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302. Revitalizing Democracy Assistance To Counter Threats To Democratization
- Author:
- David Black
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS)
- Abstract:
- The global prospects for democratization and democracy assistance are worse than at any time in several decades due to the culmination of six trends: a backlash against democracy assistance, disillusionment with the Western model of liberal democracy, increasingly resilient authoritarianism, efforts by Russia to undermine democratic institutions and development, China’s alternative development model, and the spread of “digital authoritarian” technology. Democracy assistance has been adapting to these trends, but proponents of democracy are being outpaced by those who seek to undermine democracy or promote alternative models that are less sustainable, just, or equitable.
- Topic:
- International Affairs and Democracy
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
303. Transatlantic Cooperation on Asia and the Trump Administration
- Author:
- Andrew Small
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS)
- Abstract:
- Transatlantic cooperation on Asia, and on China in particular, is still characterized by missed opportunities and self-imposed obstacles. Yet it would be a mistake to underplay the constructive developments that have occurred during the Trump administration. At the working level, a great deal of groundwork has now been laid for the joint efforts that will be necessary on a range of Asia policy issues.
- Topic:
- International Cooperation, International Affairs, and Geopolitics
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
304. Expanding Equity And Inclusion In Urban Development Through Transatlantic Exchange
- Author:
- Geraldine Gardner and Paul Costello
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS)
- Abstract:
- The Urban and Regional Policy Program (URP) of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), in collaboration with the Urban Institute, conducted a research project that explores how— and the learning process by which—the principles of equity and inclusion can be incorporated into the design and implementation of urban planning projects, and what role, if any, can transatlantic peer-to-peer learning activities play. The focus of research is GMF’s transatlantic peer-to-peer learning the initiative, Dialogues for Change (D4C)
- Topic:
- International Relations, International Affairs, and National & provincial initiatives
- Political Geography:
- Germany
305. Reform In Armenia Assessing Progress and Opportunities for U.S. Policy
- Author:
- Johnathan Katz
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS)
- Abstract:
- Thank you for the opportunity to join this distinguished panel to discuss Armenia’s democratic transformation and steps the United States and other international partners can take to work with the government in Yerevan, along with Armenian citizens and the Armenian diaspora, to strengthen rule of law and transparency in Armenia. As you may be aware, the German Marshall Fund of the United States and our Black Sea Trust based in Bucharest continue to support democracy, civil society, and free media in Armenia and across Eastern Europe.
- Topic:
- International Relations, International Political Economy, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Armenia
306. The End of Techno-Utopianism
- Author:
- Karen Kornbluh
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS)
- Abstract:
- his piece is part of a full report, "Reassessing 1989," which looks at the major events of that year, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Tiananmen Square protests, and the breakup of Yugoslavia.
- Topic:
- International Affairs, Cybersecurity, and Democracy
- Political Geography:
- Germany
307. Liberal Overreach and the Misinterpretation of 1989
- Author:
- Thomas Klein-Brockhoff
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS)
- Abstract:
- When the Berlin Wall fell 30 years ago, many in the West dreamt of a Europe whole and free and at peace. This was back when the nations of Europe and North America agreed on the Paris Charter and its fairy-tale ending, a “new age of democracy, freedom and unity” for Europe, and implicitly, for the entire world. It turned out somewhat differently.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
308. 1989 with Chinese Characteristics
- Author:
- Janka Oertel
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS)
- Abstract:
- While the 30th anniversary of the peaceful revolution that led to reunification of Germany and the end of the Soviet Union is celebrated in the West, China’s leadership had hoped their 1989 would go unremembered. It did not happen that way. The world has changed enormously since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) clamped down on protests in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. China has become almost unrecognizable after decades of record growth and development of singular scale. But as the anniversary and the recent events in Hong Kong demonstrate all too well, the CCP has remained remarkably unaltered. Despite decades of change and growing prosperity, it holds fast its grip on control – now more enabled by deep pockets, unparalleled propoganda prowess, and global clout.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Democratization, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
309. A Silicon Curtain is Descending: Technological Perils of the Next 30 Years
- Author:
- Lindsay Gorman
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS)
- Abstract:
- pal story of 1989 in Europe is a story about technology – of radio and information crossing the East-West divide to bring down the Berlin Wall. Indeed, the post-communist narrative became that more connectivity and more connection meant more freedom and more democracy. It was on the wave of this narrative that the Internet became the world’s ultimate connector.1 It has brought globalization and international commerce in an unprecedented and unimaginable way, given activists a platform and a megaphone, and made information about democratic governance available to anyone with a router. Or almost anyone.
- Topic:
- International Political Economy, Science and Technology, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Europe
310. From Triumph to Travail: The EU's 1989 Legacy
- Author:
- Jan Techau
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS)
- Abstract:
- As party systems across Europe adjust to changed popular demand at rapid speed, the European Union struggles to find its bearings in this whirlwind of political transformation. Euroscepticism has won a few big victories across Europe, and loose talk about the EU falling apart or being beyond repair is rife.
- Topic:
- International Relations and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Europe
311. Authoritarian Advance: How Authoritarian Regimes Upended Assumptions about Democratic Expansion
- Author:
- Laura Rosenberger
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS)
- Abstract:
- Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin wall, democracies again face a struggle against authoritarianism. This is not the ideological battle of the Cold War, but it is a confrontation between systems of government.
- Topic:
- Democratization, International Affairs, and Authoritarianism
- Political Geography:
- Europe
312. HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series
- Author:
- Maciej Kotowski
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
- Abstract:
- This paper investigates the formation of production and trading networks in an economy with general interdependencies and complex property rights. The right to exclude,a core tenet of property, grants asset owners a form of monopoly power that influences granular economic interactions. Equilibrium networks reflect the distribution of these ownership claims. Inefficient production networks may endure in equilibrium as firms multi-source to mitigate hold-up risk. Short supply chains also reduce this risk, but may preclude the production of complex goods. A generalized Top Trading Cycles algorithm, applicable to a production economy, identifies equilibrium outcomes in the model. Such outcomes can be decentralized via a price system.
- Topic:
- International Trade and Finance, International Affairs, Intellectual Property/Copyright, and National & provincial initiatives
- Political Geography:
- America
313. Corporate Purpose in Play: The Role of ESG Investing
- Author:
- John Gerard Ruggie
- Publication Date:
- 08-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
- Abstract:
- On August 19, 2019, the U.S. Business Roundtable (BR), comprising the CEOs of more than 200 of America’s largest corporations, issued a new mission statement on “the purpose of a corporation” (BR, 2019a). The press release noted that each periodic update on principles of corporate governance since 1997 had endorsed the principle of maximizing shareholder value. In contrast, the new statement commits signatory CEOs “to lead their companies for the benefit of all stakeholders – customers, employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders” (BR, 2019b). “[Milton] Friedman must be turning in his grave,” a Fortune magazine article declared (Murray, 2019)
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
314. Bound to Happen: Explanation Bias in Historical Analysis
- Author:
- Richard Zeckhauser
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
- Abstract:
- This paper argues that historical analysis, necessarily written with hindsight, often underestimates the uncertainties of the past. We call this tendency explanation bias. This bias leads individuals – including professional historians – to imply greater certainty in causal analyses than the evidence justifies. Their analyses will treat what is plausible to be probable. We offer a few intuitions about why explanation bias exists, its relation to other well-established psychological biases, what it leads to, and how it might be combatted. Appreciating the depth of uncertainty and ignorance in our world is critical for accurately understanding, interpreting, and drawing from the past to illuminate the present and the near future
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
315. Targeted Debt Relief and the Origins of Financial Distress: Experimental Evidence from Distressed Credit Card Borrowers
- Author:
- Will Dobbie
- Publication Date:
- 08-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
- Abstract:
- We study the drivers of financial distress using a large-scale field experiment that offered randomly selected borrowers a combination of (i) immediate payment reductions to target short- run liquidity constraints and (ii) delayed interest write-downs to target long-run debt constraints. We identify the separate e?ects of the payment reductions and interest write-downs using both the experiment and cross-sectional variation in treatment intensity. We find that the interest write-downs significantly improved both financial and labor market outcomes, despite not taking effect for three to five years. In sharp contrast, there were no positive e?ects of the more immediate payment reductions. These results run counter to the widespread view that financial distress is largely the result of short-run constraints.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
316. The Intergenerational Effects of Parental Incarceration
- Author:
- Will Dobbie
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
- Abstract:
- We estimate the causal effects of parental incarceration on children’s short- and long-run outcomes using administrative data from Sweden. Our empirical strategy exploits exogenous variation in parental incarceration from the random assignment of criminal defendants to judges with different incarceration tendencies. We find that the incarceration of a parent in childhood leads to a significant increase in teen crime and significant decreases in educational attainment and adult employment. The effects are concentrated among children from the most disadvantaged families, where criminal convictions increase by 10 percentage points, high school graduation decreases by 25 percentage points, and employment at age 25 decreases by 29 percentage points. In contrast, there are no detectable effects among children from more advantaged families. These results suggest that the incarceration of parents with young children may significantly increase the intergenerational persistence of poverty and criminal behavior, even in affluent countries with extensive social safety nets.
- Topic:
- International Political Economy, International Affairs, and Prisons/Penal Systems
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
317. Measuring Bias in Consumer Lending
- Author:
- Will Dobbie
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
- Abstract:
- This paper tests for bias in consumer lending using administrative data from a high-cost lender in the United Kingdom. We motivate our analysis using a new principal-agent model of bias, which predicts that profits should be higher for the most illiquid loan applicants at the margin if loan examiners are biased. We identify the profitability of marginal applicants using the quasi-random assignment of loan examiners. Consistent with our model, we find significant bias against immigrant and older applicants when using the firm’s preferred measure of long-run profits, but not when using the short-run measure used to evaluate examiner performance. Keywords: Discrimination, Consumer Credit
- Topic:
- Debt, International Political Economy, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
318. Using Behavioral Insights to Improve Truancy Notifications
- Author:
- Todd Rogers
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
- Abstract:
- Many states mandate districts or schools notify parents when students have missed multiple unexcused days of school. We report a randomized experiment (N = 131,312) evaluating the impact of sending parents truancy notifications modified to target behavioral barriers that can hinder effective parental engagement. Modified truancy notifications that used simplified language, emphasized parental efficacy, and highlighted the negative incremental effects of missing school reduced absences by 0.07 days compared to the standard, legalistic, and punitively-worded notification—an estimated 40% improvement. This work illustrates how behavioral insights and randomized experiments can be used to improve administrative communications in education.
- Topic:
- International Relations and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
319. Creating Fossil-Fuel-Free Communities Globally
- Author:
- Emanuel Pastreich
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- Now that the movement to address climate change at the systemic and cultural level has gained unprecedented momentum, it is critical for us to establish a viable alternative economy that committed citizens around the world can join. The basic unit of that economy should be fossil-fuel-free (FFF) communities. In these FFF (fossil-fuel-free) communities, to be built from the ground up, nothing eaten or consumed, no form of transformation or communication employed, and no aspect of housing, furniture or utensils will contain fossil fuels (including plastics or fertilizers). Nor will any of these items be produced, transported, or manufactured using fossil fuels.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, International Affairs, and Social Movement
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
320. It’s Not Too Late for Rojava
- Author:
- Edward Hunt
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy Research Institute
- Abstract:
- As Turkey continues its devastating military assault on Rojava, the Kurdish-led region of northeastern Syria, officials in Washington are facing a critical decision: allow Turkey to prevail in its campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Kurds or take action to protect them. The Turkish invasion, which began on October 9, has been devastating for Rojava. According to the United Nations, nearly 180,000 people, including 80,000 children, have been displaced. At the start of the attack, Turkish officials announced that Turkish-led forces had killed more than 200 Kurdish militants. About a week later, Kurdish officials said that more than 200 civilians had been killed.
- Topic:
- International Security and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Turkey
321. Trump Isn’t Really Trying to End America’s Wars
- Author:
- Andrew J. Bacevich
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- Let us stipulate at the outset that President Trump is a vulgar and dishonest fraud without a principled bone in his body. Yet history is nothing if not a tale overflowing with irony. Despite his massive shortcomings, President Trump appears intent on recalibrating America’s role in the world. Initiating a long-overdue process of aligning U.S. policy with actually existing global conditions just may prove to be his providentially anointed function.
- Topic:
- International Relations and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- America and Global Focus
322. Why I Cry at Work: Drone War Burnout
- Author:
- Allegra Harpootlian
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- America’s drone wars have gotten deadlier under Trump, but the Trump-first news cycle makes highlighting the human cost extremely difficult.
- Topic:
- International Political Economy and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
323. How the Judiciary is Chipping Away at the War on Terror
- Author:
- Harry Blain
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- Lower courts are slowly but steadily eroding the legal basis for some of the most reactionary war on terror policies.
- Topic:
- International Law, International Political Economy, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
324. The NBA’s China Fiasco Shows What Businesses Really Value
- Author:
- Brian Wakamo
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy Research Institute
- Abstract:
- Companies willingly censor or condemn free speech to retain market share in authoritarian countries. Just ask Daryl Morey
- Topic:
- International Political Economy and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
325. Abusive North American Companies Pay Off Latin American Police to Harass Critics
- Author:
- Jen Moore
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- In countries like Peru, extractive industries contract police to suppress Indigenous protesters and detain international observers — including me
- Topic:
- Political Economy, International Affairs, and Domestic Politics
- Political Geography:
- Peru
326. How to Displace the Great Replacement
- Author:
- John Feffer
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- The far right is on a roll. Just a few years ago, liberals and conservatives would have considered its recent political victories a nightmare scenario. Right-wing extremists have won elections in the United States, Brazil, Hungary, India, and Poland. They pushed through the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom. In the most recent European Parliament elections, far-right parties captured the most votes in France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Hungary.
- Topic:
- International Political Economy and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
327. The Ukraine Whistleblowers and the Rise of Partisan Whistleblowing
- Author:
- Hannah Gurman
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- This moment should spark a conversation about the place of national security whistleblowing in a democratic society.
- Topic:
- International Security, International Affairs, Intellectual Property/Copyright, Political Activism, and Democracy
- Political Geography:
- America and Global Focus
328. Don’t Forget: Nuclear Weapons Are an Existential Threat, Too
- Author:
- Olivia Alperstein
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- A new study shows just how bad a nuclear war could get. We need a plan to eliminate this risk permanently
- Topic:
- Climate Change, International Political Economy, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
329. The #MeToo Movement Has Gone Global
- Author:
- Michael Galant
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- The #MeToo movement started with a single tweet — now, it has produced an international treaty. One in three women have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetimes, while close to three in four report having been sexually harassed. Much of this violence occurs in the workplace, where power imbalances and economic pressures increase the risk of abuse. Yet 59 countries have no legislation specifically addressing workplace harassment.
- Topic:
- International Relations and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
330. Trump’s Betrayal of the Kurds Is Terrible, But the Answer Is Not Endless War
- Author:
- Khury Petersen-Smith
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- It is sickening that the U.S. would deliver the Kurds to Turkish violence, but that doesn’t mean we should embrace the U.S. presence in Syria.
- Topic:
- International Relations and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
331. Five years after Maidan: Toward a Greater Eurasia?
- Author:
- LSE Ideas
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- This report, building on a workshop held at LSE IDEAS in December 2018 and supported by the Horizon 2020 UPTAKE and Global Challenges Research Fund COMPASS projects, brings together some of the UK’s foremost scholars on Russia, the EU and the post-Soviet space to evaluate the challenges and opportunities facing Russia’s 'Greater Eurasia’ foreign policy concept.
- Topic:
- International Relations, International Political Economy, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
332. Ireland-UK Relations and Northern Ireland after Brexit
- Author:
- LSE Ideas
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- This report explores the impact of Brexit from an Irish perspective, explaining Europe’s role in improving Ireland-UK relations since 1970s and outlining the threat posed by Brexit to the political settlement in Northern Ireland. In April 2019, LSE IDEAS produced a second edition of this report, containing a new contribution from Michael Burleigh, important updates from Paul Gillespie and Adrian Guelke, and a refreshed introduction from Michael Cox.
- Topic:
- International Political Economy, International Affairs, and Brexit
- Political Geography:
- Ireland and Global Focus
333. China in the 2020s: a more difficult decade?
- Author:
- George Magnus
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- The conventional narrative is that China is, or will, by 2030, be the largest economy in the world. Based on commonly held expectations historically about prewar Germany, the USSR and Japan, greater humility would not go amiss. It is not preordained that past economic trends will continue, especially in view of a much compromised outlook for both China and the rest of the world in the 2020s
- Topic:
- International Political Economy and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- China and Global Focus
334. New Forms of Public Administration Activity in Poland after 1989 as an Attempt of Realization Current Social Demands
- Author:
- Paulina Bieś-Srokosz
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- The deep changes in Polish legal system and economy that took place after 1989 contributed to the emergence of new challenges for public administration. The legislator, in order to satisfy growing numbers of social demands, appointed new tasks and created a new legal form of action for public administration entities. However, not every of the new forms were fitted to classically understood administrative law. Part of this new forms at the same time combines some features characteristic for administrative law as well as typical for civil law, which gives them untypical (hybrid) character. As an example, there can be mentioned: civil law contracts with so called “overlays” (obligatory additional conditions) imposed by certain legal acts as well as administrative settlements and administrative contracts. The aim of this article is to analyze those hybrid forms of action of public administration entities in terms of implementation the objectives of regulation set by the legislator.
- Topic:
- International Security and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
335. The Self-government Constitutes an Essential Element of the Civil Security in Polish Political Thought after 1989
- Author:
- Grzegorz Radomski
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- : The article analyses the Polish political thought after 1989 concerning the local self-government. Attention was drawn to various currents of the Polish political thought, such as liberalism, conservatism, the teaching of the Church, social democracy or nationalism. Particular attention was paid to the role of the self-government in building civil society and to the forms of citizen participation. According to the main hypothesis, the activity of the local self-government is generally accepted. The self-government is an important element of political projects and is considered an important element of civil security and plays an important role in building the civil society. The thought of Charles Taylor “the atrophy of the self-government constitutes a danger for the stability of the liberal society and in the consequence for the freedom protected by it” suited undoubtedly the liberals and the representatives of other political trends
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
336. Subverting the Idea(l) of Equal Opportunity in Global Trade:
- Author:
- Antonio Salvador Alcazar III
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- The existing multilateral trade regime is often beleaguered for unfairly privileging its Western guarantors. Since not all countries command the same opportunity sets to compete in global markets, world trade rules sanction über-rich markets to extend autonomous trade concessions to capital-poor countries without demanding any reciprocal treatment. Given the entanglements of trade in the thorny issues of international development and distributive justice, this paper joins a crowded trade as/and fairness debate by judging how the present global economic order (dis)favors developing and least developed countries on the basis of equal opportunity. In a Roemerian-Rawlsian reading of economic fairness, I start by elevating the demands of diffuse reciprocity over the misguided minimalism of mutual reciprocity in a twin attempt to morally defend asymmetric exchanges between asymmetric trading partners and to redress background inequalities in access to the merits of commerce. While the notion and praxis of altruism in international trade generally allude to northern democracies in modern political thought, this article also unmasks parallel models of special and differential treatment projects lorded over by two seemingly unusual suspects: the Eurasian Economic Union and the People’s Republic of China. In juxtaposing weak and strong conceptions of equal opportunity vis-à-vis leading compensatory measures presently open to needy nations, I articulate how the strong standard of equal opportunity is partially cantilevered by existing level-playing-field structures and yet brutally bulldozed at once by the politics of donor discretion. Finally, although a diluted form of diffuse reciprocity grows more fashionable among affluent and emerging economies, unlocking the strong standard of equal opportunity still insists on a solidaristic system of preferences to diffuse both opportunities and obligations arising from a less tilted trading order as widely and deeply as possible.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
337. Hybrid Warfare and Deniability as Understood by the Military
- Author:
- Håkan Gunneriusson
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- Russia and China are terraforming the maritime environment as part of their warfare. In both cases the actions are illegal and the performance is offensive to its actual nature. In the case of China, the practice is construction of artificial islands in the South Chinese Sea and in the case of Russia it is about the infamous bridge built over the Kerch strait, Ukraine. Neither Russia nor China expects an armed conflict with the West in the near future. That is a reasonable assumption, which is weaponized at the political-strategically level. The attack of this weaponized situation is that the trust in the West. Primarily the EU (European Union) and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), is eroded for every day which these countries challenges the international system which the western democracies say that they present and defend. China and Russia offer their authoritarian systems as a replacement and there are a lot of pseudo-democratic or even out-right authoritarian regimes on the sideline watching this challenge unfold. The article highlights the difference for the NATO-countries in logic of practice when it comes to the political social field on one hand and the military political field on the other hand. The article uses material from a previously unpublished survey made on NATO-officers then attending courses at NATO Defense College (NDC)
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, International Affairs, and Global Security
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
338. Hidden Memory and Memorials The Monument in Memory of the Korean Victims of the Atomic Bomb and the Remembrance of Korean Victims
- Author:
- Olga Barbasiewicz
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- During World War II, Americans dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Due to this atrocity, around 140,000 human beings lost their lives. Almost 20% of them were Koreans. It resulted in the sudden capitulation of Japan and caused the so called higaisha ishiki (awareness of being a victim) among Japanese society. Unfortunately, the question of Korean atomic blast victims has been forgotten and the Monument raised in Memory of the Korean Victims of the Atomic Bomb was placed in the peripheries of the Park. The aim of this paper is to analyze Hiroshima Memorial Park monuments, as locations that serve as political tools, with special emphasis on the issue of the Monument in Memory of Korean Victims of the A-bomb, which characterizes Japanese politics of remembrance towards Korea
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
339. A New Method to Calculate Power of International Actors
- Author:
- Abdullah Metin Durmuş
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- This article is based on the idea that it is necessary to develop a quantitative method to calculate power of international actors, which will enable scholars to analyse international conflicts. The Global Potential Power Distribution Chart, which is calculated based on three main characteristics of international actors, namely population, territory and economic power, shows “potential power of states and international organisations”. It may be called “Durmuş Scale of Power (DSoP)”. The chart is a comprehensive indicator with considerable accuracy and 100 % objectivity. In this article, potential powers of international actors have been calculated for years 1987, 2004 and 2015, which gives a clear overview of the potential power distribution (balance of power) of the World regarding states and as well as international organisations. Potential military powers of some states and international organisation in year 2015 have also been calculated. This research proves by means of a contemporary approach applied and a quantitative method developed that, the World is multipolar since 2004, and China is, potentially, the most powerful state of the World since 2015. The method introduced in this article were sufficient enough to explain the effects of the enlargement of NATO and EU, EU after BREXIT, reform of the Security Council of the United Nations and instrumental enough to provide a peaceful understanding for the self-determination issue of Kosova. There are three conclusions to this research: 1) The method “Durmuş Scale of Power” is calculated is reliable because everybody with a scientific calculator or a computer can easily calculate potential power of a state provided that he or she has reliable data for territory, population and GDP. 2) “Global Potential Power Distribution Chart” is a comprehensive Chart which shows “balance of power” at a specific year. It enables us to compare power of states and international organisations in different years. 3) It is convenient to use “Durmuş Scale of Power” while analysing issues of international relation
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
340. A New Method to Calculate Power of International Actors
- Author:
- Abdullah Metin Durmuş
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- This article is based on the idea that it is necessary to develop a quantitative method to calculate power of international actors, which will enable scholars to analyse international conflicts. The Global Potential Power Distribution Chart, which is calculated based on three main characteristics of international actors, namely population, territory and economic power, shows “potential power of states and international organisations”. It may be called “Durmuş Scale of Power (DSoP)”. The chart is a comprehensive indicator with considerable accuracy and 100 % objectivity. In this article, potential powers of international actors have been calculated for years 1987, 2004 and 2015, which gives a clear overview of the potential power distribution (balance of power) of the World regarding states and as well as international organisations. Potential military powers of some states and international organisation in year 2015 have also been calculated. This research proves by means of a contemporary approach applied and a quantitative method developed that, the World is multipolar since 2004, and China is, potentially, the most powerful state of the World since 2015. The method introduced in this article were sufficient enough to explain the effects of the enlargement of NATO and EU, EU after BREXIT, reform of the Security Council of the United Nations and instrumental enough to provide a peaceful understanding for the self-determination issue of Kosova. There are three conclusions to this research: 1) The method “Durmuş Scale of Power” is calculated is reliable because everybody with a scientific calculator or a computer can easily calculate potential power of a state provided that he or she has reliable data for territory, population and GDP. 2) “Global Potential Power Distribution Chart” is a comprehensive Chart which shows “balance of power” at a specific year. It enables us to compare power of states and international organisations in different years. 3) It is convenient to use “Durmuş Scale of Power” while analysing issues of international relations
- Topic:
- International Affairs and Geopolitics
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
341. Behavioral Insights as a New Generation of Public Service Delivery
- Author:
- Robert Gawłowski
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- For many years behavioral insights has been on the top of political agenda. The aim of this article it to examine how the most innovative countries use this public management tool into public administration realm. In pursuit of this, behavioral insights units have been research in six countries. In conclusion author figure out that there is still a huge room for development and looking a new strategy to implement nudging in a larger scale.
- Topic:
- International Political Economy, International Affairs, and Public Opinion
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
342. Alternative diplomacy and the political role of clerical elites: The Roman Catholic Church as an ideological counterforce in interwar Banat
- Author:
- Mihai A. Panu
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- : In interwar Romania, non-political institutions played a decisive role in the process of containing the expansion of totalitarian ideologies. The two major colliding ideological forces, National Socialism and Communism, rapidly reshaped the European sociopolitical profile after World War I and caused an unprecedented long-term deterioration of various intergovernmental relations. The Banat region was systematically exposed to external ideological factors due to the fact that its heterogeneous ethno-cultural profile allowed a rapid proliferation of political ideas and programs. This paper attempts to analyze the public role played by the Roman-Catholic clergy of the diocese Timişoara, in the context of rising National Socialist propaganda pressure, between 1930 and 1944. The most important clerical personality, who acted as a veritable counter-ideological element and therefore as a symbolic social protecting power, was the former bishop of the diocese Timişoara, Dr. Augustin Pacha.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
343. Activities of the Catholic Church in Poland Against Pedophilia in 2018
- Author:
- Kamila Rezmer-Płotka
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- The aim of the article is to determine the type of activities undertaken by the Catholic Church towards clergymen committing sexual offenses, and more specifically: pedophilia. The research problem is a question: what actions does the Catholic Church take against pedophilia? In order to realize a research project, it was first determined how the offense is defined in the doctrine of church criminal law. Then, there was made an analysis of the activities undertaken by the hierarchs of the Catholic Church. On its basis, a typology of the forms of the Church’s influence at various levels was reconstructed in the field of both preventive and sanctioning actions against the clergy. In the article there was adopted a time restriction covering only 2018. It can be described as a breakthrough, first of all due to the verdict that was made in Poznań (MS, 2018), the accusations that appeared at the end of the year against the deceased chaplain of Solidarity, Fr. Henryk Jankowski and initiatives taken by both citizens and politicians, such as the first anti-clerical happening of Baby Shoes Remember in Poland or the creation of a pedophile map. In the cinemas, a movie entitled “Kler” showed up. It moved the topic of pedophilia in the Church. Results: the Catholic Church in Poland, apart from symbolic activities, i.e. oral and written declarations, assurances, and prayers, undertakes also substantial actions, such as personal changes, cooperation with the state or the meetings of hierarchs centered around pedophilia
- Topic:
- International Political Economy and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
344. A New Method to Calculate Power of International Actors
- Author:
- Abdullah Metin Durmuş
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- This article is based on the idea that it is necessary to develop a quantitative method to calculate power of international actors, which will enable scholars to analyse international conflicts. The Global Potential Power Distribution Chart, which is calculated based on three main characteristics of international actors, namely population, territory and economic power, shows “potential power of states and international organisations”. It may be called “Durmuş Scale of Power (DSoP)”. The chart is a comprehensive indicator with considerable accuracy and 100 % objectivity. In this article, potential powers of international actors have been calculated for years 1987, 2004 and 2015, which gives a clear overview of the potential power distribution (balance of power) of the World regarding states and as well as international organisations. Potential military powers of some states and international organisation in year 2015 have also been calculated. This research proves by means of a contemporary approach applied and a quantitative method developed that, the World is multipolar since 2004, and China is, potentially, the most powerful state of the World since 2015. The method introduced in this article were sufficient enough to explain the effects of the enlargement of NATO and EU, EU after BREXIT, reform of the Security Council of the United Nations and instrumental enough to provide a peaceful understanding for the self-determination issue of Kosova. There are three conclusions to this research: 1) The method “Durmuş Scale of Power” is calculated is reliable because everybody with a scientific calculator or a computer can easily calculate potential power of a state provided that he or she has reliable data for territory, population and GDP. 2) “Global Potential Power Distribution Chart” is a comprehensive Chart which shows “balance of power” at a specific year. It enables us to compare power of states and international organisations in different years. 3) It is convenient to use “Durmuş Scale of Power” while analysing issues of international relations
- Topic:
- International Political Economy and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
345. Is the Modernization Process Becoming a Challenge or a Threat to the Security Policy and the Armed Forces?
- Author:
- Jarosław Piątek
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- In spite of defining the role of various measures of security policy implementation the weight of one has been quite unequivocally assessed for the current policy. The main position for contemporary Poland is to be taken by the armed forces. Under these conditions, the Polish Army has become a basic element of the defense system of Poland not only in terms of image. It is not surprising then that currently the armed forces have received a wide range of tasks regarding security – both internal and external. President Duda and the government of Law and Justice proudly show the 2 percent of GDP spent on defense and an even higher target, at the latest in 2030. However, this does not create a perspective that would allow “hurray” optimism. The key to describing the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland seems to be their ability to respond to the revolution in the field of military and the ability to modernize. Despite the plans of the Ministry of National Defense and declarations given in media, this process faces a number of difficulties. Not only do we create “abstract” visions of needs for the current policy, but we also offend our partners and those that are still our allies. The arms policy, so important from the point of view of this “self-sufficiency”, was brought to the accusations of lobbying, corruption, and fraud; not only do we not pay attention to our own needs, but we also create innovative concepts for the current policy that cause us to wander in dilettantism. It seems that the shape of the implementation of the modernization of the Armed Forces is affected not only by the current policy. To a large extent, the condition of the Polish arms industry is also a decisive factor in the absorption of modernization
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
346. About Women in Conflicts and Wars: Theories of Violence and Collective Memory
- Author:
- Inga B. Kuźma and Edyta Pietrzak
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- The article deals with the subject of relations between theories of violence and the category of collective memory in relation to women’s war stories. The text introduces the issue of war and conflict, understanding the theory of violence, the category of collective memory and female war narratives, as well as the ways of their political interpretation. The interpretation is crucial because of method used in the research, meaning hermeneutics, but also because of the, presented here, perspective of polyphony
- Topic:
- International Political Economy and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
347. The Issue of Securitization of the Refugee Problem in the Polish Political Debate
- Author:
- Renata Podgórzańska
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- Analyzing Poland’s current activity regarding the influx of refugees and the formulated attitude towards action in the field of restriction and control of the influx undertaken by European and international institutions, one should notice increasing reluctance to accept immigrants. What is more, there is a growing trend in the public debate in Poland to identify (to correlate) the influx of refugees with the problem of security. Although Poland is neither located on the main transit routes nor a destination for immigrants (including refugees), there is a process of systematically including this issue in the public discourse and analyzing the consequences of the potential increase in the influx of immigrants in the context of state security. Relationships that arise at the interface between migration and security point to the process of securitization of immigration, which involves integrating migration issues into a catalogue of state security threats and considering them through the lens of possible threats to the receiving societies.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
348. American Grand Strategy and the Rise of Offensive Realism
- Author:
- Ionut Popescu
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Political Science Quarterly
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- FOR MOST OF THE POST–COLD WAR ERA, and some say even as far back as the dawn of the Cold War, America’s grand strategy has been portrayed as having had its theoretical underpinnings in a liberal internationalist understanding of world politics. Washington’s role in the world, the dominant narrative goes, was that of a security and economic guarantor of a “liberal world order.” 1 More often than not, this world order was grounded in a set of rules and institutions that helped advance America’s goals but also generally promoted international peace, stability, and prosperity. In G. John Ikenberry’s words, America was a “liberal Leviathan.”
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
349. The Government‐Citizen Disconnect. Review
- Author:
- Christopher Wlezien
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Political Science Quarterly
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- Much research posits a “disconnect” between the public and government. This work focuses primarily on the behavior of politicians and the mismatch between their policy actions and citizens’ preferences. Suzanne Mettler’s book concentrates instead on the public and the degree to which people accurately perceive and appreciate what government does. This book complements her earlier work Submerged State, which delineated how many government policies, such as tax expenditures, are not visible to many citizens, which distorts their views. The Government‐Citizen Disconnect, by contrast, examines how experience with government policies influences what people think.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
350. Southern Nation: Congress and White Supremacy after Reconstruction. Book Review
- Author:
- David Bateman
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Political Science Quarterly
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- In his treatise on southern politics, V.O. Key Jr. wrote that “in state politics the Democratic party is no party at all but a multiplicity of factions struggling for office. In national politics, on the contrary, the party is the Solid South; it is, or at least has been, the instrument for the conduct of the ‘foreign relations’ of the South with the rest of the nation” (Southern Politics in State and Nation [New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1949], 315). In an early (and laudatory) review of that book, Richard Hofstadter suggested that Key missed an opportunity to fully consider whether the South had affected national politics in more ways than through the reliable delivery of Democrats to Washington, but he noted that this might require another book (p. 7). David Bateman, Ira Katznelson, and John S. Lapinski have written that book. Southern Nation examines how the South influenced public policy, Congress, and the development of the American state from the close of Reconstruction to the beginning of the New Deal. The authors focus on the region’s role in national politics at a critical juncture when industrialization and a rapidly changing economy required new policy solutions. They show that the white South used this opportunity to rebuild its place in the federal government, secure home rule, and shape the national agenda
- Topic:
- Post Colonialism, Race, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
351. Welcoming New Americans? Local Governments and Immigrant Incorporation. Book Review
- Author:
- George Hawley
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Political Science Quarterly
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- Survey data consistently show that large swaths of the American electorate favor restrictionist immigration policies. Politicians at the state and national levels regularly campaign on promises to crack down on undocumented immigration and discuss immigrants as a source of crime and a drain on resources. They are often rewarded at the ballot box for doing so. Yet these facts coexist with another trend: relatively few municipal governments pursue restrictionist policies at the local level. In fact, even in places where the GOP dominates, policies that accommodate immigrants are more common than policies designed to drive them away.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
352. Migrants and Political Change in Latin America. Book Review
- Author:
- Clarisa Pérez-Armendáriz
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Political Science Quarterly
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- How do international migrants affect their origin countries’ politics? Drawing on evidence from the cases of Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico, Migrants and Political Change in Latin America argues that migrants gain new attitudes and economic resources as a result of experiences in their receiving countries that they then transmit to their origin countries through economic and social remittances and through return migration. Jiménez claims that by transmitting resources and ideas through these three channels, migrants create changes in the politics of their origin countries that they never intended or envisioned. These effects are mediated by local conditions in origin countries such as levels of education and wealth. Moreover, the social networks in which both types of remittances and return migrants are embedded augment their political effects.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
353. Campaign Finance Complexity: Before Campaigning Retain an Attorney
- Author:
- David L. Wiltse
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Political Science Quarterly
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- In the study of candidate emergence, the cost term in the utility calculus has been of central concern. In this book, Mary Jo McGowan Shepherd makes a valuable contribution to the study of candidate emergence and campaign finance by considering how legal complexity increases the cost term in the emergence calculus. Grounded in complexity theory, she employs complexity measures of entire sections of state campaign finance laws to test whether candidates are deterred from running for office by the costs incurred in learning and complying with campaign finance law.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
354. Standoff: How America Became Ungovernable. Book Review
- Author:
- Kristen Coopie
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Political Science Quarterly
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- In this book, former CNN analyst and current George Mason University professor Bill Schneider offers his take on the causes and implications of the growing partisan divide in the United States. Conflict exists between the “New America,” a product of the 1960s that “celebrates diversity in age, race, sexual orientation, and lifestyles” (p. 11), and the “Old America,” consisting of the “mostly white, mostly male, mostly older, mostly conservative, and mostly religious, and mostly nonurban,” (p. 2) which longs for the days when “the country was whiter, men were in charge, government was smaller, and religion was more influential” (p. 117). This rift is reflected in the parties and politics of the nation (it is easy to see how the “New America” is representative of the Democratic coalition and the “Old America” of the Republican Party), ultimately leading to the populist backlash that elected Donald Trump in 2016
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
355. Forecasting Models and the Presidential Vote
- Author:
- Kenneth Wink
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Political Science Quarterly
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- FOR DECADES NOW, political scientists, journalists, campaign managers, and pundits have sought to predict the outcomes of elections well in advance of the day the votes are cast. As the ultimate office in the U.S. political system, the presidency has been the focus of much of this activity. Since the late twentieth century, a number of prognosticators in the discipline of political science have used forecasting models to predict presidential elections. These models have become visible in pre‐ and post‐ election coverage, and a sort of competition has emerged to produce the most accurate model whose variables offer the greatest amount of forecasting lead time before the election. Once considered “recreational political science,” forecasting presidential elections has become a cottage industry. Furthermore, the attention paid to the accuracy of these models has led to better explanations of election outcomes and allowed interested persons to see patterns in elections that are stable from year to year and to identify outlier elections and the factors that led to unique election outcomes.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
356. Unequal and Unrepresented: Political Inequality and the People’s Voice in the New Gilded Age
- Author:
- Kay Lehman Schlozman and Henry E Brady
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Political Science Quarterly
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- Who participates in American democracy? In particular, is it those with high levels of resources who most often vote, protest, contact elected officials, and discuss politics with friends? How unequal is political participation? Political scientists Kay Lehman Schlozman, Henry E. Brady, and Sidney Verba have contributed important answers to these questions over the past few decades. In their first book, Voice and Equality (1995) these scholars traced associations between resource possession and political participation, finding extensive evidence of inequalities in political voice. In their second book, The Unheavenly Chorus (2012), the authors reiterated and updated the analyses of the first. The authors also extended Voice and Equality in a number of ways, primarily by examining organizational-level as well as individual-level participatory inequalities, and by assessing the likely efficacy of various reform strategies.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
357. Cultural Evolution: People’s Motivations are Changing, and Reshaping the World
- Author:
- F Inglehart
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Political Science Quarterly
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- Consolidating more than four decades of research, Ronald F. Inglehart elaborates on the enlightenment story that reliance on science and technology enables nations to meet the material needs of their populations. To that story he adds that populations, finding their security needs being met, are increasingly abandoning materialist values for post-material values. The meaning of life satisfaction is changing.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
358. Why Terrorist Groups Form International Alliances. Book Review
- Author:
- Victor Asal
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Political Science Quarterly
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- Over the last 20 years, research in the area of terrorism studies has expanded enormously in many directions, including studies focusing on terrorist events as well as on individual behavior and the behavior and characteristics of organizations. One of the topics that has been of great interest to researchers of terrorist organizations is the nature, impact, and cause of terrorist organizational alliances. From Marc Sageman’s groundbreaking book Understanding Terror Networks and a growing body of articles and books, researchers are trying to understand the impact of such connections on terrorist organizations. There is still a lot of research, though, that needs to be done in this area. For example, Sageman’s book focuses more on internal connections and especially on jihadist organizations. Much of the other literature focuses on organizations allying in the same milieu.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
359. Are Politics Local? The Two Dimensions of Party Nationalization around the World
- Author:
- Arjan H. Schakel
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Political Science Quarterly
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- The statement that geography matters for politics probably will not be contested by many political scientists. Therefore, it is quite surprising that few studies have systematically explored how the territorial distribution of preferences affects political processes and policy outcomes. This book by Scott Morgenstern is an important landmark study that puts geography high on the research agenda of comparative political science. Three features make this book worthwhile reading for scholars working on the nationalization of elections and parties.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
360. Gendered Vulnerability: How Women Work Harder to Stay in Office
- Author:
- Kelly Dittmar
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Journal:
- Political Science Quarterly
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- In this book Jeffrey Lazarus and Amy Steigerwalt leverage an impressive data collection to make the case that women legislators are more active and more responsive to their constituents than men. Moreover, they offer a theoretical argument to explain why women appear to work harder to meet constituent needs and demands, suggesting that women legislators’ perceptions of their electoral vulnerability—even as incumbents—motivate them to focus their legislative efforts on proving to their constituents that they are worthy of re-election.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
361. Unstable Majorities: Polarization, Party Sorting, and Political Stalemate
- Author:
- Matt Grossmann
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Journal:
- Political Science Quarterly
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- Everyday claims that the United States is descending into a culture war of two polarized and irreconcilable parties deserve more scrutiny. Morris P. Fiorina has been at the forefront of assessing and pushing back against this view, especially the blame placed on the American public. Unstable Majorities goes beyond this important myth busting to offer an explanation for contemporary paralysis: many Americans have sorted into two minority parties with distinct issue positions, but both sides have empowered their officials to overreach in office, losing the support of independents in subsequent elections and thus having to share and alternate power.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
362. Fentanyl as a Chemical Weapon
- Author:
- John P. Caves, Jr.
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Marine Corps University Press, National Defense University
- Abstract:
- Fentanyl is a major topic in the news these days because of its significant contribution to the ongoing opioid epidemic in the United States. It clearly is a major counternarcotic challenge. But there also has been some reporting, including about congressional interest, as to whether fentanyl additionally should be considered a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) and whether U.S. Government chemical defense efforts should place greater emphasis on it. This paper provides some perspective on fentanyl as a chemical weapon.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
363. Baltics Left of Bang: The Role of NATO with Partners in Denial-Based Deterrence
- Author:
- Robert Klein
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Marine Corps University Press, National Defense University
- Abstract:
- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s military contribution to deter Russian aggression in the Baltic region should begin with an overall strategic concept that seamlessly transitions from deterrence through countering Russia’s gray zone activities and onto conventional war, only if necessary. NATO should augment its ongoing program to enhance the denial-based deterrence for the region with threats of punishment that demonstrate to Russian leaders they cannot achieve their aims at acceptable costs. Rather than forward-position military forces in the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), NATO should consider keeping forces further back to take advantage of strategic depth to limit vulnerability to Russian attack and increase operational flexibility. To support the overall denial-based deterrence concept, the Baltics must commit wholeheartedly to the concept of total defense including significant increases to their active and reserves forces
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
364. The Enduring Relevance of the U.S.-Japan Alliance
- Author:
- James J Przystup
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Marine Corps University Press, National Defense University
- Abstract:
- The U.S.-Japan relationship is multifaceted in nature, with rich cultural and educational exchanges, marketbased economies, and shared political values. At its core, however, the relationship is strategic, anchored in the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security Between the United States and Japan, a key pillar of the post–World War II international order. The significant bilateral trade frictions of 2017–2018 have not adversely affected the alliance to date. Faced with an ongoing period of global instability and uncertainty, the alliance has continued to evolve to meet the challenges of the 21st century in the Indo-Pacific region. Today, the alliance enjoys broad popular support in both countries, and both governments have been updating and upgrading key elements of this partnership. President Donald Trump's December 2017 National Security Strategy reaffirmed U.S. commitment to the alliance. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has taken steps to enhance Japan’s defense capabilities to allow the country to deal more effectively with the serious security challenges posed by North Korea and China, as well as to allow Japan to address the broadening challenges to the existing rules-based international economic and security order.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
365. Annual Report 2018-19 (SHORT)
- Author:
- Centre for Policy Research
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Centre for Policy Research, India
- Abstract:
- Keeping alive CPR’s long tradition of publishing important scholarly, field-defining books, this year too, CPR faculty published books in fields as diverse as international relations, environmental law, electricity regulation, socioeconomic rights and politics. I particularly want to mention two CPR faculty who published their first books to wide acclaim. Zorawar Daulet Singh, a scholar in international relations, made an important contribution through original archival work to understand India’s foreign policy in the Nehru and Indira Gandhi years and through this prism understand contemporary foreign policy challenges. Another important publication was Shibani Ghosh’s edited volume on Indian environmental law. Drawing on contributions from several leading thinkers and lawyers in the field, this book is the first serious, scholarly engagement with the emerging environmental legal framework in India. CPR faculty also made regular contributions in non-academic journals, newspapers and seminars and in the process, enriched the public discourse, infusing much needed evidence and sobriety. This year, CPR faculty published 452 articles in major national and international dailies and popular journals
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
366. High expectations. Interregional agendas on global security challenges: East Asia, Europe and Latin America
- Author:
- Manuel R. Torres Soriano
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
- Institution:
- Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (IBRI)
- Abstract:
- Interregionalism has been increasingly used to advance cooperation on regional and global security challenges. This study examines three interregional dialogues comprising East Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Each interregional security agenda reflects specific concerns and different evolving paths. Insights from ‘multilateral security governance’ approaches can reinforce the analysis of how security agendas emerge and change, and how their related norms and practices evolve.
- Topic:
- Security, International Affairs, Governance, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe, East Asia, and Latin America
367. Strategic autonomy for European choices: The key to Europe's shaping power
- Author:
- Giovanni Grevi
- Publication Date:
- 07-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Policy Centre (EPC)
- Abstract:
- Multi-level competition is on the rise in the international system and the standoff between the US and China risks becoming a defining feature of international affairs. However, the future is not predestined: the European Union (EU) will play a major role in the development of the international order, whether through its absence or its engagement. This Discussion Paper follows recent European Policy Centre publications and debates dedicated to revamping Europe’s approach to an increasingly challenging international context, which have delivered recommendations to: equip Europe with the tools to govern interdependence and mitigate confrontation; take a strong stance in defence of Europe while not endorsing a zero-sum interpretation of global affairs; turn the EU into a global shaping power by pursuing a ‘rules-first’ strategy; and frame Europe’s strategic autonomy in comprehensive terms, including the economic, technological and security and defence dimensions.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, International Affairs, European Union, and Strategic Autonomy
- Political Geography:
- China, Europe, and United States of America
368. BASC News
- Author:
- Vinod K. Aggarwal
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Berkeley APEC Study Center
- Abstract:
- Industrial policy in cybersecurity: Origins, evolution and implications
- Topic:
- International Affairs and Cybersecurity
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
369. From Third World Theory to Belt and Road Initiative: International Aid as a Chinese Foreign Policy Tool
- Author:
- Victor Carneiro Corrêa Vieira
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Contexto Internacional
- Institution:
- Institute of International Relations, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
- Abstract:
- In 1946, Mao Zedong began to elaborate his theory of the Third World from the perception that there would be an ‘intermediate zone’ of countries between the two superpowers. From there, he concluded that Africa, Latin America, and Asia, except for Japan, would compose the revolutionary forces capable of defeating imperialism, colonialism, and hegemonism. The start of international aid from the People’s Republic of China to developing countries dates back to the period immediately after the Bandung Conference of 1955, extending to the present. Through a bibliographical and documentary analysis, the article starts with the following research question: What role did domestic and international factors play in China’s foreign aid drivers over the years? To answer the question, the evolution of Chinese international assistance was studied from Mao to the Belt and Road Initiative, which is the complete expression of the country’s ‘quaternity’ model of co-operation, combining aid, trade, investment, and technical assistance.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, International Trade and Finance, International Affairs, and Foreign Aid
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, and Global Focus
370. Problematising the Ultimate Other of Modernity: the Crystallisation of Coloniality in International Politics
- Author:
- Ramon Blanco and Ana Carolina Teixeira Delgado
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Contexto Internacional
- Institution:
- Institute of International Relations, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
- Abstract:
- This article examines a key element of the power relations underpinning international politics, namely coloniality. It delineates the coloniality of international politics, and elucidates the fundamental aspects of its operationalisation on the one hand, and its crystallisation into international politics on the other. The article is structured into three sections. First, it explores the meaning of coloniality, and outlines its fundamental characteristics. Next, it delineates a crucial operative element of coloniality, the idea of race, and the double movement through which coloniality is rendered operational – the colonisation of time and space. Finally, the article analyses two structuring problematisations that were fundamental to the crystallisation of coloniality in international politics – the work of Francisco de Vitoria, and the Valladolid Debate. It argues that the way in which these problematisations framed the relationship between the European Self and the ultimate Other of Western modernity – the indigenous peoples in the Americas – crystallised the pervasive role of coloniality in international politics.
- Topic:
- Post Colonialism, Race, International Affairs, Colonialism, and Indigenous
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Latin America, and Global Focus
371. Lessons From A Life In Rwandan Politics
- Author:
- Theogene Rudasingwa
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- Theogene Rudasingwa is former Ambassador of Rwanda to the United States. He previously held positions of secretary-general of the ruling party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), and chief of staff for President Paul Kagame. Dr. Rudasingwa is a graduate of Makerere University Medical School in Uganda and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in the United States.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Genocide, International Affairs, and Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Rwanda
372. Human Rights from the International Relations
- Author:
- Alejandro Anaya Muñoz
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL)
- Abstract:
- Human rights are a very important area in contemporary international relations. The doctrine of human rights was concretized after a process of development of more than three centuries after the end of the Second World War and has changed the institutional panorama and the relations between actors at the international level. On the other hand, regardless of its «lack of teeth», the international regime on the subject has transformed the way states relate to international bodies, transnational civil society organizations and other governments.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Civil Society, Human Rights, International Political Economy, International Affairs, and Norms
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
373. Guiding Principles for Israel’s Foreign Policy toward the EU
- Author:
- Mitvim
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Mitvim: The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies
- Abstract:
- Ties with the EU are a strategic asset for the State of Israel. Europe is Israel’s largest trading partner, a source of political and defense support (despite disagreements), an anchor of shared norms and values, a partner in cultural creation, and a central collaborator in research and development. The importance of these ties obliges Israel to invest attention and resources in preserving and even deepening and expanding them. Done right, Israel could leverage the tremendous potential of its ties with Europe for the improved wellbeing of its citizens and for its international standing. However, in recent years, the Israeli government has been leading a negative campaign against the EU. It has been criticizing the EU for being anti-Israel, while making efforts to increase divisions between EU Member States in order to limit the EU’s capacity to play a role in the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Toward the formation of a new Israeli government in late 2019, this article presents ten guiding principles for an improved Israeli foreign policy toward the EU, based on the work of a Mitvim Institute task team.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Politics, International Affairs, and Bilateral Relations
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, Arab Countries, and European Union
374. Public Opinion Findings on Israel’s Foreign Policy towards the Elections
- Author:
- Mitvim
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Mitvim: The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies
- Abstract:
- Towards the Israeli general elections of September 2019, the Mitvim Institute conducted a public opinion poll that examined who Israelis would like to see as their foreign minister, how they perceive the status of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and how they assess the outgoing government’s performance on key foreign policy issues. The poll was carried out in August 2019 by the Rafi Smith Institute and in cooperation with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, among a representative sample of Israel’s adult population (700 men and women, Jews and Arabs) and with a margin of error of 3.5%.
- Topic:
- Government, International Affairs, Public Opinion, and Elections
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
375. The Quality of Israel’s Peace with Jordan is Dependent on the Israeli-Palestinian Issue
- Author:
- Lior Lehrs
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Mitvim: The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies
- Abstract:
- The question of the affinity between the Israeli-Palestinian track and the Israeli-Arab track is a contentious issue in Israeli public discourse. Prime Minister Netanyahu repeatedly claims that the Palestinian issue can be bypassed on the road to normalization with the Arab world, even without progress on that front. However, the history of Israeli-Jordanian relations attests to the strong and intrinsic link between these two arenas. The breakthrough that led to the 1994 peace treaty with Jordan was enabled by progress in negotiations with the Palestinians, and every crisis since in the Palestinian arena is reflected in relations with Jordan. All attempts to warm relations with Jordan and increase cooperation on civil issues (beyond the intelligence and military cooperation) require a parallel move vis-à-vis the Palestinians.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy, International Affairs, Bilateral Relations, and Peace
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan
376. Parameters VOL. 48 NO. 3 Autumn 2018
- Author:
- Antulio J. Echevarria II, Eric B. Setzekorn, Richard G. Malish, Kelly A. Grieco, Vinay Kaura, Paul E. Vera Delzo, Richard Milburn, and Brandon T. Euhus
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- The Autumn issue of Parameters opens with a forum featuring two contributions that highlight some important Challenges for USCivil-Military Relations. The first contribution, “Policy Revolt: Army Opposition to the Korea Withdrawal Plan” by Eric Setzekorn, argues senior US Army leaders adopted a Fabian strategy of indirect resistance to Carter’s desire to reduce the number of troops stationed in Korea. The strategy worked. But the author leaves us wondering whether that success was a positive development for US civil-military relations. The second article, “The Walter Reed Scandal and the All-Volunteer Force” by Richard Malish, provides intriguing evidence that the American public might have put the AVF on a pedestal high enough that it harms civil-military relations. Our second forum, On Alliances and Coalitions, offers three essays addressing the importance of integrating disparate perspectives under a common strategy. The first article, “Fighting and Learning in the Great War: Four Lessons in Coalition Warfare” by Kelly Grieco, describes the key insights the United States and its allies drew, or ought to have drawn, during the First World War. All of these, as Grieco shows, have immediate relevance today. The second contribution to the forum, Vinay Kaura’s article “India-US Relations: From Distant Partners to an Alliance” suggests American and Indian interests are converging in a manner that makes an alliance between them, hitherto inconceivable, now a worthy objective. Paul Vera Delzo’s “Toward a Whole-of-Government Approach: Revamping Peru’s Strategy Process” describes how Peru can obtain greater efficiency and effectiveness from its strategies by integrating all government agencies. The final forum, On Clausewitz, presents two articles that challenge nontraditional interpretations of On War. Richard Milburn’s “Reclaiming Clausewitz’s Theory of Victory” takes on Emile Simpson’s “Clausewitz’s Theory of War and Victory in Contemporary Conflict” (Parameters Winter 2017–18). Milburn rejects Simpson’s view and maintains Clausewitz’s theory of victory remains relevant in the twenty-first century. Brandon Euhus’s “A Clausewitzian Response to ‘Hyperwarfare’ ” urges military planners to remember the human dimension of war, as expounded upon by military writers from Thucydides to Mao Zedong, is ultimately the decisive one.
- Topic:
- Security, International Affairs, Armed Forces, Military Affairs, and Army
- Political Geography:
- India, North America, Korea, and United States of America
377. Unpacked: Syria’s civil war is far from over
- Author:
- Mara Karlin
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Brookings Nonresident Senior Fellow Mara Karlin unpacks the roles of the wide array of actors in the Syrian military and humanitarian crisis as it continues and grows more complicated every day. She explains that the United States must clearly define its prime objectives in the Middle East as it becomes increasingly clear that the Bashar Assad regime will stay in power and that ISIS is on its way to complete military defeat.
- Topic:
- International Affairs and War Crimes
- Political Geography:
- Syria
378. Human Rights and the State in Morocco: Impact of the 20 February Movement
- Author:
- Rachid Chennani
- Publication Date:
- 04-2018
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
- Abstract:
- The Moroccan state started to seriously interact with the human rights discourse in the early 1990s due to long domestic struggles by human rights advocates and global pressures to reform. At the same time, human rights organizations have developed and set aside much of their political lineage, taking up an active role in policy advocacy and pushing for alternatives to meet growing social and societal demands. The 2011 movement has revitalized the human rights approach to politics and social problems, and culminated a decades-long struggle to peacefully and gradually move to a social rights-based contract with the state. Such a state of affairs no longer seems far off.
- Topic:
- Human Rights and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Morocco
379. Human Rights Action and Social Movements in Morocco
- Author:
- Youssef Mounsif
- Publication Date:
- 02-2018
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
- Abstract:
- A deeper and broader national transformation took root in Morocco as bridges started to appear over the gap between an alleged elitism of the human rights movement and the “masses”, with human rights organizations refocussing on social, economic and localized causes of various communities. As in other similar countries, rights actors collide with existing economic and political arrangements and the entrenched networks of patronage. This will be their challenge for years to come.
- Topic:
- International Relations and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Morocco
380. Technology and National Security: The United States at a Critical Crossroads
- Author:
- James Kadtke and John Wharton
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Abstract:
- Rapid globalization of science and technology (S&T) capacity presents a serious and long-term risk to the military and economic security of the United States. To maintain U.S. preeminence, our domestic science and technology enterprise requires a new paradigm to make it more agile, synchronized, and globally engaged. U.S. technological competitiveness depends not only on research but also on legal, economic, regulatory, ethical, moral, and social frameworks, and therefore requires the vision and cooperation of our political, corporate, and civil society leadership. Re-organizing our domestic S&T enterprise will be a complex task, but recommendations presented in this paper could be first steps on the path to maintaining our future technological security.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
381. Low-Cost Access to Space: Military Opportunities and Challenges
- Author:
- Philip Stockdale, Scott Aughenbaugh, and Nickolas J. Boensch
- Publication Date:
- 02-2018
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Abstract:
- In support of the Air University “Fast Space” study, the National Defense University collaborated with Johns Hopkins University, eight think tanks, and subject matter experts to analyze the utility of ultra-low-cost access to space (ULCATS) for the U.S. military. Contributors identified disruptors that could achieve ULCATS and Fast Space as well as space architectures and capabilities that could reduce the cost of access to space. They also offered recommendations for legal, policy, regulatory, authority, and oversight adjustments that could facilitate reductions. The combination of a greater number of innovative commercial space actors, industry advocacy for licensing reform, and optimism regarding reusable launch vehicles will eventually change the ways the United States operates in space. As the economic landscape of space activities evolves, some missions in low earth orbit may be turned over to commercial sector operation, but the next 3 to 5 years might not be revolutionary for government use of space capabilities.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
382. Return the Favour with a Thousand Cuts: India’s Pakistan Policy
- Author:
- Vivek Chadha
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
- Abstract:
- During the last couple of years, India has recalibrated its policy towards Pakistan by adopting a two-pronged approach. One prong consists of not holding formal talks until Pakistan stops using terrorism as an instrument of state policy against India.1 And the second prong involves retaining the right of retaliation against those elements and locations along the Line of Control (LoC) that are complicit in perpetrating cross border terrorism.2 In essence, India's aim has been to gain leverage over Pakistan by striking it where it hurts the most.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
383. Resituating Menser and Darchen-Labrang in the Boundary Negotiations with China
- Author:
- P. Stobdan
- Publication Date:
- 02-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
- Abstract:
- The recent launch of the China-Pakistan-Economic Corridor (CPEC) by China and Pakistan has provided India with a fresh impetus to assert its sovereign claim over Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), including Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region, which had hitherto remained in diplomatic abeyance. The Instrument of Accession signed by Maharaja Hari Singh on October 26, 1947 warranted India’s control over the entire territory of the erstwhile Princely State of Jammu & Kashmir. And, Section 4 of the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Constitution defined the State’s territory as comprising all the territories which, on the fifteenth day of August 1947, were under the sovereignty or suzerainty of the Ruler of the Stat
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
384. Closing Sweden’s Military Security Defi cit: the National Debate on NATO Membership
- Author:
- Ian Anthony and Carrie Weintraub
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- Th e National Security Strategy published by the Swedish government in January 2017 underlines that the security challenges facing the country are complex and subject to rapid change. One current challenge is the re-emergence of traditional forms of power politics, including in the Baltic Sea region, which is described as one of the main areas of friction between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).2
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
385. Threats to democracy in the Trump era
- Author:
- Brookings Institute
- Publication Date:
- 02-2018
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- On February 7, David Frum joined a panel of experts at Brookings to discuss the burgeoning threats to democratic institutions in the Trump era.
- Topic:
- International Affairs and Democracy
- Political Geography:
- America
386. Between Rome and Sibiu: A Trajectory for the New European Narrative
- Author:
- Jan Hoogmartens
- Publication Date:
- 05-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- Many observers may easily reach the conclusion that the European Union (EU) has been in crisis for the last decade. Against this background, and especially since the outcome of the Brexit referendum, the EU has begun much soul searching to carve out a new path to its future. This Policy Brief addresses the current Future of Europe debate with the Bratislava Roadmap, the Rome Declaration, the Leaders’ Agenda, and other valuable contributions. It raises the question what kind of narrative the European project will need to survive into the future. What kind of Europeans do we wish to be and what sort of Europe do we want to create? Despite growing mistrust of citizens in their own institutions and rising populism, this Policy Brief pleads for enduring support for the values on which the European project is built. These values should remain beacons for the way in which we legitimise, organise and communicate the work of the EU. Even if we cannot always agree on a common destination, Europeans should be able to agree at least on a shared trajectory based on common values. This is a narrative that should inspire Europe again.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Europe
387. Is there an escape from ‘Ever Closer Union’?
- Author:
- Jean De Ruyt
- Publication Date:
- 02-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- The EU Treaty objective of establishing ‘an ever closer Union among the peoples of Europe’ means that European integration is a step by step process
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Europe
388. How to make the most of the EU’s financial potential ?
- Author:
- Fabian Willermain and Anca Cioriciu
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- In the perspective of the post-2020 Multiannual financial Framework (MFF), this policy brief suggests three reforms that would improve the aim of the MFF as both an expression of EUs political priorities and budgetary planning tool. It looks into the potential overhaul of the MFF timeline, its structure in the context of new instruments such as the EFSI, and the strategic combination of different EU financial tools intended to stimulate and interconnect economies across the EU-27.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Europe
389. A Dublin IV recast: A new and improved system?
- Author:
- Tamara Tubakovic
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- According to member states and EU officials, the European Union is now slowly entering a period of ‘post crisis.’ In this fragile period of stability, the European Commission has begun its task of strengthening the EU’s legislative framework on asylum. The focal point of the Commission’s task has been the reform of the Dublin system which, during the ‘asylum crisis,’ had almost collapsed. This policy brief has three aims. Firstly, it examines how the unprecedented movement of over one million persons seeking international protection to the EU in 2015 led to the fragmentation of the Dublin system. Secondly, it examines the main flaws of the Dublin system, namely the disconnect between the unchanged status quo on the Dublin rules and the ever-changing political and economic environment of the EU. Finally, it examines the Commission’s proposal for the recast of the Dublin system, assessing whether the new elements are adequate in resolving the key problems of the system. It is argued that although the reform does address, to a limited extent, the problems of secondary movement and the overburdening of some member state asylum systems, the reform does not sufficiently resolve the key flaws of Dublin in light of potential future migratory challenges
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Europe
390. How to Solve the Greek Debt Problem
- Author:
- Jeromin Zettelmeyer et al
- Publication Date:
- 04-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- Greece’s debt currently stands at close to €330 billion, over 180 percent of GDP, with almost 70 percent owed to European official creditors. The fact that Greece’s public debts must be restructured is by now widely accepted. What remains controversial, however, is the extent of debt relief needed to make Greece’s debt sustainable.
- Topic:
- International Political Economy and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Greece
391. IMF Quota and Governance Reform Once Again
- Author:
- Edwin M. Truman
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- Once again, the United States and other members of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been asked to address the adequacy of IMF financial resources and the distribution of voting power in the Fund. Observers are justified in thinking that they just witnessed this drama. IMF members completed an agreement on the size of IMF quota resources and governance—or voting power—reform in November 2010. As part of that agreement on the 14th general review of IMF quotas, members committed to bring forward the completion of the 15th general review of quotas to January 2014. The target was not met because the United States delayed approving the 2010 agreement until December 2015, which was necessary for the implementation of the 14th review. As a result, in December 2016, the governors of the IMF freshly resolved to complete the 15th review by the spring of 2019 or the fall of 2019 at the latest.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
392. The Case for Raising de minimis Thresholds in NAFTA 2.0
- Author:
- Gary Clyde Hufbauer, Euijin Jung, and (Lucy) Lu Zhiyao
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- The fraught negotiations over revising the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have focused largely on US demands to limit imports from Canada and Mexico. But one little discussed step could help the United States increase exports to Canada and Mexico in a way the Trump administration ought to support. US express shipments to its NAFTA partners are far below potential, partly due to what are called low de minimis thresholds in those countries. The de minimis threshold refers to the value of imported goods below which no duty or tax is collected, and the customs declaration is very simple.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
393. Can a Country Save Too Much? The Case of Norway
- Author:
- Joseph Gagnon
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- Many countries have squandered their natural resource endowments. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank routinely hector developing economies to save and invest more of their revenues from resources such as oil and gold for the benefit of future generations after the resources run out. But, can a country save too much of its resource revenues? Gagnon argues that since the first capital transfers to its Government Pension Fund Global in 1996, Norway has saved more than was needed to raise consumption of all generations equally. Norway’s excess saving imposes a cost on the rest of the world during periods of weak aggregate demand and ultralow interest rates. Gagnon proposes a counterfactual saving policy that would have increased Norway’s household consumption by nearly 9 percent on average from 1996 through 2017. The proposed policy would have reduced Norway’s current account surplus by more than one-third, or $13 billion per year on average, from 1996 through 2017. Even now, Norway could raise current consumption by more than US$2,000 per capita, while keeping the contribution of oil wealth to future generations equally large.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Norway
394. The Dispute Settlement Crisis in the World Trade Organization: Causes and Cures
- Author:
- Tetyana Payosova, Gary Clyde Hufbauer, and Jeffrey Schott
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- Since its inception in 1995, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) dispute settlement mechanism has resolved an impressive number of trade disputes and has earned a reputation as the “crown jewel” of the global trading system. Today, however, the mechanism is in crisis. WTO members have failed to negotiate updates to the rulebook, including rules on dispute settlement itself. As a result, the WTO Appellate Body increasingly is asked to render decisions on ambiguous or incomplete WTO rules. Its interpretations of such provisions have provoked charges by the United States and others that binding Appellate Body rulings, which establish precedents for future cases, effectively circumvent the prerogative of member countries to revise the WTO rulebook and thus undercut the national sovereignty of WTO members. For the past few years, US officials have blocked appointments of Appellate Body members to force WTO members to negotiate new rules that address US concerns and limit the scope for judicial overreach. If this problem is not resolved, the Appellate Body soon will not have enough members to review cases and the vaunted WTO dispute settlement system will grind to a halt.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
395. The New Tax Law’s Impact on Inequality
- Author:
- William R Cline
- Publication Date:
- 02-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- The centerpiece of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 is the reduction in the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. The Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated the net revenue loss from the tax overhaul at $1 trillion over the next decade. The underlying premise of the legislation is that lower corporate taxes will spur growth, with trickle-down wage benefits that spread the resulting economic gains.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
396. Earmarked Revenues: How the European Union Can Learn from US Budgeting Experience
- Author:
- Jacob Funk Kirkegaard
- Publication Date:
- 02-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- Few challenges facing the European Union—immigration pressures, the need to decrease security dependence on an increasingly erratic United States, and the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union (Brexit)—are compelling EU leaders to consider overhauling the revenue side of the European Union’s existing budget. To deal with these challenges in the future, the European Union will need resources—at a time when Europeans are increasingly skeptical about the effectiveness of budget-making in Brussels. Longstanding US budgetary procedures of trust fund accounting and earmarking government revenue towards specific priorities can provide a template for European policymakers. Shifting the EU budget towards more earmarked resources would reduce distrust among taxpayers by limiting Brussels’ spending discretion while focusing expenditures on specific challenges facing the European project.
- Topic:
- International Political Economy and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Europe
397. Putting Georgia on the 2018 NATO Summit Agenda
- Author:
- Wojciech Lorenz
- Publication Date:
- 04-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Polish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- Russia’s annexation of Crimea triggered a shift in NATO’s policy towards Georgia. NATO moved from mainly political support for Georgia’s NATO membership aspirations to enhanced practical military cooperation. Although it might be more difficult for Russia to coerce its small neighbour, the lack of visible progress on the path to NATO membership may weaken Georgian morale and lead to a reversal of democratic gains. Hence, it is important that during the 2018 NATO Summit in Brussels the Allies offer additional support to help Georgia increase its resilience.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Georgia
398. Austria in Central Europe: The Aspiration to Become a Bridge-Builder
- Author:
- Łukasz Ogrodnik
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Polish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- Austria’s government has declared it will be a bridge-builder in the European Union between its western and eastern members. This is in fact rather more an endorsement of the Union cohesion on the eve of Austria’s presidency of the EU Council than a genuine offer to represent the Visegrad states’ interests in the EU. Vienna is also trying to strengthen its position in Central Europe using regional cooperation initiatives such as the Slavkov Triangle, Three Seas Initiative, and the V4+ format. However, Austria’s pro-Russia stances and economic conflicts of interest have burdened relations with regional partners. Common goals remain limited but include the development of transport infrastructure, an endorsement of the European integration of the Western Balkans and strengthening the EU’s external borders.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Austria
399. Towards a “New Era” in China’s Great Power Diplomacy
- Author:
- Justyna Szczudlik
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Polish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- In his first term, Chinese leader Xi Jinping abandoned Deng Xiaoping’s foreign policy dictum of “keeping a low profile.” But China’s activism in the middle of Xi’s first term was still more reactive than creative. However, in the last two years a new phase of diplomacy has emerged, in which all actions are subordinated to China’s unchanging strategic foreign policy goal of regaining its superpower status. This means that China strives to enforce change in the global system, which is dominated by the West.[1] The PRC is already trying to introduce new standards for international relations and promotes its values and principles more aggressively worldwide. There are already examples that Xi is effectively implementing his ideas.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- China
400. PISM Report: Nordic-Baltic Security in Times of Uncertainty: The Defence-Energy Nexus
- Author:
- Bartosz Bieliszczuk and Aleksandra Gawlikowska-Fyk
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Polish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The Polish Institute of International Affairs together with the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs present the report Nordic-Baltic Security in Times of Uncertainty: The Defense-Energy Nexus. The report shows that energy and defence in the Nordic-Baltic region are closely interrelated. During the Cold War, the energy cooperation of Western European countries with the USSR was seen as an element of strengthening the status quo and reducing the risk of conflict. In the new strategic situation, when Russia is interested in regaining the status of regional and global power, there is a real threat that Kremlin will use Europe's dependence on Russian gas to divide NATO and the EU. The Russian military advantage in the region, the ability to block access to Alliance forces and the ability to influence its members through energy blackmail may encourage Russia to test NATO's credibility, increasing the risk of conflict in the region. NATO's ability to deter Russia creates a natural platform of cooperation for Norway and Poland. Both states should also be interested in reducing the Alliance's dependence on Russian energy resources.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Nordic Nations