Political Geography: Europe / Topic: Human Welfare

1. Industrial Relations and Social Dialogue in the Age of the Collaborative Economy (IRSDACE).

Author:: Luis Fernando Medina Sierra
Publication Date:: 11-2018
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Fundación Alternativas
Abstract:: The present document has three goals: first, present an overview of the main legal and regulatory developments regarding the digital platforms; second, reflect the diversity of view that these technologies have generated among the social actors (unions, workers, government and enterprises) and third, offer a comparative framework to make sense of this diversity and the challenges it presents for labor relations and social dialogue. The institutional response has been so far mainly reactive, giving rise to ambiguities that may generate conflicts in need of resolution. But the structure of the different industries where these platforms have been introduced is such that the workers' experiences, their opportunities and their incentives to organize are all markedly heterogeneous. Given the way in which digital platforms redefines the labor relationship between workers and companies, any possible regulation will entail a serious rethinking of key aspects of the welfare state.
Topic:: Human Welfare, Labor Issues, Regulation, and Digital Economy
Political Geography:: Europe, Spain, Western Europe, and Mediterranean

2. Toward a European Migration and Mobility Union

Author:: Jacob Funk Kirkegaard
Publication Date:: 12-2015
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:: After surviving its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and the near collapse of its common currency, Europe is now engulfed by hundreds of thousands of desperate migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa. It needs new and permanent migration institutions and resources not only to accommodate the influx of refugees but also to set up a new border control system throughout the region. These demands pose a challenge for European policymaking as serious as the euro crisis of the last five years. Kirkegaard proposes a migration and mobility union, to be implemented gradually, with the goal of comprehensively reforming European migration policy.
Topic:: Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, Migration, Governance, and Refugees
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, and Middle East

3. A Political Economy of Slum Spaces: Mathare Valley

Author:: Tiberius Barasa and Andvig Jens Chr
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: The starting point of the paper is the spatial characteristics of slums when it seeks to explain why rulers tend to neglect the welfare of their dwellers: they don't have to. Their economies are fairly closed. While located close to the centers of power, their high population density implies that they cover small space and are easy to cordon off in case of danger. The ease of control from the outside allows rulers to spend less attention to the control of their complex inside. Particularly when a slum is based on shack architecture, the high degree of mutual monitoring among dwellers may cause sharp shifts in the control regime of crime. The emphasis on spatial configurations motivates the focus on one specific slum: Mathare Valley. Paths back to colonial rule are outlined. The paper is stylistically unkempt.
Topic:: Economics, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Politics
Political Geography:: Europe and Eastern Europe

4. Why Europe must stop outsourcing its security

Author:: Richard Gowan and Nick Witney
Publication Date:: 12-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:: The EU claims to be in the business of “crisis management” – ready if need be to make “robust” military interventions to control conflict, especially in its neighbourhood. In practice, it now prefers to “outsource” such interventions to others, notably the United Nations and African Union (AU), limiting itself to supporting roles. This is not just shabby; it also saps Europe's influence in a world in which European interests and values are increasingly contested. And it places too great a burden on organisations such as the UN and AU. Unless the EU rediscovers a willingness to bear the costs and risks of military operations to control conflict, Europe can expect everintensifying refugee pressure on its southern borders. Although military force will not help in Ukraine or the turmoil of the Middle East, the EU could make a big difference if it were prepared to do more in crisis management in Africa. The EU could contribute to or complement UN or AU efforts in a variety of ways. Responding to the crisis in UN peacekeeping, Ban Kimoon has ordered a review. New EU High Representative Federica Mogherini should do the same, involving outside experts in a stock-take of international efforts to control conflict to Europe's south and commissioning specific proposals to get the EU back to playing a properly responsible security role.
Topic:: Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, United Nations, and Refugee Issues
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, Ukraine, and Middle East

5. Coordination of Social Security Schemes. The Case of SADC

Author:: Ockert Dupper
Publication Date:: 05-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:: This paper will explore whether and to what extent the (legal) rules of coordination that originated and developed in the EU can be transposed to SADC – a region characterized by high levels of migration, weakly developed social security systems and the absence of suitable portability arrangements. The principle of coordination of social security is primarily aimed at eliminating restrictions that national social security schemes place upon the rights of migrant workers to such social security. One of the fundamental principles of social security coordination is that of portability, which is the ability to preserve, maintain, and transfer vested social security rights or rights in the process of being vested, independent of nationality and country of residence. The best practice around the world to ensure portability of social security entitlements consists of multilateral and bilateral social security agreements. These agreements originated and developed in the EU, and EU coordination arrangements arguably still represent the most sophisticated and developed system of its kind, and one that is worth emulating. In this paper, it is argued that any future attempts at coordinating social security schemes in SADC should start with employment injury schemes, which is the only social security scheme common to all SADC member states. The paper considers some of the issues that should be taken into account in designing social security agreements in SADC along the lines of the EU model.
Topic:: Economics, Human Rights, Human Welfare, Migration, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:: Europe

6. The Scottish Doughnut: A safe and just operating space for Scotland

Author:: Katherine Trebeck and Malcolm Sayers
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: We live on a fragile planet which is under increased human stress, to the extent that we are transgressing several of the planetary boundaries as mapped out by the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC). We share this planet with over seven billion fellow human beings, too many of whom face extraordinary challenges in building a life free of poverty, indignity, powerlessness and fear. While a small number of people are using the most resources, simultaneously too many are unable to lead lives in which they can flourish and live with dignity.
Topic:: Economics, Environment, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: United Kingdom and Europe

7. What Future for Human Rights?

Author:: James W. Nickel
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Abstract:: Like people born shortly after World War II, the international human rights movement recently had its sixty-fifth birthday. This could mean that retirement is at hand and that death will come in a few decades. After all, the formulations of human rights that activists, lawyers, and politicians use today mostly derive from the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the world in 1948 was very different from our world today: the cold war was about to break out, communism was a strong and optimistic political force in an expansionist phase, and Western Europe was still recovering from the war. The struggle against entrenched racism and sexism had only just begun, decolonization was in its early stages, and Asia was still poor (Japan was under military reconstruction, and Mao's heavy-handed revolution in China was still in the future). Labor unions were strong in the industrialized world, and the movement of women into work outside the home and farm was in its early stages. Farming was less technological and usually on a smaller scale, the environmental movement had not yet flowered, and human-caused climate change was present but unrecognized. Personal computers and social networking were decades away, and Earth's human population was well under three billion.
Topic:: Climate Change, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Political Economy, Sovereignty, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: United States, Japan, China, Europe, Asia, and United Nations

8. The Future of Human Rights: A View from the United Nations

Author:: Andrew Gilmour
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Abstract:: Ever since the Charter of the United Nations was signed in 1945, human rights have constituted one of its three pillars, along with peace and development. As noted in a dictum coined during the World Summit of 2005: "There can be no peace without development, no development without peace, and neither without respect for human rights." But while progress has been made in all three domains, it is with respect to human rights that the organization's performance has experienced some of its greatest shortcomings. Not coincidentally, the human rights pillar receives only a fraction of the resources enjoyed by the other two—a mere 3 percent of the general budget.
Topic:: Climate Change, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Political Economy, Sovereignty, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Europe and United Nations

9. From Empire to Sovereignty — and Back?

Author:: Jens Bartelson
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Abstract:: Sovereignty apparently never ceases to attract scholarly attention. Long gone are the days when its meaning was uncontested and its essential attributes could be safely taken for granted by international theorists. During the past decades international relations scholars have increasingly emphasized the historical contingency of sovereignty and the mutability of its corresponding institutions and practices, yet these accounts have been limited to the changing meaning and function of sovereignty within the international system. This focus has served to reinforce some of the most persistent myths about the origin of sovereignty, and has obscured questions about the diffusion of sovereignty outside the European context.
Topic:: Climate Change, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Political Economy, Sovereignty, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Europe

10. Innovative and absorptive capacity effects of education in a small, open economy

Author:: Taran Fæhn and Brita Bye
Publication Date:: 12-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: Evidence points to relatively low supply elasticities for workers skilled for research and development (R), which can hamper innovation and growth. Increasing the supply of R skills will expand an economy's innovative capacity. A simultaneous effect of increased education, which is particularly important for small, open economies, is to raise final goods producers' capacity to absorb cross-border knowledge spillovers. In a calibrated endogenous growth model for Norway, we find that increasing the share of highly educated workers has pronounced absorptive capacity effects that partially crowd out R innovation. Both innovative and absorptive capacity expansions contribute to higher growth and welfare.
Topic:: Development, Education, Human Welfare, Markets, and Labor Issues
Political Geography:: Europe

11. Incentives for Life: Cash-on-Delivery Aid for Tobacco Control in Developing Countries

Author:: Amanda Glassman and Thomas J. Bollyky
Publication Date:: 04-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:: Fewer people are smoking in the United States, Europe, and most of the developing world. Excise taxes, bans on smoking in public places, and graphic health warnings are achieving such dramatic reductions in tobacco use in developed countries that a recent Citigroup Bank investment analysis speculated that smoking could virtually disappear in wealthy countries over the next thirty to fifty years.
Topic:: Health and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: United States and Europe

12. The Informal Europeanization of EU Member State Immigration Policies

Author:: Silvia Cavasola
Publication Date:: 09-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:: For years the EU has been fostering a common policy to integrate immigrants. Yet, whether its efforts have progressively created something like a homogeneous European model of integration remains an open question. An analysis of the approach to immigrant integration in the EU member states that receive the largest immigration flows, as well as of EU initiatives to promote greater policy harmonization among its member states, shows that partial convergence in national integration strategies is linked more to interstate emulation and parallel path development than to proactive EU legislation on the matter. This trend can be referred to as a process of “informal Europeanization”.
Topic:: Development, Human Welfare, Migration, Labor Issues, and Immigration
Political Geography:: Europe

13. The Future of the European Convention on Human Rights after the Brighton Conference

Author:: Antonio Bultrini
Publication Date:: 09-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:: It is widely recognized that the European Convention on Human Rights has led to the most advanced human rights protection system to date - and represents an important benchmark for several other international bodies. The individual right of application to the European Court, which unlike other human rights treaties is compulsory for State parties, is a unique feature and pillar of the system. However, the European Court is presently overwhelmed by an abnormal caseload: about 150,000 applications are currently pending in Strasbourg. Recent reforms have increased the Court’s efficiency. Yet the British Government has just tried to promote a new reform of the system. This attempt was not entirely disinterested and has led to an unprecedented mobilization by international civil society. The British move has nonetheless triggered a debate on the real challenges facing the European system.
Topic:: Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:: United Kingdom and Europe

14. European Union accession to the European Convention on Human Rights: an institutional "marriage"

Author:: Konstantinos G. Margaritis
Publication Date:: 08-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
Abstract:: A possible accession of European Union (hereinafter: EU/the Union) to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR/the Convention) has been discussed in legal society for more than thirty years. The topic had widely opened after the 1979 Commission Memorandum where the major pros and cons were underlined and practical problems were addressed. This discussion led to an official request to the European Court of Justice (ECJ/the Court) in relation to the legality of such accession; the outcome was included in opinion 2/94 that found such accession incompatible with the European Community (EC/the Community) Treaty. However, the whole argumentation regarding EU accession to ECHR had originated earlier, the first approach of the sensitive issue of fundamental rights. Technical problems arose from the other part as well. The ECHR was constructed for States to participate in so the accession of an organization such as the EU would demand significant amendments. A relevant proposal from the Council of Europe's point of view was manifested in the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH) Document DG-II 2002. protection at an EU level was directed by the ECJ that had envisaged the conceptual influence of the Convention to the EU and developed the doctrine of Community protection of fundamental rights.
Topic:: Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:: Europe

15. New Research on Transitional Justice

Publication Date:: 02-2011
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Harriman Institute
Abstract:: Participants: Aryeh Neier (Founder, Human Rights Watch and President, Open Society Institute), Monika Nalepa (Political Science Department, Notre Dame University), Lara Nettelfield (Post-Doctoral Fellow, Harriman Institute, Columbia University), Tina Rosenberg (Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Haunted Land: Facing Europe\'s Ghosts after Communism), Ruti Teitel (Ernst C. Stiefel Professor of Comparative Law, and Associate Director, Center for International Law, New York Law School, and Visiting Professor, London School of Economics), and Leslie Vinjamuri (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London). This event is part of the "Human Rights in the Post-Communist World: Strategies and Outcomes " series (Harriman Core Project 2010-2011).
Topic:: Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, Post Colonialism, and Law
Political Geography:: Africa, New York, and Europe

16. Living Standards in an Ageing, Greener, Knowledge Economy: Towards a period of lean cows?

Author:: Jørgen Mortensen
Publication Date:: 12-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: This paper provides evidence on past growth of productivity, analysing the evolution of labour productivity, capital deepening and multi-factor productivity. Based on a literature review of recent studies, it shows that economic growth is increasingly attributable to the accumulation of intangible capital and that consequently, an increasing share of conventionally measured rise in labour productivity has, in fact, been ploughed back into the economy as intangible capital formation. In addition, it shows that on average for the developed countries examined, the growth of total factor productivity has been the main determinant of the increase in living standards over the 50 years from 1960 to 2010. It also demonstrates a striking slowdown in the growth of both productivity and living standards during this period. Looking ahead, it argues that the period 2010 to 2030 is likely to see a considerable expansion of tangible and intangible capital formation and lower growth of multi-factor productivity. The paper therefore concludes that over the next 20 years the scope for growth in living standards in the developed economies will be very limited, on average around half a percent per annum, with serious consequences for social conditions and a likely aggravation of inequalities.
Topic:: Economics, Globalization, Human Welfare, and Labor Issues
Political Geography:: Europe

17. The uncertain legitimacy of occupational health policies

Author:: Emmanuel Henry
Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Political Sociology
Abstract:: Because they deal with issues of bodily integrity and health, the policies managing occupational risks reveal the contradictions of public action in the field of occupational relationships, and the fragile compromises to which they lead. This paper sets out to question the difficulties related to the legitimisation of public policies in the field of workplace health. We analyse the reasons why these policies are difficult to legitimate and present an overview of the solutions that have been elaborated to answer this problem. The recent evolutions of public health policies, notably the arrival of new actors in traditional arenas of negotiation tend to weaken these compromises and force actors to elaborate new modes of action. These evolutions should then be analysed by taking into account other public policies, in order to determine to what extent the management of occupational risks is undergoing the same transformations or if this field remains unaffected.
Topic:: Health, Human Welfare, and Politics
Political Geography:: Europe

18. The refugee, the sovereign and the sea : EU interdiction policies in the Mediterranean

Author:: Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen
Publication Date:: 03-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: This paper starts from the encounter between a European navy vessel and a dinghy carrying boat refugees and other desperate migrants across the Mediterranean or West African Sea towards Europe. It explores the growing trend in the EU of enacting migration control at the high seas or international waters – so-called interdiction. It is argued that these forms of extraterritorial migration control aim at reconquering the efficiency of the sovereign function to control migration, by trying to either deconstruct or shift correlate obligations vis-à-vis refugees and other persecuted persons to third States. In both instances, European States are entering into a sovereignty game, in which creative strategies are developed in order to reassert sovereign power unconstrained by national and international obligations.
Topic:: Human Welfare, International Law, Migration, and Sovereignty
Political Geography:: Europe and West Africa

19. The New Human Rights Council: The First Two Years -- Report

Author:: Miko Lempinen
Publication Date:: 11-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:: The European University Institute, the Istituto Affari Internazionali, and the Institute for Human Rights at Åbo Akademi University organized a workshop "The New Human Rights Council: The First Two Years" on 7-8 November 2007 in Florence. The purpose of the workshop was to evaluate and assess the potentials of the newly established United Nations Human Rights Council in promoting universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Topic:: Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Cooperation, and United Nations
Political Geography:: Europe

20. Corporate Values in Local Contexts Work Systems and Workers' Welfare in Western and Eastern Europe

Author:: Marta Kahancová
Publication Date:: 03-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: European Research Papers Archive
Abstract:: Increased international competition poses challenges to companies' organizational practices, including human resource management. For multinational companies operating simultaneously in diverse local conditions this challenge implies a decision between either opting for universal best practices or adapting their employment strategy to differing local standards in host countries. What influences whether work practices are similar or differ when deployed in differing conditions? Why are some companies committed to their workers' welfare while others are not? This paper attempts to answer these questions by studying work practices, namely work systems and fringe benefits, in a Dutch multinational company (MNC) and its manufacturing subsidiaries in Western and Eastern Europe. Evidence suggests that the observed patterns are best explained by the interplay of three factors. Rational economic interest, company values, and local institutions yield subsidiary work practices that are embedded in, but not adapted to, local standards. The MNC's value system accounts for the fact that generous benefits are offered without a direct relation to the company's profit maximization and without external societal and institutional pressures to provide such benefits.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe

21. Web Links on Small Arms, Children and Education

Publication Date:: 03-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: South Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons
Abstract:: In March 2006 SEESAC commissioned an Education Consultant to determine the need for a school curriculum on small arms throughout the Western Balkan countries through consultation with relevant stakeholders; a review of available literature on the subject of small arms, children and youth and examination of evaluation reports from previous risk education projects conducted in South Eastern Europe (SEE).
Topic:: Arms Control and Proliferation, Civil Society, Education, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe

22. Violations of Human Rights during Military Operations in Chechnya

Author:: Federico Sperotto
Publication Date:: 02-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
Abstract:: The case-law of the European Court of Human Rights concerning violations of human rights law during armed conflict has been extended after the first decisions on cases arose from violations, committed during the war in Chechnya between 1999 and 2000. In the words of the Court, at that time the situation called for exceptional measures, in order to regain control over the Republic and suppress an illegal armed insurgency. The Court has been ready to admit those measures, including the deployment of army units equipped with heavy combat weapons, military aviation and artillery, were necessary to counter the aggressiveness of the separatists, but in such a way as to avoid or minimize, to the greatest extent possible, damage to civilians. This brief paper focuses on the means and methods employed. It aims firstly at illustrating the core of the Court's decisions, in order to identify the key aspects of the protection granted by the system of the European Convention in situations requiring the use of military force. Then it clarifies the approach of the Court to the law of armed conflict.
Topic:: Human Rights and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, Asia, and Chechnya

23. Law in Times of War: the Case of Chechnya

Author:: Federico Sperotto
Publication Date:: 08-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
Abstract:: In October 1999 “the second Chechen war” broke out. In December the Russian federal army started an operation to take control of Grozny. During the confrontation between the Federal forces and the Chechen separatists, serious human rights violations occurred. Several cases concerning violations of fundamental rights, in and around the city, have been brought before the European Court of Human Rights against Russia. The lawsuits concerned in particular physical integrity issues. This study provides some insights on the jurisprudence of the European Court on Human Rights in order to ascertain the adequacy of the mechanism of protection provided by the European Convention of 1950 in situations of armed conflict.
Topic:: Human Rights, Human Welfare, and War
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, Asia, and Chechnya

24. Trafficking in Persons in South East Europe - a Threat to Human Security 11thWorkshop of the Study Group „Regional Stability in South East Europe”

Author:: Ayse Nilufer Narli, Akif Ayhan, Katerina Badikova, Nadya Dimitrova, Sueda Elif Tuba Dündar, Basak Kale, and Ladan Rahmani
Publication Date:: 09-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Austrian National Defence Academy
Abstract:: During the past decade, human trafficking and smuggling grew to a diverse multibillion dollar business across South East Europe and the entire globe. The concern about human smuggling and trafficking extends far beyond matters of security and law enforcement. The cost in human suffering and exploitation that often accompanies smuggling and trafficking cause human rights violations and deplete human capital in origin countries.
Topic:: Human Rights and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe, Turkey, Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Balkans

25. Human rights cooperation between Russia and European intergovernmental organisations: a one-way transference of norms or a mutual process of adaptation?

Author:: Sinikukka Saari
Publication Date:: 01-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: The European intergovernmental organisations such as the Council of Europe, OSCE and the EU have taken up the task to promote actively human rights in Russia. The organisations differ in methods, instrument s and over-all strategies but the goal of socialising Russia to common European human rights norms is the same for all these organisations. Socialisation means a process through which norms are transmitted from one party to another and they become firmly established domestic practices.
Topic:: Government, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and International Organization
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

26. Children and Small Arms Resource Guide - Public Health Approaches

Publication Date:: 11-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: South Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons
Abstract:: In March 2006 SEESAC commissioned an Education Consultant to determine the need for a school curriculum on small arms throughout the Western Balkan countries through consultation with relevant stakeholders, a review of available literature on the subject of small arms, children and youth, and examination of evaluation reports from previous risk education projects conducted in South Eastern Europe (SEE). This report is one of a series of publications on this issue.
Topic:: Arms Control and Proliferation, Civil Society, Education, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe

27. France and its Muslims: Riots, Jihadism and Depoliticisation

Publication Date:: 03-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: La France a un problème avec ses musulmans, mais ce n'est pas celui qu'elle croit. L'embrasement des banlieues d'octobre-novembre 2005 ainsi que la vague d'arrestations dans les milieux jihadistes ont ramené l'Islam au centre des préoccupations françaises et ont donné du souffle à ceux qui brandissent la me nace d'un monde musulman s'organisant à partir de l'islamisme politique. Pourtant, c'est tout le contraire: paradoxalement, c'est l'essoufflement de l'islamisme politique plus que sa radicalisation qui explique les violences à prédominance musulmane et c'est la dépolitisation des jeunes musulmans bien plus que leur prétendue re-communautarisation sur des bases radicales qui de vrait inquiéter. Afin de minimiser les risques de l'émeute et du militantisme jihadiste, il faudrait à la fois s'attaquer aux problèmes socio-économiques dont souffren t les cités, réduire les violences qui s'exercent contre elles, et favoriser la participation politique de ceux qui y résident.
Topic:: Ethnic Conflict, Human Welfare, and Religion
Political Geography:: Europe and France

28. Measuring Food Security Using Respondents' Perception of Food Consumption Adequacy

Author:: Benjamin Davis, Kathleen Beegle, Gero Caretto, and Mauro Migotto
Publication Date:: 08-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: Food security is a complex and multi-dimensional phenomenon. As such, its measurement may entail and benefit from the combination of both 'qualitative-subjective' and 'quantitative-objective' indicators. Yet, the evidence on the external validity of subjective-type information is scarce, especially using representative household surveys. The aim of this paper is to compare information on self-perceived food consumption adequacy from the subjective modules of household surveys with standard quantitative indicators, namely calorie consumption, dietary diversity and anthropometry. Datasets from four countries are analysed: Albania, Indonesia, Madagascar and Nepal. Simple descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients, contingency tables and multivariate regression show that the 'subjective' indicator is at best poorly correlated with standard quantitative indicators. The paper concludes that while subjective food adequacy indicators may provide insight on the vulnerability dimension of food insecurity, they are too blunt an indicator for food insecurity targeting. An effort towards developing improved subjective food security modules that are contextually sensitive should go hand in hand with research into how to improve household survey data for food security measurement along other dimensions of the phenomenon, particularly calorie consumption.
Topic:: Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, Indonesia, Asia, Nepal, Albania, and Madagascar

29. Health Improvements and Health Inequality during the Last 40 Years

Author:: Giovanni Andrea Cornia and Leonardo Menchini
Publication Date:: 02-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This paper juxtaposes changes over the last forty years in income growth and distribution with the mortality changes recorded at the aggregate level in about 170 countries and at the individual level in 26 countries with at least two demographic and health surveys covering the last twenty years. Over the 1980s and 1990s, the infant mortality rate, under-5 mortality rate, and life expectancy at birth mostly continued the favourable trends that characterized the 1960s and 1970s. Yet, especially in the 1990s, the pace of health improvement was slower than that recorded during the prior decades. In addition, the distribution between countries of aggregate health improvements became markedly more skewed. These trends are in part explained by the negative changes recorded in sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe, but are robust to the removal of the two regions from the sample. This tendency is observed also at the intraregional level, with the exception of Western Europe. Thirdly, demographic and health survey data for 26 developing countries point to a frequent divergence over time in the within-country distribution of gains in the infant mortality and under-5 mortality rates among children living in urban versus rural areas and belonging to families part of different quantiles of the asset distribution. The paper concludes by underscoring the similarities and linkages between changes in income inequality and health inequality and suggests some tentative explanations of these trends without, however, formally testing them.
Topic:: Development, Health, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe and Eastern Europe

30. Employment and Competitiveness: The Key Role of Education

Author:: Daniel Gros
Publication Date:: 02-2006
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: More than half way into the decade, it is clear that the ambitious goal to make the EU the 'most competitive economy' by 2010 will be missed. This contribution shows that investing more in education would be the key in terms of employment, a central element in the Lisbon goal. Improving the skills of the EU's population would have, inter alia, a direct impact on the employment rate. Reaching the Lisbon goal of an employment rate of 70% would be possible even without labour market reforms if the average level of qualification of the EU were to reach the benchmarks in this area (which in turn are very close to the values reached by the best performing member states).
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe and Lisbon

31. Big Cuts, Little Time: Welfare State Retrenchment in Sweden

Author:: Carl Dahlström
Publication Date:: 02-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:: When harsh cuts were introduced in the Swedish welfare state in an agreement between the centre-right government and the opposition Social Democrats in 1992, there were astonishingly few disagreements between the political parties as to which social groups should carry the burdens of the cuts. The conventional wisdom on welfare state retrenchment would lead us to expect a clash of interests, especially considering the strength of interest groups in Sweden and the different constituencies of the five parties included in the agreement. This paper explains why that did not happen. It argues that the role that key officials played in shaping the 1992 retrenchment agreement in Sweden was decisive in averting potential political conflicts. In a crisis, politicians depend on advice from officials as politicians need complex information, often under pressure of time. This paper argues that key state officials, through their advice, defined both the character of the crisis and the range of possible solutions. As the number of options was restricted, key officials were able to define what cuts were reasonable. Within this framework, politicians looked for practical solutions and, to a large extent, disregarded conflicts of interest. This paper also suggests that the content of such advice depends on what is called the loyalty of key officials, which depends on the terms of their employment.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe

32. The German ICT industry: Spatial Employment and Innovation Patterns

Author:: Björn Frank and Per Botolf Maurseth
Publication Date:: 02-2005
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: This paper documents recent developments in German ICT industries. In particular we report results on spatial patterns in innovation and employment in these industries. The paper is motivated by previous studies that have found that ICT industries seem to cluster geographically and having spatially clustered growth rates. In this study, we discriminate between production of ICT devices and production of ICT services. In Germany, production of ICT devices is concentrated in clusters of innovating regions (in terms of patents). ICT service production, on the other hand, is concentrated in larger urban areas. Growth rates in ICT-related employment show different spatial patterns. The data show that negative spatial effects are present for several sectors, which might give support for the so-called backwash effect described by Gunnar Myrdal (1957). For other sectors, positive spatial spillover effects may be present. For overall economic development (in terms of gross regional product per habitant) we find weak positive growth effects ICT, but these growth effects stem more from innovation than from production or use of ICT.
Topic:: Economics, Human Welfare, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:: Europe and Germany

33. Norway's Fredskorpset Youth Program: Study of Selected Exchange Projects

Author:: Axel Borchgrevink and Torild Skard
Publication Date:: 01-2005
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: The Fredskorpset Youth program is a North-South exchange program facilitating the exchange of young people between partner organizations or institutions of Norway and countries of the South. The present study was commissioned in order to assess the degree to which stated goals of the exchanges were realized. Four exchanges were selected to be studied: between a Norwegian and Kenyan student organization (AIESEC); between a Norwegian missionary organization (NMS) and its counterpart church in Madagascar (FLM); between local Red Cross organizations in Norway and Uganda; and between a Norwegian (VUC) and two Malawian teacher training institutions (CC, LTTC). Objectives of the programs included acquiring new knowledge, attitudes and commitment at the level of individual participants, organizational strengthening and development of international contacts at the institutional level, and dissemination of information. As goals were mostly quite loosely formulated, it was difficult to assess the degree to which they were realized with any precision. Findings varied between the exchanges, but in general individual objectives were reached to some extent, while results might have been even stronger with more systematic attention to them. Institutional goals were achieved in most of the cases. In terms of information dissemination, this could be strengthened in most of the exchange programs.
Topic:: Development, Human Welfare, and International Organization
Political Geography:: Uganda, Kenya, Europe, Norway, and Madagascar

34. CATO Institute: Health Care in a Free Society: Rebutting the Myths of National Health Insurance

Author:: John C. Goodman
Publication Date:: 01-2005
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Cato Institute
Abstract:: Almost everyone agrees that the U.S. health care system is in dire need of reform. But there are differing opinions on what kind of reform would be best. Some on the political left would like to see us copy one of the government-run “single-payer”systems that exist in Western Europe, Canada, and New Zealand, among other places. Proponents of socialized medicine point to other countries as examples of health care systems that are superior to our own. They insist that government will make health care available on the basis of need rather than ability to pay. The rich and poor will have equal access to care. And more serious medical needs will be given priority over less serious needs.
Topic:: Government, Human Welfare, and Politics
Political Geography:: United States, Europe, Canada, and New Zealand

35. Is the European Economy a Patient and the Union its Doctor? On Jobs and Growth in Europe

Author:: Sjef Ederveen, Albert van der Hoorst, and Paul Tang
Publication Date:: 04-2005
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: A stronger focus on jobs and growth is part of an effort to renew the Lisbon strategy. Yet the view that economic expansion contributes to maintaining Lisbon's other goals of social cohesion as well as the environment is somewhat optimistic. First, there are structural trade-offs among the central elements of the Lisbon strategy. Escaping these trade-offs temporarily is sometimes possible but requires policy changes. Second, higher productivity (growth) may not provide more structural room for governments to manoeuvre. It leads to higher tax receipts but also to higher public expenditures since public sector wages and social security benefits are linked to productivity. In contrast, more employment (jobs) is associated with a smaller public sector. But to engineer the increase in employment, changes in welfare state arrangements are needed. In other words, focussing solely on the sick child will probably harm the other children.
Topic:: Security, Development, Economics, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe and Lisbon

36. Multilateral Market-Access Reforms of the Doha Round: A Preliminary Assessment of Implications for EU Agricultural Trade

Author:: Wusheng Yu and Hans G. Jensen
Publication Date:: 01-2005
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: The July package of the Doha Round of trade negotiations stipulates that a tiered-formula approach should be used to significantly reduce market access barriers across countries, implying that the EU would have to make larger cuts to its high external tariffs, in comparison with many other WTO members such as the US. This paper provides a preliminary assessment of the likely impact of the tiered-formula reform approach on EU agricultural sectors. Numerical simulations of a multilateral market-access reform scenario show that such cuts would lead to across-the-board decreases in intra-EU trade flows, as compared with a baseline projection. While intra-EU trade flows would decrease, the EU's trade with the rest of the world would increase. Yet such increases would not be symmetric – imports into the EU would increase more than exports, resulting in larger external trade deficits or smaller external trade surpluses in many EU agricultural products. Further, the resulting adjustments in member states' production and net trade positions are not equal: the new member states would generally lose part of their export shares in the EU market to external competitors, as highlighted in the cases of bovine meat and dairy products.
Topic:: Economics, Human Welfare, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: United States and Europe

37. Oxfam Publishing: Euro-Med: Ensuring a fair deal

Author:: Nishant Pandey and Yara Abdul-Hamid
Publication Date:: 11-2005
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: When the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Euro-Med) was announced in Barcelona with a great fanfare in 1995, it was hoped that it would herald a new age in relations between the European Union (EU) and its ten southern Mediterranean partner countries, bringing unprecedented opportunities in the social, economic, and political fields.
Topic:: International Relations, Health, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe

38. The household water crisis in Syria's Greater Damascus Region'

Author:: Elie Elhadj
Publication Date:: 05-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:: Damascus residents talk in recent years of long periods of daily water shut-offs for most months especially between June and the following January. “ In 2001 … stringent water rationing was in force in Damascus… the authorities … shut off the capital's piped water supply for 20 hours each day (compared with 16 hours previously) from July of that year. Europa Publications (2002: p.979).”
Topic:: International Relations, Development, Environment, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe and Syria

39. The Challenge of Poor Governance and Corruption

Author:: Jens Chr.1 Andvig
Publication Date:: 04-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: The paper is the author's so-called “Opponent paper” to Susan Rose-Ackerman's proposals for good governance and anti-corruption policies at the Copenhagen Consensus 2004 meeting 24–28 May. There the most promising anti-corruption policies had to compete with other best policies at other fields such as fight against AIDS, malaria, hunger prevention, and so on. He argues that while corruption and governance problems are important and may prevent any other kind of policy to succeed, no really effective anti-corruption policy has so far been proposed, and if it was, we wouldn't know that it did. Hence, it would be unreasonable to make a strong claim for anti-corruption projects against their competitors.
Topic:: Economics, Human Welfare, and Politics
Political Geography:: Europe

40. Well Being and Unemployment in Russian in the 1990's: Can Society's Suffering Be Individuals' Solace?

Author:: Andrew; Gaddy Eggers
Publication Date:: 04-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Brookings Institution
Abstract:: This paper studies the effect of regional unemployment rates on subjective well-being in post-Soviet Russia. Research conducted in Europe and the United States has documented that higher unemployment rates lead to lower reported life-satisfaction. By contrast, our Russian study finds a small but significant effect in the other direction. We estimate that du ring the period of our study (1995-2001), each percentage point increase in the local unemployment rate was correlated with the average well-being of people in the region increasing by an amount equivalent to moving 2% of the population up one level in life satisfaction measured on a five-point scale. Our intuition is that the so-called comparison effect drives this result: when individuals observe their peers suffering in a troubled economy, they lower their standards of what is good enough. All else equal, they thus perceive themselves to be better off in worse times. In highlighting the dependence of subjective well-being scores on expectations and reference groups, we sound a note of caution against using happiness data from economies in crisis to draw macroeconomic policy conclusions.
Topic:: Economics and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, Europe, Asia, and Soviet Union

41. Longevity in Russia's Regions: Do Poverty and Low Public Health Spending Kill?

Author:: Oleksiy Ivaschenko
Publication Date:: 06-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This paper examines the impact of changes in poverty and public health spending on inter-temporal variations in longevity using a unique regional-level dataset that covers 77 regions of Russia over the period 1994-2000. The dynamic panel data model is used as a tool for the empirical analysis. The model is estimated using the Arellano-Bond dynamic panel data estimator. The changes in regional levels of poverty and real per capita public health expenditure are identified to be significant determinants of the variations observed in longevity over time. The empirical results indicate that while male life expectancy responds more strongly than female life expectancy to economic circumstances, the latter appears to be more predisposed to the influence of public health spending. The results support the idea that the (positive) effect of public health spending on life expectancy is larger for those regions that experience higher incidences of poverty. The paper also finds that the financial crisis which hit Russia at the end of 1998 had a significant negative effect on longevity independently of the factors directly related to poverty and public health spending.
Topic:: Human Welfare, Political Economy, and Poverty
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

42. Welfare and the Labour Market in the EU

Author:: Marie-Laure Michaud
Publication Date:: 09-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: Over the last two decades, EU institutions have been increasingly concerned with the issues of unemployment reduction and job creation. The EU has recommended that member states develop welfare systems that moderate the negative effects of market relationships on the one hand, and enhance the efficiency of market performance on the other.
Topic:: Economics and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe

43. The Impact of Unemployment on Individual Well-Being in the EU

Author:: Namkee Ahn, Juan Ramón García, and Juan Francisco Jimeno
Publication Date:: 07-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: Among the working-age population, one of the most damaging individual experiences is unemployment. Many previous studies have confirmed the devastating effects of unemployment on individual well-being, both pecuniary and non-pecuniary. Using the data from the European Community Household Panel survey, we examine the factors that affect unemployed workers' well-being with respect to their situations in their main vocational activity, income, housing, leisure time and health in Europe.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Economics, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe

44. Has Trade any Importance in the Transmission of Currency Shocks?

Author:: Roberta De Santis
Publication Date:: 07-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: The object of this study is to assess the role of trade in the transmission of currency shocks across geographically close countries. The analysis will focus on identifying and comparing the degree of vulnerability of new EU member states from the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) to currency shocks.
Topic:: International Relations and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe and Eastern Europe

45. Can Labour Market Institutions Explain Unemployment Rates in New EU Member States?

Author:: Sjef Ederveen and Laura Thissen
Publication Date:: 07-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: This study poses the question about whether labour market institutions can explain unemployment rates in the ten new European Union member states. In five out of the ten new member states, unemployment rates lie above the average in the 15 member states of the European Union (EU-15) that comprised the EU prior to May 2004. The study finds that labour market institutions in the acceding countries are less rigid than in the EU-15. Moreover, labour market institutions explain only a minor part of unemployment in the new EU member states. This does not mean that these countries have no labour market problems. Just as in the EU-15, a great deal of heterogeneity exists among the acceding countries. In some of them, labour market reforms could prove a key issue in improving employment performance. The main worry is the poor labour market performance in Poland and the Slovak Republic, where unemployment has risen to almost 20%. The main reasons for this growth are i) postponed restructuring in combination with tight monetary policy; ii) poor governance; and iii) an increasing labour force.
Topic:: Economics and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe

46. Capital, Labor, and the Prospects of the European Social Model in the East

Author:: Dorothee Bohle and Bela Greskovitz
Publication Date:: 05-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:: During the past decade of European economic integration vastly worse standards have emerged in work conditions, industrial relations, and social welfare in Eastern Europe than in the West. Area scholars explain this divide by labor weakness caused by the ideological legacy of communism, and do not problematize the impact of transnational capital. In contrast, this essay argues that the reason why the European social model has not traveled to the East is that its socio-economic foundations, the industrial building blocks of the historical compromise between capital and labor, have not traveled either. In the West, the compromise had been rooted in capital-intensive consumer durables industries, such as car-manufacturing, and their suppliers. These sectors brought together organized and vocal labor with businesses willing to accommodate workers' demands, because for them labor had been less a problem as a cost-factor and more important as factor of demand. However, the main driving force of the eastward expansion of European capital has been the relocation of labor-intensive activities where business relies on sweating masses of workers, whose importance as consumers is marginal, and who are weak in the workplace and the marketplace. With this general conceptualization of how the emerging new European division of labor constrains the social aspects of East European market societies as a background, the essay studies the cases of Hungarian electronics and Slovak car industries in order to better understand how particular features of various leading sectors mediate the general pattern.
Topic:: Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe and Eastern Europe

47. The EMU Macroeconomic Policy Regime and the European Social Model

Author:: Andrew Martin
Publication Date:: 07-2004
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:: This paper will be a chapter in Euros and Europeans: Monetary Integration and the European Social Model, Andrew Martin and George Ross, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2004. Over time, the impact of EMU on the European social model (ESM) is likely to depend most fundamentally on its effects on unemployment. If EMU makes possible a significant reduction in unemployment, it poses no threat to the ESM. However, EMU is likely to keep unemployment at high levels. This expectation hinges on two propositions: 1) in order to bring unemployment back down after an extended period of disinflation has kept growth below its potential and unemployment high, a period of economic growth above its long-run potential – a growth spurt – is necessary, and 2), the EMU macroeconomic policy regime, as interpreted and implemented by the ECB, blocks such a growth spurt. The first part of the paper describes the policy regime, arguing that the ECB's implementation of it so far and the bank's rationale for doing so indicate an unwillingness to permit the growth spurt needed to significantly reduce unemployment. Its rationale invokes the orthodox view that monetary policy has no long run effects on growth and employment. This view is challenged by an alternative view, described in the second part. The alternative rests mainly on an empirical analysis of cases in which disinflation was and was not followed by growth spurts during the 1980s and 1990s. Showing that in the long run unemployment was lower without higher inflation where monetary policy permitted growth spurts than where it did not, this analysis suggests that the ECB's orthodoxy is fundamentally flawed and that adherence to it will perpetuate Europe's high unemployment.
Topic:: Economics, Human Welfare, and Politics
Political Geography:: Europe

48. The United States, the European Union, and International Human Rights Issues

Author:: Esther Brimmer
Publication Date:: 05-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Transatlantic Relations
Abstract:: As pillars of the transatlantic community, the United States and the European Union often talk about their shared values derived from their common heritage in the western liberal democratic tradition. Both claim to base their domestic and external policies on their values; and both play a role in international affairs. Their common values suggest that they would support similar policies on international human rights issues. Yet on the international stage they have surprisingly different approaches. This paper will analyze areas of commonality and divergence in United States and European Union policies on international human rights and examine the implications of these differences for human rights and for transatlantic relations.
Topic:: Human Rights, Human Welfare, and United Nations
Political Geography:: United States and Europe

49. Los Balcanes: Entre el Pasado y el Presente. Una Introducción Históica a los Estudios Balcánicos

Author:: Slobodan Pajovic
Publication Date:: 02-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:: This working paper deals with the complex, turbulent and contradictory history of the Balkans region. It is argued that the tragic realities confronting the region derive mainly from its asymmetric geopolitical, economic and cultural position, and its high degree of vulnerability and dependence on Western Europe and the Near East. It suggests that it is possible to study the history of the region by examining processes of both internal fragmentation and external subordination. While the paper cannot constitute a complete or systematic study of the Balkans, it presents and overview of the most salient features in the region's historical, politico-economic and cultural development. Two case studies, Yugoslavia and Kosovo, help to highlight the broader trends.
Topic:: Economics, Human Welfare, and Politics
Political Geography:: Europe, Iran, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, and Balkans

50. Addressing the Threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction: A moment of opportunity for the EU?

Author:: Ian Anthony
Publication Date:: 04-2003
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: EastWest Institute
Abstract:: A free market that controlled the number and type of arms available to states and to non-state actors on the basis of their financial means and technological capacity would breed insecurity and stimulate un-necessary military spending. Rules are needed to regulate military capacities, but questions abound. What kinds of rules are needed? How should these rules be applied? As is the case with the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), these rules could apply equally to all parties, and be universal and uniform in their application.
Topic:: International Relations, Human Welfare, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:: Europe

51. On the Frontline of an Epidemic: The Need for Urgency in Russia's Fight Against AIDS

Author:: John E. Tedstrom
Publication Date:: 09-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: EastWest Institute
Abstract:: AIDS is a global threat that affects us all. Its destructive reach extends far beyond the sphere of public health, threatening social stability, economic performance, and national security. The United States has struggled with HIV/AIDS for over 20 years. At least 440,000 Americans have died from AIDS -related conditions, many more than would have if American political leaders had acted early in the 1980s to confront the epidemic in its initial stages. Over time, however, the commitment of the U.S. government to prevent the spread of HIV and treat people living with HIV/AIDS produced remarkable results. New infections have dropped from 150,000 per year to 40,000 per year, and AIDS -related deaths have been cut in half.
Topic:: Security, Human Welfare, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, America, Europe, and Asia

52. Retirement Finance Reform Issues Facing the European Union

Author:: William G. Shipman
Publication Date:: 01-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Cato Institute
Abstract:: Changing demographics are forcing countries around the world to reexamine their public pension systems. The member states of the European Union are no exception. Indeed, the EU nations are among those facing the greatest social, budgetary, and economic challenges as a result of their aging populations. Therefore, EU members will be forced to rethink their public pension programs and move away from traditional pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) pension models to new systems based on savings and investment.
Topic:: Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe

53. The Politics of Restitution for Nazi Victims in Germany West and East (1945 - 2000)

Author:: Constantin Goschler
Publication Date:: 09-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Institute of European Studies (IES), UC Berkeley
Abstract:: On first sight, a comparison between restitution for Nazi victims in Germany West and East does not seem to leave ample space for interpretation: While the Federal Republic at least in principle accepted their obligation to compensate former Nazi victims and paid huge amounts for that purpose over the last 50 years, the GDR only offered elaborated social security for the tiny faction of Nazi victims who decided to live in the GDR after 1949. As a consequence, while restitution in the West has been a predominantly Jewish affair, restitution in the East was chiefly a communist matter. However, in my talk I will not focus on a comparison of material payments. Rather, I am interested in the different structure of the answers of two German societies to the same problem: the persecution and killing of millions of people by the Nazi regime. This implies three sets of questions. First: On which perception of the events between 1933 and 1945 were the respective attempts at rehabilitation and compensation for Nazi victims in the two German societies based? Second: What relation between former Nazi victims and German post war societies underpinned the respective attempts at restitution? And third: What consequences did German reunification have for this process?
Topic:: Genocide, Human Welfare, and Religion
Political Geography:: Europe and Germany

54. European Integration and National Social Citizenship: Changing Boundaries, New Structuring?

Author:: Maurizio Ferrera
Publication Date:: 06-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Institute of European Studies (IES), UC Berkeley
Abstract:: With the creation of EMU, European Welfare States have entered a new phase of development. The margins for manoeuvring public budgets have substantially decreased, while the unfolding of the four freedoms of movement within the EU have seriously weakened the traditional coercive monopoly of the state on actors and resources that are crucial for the stability of redistributive institutions. The article explores these issues adopting a Rokkanian perspective, i.e. building on Rokkan's pioneering insights on the nexus between oundary building and internal structuring.
Topic:: Government and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe

55. Contracting with NGOs for Social Services: Building Civil Society and Efficient Local Government in Russia

Author:: Raymond Struyk
Publication Date:: 09-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Urban Institute
Abstract:: A decade after the beginning of the transition to democracy in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union it is clear that the nonprofit sector has developed remarkably in many countries in the region. Progress is especially striking in Eastern Europe (EE); on the other hand, development has been notably limited in most countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) where liberal democracy has had little chance to take root (Anheier and Seibel 1998; Hyatt, Cooper, and Knight 1998; Kuti 1999; Nowicki 2000; Quigley 2000). Kendell,Anheier, and Potucek (2000).
Topic:: Development, Human Welfare, and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, Eastern Europe, and Soviet Union

56. Participation in a Decentralized Housing Allowance Program in a Transition Economy

Author:: Tatiana Lykova, Sergei Sivaev, Raymond J. Struyk, and Ekaterina Petrova
Publication Date:: 05-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Urban Institute
Abstract:: When Russia's housing allowance program, the country's first means-tested program, was introduced in 1994, it was truly innovative. But there were difficulties from the start, many arising from the division of authority for setting program parameters among different levels of government and the potential for variation in the treatment of similar households in different cities. In 1996, the program's original simple basis for benefit determination was seriously impaired by the introduction of different principles for very low-income households. Moreover, local governments have exhibited a willingness to vary benefits from year-to-year, depending on political and budgetary considerations. The analysis presented here documents the impact of these variations on participation rates in a sample of Russian cities. Large inequities are obviously present in the treatment of similar households from city to city. Indeed, it is questionable whether the program as currently configured is fulfilling the social safety net function envisioned for it in the original legislation.
Topic:: Development, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

57. A Comparative Study of Business Lobbying in the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of Ministers

Author:: Pieter Bouwen
Publication Date:: 04-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:: The aim of this paper is to empirically test a theory of access that investigates the logic behind the apparent ad hoc lobbying behavior of business interests in the EU multi-level system. First, I propose the theoretical framework that attempts to explain the access of different organizational forms of business interest representation (companies, associations and consultants) to the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. The degree of access to these institutions is explained in terms of a theory of supply and demand of access goods. Access goods concern information that is crucial in the EU policy-making process. In return for access to an EU institution, business interests have to provide the access good(s) demanded by that institution. I then derive a number of specific hypotheses about the access of the aforementioned organizational forms. These hypotheses are analyzed in an extensive empirical study of the EU financial services sector. On the basis of 126 exploratory and semi-structured interviews the hypotheses are checked across the three EU institutions.
Topic:: Economics, Human Welfare, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Europe

58. Illegal Immigration, Human Trafficking, and Organized Crime

Author:: Raimo Väyrynen
Publication Date:: 10-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: It is important to make a careful distinction between illegal immigration, human smuggling, and human trafficking which are nested, but yet different concepts. This distinction is relevant because these different categories of the illegal movement of people across borders have quite different legal and political consequences. Human smuggling and trafficking have become a world-wide industry that 'employs' every year millions of people and leads to the annual turnover of billions of dollars. Many of the routes and enclaves used by the smugglers have become institutionalized; for instance, from Mexico and Central America to the United States, from West Asia through Greece and Turkey to Western Europe, and within East and Southeast Asia. More often than not flourishing smuggling routes are made possible by weak legislation, lax border controls, corrupted police officers, and the power of the organized crime. Naturally, poverty and warfare contribute to the rising tide of migration, both legal and illegal.
Topic:: Environment and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: United States, Europe, Turkey, East Asia, Greece, Asia, Latin America, Central America, North America, Mexico, Southeast Asia, Western Europe, and West Asia

59. European Institutional Models as Instruments of Conflict Resolution in the Divided States of the European Periphery

Author:: Michael Emerson, Nathalie Tocci, Bruno Coppieters, Marius Vahl, and Michel Huysseune
Publication Date:: 07-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: This study focuses on 'Europeanisation' as an instrument of conflict resolution in the south eastern periphery of the EU. By 'Europeanisation' we mean the cultural, legal, institutional and economic impact of European integration on domestic structures. The introduction of such institutional mechanisms and processes takes place at formal and informal levels. By European integration we do not only mean accession to the EU, but also participation in the wider European international organisations such as the OSCE, Council of Europe, NATO's Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council/Partnership for Peace (EAPC/PfP) and Confederation of Independent States (CIS). All these organisations have their own concepts of Europe.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe

60. Progress and Obstacles in the Area of Justice Home Affairs in an Enlarging Europe

Author:: Sergio Carrera and Joanna Apap
Publication Date:: 06-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: This paper assesses the legislative achievements made so far in the objectives set by the Amsterdam Treaty and the Tampere European Council. It explores why a number of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) policy areas have experienced a greater degree of development or convergence than others. This is a most sensitive field of study that has been guarded as either an area of national sovereignty, or where sovereignty issues could be at stake. The existence of frictions and strains between member states can be considered as the main cause of differences in development. The way in which these frictions have affected the implementation of policy and how these may be further exacerbated by the forthcoming enlargement are equally analysed.
Topic:: Human Welfare and International Law
Political Geography:: Europe

61. War in Iraq: Managing Humanitarian Relief

Publication Date:: 03-2003
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: The impassioned controversy that surrounded the decision to invade Iraq had the unfortunate consequence of impeding coordination of humanitarian relief operations. Now that the war has begun, it is important to deal with the urgent task of meeting the needs of the Iraqi people. That will require steps by those who were opposed to the war, in particular European governments and NGOs, to agree to work in close coordination with the United States and put their plans and their funding on the table. And it will require steps by the United States to eschew a dominant role in the post-conflict humanitarian effort and hand coordination over to the United Nations.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, Human Welfare, Non-Governmental Organization, Politics, and United Nations
Political Geography:: United States, Iraq, Europe, and Arabia

62. Russia's Maternal and Infant Health Crisis: Socio-Economic Implications and the Path Forward

Author:: Stephen M. Massey
Publication Date:: 12-2002
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: EastWest Institute
Abstract:: Today, fewer than one in three Russian newborns is healthy, disease rates among Russian children are surging, and shrinking access to quality family planning and prenatal care has worsened the state of women's reproductive health across Russia. The health of Russia's infants and children is especially significant given the country's shrinking population and the mounting problems of infectious disease, rural poverty, illegal narcotics, and alcohol abuse – all contributing factors to poor birth outcomes. The long-term economic impact of unhealthy children born in the past decade is already a serious limiting factor to Russia's emergence as a strong economic partner and international actor. Many infant deaths and childhood illnesses could be prevented with expanded investments in infrastructure and education, improved access to quality care, and reform of Russia's healthcare sector – each of which is too costly for Russia to finance on its own. Untapped opportunities also exist for collaboration between Russian, European, and American civic groups, healthcare experts, scientists, and policy leaders that would have a positive impact on maternal and child health in Russia and beyond.
Topic:: Economics, Human Welfare, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

63. Kosovo/a Standing Technical Working Group, Fourteenth Meeting: Kosovo's Health Care System: Invasive Procedure Needed

Author:: Robert Curis
Publication Date:: 07-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:: The 14th meeting of the Standing Technical Working Group (STWG) organized by the European Centre for Minority Issues, Kosovo, on 17 July 2003 brought together approximately 25 local and international experts on issues of health and social welfare in an open Civic Forum. The aim of the forum was to generate critical dialogue between party representatives and Assembly members, members of civil society, and a team of experts on key issues of health policy development, debating needs for reform and highlighting areas of particular attention.
Topic:: Civil Society, Development, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe

64. Kosovo/a Standing Technical Working Group: Ninth Meeting Health and Social Welfare

Author:: Robert Curis
Publication Date:: 07-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:: The Standing Technical Working Group was established in March 2001 to address important issues of public policy in Kosovo/a at a technical level. It is composed of experts from Kosovo/a NGOs, the political parties and other civil society representatives. Its membership is fully interethnic and it prides itself on being able to conduct debate in Kosovo/a in an interethnic way. The Group reviews technical aspects of current policy and formulates proposals and critical questions in relation to them. It then seeks to engage the relevant appointed local and international representatives on these issues. In response to the changed political environment in Kosovo/a following the Assembly elections in November 2001, the Group sought to enhance its role in public policy analysis and development through the establishment of four expert working groups. These Expert Committees (ECs) would devote their activities in 2002 to monitoring policy developments in four areas considered most relevant to the needs of all communities in Kosovo/a. One of these is the Expert Committee on Health and Social Welfare.
Topic:: Civil Society and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe

65. Conflict Prevention

Author:: Roberto Aliboni
Publication Date:: 06-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:: The Barcelona Declaration has to be considered as an international peacebuilding regime. International peacebuilding regimes, according to the definition of the International Crisis Group-ICG, are “international laws, norms, agreements and arrangements - global, regional or bilateral in scope - designed to minimise threats to security, promote confidence and trust, and create frameworks for dialogue and co-operation”. They are geared to prevent conflict and to post-conflict management (including preventing conflicts from re-escalating).
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Security, Human Welfare, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:: Europe and Barcelona

66. Reducing urban and industrial pollution in Russia

Author:: Steve Gale
Publication Date:: 02-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United States Agency for International Development
Abstract:: A USAID wastewater treatment project improved Moscow's drinking water and its companion watershed development project advanced environmental education in the districts near Moscow. A third project in Volgograd failed to build a viable air quality monitoring program to curb pollution. Sustainability and replicability were undercut by failure to plan for replication from the outset and promotion of state-of-the-art (rather than appropriate) technology. Lack of good baseline data and the inability to distinguish results stemming from the projects from those related to the economic downturn made independent assessment of project effectiveness difficult.
Topic:: Environment, Human Welfare, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, Asia, and Moscow

67. Russian Health and Social Welfare: Limited Progress

Author:: Judyth L. Twigg
Publication Date:: 08-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Aspen Institute
Abstract:: It has become routine for Russian policy makers to characterize their various health and social problems—rising male mortality, HIV/AIDS, illegal drug use, even pension system reform—as threats to the stability and national security of their country. Russia's importance to American national interests was thrown in sharp relief by the events of September 11 and their aftermath. A stable, prosperous Russia is a crucial partner in the war on terrorism. The fact that so many of Russia's health and social indicators remain stagnant or in decline, despite limited improvement along some dimensions, should therefore be troubling to the United States.
Topic:: Government, Health, Human Welfare, Science and Technology, and Terrorism
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, Europe, and Asia

68. EU Crisis Response Capabilities: An Update

Publication Date:: 04-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: In June 2001, ICG published a first report on EU crisis response capabilities, which presented a snapshot of the institutions, policies and processes for conflict prevention and crisis management as they stood at mid 2001. It described the respective roles in external relations matters of the three key EU institutions, Council, Commission and Parliament, and the evolving machinery for implementing more coordinated strategies in the formulation of general policy positions, conflict prevention and conflict management.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, International Relations, Security, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe

69. Risk and Reward: U.S. - E.U. Regulatory Cooperation on Food Safety and the Environment

Author:: David L. Aaron and C. Boyden Gray
Publication Date:: 11-2002
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Atlantic Council
Abstract:: In recent years, environmental protection and food safety have been among the most volatile issues in the U.S.-European relationship. While they are now overshadowed somewhat by the transatlantic debate over Iraq and other political and military matters, tensions over environment and food safety are just below the surface, and — if not addressed — w ill have enduring corrosive and divisive effects. Indeed, the current acrimony over these issues has contributed to concern about an erosion of shared transatlantic values and a deterioration in U.S.-European relations generally. Moreover, as recently demonstrated at the Johannesburg UN summit on sustainable development, the failure of the United States and Europe to work together on these issues does not just have bilateral consequences. It represents a significant lost opportunity to provide leadership in addressing environment and food safety on a global level. The United States and Europe have both been leaders in these areas — a fact that is overlooked far too often in the current debate. The impact of their current differences has been felt most concretely in the transatlantic trade arena, in a series of persistent disputes. But these differences represent far more than just another transatlantic trading issue. Unless they now find a way to reconcile their different perspectives and approaches, the United States and the European Union will miss real opportunities to work together in addressing global environmental and public health issues.
Topic:: Environment and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: United States and Europe

70. Redesigning the Spanish and Portuguese Welfare States: The Impact of Accession into the European Union

Author:: Ana Guillen, Santiago Alvarez, and Pedro Adlao e Silva
Publication Date:: 10-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:: Despite the fact that the norms issued by the European Union regarding the regulation of social protection policies are scant, becoming a member of such a supranational institution can be expected to have influenced the redesign of welfare states. The present paper assesses the extent to which the enlargement of the EU towards the South has impacted the reform of social policies. In particular, it focuses on the cases of Spain and Portugal. The paper includes both a quantitative and a qualitative analysis. From the quantitative point of view, it assesses the evolution of financing and expenditure trends. From the qualitative point of view, it analyses direct and indirect effects of EU membership on social policy, and considers the development of social policy in the domestic sphere in relation to the European Social Model. The concluding section discusses the influence of both external and internal interests and challenges in the redesign of the Spanish and Portuguese welfare states.
Topic:: Government and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe

71. Building the Dual Earner/Dual Carer Society: Policy Developments in Europe

Author:: Marcia Meyers and Janet Gornick
Publication Date:: 10-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:: A new model of work and family life is emerging out of contemporary debates on social citizenship and the characteristics of the “woman-friendly” welfare state. The dual-earner/ dual-carer model refers to a social and economic arrangement in which men and women engage symmetrically in both paid work in the labor market and in unpaid work in the home. Parents' ability to balance family and market responsibilities, and to allocate employment and childcare-giving equally between mothers and fathers, could be facilitated by a package of state policies. Three areas of supportive policy – all invarious states of development across Europe – include: (1) family leave schemes that provide job protections and wage replacement for parents of young children; (2) affordable, high quality early childhood education and care, to a limited extent for very young children and to a much larger extent for children aged three to school-age; and (3) labor market regulations aimed at shortening the standard work week and strengthening re-muneration for reduced-hour employment. In this paper, we review European policy provisions, and then turn our attention to the United States case. We suggest that embracing the vision of the dual-earner/ dual-carer society may help to draw diverse but unified support for family policy development in the United States.
Topic:: Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: United States and Europe

72. Defining a People: How Do International Rights Influence the Identity Formation of Minority Groups?

Author:: Reetta Toivanen
Publication Date:: 10-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:: This paper looks at the macroeconomic performance of EMU since it started in 1999. It argues that Euroland has benefited from a benign environment, appropriate monetary policy and structural reforms. However, there is no institution clearly in charge of formulating coherent economic policies in Euroland and this is reflected in the euro's external value.
Topic:: Government, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and International Law
Political Geography:: Europe

73. The Spanish Experiment: A Social Democratic Party-Union Relationship in a Competitive Union Context

Author:: Javier Astudillo Ruiz
Publication Date:: 05-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:: A close relationship with a Social Democratic party has traditionally been regarded as one of the best strategies unions have to defend workers' interests. This conclusion still seems valid today, since the changes in the economic and social structure in the advanced capitalist societies alter the traditional content of their relationship, not the reason for cooperation. However, this belief assumes among a unitary labor movement. The experience of Southern Europe shows, on the contrary, that, when the union movement is divided according to different partisan preferences, union leaders are forced to choose between their relationship with their parties, or cooperating among themselves and being effective in the labor market. In addition, the divorce between the Spanish Socialist party and the Socialist Union reveals that, no matter how strong these organizations are, and despite their history of close ties, inter-union competition and a growing economy make their relationship even more damaging for the union's interests.
Topic:: Government, Human Welfare, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:: Europe

74. Urban and Industrial Pollution Programs: Russia Case Study

Author:: Matthew Addison, Mark Hodges, Steven Gale, and Nick Wedeman
Publication Date:: 07-2001
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United States Agency for International Development
Abstract:: Since the official dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has moved forward to make the difficult transition to open markets and more democratic institutions. The journey toward a complete restructuring of the Russian economy and an adoption of wide-ranging political reforms has been perilous. Political instability continues, crime and corruption have become more widespread, and economic conditions show little sign of improving quickly. Efforts to privatize state-held industries, initially seen as wildly successful, have now met with resistance, and full citizen involvement in government is far from complete.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Environment, Human Welfare, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

75. The Poles and Their Past: Society, Historiography and the Legislation Process

Author:: Andrzej Paczkowski
Publication Date:: 05-2001
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Wilson Center
Abstract:: The Polish nation had experienced both Nazism and communism. These were not equal experiences, and social memory about them differs to a considerable degree. In order to perform such an operation, it would be necessary to halt history in June 1941. Since it is impossible to stop history in order to examine the period from mid-September 1939 to June 1941, it is helpful to study Polish recollections of their experiences so as to understand their continued impact on national history and memory.
Topic:: Civil Society, Human Welfare, and Politics
Political Geography:: Europe

76. Violence Against Women in Post-communist Societies: Benefits and Changes

Author:: Vesna Nikolic-Ristanovic
Publication Date:: 05-2001
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Wilson Center
Abstract:: Social changes, which recently occurred in post-communist countries, brought new opportunities for positive developments and offered the possibility of choice. In most countries, the social transition brought an opening of borders, enabling an influx of positive as well as negative influences. However, even the general positive impact of social changes is typically followed by more negative consequences in the everyday life of the people. The most dramatic consequences of social transition, manifested in a significant rise of unemployment and the loss of many social benefits. These developments are directly related to the replacement of planned, centralized economies by the market and the privatization of state property. Most people lost their previous social security benefits and, despite the fact that the general character of communism was “equality in poverty,” the social transition was a source of serious stress and numerous existential problems. This was further intensified by the fact that, at the same time, the growing import of both material goods and the American way of thinking, i.e. consumerism spirit of the West, urged people to achieve their “American dreams” at any cost.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, Civil Society, Human Welfare, and Privatization
Political Geography:: America and Europe

77. Strengthening Local Administration of Social Assistance in Russia

Author:: Raymond J. Struyk and L. Jerome Gallagher
Publication Date:: 11-2001
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Urban Institute
Abstract:: A hallmark of the administration of social assistance under the socialist regimes in Eastern Europe and the USSR was the universal nature of eligibility for benefits, either to all citizens or to categories of deserving citizens, e.g., the physically handicapped. During the transition period since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation has taken limited steps to improve the targeting of benefits. The challenge to improvement is acute because the administration of the great majority of programs rests with agencies of local government. The question addressed here is how amenable local program administration is to improved targeting and more progressive program administration in general. Presented is an analysis of the results of assessments of two pilot programs implemented in two Russian cities in 2000–2001. The “school lunch pilot” introduced means testing in the school lunch program on a citywide basis; eligible families receive cash payments and all children pay the same price for their lunches in cash. The “jobs pilot” is a new, local means-tested program that provides cash support to families while unemployed workers search for work; continued receipt of funds is conditional on a minimum job search effort. We find that both programs were successfully implemented and that there was little resistance to the sharper targeting. On the other hand, a variety of problems with program administration were identified—problems that need to be addressed if program integrity and credibility are to be maintained.
Topic:: Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

78. Russian Nonprofits as Contracted Providers of Municipal Social Services: Initial Experience

Author:: Raymond J. Struyk and Kirill Chagin
Publication Date:: 08-2001
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Urban Institute
Abstract:: In the Russian Federation the delivery of social services to deserving population groups is mostly the responsibility of municipalities and other local governments. Services are delivered by municipal agencies. One way to inject competition into the delivery system is for local government to hold competitions to contract for social service delivery. The competitions can be open to nonprofit organizations (NPOs), some of which have been providing assistance in recent years to needy individuals and families similar to those that would be contracted.
Topic:: Economics, Human Welfare, and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

79. EU CRISIS RESPONSE CAPABILITY: Institutions and Processes for Conflict Prevention and Management

Publication Date:: 06-2001
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: It is less than a decade since the European Union (EU) was formally established and set itself the ambitious project of developing a common foreign and security policy. Less than four years have passed since the signing of the Amsterdam Treaty which provided key institutional foundations of that policy. And it is less than eighteen months since many of the bodies responsible for implementing the most difficult aspects – those related directly to crisis response – have been created. This process may be well appreciated by those closely involved in it, but it is opaque and puzzling to many others. This report aims to clarify the process for those outside it. It describes the roles of the new bodies, their relationship to previously existing ones, and the basic fit between their functions and the goals of conflict prevention and management. This report is largely descriptive, but its analysis of the institutions and processes does provide a foundation for some recommendations for improvement as the EU carries its work forward.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, International Relations, Security, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe

80. The European Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO): Crisis Response in the Grey Lane

Publication Date:: 06-2001
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: This briefing paper examines in broad terms likely directions in the policy of the European Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) in the next two to three years, with special reference to its position in the development of European Union (EU) crisis response structures and processes. Its particular focus is on how ECHO has responded to the "grey area" dilemmas: whether and how to separate emergency humanitarian assistance from longer term development assistance, and from "political" projects generally. Section I provides an overview of ECHO's structure and funding; Section II describes how the grey area has been addressed to date; Section III discusses how the issue arises again in the context of the development of the EU's new conflict prevention and management ambitions; while the concluding Section IV draws upon recent experience in Macedonia to support the case for a more pragmatic approach to ECHO's role.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, International Relations, Security, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe and Macedonia

81. HIV/AIDS as a Security Issue

Publication Date:: 06-2001
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: It is projected that, at current rates, more than 100 million people worldwide will have been infected with HIV by 2005. Where the epidemic has hit hardest, Sub-Saharan Africa, experts believe AIDS will eventually kill one in four adults. Seven countries already have adult prevalence rates above 20 per cent of the population.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, International Relations, Security, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Africa, Russia, China, Europe, India, Asia, and Southeast Asia

82. Women's NGOs in the System of Civil Society of Ukraine

Author:: Lyudmyla Smolyar
Publication Date:: 12-2000
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, City University of New York
Abstract:: The effectiveness of the world's development and reforms is directly linked to the quality of its human resources, the rate of human development and its optimal application at the world, regional and state levels. Within the system of the world development and reforms, Ukraine strives to build a civil society on humanitarian principles, which are a precondition for a democratic state. An important part of democracy formation is gender democracy, which proclaims the imperatives of social, political and human rights without gender discrimination. Gender democracy is a system of expressing the desires of the two sexes – men and women – in a civil society as equals in their rights and opportunities, which are guaranteed by the legislation and practically supported by political and legislative principles and acts, as well as by the construction of social and state structures with consideration for gender interests and needs. Gender democracy in practice is based on the principle of equal and equivalent dignity according to which social justice is provided for both. Gender democracy is a multifaceted phenomenon, it primarily serves as an inner principle, which is at the core of the system of real democracy in the society. Society, built on such an organizational and functional paradigm, can provide human and civil rights, build a fair and humanistic political system, reform the economy on a base which guarantees personal freedom for both men and women, and create a humanistic culture. The multi – directional development of real democracy in society makes it possible to establish and develop gender democracy and guarantee its future.
Topic:: Gender Issues, Human Welfare, and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:: Europe and Ukraine

83. Women NGOs and the War in Chechnya

Author:: Tatiana Sivaeva
Publication Date:: 12-2000
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, City University of New York
Abstract:: Today people from all over the world are discussing the situation in the Republic of Chechnya. Thousands of articles on this issue has been published, hundreds of speeches and programs have been broadcast on radio and television. They discuss political, economical, ethical aspects of the war. For the international community the issues of primary concern are violation of human rights and aggression against civil population of Chechnya. At the same time Russian media and population seem especially worried about the situation within the Russian Army and with economical consequences of the war. But all the vigorous discussions that go on about Chechnya often miss one very important point, which is its gender aspect.
Topic:: Gender Issues, Human Welfare, and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Chechnya

84. "To Heal the Sick" : Women As Creators of Civil Society in Pre-Modern Poland

Author:: Wladyslaw Roczniak
Publication Date:: 12-2000
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, City University of New York
Abstract:: Philanthropy, voluntarism and other non-profit activities comprise a branch of historical studies that is currently blossoming. The recent collapse of communism and the democratization of Eastern Europe have added stimulus to such studies. Today's Eastern Europe offers the third sector practitioner and researcher a strange and contradictory prospect. On the one hand, the collapse of communism and the continuous democratization of the region open new and exciting vistas for the development of civil societies. On the other hand, the re-emergence of old ethnic conflicts and traditional power structures can act as deterrents to the establishment of a viable civil society, as such a society is known in the west. The modern not-for-profit practitioner wishing to do work in the countries of Eastern Europe must keep it in mind that today's events reflect the historical complexity of the region; what we learn about the past of Eastern European society teaches us about its present models of voluntarism.
Topic:: Gender Issues, Human Welfare, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:: Europe

85. Women's Advocacy and the Building of Civil Society in Serbia

Author:: Lilijana Cickaric
Publication Date:: 12-2000
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, City University of New York
Abstract:: This study provides an illuminating analysis of the role of women's organizations in rapidly developing non-profit sector in Serbia. It presents up-to-date information on the shifting political and socioeconomic context within they operate, the main areas of activity and representative sample of women's organizations and initiatives. The research is designed on feminist principle of subjectivity, where the researcher is also an activist with the purpose of making women's history socially visible and recognized. The aim is also to stress essential role of women advocacy in wider network of non-governmental organisations oriented towards the building of civil society.
Topic:: Civil Society, Gender Issues, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Europe and Serbia

86. Consumer-Directed Home and Community Services Programs in Five Countries: Policy Issues for Older People and Government

Author:: Alison Evans Cuellar, Jane Tilly, and Joshua M. Wiener
Publication Date:: 10-2000
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Urban Institute
Abstract:: A major innovation in long-term care for elderly persons in the United States and Europe is the development of consumer-directed home care. These governmental programs give consumers, rather than home care agencies, control over who provides services and how these services are delivered. Typically, consumer-directed programs allow the consumer to hire, train, supervise, and fire the home care worker. In some programs, beneficiaries receive cash payments enabling them to purchase the services they want. In contrast, traditional home care programs rely on public or private agencies to supply and supervise the workers who serve program beneficiaries.
Topic:: Economics, Human Welfare, and Health Care Policy
Political Geography:: United States, Europe, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Austria

87. Local Administration of Social Assistance Programs in Russia

Author:: Raymond J. Struyk and Burton Richman
Publication Date:: 10-2000
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Urban Institute
Abstract:: Competent administration is fundamental to successful reform of social assistance programs in transition economies. Only with such administration is there assurance that benefits are being delivered as intended in enabling legislation. Moreover, the perceived efficiency and fairness of administration influences the public's views of the new programs. In the Russian Federation local governments have primary responsibility for the administration of social assistance programs enacted by all levels of government
Topic:: Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Asia

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS