Author: / Publication Year: within 25 Years

39401. 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

39402. Climate and Environmental Change: Views from Life in a Time of Food Price Volatility

Author:: Alexandra Wanjiku Kelbert
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: How are rapid recent food price changes linked to climate and environmental change? How do people who are vulnerable to these changes view these links? This note explores the views of people living on low and precarious incomes on these connections, based on research designed to explore experiences of food price volatility in 2012, through qualitative research in 23 research sites in 10 countries. The research was not specifically designed to study perceptions of climate and environmental change; these views are collected here because they offer interesting, relatively unmediated insights into how people perceive the causal connections between their food security and environment across varied social and ecological settings.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Climate Change, Economics, and Food

39403. The G20 and Gender Equality: How the G20 can advance women's rights in employment, social protection and fiscal policies

Author:: Shawna Wakefield
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: In its "World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development?, the World Bank asserted that gender equality was a core development objective in its own right and also "smart economics?. The same year, in their Los Cabos Declaration, G20 leaders committed to tackling the barriers to women?s full economic and social participation and to expanding opportunities for women in their countries. Oxfam supports this commitment, and calls on the G20 to go further and assess the entirety of their agenda and actions in the light of development and rights-based commitments to women?s rights and gender equality.
Topic:: Economics, Gender Issues, Labor Issues, and Reform

39404. The BRICS Development Bank: Why the world's newest global bank must adopt a pro-poor agenda

Author:: Lysa John
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: In July 2014, a new multilateral and Southern-led development bank is expected to be launched by the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – better known as the BRICS. The BRICS Development Bank will provide a fresh source of finance for developing and emerging economies to meet their development needs. Little has been made public regarding the proposed Bank's core mandate or activities but while governments negotiate the technicalities of the Bank, it is critical that they also provide a solid vision of the principles, priorities and objectives on which the Bank's activities and operations will be premised. This policy brief recommends that these include commitments to: ending extreme poverty and inequality, with a special focus on gender equity and women's rights; aligning with environmental and social safeguards and establishing mechanisms for information sharing, accountability and redress; leadership on the sustainable development agenda; the creation of mechanisms for public consultation and debate; and the adoption a truly democratic governance structure.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Gender Issues, International Cooperation, and Poverty
Political Geography:: Africa, Russia, China, Europe, India, Asia, South Africa, Brazil, and South America

39405. Inequality in South Africa: A two part document on the current understanding and dimensions of inequality in health, gender and livelihoods

Author:: Nicola Deghaye, Tamlyn McKenzie, and Petronella Chirawu
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Recognising inequality is at the heart of the South African 'development problem', Oxfam commissioned the Health Economics and HIV and AIDS Research Division (HEARD) to produce this report, which is divided into two parts, to enable an understanding of the dimensions of inequality in South Africa and to provide Oxfam with a set of basic measures against which it could measure its success in dealing with inequality.
Topic:: Security, Gender Issues, Health, and Food
Political Geography:: Africa and South Africa

39406. New Directions in Asia-Pacific Economic Integration

Author:: Peter A. Petri and Ambassador Tang Guoqiang
Publication Date:: 01-2014
Content Type:: Book
Institution:: East-West Center
Abstract:: The year 2014 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first APEC Ministerial Meeting and the twentieth anniversary of APEC’s Bogor Goals. It’s time to shape the future by building on past achievements. If we look at the past 25 years of economic cooperation and integration in the Asia-Pacific region, I think it can be roughly divided into three stages.
Topic:: Economics, International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:: Asia

39407. Trade and Innovation in Global Networks-Regional Policy Implications

Author:: Dieter Ernst
Publication Date:: 05-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: East-West Center
Abstract:: This Think Piece explores how integration into international trade through global networks of production (GPNs) and innovation (GINs) might affect a region's innovation capacity. As regions across the globe are progressively integrated into those global networks - some certainly more than others - these regions are all faced with a fundamental challenge: How might progressive integration of its firms into GPNs and GINs affect learning, capability development and innovation? Will network integration unlock new sources of industrial innovation? Or will it act as a poisoned chalice that will sap and erode the region's accumulated capabilities?
Topic:: Economics, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and Labor Issues

39408. Western–Chinese Academic Collaboration in the Social Sciences

Author:: Sascha Klotzbücher
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: It would be naïve to pretend that politics and the actual needs of governance do not play a role in social sciences in any part of the world. However, the political dismissal of faculty members in Chinese universities, along with other political interventions reported in recent Western media, reveals the outspoken trend toward scientific professionalisation and scientific autonomy in a different light.
Political Geography:: China

39409. Shifting Ideologics of Research Funding: The CPC's National Planning Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences

Author:: Heike Holbig
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: For more than two decades, the National Planning Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences (NPOPSS) has been managing official funding of social science research in China under the orbit of the Communist Party of China's (C PC) propaganda system. By focusing on "Major Projects", the most prestigious and well-funded program initiated by the NPOPSS in 2004, this contribution outlines the political and institutional ramifications of this line of official funding and attempts to identify larger shifts during the past decade in the "ideologics" of official social science research funding – the changing ideological circumscriptions of research agendas in the more narrow sense of echoing party theory and rhetoric and – in the broader sense – of adapting to an increasingly dominant official discourse of cultural and national self-assertion. To conclude, this article offers reflections on the potential repercussions of these shifts for international academic collaboration.
Political Geography:: China

39410. The Impact of Changing Incentives in China on International Cooperation in Social Science Research on China

Author:: Doris Fischer
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: Over the past three decades, China's fast economic development has induced considerable changes in China's university and research institution landscape, research financing and academic career incentives. This paper argues that these changes have affected the motivation and the ways in which Chinese scholars engage in international research cooperation. Most recently it has been observed that strong pressures on scholars and scientists – especially at leading academic institutions – to excel in international publications while simultaneously fulfilling their obligation to generate income for their institutions can lead to a dilemma with regard to international research cooperation: Those institutions and scholars most interesting for foreign scholars to cooperate with may be the ones with the least amount of both incentive and time to enter into serious cooperation. This article invites us to reflect on the implications of these changes in the incentive structure for cooperation in social science research on China.
Political Geography:: China

39411. Changes in International Research Cooperation in China: Positive Perspectives

Author:: Josef Gregory Mahoney
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: This paper discusses how cooperation between Chinese researchers and their foreign counterparts has changed. The paper draws on current literature and the author's experience as a researcher in the US and in China, arguing that while cooperation has increased overall, it has done so in ways that have crowded out old forms of cooperation or made them passé. The paper focuses particularly on how changes at leading Chinese research institutions have impacted international cooperation, both positively and negatively, and suggests ways in which foreign scholars might effectively pursue new avenues for cooperation and exchange.
Political Geography:: China

39412. "Embedded Research" in Collaborative Fieldwo

Author:: Sascha Klotzbücher
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: In the era of the "scientific development concept" of the Hu/Wen leadership, agents of knowledge transfer that eventually translates into policy comprise not only think tanks for policy formulation in central-state institutions but also researchers in universities supporting policy implementation at local levels. Well-established patterns of local scientific advisory frame collaborative fieldwork in Sino-Western scientific projects on local governance. However, there is a gap between our active integration into these patterns during fieldwork and our ability to clarify them as resources, reconstruct the selection of research topics and contextualize the research results within our academic discourses. Analysing site-finding, data collection, aggregation and dissemination of a research project with Chinese public health researchers on rural health service reform in Xinjiang between 2005 and 2010, I argue that fieldwork and the role performed as a scientific advisor for the political principal is the localized and daily interface where politics crosses into science.

39413. Let's Not Go There: Coping with (Pre-) Selection Bias in Collaborative Field Research

Author:: Christian Gobel
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: Field research in China often requires the researcher to cooperate with two kinds of actors: research collaborators, such as those at universities or official think tanks, and local officials. These actors facilitate or enhance field access, but such access comes at the price of a potential "pre-selection bias" in data collection. Some scholars have argued that dependence on these "gatekeepers" introduces a significant bias into research outcomes. I argue, however, that the constraints faced by China scholars in their field studies are not absolute, but function by degree. The CCP is monolithic neither in its organization nor in the thoughts of its agents, and close collaboration with local partners can help remove normative bias rather than necessarily introducing it. Most importantly, an argument built exclusively on the power of structural constraints discounts China scholars' most crucial abilities: to learn, to think critically and to research holistically.
Political Geography:: China

39414. Religious Revival among the Zhuang People in China: Practising "Superstition" and Standardizing a Zhuang Religion

Author:: Ya-ning Kao
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: This paper examines two cases of Zhuang religious revival involving multiple actors. It shows how consideration of "superstition" (迷信, mixin) places some religious practice outside the institutional framework when discussing the modern concept of religion in China. In this paper, I particularly focus on two main dimensions of religious revival among the Zhuang people. The first is a grassroots dimension that involves the revival of a so-called "superstitious" cult in which Zhuang people along the Sino-Vietnamese border carry out shamanic rituals to make offerings to a powerful chief-turned-deity, Nong Zhigao, and his wife. The second dimension is a top-down dynamic and involves a series of projects conducted by Zhuang officials, scholars and business persons, which aim to standardize a Zhuang religion, known as Mo religion. These two cases of religious revival demonstrate the varied strategies utilized by different actors in response to government policies regarding religion in China.
Political Geography:: China

39415. Of Canons and Commodities: The Cultural Predicaments of Nuosu-Yi "Bimo Culture"

Author:: Olivia Kraef
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: The Nuosu are a subgroup of the so-called Yi ethnic group. Today around two million Nuosu live in Liangshan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province and translocal urban contexts, such as Chengdu and Beijing. For many centuries, the Nuosu have cultivated a belief system composed of a combination of animism and ancestor worship. Since the resurrection of religious activity across China that began in the early 1980s, this faith – represented by the three types of religious practitioners known as bimo, sunyi, and monyi – has reportedly been experiencing a comprehensive revival at folk level. For the bimo, this revival has been paralleled and increasingly overlaid by a scholarly reappraisal of Nuosu religion under premises other than religious. Bimo practice and identity have thus become subsumed under the illustrious concept of "bimo culture". In this article, I trace the genealogy of the concept of "bimo culture" as part of a cultural canon of and for the Yi which is intended to promote development at the local level but which is also contributing to a weakening of the status of the bimo and Nuosu ritual life in Liangshan today.

39416. Re-Fusing Ethnicity and Religion: An Experiment on Tibetan Grounds

Author:: Martin Saxel
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: The relation between ethnicity and religion has had a troubled history in the People's Republic of China. Conflating religious practice with ethnic culture is considered to carry the risk of breeding "splittism" – especially in Tibet and Xinjiang. While in the post-Mao era the outright hostility against religion has given way to a religious revival, keeping religion and (nationality) politics separate has remained a major concern for the Chinese Communist Party. Religion is supposed to be a private matter that does not interfere with politics. Against this backdrop, a recent phenomenon in the Tibet Autonomous Region is all the more remarkable: the (re-)fusion of ethnicity and religion under the label of cultural heritage and its protection. This paper approaches this officially endorsed re-fusion ethno-graphically and examines its wider implications. I argue that endorsing religion as an attribute of Tibetan heritage corresponds to the concept of defining public spaces and events in which religious practice is legitimate and expected. Simultaneously, religious practices outside these dedicated spaces and events become even more problematic, leading to everyday Buddhist practices, such as circumambulation, being seen as (and performed as) political acts.
Political Geography:: China

39417. Table of Contents, Volume 28.2 (Summer 2014)

Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Abstract:: This issue features essays by Roger Berkowitz on "Drones and the Question of 'The Human'" and Alan Sussman on the philosophical foundations of human rights; a special centennial roundtable on "The Future of Human Rights," featuring Beth A. Simmons, Philip Alston, James W. Nickel, Jack Donnelly, and Andrew Gilmour; a review essay by Jens Bartelson on empire and sovereignty; and book reviews by Dale Jamieson, Tom Bailey, and Simon Cotton.
Topic:: Climate Change, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Political Economy, Sovereignty, and International Affairs

39418. Why Human Rights Are Called Human Rights

Author:: Alan Sussman
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Abstract:: The title of this essay is rather ambitious and the space available is hardly sufficient to examine two words of almost limitless expanse—“human rights”—whether standing alone or in tandem. This requires that I begin with (and remained disciplined by) what a teacher of mine, Leo Strauss, called “low facts.” My low facts are these: We call ourselves humans because we have certain characteristics that define our nature. We are social and political animals, as Aristotle noted, and possess attributes not shared by other animals. The ancients noted this, of course, when they defined our principal behavioral and cognitive distinction from the rest of the natural world as the faculty of speech. The Greek word for this, logos, means much more than speech, as it connotes word and reason and, in the more common understanding, talking and writing, praising and criticizing, persuading and reading. While other animals communicate by making sounds of attraction or warning, leaving smells, and so on, none read newspapers, make speeches, publish their memoirs, or write poetry.
Topic:: Climate Change, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Political Economy, Sovereignty, and International Affairs

39419. "Climate Matters: Ethics in a Warming World"

Author:: Dale Jamieson
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Abstract:: This is the inaugural volume in the Amnesty International Global Ethics Series, edited by Kwame Anthony Appiah. John Broome, the author of this volume, is a trained economist, distinguished philosopher, and a lead author of the 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. He is very well suited to fulfill the mandate of the series, which is to "broaden the set of issues taken up by the human rights community." It is thus surprising that the book does not discuss human rights (or rights at all), nor locate itself in relation to much of the relevant literature. Nevertheless, this is an excellent book, displaying the author's characteristic virtues of clarity, concision, precision, and intellectual honesty.
Topic:: Climate Change, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Political Economy, Sovereignty, and International Affairs

39420. "Global Justice and Avant-Garde Political Agency"

Author:: Tom Bailey
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Abstract:: In Global Justice and Avant-Garde Political Agency , Lea Ypi proposes a novel approach to political theory in relation to the issue of global equality. She fiercely criticizes the tendency to abstract from the realities of political agency in "ideal" theorizing, since, she insists, such abstraction renders the conclusions drawn practically irrelevant and indeterminate. But she also refuses to treat current political practices and norms as given constraints in the manner of "nonideal" theorizing, on the grounds that the selection of relevant practices and norms is always morally loaded and their analysis inevitably conservative. Instead, Ypi proposes that theory begin with a specific political conflict, diagnose the failure of existing practices and norms to resolve it, and, in this light, develop better practices and norms. She calls this approach "dialectical" insofar as it considers political practices and norms to develop progressively in resolving emerging political problems, and "activist" or "avant-garde" in its responding and contributing to political change through appropriate political agents.
Topic:: Climate Change, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Political Economy, Sovereignty, and International Affairs

39421. "Fairness in Practice: A Social Contract for a Global Economy"

Author:: Simon Cotton
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Abstract:: We are all familiar with the claim that the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are unjust or otherwise objectionable. Yet this claim faces substantial hurdles in motivating corrective action. Most significantly, wealthy states face political pressures against moderating their bargaining positions. But this is not the only problem. First, there remains the suspicion that these rules are not, in fact, objectionable, or that they are only mildly so—perhaps "bad" but not "unjust." After all, no country is forced to be subject to them; the WTO is a voluntary institution. Second, we still have to determine what rules would be just. Is it really the job of the WTO to compensate for inherent inequalities between countries? In this book, the first philosophical work devoted exclusively to "fair trade," Aaron James seeks to combat the second of these challenges directly. In doing so, he also combats the first.
Topic:: Climate Change, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Political Economy, Sovereignty, and International Affairs

39422. Drones and the Question of "The Human"

Author:: Roger Berkowitz
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Abstract:: Domino's Pizza is testing "Domicopter" drones to deliver pizzas, which will compete with Taco Bell's "Tacocopter" drones. Not to be outdone, Amazon is working on an army of delivery drones that will cut out the postal service. In Denmark, farmers use drones to inspect fields for the appearance of harmful weeds, which reduces herbicide use as the drones directly apply pesticides only where it is needed. Environmentalists send drones into glacial caves or into deep waters, gathering data that would be too dangerous or expensive for human scientists to procure. Federal Express dreams of pilotless aerial and terrestrial drones that will transport goods more cheaply, reliably, and safely than vehicles operated by humans. Human rights activists deploy drones over conflict zones, intelligently searching for and documenting abuses for both rhetorical and legal purposes. Aid agencies send unmanned drones to villages deep in jungles or behind enemy lines, maneuvering hazardous terrain to bring food and supplies to endangered populations. Medical researchers are experimenting with injecting drone blood cells into humans that can mimic good cholesterol carriers or identify and neutralize cancerous cells. Parents in Vermont are using flying drones to accompany children to school, giving a whole new meaning to helicopter parenting. And Pilobolus, a New York dance company, has choreographed a dance in which drones and humans engage each other in the most human of acts: the creation of art.
Topic:: Climate Change, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Political Economy, Sovereignty, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Denmark

39423. The Future of the Human Rights Movement

Author:: Beth A. Simmons
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Abstract:: The modern human rights movement is at a critical juncture in its history. It has been nearly seventy years since the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and some of the oldest and most active human rights organizations have been operating around the world for about forty years. More than twenty years have passed since the end of the cold war, and the time when people spoke in triumphal terms of the global success of Western values is now a fading memory. International human rights are ensconced as firmly as ever in international law and institutions, but what about the future of the "human rights movement"?
Topic:: Climate Change, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Political Economy, Sovereignty, and International Affairs

39424. Against a World Court for Human Rights

Author:: Philip Alston
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Abstract:: Too much of the debate about how respect for human rights can be advanced on a global basis currently revolves around crisis situations involving so-called mass atrocity crimes and the possibility of addressing abuse through the use of military force. This preoccupation, as understandable as it is, serves to mask much harder questions of how to deal with what might be termed silent and continuous atrocities, such as gross forms of gender or ethnic discrimination or systemic police violence, in ways that are achievable, effective, and sustainable. This more prosaic but ultimately more important quest is often left to, or perhaps expropriated by, international lawyers. Where the politician often finds solace in the deployment of military force, the international lawyer turns instinctively to the creation of a new mechanism of some sort. Those of modest inclination might opt for a committee or perhaps an inquiry procedure. The more ambitious, however, might advocate the establishment of a whole new court. And surely the most "visionary" of such proposals is one calling for the creation of a World Court of Human Rights. A version of this idea was put forward in the 1940s, but garnered no support. The idea has now been revived, in great detail, and with untrammeled ambition, under the auspices of an eminent group of international human rights law specialists.
Topic:: Climate Change, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Political Economy, Sovereignty, and International Affairs

39425. 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

39426. State Sovereignty and International Human Rights

Author:: Jack Donnelly
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Abstract:: I am skeptical of our ability to predict, or even forecast, the future—of human rights or any other important social practice. Nonetheless, an understanding of the paths that have brought us to where we are today can facilitate thinking about the future. Thus, I approach the topic by examining the reshaping of international ideas and practices of state sovereignty and human rights since the end of World War II. I argue that in the initial decades after the war, international society constructed an absolutist conception of exclusive territorial jurisdiction that was fundamentally antagonistic to international human rights. At the same time, though, human rights were for the first time included among the fundamental norms of international society. And over the past two decades, dominant understandings of sovereignty have become less absolutist and more human rights–friendly, a trend that I suggest is likely to continue to develop, modestly, in the coming years.
Topic:: Climate Change, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Political Economy, Sovereignty, and International Affairs

39427. 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

39428. 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

39429. Immigrant Access to Higher Education

Author:: Leani García and Kate Brick
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: As the costs of higher education continue to reach new heights, access to in-state tuition for public universities and colleges is often the determining factor in whether students will be able to continue their education beyond high school. Despite having grown up and been residents of states often longer than the typical residency requirements, undocumented immigrant youth, also known as DREAMers—named after the Senate's DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act—have historically been excluded from this critical state benefit. But this is changing.
Political Geography:: California and Colorado

39430. The Future of Latin American Studies

Author:: Charles Hale
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: The field of Latin American studies has been a target for critics ever since it became a prominent feature of the U.S. academic landscape in the 1960s. Earlier critiques were quite severe, often permeated by the premise that studying Latin America from the North (and even the very concept of "Latin America" as an object of study) connoted the region's racial and cultural inferiority. This was further aggravated by the inability to fully disentangle Latin American research from U.S. economic and geopolitical interests. Even the most apparently benign scholarship was considered to be a reinforcement of North-South hierarchies of knowledge and power.
Political Geography:: Latin America

39431. Protest U.

Author:: Indira Palacios-Valladares
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: Millions of students have taken to the streets across Latin America in recent years in protests that reflect an unprecedentedly broad mobilization of popular opinion.
Political Geography:: Latin America

39432. Student Debt in the Americas

Author:: Carolina Ramirez
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: The promise of upward mobility for Latin America's new middle classes has led to swelling university enrollment rates, but also to growing debt.
Political Geography:: Latin America

39433. Academic Brain Drain

Author:: Jesus Velasco
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: A recurrent theme in the immigration debate is how the United States can keep and attract the world's brightest minds. President Barack Obama and others favor maintaining and perhaps even expanding the number of visas for high-skilled immigrants. In his 2013 State of the Union address, Obama said the U.S. needed to "attract the highly skilled entrepreneurs and engineers who will help create jobs and grow our economy." A few days later, on January 29, 2013, at El Sol High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, Obama underlined the point: "Right now, there are brilliant students from all over the world sitting in classrooms at our top universities[.]but once they earn that diploma, there's a good chance they'll have to leave the country[..]That's why we need comprehensive immigration reform."
Topic:: Immigration
Political Geography:: United States

39434. Indigenous Enrollment

Author:: Álvaro José Mejía Arias
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: Since its formation in February 1971, the Consejo Regional Indígena del Cauca (Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca—CRIC) has made the education of young Indigenous Colombians one of its most important goals.
Political Geography:: Colombia

39435. Bridge Institutions in Higher Education

Author:: Carol Stax Brown
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: The United States and Latin America are both struggling to find ways to improve participation in quality education in the face of a labor-market skills gap. But all too often, policymakers, businesses and educators have looked to elite universities as a way of meeting those gaps. While important for high-end jobs, labor market and social demands also require us to look elsewhere.
Political Geography:: United States

39436. Higher Ed: Private Investors Get Into the Game

Author:: Gabriel Sanchez Zinny
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: The combination of sustained economic growth in Latin America, a region-wide expansion of the middle class, and a newly competitive business environment has boosted demand for quality education, and stoked desires for alternatives.
Political Geography:: Latin America

39437. The Pull and Example of Science Education in the United States

Author:: Timothy DeVoogd
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: I expected high school biology students. Instead, I was facing 120 middle school students who were on an outing to Maloka, an innovative science museum in Bogotá.On the fly, I changed my presentation on how the brain works into a series of demonstrations. At the end, I was awed by the questions: "My mother has epilepsy; why is it that she doesn't recognize me when she has a seizure?" "I have a pet bird. Does he learn like I do?"
Political Geography:: United States, Brazil, and Riyadh

39438. MOOCs in Development: Fad or Future?

Author:: Juan Cristobal Bonnefoy
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: Those following tech and continuing education news have been surprised by the rising popularity of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The basic promise for professionals in Latin America and the Caribbean is quite alluring: free online access to a world-class knowledge base. But questions remain. Will this new learning methodology last, or fade quickly once the novelty is gone?
Political Geography:: Latin America

39439. The Dominican Republic and Haiti: A Shared View from the Diaspora

Author:: Richard André
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: In a landmark ruling, the Dominican Republic's Constitutional Court last September stripped an estimated 210,000 individuals—most of whom are Dominicans born to Haitian sugar cane workers—of their citizenship, effectively leaving them stateless. The ensuing outcry from the international community has included Junot Díaz and Edwidge Danticat—two of the best-known contemporary authors from the island of Hispaniola. Friends for over 20 years, Danticat (from Haiti) and Díaz (from the D.R.) have been relentless in their condemnation of the ruling. In a written exchange moderated by Americas Quarterly production editor and Haitian-American Richard André, Díaz and Danticat discuss the roots and legacies of racism and conflict in the neighboring nations, the impact of the court's ruling, and the responsibility of the diaspora to build bridges between Dominicans and Haitians and defend human rights at home and abroad.
Political Geography:: Island

39440. The Dominican Republic and Haiti: Shame

Author:: Santiago A. Canton and Wade H. McMullen, Jr.
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: Juliana Deguis Pierre was born in 1984 in Los Jovillos, Dominican Republic, 72 miles (116 kilometers) west of Santo Domingo. Under the country's constitutional recognition of birthright citizenship, Deguis—the daughter of two undocumented Haitian immigrants working in the sugar cane fields—was issued a birth certificate recognizing her Dominican nationality. Now 29 years old, she has never traveled outside her native country. She speaks fluent Spanish and hardly any Creole.

39441. Venezuela: How Long Can This Go On?

Author:: Boris Muñoz
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: On April 10, Venezuelans stayed up past midnight to watch an event on TV that just a few weeks prior would have seemed incredible, almost miraculous: after three months of intense protests, headed by students in alliance with the most combative sectors of the opposition calling for President Nicolás Maduro's departure, the government and the opposition, thanks to mediation from the Unión de Naciones Suramericanas (Union of South American Nations—UNASUR), sat down to negotiate.
Political Geography:: South America

39442. Behind the Numbers: Women's Rights

Author:: Joan Caivano and Jane Marcus-Delgado
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: The gender-based data on social inclusion clearly indicate the opportunities and obstacles facing women in Latin America-as well as numerous contradictions and complexities. An examination of new trends, laws and policies brings to mind the Spanish expression, "Del dicho al hecho, hay mucho trecho. " In other words, even in many areas where there appears to have been significant progress, intervening barriers frequently preclude its consistent application.
Political Geography:: Latin America

39443. Behind the Numbers: Insecurity and Marginalization in Central America

Author:: Matthew Budd and Marcela Donadio
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: With 11 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2012, Nicaragua stands out as a relatively fortunate exception in a region whose homicide rates rank among the world's highest. Its northern neighbors all recorded rates at least three times greater: with Guatemala at 34.3 murders per 100,000 citizens; El Salvador at 41.5; and—at the top of this grim list—Honduras at 85.5. To the south of Nicaragua, only traditionally stable and more developed Costa Rica recorded a lower rate (8.8). Panama registered 17.6 murders per 100,000 in 2012.
Political Geography:: America, Tanzania, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and El Salvador

39444. From the Gulf of Aden to the Gulf of Guinea: A New Maritime Mission for NATO?

Author:: Brooke Smith-Windsor and José Francisco Pavia
Publication Date:: 01-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: NATO Defense College
Abstract:: Later this year, the mandate of one of the most successful NATO maritime missions in history - counterpiracy operations off East Africa in the Gulf of Aden region - will expire. The question presently facing NATO's 28 members states is whether to subsequently retain a presence in a region where the threat is now considerably reduced, or alternatively, refocus resources to where they are conceivably needed more to secure Allied interests. This paper makes the case for judicious consideration of a potential rebalance to Africa's new maritime hotspot: the Gulf of Guinea to the continent's West where threats to regional, Euro-Atlantic and international security and prosperity are on the rise. While recognizing that any decision to realign strategic priorities is ultimately a political one, this paper explains why the factors to justify greater Alliance capacity building (Cooperative Security) in the Gulf of Guinea region already exist in four vital respects: (1) Allied interests at stake; (2) international legitimacy for action; (3) established strategic guidance for the employment of Allied maritime and other means outside NATO territory; (4) relevant Allied operational competencies and expertise.
Topic:: NATO, International Cooperation, International Security, Maritime Commerce, and Reform
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, and Guinea

39445. NORDEFCO and NATO: "Smart Defence" in the North?

Author:: Ann-Sofie Dahl
Publication Date:: 05-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: NATO Defense College
Abstract:: Weekly Swedish-Finnish-Norwegian air defence training in the very north of Scandinavia; Swedish-Danish cross border exercises in the southern part of the region; Swedish-Finnish maritime patrolling in the Baltic Sea; and, in February 2014, Swedish and Finnish participation in the Iceland Air Meet exercise with NATO, led by Norway. These are only a few examples of Nordic Defence Cooperation, or NORDEFCO, the military acronym used to describe this multifaceted pattern of practical military training and cooperation across borders and security doctrines in the northernmost corner of Europe.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, International Cooperation, and Military Strategy
Political Geography:: Europe, Finland, Norway, and Sweden

39446. "Resetting" AU-NATO relations: from ad hoc military-technical cooperation to strategic partnership

Author:: Mehari Taddele Maru
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: NATO Defense College
Abstract:: In the speech delivered on 19 September 2013 focused on the future of NATO, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen listed the Alliance's top three priorities. Having identified the first two (focusing on further building NATO's capabilities, and the need to achieve a better balance of responsibility between North America and Europe), he pointedly focused on the third priority as the need to "...develop a truly global perspective of security, and the partnerships to match the perspective."
Topic:: Security, NATO, Globalization, International Cooperation, and Reform
Political Geography:: Europe and North America

39447. Semantics Matter NATO, Cyberspace and Future Threats

Author:: Christine Hegenbart
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: NATO Defense College
Abstract:: Promoted by the mass media, catastrophic cyber scenarios are omnipresent: "Cyber-warfare: Hype and fear", "Cyber-security: War on terabytes" and "Escalating cyber-attacks — It's about time" are just some of the recent headlines in The Economist for prominent articles on cyber topics. The military perspective emerges explicitly from the choice of wording, suggesting a major security challenge for NATO.
Topic:: Security, Science and Technology, Terrorism, and Communications

39448. Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook 2014

Author:: Nanna Hvidt and Hans Mouritzen (eds.)
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Book
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Danish Foreign Policy and the activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2013 were marked by the continuing economic and political diffusion of power on the global stage – a development that generates dynamism and new opportunities in the globalised world, but also challenges the position of Europe. The Permanent Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs describes the political and economic developments in the world – which have led to a far-reaching reorganisation of Danish diplomatic representations abroad – and analyses the most important Danish foreign policy priorities of 2013. The article emphasizes trends in the EU, in international security, and regarding the Arctic and the transatlantic dimensions, as well as developments in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, and finally global development trends.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, Economics, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, Middle East, and Asia

39449. Risks of Intelligence Pathologies in South Korea

Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: A failure of intelligence on the Korean peninsula-the site of the world's highest concentration of military personnel with a history of fraught, sometimes violent, sabre-rattling-could have catastrophic consequences. Yet the South Korean intelligence community has revealed its susceptibility to three types of pathologies-intelligence failure, the politicisation of intelligence, and intervention in domestic politics by intelligence agencies-which bring into stark relief the potential for grievous miscalculation and policy distortions when addressing the threat from North Korea. Moves by intelligence agencies to recover or bolster their reputations by compromising sensitive information have compounded the problem. Efforts are needed to reform the South's intelligence capacities, principally by depoliticising its agencies and ensuring adequate legislative and judicial oversight. Lawmakers and bureaucrats also need to fulfil their responsibilities to protect classified information and refrain from leaking sensitive intelligence for short-term personal political gains.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, Intelligence, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:: Asia, South Korea, and Sinai Peninsula

39450. The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham and the "Cleansing" of Deir ez-Zour

Author:: Valerie Szybala
Publication Date:: 05-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Institute for the Study of War
Abstract:: Following the January 2014 uprising by rebel groups in Syria against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), ISIS contracted its footprint in Syria. The group was pushed out, tactically withdrew, or went below the radar in cities and towns across much of Idlib, Aleppo, and Deir ez-Zour. It continued to battle the Kurds in Hasaka, but constituted most of its strength in ar-Raqqa, where it is in firm control of the provincial capital and several other towns. In Syria's eastern province of Deir ez-Zour, ISIS is attempting a resurgence. At the end of March 2014, ISIS began to move forces from the north into place for an offensive back into the heart of rebel territory in Deir ez-Zour province. This resurgence has come in the form of an offensive largely against Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic Front, which are predominant in the province. Local tribal militias have come to play an increasing role as well.
Topic:: Sectarianism and Sectarian violence
Political Geography:: Iraq, Middle East, and Syria

39451. ISIS Battle Plan for Baghdad

Author:: Jessica Lewis
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Institute for the Study of War
Abstract:: There are indications that ISIS is about to launch into a new offensive in Iraq. ISIS published photos of a military parade through the streets of Mosul on June 24, 2014 showcasing U.S. military equipment, including armored vehicles and towed artillery systems. ISIS reportedly executed another parade in Hawijah on June 26, 2014. These parades may be a demonstration of force to reinforce their control of these urban centers. They may also be a prelude to ISIS troop movements, and it is important to anticipate where ISIS may deploy these forces forward. Meanwhile, ISIS also renewed the use of suicide bombers in the vicinity of Baghdad. An ISIS bomber with a suicide vest (SVEST) attacked the Kadhimiya shrine in northern Baghdad on June 26, 2014, one of the four holy sites in Iraq that Iran and Shi'a militias are most concerned to protect. ISIS also incorporated an SVEST into a complex attack in Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad, on June 25, 2014 in a zone primarily controlled by the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and Shi'a militias on the road from Baghdad to Karbala. These attacks are demonstrations that ISIS has uncommitted forces in the Baghdad Belts that may be brought to bear in new offensives. ISIS's offensive has not culminated, and the ISIS campaign for Iraq is not over. Rather, as Ramadan approaches, their main offensive is likely imminent.
Topic:: Military Strategy, Armed Struggle, Sectarianism, and Sectarian violence
Political Geography:: Iraq and Middle East

39452. Iraq Situation Report: August 4, 2014

Author:: Nichole Dicharry
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Institute for the Study of War
Abstract:: Forces from the Peshmerga were deployed to the Mosul Dam. The new force is reportedly larger and better equipped than the forces that had clashed with ISIS previously in the area. Also, unconfirmed reports suggest that the Peshmerga have retaken the area of Wana, located near the dam, that fell to ISIS yesterday.
Topic:: Armed Struggle, Refugee Issues, Sectarianism, and Sectarian violence
Political Geography:: Iraq and Middle East

39453. Iraq Situation Report: July 30, 2014

Author:: Nichole Dicharry
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Institute for the Study of War
Abstract:: ISIS published images of Eid celebrations in Mosul showing kids and teenagers playing at a large carnival. The images also showed ISIS members handing out candy to children. This comes after residents from Mosul and ISIS reported that the organization launched a radio station in the city.
Topic:: Islam, Governance, and Sectarianism
Political Geography:: Iraq and Middle East

39454. The Ukraine Crisis and the Resumption of Great-Power Rivalry

Author:: Dmitri V. Trenin
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: The Ukraine crisis that erupted in early 2014 has brought an end to the post-Cold War status quo in Europe. Russia, feeling betrayed by its Western partners because of their support for regime change in Kiev, has stepped forward to protect its vital interests-which the West saw as aggression by a revisionist power. The ensuing conflict will last long and have an impact far beyond Europe.
Topic:: Cold War and Territorial Disputes
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Ukraine

39455. Egypt's Media in the Midst of Revolution

Author:: Rasha Abdulla
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: More than three years after the January 25 revolution toppled then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, Egypt continues to struggle with an authoritarian media sector and constraints on freedom of expression. Postrevolution regimes have not capitalized on opportunities to reform state and private media, and critical voices have been harassed and marginalized by state and nonstate actors. As long as Egypt continues to be governed by rulers who believe controlling the media is in their best interest, reform will only come about through the few dissident voices in the media backed up by support from civil society and the masses.
Topic:: Democratization, Communications, and Social Movement
Political Geography:: Middle East, North Africa, and Egypt

39456. Exploring Uzbekistan's Potential Political Transition

Author:: Alexey Malashenko
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: Islam Karimov has essentially been in power in Uzbekistan since 1989. Rumors abound that Karimov will not take part in the country's next presidential election in 2015, but it seems likely that he will participate. If he does, he is guaranteed to win. Though it is still too early to talk about the chances specific candidates have of replacing Karimov, it is important to look closely at the current ruling elite and the president's possible successors to see where the country might be heading.
Topic:: Democratization, Politics, Regime Change, and Public Opinion
Political Geography:: Uzbekistan

39457. In India, Election Season Is Never Over

Author:: Richard M. Rossow
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) historic victory in the spring 2014 Lok Sabha1 election was a tremendous accomplishment—yet it still leaves the party with impartial control, at best. Weakness in the Rajya Sabha, where the BJP only holds 43 out of 243 seats, may limit the party's ability to enact legislative reforms. And the fact that the BJP only controls 5 of India's 29 states will also blunt the impact of any policy measures adopted at the center. In order to enact a true economic transformation, the BJP will either need the support of a wide range of unaligned parties—which would be a historical abnormality—or to consolidate its power at the state level by winning upcoming state elections. With the BJP's powerful show of force across India in the Lok Sabha election, winning state elections appears to be a viable path.
Topic:: Democratization, Regime Change, Governance, and Reform
Political Geography:: India and Southeast Asia

39458. Economic Statecraft Redux: Improving the U.S. State Department's Effectiveness in International Economic Policy

Author:: Robert A. Pollard and Gregory N. Hicks
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: At a time when economics has become a more central feature of international relations, the United States needs to raise its game in international economic policy to sustain global leadership. Yet the U.S. government is not well organized at present to meet this challenge.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Reform
Political Geography:: United States

39459. Recent Trends in the South China Sea and U.S. Policy

Author:: Gregory B. Poling
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: Tensions in the South China Sea have continued to build over the last year, with the Philippines submitting its evidence against Chinese claims to an arbitration tribunal, Beijing parking an oil rig in waters claimed by Vietnam, and Malaysia growing increasingly anxious about Chinese displays of sovereignty at the disputed James Shoal. These and other developments underscore just how critical managing tensions in the South China Sea are, for the region and for the United States.
Topic:: International Relations, Diplomacy, Sovereignty, and Territorial Disputes
Political Geography:: United States, China, Malaysia, Beijing, and Asia

39460. Trade policy issues in the Wider Europe – that led to war and not yet to peace

Author:: Michael Emerson
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: This paper looks at the trade policy landscape of the EU and the wider Europe, with a focus on issues arising from the signature on 27 June 2014 of Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements (DCFTAs) between the EU and three East European countries (Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine), and actual or prospective issues relating to the customs union of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan (BRK), and the Eurasian Economic Union whose founding treaty was signed on 29 May 2014. While the contrived collision between these projects has tragically induced Russia to break all the established international security norms by waging war against Ukraine, the present paper deals essentially with trade policy issues. The huge expansion of intercontinental free trade area negotiations currently underway, in which the EU is an active participant alongside much of the Americas and Asia, stands in contrast with Russia's choice to restrict itself to the Eurasian Economic Union, which is only a marginal extension of its own economy. Alone among the major economies in the world, Russia does not seek to integrate economically with any major economic bloc, which should be a matter of serious concern for Moscow. Within the wider Europe, the EU's DCFTAs with Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia are a major new development, but Russia now threatens trade sanctions against Ukraine in particular, the economic case for which seems unfounded and whose unilateral application would also impair the customs union. The Belarus-Russia-Kazakhstan customs union itself poses several issues of compatibility with the rules of the WTO, which in turn are viewed by the EU as an impediment to discussing possible free trade scenarios with the customs union, although currently there are far more fundamental political impediments to any consideration of such ideas. Nonetheless this paper looks at various long-term scenarios, if only as a reminder that there could be much better alternatives to the present context of conflict around Ukraine.
Topic:: Economics and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Russia, America, Europe, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Asia, and Georgia

39461. Flexibility clauses in the Stability and Growth Pact: No need for revision

Author:: Stefano Micossi and Fabrizia Peirce
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: The policy debate about how best to restore growth in the flagging eurozone economy has been plagued by demands from some highly indebted member countries that the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) be loosened to leave greater room to support the economy with budgetary instruments. These demands have been met with an instant rebuff from the Commission and other financially solid members who argue that loosening the Pact would do little to restore sound growth. This question has also hindered the broader discussion on the need for and content of a renewed growth strategy for the eurozone and the European Union, no least by fuelling fresh mistrust among their member states.
Topic:: Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Reform
Political Geography:: Europe

39462. Ukraine, Russia and the need for more flexibility in EU foreign policy-making

Author:: Steven Blockmans
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: The downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine has unleashed a storm of grief and anger in the EU and around the world. Heads of state and government have joined the public outcry and called for tough action against those directly and indirectly responsible for this heinous crime. The EU's reaction, however, has been lame so far by comparison.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Territorial Disputes, and Sanctions
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, and Ukraine

39463. Global Cybercrime: The Interplay of Politics and Law

Author:: Aaron Shull
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Examining global cybercrime as solely a legal issue misses an important facet of the problem. Understanding the applicable legal rules, both domestically and internationally, is important. However, major state actors are using concerted efforts to engage in nefarious cyber activities with the intention of advancing their economic and geostrategic interests. This attempt to advance a narrow set of economic interests through cybercrime and economic cyber espionage holds to the potential to erode the trust in the digital economy that has been a necessary condition for the success of the Internet as an economic engine for innovation and growth. By pursuing these efforts, states are prioritizing short-term interests over long-term stability and a responsibly governed, safe and secure Internet platform. This paper explores the recent unsealing of a 31-count indictment against five Chinese government officials and a significant cyber breach, perpetrated by Chinese actors against Western oil, energy and petrochemical companies. The paper concludes by noting that increased cooperation among governments is necessary, but unlikely to occur as long as the discourse surrounding cybercrime remains so heavily politicized and securitized. If governments coalesced around the notion of trying to prevent the long-term degradation of trust in the online economy, they may profitably advance the dialogue away from mutual suspicion and toward mutual cooperation.
Topic:: Defense Policy, Crime, International Trade and Finance, Terrorism, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:: United States, China, and Asia

39464. The Politics of the "Unfinished Business": Bosnian Police Reform

Author:: Dejan Guzina and Branka Marijan
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The recent protests in Bosnia-Herzegovina (henceforth, Bosnia) have once more shown the extent of the remaining challenges in the country. However, while many commentators have examined the political, economic and social roots of the protests, less attention has been paid to the role of the police in these events. Police confusion, their inability to respond to the street protests in a timely and professional manner, and allegations of the use of excessive force against protestors represent clear evidence that the stalled police reform in the country needs to be re-examined. After almost two decades of international assistance, first by the United Nations (UN) and later the European Union (EU), police reform in Bosnia remains incomplete. Since the 2012 closing of the EU police mission (EUPM) in Bosnia, the issue of police reform has been put on hold. Bosnia's multiple police services remain fragmented and lack transparency. More importantly, the lack of harmonization, coordination and civic oversight leads to political interference in policing.
Topic:: Civil Society, Human Rights, Law Enforcement, and Reform
Political Geography:: Europe, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and United Nations

39465. National Ownership and Post-Conflict Peace Building: From Principle to Practice

Author:: Timothy Donais
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: There is a growing consensus, both within and outside the UN system, around the importance of national ownership for sustainable post-conflict peace building. Reflecting on the broader peace-building project in 2009, for example, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon invoked national ownership as a central theme, reflecting the common sense wisdom that any peace process not embraced by those who have to live with it is likely to fail (UN 2009).
Topic:: Civil Society, Governance, Reconstruction, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:: United Nations

39466. African Climate Change Negotiators Need a New Strategy

Author:: Barry Carin
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: There is currently little prospect of a successful international agreement resulting in effective, legally binding emission targets and significant "new and additional finance transfers" to developing countries; however, there is room for Africa to formulate an effective strategy in climate change negotiations. A bit player in climate change negotiations, with little leverage over the major emitting countries, Africa is wasting time with its current strategy of pursuing elusive emission targets and illusory financing. Africa can bring creative ideas to the negotiating table to reduce global emissions and enlarge "the size of the pie" for all parties. A strategic "carrot and stick" approach can make a positive contribution to an eventual international climate agreement and maximize Africa's portion of the expanded pie.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:: Africa

39467. The African Union and the Post-2015 Development Agenda

Author:: Barry Carin
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: African countries are currently engaged at the United Nations (UN) to determine the post-2015 framework to succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The post-2015 goals matter because they will guide the priorities of UN agencies, the multilateral development banks, bilateral development assistance and civil society organizations. It is in Africa's interests to ensure the post-2015 framework is congruent with African priorities. African Union negotiators must take a strategic approach in the current process to select the post-2015 development goals.
Topic:: Development, Governance, and Reform
Political Geography:: Africa and United Nations

39468. Infrastructure and Sustainable Development Goals in the BRICS-Led New Development Bank

Author:: Kathryn Hochstetler
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The BRICS countries held their annual meeting in Fortaleza, Brazil on July 15-17, 2014. While there, they formally launched their NDB, answering some of the many lingering questions about its function (BRICS 2014). The Shanghai based bank will have at least US$50 billion in initial capital, making it a significant new entrant into the sphere of global development finance. India will hold its first rotating presidency, but all five of the countries have particular roles to play. The lengthy presidential declaration gave little new information about the kinds of projects that will receive funding; however, simply repeating earlier statements that it will finance infrastructure and sustainable development projects. This policy brief examines how the NDB is likely to approach those two policy objectives, and notes a potential clash of these goals. There is already abundant evidence on this issue in the 2013 agreements and in the current financing patterns of the various national development banks of the BRICS member countries.
Topic:: International Relations, Climate Change, Development, and Environment

39469. Power Shift and Renminbi Internationalization: Recommendations for the G20

Author:: Raluca Diana Ardelean and Mengun Zhang
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: China has gained substantial economic power in recent years, becoming the second-largest trading nation after the United States and the largest goods-trading nation since 2012 (Eichengreen 2014). It is also currently the largest source of savings and the largest potential source of capital for international investment (ibid.). Measured by GDP, China is now the second-largest economy in the world (see Figure 1), and the World Bank surmises it is likely to surpass the United States in 2014 (World Bank 2014). Because of China's growing economic importance, a shift in power is reasonably assumed. As its economic power grows, internationalization of the RMB has become a key policy goal for China, especially after the 2008 financial crisis (Zhang 2009; Park 2010; China Securities Regulatory Commission [CSRC] 2014). This goal demonstrates China's desire for better integration and representation in the international economic community and signals its willingness to perform internal financial reforms and take more responsibility in global economic affairs.
Topic:: Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Monetary Policy
Political Geography:: United States, China, and Asia

39470. Education in Emergencies: The Case of the Dadaab Refugee Camps

Author:: Hayley Mackinnon
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Between 1991 and 2009, more than 2.5 million Somali citizens fled their homeland to Ethiopia, Djibouti and, most notably, Kenya, following the collapse of the Somalian government of Siad Barre. This led to violent clashes between various factional clan groups, and fighting to control land and resources ensued. This resulted in the displacement, starvation and slaughter of thousands of civilians, leading to a crisis that prompted international intervention during the 1990s.
Topic:: Development and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa, United Nations, and Ethiopia

39471. How to Protect Refugees and Prevent Abuse at the Border

Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Human Rights First
Abstract:: Over the last few years there has been a sharp increase in the number of asylum seekers detained in “expedited removal” along the U.S. southern border who have expressed a fear of return to their home countries. The overwhelming majority of these people are from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. A rise in murders, rape, violence against women, kidnappings, extortion, and other brutality in these countries, which varies due to the particular conditions in each country—fueled by political instability, economic insecurity, breakdown of the rule of law, and the dominance of local and transnational gangs—is prompting many people to flee their homes.
Topic:: Security, Political Violence, Crime, and Immigration
Political Geography:: United States, America, and North America

39472. Responding to Insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea

Author:: Patrice Sartre
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Peace Institute
Abstract:: The Gulf of Guinea has become notorious for its violent conflicts and political instability. This insecurity has its origins in bad governance, corruption, and failures of social and economic development. Violent power struggles and competition for the control of economic assets periodically cause crises to flare up, and these tend to be persistent and widespread. The international community has worked to move countries in the region onto a stable trajectory. West Africa has also made efforts to develop a coordinated approach to the region's challenges through a common security architecture. Such subregional initiatives may ultimately prove most conducive to long-term stability.
Topic:: Security, Corruption, and Governance
Political Geography:: Africa

39473. Eritrea: Ending the Exodus?

Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: The large emigration of youths is the clearest sign of extreme domestic discontent with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki's government. Social malaise is pervasive. An ever-growing number of young people have fled over the last decade, frustrated by open-ended national service – initiated in 1995 and expanded during the war with Ethiopia (1998-2000). Yet, this flight has resulted in neither reforms nor a viable movement to create an alternative to the current government. Once outside, the ties that bind émigrés to their birthplace are strong and lead them to give financial support to the very system they escaped, through the 2 per cent tax many pay the state as well as remittances sent home to family members.
Topic:: Economics, Labor Issues, Immigration, Youth Culture, and Governance
Political Geography:: Africa and Europe

39474. Ask the Experts: Higher Education

Author:: Arturo Cherbowski Lask, Francisco Suarez Hernandez, Amgad Shehata, and Salvador Alva Gómez Salvador
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: It's important to keep in mind that a region consists of different countries, each with its own needs and strengths, and bound to its particular culture and history—although tied firmly to a common, shared history and culture. In this mosaic, universities try to respond to their regional, national and local demands. Thus, the fields of knowledge and particular disciplines that each university develops answer to specific needs.
Topic:: Culture
Political Geography:: Germany

39475. Can Mexico exploit its new demographic dividend?

Author:: Nathaniel Parish Flannery
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: Can Mexico exploit its new demographic dividend? With contributing research from Miryam Hazán and Carlos López Portillo Maltos of Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together (MATT). Read a sidebar on Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together (MATT's) electronic job bank. Read a sidebar on Mexican migrants' return to restaurant work. José Antonio Pérez remembers as a child seeing migrants climbing onto La Bestia ("The Beast"), the train that carries Central American migrants north to the state of Oaxaca, and wondering where they were going. An uncle told him the migrants were "traveling to El Norte," the United States. "I didn't understand," Pérez recalled. "I only understood when I was older." At the age of 14, he joined them. He left his hometown of Arriaga, Chiapas, in 2003 and found work in a greenhouse in Chestertown, Virginia.
Topic:: Migration
Political Geography:: United States, America, and Mexico

39476. Sarah Stephens and Joel Brito debate: Will warming Cuba-EU ties open up U.S.-Cuba relations?

Author:: Sarah Stephens and Joel Brito
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: The EU has recognized that its Common Position has failed to improve human rights in Cuba. It's time for the U.S. to do the same with its embargo. BY SARAH STEPHENS Will warming Cuba-EU ties open up U.S.- Cuba relations? Yes When Louis Michel, then-development commissioner for the European Union (EU), met in 2009 with Bruno Rodríguez, Cuba's foreign minister, he worried openly about the slow pace of EU diplomacy. “I think that if the European Union does not consolidate the normalization of relations with Cuba,” Michel said, “the Americans will do so before us.”1 He need not have been concerned. In the nearly five years since Michel and Rodríguez sat down together, the Cuban government has pursued reforms to pry the island's economy back from the edge of crisis—ranging from creating space for entrepreneurship to ending travel restrictions. Now is the time for the United States to follow its Atlantic partner and get off the sidelines when it comes to engaging Havana. The Obama administration's track record signals some hope: thus far, the president has used his executive authority to restore Cuban-American family travel, reinstate people-to-people trips, and reconvene the episodic talks on migration and postal delivery. But he has left undisturbed the essential architecture of U.S. policy inherited from the Eisenhower era.
Political Geography:: United States

39477. Helping tech startups in Buenos Aires — Tearing down cultural walls in Cuba — Battling Colombia's corrupt politicians — Promoting HIV awareness.

Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: Business Innovator: Lisa Besserman Lisa Besserman could be at home anywhere in the world; but last year, the Queens, New York, native put down roots in Argentina to launch Startup Buenos Aires, to motivate, support and connect startups across the globe. The 29-year-old tech entrepreneur, named one of the “100 Most Influential Tech Women on Twitter” by Business Insider Australia in May, says that her goal is to put Buenos Aires “on the map of global startup ecosystems.” Her clients seem to agree. A year after its launch, her organization—which helps local startups find employees and funding, and connects local tech talent to projects and employers—has attracted some 4,000 members, including foreign firms. Besserman is a successful example of a new class of global workers that could be called “tech nomads.” In November 2012, feeling constrained by corporate culture in New York City, Besserman left her job as director of operations at AirKast Inc., a mobile app development startup, and looked at a map to determine where she'd begin her next business venture. The only requirement: the city had to have a similar time zone to the East Coast to make doing business easier.
Political Geography:: New York, Colombia, and Cuba

39478. Colombia's elections — Brazil's insular economy — the case for coordinated NAFTA-TTIP and TPP negotiations.

Author:: Jaana Remes, Patricia Ellen, Raúl Rodríguez-Barocio, and Cynthia J. Arnson
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: Peace: Elections and Peace in Colombia BY CYNTHIA J. ARNSON Colombia's 2014 presidential elections marked a watershed in the country's politics. This was not because incumbent President Juan Manuel Santos won by nearly six percentage points, after having narrowly lost the first round to Óscar Iván Zuluaga, a hardliner backed by Santos's political nemesis, former president Álvaro Uribe. Rather, the campaign offered—as never before—starkly opposing visions of how to end Colombia's 50-year conflict with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—FARC): through direct peace negotiations on a tightly constructed agenda, or through military action aimed at the FARC's defeat or surrender. Understanding how the elections became a referendum on the peace process—and on uribismo itself—requires looking less at the candidates themselves than at the alliance, and then bitter parting, of Santos and Uribe. Santos and Zuluaga served together in Uribe's cabinet, Santos as defense minister and Zuluaga as finance minister. Both had similar attitudes toward Colombia's economic opening and management, which led to record levels of foreign direct investment and growth rates well above the Latin American average.
Political Geography:: Brazil and Colombia

39479. Competitive eating in the U.S. — Quemada-Diez' new film La Jaula de Oro — 10 Things to do in Patagonia — Latin America at the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: Competitive Eating Summertime in the U.S. typically evokes the image of barbecues featuring all-American fare. But for a group of unique, dedicated elite athletes, summertime food conjures up a chance at glory. Competitive eating was introduced in Coney Island on July 4, 1916, by Nathan's Famous to determine who could ingest the most hot dogs within a set time. Since then, it has pulled in a number of other foods, including the “accoutrements,” with the sponsorship of Coca-Cola and Heinz Ketchup—not to mention the upset-stomach reliever Pepto-Bismol. The sport revived in the mid-1990s when brothers George and Richard Shea took the helm of Nathan's Famous' publicity machine and gave it an air of serious athleticism, with rules overseen by two main bodies. The better-known Major League Eating (MLE) is run by the Shea brothers and hosts over 80 competitive eating events a year around the United States. But the crowning event remains the annually televised Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island. Then there's All Pro Eating Promotions, best known for inventing “picnic-style rules” in the U.S.—competitors must eat the food as presented, without mutilating it in any way.
Topic:: Government
Political Geography:: United States

39480. Anthony Spanakos looks at Venezuela befoAnthony Spanakos looks at Venezuela before Chávez — Roger-Mark De Souza examines Indigenous rights and Amazon oil conflicts — Johanna Mendelson Forman on new approaches to regional security.

Author:: Johanna Mendelson, Anthony Spanakos, and Roger-Mark De Souza
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Americas Quarterly
Institution:: Council of the Americas
Abstract:: Venezuela Before Chávez: Anatomy of an Economic Collapse by Ricardo Hausmann and Francisco R. Rodríguez BY ANTHONY SPANAKOS During the 1970s, Venezuela was the richest country in Latin America. With the region's highest growth rates and the lowest levels of inequality, it was also one of the most stable democracies in the Americas. But starting in the early 1980s, things fell apart. The nation endured three coup attempts and one presidential impeachment. Per capita growth plunged, and mass protests became the norm. What happened? Venezuela Before Chávez: Anatomy of an Economic Collapse, edited by Ricardo Hausmann and Francisco R. Rodríguez, offers some intriguing answers. Pointedly departing from much of the current research (and political discussion) on Venezuela, which focuses on the 14-year presidency (1999–2013) of late President Hugo Chávez, the editors have assembled a distinguished group of experts with the aim not only of exploring, as they put it, the “enigma” of Venezuela's pre-Chávez collapse, but to explain why some countries go through such turbulence. The unexpected outcomes in Venezuela are used by the authors to challenge hypotheses that rely on big data analysis to explain economic collapse. While the explanation behind Chávez' rise to power may draw attention, as Venezuela continues to be rocked by internal conflict following his death, it is the book's second aim that makes it stand out as an important work of scholarship.
Topic:: Economics and Government
Political Geography:: United States

39481. EDITOR'S NOTE: Brazil, the weakest link of BRICS?

Author:: Paulo Fagundes Visentini
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:: Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:: In a short period, the African continent became, from a situation of lesser relevance for the analysts, a region of higher strategic value. The complex academic understanding of this evolution is made difficult, in Brazil, for unfamiliarity towards the region and, in Europe, for the prejudiced vision. But, as a Brazilian diplomat stationed in the old continent once argued, “ignorance is more easily overcome than prejudice”. Thus, as a contribution to the debate, AUSTRAL dedicates this issue to the international relations of Africa.
Political Geography:: Europe, Brazil, and Australia

39482. STRUCTURAL POWER TOWARD WEAK STATES: FRANCE, NOT CHINA, MATTERS IN FRANCOPHONE AFRICA

Author:: Olivier Mbabia
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:: Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:: The magnitude of assignment of the People's Republic of China in Africa has recently ignited a tide of 'speedy' literature ranking the latter as the main actor to the detriment of traditional ones. A close look at this issue, however, shows that this deduction seems all the less simplistic. By deliberately limiting the present analysis to the so-called Francophone Africa, where Chinese engagement is as considerable as elsewhere on the continent, it appears that this conclusion is shaky when submitted to a rigorous analysis. Can a causal relation be established between the progression of this presence and Beijing's actual influence? Can power or influence be subsumed to an ever-growing presence and an economic vitality? Are these parameters enough to unseat old colonial powers, especially France in its original and natural area of influence?
Political Geography:: Africa, China, and Canada

39483. AFRICA AND THE EMERGING POWERS: THE SOUTH AND THE UNHOLY COOPERATION

Author:: Paulo Fagundes Visentini
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:: Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:: One of the most remarkable phenomena of Contemporary International Relations is the fact that Africa became object of a new global race, like in the end of the 19th Century. In the beginning of the 21st Century, however, the most dynamic protagonists of such movement are the emerging powers, and not the European metropolises. Such process occurs in a frame of economic and social development in Africa, besides a diplomatic protagonism, which represented an unexpected feature for many. Africa, in marks of globalization and the end of the Cold War, experienced a second "lost decade", with bloody internationalized civil wars, epidemics (HIV/AIDS, cholera and the Ebola virus, among others) and economic marginalization.
Topic:: International Relations and Cold War
Political Geography:: Africa, Russia, Europe, Canada, and India

39484. THE ROLE OF COMMERCIALLY PROVIDED SECURITY IN AFRICA'S PATRIMONIAL SECURITY COMPLEX

Author:: Andreas Krieg and Christopher Kinsey
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:: Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:: Applying Western liberal models of civil-security sector relations to the highly complex and factionalized security sector on the African continent is difficult. Unlike the security sector in Western liberal states whose control is widely monopolized by the institutions of the state and society, the security sector in Africa has never been structured around the concept of security as a public good provided by the state on behalf of or for the protection of a societal public sphere as a whole. On a continent where ethnic, tribal or religious groups have been assigned to artificial territorial entities by colonial powers, the Western notion of an integral nation state built around a public consciousness of togetherness has been widely alien to most of the African states and societies. Consequently, post-colonial states and its civilian leaderships have rarely created a security sector, which is inclusive, representative of domestic social, ethnic, religious or tribal fault lines and undisputed in regulating violence. Instead, African security sectors, whether public or private, have been built around patrimonial networks that by controlling the provision of security ensured that security is provided as an exclusive private good benefitting those elites embedded in such networks.
Political Geography:: Africa

39485. ASSYMETRIC WARFARE: EXPERIENCES, PERSPECTIVES, INKLING AND CHALLENGES WITH A FOCUS ON ZIMBABWE

Author:: Raymond Mharapara, Lucky Bassie Bangidza, and Steven Gwekwere
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:: Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:: The world has become dependent on interdependence and globalization because the processes that promote worldwide exchanges of national and cultural resources are generating further interdependence of economic and cultural activities (Robertson 2000). Therefore, one can state that religion and culture are no longer only important ingredients of civilization , but potential causes of division and isolation. A good example is that only a few Muslim governments overtly supported Saddam Hussein, many Arab States privately cheered him on, and he was highly popular among large sections of Arab populaces. When invoking parallels and using them as strong rallying points, Muslims contrasted Western actions against Iraq with the West's failure to protect Bosnia against Serbs and also to impose sanctions on Israel for violating UN resolutions (Huntington 2006, 447). As a result, differences in power and struggles for military, economic and institutional power are now sources of conflict between the West and other civilisations. Consequently, it could be assumed that fundamental economic reforms give rise to necessary political transformation.
Topic:: Economics
Political Geography:: United States and Zimbabwe

39486. TOWARDS REDEFINING THE NEWS AGENDA IN THE NIGERIAN MEDIA FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Author:: Osakue Stevenson Omoera
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:: Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:: The media (radio, television, film, print, social networks, etc) are change agents in contemporary world. They can be/should be deployed to ensure the culture of peace as well as galvanise other agents of development in 21st century societies, especially in Africa, where peace and sustainable development appear to be eluding many countries, including Nigeria, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Somalia , to mention a few. Appraising the state of affairs in Nigeria, Igbuzor (2006) warns that several intelligence reports on Nigeria indicate that if the country is unable to create about 24 million jobs for its gr owing population, to provide effective platforms and infrastructures for fighting corruption, and to ensure equitable distribution of its abundant wealth, it could become a failed state.
Political Geography:: Africa, Canada, and Zimbabwe

39487. NATIONAL ARMY AND STATE-BUILDING IN AFRICA: THE BRAZILIAN APPROACH IN THE CASE OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

Author:: Igor Castellano de SIlva and José Miguel Quedi Martins
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:: Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:: This article aims to discuss the role of the technical cooperation, Brazil's participation in the peacekeeping missions and the international projection of Brazilian companies as elements that, once deliberately conjugated, can produce a particular model of international insertion of Brazil. It is understood that these three elements may be present, though in an embryonic way, in the case of the interaction between Brazil and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Such interaction has the potential for assisting in the tasks regarding the formation of the National Army in the latter, something directly related to the difficulties that are present in the DRC and Sub - Saharan Africa in the state - building process.
Political Geography:: Canada and Brazil

39488. FOREIGN POLICY OF NEW SOUTH AFRICA: REINSERTION AND REGIONAL AFFIRMATION

Author:: Kamilla Raquel Rizzi and Nathaly Xavier Schütz
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:: Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:: South Africa is a country of particular importance to understand contemporary international relations. Located in the southernmost part of the African continent, bordered by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, South Africa occupies a strategic geopolitical and geo-economic position. With the end of the Apartheid regime in the early 1990s, the country entered a phase of international reinsertion, which has as a fundamental component the normalization of relations with other African countries, especially its neighbors in Southern Africa. The goal of this work is to analyze the foreign policy of the New South Africa (from Nelson Mandela to Jacob Zuma), with the main concern of elucidating the role that regional integration has for the South African ambition s in the world system.
Topic:: International Relations
Political Geography:: Canada and South Africa

39489. COOPERATION AND CONFLICT: THE DYNAMICS OF OIL AND GAS IN CENTRAL ASIA

Author:: Paolo Duarte
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:: Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:: This article analyzes some paradigmatic cases of tension between conflict and cooperation, limited cooperation and difficulties in initiating processes of cooperation in Central Asia, particularly in terms of oil and gas, often generating rivalries that prevent significant advances in regional integration.
Political Geography:: Central Asia

39490. THE POLITICAL ROLE OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE DEFAULT OF ARGENTINA

Author:: Roberto Miranda
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:: Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:: The objective of this work is to analyze the participation of the United States of America in the restructuring of the Argentinean debt after the December 2001 crisis . Most part of studies and researches on the situation faced by the Latin American country is focused on unraveling the economic causes and mechanisms that led this country to declare the greatest suspension of debt disbursements of its history. There are many points of view and debates based on this focus. In our case, the perspective is different. We consider that the U.S. had much more to do with the Argentinean meltdown and its resolution.
Political Geography:: United States and Argentina

39491. NEW INDEPENDENT FOREIGN POLICY, A MATTER OF EMPHASIS

Author:: Eduardo Brigidi de Mello
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:: Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:: Brazil's foreign policy has recovered, since 2003, the main lines of force adopted from 1930 to 1980, especially those outlined from January 1961 to March 1964. The Lula Administration emphases were the result of the renewed conception of the state as the strategic coordinator of development, as opposed to the 1990s experience when the logic of the Market possessed primacy. The state has expanded and diversified public policies, arrogating central role in combating inequality, which would be a condition for democracy and growth. Externally, the structural transformations and the institutional improvement begun with the redemocratization allowed the country to consolidate its globalist strategy, to which in 2003 the protagonism emphasis was added.
Political Geography:: Brazil

39492. COMPLETE EDITION: AFRICA: DIFFERENT VIEWS ON ITS STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE

Author:: Paulo Fagundes Visentini
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:: Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:: AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations is an essentially academic vehicle, linked to the International Strategic Studies Doctoral Program (PPGEEI) of the Faculty of Economics (FCE) of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) and to the Brazilian Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies (NERINT) – a research center of the Latin American Institute for Advanced Studies (ILEA/UFRGS). Its pluralist focus aims to contribute to the debate on the international political and economic order from the perspective of the developing countries. The journal publishes original articles and book reviews in English, Portuguese or Spanish about themes that lie in the vast area of Strategy and International Relations, with special interest in issues related to developing countries and the South-South relations, their security issues, the economic, political and diplomatic development of emerging nations and their relations with the traditional powers. The journal's target audience consists of researchers, specialists and postgraduate students of International Relations. The journal will try, through its publication policy, to ensure that each volume has at least one author from each of the great southern continents (Asia, Latin America, Africa), in order to stimulate the debate and the diffusion of the knowledge produced in these regions. All of the contributions will be subjected to a scientific review.
Political Geography:: Brazil and Australia

39493. The Fiscal Impact of Immigration

Author:: Alex Nowrasteh
Publication Date:: 07-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Cato Institute
Abstract:: The fiscal impact of immigration-how immigrants and their descendants affect government budgets-is a widely debated and contentious issue. Economists overwhelmingly accept the economic gains of immigration, but are less certain about immigrants' impact on government budgets. Contention over this issue is fueled by the numerous methodologies and complexity of analysis that obscure the fiscal costs of immigration.
Topic:: Civil Society, Economics, Immigration, Governance, and Budget

39494. The China-EU BIT: The emerging "Global BIT 2.0"?

Author:: Wenhua Shan and Lu Wang
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:: Since China and the European Union (EU) announced their decision to negotiate a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) at the 14th China-EU Summit in February 2012, the two sides have engaged in two rounds of negotiations. If successful, it will be the first standalone EU BIT, a BIT between the world's largest developed economy and the world's largest developing economy, and will occupy a unique place in the history of BIT negotiations.
Topic:: Economics, International Trade and Finance, Bilateral Relations, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: China, Europe, and Asia

39495. Before "DarkSeoul" Becomes "DestroySeoul"

Author:: Ye Ra Kim
Publication Date:: 02-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies
Abstract:: Growing dependence on ever evolving information technology and continuous occurrence of cyber- attacks against nations demonstrate the need for solid security strategy in cyberspace. South Korea, a country keen to explore benefits brought by the Internet, has suffered a heavy blow from a series of North Korea's cyber-attacks in the past. This paper analyzes the 2013 March 20 cyber-attack against South Korea in detail and sheds light on the fast developing cyber capabilities of North Korea. The severity of the March 20 attack which simultaneously targeted major banks and broadcasters in the country spread panic through South Korea. The malware used in the attack was later nicknamed "DarkSeoul" because of the repetitive use of the term in the malware programming source. The attack illustrates the changing nature of the conflict on the Korean Peninsula, reflecting the need for a new concept of national security in which cyberforce plays a critical role.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, Science and Technology, and Terrorism
Political Geography:: Asia, South Korea, and North Korea

39496. A People of War or Peace? Americans' Attitudes Towards the Use of Military Force Abroad in Terrorist and Conflict Situations

Author:: Emanuel Boussios
Publication Date:: 05-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies
Abstract:: This exploratory research presents the results of a March 2011survey of a random sample of 217 adults on their attitudes towards the use of force as a foreign policy alternative. This research note examines the social characteristics of those people who are more or less likely to support intervening in hypothetical foreign conflicts in situations in which the United States' national interests may or may not be at stake. The research reported here was aimed at answering several questions including: are there some demographic groups who are more likely to support intervening in foreign conflicts even when U.S. national interests are not necessarily at stake? I find that dispositional preferences interact with opinion about the geopolitical situation to determine whether military force is an acceptable option. The survey incorporates various foreign pol icy and terrorist scenarios. Findings include the following: I support the findings of others in that Democrats, liberals, and women are less likely to support military force as a foreign policy option. Using multivariate regression analysis it was also found that certain respondent dispositions, such as "value placed on human life," were more likely to constrain policy preferences. I also find conflicting support for the casualty hypothesis. In general the more casualties mentioned in a scenario the les s likely Americans are to support the use of force, with a notable exception here among "hawks". I also find this is true for civilian casualties.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Politics, and Military Strategy
Political Geography:: United States and America

39497. Middle East 2020: Shaped by or Shaper of Global Trends?

Author:: Mathew J. Burrows
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Atlantic Council
Abstract:: With new crises sprouting almost on a daily basis in the Middle East, there is increasing interest in knowing the possible medium- and long-term consequences of the cascading developments in the region. This report attempts to think about the alternative futures possible in the Middle East over the next five to ten years. This is a shorter-term forecast than usual, but in the Middle East more deep-seated and structural factors are in flux than in most other regions. A longer-term forecast would allow for more optimism, but would be less useful for decision-makers who not only need a bird's eye view of where developments are headed but also a notion of the pressure points to effect positive change now.
Topic:: Security, Economics, Terrorism, Armed Struggle, Regime Change, and Political Activism
Political Geography:: Middle East

39498. Why Nuclear Deterrence Still Matters to NATO

Author:: Walter B. Slocombe and Matthew Kroenig
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Atlantic Council
Abstract:: NATO's Strategic Concept (SC), adopted at the Lisbon Summit in November 2010, includes a number of propositions that define NATO's nuclear policy. Most fundamentally, NATO's most important strategy document declares that "[d]eterrence, based on an appropriate mix of nuclear and conventional capabilities, remains a core element of" the Alliance's "overall strategy."
Topic:: Defense Policy, NATO, Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, and International Security

39499. Morocco's Emergence as a Gateway to Business in Africa

Author:: J. Peter Pham and Ricardo Rene Laremont
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Atlantic Council
Abstract:: Africa is home to seven of the world's ten fastest-growing economies. By 2050, the continent's population is expected to overtake India's and China's, doubling to two billion people. Moreover, those two billion Africans will be younger than their counterparts in every other region of the world and will account for one in four workers globally by mid-century. Africa's rich endowment of natural resources, including about 30 percent of the world's known reserves of minerals and 60 percent of the planet's uncultivated arable land, is already well-known to investors.
Topic:: Security, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: Africa, China, and Morocco

39500. How Has the Developing World Changed since the Late 1990s? A Dynamic and Multidimensional Taxonomy of Developing Countries

Author:: Andy Sumner and Sergio Tezanos Vázquez
Publication Date:: 08-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Many existing classifications of developing countries are dominated by income per capita (such as the World Bank's low, middle, and high income thresholds), thus neglecting the multidimensionality of the concept of 'development'. Even those deemed to be the main 'alternatives' to the income-based classification have income per capita heavily weighted within a composite indicator. This paper provides an alternative perspective: clusters of developing countries. We take 4 'frames' on the meaning of development: economic development, human development, better governance, and environmental sustainability. We then use a cluster procedure in order to build groups of countries that are to some extent internally 'homogeneous', but noticeably dissimilar to other groups. The advantage of this procedure is that it allows us identify the key development characteristics of each cluster of countries and where each country fits best. We then use this taxonomy to analyze how the developing world has changed since the late 1990s in terms of clusters of countries and the country groupings themselves.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Governance, and Reform

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS