Publication Year: within 10 Years / Topic:

29501. Neighbouring Host-Countries’ Policies for Syrian Refugees: The Cases of Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey

Author:: Luigi Achilli
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: IEMed/EuroMeSCo
Abstract:: The question of how neighbouring countries manage the socioeconomic challenges of incoming Syrian refugees necessitates assessment of the policies developed, over the past few years by the governments of Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, to tackle the embracement strategies and financial challenges, whether through international, humanitarian or bilateral aid or national resources. This paper is composed of three chapters; each dedicated to one of three afore mentioned countries. The status quo is discussed in terms of the latest data on the numbers of Syrians, the financial costs and the apparent socioeconomic implications. How policies are developed and financed by these neighbouring host countries, and what lessons and recommendations can be drawn from this analysis of policies and their financing is also evaluated.
Topic:: International Affairs and Refugee Crisis
Political Geography:: Syria

29502. Reviewing the European Neighbourhood Policy

Author:: Selena Florensa
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: IEMed/EuroMeSCo
Abstract:: This paper is dedicated to answer the Joint Consultation Paper on the ENP review and it refers to the methodological support of an early exercise of the 6th Euromed Survey carried out among EuroMeSCo network experts. With the aim of giving a consistent structure to the many issues addressed by the Joint Consultation Paper, this study was divided into three main chapters. The first chapter tackles the redefinition of the ENP policy framework, which is vital in order to build an instrument coherent with reality, especially in what concerns the geographical scope of the policy, the actors and interlocutors it has to involve and the balance between interests and values. The second chapter is methodological and targets several flaws of the current policy arrangement and tools, while it proposes substantial and detailed changes for a more effective policy through the definition of priority policy areas and the combination of different tools. In the last chapter, key strategic issues on the outset and implementation of the ENP are addressed: a better coordination between Members States and the European Union and between the EEAS and the European Commission is of paramount importance in order to ensure the functioning of the policy.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Europe

29503. Defense of Animal Agriculture Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense et al.

Author:: Blue Ribbon Panel
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Hudson Institute
Abstract:: The increasing rate of emerging and reemerging zoonotic disease, along with threats and attempts by those with nefarious intent to attack food and agriculture, point to the need to exert more effort to eliminate vulnerabilities and reduce consequences associated with America’s agricultural sector. The Food and Agriculture (F&A) critical infrastructure sector produces, processes, and delivers the systems and commodities that feed billions of people and animals throughout the United States and globally. In 2015, the agriculture, food, and related industries contributed $992 billion (5.5%) to U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), making it one of the largest sectors of the U.S. economy. Given its critical importance to food safety and availability in the United States and around the world, protecting this sector is a matter of national security. Federal agencies; state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) governments; academic institutions; and industry partners all contribute to and are responsible for this vast enterprise. Our lives, culture, economy, and livelihood depend on their efforts.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29504. Modi: Three Years On

Author:: Husain Haqqani and Arpana Pandey
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Hudson Institute
Abstract:: arendra Modi led the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power during the May 2014 elections, promising radical changes. The party’s electoral manifesto outlined numerous problems that threatened Indian society, while promising to protect social values and enact “urgent changes” in the economy, agriculture, energy, education, and governance.1 Observers from around the world hailed the BJP’s victory as a success, and believed that a pro-business government assuring fundamental changes would tap into India’s unfulfilled economic potential.
Topic:: International Relations
Political Geography:: Middle East

29505. Teaching Hate, Inspiring Terrorism: Saudi Arabia’s Educational Curriculum

Author:: Nina Shea
Publication Date:: 07-2017
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Hudson Institute
Abstract:: Testimony Before the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Saudi Arabia

29506. Financing the Reagan 600-ship Naval Modernization Program, 1981-89

Author:: William Schneider
Publication Date:: 07-2017
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Hudson Institute
Abstract:: Testimony Before the United States Senate Committee on the Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower
Topic:: International Relations and International Affairs
Political Geography:: America

29507. The Current State of Retirement Security in the United States

Author:: Walter Russell Mead
Publication Date:: 04-2017
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Hudson Institute
Abstract:: Testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Policy
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: America

29508. When Turnbull meets Trump

Author:: Alan Dupont
Publication Date:: 05-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s first face-to-face meeting with President Donald Trump is an opportunity to deliver some key messages about the role the United States should play globally and in Asia.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: America

29509. The shape of Australia’s future engagement with the United Nations

Author:: Peter Nadin
Publication Date:: 03-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Lowy Institute for International Policy
Abstract:: Australia should strengthen its engagement with the United Nations to ensure it has a greater voice on global issues that matter to its national interests
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29510. Catalonia’s independence bid: how did we get here? What is the European dimension? What next?

Author:: Elcano Royal Institute
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Elcano Royal Institute
Abstract:: Analysis of Catalonia's independence bid.
Topic:: International Affairs, Elections, and Democracy
Political Geography:: Spain and Catalonia

29511. Militarization of social media: strategies and challenges

Author:: Susan Jackson, Nicholas Robinson, and Andrea Schneiker
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:: Social media has become one of the world’s most influential tools for promotion and branding regardless of industry and audiences. This event aims to assess the militarization of social media by focusing discussion on the online mechanisms, strategies and tools employed by the arms and military services and military videogames industries. What factors and mechanisms are involved in the promotion of militarism via social media platforms? How is social media contributing to the reification of the military as a normal part of international relations?
Topic:: International Security
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29512. The Qatar Crisis

Author:: Marc Lynch and Stephanie Dahle
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS)
Abstract:: On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates launched a campaign against Qatar. Tensions between these Gulf Cooperation Council members were nothing new, but few anticipated the sudden escalation or the intensity of the campaign. The anti-Qatar campaign leaders then failed to achieve a rapid resolution of the crisis in their favor through a Qatari capitulation. More than four months later, the GCC remains badly divided and both sides are increasingly entrenched in their positions. To make sense of this political conflict, POMEPS is pleased to release this collection of essays by a wide range of leading scholars published in The Monkey Cage and in POMEPS Studies over the last several years. The collection is divided into four major sections: the origins and course of the current conflict; regional responses; how the Arab uprisings impacted the GCC; and background on the divisive question of Islamism and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Topic:: International Political Economy and International Security
Political Geography:: Middle East

29513. The Palestinian Arabs in Israel: Reconceptualizing the Past

Author:: Arik Rudnitzky
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
Abstract:: Arik Rudnitzsky examines changes in the historiography of Arab society in Israel and shows how new contributions highlight the elements of resistance that prevailed among the Arab population in the years following the establishment of the state.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention and International Security
Political Geography:: Israel and Palestine

29514. Xi Transforms the PLA: How the Military Is Being Adapted to China’s Changing Global Position

Author:: Marcin Przychodniak
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Polish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: Reform of the Chinese armed forces gained new momentum under Xi Jinping in 2015. The main argument behind the strategy, structure, and equipment modernisation of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is the active defence of China’s global interests to strengthen its competitiveness with the United States. A short-term goal is to make the PLA operationally capable of projecting China’s power abroad constantly, using joint exercises, peacekeeping missions, and the development of military infrastructure. One recent example was opening of China’s first foreign military base in Djibouti. The PLA should also be capable of defending China’s territory and overseas interests by performing combat operations abroad. This means a possible change to the non-intervention clause that has until now been a crucial element of China’s foreign policy.
Topic:: International Security and Military Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29515. The costs of voting on Kurdistan’s secession

Author:: Al Jazeera Center for Studies
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Al Jazeera Center for Studies
Abstract:: The referendum on the Kurdish secession ended in a victory for self-determination; Baghdad, Ankara, and Tehran move to take punitive actions.
Topic:: International Security and Democracy
Political Geography:: Kurdistan

29516. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Chinese influence in the Western Balkans

Author:: Alexandr Lagazzi and Michal Vít
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Europeum Institute for European Policy
Abstract:: With the past export-led economic growth that has gradually become a tool of Chinese soft power, China showcased globally a powerful and inviting policy of economic power in action, and investment-seeking countries (especially from the Western Balkans) are willing to show their eagerness towards Chinese loans and capital. On the reverse side, China presents itself as an equally eager investor, and can be counted on in all situations, including when Chinese investors picked up projects declined by the EU.
Topic:: International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29517. Islam in a Changing Middle East: Local Politics and Islamist Movements

Author:: Marc Lynch
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS)
Abstract:: Scholars and policymakers have increasingly recognized that Islamist movements and actors vary widely – from domestically oriented, quietist movements engaging in democratic systems to revolutionary, armed movements aiming to upend the nation-state system. Yet little has been done to understand how the nature of individual movements, and their success, often differs substantially at the subnational level. Some communities are much more likely to support different Islamist actors than others, and even the same movement may have very different strategies in some localities than others. Many questions remain regarding if and how Islamist movements and actors look or act differently in rural areas and secondary cities as they do in the capitals. To what extent do the strategies and performance of Islamists vary subnationally? And what explains this variation?
Topic:: International Relations and International Security
Political Geography:: Middle East

29518. Islam in a changing Middle East: Adaptation Strategies of Islamist Movements

Author:: Marc Lynch
Publication Date:: 04-2017
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS)
Abstract:: Long repressed, banned, and exiled, many Islamist movements and parties across the Middle East and North Africa witnessed a moment of electoral success after the 2011 uprisings. Since then, their fates have varied widely. Some have made significant compromises to stay in power, others have ostensibly separated their religious and political efforts, while others have been repressed more brutally than before or have fragmented beyond recognition. What accounts for these actors’ different adaptation strategies and divergent outcomes? Earlier this year, the Project on Middle East Political Science brought together a dozen top scholars for our 4th Annual workshop on Islamist politics to address these questions.
Topic:: International Relations, International Security, and Political Power Sharing
Political Geography:: Middle East

29519. Refugees and Migration Movements in the Middle East

Author:: Marc Lynch
Publication Date:: 03-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS)
Abstract:: The Middle East has experienced a dramatic flood of refugees and forced migration over the last fifteen years. The UN High Commission on Refugees reports more than 16 million refugees and 60 million displaced persons around the world today, including asylum seekers and the internally displaced. The wars in Syria and Iraq have produced the greatest share of the Middle East’s refugees in recent years, but many more have fled wars and failed states in Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Neighboring states have faced severe challenges in absorbing millions of refugees, while North African states and Turkey have emerged as key transit hubs for refugee flows into Europe.
Topic:: Human Rights, International Security, International Affairs, and Refugee Crisis
Political Geography:: Middle East

29520. New Challenges to Public and Policy Engagement

Author:: Marc Lynch
Publication Date:: 03-2017
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS)
Abstract:: Engaging and influencing public policy debates on areas of their expertise is a core part of the mission of academics. The last decade has in many ways been the golden age of academic policy engagement. Social media, the proliferation of online publishing platforms, and a generational change in disciplinary norms and practices has unleashed an impressive wave of writing by academics aimed at an informed public sphere. The Project on Middle East Political Science has worked to promote such public and policy engagement, with hundreds of academics each year contributing their expertise on the Middle East on publishing platforms such as The Middle East Channel and The Monkey Cage and through direct policymaker engagement.
Topic:: International Security and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Middle East

29521. Islam in a Changing Middle East: New Islamic Media

Author:: Marc Lynch
Publication Date:: 02-2017
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS)
Abstract:: In years past, Islamist televangelists like Amr Khaled, Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Tareq Suwaidan seemed like the future of Arab media. Advancing a form of “soft Islam” focused on personal betterment and religiosity, these preachers were seen by some as a potential counterweight to extremist voices and by others as a sinister leading edge of radicalization. The contretemps between Amr Khaled and Yusuf al-Qaradawi over the Danish Cartoons Crisis of 2006 inspired numerous academic articles
Topic:: International Affairs and Social Media
Political Geography:: Middle East

29522. The EU and Australia: Shared Opportunities and Common Challenges

Author:: Melissa Conley Tyler and Antonia Mochan
Publication Date:: 05-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Australian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: When Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop and I launched the EU-Australia Leadership Forum – last September in Brussels – she made a passionate case for our friendship, and for a strong and united Europe. She remembered thousands of Australians who died fighting in our continent during the world wars, and the 70 years of peace that a united Europe has made possible for its member states. She celebrated economic prosperity inside Europe, and the European Union’s contribution to a global order based on rules, on cooperation, on sustainable development.
Topic:: International Relations and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Europe and Australia

29523. The Role of Universities in Our Changing Economy

Author:: Jeffrey Bleich
Publication Date:: 04-2017
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The Ambassadors Review
Abstract:: We grew up in a century defined by the Second Industrial Revolution. Today, that revolution is being eclipsed by a Digital Revolution. The uncertainty that we are experiencing in every aspect of our society is the same disorientation that occurred between 1870 and 1910 when the first Industrial Revolution ended and a second one began.
Topic:: International Relations and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29524. The Fund for American Studies: Celebrating 50 Years of Educating Leaders Throughout the World

Author:: Roger R Ream
Publication Date:: 04-2017
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The Ambassadors Review
Abstract:: The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) was founded in 1967 with a mission focused on influencing the intellectual climate in the world by giving young people entering leadership positions a balanced perspective on political and economic systems. It was founded in the heat of the Cold War and during a period of growing unrest and even violent upheaval on college campuses. Many of the founders of the organization were actively engaged in international programs, including former Congressman Walter Judd and political organizer David R. Jones.
Topic:: International Organization and International Affairs
Political Geography:: America

29525. The Power of Rapid-Response Public Diplomacy: The IVLP On Demand

Author:: Monica Damberg-Ott
Publication Date:: 04-2017
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The Ambassadors Review
Abstract:: The U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program, or IVLP, is often referred to as the “gold standard” of exchange programs th within the public diplomacy community. The program celebrated its 75 anniversary in 2015, and more than 200,000 International Visitors have engaged with Americans through the IVLP, including more than 505 current or former Chiefs of State or Heads of Government,1 since its inception in 1940. Margaret Thatcher, Hamid Karzai, and Indira Gandhi, to name just a few, are alumni. But with recent budget constraints and the need to demonstrate immediate, results-driven programming, the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) is placing greater emphasis on its most flexible rapid-response exchanges. Among those programs is the highly adaptable and policy-responsive option: the IVLP On Demand. So how does it differ from the original model, how does it compare, and how might it help show results more quickly?
Topic:: Diplomacy and International Affairs
Political Geography:: America

29526. Morocco’s Return to the African Union: Strengthening the Continent’s Future

Author:: Edward M. Gabriel
Publication Date:: 04-2017
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The Ambassadors Review
Abstract:: From a strategic perspective, Morocco’s decision to join the African Union (AU) 33 years after quitting the bloc illustrates King Mohammed VI’s vision of his country’s role on the continent as a platform for regional economic, political and security cooperation. It followed almost two decades of personal diplomatic efforts by the king to further Morocco’s goal of supporting greater regional and continental stability through common economic and political interests.
Topic:: International Relations and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Morocco

29527. U.S.-Ghana Relations Are Strong Following December 2016 Elections

Author:: Robert Jackson
Publication Date:: 04-2017
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The Ambassadors Review
Abstract:: Ghana is one of the leading democracies on the African continent, with multiple peaceful interparty transitions since the return of multi-party democracy in 1992; a good record on human rights; an apolitical military; and a lively, free media. Ghanaians often note that whenever the Republican Party wins the White House, Ghana’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) wins Jubilee House—a coincidental tradition that held true again in 2016. Ghana’s presidential and parliamentary elections were peaceful, transparent, and credible; U.S. engagement played a critical role in that success, as well as in the resulting peaceful transition of power.
Topic:: International Relations and International Affairs
Political Geography:: America and Ghana

29528. The United States and Namibia: Promoting Success in a Young African Democracy

Author:: Thomas F Daughton
Publication Date:: 04-2017
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The Ambassadors Review
Abstract:: ust 27 years old, the Republic of Namibia is among Africa’s youngest countries, but one that stands out on the continent for its functioning multiparty democracy, open market economy and history of peaceful transitions of presidential power. The reasons for Namibia’s success lie in the international process that created it and in the pragmatism of its people. That international process and the United States’ involvement in it have also complicated the U.S.-Namibia relationship in the last three decades. But the United States has long recognized that an investment in the success of a country like Namibia is a strategic long-term investment in our own security. With that in mind, the United States has invested heavily since Namibian independence in 1990 to help ensure that the young country succeeds.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: America and Ghana

29529. How NATO Is Adapting to a More Dangerous World

Author:: Rose Gottemoeller
Publication Date:: 04-2017
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The Ambassadors Review
Abstract:: NATO is adapting rapidly to an evolving security situation by strengthening our deterrence and defense, and by working with our partners to project stability be
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29530. The Middle East and Europe in These Turbulent Times

Author:: Genci Mucaj
Publication Date:: 04-2017
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The Ambassadors Review
Abstract:: A few years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine the regional transformation underway in the Middle East. From the Arab Spring to the rise of ISIS, to a catastrophic Syrian war, we see a Middle East in turmoil and crisis. While the region’s geopolitical map varies, the root causes of conflict remain the same.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Middle East

29531. The United States and Colombia: A Special Relationship

Author:: Juan Pinzón Carlos
Publication Date:: 04-2017
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: The Ambassadors Review
Abstract:: The world has changed for Colombia. For the first time in more than 50 years, we are a nation building a lasting and stable peace. What has not changed is the special relationship Colombia shares with the United States. As the oldest and strongest democracies in the Western Hemisphere, the relationship between our two countries is deeply rooted in our steadfast commitment to the shared values of democracy, freedom and equality.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: America and Colombia

29532. Bedouin Sumud and the Struggle for Education

Author:: Michal Rotem and Neve Gordon
Publication Date:: 06-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:: Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:: The struggle between Zionists and Palestinian Bedouin over land in the Negev/ Naqab has lasted at least a century. Notwithstanding the state’s continuing efforts to concentrate the Bedouin population within a small swath of land, scholars have documented how the Bedouin have adopted their own means of resistance, including different practices of sumud. In this paper we maintain, however, that by focusing on planning policies and the spatio-legal mechanisms deployed by the state to expropriate Bedouin land, one overlooks additional technologies and processes that have had a significant impact on the social production of space in the Negev. One such site is the struggle over the right to education, which, as we show, is intricately tied to the organization of space and the population inhabiting that space. We illustrate how the right to education has been utilized as an instrument of tacit displacement deployed to relocate and concentrate the Bedouin population in planned governmental towns. Simultaneously, however, we show how Bedouin activists have continuously invoked the right to education, using it as a tool for reinforcing their sumud. The struggle for education in the Israeli Negev is, in other words, an integral part of the struggle for and over land.
Topic:: Human Rights and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Palestine

29533. Olive Cultivation in the Galilee, 1948–1955: Hegemony and Resistance

Author:: Jeffrey Reger
Publication Date:: 06-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:: Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:: Drawing on Arabic, English, and Hebrew language sources from the British and Israeli archives, this article seeks to bridge the catastrophic rupture of 1948 to the early 1950s and to trace the changing relationship between ordinary Palestinian olive cultivators in the Galilee and the newly established Israeli state. In contrast with studies that center on the continued expulsion of Palestinians and extension of control over land by the state and state-supported actors in the aftermath of the Nakba, this study examines those Palestinians who stayed on their land and how they responded to Israeli agricultural and food control policies that they saw as discriminatory to the point of being existential threats. Beyond analysis of Israeli state policy toward olive growers and olive oil producers, this article brings in rare Palestinian voices from the time, highlighting examples of Palestinian resistance to the Israeli state’s practices of confiscation and discrimination.
Topic:: Human Rights, International Political Economy, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Israel

29534. Gendered Violence in Israeli Detention

Author:: Sahar Francis
Publication Date:: 06-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:: Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:: Women have been instrumental to the Palestinian liberation struggle from its inception, and the role they have played in political, civil, and armed resistance has been as critical, if not as visible, as that of their male counterparts. In addition to experiencing the same forms of repression as men, be it arrest, indefinite detention, or incarceration, Palestinian women have also been subjected to sexual violence and other gendered forms of coercion at the hands of the Israeli occupation regime. Drawing on testimonies from former and current female prisoners, this paper details Israel’s incarceration policies and examines their consequences for Palestinian women and their families. It argues that Israel uses the incarceration of women as a weapon to undermine Palestinian resistance and to fracture traditionally cohesive social relations; and more specifically, that the prison authorities subject female prisoners to sexual and gender-based violence as a psychological weapon to break them and, by extension, their children.
Topic:: Gender Issues and Human Rights
Political Geography:: Israel

29535. Rasmea Odeh: The Case of an Indomitable Woman

Author:: Nehad Khader
Publication Date:: 06-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:: Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:: In this profile of Rasmea Odeh, JPS examines the case of a Palestinian woman who has been incarcerated in both Israel and the United States. After a decade of confinement in Israel, Odeh was freed in a prisoner exchange in 1979. Following deportation from the occupied Palestinian territories, she became a noted social justice and women’s rights organizer, first in Lebanon and Jordan, and later in the U.S., where she built the now over 800-strong Arab Women’s Committee of Chicago. In April 2017, Odeh accepted a plea bargain that would lead to her deportation from the United States after a years-long legal battle to overturn a devastating conviction on charges of immigration fraud. Observers, legal experts, and supporters consider the case to “reek of political payback,” in the words of longtime Palestine solidarity activist, author, and academic Angela Davis. Odeh’s generosity of spirit, biting wit, and easy smile did not desert her throughout the years that she fought her case. To know Odeh is to be reminded that the work of organizing for social justice is about the collective rather than the individual, and that engagement, relationship building, and trust are the foundations of such work.
Topic:: Gender Issues, Human Rights, International Affairs, and Prisons/Penal Systems
Political Geography:: Palestine

29536. The Idolatry of Force: How Israel Embraced Targeted Killing

Author:: Paul Aaron Gaston
Publication Date:: 06-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:: Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:: Not until the Second Intifada did assassination emerge as an explicit, legally codified, and publicly announced doctrine of so-called targeted killing in Israel. This study, the first of a two-part series, explores the doctrine’s historical roots and ideological lineage and tracks its rise under the premiership of Ariel Sharon. Targeted killing became institutionalized not just to reduce direct and imminent threats against Israelis but also to mobilize electoral support, field- test weapons and tactics, and eliminate key figures in order to sow chaos and stunt the development of an effective Palestinian national movement. The study frames the analysis within a wider meditation on Israel’s idolatry of force. As much symbolic performance as military technique, targeted killing reenacts and ritualizes Palestinian humiliation and helplessness in the face of the Zionist state’s irresistible power, making this dynamic appear a fact of life, ordained and immutable.
Topic:: International Organization, International Affairs, Armed Forces, and Border Control
Political Geography:: Israel

29537. A Newer Hamas? The Revised Charter

Author:: Khaled Hroub
Publication Date:: 06-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:: Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:: On 1 May 2017, Hamas released its “Document of General Principles and Policies” following years of periodic speculation that the movement was working on a new political platform. Heralded by some as a significant milestone in Hamas’s political thought and practice, the document reiterates longstanding positions but also lays out some new ones. Given the timing of its release, as well as its contents and possible implications, the document could be considered Hamas’s new charter: it details the organization’s views on the struggle against “the Zionist project” and Israel and outlines its strategies to counter that project. This essay aims to provide a fine-grained analysis of the substance, context, and ramifications of the recently released document. The discussion starts with an overview highlighting aspects of the document that could be considered departures from Hamas’s original 1988 charter, and pointing to changes in the movement’s discourse, both in form and substance. A contextual analysis then probes the regional, international, and internal impetuses behind the issuance of the document. Finally, the discussion concludes with a look at the possible implications for the movement itself, as well as for the Palestinians and for Israel.
Topic:: International Security, International Affairs, Border Control, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:: Palestine

29538. Criminalizing Resistance: The Cases of Balata and Jenin Refugee Camps

Author:: Alaa Tartir
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:: Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:: The Palestinian Authority (PA) adopted donor-driven security sector reform (SSR) as the linchpin to its post-2007 state-building project. As SSR proceeded, the occupied West Bank became a securitized space and the theater for PA security campaigns whose ostensible purpose was to establish law and order. This article tackles the consequences of the PA’s security campaigns in Balata and Jenin refugee camps from the people’s perspective through a bottom-up ethnographic methodological approach. These voices from below problematize and examine the security campaigns, illustrating how and why resistance against Israel has been criminalized. The article concludes by arguing that conducting security reform to ensure stability within the context of colonial occupation and without addressing the imbalances of power can only ever have two outcomes: “better” collaboration with the occupying power and a violation of Palestinians’ security and national rights by their own security forces.
Topic:: International Security and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Palestine

29539. Special Feature on Palestinian Migration, 1870–1940

Author:: Cecilia Baeza
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:: Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:: THE THREE PAPERS that comprise this dossier explore the intraregional and intercontinental mobilities of Palestinians during the late Ottoman period and the British Mandate. While several studies have focused on both the processes of integration and diasporization of Palestinian migrants in their host countries,1 the papers in this dossier address the political and cultural implications of this migration for Palestinian society in Palestine, from the 1920s until the establishment of Israel in 1948. Although emigration from Ottoman and Mandate-era Palestine was proportionally much smaller than that from Lebanon and Syria, the three articles provide an insightful contribution to Palestinian social history, in particular for the pre-1948 period, which has aroused unabated interest in Palestinian historiography since the 1990s.2 The authors—all historians—have carried out groundbreaking research that sheds light on the Palestinian nation- building process from an original and lesser-known point of view, that of migrants. This decentered observation lens proves remarkably relevant to thinking about the political, social, and cultural changes that supported the construction of a modern national consciousness in Pales
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Palestine

29540. Claiming Identities in Palestine: Migration and Nationality under the Mandate

Author:: Lauren Banko
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:: Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:: In the decades just prior to the end of World War I, residents of the Ottoman Empire’s provinces alternated with ease between a variety of personal identities and affiliations. Overlapping imperial, supranational, and localized identities could all be claimed with flexibility by Arab travelers and migrants in the region and in the wider diaspora. Arab, and later Jewish, inhabitants of Palestine conceived of nationality as a choice based on personal understandings of identity that were not necessarily tied to domicile in a particular territory. This article traces the demise of such a notion of nationality, and its practical repercussions after 1918, showing how Palestine’s emigrants and immigrants did not immediately understand or reimagine themselves as part of the more rigid nationality system imposed by the British Mandate. Analyzing regional migration into and out of Palestine during the interwar period, the study seeks to explain the ways in which a system of flexible national affiliation transformed into a rigid system of nationality based on domicile.
Topic:: Migration and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Palestine

29541. Legislating Exclusion: Palestinian Migrants and Interwar Citizenship

Author:: Nadim Bawalsa
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:: Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:: This article explores the British Mandate’s legal framework for regulating citizenship and nationality in Palestine following the post–World War I fragmentation of the Ottoman Empire. It argues that the 1925 Palestinian Citizenship Order-in-Council prioritized the settlement and naturalization of Jews in Palestine, while simultaneously disenfranchising Palestinians who had migrated abroad. Ultimately, the citizenship legislation reflected British imperial interests as it fulfilled the promises made in the Balfour Declaration to establish in Palestine a homeland for the Jewish people, while it attempted to ensure the economic viability of a modern Palestine as a British mandated territory. Excluded from Palestinian citizenship by the arbitrary application of the Order-in- Council, the majority of Palestinian migrants during the 1920s and 30s never secured a legal mean
Topic:: Migration, International Security, International Affairs, and Diaspora
Political Geography:: Palestine

29542. Return Migration and the Rise of the Palestinian Nouveaux Riches, 1870–1925

Author:: Jacob Norris
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:: Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:: This article examines the figure of the returning émigré in late Ottoman and early Mandate Palestine. The wave of Palestinians who emigrated in the pre–World War I period did not, for the most part, intend to settle abroad permanently. Hailing largely from small towns and villages in the Palestinian hilly interior, they moved in and out of the Middle East with great regularity and tended to reinvest their money and social capital in their place of origin. The article argues that these emigrants constituted a previously undocumented segment of Palestinian society, the nouveaux riches who challenged the older elites from larger towns and cities in both social and economic terms. The discussion focuses in particular on their creation of new forms of bourgeois culture and the disruptive impact this had on gender and family relations, complicating the assumption that middle-class modernity in Palestine was largely effected by external actors.
Topic:: Migration and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Palestine

29543. Interview with Ibrahim Dakkak (1929–2016) A Life of Struggle for Palestinian Rights

Author:: Salim Tamari
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:: Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:: The passing of Ibrahim Dakkak in early June 2016 marked the departure of the last of the great socialist leaders of Palestine’s post-Nakba generation. Dakkak was known for multiple levels of activism, as a trade unionist, as an exponent of economic development and higher education, and as a political organizer. He was also widely recognized for his role as the chief architect in charge of the restoration of al-Aqsa Mosque after an arson attack in 1969. Politically, he was in the top leadership of three major movements inside the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt): al-Jabha al-wataniyya or Palestine National Front, a coalition launched in August 1973 that mobilized civil resistance to Israeli land confiscations and a whole host of other rights violations; Lajnat al-tawjih al-watani (the National Guidance Committee or NGC), established in 1978 to coordinate resistance efforts inside the oPt with the political leadership of the national movement based outside; and al-Mubadara al-wataniyya (the National Initiative Committee), which Dakkak cofounded with Mustafa Barghouti and Haidar Abdel-Shafi in the 1990s to counter the consequences of the Oslo Accords.
Topic:: Human Rights and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Palestine

29544. The Accountability Sequence: From De-jure to De-facto Constraints on Governments

Author:: Valeriya Mechkova, Anna Lührmann, and Staffan I. Lindberg
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: Accountability is one of the cornerstones of good governance. Establishing accountable governments is a top priority on the international development agenda. Yet, scholars and democracy practitioners know little about how accountability mechanisms develop and thus can be supported by international and national actors. The present study tackles the questions of how, and in what sequence accountability sub-types develop. We consider not only vertical (elections and political parties) and horizontal accountability (legislature, judiciary and other oversight bodies), but also diagonal accountability (civil society and media) in both their de-jure and the de-facto dimensions. By utilizing novel sequencing methods, we study their sequential relationships in 173 countries from 1900 to the present with data from the new V-Dem dataset. Considering the long-term dimensions of institution building, this study indicates that most aspects of de-facto vertical accountability precede other forms of accountability. Effective institutions of horizontal accountability – such as vigorous parliaments and independent high courts – evolve rather late in the sequence and build on progress in many other areas.
Topic:: International Affairs and Governance
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29545. Eroding Regimes: What, Where, and When?

Author:: Michael Coppedge
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: The political world lately seems to be filled with unexpected erosions of democracy. What is the most useful way to describe these phenomena? Do they all belong to a common syndrome? Certainly there are different degrees of erosion, but are there also different types? How common are such erosions in the world today? Is this a new phenomenon, or are there close parallels with events in the past? If we detect early warning signs of erosion, how concerned should we be that it will continue and culminate in the breakdown of democracy? This paper argues that there are two distinct erosion paths. First, there is a classic path of growing repression of speech, media, assembly, and civil liberties, combined with deteriorating political discourse. The second path involves the concentration of power in the executive at the expense of the courts and the legislature, similar to what Guillermo O’Donnell called “delegative democracy,” which entails the erosion of horizontal accountability. Venezuela emerges as the most extreme and most fully articulated instance of erosion along this second path
Topic:: International Affairs and Regime Change
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29546. Party Institutionalization and Welfare State Development

Author:: Magnus Rasmussen and Carl Henrik Knutsen
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: We propose that the extent to which political parties are institutionalized shapes welfare state development. Institutionalized parties allow politicians to overcome coordination problems, avoid capture by special interests, and form stable linkages with broad social groups. These features both enable and incentivize politicians to pursue generous and universal welfare policies. Employing recent measures of party institutionalization and welfare law features, we test implications from our argument on data covering 169 countries and extending back to 1900. Even when accounting for country- and year-fixed effects and institutional features such as electoral system, regime type and state capacity, we find robust evidence that party institutionalization leads to more extensive, universal, and generous welfare arrangements. The relationship is more pronounced in democracies, but exists also in autocracies. When disaggregating party institutionalization and evaluating mechanisms, the linkages that institutionalized parties form with social groups constitute one important, but not the only relevant, factor.
Topic:: Democracy
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29547. Gender Diversity on High Courts

Author:: Nancy et al Arrington
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: ncreasing the diversity of political institutions is believed to improve the quality of political discourse and, subsequently, the quality of political outcomes. Moreover, the presence of diverse officials in positions of power signals the openness and fairness of political institutions. These benets of diversity should be particularly acute in the judiciary, where judges are tasked with the symbolically and substantively powerful duty of interpreting and defending constitutional values. Extant scholarship suggests that well-designed appointment process can promote diversity without explicitly gendered goals, much less quotas. If correct, these proposals raise the possibility of promoting greater diversity without having to resolve politically charged debates about quotas. Yet, scholars disagree about the effects of particular design choices. Worse, estimating causal effects of institutions in observational data is particularly difficult. We develop a research design linked to the empirical implications of existing theoretical arguments to evaluate the effect of institutional change on the gender diversity of peak courts cross-nationally. Speciffically, we consider the effect of an increase (or a decrease) in the number of actors involved in the appointment process. We find mixed results for any existing claim about the role of appointment institutions play in increasing diversity. Yet we also find that any institutional change seems to cause an increase in the gender diversity of peak courts.
Topic:: Gender Issues and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29548. Experts, Coders, and Crowds: An analysis of substitutability

Author:: Kyle L Marquardt
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: Recent work suggests that crowd workers can replace experts and trained coders in common coding tasks. However, while many political science applications require coders to both and relevant information and provide judgment, current studies focus on a limited domain in which experts provide text for crowd workers to code. To address potential over-generalization, we introduce a typology of data producing actors - experts, coders, and crowds - and hypothesize factors which affect crowd-expert substitutability. We use this typology to guide a comparison of data from crowdsourced and expert surveys. Our results provide sharp scope conditions for the substitutability of crowd workers: when coding tasks require contextual and conceptual knowledge, crowds produce substantively different data from coders and experts. We also find that crowd workers can cost more than experts in the context of cross-national panels, and that one purported advantage of crowdsourcing - replicability - is undercut by an insuffcient number of crowd workers.
Topic:: Science and Technology
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29549. Multiple Measurements, Elusive Agreement, and Unstable Outcomes in the Study of Regime Change

Author:: Hans Lueders and Ellen Lust
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: This comprehensive analysis of regime change indicators reveals that problems of conceptualization and measurement are major reasons why current research fails to draw compelling conclusions that foster cumulative knowledge. The paper first argues that even though the literature discusses the conceptualization of regime types at length, there is little attention to defining regime change. Furthermore, quantitative studies of regime change largely elide conceptual and measurement challenges. Second, although indicators of regime type are highly correlated, agreement between indicators of regime change is extremely low. Third, focal points such as elections and coups drive agreement among these indicators, suggesting that such measures often reflect notable events instead of regime change per se. Finally, a robustness check of nine articles on regime change published in top journals demonstrates that findings are often not robust to alternative indicators, implying that indicator choice influences the results of quantitative studies.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29550. State Capacity, Incumbent Turnover and Democratic Change in Authoritarian Elections

Author:: Carolien van Ham and Brigitte Seim
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: Under what conditions do elections lead to democratization or conversely, sustain authoritarianism? State capacity may be a crucial intervening variable affecting the democratizing power of elections in authoritarian regimes. In regimes with limited state capacity, manipulating elections, co-opting elites, and repressing opposition is more difficult than in regimes with more extensive state capacity, rendering turnover in elections more likely in weak states. Yet, while increasing the chances of turnover, if the new incumbent has limited capacity to deliver public services and make policy changes after coming to power, democratic change is unlikely to be sustainable. Hence, state capacity may be a double-edged sword. This paper tests these expectations using Varieties of Democracy data for 460 elections in 110 authoritarian regimes from 1974 to 2012, and finds that state capacity is negatively associated with incumbent turnover but positively associated with democratic change after incumbent turnover in electoral authoritarian regimes.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29551. Information and Revolution

Author:: Stephen Lloyd Wilson
Publication Date:: 06-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: How does the Internet affect authoritarian regimes? This article argues that while the Internet has made mass mobilization easier than ever, its spread has also counter-intuitively allowed savvy authoritarian regimes to become more stable than ever. For the population, higher technical literacy means a demonstrable decrease in transaction costs and thus a greater incidence of collective action. However, higher regime technical literacy gives authoritarians the capacity to monitor their populations and solve the dictator’s information problem, thus keeping their populations satisfied without needing to liberalize. The article compiles a new and original data set of measures of technical literacy across all states since the year 2000, and used a factor analysis approach to construct latent measures of population and regime technical literacy for all country-years. A large-n, cross-country empirical approach finds strong evidence of the theorized relationship between technical literacy and revolution.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29552. The Autocratic Trust Bias: Politically Sensitive Survey Items and Self-censorship

Author:: Marcus Tannenberg
Publication Date:: 06-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: Because of the perceived risk of repression some survey questions are likely sensitive in more autocratic countries while less so in more democratic countries. Yet, survey data on potentially sensitive topics are frequently used in comparative research despite concerns about comparability. In a novel approach to test the comparability of politically sensitive questions I employ a multilevel-analysis with more than 80 000 respondents in 36 African countries to test for systematic bias when the survey respondents believe (fear) that the government has commissioned the survey, as opposed to an independent research institute. The findings indicate that fear of the government induces a substantial and significant bias on questions regarding the citizen-state relationship in more autocratic countries, but not in more democratic countries. This has practical implications for the comparative use of survey data.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29553. The V-Dem Party Institutionalization Index: a new global indicator (1900-2015)

Author:: Fernando Bizzarro, Allen Hicken, and Dari Self
Publication Date:: 06-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: Because levels of party institutionalization may affect the availability of good data, existing datasets have limited reliability and coverage. To overcome these problems, we introduce the V-Dem Party Institutionalization Index, the first global country-level index on the issue. It covers – as of May 2017 – 173 countries for 116 years (1900-2016). Its geographical coverage, timespan, and conceptual reach are larger than any existing alternative. We offer an additive index that measures the scope and depth of party institutionalization in a country every year. Scope is measured by the proportion of parties that reach a threshold of minimal institutionalization, while the linkages party establish with the masses and the elites define the depth. Exploring a set of well-known cases, we show that: the index has extensive face validity, is consistent across regime types, and is comparable to other established indicators of institutionalization.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29554. Regimes In the World (RIW): A Robust Regime Type Measure based on V-Dem

Author:: Anna Lührmann, Staffan I. Lindberg, and Marcus Tannenberg
Publication Date:: 05-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: Classifying political regimes has never been as difficult as in this day and age. Most regimes in the world now hold de-jure multiparty elections with universal suffrage. Yet, in some countries these elections ensure that political rulers are – at least somewhat – accountable to the electorate whereas in others they are a mere window dressing exercise for authoritarian politics. Hence, regime types need to be distinguished based on the de-facto implementation of democratic rules. To this end, researchers increasingly turn to expert-coded data sets such as the new Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) dataset. Using V-Dem data, we propose an operationalization of four important regime types – closed and electoral autocracies; electoral and liberal democracies – with vast coverage (almost all countries form 1900 to 2016) and precision. Our new Regimes in the World (RIW) measure includes uncertainty estimates to identify countries in the grey zone between regime types and account for inter-coder disagreement. In cases of disagreement with other datasets (7-12% of the cases), we classify regimes with severe electoral manipulation and infringements of the political freedoms more frequently as electoral autocracies than other datasets, which suggests that our measure captures the opaqueness of contemporary autocracies better.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29555. Constraining Governments: New Indices of Vertical, Horizontal and Diagonal Accountability

Author:: Anna Lührmann, Kyle L Marquardt, and Valeriya Mechkova
Publication Date:: 04-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: Accountability - constraints on the government’s use of political power - is one of the cornerstones of good governance. However, conceptual stretching and a lack of reliable measures have limited cross-national research and comparisons regarding the role of both accountability writ large and its different sub-types. To address this research gap, we use the V-Dem dataset and Bayesian statistical models to develop new ways to conceptualize and measure accountability and its core dimensions. We provide indices capturing the extent to which governments are accountable to citizens (vertical accountability), other state institutions (horizontal accountability) and the media and civil society (diagonal accountability), as well as an aggregate index that incorporates the three sub-types. These indices cover virtually all countries from 1900 to today. We demonstrate the validity of our new measures by analyzing trends from key countries, as well as by demonstrating that the measures are positively related to development outcomes such as health and education.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29556. V-Dem Comparisons and Contrasts with Other Measurement Projects

Author:: Michael Coppedge
Publication Date:: 04-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: For policymakers, activists, academics, and citizens around the world the conceptualization and measurement of democracy matters. The needs of democracy promoters and social scientists are convergent. We all need better ways to measure democracy. In the first section of this document we critically review the field of democracy indices. It is important to emphasize that problems identified with extant indices are not easily solved, and some of the issues we raise vis-à-vis other projects might also be raised in the context of the V-Dem project. Measuring an abstract and contested concept such as democracy is hard and some problems of conceptualization and measurement may never be solved definitively. In the second section we discuss in general terms how the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project differs from extant indices and how the novel approach taken by V-Dem might assist the work of activists, professionals, and scholars.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29557. Autocrats and Skyscrapers: Modern White Elephants in Dictatorships

Author:: Haakon Gjerlow and Carl Henrik Knutsen
Publication Date:: 04-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: Political leaders often have private incentives to pursue expensive and socially wasteful "white elephant" projects. Our argument highlights that weak accountability mechanisms allow autocratic leaders to more easily realize such projects, whereas democratic leaders are more constrained from doing so. We subsequently test different implications from this argument by drawing on a global dataset recording various features of skyscrapers, a prominent type of modern white elephant. We find that autocracies systematically build more new skyscrapers than democracies, and this result is robust to controlling for income level, state control over the economy, and country- and year-fixed effects. Further, autocratic skyscrapers are more excessive and wasteful than democratic. Autocratic regimes also pursue skyscraper projects no matter if they preside over rural or urban societies. In contrast, skyscrapers are fewer and - when first built - associated with less waste in democracies, and they are more frequently built urbanized democracies than in rural.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29558. Democracy and Corruption: A Global Time-Series Analysis with V-Dem Data

Author:: Kelly McMann
Publication Date:: 03-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: Theory predicts democracy should reduce corruption. Yet, numerous scholars have found empirically that corruption decreases at high levels of democracy but actually increases at low levels. A key weaknesses of studies that aim to explain this inverted curvilinear relationship, however, is that they do not disaggregate the complex concept of democracy. By contrast, this working paper disaggregates democracy theoretically and empirically. Our theoretical framework shows how components of democracy affect costs and benefits of engaging in corruption and, therefore, the level of corruption overall. Whereas other studies examine only how democratic accountability imposes costs on those engaging in corruption and thus illuminate only the downward curve of the relationship, we also examine the transaction costs and political support benefits of corruption and therefore can explain the initial uptick in corruption at low levels of democracy. Using measures of democratic components from Varieties of Democracy, we examine 173 countries from 1900 to 2012 and find that freedoms of expression and association exhibit the inverted curvilinear relationship with corruption, and that judicial constraints have a negative linear relationship. Moreover, the introduction of elections and the quality of elections act jointly, but each in a linear fashion. The mere introduction of elections increases corruption, thus accounting for the upward sloping segment of the inverted curve. Once the quality of elections be
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29559. Explaining the Erosion of Democracy: Can Economic Growth Hinder Democracy?

Author:: Aníbal Pérez-Liñán and David Altman
Publication Date:: 03-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: Economic growth has become one of the leitmotivs academicians and pundits ask once and again to assess democratic endurance over time. While large portion of the literature posits that economic growth is positive for democracy (eg. Przeworski et al. 2000), for other scholars it is a profoundly destabilizing force (eg. Olson 1963; Huntington 1968). This paper fills these contrasting views asking whether economic growth can undermine democratic competition. We hypothesize that the relation between economic growth and party competition is mediated by the strength of political institutions and free expression. Economic growth promotes incumbency advantage. Rulers can artificially extend this advantage by narrowing the space for negative coverage and dissident voices as long as they have political room for maneuvering. We leverage exogenously-driven growth in Latin America to test this argument. Over the past two decades, the region experienced accelerated growth as a result of a global commodity boom. Using data for 18 Latin American countries during this period, we show that faster economic growth led to significant increases in incumbency advantage in the legislature only where free speech was under attack. Our findings have important implications for literatures on democratization, natural resources, and economic voting.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29560. IRT models for expert-coded panel data

Author:: Kyle L Marquardt and Daniel Pemstein
Publication Date:: 01-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: Data sets quantifying phenomena of social-scientific interest often use multiple experts to code latent concepts. While it remains standard practice to report the average score across experts, experts likely vary in both their expertise and their interpretation of question scales. As a result, the mean may be an inaccurate statistic. Item-response theory (IRT) models provide an intuitive method for taking these forms of expert disagreement into account when aggregating ordinal ratings produced by experts, but they have rarely been applied to cross- national expert-coded panel data. In this article, we investigate the utility of IRT models for aggregating expert-coded data by comparing the performance of various IRT models to the standard practice of reporting average expert codes, using both real and simulated data. Specifically, we use expert-coded cross-national panel data from the V–Dem data set to both conduct real-data comparisons and inform ecologically-motivated simulation studies. We find that IRT approaches outperform simple averages when experts vary in reliability and exhibit differential item functioning (DIF). IRT models are also generally robust even in the absence of simulated DIF or varying expert reliability. Our findings suggest that producers of cross-national data sets should adopt IRT techniques to aggregate expert-coded data of latent concepts.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29561. The Effectiveness of Democracy Aid to Different Regime Types and Democracy Sectors

Author:: Anna Lührmann, Kelly McMann, and Carolien van Ham
Publication Date:: 01-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:: Large-N studies suggest that democracy aid is effective, while multiple small-N investigations call such findings into question. This paper accounts for this contradiction and significantly improves our understanding of democracy aid effectiveness by disaggregating democracy aid into specific types and examining effectiveness in different regime types. We argue that a specific type of aid is more likely to be effective when the aid does not pose a threat to regime survival and when the aid matches the particular democratic deficits in a country. Analysis of OECD aid and Varieties of Democracy data for 119 countries from 2002-2012 supports our argument.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29562. Cybersecurity Campaign Playbook

Author:: Belfer Center
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: People join campaigns for different reasons: electing a leader they believe in, advancing an agenda, cleaning up government, or experiencing the rush and adrenaline of campaign life. These are some of the reasons we got involved in politics. We certainly didn’t sign up because we wanted to become cyber experts and we’re guessing you didn’t either
Topic:: International Affairs and Cybersecurity
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29563. Taking Stock: Estimating Vulnerability Rediscovery

Author:: Trey Herr, Bruce Schneier, and Christopher Morris
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: How often do multiple, independent parties discover the same vulnerability? There are ample models of vulnerability discovery, but little academic work on this issue of rediscovery. The immature state of this research and subsequent debate is a problem for the policy community, where the government’s decision to disclose a given vulnerability hinges in part on that vulnerability’s likelihood of being rediscovered and used maliciously by another party. Research into the behavior of malicious software markets and the efficacy of bug bounty programs would similarly benefit from an accurate baseline estimate for how often vulnerabilities are discovered by multiple independent parties.
Topic:: Cybersecurity
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29564. The Political Economy of Carbon Pricing Policy Design

Author:: Joseph E. Aldy
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: This paper examines the choice between—and design of—CO2 cap-and-trade and tax policies through a political-economy lens. It draws from insights in economics and political economy to highlight important public policy principles and policy options in carbon-pricing policy design. The paper illustrates each of these insights with examples from cap-and-trade and tax-policy experiences. Revealed political preferences about carbon-pricing-policy design can, in practice, inform our understanding of how decision-makers weigh various policy principles, as well as policy objectives. The balance of the paper examines the following design choices: establishing and phasing-in policy targets; setting the point of compliance and scope of coverage; addressing uncertainties in emission and cost outcomes under carbon pricing; updating carbon-pricing targets over time; using revenue and other forms of economic value created by carbon pricing; mitigating adverse competitiveness impacts of pricing carbon; accounting for the existing, complex policy landscape in designing carbon pricing; and linking of carbon-pricing programs. The final section concludes with a discussion of policy implications and next steps for policy-relevant scholarship.
Topic:: International Political Economy, Climate Finance, and Global Political Economy
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29565. Linking Heterogeneous Climate Policies (Consistent with the Paris Agreement)

Author:: Michael A Mehling, Gilbert E. Metcalf, and Robert Stavins
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: The Paris Agreement has achieved one of two key necessary conditions for ultimate success—a broad base of participation among the countries of the world. But another key necessary condition has yet to be achieved—adequate collective ambition of the individual nationally determined contributions. How can climate negotiators provide a structure that will include incentives to increase ambition over time? An important part of the answer can be international linkage of regional, national, and sub-national policies—that is, formal recognition of emission reductions undertaken in another jurisdiction for the purpose of meeting a Party’s own mitigation objectives. A central challenge is how to facilitate such linkage in the context of the very great heterogeneity that characterizes climate policies along five dimensions: type of policy instrument; level of government jurisdiction; status of that jurisdiction under the Paris Agreement; nature of the policy instrument’s target; and the nature, along several dimensions, of each Party’s Nationally Determined Contribution. We consider such heterogeneity among policies, and identify which linkages of various combinations of characteristics are feasible; of these, which are most promising; and what accounting mechanisms would make the operation of respective linkages consistent with the Paris Agreement.
Topic:: Climate Change and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29566. Take the Money and Run

Author:: Jacqueline L. Hazelton
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: How can the United States best assure its interests abroad when a partner state faces an insurgency? The question has vexed policymakers, military officers, and scholars throughout the Cold War and into the post–9/11 era. When the United States finds its military might turned against itself by insurgents, as in Iraq and Afghanistan, thoughts often turn to the small U.S.-supported counterinsurgency campaign in El Salvador from 1979 to 1992. The Salvadoran government defended itself against Marxist-nationalist-liberal-socialist rebels in a civil war that ended in a peace deal. The small-footprint U.S. intervention is appealing as an alternative to the tens of thousands of troops deployed in bigger quagmires. Conventional wisdom says that the brutal, repressive Salvadoran government instituted liberalizing, democratizing reforms to defeat the insurgency. Analysis of contemporaneous documents and interviews with participants, however, reveals that the campaign is a poor model for future U.S. interventions, for three reasons. First, the government retained power by waging a war of terrorism and attrition against insurgents and civilians alike. Second, Salvadoran elites resisted U.S. pressure for reforms. Third, chance rather than U.S. choices played a significant role in the war's outcome, meaning that replication of the pattern of events is unlikely.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: America

29567. The Muslim Brotherhood Movement in the Arab Winter

Author:: Stig Jarle Hansen, Mohamed Husein Gaas, and Ida Bary
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: Although it may seem that the Muslim Brotherhood has weakened since the onset of the "Arab Winter" in 2013 and onward, organizations with their origins in the Brotherhood still have access to power in countries as diverse as Somalia, Bahrain, Morocco, and Yemen, and might regain power in other countries as well. Most Brotherhood-affiliated movements are committed to some form of democracy, unlike many of their rivals in the Middle East. Even the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have sought allies among Brotherhood affiliates, despite banning a majority of affiliated organizations.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Middle East

29568. North Korea’s Biological Weapons Program: The Known and Unknown

Author:: Hyun-Kyung Kim, Elizabeth Philipp, and Hattie Chung
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: Amidst the growing threat of North Korea’s nuclear program, the assassination of Kim Jong-Un’s half-brother via VX nerve agent in February 2017 brought renewed interest in North Korea’s other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs—chemical and biological weapons. If used on a large scale, these weapons can cause not only tens of thousands of deaths, but also create panic and paralyze societies. Nevertheless, the vividness of the nuclear threat has overshadowed other weapons programs, limiting the attention and policy input that they deserve. This paper focuses on North Korea’s biological weapons (BW).
Topic:: International Security and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:: North Korea

29569. A Lasting Defeat: The Campaign to Destroy ISIS

Author:: Ash Carter
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: On December 11, 2016, just before my time as Secretary of Defense would end, I stepped off a C-130 transport plane onto a cold and dusty patch of northern Iraq that had been on my mind for more than a year: an Iraqi military airfield called Qayyarah West. Q-West, as it was known to the American military, was a talisman of progress on one of the defining issues of my time as secretary, the fight to defeat ISIS. A year before, General Joe Dunford and I had briefed the President on a plan to energize the counter-ISIS fight. We had laid out a series of military tasks, in Iraq and Syria, that would lead us to the liberation of ISIS’ strongholds in Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqa, Syria. Q-West was a fulcrum of that plan. Ejecting ISIS and turning the airstrip into a logistics hub was essential to seizing Mosul, just 40 miles to the north.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29570. Market Mechanisms and the Paris Agreement

Author:: Robert Stavins and Robert Stowe
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: The Harvard Project on Climate Agreements has released a volume of seventeen briefs summarizing research on options for elaborating the Paris Agreement's Article 6, the evolution of market-based systems, and how these two processes might best support each other. The briefs are designed to be readily accessible — and, it is hoped, useful — to negotiators, policy makers, and other stakeholders, as they consider how to elaborate the Paris Agreement in order to realize its potential to effectively address global climate change. Most authors were participants in a research workshop conducted by the Harvard Project on July 6, 2017, and the volume builds upon the discussions in that forum. Participants included twenty of the world's leading researchers focusing on market mechanisms and the Paris Agreement, coming from the disciplines of economics, political science, international relations, and law — and based in Europe, the Republic of Korea, and the United States.
Topic:: International Affairs and Global Political Economy
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29571. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Cyber Readiness at a Glance

Author:: Melissa Hathaway
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Cyber Readiness at a Glance is the ninth study in a series of country reports assessing national-level preparedness for cyber risks based on the Cyber Readiness Index (CRI) 2.0 methodology. This report provides the most in-depth analysis to date of Saudi Arabia's current cyber security posture and its efforts to strengthen the country's security and resilience in the wake of significant cyber threats to the nation.
Topic:: International Security and Cybersecurity
Political Geography:: Saudi Arabia

29572. Lone Wolf: Passing Fad or Terror Threat of the Future?

Author:: Boaz Ganor, Bruce Hoffman, Marlene Mazel, and Matthew Levitt
Publication Date:: 07-2017
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:: Although terror attacks conducted by individuals are not a new phenomenon, recent years have seen an alarming increase in these "lone-wolf" incidents. The Islamic State, for instance, has been proactive in using its global tentacles to conscript individuals to carry out attacks in its name. Meanwhile, in Israel, solo operators unaffiliated with organized terror groups have taken to carrying out attacks with the weapons at hand—cars, knives, homemade. The question we face is whether such attacks indicate a growing trend or are simply another passing fad in the annals of terrorist activity.
Topic:: Terrorism and Counter-terrorism
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29573. What’s Left of the Soviet Union Warsaw East European Review Editorial Discussion

Author:: Pawal Kowal and John S Micgiel
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:: “All we have left of the Soviet Union are jokes...” I’d like to ask you all somewhat perversely, besides jokes, is there any good memory left behind from this empire? Did the Soviet Union leave anything good behind? I mean the Soviet Union not as the Soviet Union itself, but also as the whole region, in other words the Warsaw Pact countries, as well as other communist countries and parties in the world. So, we see the empire as Alexei Salmin, the Russian political scientist, views it – as a concentrated orb: the Russian Federation, around it the USSR, then the Warsaw Pact, followed by other communist countries and finally the Comintern, and after its dissolution, parties cooperating with the Kremlin from all over the world. So, we see the entire empire, not just the Soviet Union, and the question is this – did it leave anything good behind? Surely every empire leaves something good behind
Topic:: International Relations, International Affairs, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:: Poland

29574. Contemporary Russia: Authoritarian or Totalitarian?

Author:: Roman Bäcker
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:: Questions regarding definitions of authoritarianism and totalitarianism date from the interwar period. This article draws on the classic approaches and argues that the definition of Juan Linz, with changes suggested by Roman Bäcker (2011), and may o er a solid base for understanding the location of each non-democratic regime on a continuum determined by two extreme ideal types: authoritarianism and totalitarianism. e former is de ned here by three essential features: bureaucratic sovereignty (or siloviki), social apathy and emotional mentality. e latter is identified by references to: state-party apparatus sovereignty, mass and forced mobilisation, and political gnosis. these categories are useful to deal with the research problem considering where Russia is on this continuum, after the annexation of Crimea. It requires, however, carrying out an in-depth analysis on three levels: sovereignty, social behaviour and social consciousness. is article aims to reveal how to identify and approach these analytical levels.
Topic:: International Affairs and Authoritarianism
Political Geography:: Russia

29575. Using Public Space in Kharkiv by Protesters in 2013-2014

Author:: Denys Kutsenko
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:: The space of post-Soviet city centres used by protesters was especially analysed by Ukrainian and Russian scholars after the Orange Revolution, Euromaidan and Russian anti-election protests in 2011-2012. There were also works devoted to the Tahrir Square (Cairo, Egypt)1 and Taksim Square (Istanbul, Turkey)2, which appeared after Egyptian Revolution of 2011 and wave of demonstration and civil unrest in Instanbul in 2013. After protests in Russia and Ukraine city movements like coffee urbanism or hipster urbanism became more active and ideas of new urbanism spread with new strength.
Topic:: International Relations and International Security
Political Geography:: Ukraine

29576. President Putin’s Internet and “Information Warfare”

Author:: Kazimierz Wóycicki
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:: The war that Russia is conducting against Ukraine today is not only related to breaking the post-World War II rules of engagement, but is also being run in a new way, which was to a certain degree unknown before. is phenomenon had been named “hybrid warfare”, initially mainly paying attention to the military aspect of the issue, symbolically represented by “little green men”. e focus of attention has been shifting to what military actions of hybrid-war are often accompanied by intense propaganda activities, with the Internet as the main tool. they are planned and carried out in Russia, possessing extensive resources in Russian literature on so-called “information warfare”.
Topic:: International Security and Cybersecurity
Political Geography:: Russia

29577. Communication of Ethnic Groups in the Public Space: the Case of Daugavpils

Author:: Vladislav Volkov and Oksana Ruzha
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:: Interethnic communication is viewed as a form of social communication that happens “between people of different cultures”. Researchers associate the importance of studying such communication with the need to analyse the possibilities for mutual understanding of effective interaction between people of different cultures (Rogers, Hart, Miike 2002, p. 5, 7). Communication between people of different cultures can encompass a wide range of characteristics and goals – from the desire to put forward legitimate claims of ethnic identity to bias against other groups, from the establishment of associative relationships between groups prior to their dissociation (Kim 2006, p. 284, 291), from imposing the dominant culture’s standards and exclusion of non-dominant cultures from public life to the positive recognition of ethno-cultural minorities in the common cultural space (Young 1996, p. 29), etc.
Topic:: Ethnic Conflict and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Eastern Europe

29578. Public and Private Hate Speech in Poland

Author:: Grażyna Drzazga and Magda Stroińska
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:: Words can be like tiny doses of arsenic: they are swallowed unnoticed, appear to have no e ect, and then after a little time the toxic reaction sets in after all,” wrote Victor Klemperer in his study of the language of the third Reich (Klemperer 1946/2000: 15-16). the importance of language for effective persuasion has been acknowledged by the teachers of rhetoric and orators since the age of antiquity. In modern times, there were both politicians who practiced deception through language for political or other gains, and also those who studied the effects of language-based manipulation. Among the most profound research on the mechanisms and effects of propaganda, one could name the writings of George Orwell, Friedrich Hayek, or Michał Głowiński. In this paper, we focus on one particularly disturbing aspect of propaganda: the use of hate speech. e reason for this choice of topic is the unprecedented explosion of populism all over the world, and the spread of perhaps its strongest weapon – hate through political and social fearmongering and use of what Klemperer referred to as ‘poisonous language’.
Topic:: Political Violence and Political stability
Political Geography:: Poland

29579. The Crimean Crisis through the Perspective of Russia-NATO relations

Author:: Richat Sabitov
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:: Russian foreign policy and European security is continuing to receive special attention in light of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. An analysis of Russia- NATO relations is necessary to understand Moscow’s behaviour in the so-called “near abroad” – the territory of the former Soviet republics. It is, therefore, important to study Russia’s reaction to Ukrainian aspirations towards Europe and the implications it holds for the Crimean Peninsula’s status
Topic:: International Security and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Crimea

29580. How the Socialist Economy was destroyed in the USSR (One reason for the collapse of the country)

Author:: Rudolf Pikhola
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:: On 25 September 1990, one of the rst meetings of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Russia was held in the building of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. e agenda consisted of the issue of ensuring the economic sovereignty of Russia in the USSR. Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Yuri Skokov, responsible for industrial policy, spoke with bitterness about his meeting with Minister of Metallurgy of the USSR Seraphim Baibakov: “We spoke to him about our sovereignty, and he said: ‘I’m sorry, but last year I became an owner of property and a legal successor of state property.’ Kolpakov became Krupp. Now he creates 10-15 companies, leaving a small management structure. It is presidential rule in the steel-casting complex.”
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Russia

29581. Virtual Social Networks in Post-Soviet and Western Societies (Analysis based on Facebook, VK and Odnoklassniki)

Author:: Kateryna Nasonova
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:: Nowadays virtual social networks have become the most frequently visited Internet resources. Although the Internet space exists as an open area of communication – overcoming linguistic, spatial and temporal barriers – certain internet products, like social networks, are gaining popularity in particular geographical areas. For example, Facebook, which is popular all over the world, failed to gain much of a foothold in countries of the former USSR. ere, the Facebook niche is dominated by such networks as VKontakte and Odnoklassniki. It shows that virtual social networks are a re ection of the community functioning in real-time, space and area. Social network users are not relieved of the burden of group, religious or ethnic identity, nor the ideology of the dominant society in the process of virtual communication. Such virtual activity becomes an expression of the system of coordinates and philosophical orientations that emerges during the process of socialization. Further, we can presume that the unpopularity of Facebook in former countries of the USSR is due to the impact of the post-Soviet mentality on the formation of virtual social networks, like VKontakte and Odnoklassniki. To con rm this thesis, we conducted a comparative analysis of three virtual social networks: VKontakte, Odnoklassniki and Facebook. these sites are quite similar in structure and function. However, they distinguish themselves from one another through the conceptual framework around which their user audience communication is built.
Topic:: International Affairs and Social Media
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29582. The Georgia-NATO Strategic Partnership and Regional Security – The Wales and Warsaw NATO Summits

Author:: Vakhtang Maisaia
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:: he NATO Wales and Warsaw Summits held in 2014 and in 2016, were historic events due to the complex processes associated with them. The Summits have generated much discussion and are comprised of decisive issues and decisions. In the last Warsaw Summit, up to ten documents were adopted, including the final communique, which was for the first time quite “thick” for and more detailed, compared to previously adopted documents (about 139 items). For the first time in the last few decades, the European Union and NATO came to a consensus and adopted a common declaration, where they expressed their united position on common problems within the frameworks of Transatlantic security, and agreed on plans for further strategic cooperation (EU-NATO Joint Declaration 2016). Most importantly, the representatives of both organisations declared a common approach toward threats emanating from the East and South (i.e. Russia and ISIS). At this stage, the Alliance identi ed three geostrategic special regions for more active operations in the context of strategic defence and deterrence. ose regions became the main issue of the summit: the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea. NATO must boost its support for the Southern ank via crisis management capabilities and strengthened partnerships (Lorenz “NATO at a Critical Crossroads”, 11). In general, NATO has returned to a collective defence strategy. is is a new game where the South Caucasus is becoming a “red frontier” line between the main actors: NATO and Russia. It seems that the priorities of NATO and Russia in the region are evolving within the framework of the so-called “security dilemma”, where both parties are trying to build up their military capabilities and tools of political pressure on the countries of the region, competing with each other in various geostrategic dimensions. is includes intensive NATO military exercises in Georgia and implementation of the Comprehensive Assistance Package, as well as strengthening military potential in the territories of occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia, not to mention the establishment of a joint air defence system with Armenia, and strengthening the Caspian Flotilla by Russia.
Topic:: NATO, International Trade and Finance, and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29583. Forward

Author:: John S Micgiel and Pawel Kowal
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:: Twenty- five years ago, we bade farewell to the Soviet Union, but after a quarter- century we still feel how much of its empire it left behind. It was not an “ordinary” empire because its essential feature was a totalitarian system. ideological pressure of Soviet Russia has changed the social structures of great swathes of the globe. e legacy of the USSR is a fascinating research topic, unfortunately today one rarely raised by researchers.
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Russia

29584. Contributors

Author:: Pawel Kowal
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:: List of contributors in latest review
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29585. International Gas Outlook and Implications for Developing Tanzania’s Gas Projects

Author:: Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment
Publication Date:: 12-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:: This brief, reviews recent international gas developments, the outlook in this regard and implications for the development of proposed offshore gas projects in Tanzania. As the country aims to benefit from its gas discoveries by increasing its domestic gas use, it also outlines some of the trade-offs and considerations that need to be taken into account when negotiating the domestic gas allocation.
Topic:: International Political Economy and Climate Finance
Political Geography:: Tanzania

29586. The Role of IPAs in Advancing Sustainable Development

Author:: Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:: Every year the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) surveys its members. This survey, conducted in 2017, polled over 90 agencies on numerous aspect
Topic:: International Political Economy and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29587. Green Foreign Direct Investment In Developing Countries

Author:: Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:: The message is by now clear: our global economy must be fundamentally reoriented and redeployed in order to achieve the SDGs and the commitments of the Paris Climate Agreement. This requires action by all stakeholders, including non-financial and financial firms, debt and equity investors, government policymakers, and consumers. In terms of the amount of money required, it has been estimated that meeting the SDGs will require $5 to $7 trillion annually, with investment needs for developing countries amounting to roughly $3.3 to $4.5 trillion per year. While a big picture view of and strategic thinking regarding the entire economic ecosystem is necessary to generate such investments, this paper, produced in conjunction with the UN Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System, focuses on the actual and potential role of one type of financial flow—FDI—in achieving the transition to a low-carbon, just and sustainable world and, more specifically, FDI flows into developing countries.
Topic:: International Political Economy and Climate Finance
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29588. Designing a Legal Regime to Capture Capital Gains Tax on Indirect Transfers of Mineral and Petroleum Rights: A Practical Guide

Author:: Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:: When a local asset (or a right relating to such asset) is sold, a country will generally have jurisdiction to levy a capital gains tax on the sale, both under domestic law and international treaty. This is called taxation of a “direct” transfer of a local asset. However, taxation becomes increasingly complicated when a company located offshore owns the local asset. Further difficulties arise when the local asset is held by a chain of corporations located in tax havens. An “indirect” transfer occurs when the shares of the domestic subsidiary, the shares of the foreign company with a branch in the country, or the shares of the holding company are sold, instead of the asset.
Topic:: International Political Economy
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29589. Towards an Indicative List of FDI Sustainability Characteristics

Author:: Howard Mann and Karl Sauvant
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:: Based on a review of 150 instruments, ranging from international investment agreements to codes of multinational enterprises, this paper identifies ten core characteristics of sustainable FDI and twenty emerging sustainable FDI characteristics widely accepted across ten stakeholder groups. The paper explores furthermore opportunities and mechanisms to advance the application of the sustainability characteristics. The FDI sustainability characteristics are also of immediate relevance for the discussions of investment facilitation
Topic:: International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29590. Guide to Land Contracts: Forestry Projects

Author:: Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment
Publication Date:: 10-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:: Agricultural investment contracts and forestry projects can be complex, with complicated provisions that are difficult to understand. To assist non-lawyers in better understanding agricultural investment contracts, such as those available on OpenLandContracts.org, CCSI has developed a Guide to Land Contracts: Forestry Projects. This Guide, prepared by International Senior Lawyers Project staff and volunteers in collaboration with the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, aims to assist OpenLandContracts.org users in unpacking the technical provisions and language typically found in forestry contracts in order to better understand the contracts and the potential implications of specific provisions across a range of stakeholder interests.
Topic:: International Affairs and Landpower
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29591. A Collaborative Approach to Human Rights Impact Assessments

Author:: Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:: This discussion paper, co-authored with the Danish Institute for Human Rights and the Sciences Po Law School Clinic, proposes a new approach to conducting human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) of business operations or projects, which brings together project-affected people, the company, and other stakeholders to jointly design and implement an assessment. The aim of this new approach is to address one of the key challenges of current HRIA practices: the limited engagement and participation of relevant stakeholders, which can undermine effectiveness and trust.
Topic:: Human Rights and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29592. Conference Report: Climate Change and Sustainable Investment in Natural Resources: From Consensus to Action

Author:: Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment
Publication Date:: 03-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:: A conference report on CCSI’s Conference on “Climate Change and Sustainable Investment in Natural Resources: From Consensus to Action” is available here, and a shorter outcome document , which was disseminated at COP22, is available here. These documents summarize the discussions at the eleventh annual Columbia International Investment Conference, which took place on November 2-3, 2016, at Columbia University. The Conference offered a high-level opportunity to discuss how countries can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the Paris Agreement, while also advancing the Sustainable Development Goals, and in particular the important implications for the world’s approach to natural resource investments. It featured leaders from government, the private sector, civil society, and academia, and brought together nearly 400 participants. In the lead-up to the Conference, CCSI also published a Blog Series on the Earth Institute’s State of the Planet Blog.
Topic:: Climate Change and International Political Economy
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29593. Progressive reforms for rebalancing the eurozone

Author:: Manuel de la Rocha Vàzquez
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Fundación Alternativas
Abstract:: Completing, deepening and rebalancing the Economic and Monetary Union is perhaps the most crucial point of the dense European policy agenda. For social democrats, reforms of the Eurozone cannot aim exclusively at stabilising financial and sovereign markets or introducing more fiscal Discipline. From a progressive perspective, the main objective of reforming the Economic and Monetary Union is to address the problems of low growth and high unemployment, lack of social convergence and the democratic deficit. The authors present some crucial elements for a reform inspired by progressive values; they advocate for a fully-fledged Banking Union, a Convergence Code, a real Social Dimension and a Fiscal Capacity which includes both a stabilisation and an investment function.
Topic:: Reform and Brexit
Political Geography:: Europe

29594. Cambio climático y salud. Mayor impacto en los más vulnerables

Author:: Ana Belén Sanchez
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Fundación Alternativas
Abstract:: La Fundación Alternativas presenta un nuevo estudio: ¨Cambio climática y salud. Mayor impacto en los más vulnerables¨. Informe encargado y financiado por DKV y ECODES; ha sido elaborado por ana Belén Sánchez y Waleska Guerrero Lemus.
Topic:: Climate Change
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29595. Informe sobre sostenibilidad en España 2017

Author:: Ana Belén Sanchez
Publication Date:: 11-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Fundación Alternativas
Abstract:: Lo que este IIº Informe sobre sostenibilidad plantea es que conviene pasar a la acción, sin más demora, si queremos evitar situaciones catastróficas. Los datos son concluyentes. En 40 años hemos doblado las emisiones de carbono, dentro de unos años habrá más plásticos que peces en los mares, con la desaparición de miles de especies marinas; la energía sigue dependiendo de materias fósiles y 7 millones de personas mueren al año por contaminación. Los desórdenes atmosféricos se suceden, amenazando territorios y millones de personas. Es como si la madre naturaleza protestara ó castigara los despropósitos de sus descarriados hijos, los humanos.
Topic:: International Political Economy and International Affairs
Political Geography:: Spain

29596. The state of the European Union 2017: Relaunching Europe

Author:: Fundación Alternativas
Publication Date:: 06-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Fundación Alternativas
Abstract:: The year since the publication of our previous report in April 2016 has been nothing short of an annus horribilis for the European Union. The victory for Leave in the UK referendum was followed by the triumph of Donald Trump in the US elections and his stated support for the further weakening of the EU, an attitude that the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, has described as a threat. At the same time, there have been a number of significant events, both in Europe and elsewhere in the world, which we analyse in this 6th Report on the State of the EU, produced in partnership between Fundación Alternativas and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation
Topic:: International Political Economy and Brexit
Political Geography:: Europe

29597. VI Informe sobre El estado de la Unión Europea 2017: Relanzar Europa

Author:: Fundación Alternativas
Publication Date:: 05-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Fundación Alternativas
Abstract:: El periodo comprendido entre la publicación del anterior Informe –abril 2016– y el actual se podría calificar, sin exagerar, como el annus horribilis de la Unión Europea (UE). Al referendo británico que se inclinó por la ruptura con la Unión, el brexit, se ha sumado el triunfo de Donald Trump en las elecciones norteamericanas y su manifestado deseo de que se produzcan nuevos brexits. Una amenaza en palabras del presidente del Consejo Europeo Tusk. Entre medias se han sucedido muchos acontecimientos en la vida europea y global que se analizan en este VI Informe sobre el estado de la UE, producto de la colaboración de la Fundación Alternativas y de la Fundación Friedrich Ebert.
Topic:: International Political Economy and Brexit
Political Geography:: Europe

29598. The impact and consequences of Brexit on acquired rights of EU citizens living in the UK and British citizens living in the EU-27

Author:: Antonio Fernández Tomás
Publication Date:: 04-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Fundación Alternativas
Abstract:: La Fundación Alternativas presenta un nuevo estudio: ¨The impact and consequences of Brexit on acquired rights of EU citizens living in the UK and British citizens living in the EU-27¨. Informe encargado y financiado por el Parlamento Europeo, ha sido elaborado por Antonio Fernández Tomás y Diego López Garrido.
Topic:: International Political Economy and Brexit
Political Geography:: Europe

29599. The impact and consequences of Brexit on acquired rights of EU citizens living in the UK and British citizens living in the EU-27

Author:: Antonio Fernández Tomás
Publication Date:: 04-2017
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Fundación Alternativas
Abstract:: La Fundación Alternativas presenta un nuevo estudio: ¨The impact and consequences of Brexit on acquired rights of EU citizens living in the UK and British citizens living in the EU-27¨. Informe encargado y financiado por el Parlamento Europeo, ha sido elaborado por Antonio Fernández Tomás y Diego López Garrido.
Topic:: International Relations and Brexit
Political Geography:: Europe

29600. Informe sobre el estado de la cultura en España 2017. Igualdad y diversidad en la Era Digital

Author:: Fundación Alternativas
Publication Date:: 05-2017
Content Type:: Special Report
Institution:: Fundación Alternativas
Abstract:: Un año más el Observatorio de Cultura y Comunicación de la Fundación Alternativas (OCC/FA) aborda la edición del Informe sobre el Estado de la Cultura en España (ICE 2017). En esta ocasión la publicación coincide con los inicios de una legislatura que ha llegado después de un largo año de incertidumbre. Estamos de nuevo ante una oportunidad, que esperamos esta vez se aproveche, de dar a la cultura en su institucionalidad el papel y el reconocimiento que merece. Estamos de acuerdo en que los cambios que está provocando la que ha venido a llamarse cuarta revolución industrial han comenzado a incidir en todos los aspectos de la sociedad, y que la cultura se está viendo afectada de manera clara. No obstante, si asumimos este periodo como una ocasión para dar respuestas adecuadas a los múltiples desafíos a los que nos enfrentamos, podremos salir airosos del momento disruptivo y seguir avanzando por la senda del progreso.
Topic:: Multiculturalism
Political Geography:: Spain

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