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35431. Editorial

Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Dear readers, Please, let me introduce another issue of the Obrana a strategie journal, bringing an above-average number of attractive texts, which attests to the growing interest of authors and readers in our journal. Before briefly introducing its contents, I would like to point out some of the currently implemented or prepared changes, which will affect the Obrana a strategie journal in 2015. In order to increase the attractiveness of our periodical, we are preparing modernisation of its visual style for the following year. Similarly, the Guidelines for Authors have been also updated. The most important change which will affect all prospective contributors consists in updating the templates for contributions, which have been completely revised, adjusted and simplified. The second important change is the discontinuation of the Forum, mainly due to the low interest of authors in this feature, allowing for maximum share of the peer-reviewed content of the journal and better accessibility for foreign databases. The contents of this issue start with two articles related to Africa.
Political Geography:
Europe

35432. KRAUS, Josef. Íránský státní terorismus: Od Chomejního po Ahmadínežáda.

Author:
Emil Souleimanov
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Kniha Josef Krause se zabývá velice zajímavým fenoménem státního terorismu, který je aplikován na v současnosti nejlepší možný příklad – Islámskou republiku Írán. Publikace se skládá z několika základních částí, které na sebe logicky navazují. Po úvodní a metodologické části následuje kapitola, ve které autor přibližuje problémy, které jsou spojené s výzkumem (zejména) státního terorismu. Stejně jako v případě výzkumu např. terorismu či organizovaného zločinu, tedy problematik spojených se zvýšenou mírou diskrétnosti, se jedná především o komplikace se získáváním věrohodných a relevantních dat, jejichž ověřitelnost a dostupnost je často velice komplikovaná. Považuji proto za velmi přínosné (a také za projev jakési žánrové sebereflexe), že se autor rozhodl již na počátku své práce uznat i vysvětlit jisté limity práce, typické pro výzkum tohoto fenoménu.

35433. Full Text Issue

Author:
Michael Miklaucic
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
PRISM
Institution:
Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
Abstract:
For centuries Africa has provided the stuff of dreams for explorers, adventurers, conquerors, colonizers, soldiers, plunderers, and state-builders. It has also been the backdrop for the nightmares of slavery, famine, war, genocide, and other tragedies. Africa is at once a geo-graphical illusion and a potent political symbol. Its emergence and recent impressive economic growth have altered the geo-strategic calculations of all the global powers. With its abundant natural and human resources generating increasing political and economic capital, Africa's importance on the global stage will only continue to grow. However this growth will be conditioned by how African states individually and collectively respond to the myriad challenges and opportunities facing the continent.
Political Geography:
Africa

35434. Book Reviews

Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
German Politics and Society
Institution:
German Politics and Society Journal
Abstract:
Until German reunification in 1990, western social sciences had never been particularly interested in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) as an object of research. The fact that western scholars refrained, for various political reasons, from researching GDR society, as well as its successful seclusion from external analysis, contributed to the marginalization of social research within West German academia on its eastern neighbor. With the collapse of the socialist German state in 1989, however, the situation changed completely. All of a sudden, there was an enormous demand for expert knowledge as the remains of an entire political system and the subjects that it left behind needed to be mapped, measured, and categorized.
Political Geography:
Germany

35435. The Cloud Grows Up

Publication Date:
03-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxford Economics
Abstract:
In less than a decade, the cloud has gone from a distant vision to the mainstream of business technology. More and more companies are moving core functions into the cloud, and many now have several years of experience with the opportunities and challenges that accompany this transformation.

35436. Moving beyond a Donor-Recipient Relationship? Assessing Partnership in the Joint Africa-EU Strategy

Author:
Karen del Biondo
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
The Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES), which was adopted in 2007, aimed to break with the traditional do¬nor-recipient relationship between the EU and Africa and to develop a true partnership. The concept of partnership has been central in EU-Africa relations ever since the Lomé Agreement (1975), but many have argued that it has been eroded by conditionalities and the end of special trade preferences. Ideally, a partnership is characterized by shared values, equality and trust, but are these principles reflected in the JAES? This study investigates this question by focusing on the thematic partnerships on peace and security and democratic governance and human rights. The paper argues that, despite the power asymmetries between the EU and Africa, the JAES has been characterized by equality in decision-making and by African ownership in capacity-building. However, while the JAES may objectively be based on shared values, the EU and the AU have often differed on how to apply those values in concrete situations, more particularly on the question which type of intervention is acceptable (conditionality, military intervention, etc.). Moreover, the analysis identifies a general feeling of mistrust amongst both parties in the partnership.
Topic:
Security, Human Rights, and Governance
Political Geography:
Africa and Europe

35437. Building the ASEAN Center for Humanitarian Assistance and Emergency Response. Is ASEAN Learning from the Experience of the European Civil Protection Mechanism?

Author:
Angela Pennisi di Floristella
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
Why, following the EU's first attempts at advancing community cooperation in civil protection and the creation of the EU civil protection mechanism, has ASEAN undertaken new initiatives, such as the adoption of a legally binding accord, AADMER and a formal institution, the AHA Center, largely comparable to the institutional innovations endorsed by the EU, in the same issue area? Can these developments be interpreted simply as the result of independent decision-making by ASEAN or are they at least a partial outcome of a transfer process? The aim of this study is to contribute to the emerging debate on European influence in Southeast Asia, taking into account how processes of policy and institutional transfer may lead ASEAN's region builders to learn from the EU's experience. Specifically, by discussing the case of disaster management, which has remained largely unexplored by comparative IR literature, this study argues that independent problem solving does not offer an adequate explanation of ASEAN's developments. Conversely, lesson drawing and emulation are suggested as the two most relevant underlying mechanisms which can explain the gradual and selective adoption of an EU-like model of disaster cooperation.
Political Geography:
Europe and Asia

35438. The Trade in Services Agreement: Plurilateral Progress or Game-Changing Gamble?

Author:
Patricia M. Goff
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
Trade analysis in the current moment is understandably focused on mega-regional negotiations, but plurilateral talks also deserve our attention. This paper takes plurilateral negotiations leading to a Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) as its focus. It argues that the barriers to trade in services are distinct and their removal consequential; thus inviting careful consideration and, ideally, public debate. Five key questions about TiSA are examined. The answers to these questions are not clear, making this a propitious moment to explore promising avenues for both maximizing the gains and minimizing the costs of services liberalization.

35439. Sustainable Northern Development: The Case For An Arctic Development Bank

Author:
Alan Gill and David Sevigny
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
The creation of the multilateral development bank (MDB) model represents one of the most ingenious financial innovations in recent times. Initially designed to address the problems of financing reconstruction after World War II, this model has shown itself to be surprisingly adaptable to meet a range of other challenges. These have included fostering developing country growth, dealing with the developing world debt problem and facilitating the transition of countries within Central and Eastern Europe from centrally planned to market-based economies.
Topic:
Economics and War
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe and Chicago

35440. Completing the G20's Program to Reform Global Financial Regulation

Author:
Malcolm D. Knight
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
Regulators have largely agreed on the main elements of a strengthened and internationally harmonized financial regulatory regime, endorsed at the 2014 Brisbane G20 Leaders Summit. These measures are a major step toward achieving a robust and less crisis-prone global financial system. Nevertheless, a number of specific measures need to receive closer attention in order for Group of Twenty (G20) leaders to declare their reform program a success.
Topic:
Reform