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58442. Prenegotiations: The Theory and How to Apply It to Balkan Issues
- Author:
- Plamen Pantev
- Publication Date:
- 07-1998
- Content Type:
- Case Study
- Institution:
- Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
- Abstract:
- The issues, the activities and the relations preceding the formal international negotiations have increasingly become an area of a special theoretic interest. The prenegotiation or the prenegotiation phase is part of the broader issue of the dynamic interactive process of international negotiations. The pace, the contents and the direction of the negotiation process is influenced by various factors: foreign-policy bureaucracy in the individual negotiating countries, the personal peculiarities of the very negotiators, the international-political environment of the on-going negotiations, etc. The system constituted by the interactive relationship of the negotiating parties is certainly one of these factors and all the prenegotiating activity before formal negotiations have begun does matter in shaping and understanding the actual negotiation process. Both the cooperative and the conflicting relations in Southeastern Europe have run into regulative problems part of which are caused by inadequate preparatory prenegotiation work. Examples of that are the deadlocked bilateral relations between Bulgaria and FYROM - The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; the incapacity to duplicate right away the successful agreement for the creation of the Multinational Peace-keeping Force of Southeastern Europe (MPFSEE) with an agreement of the place for the headquarters of this rapid-reaction force and an important confidence and security building measure in the worried Balkan region; the inadequate involvement in an informal way of counterparts from the FRY by broader multilateral Balkan fora to show how the developments in Kosovo are perceived by experts, the broader public and politicians in the neighbouring Southeast European countries; the slow process of historical rapprochements in the Balkan peninsula; the deadlocked Bulgarian-Romanian case of the construction of the second bridge over the Danube and many others. The Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS) continues its three-dimensional work of conceptualizing the post-Cold War political, social, economic and security situation in Southeastern Europe, of finding the adequate tools to cope with the existing issues and of moving more effectively to becoming a part of the Euroatlantic security community. An improved negotiation culture and capacity of all the players in the Southeast European region, including at the prenegotiation stage is a fundamental reason and motive of carrying out this study. It is hoped to be just a part of a broader research and educational activity in the field of international negotiations ISIS intends to carry out individually and in cooperation with other national and foreign partners - by traditional means and through the potential opportunities Internet presents for bringing closer more people together. Negotiating to prevent and manage conflicts in the Balkans, to cope with a vast array of post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation issues as well as to channel the region-building activity in Southeastern Europe - all they necessitate an enhanced international negotiation potential for all actors in the area that ISIS is ready to stimulate, educate and catalyse. There is no doubt for the author of this study these three different kinds of negotiating activity in the Balkans have specific reflections on the prenegotiation activity and theory and vice versa - an issue that further needs to be scrutinized and thought over.
- Topic:
- Security, Negotiation, and Reconciliation
- Political Geography:
- Eastern Europe and Balkans
58443. Fact Sheet: India and Pakistan—Current and Potential Nuclear Arsenals
- Author:
- David Albright
- Publication Date:
- 05-1998
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
- Abstract:
- The decision by India to conduct five nuclear tests in May 1998 threatens to spark an all-out nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan. Both India and Pakistan have developed the capability to produce unsafeguarded weapon-grade plutonium and weapon-grade uranium (WGU) for nuclear weapons. However, until now, both countries have constrained their nuclear competition, preferring to keep their arsenals undeployed. In addition, Pakistan decided in the early 1990s to stop producing weapon-grade uranium, in essence capping its stock of material for nuclear weapons. India is widely perceived to have a significantly larger nuclear arsenal than Pakistan. The following estimate shows that if a nuclear arms race developed between India and Pakistan and Pakistan decided to resume WGU production, India’s overwhelming advantage could disappear.
- Topic:
- Nuclear Weapons, Weapons, and Competition
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan and India
58444. Preventing a South Asian Arms Race
- Author:
- Kevin O'Neill
- Publication Date:
- 05-1998
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
- Abstract:
- India’s five nuclear tests, conducted during the week of May 11, 1998, and indications from Pakistan that it may test nuclear weapons clearly show that international efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in South Asia have failed. The Clinton administration, which quietly acknowledged the nuclear weapons-capability of India and Pakistan even before India’s tests, must now openly address a possible nuclear arms race on the subcontinent.
- Topic:
- Nuclear Weapons, Weapons, and Arms Race
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, South Asia, and India
58445. Ethnopolitical Conflicts in Eastern Europe and the OSCE - An Interim Appraisal
- Author:
- Stefan Troebst
- Publication Date:
- 07-1998
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
- Abstract:
- Three levels or institutions have emerged as crucial within the OSCE framework for handling ethnopolitical conflicts in Eastern Europe—the Permanent Council made up of the OSCE Permanent Representatives of the currently 55 participating States, the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities and the long-term missions which the OSCE maintains in over a dozen trouble spots. The OSCE shows considerable success indealing with ethnopolitical conflicts where away from its rivalry with the United Nations, NATO or the European Union it can set its sights somewhat lower — Chechnya, Crimea, the Baltic states, South Ossetia, Transdniestria, Macedonia and Eastern Slavonia. Here OSCE has succeeded in transforming conflicts that have broken out and in contributing to the prevention of future conflicts. However, major conflicts such as Bosnia-Hercegovina or Nagorny-Karabakh appear to be too unmanageable for OSCE’s still embryonic structures with its insufficient military know-how and low acceptance among major partners.
- Topic:
- International Cooperation, Ethnicity, Discrimination, Institutions, and Oppression
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Eastern Europe
58446. Elite Circulation & Consolidation of Democracy in Poland
- Author:
- Jacek Wasilewski
- Publication Date:
- 01-1997
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- The paper examines two aspects of democratic consolidation-institution building and value consensus through analysis of the old and new elites in Poland. It argues that although Polish democracy is established and working, it has not been fully consolidated. Poland represents the case of a ·shallow consolidation," i.e., all elements constituting a consolidated democratic regime are in place, but relations among them do not form a coherent structure typical of mature democracies.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Elites, Consolidation, and Democratic Transitions
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Eastern Europe, and Poland
58447. Unionists Against Unions: Towards Hierarchical Management in Postcommunist Poland
- Author:
- David Ost and Marc Weinstein
- Publication Date:
- 01-1997
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- Contrary to standard assumptions about union opposition to economic reform, our survey of firm-level deci sion makers in ninety-five manufacturing enterprises shows that Polish trade union leaders have strong pro-market leanings, and are profoundly skeptical of the utility of institutionalized employee influence in a market economy. This skepticism towards unions is shared by rank-and-file workers, as reported in other surveys. Industrial relations institutions in Poland are becoming less participatory and increasingly hierar chical according to a number of indicators, and this is due not just to coercion from above but acquies cence from below. At the same time, unionists in practice maintain a strong presence in non-private firms. This lingering employee influence stems, paradoxically, from a belief in property rights: unionists believe that private owners should be able to manage their assets as they choose, for this will allegedly benefit workers; but where private owners are lacking, unionists feel employees must act as temporary watchdogs. Long-term prospects for unions thus appear weak, and the weakness of institutions articulating labor inter ests can lead toward the delegitimation of democratic institutions in general. Finally, rational choice and historical institutionalist approaches are seen as unable to explain our findings. An ideational explanation appears to be the most plausible.
- Topic:
- Reform, Unions, Hierarchy, and Post-Communism
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Eastern Europe, and Poland
58448. Teenage Childbearing and Personal Responsibility: An Alternative View
- Author:
- Arline T. Geronimus
- Publication Date:
- 09-1997
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Political Science Quarterly
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- ARLINE T. GERONIMUS examines widely-shared assumptions about teen childbearing that informed the welfare reform debate. She argues that the scientific basis for these assumptions is equivocal and questions the belief that teen childbearing always represents irrationality and the abdication of personal responsibility.
- Topic:
- Reform, Youth, Welfare, Social Responsibility, and Parenthood
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
58449. Turkey-The Return of the Reluctant Generals?
- Author:
- Ben Lombardi
- Publication Date:
- 07-1997
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Political Science Quarterly
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- BEN LOMBARDI reviews developments currently affecting Turkish politics. He compares current trends with events in Turkey that preceded the three military coups in 1960, 1971, and 1980, and suggests that intervention in that country's domestic politics by the armed forces is a distinct possibility.
- Topic:
- History, Armed Forces, Domestic Politics, and Coup
- Political Geography:
- Turkey and Middle East
58450. Full Faith and Credit for Same-Sex Marriages?
- Author:
- Ken I. Kersch
- Publication Date:
- 03-1997
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Political Science Quarterly
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- KEN I. KERSCH addresses federalism questions involving the obligations of states to recognize same-sex marriages under the full faith and credit clause. He argues that a consideration of traditional norms of comity among states along with the nation's experience with analogous disputes concerning slavery and antimiscegnation statutes would be useful to policy makers grappling with the issue.
- Topic:
- Domestic Politics, LGBT+, Federalism, and Marriage
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America