in the progressiveness of labor income taxation (and/or significant revenue losses). As a result, governments that aim at all four goals” competitiveness, allocative efficiency, horizontal equity (comprehensive income taxation) and progressivity – and want to maintain a given revenue level cannot avoid seriously compromising one of them. This paper analyzes how this income tax quadrilemma has played out in seven OECD countries: Australia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden. Combining the results of this matched comparison with exploratory data analysis for all OECD countries, the paper discusses the general implications of the quadrilemma for the domestic political economy of tax competition and the future of "domestic compensation" in open states.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Finland, Norway, Denmark, Georgia, Australia, Sweden, and New Zealand

18408. The Effects of Convergence: Internationalisation and the Changing Distribution of Net Value Added in Large German Firms

Author:
Anke Hassel and Jürgen Beyer
Publication Date:
11-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
The paper examines whether and how the increasing internationalisation of firms impacts on the operation of a co-ordinated market economy. Following the tenets of agency theory it assumes that an emerging market for corporate control changes the monitoring mechanisms that oversee management. Since Anglo- American forms of monitoring are usually associated with a higher return for investors compared with Continental European firms, a change in the distribution of the net value added of firms is expected. Using financial data on 59 large German companies, the paper shows that the emerging convergence of German corporate governance practices to Anglo-American standards has had a weak, but significant, impact on the distribution of net value added. This is in contrast to the impact of the internationalisation of firms on product markets, which does not have an effect. Since the market for corporate control is, however, still underdeveloped in Germany, the main effects remain to be seen.
Topic:
Economics, Emerging Markets, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
America, Europe, and Germany

18409. Institutional Change and the Uses and Limits of Path Dependency: The Case of German Finance

Author:
Richard Deeg
Publication Date:
06-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
How can we determine when an existing institutional path or trajectory is ending and being replaced with a new one? How does such a process take place? How can we distinguish between institutional innovation within an existing trajectory and a switchover to a new trajectory or path? This paper explores these questions by examining the pattern of institutional change in the German financial system. The paper advances four theoretical claims: First, that endogenous developments can disrupt an institutional path and lead to a new one. Second, that an event sequence involving a move to a new institutional path may not follow from a contingent event yet may nonetheless be marked by increasing returns processes. Third, that increasing returns in politics are not automatic and must be cultivated by actors in order to be realized. Finally, that the concept of path is still in need of a measurable conceptualization before any further advances in path dependent arguments can be made.
Topic:
Economics and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Germany

18410. Corporate Governance in Transition: Ten Empirical Findings on Shareholder Value and Industrial Relations in Germany

Author:
Martin Hopner
Publication Date:
05-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
Within the context of debates over national “varieties” of capitalism, this paper discusses the shareholder value orientation of the 40 largest listed German companies. Three dimensions of shareholder value are distinguished: the communicative dimension, the operative dimension and the dimension of managerial compensation. A shareholder value index compiling data on accounting, investor relations, variable top-management compensation and the implementation of profitability goals makes it possible to compare the shareholder orientations of the companies. The shareholder value phenomenon is explained first by the exposure to markets – the international product market, capital market pressures and the market for corporate control – and, secondly, by internal developments – changing management careers, increasing management compensation and reduced monitoring by banks and corporate networks – which cause external impulses to increase shareholder value to fall on fertile ground. Conflicts over shareholder orientation result in changing coalitions between shareholders, management, and employees. Shareholder value does not make companies opt out of central collective agreements or endanger the existence of employees' codetermination, but it does lead to more market-driven industrial relations.
Topic:
Economics, Industrial Policy, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Germany

18411. An Emerging Market for Corporate Control? The Mannesmann Takeover and German Corporate Governance

Author:
Gregory Jackson and Martin Hopner
Publication Date:
04-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
Corporate governance in Germany is often described as a bank-oriented, blockholder or stakeholder model where markets for corporate control have not played a significant role. This case study of the hostile takeover of Mannesmann AG by Vodafone in 2000 demonstrates how systemic changes during the 1990s have eroded past institutional barriers to takeovers. These changes include the strategic reorientation of German banks from the “house bank” to investment banking, the growing consensus and productivity orientation of employee codetermination and corporate law reform. A significant segment of German corporations are now subjected to a market for corporate control. The implications for the German model are examined in light of both claims by agency theory for the efficiency of takeover markets, as well as the institutional complementarities within Germany's specific “variety” of capitalism. While the efficiency effects are questionable, the growing pressures for German corporations to achieve the higher stock market valuations of their Anglo-American competitors threaten the distributional compromises underlying the German model.
Topic:
Economics, Emerging Markets, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
America and Germany

18412. What Have We Learned?[1] Problem-Solving Capacity of the Multilevel European Polity.

Author:
Fritz W. Scharpf
Publication Date:
07-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
This Working Paper is an attempt, occasioned by the evaluation of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, to provide a conceptual framework within which institute research on multi-level European problem solving could be discussed in the context of a more comprehensive overview of the literature. The framework combines an institutional dimension (distinguishing between supranational, joint-decision and intergovernmental modes of EU policy making) and a policy dimension (distinguishing between market-creating, market-enabling, market-correcting and redistributive policies). As institutional modes differ in their capacity for conflict resolution, and as policy types differ in the likelihood of severe policy conflict, greater or lesser problem-solving capacity can be explained by the location of a particular policy area on both of these dimensions.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Europe

18413. Globalization, Tax Competition, and the Fiscal Viability of the Welfare State

Author:
Philipp Genschel
Publication Date:
05-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
Does globalization undermine the fiscal basis of the welfare state? The conventional wisdom believes so: open borders cause tax competition, which in turn leads to a race to the bottom in capital taxation. However, the data show that revenues from capital taxation are fairly stable in OECD countries. Some observers conclude from this that globalization does not pose much of a challenge to the welfare state. This conclusion is unwarranted because it overlooks that tax competition was not the only challenge facing welfare states during the 1980s and 1990s. There was also slow growth, rampant unemployment, and high levels of precommitted spending. These problems exerted countervailing pressures that prevented a race to the bottom in taxation. Yet, this does not mean that national autonomy has not been diminished. The welfare state is trapped in between external pressures to reduce the tax burden on capital and internal pressures to maintain revenue levels and relieve the tax burden on labor.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, Human Welfare, and International Trade and Finance

18414. How Bargaining Mediates Wage Determination: An Exploration of the Parameters of Wage Functions in a Pooled Time-Series Cross-Section Framework

Author:
Bernhard Kittel
Publication Date:
03-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
The process of wage determination is mediated by the institutional framework of the labor market. Bargaining systems differ not only in their mode of governance, but also in the way that wages are related to unemployment, inflation, and productivity growth. Based on annual data for the period 1971–1996 from 20 OECD countries, the paper uses a pooled time-series cross-section model to show that bargaining modes affect the speed at which wages are adjusted and the extent to which macroeconomic factors affect wages. Contrary to the expectations of mainstream economics, uncoordinated bargaining does not turn out to be the most flexible mode. Pattern setting and peak-level coordination, if legally enforceable, are modes of labor market governance that are at least as flexible and responsive, if not more so. Hence these labor market institutions cannot be blamed for excessive rigidity.
Topic:
Economics and International Trade and Finance

18415. Minority Governments and Party Politics: The Political and Institutional Background to the "Danish Miracle"

Author:
Christoffer Green-Pedersen
Publication Date:
01-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
The performance of the Danish economy in the 1990s has been successful to the extent that scholars are talking about a "Danish miracle". The importance of government policies to Denmark's economic success is taken as a point of departure in investigating why Danish governments have been able to govern the economy successfully in the 1990s. The paper argues that two factors have been important. First, the functioning of Danish parliamentarianism has been reshaped to strengthen the bargaining position of minority governments, which became the rule in Danish politics after the landslide election in 1973. Today, Danish minority governments can enter agreements with changing coalitions in the Danish parliament. The paper thus challenges the conventional wisdom about minority governments as weak in terms of governing capacity. Second, the changed socioeconomic strategy of the Social Democrats after returning to power in 1993 has been important because it has created a political consensus around a number of controversial reforms.
Topic:
Economics, Government, Political Economy, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe and Denmark

18416. Explaining Leakage of Public Funds

Author:
Ritva Reinikka and Jakob Svensson
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Using panel data from an unique survey of public primary schools in Uganda we assess the degree of leakage of public funds in education. The survey data reveal that on average, during the period 1991-95, schools received only 13 percent of what the central government contributed to the schools' non-wage expenditures. The bulk of the allocated spending was either used by public officials for purposes unrelated to education or captured for private gain (leakage). Moreover we find that resource flows and leakages are endogenous to school characteristics. Rather than being passive recipients of flows from government, schools use their bargaining power vis-à-vis other parts of government to secure greater shares of funding. Resources are therefore not necessarily allocated according to the rules underlying government budget decisions, with potential equity and efficiency implications.
Topic:
Education, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

18417. On the Choice of Appropriate Development Strategy: Insights from CGE Modelling of the Mozambican Economy

Author:
Finn Tarp and Tarp Jensen Henning
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This paper makes use of a 1997 computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to analyse three potential strategies that Mozambique can pursue unilaterally with a view to initiating a sustainable development process. They include (i) an agriculture-first strategy, (ii) an agricultural-development led industrialization (ADLI) strategy, and (iii) a primary-sector export-oriented strategy. The ADLI strategy dominates the other development strategies since important synergy effects in aggregate welfare arise from including key agro-industry sectors into the agriculture-first development strategy. Moreover, the ADLI strategy can be designed so it has a relatively strong impact on the welfare of the poorest poverty-stricken households, and still maintain the politically sensitive factorial distribution of income.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Africa

18418. Building Conflict Prevention Capacity: Methods, Experiences, Needs — UNU Workshop Seminar Series Report

Author:
David Carment and Albrecht Schnabel
Publication Date:
02-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Our collaboration began in early 1998, as a proposal for a two-panel mini-workshop on conflict prevention for the 1999 International Studies Association meeting in Washington, DC, USA. The project has subsequently developed into a multi-year project with two book-length volumes and various dissemination activities.
Topic:
Security, Peace Studies, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States and Washington

18419. Removing Small Arms from Society: A Review of Weapons Collection and Destruction Programmes

Author:
Sami Faltas, Glenn McDonald, and Camilla Waszink
Publication Date:
07-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Small Arms Survey
Abstract:
A key component of efforts to curb small arms proliferation is the removal of these weapons from society. A broad range of programmes has been carried out in recent years—in every region of the world—for the purpose of collecting and/or disposing of small arms and light weapons. Weapons collection conducted in a peacetime setting for the purpose of reducing and preventing crime is often, though not always, voluntary in nature, with a wide variety of incentives (and sanctions) deployed for the purpose of recovering firearms from legal (and illegal) owners.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Arms Control and Proliferation, and War
Political Geography:
Central America

18420. The Small arms Survey: Legal Controls on Small Arms and Light Weapons in Southeast Asia

Author:
Katherine Kramer
Publication Date:
07-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Small Arms Survey
Abstract:
The uncontrolled proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Southeast Asia threatens the security of both people and states, retards development, and contributes to increasing levels of violent crime. Porous borders coupled with weak and uncoordinated enforcement efforts ensure that the problems caused by small arms in one state are felt in neighbouring ones. Despite these effects, there is no accurate information regarding the number of legal and illegal small arms flowing into and out of the region, nor how many weapons are circulating internally.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Arms Control and Proliferation, and War
Political Geography:
Asia

18421. Breaking with Tradition: Service Trade Liberalization in the EU and Germany

Author:
Jette Steen Knudsen
Publication Date:
06-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
This chapter asks why and how services that were not previously thought of as tradable have increasingly been opened up to international competition in EU member states including even in Germany. The chapter contrasts an explanation that focuses on the impact of economic interests with an explanation that focuses on the impact of EU membership. The chapter argues that lobbying by producers or users of services cannot fully explain reform nor does EU membership simply constrain reluctant member state governments to adopt new legislation. Instead the chapter argues that in important service sectors the German government has promoted trade reform even sometimes in the face of strong opposition from providers, consumers, and unions. The chapter maintains that a crucial key to liberalisation is the emergence of a break in government opposition. In particular, the ability of the government to re-interpret services as regular tradable products combined with new regulation to "shelter" exposed groups such as consumers and workers against potential harm. Implications of this claim for future service sector liberalisation are subsequently discussed.
Topic:
Economics and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

18422. Adaptation of the Legal Systems of Candidate Countries - the Case of the Baltic States

Author:
Christen Boye Jacobsen
Publication Date:
08-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
In all the countries of Eastern Europe, the collapse of the socialism presented the legal system and the lawyers and administrators with an immense conceptional and practical challenge. In a couple of years, and in a constantly changing economic and political climate, they were required To introduce the rule of law and democracy (der demokratisch-freiheitliche Rechtsstaat), To introduce and implement the rules and institutions of a market economy, To modernise the normative acts and the public institutions of virtually all aspects of a modern society, and To implement the EU-acquis.
Topic:
Democratization, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
Europe

18423. Danish Security Policy over the last 50 Years - Long-Term Essential Security Priorities

Author:
Bertel Heurlin
Publication Date:
07-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
This article is about the general priorities of Danish security policy over the last 50 years. But what exactly is security policy – and how should one perceive priorities? First a few remarks on semantics. The term security policy is new. From 1949 Denmark only gradually used the term security policy, rather than defence policy and foreign policy. In 1945 the United Nation's Security Council had been established. It was to act on behalf of the Member States when international peace and security were threatened. In 1947 the National Security Council was established in the United States. The Council was evidently intended to take care of the US' national security. With the introduction of these vital institutions the step was taken towards using the terms ”international” and ”national security policy”. In general the term ”security policy” became common in the beginning of the 1960s. Minister for Foreign Affairs Per Hækkerup talks about security policy in his book on Danish Foreign Policy from 1965. Furthermore the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1967 could publish the first book on Danish security policy.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe

18424. Greenland's geopolitical reality and its political-economic consequences

Author:
Jens Kaalhauge Nielsen
Publication Date:
06-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Geopolitics is an old concept, which received its classic modern form in the work of Friedrich Ratzel, Rudolf Kjéllen, Harold J. Mackinder, Alfred T. Mahan, and Karl Haushofer. It can be regarded as an intellectual approach that aims at establishing a political grammar of world politics, through a scientific discipline based on the objective reality of geography. Thus, geopolitics is often seen as a “realistic” attempt to establish world policy as an objective science based on some kind of "physico-spatial reference". The implicit assumption is a discreet claim that it is possible to study international politics and the allocation of power as one studies the weather: as a system based on objective, natural laws with a fixed and firmly established pattern of forces and indispensable reference points. Hence, Halford J. Mackinder believed that he could identify "the Geographical Pivot of History." In this way, somewhere behind the concept of geopolitics as a scientific concept lies a compelling idea: a theory of the international system based on sheer objective forces, which can be reduced to the invariable necessities of an ultimate "physical" matrix that was merely given expression by the vocabulary of "national interests." We find the same notion in the concept of "realpolitik," the idea that it is possible to conduct a policy grounded on a realm of crucial necessities, as in Bismarck's policies framed in the image of Iron and Blood.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Economics, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe

18425. In Tempestuous Waters: Denmark and the WTO Regime

Author:
Erik Beukel
Publication Date:
04-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
International trade negotiations and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have come into the public limelight. Until a few years ago, the governance of the world trading system, encapsulated in General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), was considered a mundane and dull subject to which only a few people with a special economic interest payed attention. Today, however, the problems dealt with in the WTO affect much broader economic interests and attract attention from different political persuasions and social movements, as illustrated by the battle in Seattle, in December 1999, when the Third Ministerial conference of the WTO was met by massive demonstrations organised by multifarious NGOs. Generally, multilateral economic institutions, such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the WTO, have become tempestuous waters, because among other things these institutions are contested by a medley of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and grass roots movements (O'Brien et al. 2000). The conflict centres on “globalisation”, a controversial and ambiguous notion (Hirst and Thompson 2000), and the WTO is a focal point of the globalisation storm (Hart 1997).
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe

18426. European Defence: Visions and Realities?

Author:
Julian Lindley-French
Publication Date:
04-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is a real honour for me to be here today to address you on the complex subject of European Defence: Vision and Realities. I am grateful as ever to Bertel Heurlin and David Munis Zepernick for arranging this chance to discuss with you European defence at what is a crucial moment. Last time I was here I spoke a lot about visions, so today, as you will hear, the emphasis will be on realities rather than visions.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Government
Political Geography:
Europe

18427. Can Slovakia Catch Up? The Implications of EU Accession Talks a Year After the Helsinki Summit

Author:
Vladamir Bilcik
Publication Date:
01-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Since the dissolution of Czecho-Slovakia in 1993, Slovakia, with its population of about 5.4 million, has emerged as one of the two new successor states. Yet, since gaining its independence Slovakia's political developments have followed a somewhat divergent path from the course of its new western neighbor - the Czech Republic. More broadly, Slovakia also diverged in its transition to democracy from Poland and Hungary, the other two Central European neighbors and two essential elements of the Visegrad group. As a result, Slovakia has been coined as "a region specific country". Its case of regime change from the communist to the post-communist rule has been described as "a borderline case between that of more advanced Central European and lagging South-East European countries". (Szomolanyi, 2000: 16).  Â
Topic:
International Relations, Democratization, and Government
Political Geography:
Europe

18428. The Enduring Dilemmas of Realism in International Relations

Author:
Stefano Guzzini
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
After the end of the Cold War, realism has been again on the defensive. In recent years, two major discussions have been waged about it. The first debate was triggered by a piece John Vasquez published in the American Political Science Review. In this blunt attack, Vasquez basically argues that realists reject the systematic use of scientific criteria for assessing theoretical knowledge. Vasquez charges (neo) realism either for producing blatantly banal statements or for being non-falsifiable, i.e. ideological. For him, much of the post-Waltzian (neo) realist research results are but a series of Ptolemaic circles whose elaborate shape conceals the basic vacuity of the realist paradigm.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Diplomacy
Political Geography:
America

18429. European [security] Union: from existential threat to ontological security

Author:
Ian Manners
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The past ten years have seen the steady escalation of attempts to securitise the EU which, for good or for bad, are now beginning to succeed. Across Europe the EU is fast becoming a convincing reason for groups to mobilise in protest and action - from Copenhagen to Nice to Gothenburg the EU has become a synonym for 'threat'. As this paper will explore, the securisation of the EU is occurring as it begins to be represented as a threat to ontological security, and eventually existential security, in the lives of Europeans and non-Europeans. But how best to think about the European [security] Union as it attempts to balance the headline security concerns of conflicts on its border with the structural security concerns of its citizens. This thinking involves questioning the very nature of the security the EU is attempting to secure through a series of reflections on the many dimensions of security, the ontopolitical assumptions of differing metatheoretical positions, and finally arguing the need to desecuritise the EU.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Government
Political Geography:
Europe

18430. Realism and Foreign Policy Analysis

Author:
Stefano Guzzini and Sten Rynning
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Power politics, realists agree, is played by all, be it for reasons of human nature and/or international anarchy. But can one deduce from this general quest for power a theory on state motivations? Recent realist theories seem to agree with this idea in general, but disagree, indeed have opposite claims, about its content. Kenneth Waltz (1979) argues that states are defensive and thus “balance,” while John Mearsheimer (1990) contends that states are offensive and therefore “expand.” Classical realists, as usual, allow for more commonsense and hence variety. Hans Morgenthau (1948) thus included both status quo and imperialist powers in his theory. But the implication of this indeterminacy remains: if realists cannot settle the question which state motivation can be derived from human nature and/or international anarchy, then they need to examine more carefully the study of foreign policy.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Power Politics

18431. Short and Long-Term Dynamics in the EU's Northern Dimension

Author:
Nicola Catellani
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
In the last decade the process of European integration has been characterised by an increased capacity of the European Union (EU) to develop a certain subjectivity on the international arena. In particular, the EU has been able to elaborate multifaceted approaches towards most of its neighbouring areas.
Topic:
Diplomacy
Political Geography:
Europe

18432. The 'Difference Engine': Constructing and Representing the International Identity of the European Union

Author:
Ian Manners
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to more fully develop the notion of the international identity of the EU previously suggested by Richard Whitman and myself. I will attempt to balance our previous focus on the 'active dimension' of the EU's attempts to 'assert its identity on the international scene' by looking at the 'reflexive dimension' of the EU's international identity from a more sociological perspective. This paper will argue that the distinctive polity perspectives and role representations of the EU can be thought of as a form of 'difference engine' which drives the construction and representation of the EU's international identity. Like Babbage's original difference engine, the EU's international identity is not a multiplier of difference, exaggerating the dissimilarities between the EU and the rest of the world through the generation of a new European supranational identity, but functions solely on the basis of addition - by adding an EU element to Europeans' complex and multifaceted identities.
Topic:
International Relations
Political Geography:
Europe

18433. The Construction of Europe in the Northern Dimension

Author:
Christopher S. Browning
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
This article focuses on the construction of Europe at the turn of the millennium. Unlike most approaches to this issue that tend to focus analysis on debate in Brussels, the most powerful member states, or on the various IGCs, this paper looks at this question through the lens of the discourses surrounding a regional initiative. The initiative in question is that of the Northern Dimension with the argument being that it is on the EU's borders and in the regional peripheries that the debates constructing the EU can be most clearly identified. In this respect the article contributes to a growing constructivist/poststructuralist literature that places boundary producing practices at the heart of the constitution of subjectivity.
Topic:
Globalization and International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

18434. The European Union and Globalisation: Reflections on Strategies of Individual States

Author:
Morten Kelstrup
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Major developments in European politics are related to two simultaneous processes: the process of globalisation and the process of Europeanisation. As Helen Wallace has recently remarked: “For too long the debates on globalisation and on Europeanisation have been conducted in separate compartments and in different terms” (Wallace, 2000, 369). The purpose of this paper is to support the effort in bringing the two debates together. The paper will discuss the two processes, discuss how they interlink, and have a special focus on possible strategies and dilemmas of individual states that are confronted with both processes.
Topic:
Globalization and International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

18435. The New Saint Petersburg: A Case of Border-Making or Border-Breaking?

Author:
Pertti Joenniemi
Publication Date:
11-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The naming of St Petersburg appears to form a distinct pattern. The city emerged in the context of early modern Russia and gained a name that signalled - by having Dutch and German rather than Russian connotations - some degree of mental openness. The choice was very much in line with the overall endeavour of breaking the isolation caused by Russia's somewhat peripheral location in view of the rest of Europe.
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

18436. On the Encounter Between the Nordic and the Northern: Torn Apart but Meeting Again?

Author:
Pertti Joenniemi and Marko Lehti
Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The North is no longer as immobile and sedimented as before. It does not just mark something local and extremely peripheral but has turned into an increasingly legitimate marker of Europeanness in the form of the EU's Northern Dimension Initiative. The marker is not just used to frame some space in the margins of the European configuration; it is also used as an umbrella in co-ordinating the relationships between specific regional formations such as Nordic, Baltic, Barents and Arctic co-operation. This added centrality of the North raises a host of questions about the unfolding of political space in the northern part ofEurope. Our aim here is to tackle some of them by exploring in particular the encounter that is now unfolding between the new North and the more traditional Norden, two configurations that to some extent compete for the same space. Essential relationships are being re-negotiated, this enforcing various actors to choose between different representational frames, each with their own specific identities and spatial coverage. Above all, we seek to provide the encounter with a temporal background in viewing both of them as discursive constructs that are condusive to change.
Political Geography:
Europe and Nordic Nations

18437. NATO and The South-Eastern Europe – Powerless of Powerfuls And Power of Weaks in Ethnic Conflicts

Author:
Zlatko Isakovic
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Several major interrelated events overshadowed others within the relationships between NATO and the countries of the South-eastern Europe last few years. Among them seems to be on the top of the list the NATO enlargement process, the NATO engagement in the Kosovo conflict, and the transformation of NATO's role or mission.
Topic:
Security and NATO
Political Geography:
Europe

18438. Intrastate Conflicts, International Interventions and their Implications on Security Issues, Case of Kosovo

Author:
Enika Abazi
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Intra-state conflicts are not a new phenomenon. Since 1945 they have been more frequent and more violent than inter-state warfare (SIPRI-UNESCO Handbook, 1998: 13-25). With the end of the Cold War these tendencies exuberated following mostly in the lines of ethno-national and separatist-armed conflicts, bringing a significant shift in the perception of security issues and alternative approaches to it, especially in Europe. In particular, the changing dialogue of sovereignty, identity and security and international responsibility appears to be increasingly significant. Considering that the prepositions in IR depend on both empirical validity and logical soundness a theoretical exercise on the case of intra-state conflicts questions the validity of the traditional state developed concept of security. The path is open for new interpretations and understanding of normative, operational and structural issues in contemporary world politics.
Topic:
Security, Ethnic Conflict, and Sovereignty
Political Geography:
Europe

18439. Turkey and Europe: Ongoing Hypocrisy?

Author:
Dietrich Jung
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
“There is only one way to escape these dangers, which is to emulate the progress of the Europeans in science, industry and military and legal organization, in other words to equal them in civilization. And the only way to do this is to enter European civilization completely” (Ziya Gökalp1876-1924). These words of Ziya Gökalp, the most prominent nationalist intellectual of the late Ottoman Empire, whom Mustafa Kemal Atatürk himself called the “intellectual father of the new Republic”, nicely reveal the historical paradox behind Turkish-European relations. They are an expression of both Turkey's desire to be acknowledged as a European state and the deeply rooted Turkish mistrust vis-à-vis the intentions of Europe. The victim of European power politics wants to be equal to its victimizers. On the basis of this paradox, this article claims that the mutual suspicions that have marred Turkish-EU relations cannot be understood without taking the historical legacies of Ottoman-European relations into account. In particular, it presents a critique of the flawed strategy of some circles that try to facilitate Turkey's EU accession by exploiting the country's geo-strategic assets. In putting the focus on security issues, the article will unmask the contradictions in this strategy, which rather contributes to maintaining the historically caused, distorted and sometimes hypocritical communication between Turkey and the EU.
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, and Middle East

18440. Globalisation and the Eroding State Monopoly of Legitimate Violence

Author:
Anna Leander
Publication Date:
08-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
This paper is an attempt to trace the link between processes which are usually bundled under the label “globalisation” and the eroding state monopoly of legitimate violence. In a nutshell, I will claim that globalisation has the dual effect of displacing politics and of diffusing authority, there by diminishing the state's legitimacy and capacity to monopolize violence respectively.
Topic:
Security and Globalization

18441. Europe and the Crises in the Great Lakes Region

Author:
Bjørn Møller
Publication Date:
08-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The first question one must ask is whether “the Great Lakes Region” is in fact a meaningful and useful frame of analysis.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Africa and Europe

18442. Another Sociology for IR? An Analysis of Niklas Luhmann's Conceptualisation of Power

Author:
Stefano Guzzini
Publication Date:
08-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
In the context of the present sociological turn in International Relations, this paper aims at relating theoretical discussions in International Relations to Niklas Luhmann's social theory. It proposes a dialogue through the analysis of power in Luhmann's theory, a concept which is often considered central in IR theorising. Given the frequently tautological use of power in social theory (and in particular in IR), many social theorists have tried to circumscribe the role of power in their theories. But Niklas Luhmann is one of the few non-individualist theoreticians who ends up having a very reduced role for power in his social theory.
Topic:
International Relations and Political Economy

18443. French Military Doctrine in the 1990s

Author:
Sten Rynning
Publication Date:
08-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The end of the Cold War and the disappearance of the strategic rationale for territorial nuclear deterrence have raised fundamental questions in relation to French military doctrine. Significant territorial threats have disappeared, and the main role for military instruments now lies on the peripheries of Europe or further beyond. For those who had invested faith in nuclear deterrence and strategic stability—and that concerns most actors not only in France but also elsewhere among NATO allies—this change of events has been a severe challenge. President Mitterrand symbolizes the pains of adjustment in many ways as he never seriously considered changing track and became instead an ardent opponent of profound reform.
Topic:
Defense Policy, NATO, Cold War, Nuclear Weapons, and Reform
Political Geography:
Europe and France

18444. Raising Armies in a Rough Neigh-bourhood: Soldiers, Guerillas and Mercenaries in Southern Africa

Author:
Bjørn Møller
Publication Date:
08-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
While the instruments of war, including the weaponry, are surely important, one of the timeless verities of war is that it is fought by people against other people. It therefore matters how armies are raised, as this has, among other things, an impact on the loyalty, “morale” and fighting spirit of the troops, hence also on the military power available to the State. The choice between a militia structure, universal conscription or professionalization (or even privatization) also has implications for civil-military relations and may thus have a (beneficial or detrimental) impact on state-building.
Topic:
Security and War
Political Geography:
Africa

18445. Structural Geopolitics in Europe: Constructing Geopolitical Subjectivity for the EU and Russia

Author:
Pami Aalto
Publication Date:
07-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
This paper is designed to elucidate structural geopolitics in Europe. This entails mapping the main structural developments and processes in contemporary Europe in the sphere of spatially and geographically coloured politics, i.e. geopolitics.
Topic:
International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

18446. Global Conditions and Global Constraints: The International Paternity of the Palestinian Nation

Author:
Dietrich Jung
Publication Date:
07-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
In a recent article, Michael Mandelbaum depicted Middle Eastern states as the most combative members of the international community. He painted the picture of a region in which “traditional motives for war – gold and God – are still alive” (Mandelbaum 1999). In line with this rather stereotypical perspective, the Middle East is often viewed as a zone of conflict, in which competition for scarce resources (“gold”) inevitably leads to violent encounters between actors that are guided by irrational ideas (“God”). The long and bloody history of the Palestine conflict has contributed a lot to coroberating this image of a region in which violence seems to be endemic. In terminating the so-called Middle East Peace Process, the current “Al-Aqsa Intifada” marks another violent step in this conflict that has frequently escalated to warlike proportions in the form of popular unrest, communal riots, anti-colonial insurgencies, guerilla and terror attacks, as well as civil and inter-state wars. Yet behind these waves of violence and counter-violence, we can easily discern patterns of a kind of nationalist conflict with which European history is far more familiar than the stereotype of Middle Eastern irrationality admits. Despite the academic obsession with proclaiming the “end of territoriality” and the “decline of the nation-state”, the Palestine conflict represents a painful but vivid remnant of those national conflicts that politically characterized the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Europe.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and International Organization
Political Geography:
Europe, Palestine, and Arab Countries

18447. Democracy, Human rights and Ethnica Conflicts in the Process of Globalisation

Author:
Zlatko Isakovic
Publication Date:
06-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The aim of this paper is to elaborate relationships between democracy, human rights and ethnic conflicts in the globalised world. The first part is devoted to analysis of the impacts of democracy and human rights on the ethnic conflicts, and second elaborates impacts of the conflicts on the democracy and human rights. Both parts are supposed to elaborate the topic within the context of globalised world. The main conclusion is that if a system cannot be qualified as democratic one and respectful for human rights, appears the complex dilemma what should and would come first: developing democracy and/or respecting human rights or eliminating ethnic conflicts or preventing their escalations/deescalating them.
Topic:
Democratization, Ethnic Conflict, Globalization, and Human Rights

18448. Austria's Role in an Enlarged European Union

Author:
Benita Ferrero-Waldner
Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
European unity has come a long way. As early as 1946 – under the impression of the cataclysm of World War II – statesmen like Winston Churchill dreamed of a better Europe. “We must build a kind of United States of Europe”, Churchill said.
Topic:
Political Economy
Political Geography:
Europe and Asia

18449. The International Symposium: At the Front Lines of Conflict Prevention in Asia

Author:
Hisashi Owada
Publication Date:
07-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Japan Institute Of International Affairs (JIIA)
Abstract:
The Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) held an international symposium in July 2001 entitled "At the Front Lines of Conflict Prevention in Asia" and sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA). This is a summary record of the symposium proceedings.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Asia

18450. Africa Policy Outlook 2001

Publication Date:
01-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
By the end of the year 2000, a peace treaty between Ethiopia and Eritrea, peaceful transfers of power after elections in Senegal and Ghana, and continued growth of public debate about the future in almost every African country were among signs of advance in a year that was more than usually short of good news. Economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa was estimated to climb to 2.7 percent for the year, up from 2.1 percent in 1999. Per capita income in the region south of the Sahara rose by an estimated two tenths of one percent. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced debt reduction packages of $34 billion for 22 countries, including 18 in Africa.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Debt, Development, Diplomacy, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Africa, Ethiopia, Senegal, Eritrea, and Ghana