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552. September 11: New Challenges and Problems for Democratic Oversight
- Author:
- Nicholas Williams
- Publication Date:
- 10-2002
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- The implications of the events of September 11 are not yet fully clear. Generally, national security policies and postures take some time to appreciate the effects of strategic shifts. Even if the lessons are quickly learnt, security structures can be slow to absorb them. European defence structures and capabilities are already subject to the transformation required by the end of east-west confrontation and the arrival in the 1990s of the new demands of crisis management. Yet, over twelve years after the end of the Cold War, the necessary transformations and re-posturing of European armed forces are still under way. This is partly due to the scale of the task; partly the result of the costs of military restructuring (while banking immediately the savings arising from force reductions, Governments have preferred to invest over time in new military capabilities); and partly because there is no great sense of urgency. By definition, crisis management is a question of political choice, rather than a matter of direct national security. Developing the necessary capabilities has been an evolutionary process, subject to the need to manage new programmes within declining defence budgets.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Defense Policy, Cold War, and Democratization
- Political Geography:
- Europe
553. Learning from Case Studies
- Author:
- Malcolm Chalmers
- Publication Date:
- 10-2002
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- When countries are accepted into NATO membership, it will become more difficult to 'test' them on a pass/fail basis since, by virtue of the fact that they will have been accepted into the 'club', they will already have passed. Increasingly, therefore, some other form of process will be needed in order to promote improvements in democratic control of the armed forces in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and NATO
- Political Geography:
- Europe
554. Why Engage in Security Sector Reform Abroad? International Norms, External Democratization and the Role of DCAF
- Author:
- Gerhard Kümmel
- Publication Date:
- 10-2002
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- The issue of Security Sector Reform (SSR) has gained quite a lot of interest within the last decade both in politics and in academia. However there is no consensus or agreement on what is actually meant by SSR and how it is to be defined. To map the scope of the debate, Timothy Edmunds (2001: 1) distinguishes two approaches to delineate what SSR refers to: "The first is concerned with those militarised formations authorised by the state to utilise force to protect the state itself and its citizens. This definition limits SSR to organisations such as the regular military, paramilitary police forces and the intelligence services. The second approach takes a wider view of SSR, defining it as those organisations and activities concerned with the provision of security (broadly defined), and including organisations and institutions ranging from, for example, private security guards to the judiciary." The first approach may be regarded as constituting something like the minimum consensus on what SSR includes and, thus, seems to be quite undisputed. Also, the examples Edmunds cites as belonging to the second approach seem to be quite legitimate, albeit with this arguably being more the case for the judiciary than for private security guards. Nevertheless, the real problems with the second approach rest in what is being put into the brackets, namely a broad definition of security. This resonates with the debate about the term, the meaning(s) and the dimensions of security. Within this debate, one may observe an extension of the contents of the term security to include, for example, ecological, cultural, and, quite recently, human dimensions (see Buzan 1991; Daase 1991; Buzan/Waever/de Wilde 1998). As a consequence, if these extended dimensions of security were included in the usage of the term security in SSR, this would surely mean overloading the concept because the number of actors involved in SSR would become legion.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and Democratization
- Political Geography:
- Europe
555. Macedonia and Southeastern Europe: Analysing Treats and Risks
- Author:
- Jack Petri
- Publication Date:
- 06-2002
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- It is clear to those who have spent time analysing and defining threats how important it is to do this well. It is not always as clear how to identify some of the more subtle internal non-traditional threats. For defence and military planners, it should be apparent that the work they do in developing an accurate threat analysis is an essential part of the equation used by political leaders to evaluate the form and substance of a nation's armed forces, to determine what resources are necessary to create and sustain defence and military establishments that are capable of successfully dealing with these threats, should it become necessary to do so.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Defense Policy, and National Security
- Political Geography:
- Europe
556. US-Russian Lessons for South Asia
- Author:
- Zia Mia, R. Rajaraman, and Frank von Hippel
- Publication Date:
- 08-2002
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- The current South Asian crisis seems to have ebbed, but the underlying dynamic remains. The next crisis will be even more dangerous if South Asia's nuclear confrontation develops in the same direction as the U.S.-Russian standoff, with nuclear missiles on alert, aimed at each other and ready to launch on warning. As Lee Butler, former head of the U.S. Strategic Command, has said, the U.S. and Soviet Union survived their crises, "no thanks to deterrence, but only by the grace of God." Will South Asia be so fortunate?
- Topic:
- International Relations
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Europe, South Asia, and Asia
557. The European Union: Energy Security and the Periphery
- Author:
- John Gault
- Publication Date:
- 08-2002
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- Europe relies upon imported energy, and the degree of this reliance will increase in coming decades. Internal (primarily North Sea) production of liquid fuels will decline, and production of natural gas will reach a plateau, so that incremental hydrocarbon requirements will necessarily come from external sources. This trend of rising energy imports has important security implications.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and Energy Policy
- Political Geography:
- Europe
558. Transatlantic Relations in a Unipolar World
- Author:
- William Wohlforth
- Publication Date:
- 08-2002
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- The state of transatlantic relations is normal - arguably in crisis, arguably not; poised for fundamental change, or for basic continuity. The usual question for conferences on transatlantic relations is whether this situation will continue. My purpose in this paper is to set forth a perspective on the future of the transatlantic relationship based on the central realist proposition that the distribution of capabilities among states is an important background influence on their behaviour. Major changes in international relations often arise from changes in the distribution of power. Important features of the Cold War resulted from the great concentration of power in the United States and the Soviet Union - a condition that came to be called "bipolarity." The Cold War ended in significant measure owing to changes in the distribution of power - namely, the decline and fall of the Soviet Union. As a result of Soviet and Russian decline, a new unipolar distribution has emerged with new consequences for international politics in general and the transatlantic relationship in particular.
- Topic:
- International Relations and NATO
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
559. Mediterranean Security and Co-Operation: Interest and Role of Italy and Libya
- Author:
- Roberto Aliboni
- Publication Date:
- 03-2002
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- This paper looks at the international relations across the Mediterranean Sea, between the European countries - in particular, the European Union-EU - and the countries of the Near East and North Africa. In this framework, it tries to define the role of Italy and Libya and the joint actions they can carry out to foster peace and co-operation in the area concerned.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Libya, North Africa, and Italy
560. Trans-Atlantic Relations: Challenges and Opportunities
- Author:
- Wolfgang Ischinger
- Publication Date:
- 10-2002
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Institute at University of Wisconsin, Madison
- Abstract:
- I would like to share some observations about German-American relations, about Afghanistan, about Iraq and the war on terrorism, and about power and the global system. Where does Germany stand today? The recent elections in Germany have brought about a number of significant developments.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Security
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, America, Europe, and Germany