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1402. The state of the European Union 2015. The new legislature: eleven challenges facing Europe
- Author:
- Diego López Garrido
- Publication Date:
- 05-2015
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Fundación Alternativas
- Abstract:
- The new legislature: eleven challenges facing Europe is the fourth State of the Union Report that the Ebert Foundation and Fundación Alternativas have published jointly. Its title reflects the new composition of the European Parliament in the wake of the most recent European parliamentary elections as well as the inaugurations of a new Commission and new presidents of the European Commission and the Council of Europe. The beginning of this new legislature, which marks the advent of a new phase for the Union, is getting underway at a decisive moment in the construction of our beloved Europe.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
1403. The ISIS defence in Iraq ad Syria: countering an adaptive enemy
- Author:
- Jessica Lewis McFate
- Publication Date:
- 05-2015
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Institute for the Study of War
- Abstract:
- Some have claimed that ISIS is on the defensive inside Iraq and Syria. A defensive strategy, however, is not a sign of organizational weakness, but rather a sign that ISIS intends to preserve its holdings in Iraq and Syria and keep its claim to a caliphate. ISIS’s defensive strategies include expanding elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa, while also maximizing combat power and future opportunities to launch offensives inside Iraq and Syria. Iraq and Syria are the physical foundation for ISIS’s expanding caliphate.
- Topic:
- International Security and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Iraq and Syria
1404. Why should the Visegrad Group support the Iranian Nuclear Deal?
- Author:
- Erzsébet N. Rózsa
- Publication Date:
- 09-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Institute of International Relations Prague
- Abstract:
- On July 14, 2015 the so-called P 5 + 1 (the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) concluded a historic deal with Iran over its nuclear program. The present paper argues that the Iranian nuclear program and the international controversy over it are derivatives of both the experimental model of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its behaviour, in which it acts as an empire.
- Topic:
- International Affairs and Nuclear Power
- Political Geography:
- Iran
1405. Combating Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
- Author:
- Adeniyi Adejimi Osinowo
- Publication Date:
- 02-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- Despite earning the inauspicious title in recent years as the shipping corridor with the highest number of piracy attacks in the world, regional responses to piracy and maritime security threats in the Gulf of Guinea, have been fragmentary. Maritime domain awareness remains low, interagency coordination is limited, and intra-regional coordination mechanisms that have been established are often underfunded.
- Topic:
- International Security, International Affairs, and Global Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Papua New Guinea
1406. Foreign influence in the Middle East: changes in perceptions and expectations
- Author:
- Mathilde Dugit-Gros
- Publication Date:
- 09-2015
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
- Abstract:
- Has Western involvement in the Arab Spring generated more scepticism in North Africa and the Middle East about foreign influence? This study compares public opinion about foreign influence across five MENA countries: Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, and Tunisia. Using data sets from the second and third waves of the Arab Barometer, the study compares the periods pre- and post-2011.
- Topic:
- International Relations and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Middle East
1407. The War in Sinai: A Battle against Terrorism or Cultivating Terrorism for Future?
- Author:
- Ismail Alexandrani
- Publication Date:
- 09-2015
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
- Abstract:
- It is not yet clear what narrative will be told by history, but a dominant media narrative, the official one, has already been found for the on-going turbulence in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. It appears that social media in the Nile Valley has preceded its counterpart in the Sinai Peninsula in developing this narrative due to geographical and demographic factors which are out of the control of the security and military authorities in Egypt. The main bridge connecting the northern Sinai with the Nile Valley has been closed since 30 June, 2013 (setting transport links back to the time when ferries made their way across the Suez Canal between great sea ships) and the military and security authorities have, to a great extent, succeeded in concealing whatever is happening on the ground that contradicts their narrative
- Topic:
- War and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Egypt
1408. An Empirical Analysis of Claimant Tactics in the South China Sea
- Author:
- Christopher D. Yung and Patrick McNulty
- Publication Date:
- 11-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Abstract:
- China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei have used a wide variety of tactics to protect and advance their maritime territorial claims in the South China Sea. China is the most active user of the nine categories of tactics identified in this paper, with the exception of legal actions, and accounts for more than half of all military and paramilitary actions since 1995. Empirical data support the argument that the 2011 U.S. rebalance to Asia did not spur disruptive behavior in the South China Sea. China became more active in protecting and advancing its claims around 2009, before the rebalance was announced. The unclassified database used in this analysis undercounts military and paramilitary actions, but captures enough activity to provide a representative sample. A classified version that captures more activity would improve the potential to develop the database into an Indications and Warning tool to assist in monitoring and managing tensions in the South China Sea.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
1409. Global Knowledge Networking: Smart Strategies for Promoting Innovative Learning and Leader Development
- Author:
- Walter L. Christman, Frank C. DiGiovanni, and Linton Wells II
- Publication Date:
- 04-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Abstract:
- Dealing effectively with contemporary security challenges requires prepared coalitions of partners that are able to operate together. The Global Knowledge Networking (GKN) initiative supports local decisionmaking and makes knowledge actionable. Its core is the “composable organization,” where people, ideas, processes, and technology can be brought together as needed. The GKN supports initiatives from NATO’s Wales Summit, focused especially on interoperability and capacity-building. A proposed Gulf Knowledge Center test bed also would support recent decisions by a Gulf Cooperation Council Summit concerning military command and education. Building new learning tools with coalition partners can improve common understanding and shared procedures. This vision is a key part of the next generation of training and readiness capability, led by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel & Readiness). The GKN initiative could be adapted for regions beyond the Gulf.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
1410. Responding to Russia after the NATO Summit: Unmanned Aerial Systems Overmatch in the Black Sea
- Author:
- Conor Sullivan, Schuyler Standley, and James M Keagle
- Publication Date:
- 04-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Abstract:
- In the aftermath of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Wales in September 2014, the Obama administration pledged $1 billion to assist Allies on the eastern front. This was in response to Russian initiatives and our Allies’ requests for increased U.S. presence. A potential response could be the introduction of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities around the Black Sea. Given the increasing concern over the strategic importance and therefore vulnerability of the areas bordering the Black Sea, such as Odessa, Transnistria, and the Danube Delta, this asymmetric response from the United States not only would add a less escalatory pressure on Russian interests in the area but also could alleviate some of the concerns of some NATO members.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
1411. Defense Partnerships: Documenting Trends and Emerging Topics for Action
- Author:
- Samuel Bendett
- Publication Date:
- 04-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Abstract:
- Further integration along with a shared forum for common procedures, roadblocks, and solution sets will help inform and address public-private, public-public (P4) functional stovepiping and specialized P4 success in the Department of Defense (DOD). There is a need for formal capture of enterprise-wide best practices and lessons observed. DOD personnel have significant training and competency in their specific career field, but there appears to be a need to either integrate or identify P4 subspecialties to develop P4 through the ranks. Cross-Service collaboration and interagency planning, tiger-teaming, and convening non-DOD stakeholders with DOD counterparts will support P4s both at a project level and an enterprise level.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
1412. The EU approach to Gender: Limitations and alternatives
- Author:
- Sophie Heine
- Publication Date:
- 12-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- For several decades, the European Union has been at the forefront of significant progress in the struggle towards equality between women and men, among others in the fight against sex-based discriminations. The contemporary EU approach to gender has however become much more interested in representations and social norms. This paper analyses this stance and highlights its deficiencies – more specifically, it looks at the flaws entailed in an excessive focus on “gender
- Topic:
- Gender Issues and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Europe
1413. Mapping out vulnerable sectors in the Eastern Partnership countries – structural change, Visegrad experience and relevance for EU policy
- Author:
- Vitaliy Kravchuk, Malgorzata McKenzie, and Mykola Ryzhenkov
- Publication Date:
- 08-2015
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Slovak Foreign Policy Association
- Abstract:
- This is the first report of the project on vulnerable sectors in the Eastern Partnership (EP) countries. Its aim is to provide a macroeconomic setting for future structural reports. It also provides a toolkit for the sectoral reports in the sense that it offers a set of macroeconomic points of reference.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Europe
1414. The Political Foundations of State Effectiveness
- Author:
- et al Miguel Centeno
- Publication Date:
- 08-2015
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
- Abstract:
- Starting from the assumption that the aim of development is to increase human flourishing, this paper develops an analytical perspective on how effective states are built. Modern theories of development see the state as the key agent for delivering the most critical forms of productive investment – investment in capability expanding collective goods. Accomplishing this requires bureaucratic capacity, as earlier analyses of state effectiveness have argued, but state-society relations are equally crucial. We focus on the “Sen-Ostrom” model – deliberative mechanisms to specify goals plus engagement of communities as “co-producers” of services – as the key elements of effective state society relations. Our effort to identify institutions and strategies that might lead to the efficacious engagement of the broadest possible cross-section of the populace led us to a re-engagement with left social democracy. But, resuscitating traditional models of left social democracy is not sufficient; different contexts require new conceptualizations. Patrick Heller’s “state-civil society model” and Cheol-sung Lee’s “embedded cohesiveness/political network model” gave us tools for revising, deepening and extending the basic party-union dynamics of the traditional left social democratic model. Putting the Huber-Stephens analysis of left social democracy together with the Heller and Lee models offers a promising platform for future debate on the general political logic of state-society relations
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
1415. Ice Islands in Canadian Policy, 1954-1971
- Author:
- Adam Lajeunesse
- Publication Date:
- 09-2015
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- Ice islands are large rafts of multi-year ice that are carried by currents around the Arctic Ocean. They became politically significant in the early 1950s when American and Soviet research parties began occupying them. This activity called into question their legal status and highlighted the uncertain nature of polar maritime jurisdiction. This volume tracks the evolution of Canadian policy vis-à-vis ice islands and examines how the politics surrounding these bodies influenced the country’s broader position on Arctic maritime sovereignty.
- Topic:
- Climate Change and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Canada
1416. The Advisory Committee on Northern Development: Context and Meeting Minutes, 1948-66
- Author:
- P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Daniel Heidt
- Publication Date:
- 09-2015
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- The Advisory Committee on Northern Development (ACND), a high-level interdepartmental committee, was responsible for coordinating federal Arctic policies and programs from 1948-1971. The minutes of its main meetings provide unparalleled insight into how high-ranking civil servants in Ottawa grappled with what they perceived to be the most pressing issues of the era, including Canadian-American relations, sovereignty, security, Aboriginal affairs, socio-economic development, scientific research, and governance. As this volume reveals, the ACND represented an early example of the “Whole of Government” approach to policy deliberations, revealing the myriad activities that constituted the “Arctic revolution” during this pivotal quarter-century.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
1417. The United Nations Peace Operations and Motivations at the Roots of Turkey’s Involvement
- Author:
- Uğur Gungor
- Publication Date:
- 07-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Abstract:
- This policy brief studies the evolution of United Nations peace operations and aims at analyzing the motivations that lie at the root of Turkey’s involvement in peace operations, mostly organized under the leadership of the United Nations in the post-Cold War era. The brief puts forth the argument that participation in such operations has been an identity-constructing activity in the sense that Turkey has, through this particular way, tried to reinforce its eroding western identity in the 1990s. This brief also discusses alternative motivations behind Turkey’s involvement in peace operations, such as security-related considerations in a neo-realist vein and domestic influence of ethnic and religious pressure groups, but argues that these accounts fall short of offering convincing explanations.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Turkey
1418. Annual Report 2015
- Author:
- Ali Resu Usul
- Publication Date:
- 09-2015
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Abstract:
- As Chairman of the Center for Strategic Research (SAM), I am pleased to present our 2015 Annual Report. SAM’s primary objective is to conduct research on foreign policy and related issues, develop alternative perspectives, provide new insights and make policy recommendations. SAM has risen to a significant peak in our Ministry’s policy making process, and has created more influence than what was ever expected. Each year, it continues to move beyond its accomplishments of the previous year.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Turkey
1419. Tools of modification and extension of the area of strategic influence of Russia / Herramientas de modificación y ampliación del área de influencia estratégica de Rusia
- Author:
- Samuel Morales
- Publication Date:
- 12-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal on International Security Studies (RESI)
- Institution:
- International Security Studies Group (GESI) at the University of Granada
- Abstract:
- This document analyzes the tools that at present Russia uses with the intention of modifying and extending his area of strategic influence in the East of Europe. It centers fundamentally on the external action of Russia after the change of Government on Ukraine. The document tries to give response, first, to which they are the intentions of Russia with regard to his relations with the European Union; secondly if Russia uses as political tool his energetic resources; and thirdly, if the actions of not linear war developed in the peninsula of Crimea form a part structurally of the external action of Russia. In his development it does not think that the Euromaidan constitutes a point of inflexion in the strategic Russian thought, but rather the point of decision of a strategic approximation to the new world order presented in 2007 and that was applied by the first time in Georgia's war in 2008.
- Topic:
- Security, War, International Affairs, Territorial Disputes, and Geopolitics
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Eurasia, and Ukraine
1420. The Asia-Pacific and the Royal Canadian Navy
- Author:
- Eric Lerhe
- Publication Date:
- 06-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI)
- Abstract:
- Over the past five years, there have been repeated academic and media calls for greater Canadian engagement in the Asia-Pacific, with the Royal Canadian Navy taking the lead. Such engagement, it was claimed, was needed to reflect Canada’s increasing economic links, rapidly-growing personal ties to the area, and the deteriorating security climate, especially in the South China Sea. Despite government claims that Canada “gets it” as to the importance of the region, little of consequence has occurred and our Navy’s Atlantic dominance remains. For this and other reasons, Canada is now widely considered “absent” from the region. This paper argues that this cannot safely continue as both our security and our access to the rapidly growing Pacific economies will be at risk. The paper then examines our history in the area, the 2011 U.S. “Pacific pivot,” our own weak “mini pivot,” and the current security situation before providing detailed recommendations for greater Canadian naval engagement.
- Topic:
- International Affairs, Military Affairs, and Navy
- Political Geography:
- Canada, North America, Asia-Pacific, United States of America, and South China Sea