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Begin New Search Topic International Affairs Content Type Special Report Publication Year within 10 Years

371. When corruption is the operating system

Author:
Sarah Chayes
Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
In some five dozen countries worldwide, corruption can no longer be understood as merely the iniquitous doings of individuals. Rather, it is the operating system of sophisticated networks that cross sectoral and national boundaries in their drive to maximize returns for their members. Honduras offers a prime example of such intertwined, or “integrated,” transnational kleptocratic networks. This case thus illustrates core features of the way apparently open or chaotic economies are in reality structured worldwide—and some of the dynamics that are driving climate change, persistent inequality, and spiraling conflict.
Topic:
Corruption and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Honduras

372. Envisioning the Future: Iranian and Saudi Perspectives on the Post-Oil Economy

Author:
Wael Abdul-Shafi
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
Falling oil and gas prices and shrinking demand across global energy markets pose enormous challenges for energy exporting countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia and lead to decreasing revenues from this sector. Despite differences in the structures of their respective national economies, both countries share common challenges in adapting to this new situation. High youth unemployment rates, an underrepresentation of women in the workforce, a public sector unable to absorb the high numbers of university graduates as well as environmental degradation and pollution, all constitute major problems for both countries and their economies. But, while solving many of these issues would ideally demand bilateral cooperation, a political climate of mutual mistrust and enmity currently inhibits such a process.
Topic:
International Political Economy and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Iran and Saudi Arabia

373. The Great Powers Have Their Ways

Author:
Sven Biscop
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
Abstract:
How will the great powers behave? That is what determines the future world order – or the absence of order. Could it be that China and the EU have found an alternative for the old-fashioned grand strategies that Russia and the US are again pursuing
Topic:
International Relations and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

374. Issues & Insights Vol. 17 - No. 1 - 4th US/UK-Myanmar Nonproliferation Dialogue

Author:
Carl W Baker and Federica Dall’ Arche
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
There have been remarkable transformations in UK/US-Myanmar relations over the past few years with the signing of trade agreements, lifting of sanctions, and investments. Nevertheless, some issues such as the government’s alleged violations of the human rights of minority ethnic groups have prevented better relations. There is currently a fairly wide gap in perceptions regarding the issue of human rights violations in the Rakine State. While some outsiders accuse the government of genocide or ethnic cleansing, the Myanmar government has consistently portrayed its actions as justified based on the need for counterterrorism measures against international terrorists. An open dialogue over these
Topic:
Nuclear Weapons, International Security, International Affairs, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Britain, America, and Myanmar

375. The Future of Leadership in the Shiite Community

Author:
Mehdi Khalaji
Publication Date:
02-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, a former Iranian judiciary chief who holds a prominent position in the Assembly of Experts, now has two paths to leadership of the Shiite community. The first is as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, now seventy-seven; the second is to eventually take the place of Najaf-based Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who at eighty-six is the preeminent religious authority in Shia Islam. A certain air of mystery surrounds Shahroudi, whose life has been chronicled heretofore only in a flattering pamphlet produced by his own office. But the trends in his philosophy are clear enough: on the religious front, he has grown more conservative; in matters of Iranian nationalism, a harder-line revolutionary. Author Mehdi Khalaji offers here the first comprehensive study of Ayatollah Shahroudi, encompassing his upbringing in holy Najaf, his move to Iran after the Islamic Revolution, his role as a stalwart in Khamenei's power base, and his brutal tenure as chief justice from 1999 to 2009. A scenario worth imagining, though hardly inevitable, is one in which Shahroudi consolidates power as both Supreme Leader and transnational marja, thereby reinforcing Iran's regional clout and its revolutionary orientation.
Topic:
International Relations, International Security, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Iran

376. Russian Active Measures and Influence Campaigns

Author:
Eugene B. Rumer
Publication Date:
03-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Deception and active measures in all their incarnations have long been and will remain a staple of Russia’s dealings with the outside world for the foreseeable future.
Topic:
Diplomacy, International Security, International Affairs, Elections, Democracy, and Post Truth Politics
Political Geography:
Russia and America

377. The Berlin Pulse 2017 (full issue)

Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Körber-Stiftung
Abstract:
Dear Reader, Welcome to The Berlin Pulse! In the past years, calls for greater German international engagement were heard at many occasions. As Germany sets out for a new coalition experiment, the question is whether the new government will assume this responsibility, and how it will address international challenges. To succeed, a Chancellor Angela Merkel will have to reconcile the views of her coalition partners with expectations of Germany’s international partners. How much leeway does a new government have between international expectations and domestic constraints? The idea behind The Berlin Pulse is to guide policy-makers and experts on this fine line. To this end, prominent international authors such as Jens Stoltenberg and Mohammad Javad Zarif formulate their expectations for Germany on 2018’s most pressing issues. A representative survey commissioned by Körber Foundation in October 2017 contrasts their perspectives with German public opinion. We will publish The Berlin Pulse annually on the occasion of the Berlin Foreign Policy Forum, which we host together with the Federal Foreign Office. The contrast of domestic and international perspectives indicates what kind of foreign policy actor Germany can become. For example, while many foreign policy makers demand that Germany punches its weight on the international stage, Germans do not demonstrate the same enthusiasm: 52 percent prefer international restraint over increased engagement, a value similar to past years. As Timothy Garton Ash writes in his contribution on Germany’s role in the world, “there has been no historical caesura since 3 October 1990 large enough to justify talking about a ‘new’ Germany.” And while experts still discuss whether we are in a “post-Atlantic era”, the German population already seems to have reached a conclusion: 56 percent consider the relationship between the US and Germany to be somewhat or very bad, and a striking 88 percent would give a defense partnership with European states priority over the partnership with the US. In an interview for The Berlin Pulse, Condoleezza Rice stresses the importance of increased defense spending for the transatlantic relationship, yet 51 percent of Germans think spending should stay at current levels. Opinion polls are often snapshots. Yet, we have been conducting polls since 2014 and believe that continuity allows distinguishing between outliers and underlying characteristics of German public opinion on foreign policy. We particularly thank the Pew Research Center for fielding six joint questions on the transatlantic relationship in the US. The motto of our founder to “talk to each other rather than about each other” has guided Körber Foundation’s activities from the beginning. The Berlin Pulse shall gather representative voices from within and outside Germany to illustrate and acknowledge the potential and limits of Germany’s role in the world. We believe this is a prerequisite for developing a viable and successful foreign policy. Behind every successful publication, there is a dedicated editor. Thanks to the acumen and persistence of Luise Voget, Program Manager at our International Affairs Department, the idea of a ‘guidebook to German foreign policy’ has been molded into 60 pages of data, analysis and opinion: The Berlin Pulse. I wish you a good read. Thomas Paulsen
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, International Cooperation, International Affairs, and Military Intervention
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

378. NATO, Cooperative Security, and the Middle East – Status and Prospects

Author:
Hakan Akbulut
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Austrian Institute for International Affairs (OIIP)
Abstract:
This report consists of three parts: The first part offers a brief introduction into the topic of NATO partnerships in general and ICI more specifically. The second part compiles three papers presented at the workshop on the preferences, perspectives, and policies of Bahrain, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) relating to cooperation with NATO. The third part summarizes the presentations of all workshop participants and accompanying discussions without making any explicit attributions as the event was held under Chatham House Rule. All speakers participated in the workshop in a personal capacity and expressed exclusively their personal views and assessment. Moreover, as this summary incorporates all different views expressed, a participant will unlikely endorse all arguments to be found herein.
Topic:
Security, NATO, International Cooperation, International Affairs, and Partnerships
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, Bahrain, Oman, and UAE

379. From Polar Sea to Straight Baselines: Arctic Policy in the Mulroney Era

Author:
Adam Lajeunesse and Robert Huebert
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
In 1985, the government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announced the drawing of straight baselines around the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, defining the full extent of the country’s Arctic maritime sovereignty and enshrining that sovereignty in legislation for the first time. This decision was a reaction to the voyage of the US Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Sea through the Northwest Passage that summer, an expedition that both sparked a political crisis and led to years of negotiations between Canada and the United States to settle the precise status of the northern waters. This volume contains documents surrounding that policy shift and the subsequent negotiations, which students, academics, and policy makers can use to chart the development of Canadian policy and Canadian-American relations in the Arctic. From this, readers can gain a greater understanding – not only of Canadian history – but of the nature of Canadian Arctic policy, and why it exists in its present form.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

380. Northern Skytrails: Perspectives on the Royal Canadian Air Force in the Arctic from the Pages of The Roundel, 1949-65

Author:
Richard Goette and P. Whitney Lackenbauer
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
This volume examines the role of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in the Arctic through the pages of The Roundel, the service magazine that ran from 1949-65. Readers will gain a deeper appreciation of the air force’s efforts to develop a greater sense of Arctic “air-mindedness” in the early Cold War through articles explaining the history of the RCAF’s engagement in the Arctic and Subarctic, lessons observed during postwar operations, life at isolated stations, and roles in continental defence. Access to these insights (which span from resupply missions to social relations with host communities and indigenous peoples) remains important today, when the RCAF is being called upon to prepare to respond to safety and security challenges in an increasingly complex Arctic region.
Topic:
Cold War and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Canada