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1711. Dynamics of Political Polarization

Author:
Peter Bearman and Delia Baldassarri
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University
Abstract:
This article accounts for two puzzling paradoxes. The first paradox is the simultaneous absence and presence of attitude polarization, the fact that global attitude polarization is relatively rare, even though pundits describe it as common. The second paradox is the simultaneous presence and absence of social polarization, the fact that while individuals experienced attitude homogeneity in their interpersonal networks, their networks are characterized by attitude heterogeneity. These paradoxes give rise to numerous scholarly arguments. By deploying a formal model of interpersonal influence over attitudes in a context where individuals hold simultaneous positions on multiple issues we show why these arguments are not mutually exclusive and how they meaningfully refer to the same social setting. It follows that the results from this model provide a single parsimonious account for both paradoxes. The framework we develop may be generalized to a wider array of problems, including classic problems in collective action.
Topic:
Politics, International Affairs, and Political Theory

1712. Iran, Its Nuclear Ambitions, the Region, and the West

Publication Date:
04-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
Abstract:
The Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination (LISD) at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs convened a conference, “Iran, Its Nuclear Ambitions, the Region, and the West,” on 31 March and 1 April 2006. The conference gathered a group of diplomats and international practitioners concerned with the ongoing Iranian nuclear crisis, as well as academics and experts familiar with the nuclear question, Iran, the region, and related policy issues. Over two days of intensive discussions, participants engaged with the pressing issues of Iran's nuclear aspirations based on the internal politics of the country, Iran's interstate relations and the role it occupies within the Middle East and Central Asia, and Iran's and the wider region's relations with Asia and the West. On Friday, participants viewed, via videolink with the Geneva Center for Security Policy in Switzerland, an address delivered at the Center earlier in the day by Manouchehr Mottaki, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran. On Saturday Ambassador Javad Zarif, Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations in New York, also participated in the discussions via videolink.
Topic:
Islam, Nuclear Weapons, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
New York, Iran, Central Asia, Middle East, and Switzerland

1713. Security Matters

Author:
Centre for European Security Studies
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Centre for European Security Studies
Abstract:
In the Starlink programme, sponsored by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CESS is developing training courses on democratic governance in the security sector. These are tried out in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, and come in three types. One focuses on the defence sector, another on law enforcement, and the third on intelligence
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1714. Bulgaria in NATO and the EU: Implications for the Regional Foreign and Security Policy of the Country

Author:
Plamen Pantev
Publication Date:
01-2005
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Abstract:
The study includes three main interrelated issues, reflecting Bulgaria’s approaches and interests in preserving and developing a particular set of partnerships in South East Europe with the purpose of continuing the trend of the region’s modernisation in the fields of economy, infrastructure, technology, society and politics: first, the balancing between the special pragmatic relations of the United States with Bulgaria, and the EU integration of the country and the region; second, reaching a higher quality of NATO and EU memberships as a vehicle of pushing ahead the processes of regional emancipation, and, third, the specific regional consequences of the country’s membership in NATO and soon – in the EU
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1715. Social Groups and Economic Poverty: A Problem in Measurement

Author:
S. Subramanian
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This paper points to some elementary conflicts between the claims of interpersonal and intergroup justice as they manifest themselves in the process of seeking a real-valued index of poverty which is required to satisfy certain seemingly desirable properties. It indicates how 'group—sensitive' poverty measures, similar to the Anand-Sen (1995) 'Gender Adjusted Human Development Index' and the Subramanian-Majumdar (2002) 'Group-Disparity Adjusted Deprivation Index', may be constructed. Some properties of a specific 'group-sensitive' poverty index are appraised, and the advantage of having a 'flexible' measure which is capable of effecting a tradeoff between the claims of interpersonal and inter-group equality is spelt out. The implications of directly incorporating group disparities into the measurement of poverty for poverty comparisons and anti-poverty policy are also discussed.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Human Welfare, Poverty, and International Affairs

1716. Questions on Africa Policy for Candidates Policymakers

Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
As the U.S. enters an important election season with a greater focus than usual on foreign policy issues, Africa remains largely absent from the national debate. Despite historical ties and important current interests, Africa is still considered to fall outside the scope of U.S. policymakers' concerns.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Human Welfare, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Africa and United States

1717. The Russian Northwestern Federal District and EU's Northern Dimension

Author:
Sergei Prozorov
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The Northwestern Federal District of the Russian Federation has been particularly active in asserting itself as a macro-regional political subject, transcending the administrative borders of the subjects of the Russian Federation. This affirmation of the Northwest as a macro-region is also characterised by the explicit location of the Federal District within the international regional context and the linkage of the newly elaborated strategic development plans with EU policies in the region, particularly the Northern Dimension. This strategic policy discourse is grounded in the problematisation of the existing format of EU-Russian cooperation on the regional level as marked by the passivity of Russian regions vis-à-vis EU policies. The district-level strategies proceed, on the contrary, from the need to assume a more active and assertive position towards the EU that would allow to integrate the policies of the Northern Dimension with the domestic reform vision in Russia. The paper seeks to analyse the international dimensions of the strategic discourse of the Northwestern 'macro-region', elucidate the conflict episodes and conflict issues that are articulated in this discourse and address the wider implications of the emergence of the Northwestern Federal District for the EU-Russian regional cooperation in the border regions.
Topic:
Politics and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

1718. Euro-Atlantic and Euro-Asiatic Concerns of an Enlarged Europe: a Bulgarian View

Author:
Plamen Pantev
Publication Date:
08-2004
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Abstract:
For historical, geopolitical, domestic and other reasons the enlarged Europe of 25 ‘+2’;’+3’, or ‘+4’ does not have a homogenized vision of the extent to which EU should differentiate itself in the realm of security from the United States of America. This causes fundamental concerns to the new members of the Union and to the other two, three or four that would join in the next few years. The Bulgarian perceptions of this issue cause concerns as to the most appropriate roles and functions of the country in the EuroAtlantic area as well as relative to the Euro-Asiatic neighborhood when the country joins the Union.
Topic:
Security, NATO, International Affairs, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Asia, Bulgaria, and Atlantic Ocean