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1111. The European Convention on Human Rights, the EU and the UK: Confronting a Heresy

Author:
Andrew Williams
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The orthodox view of the ECHR and its Court as regime in the context of both the EU and UK has been that it has considerable value albeit with systemic flaws. The purpose of this article is to challenge this orthodoxy. Four inter-related submissions are made: that the ECHR has failed human rights conceptually (1); 'good' or lauded decisions of the ECtHR cannot remedy or sufficiently counter-balance this conceptual failure (2); 'bad' decisions further expose and exacerbate the failure (3); the procedural problems of the ECHR regime may contribute to the underlying failure of concept but their resolution cannot solve it (4). These submissions are to provoke a more intense assessment of value and how such value could be enhanced. It may be too late to see any influence on the accession process but this does not reduce the relevance of the critique for the future of human rights in both the EU and the UK. Ultimately an approach to the ECHR system needs to determine whether it continues to be lauded or its influence resisted (thus seeking reform or replacement - the alternative candidates being the EU Charter and/or a national Bill of Rights) and retained only as an iconic scheme of moral importance.
Topic:
Human Rights
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

1112. The European Convention on Human Rights, the EU and the UK: Confronting a Heresy: A Reply to Andrew Williams

Author:
Stelios Andreadakis
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This reaction piece responds to the article by Andrew Williams entitled 'The European Convention on Human Rights, the EU and the UK: Confronting a Heresy'. In his article, Williams contends that we should not further support the 'orthodox' view that the Convention (ECHR) has been very successful in protecting and promoting human rights across Europe, offering four submissions to that end. It will be argued that Dr Williams' submissions regarding the ECHR's success and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)'s role are not well supported and justified. The relationship between the ECHR and a future UK Bill of Rights will also be explored in the piece, as there is no sufficient link between the author's arguments about the ECHR regime and the UK legal system, making it rather artificial to refer to the UK as a possible model for human rights.
Topic:
Human Rights
Political Geography:
Europe

1113. Horizontal Review between International Organizations: A Reply to Abigail C. Deshman

Author:
Rosa Rafaelli
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This short article aims to further the discussion over horizontal review between international organizations started by Deshman in her analysis of the role of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe after the H1N1 pandemic. The article compares the historical evolution of the European Parliament to that of the Parliamentary Assembly and examines how the EP's involvement with issues such as human rights and international relations served to build its identity, to gain international recognition, and to obtain more formal powers. It suggests possible additional reasons explaining the PA's willingness to perform horizontal review over action carried out by the WHO, and potential paths for future developments.
Topic:
International Relations and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Europe

1114. Horizontal Review between International Organizations: A Rejoinder to Rosa Raffaelli

Author:
Abigial C. Deshman
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Dr. Raffaelli's Reply to my article highlights some very useful areas for further exploration in the realm of global administrative law and inter-institutional interactions. Calling this a rejoinder may be a bit of a misnomer since I believe we are actually in broad agreement. In the spirit of debate, I will first draw out one apparent point of divergence – whether this is actually an instance of horizontal review – before canvassing our substantive areas of agreement.
Political Geography:
Europe

1115. Panos Koutrakos. The EU Common Security and Defence Policy

Author:
Julia Schmidt
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The European Union has gone through a profound development as an international crisis management actor. It was only in 2003 that the common security and defence policy became operational. Since then, the EU has conducted more than 25 civilian and military crisis management missions in many parts of the world. These missions are carried out in the name of the EU whose international legal personality has been formally recognized by the Treaty of Lisbon (Article 47 TEU). At the same time, the EU depends on capable and willing Member States to launch and to carry out an operation under the auspices of its common security and defence policy. The development of the EU as a military actor is remarkable in the light of the EU's historical evolution. In the 1950s, it started as a peace project that was based on economic integration. To prevent the emergence of a new war on the European continent, Robert Schuman proposed linking the coal and steel industries of France and Germany together 'within the framework of an organization open to the participation of the other countries of Europe'. Attempts to create a European army within the European Defence Community failed in 1954. Today, Europe has moved away from being merely a civilian power. When confronted with its inability adequately to respond to the Balkan crisis in its neighbourhood in the 1990s, the Cologne European Council of 1999 marked the birth of the EU's common security and defence policy. A process was put in motion that equipped the EU with the legal capacity and the civilian and military means to engage in 'missions outside the Union for peace-keeping, conflict prevention and strengthening international security' (Article 42(1) TEU). Civilian and military means may be used by the EU to fulfil the socalled Petersberg tasks, that include 'joint disarmament operations, humanitarian and rescue tasks, military advice and assistance tasks, conflict prevention and peace-keeping tasks, tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peace-making and post-conflict stabilisation' (Article 43(1) TEU). In political statements such as the European Security Strategy the EU has expressed great ambitions as a global security actor and has spoken of its responsibility to contribute to international security.
Political Geography:
Europe

1116. SIFTING THROUGH INTERDEPENDENCE

Author:
Thomas Wright
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Washington Quarterly
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
If there is one idea that has consistently influenced western foreign policy since the Cold War, it is the notion that extending interdependence and tightening economic integration among nations is a positive development that advances peace, stability, and prosperity. As a post-Cold War idea guiding U.S. and European foreign policy, there is much to be said for it. The absorption of Eastern Europe in both the European Union and NATO helped consolidate market democracy. Globalization led to unprecedented growth in western economies, and facilitated the ascent of China and India, among others, taking billions of people out of poverty. Access to the international financial institutions also offered emerging powers the strategic option of exerting influence through existing institutions rather than trying to overturn them. Some policymakers and experts believe that this process holds the key to continuing great power peace and stability.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Cold War
Political Geography:
United States, China, Europe, and India

1117. Democratization and Relations with the EU in the AK Party Period: Is Turkey Really Making Progress?

Author:
Paul Kubicek
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
This brief commentary assesses the progress made by Turkey under the Justice and Development Party (the AK Party) toward European Union (EU) membership and democratization. While it acknowledges positive steps, it notes that the goals of EU accession and democratic consolidation remain elusive. One consideration is that the expectations or “goalposts” for both have moved so that, relative to the objectives of those supporting democratic freedoms and Europeanization, progress in Turkey has still been rather modest. While the democratization package of September 2013 offers some hope for democratization, it remains difficult to see substantial progress in terms of joining the EU.
Topic:
Development
Political Geography:
Europe and Turkey

1118. Euro-Turks in the Contemporary European Imaginary

Author:
Raymond Taras
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
Do perceptions of Muslim communities differ among receiving European societies? Are attitudes towards Euro-Turks more critical than other groups? Do Euro-Turks feel marginalized and recognize social distance from the majority? This paper presents data from cross-national research projects to assess the social distance between national majority and Muslim minorities, in particular Euro-Turks. It also considers the extent to which religion, ethnicity, and culture help shape Islamophobia and anti-Turkish attitudes. Social distance is not treated as a proxy variable for discrimination or exclusion, but it serves as an indicator of the possible marginalization of Euro-Turks. Further, increasing social distance between majority and minority Muslim groups may also serve as a reliable indicator of a Europe in crisis, confronting its multiple conflicting identities.
Political Geography:
Europe

1119. A Muslim Mystic Community in Britain: Meaning in the West and for the West

Author:
Ali Murat Yel
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
THE NAQSHBANDIYYA is perhaps one of the widest-spread Islamic religious brotherhoods due to its active involvement in political affairs. Its 'strength' comes from the fact it could trace the sheiks of the order as far back as to the Prophet of Islam through his companion Abu Bakr. The silsila (the chain of transmission) of the order also contains some very important figures in Islamic history, like Salman al-Farisi and Bayazid al-Bistami. Despite the importance of the order and its worldwide expansion, the published works on the subject could fill only a small shelf. The order also has a great number of followers in Turkey, including some prominent political figures. Since Shah Bahauddin Naqshband, the founder of the order, the succeeding sheiks of the Naqshbandiyya tarikat (religious order) have currently been handed to Sheikh Nazim al-Kibrisi al-Haqqani, a Turkish Cypriot. The Sheikh has been given the task of expanding the order to the West, and as a result of arduous efforts he has been able to establish some centers in various European and American cities, with the biggest one being in London. Author Tayfun Atay studied this center for his Ph.D. thesis submitted to London University.
Topic:
Islam
Political Geography:
Britain, America, Europe, Turkey, and London

1120. Jews: The Making of a Diaspora People

Author:
Harvey E. Goldberg
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
THE SUBTITLE of this one-volume overview of Jewish history presents its main focus as the notion of diaspora, but its twenty-eight chapters are more accurately grasped by dividing them into sub-themes. Chapters 1-9 discuss the development of “diaspora” as a social-historical concept in recent scholarship, and sketch the emergence of the Jewish diaspora from Biblical times (when Israelites and Judeans were exiled by the Assyrian and Babylonian empires), through the diaspora under Roman rule whose benchmark was the destruction of the (second) Jerusalem Temple in 70 of the Common Era. The next section (chapters 10-15) portrays medieval Jewish life, mainly within the context of Christian Europe. Chapters 16-18 are a history of ideas, touching upon major Enlightenment luminaries and some of the reactions of Romantic thinkers. It underlines the (often multivalent) ways that Jews appeared within these intellectual schemes. The emergence of racial ideas, feeding into Nazi ideology and policies, and a condensed history of the Holocaust are presented in chapters 19-27. A final chapter discusses “Zionism, Israel, and the Palestinians,” tailing off in the 1970s.
Topic:
Development
Political Geography:
Europe