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39661. The Geopolitical Origins of Turkish-American Relations: Revisiting the Cold War Years

Author:
Ayşe Ömür Atmaca
Publication Date:
01-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:
Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:
Critical geopolitics provides ways of looking at the world and questioning the role of geopolitics in foreign policymaking processes, as opposed to accepting them as objective and natural. From this theoretical perspective, this article aims to apply critical geopolitics to the case of Turkish-American relations with respect to how the United States (US) viewed Turkey’s geography and how the Turkey-US alliance has been shaped by the foreign and security policies of the latter. The article argues that the alliance was a product of the US’ Cold War geopolitical discourse, wherein the US considered Turkey to be a strategic ally against Soviet expansion. Thereafter, the declaration of the Truman Doctrine on March 12, 1947, led to increased US military ties with Turkey and became the basis for Turkey’s inclusion in NATO in 1952. As a consequence, Turkey began to be defined as the anchor of NATO’s strategic southern flank and a barrier against the communist threat in the Middle East and the Mediterranean throughout the Cold War. Turkey has also been a major recipient of American military equipment and was a supplier of important military facilities for monitoring the Soviet Union. The paper also argues that while Turkey generally fits within the US’ geopolitical designs and that these two countries cooperated on numerous efforts during the Cold War, the Cyprus problem in that period revealed the limits of US geopolitical discourse.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Cold War, Bilateral Relations, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:
Turkey and United States of America

39662. Turkey’s New Vision for “Man’s Best Hope for Peace”: United Nations Reform and Reorganization of the Security Council

Author:
C. Akça Ataç
Publication Date:
01-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:
Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:
Despite its present reputation as weak, inefficient, and discreditable, the United Nations is one of humanity’s most noble endeavors. Although the structure of the Security Council prevents its decision-making procedures from being more democratic, the UN still seeks to suppress aggression, respect self-determination, and promote human rights and well-being. Furthermore, political cosmopolitans’ proposals for comprehensive UN reform, which goes far beyond increasing the number of permanent members of the Security Council, give us hope for substantial improvement. Nevertheless, the UN is still the sum of the states it is comprised of and UN reform depends on the broader and ambitious project of state reform as both concept and practice. Within this context, this paper argues that focusing exclusively on the Security Council and the geographical distribution of permanent membership only harms the comprehensiveness of the analyses seeking to reform the UN from a larger perspective. The fact that the success of a UN reform is closely related with the enhancement of member states’ ethical capacities should also be taken into consideration. The next round of debates for a proper solution to the UN impasse takes place in 2015, and Turkey is emerging as an enthusiastic voice for further reform and for its own potential permanent membership in the Security Council. However, Turkey has also developed a significantly anti-UN discourse unprecedented in its foreign policy, which now runs the risk of curtailing the country’s capacity to partake in substantial change in UN decision-making procedures. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu currently acts as a statesman, insisting on a statist reform (which focuses more on states’ individual interests) of the Security Council. Interestingly, in the 1990s, when Davutoğlu was a university professor, his views of the UN tended to be more cosmopolitan and suggested a civilization-based solution. This paper, while elaborating on the discussions of reforming the UN from a cosmopolitan perspective, also probes Davutoğlu’s conflicting approaches to the issue. It thus seeks to argue that Turkey, instead of pushing for a purely statist model, should consider supporting pluralistic, multilevel, and more-complex participation in the UN’s decision-making procedures.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, United Nations, Reform, UN Security Council, and Ahmet Davutoğlu
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

39663. Conceptual Framework of the Active Ageing Policies in Employment in the Czech Republic

Author:
Lucie Vidovićová
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
In this paper the author presents a general assessment of the labour market situation of older workers in the Czech Republic, starting with a more general overview of the demographic situation and emphasizing the generational differences among the young-old and older cohorts, underlying a number of different problems as well as solutions. Further in the paper she addresses the impact of the recent economic situation on employment levels, showing that the recovery in terms of employment has not yet begun and that the impact on older workers is (at least) two-fold: firstly, for older workers it is very difficult to find a new job once unemployed; secondly, if employed, the pressure on workability and the increasing demands of workplaces may be harder to bear for the older the worker. She describes a National Action Plan Supporting Positive Ageing (2013-2017) and other examples of good and transferable praxes which address some of the active ageing issues in an innovative way. The second part of this report examines the issues of employability, workability and age-management as perceived by some of the key actors. The report goes into greater detail on the topic of paid work after retirement, which is considered an important part of the Czech economy, despite the fact that the employment of sizable groups of older workers after retirement is undeclared. Self-entrepreneurship and independent work in later life are another realm of employment that is increasing in importance in the Czech economy; however, as consulted experts argue, it is not to be taken as an unproblematic solution to late-life careers. In the last chapter the author turns her attention to the lifelong learning of older workers and to their up-skilling/retraining. In the concluding remarks, she reemphasizes the need to address the heterogeneity of the older workforce, in the sense of age/generational affiliation, health, socio-economic and other characteristics.
Topic:
Demographics, Employment, Social Policy, Aging, Social Services, and Labor Market
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Czech Republic

39664. Conceptual Framework of the Active Ageing Policies in Employment in Poland

Author:
Izabela Styczynska
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
The aim of this work is to present an in depth understanding of the conceptual framework of active ageing policies, which have been created and implemented in Poland. The discussion of active ageing in employment in Poland started relatively late. The first discussions on the unfavourable situation of elderly employment emerged only in the second half of the 1990s, when the debate on the pension system reform started. While only a few ageing policies were developed at the national level during that time, several interesting initiatives were undertaken at a regional level and in the third sector. They were mostly focused on productive ageing and the problems associated with the economic activation of people over 50. The intensive implementation of the active ageing policies in Poland started in 2012, during the European Year of Active Ageing. At present, there is an intense discussion on policies addressed to the elderly, which concentrate not only on the activation of the labour market, but also on healthy, active and socially inclusive ageing, education andcivil engagement. This paper concludes that despite intense work being done by public authorities, the concept still needs a deeper implementation - especially at the regional level. Furthermore, close observation and evaluation of the activation programmes is still missing and the identification and implementation of good practices which are already being developed in other European countries is under-used.
Topic:
Demographics, Employment, Social Policy, Aging, and Labor Market
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland

39665. Macroeconomic and fiscal challenges faced by the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region

Author:
Marek Dabrowski
Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
The current fiscal imbalances and fragilities in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries (SEMC) are the result of decades of instability, but have become more visible since 2008, when a combination of adverse economic and political shocks (the global and European financial crises, Arab Spring) hit the region. In an environment of slower growth and higher public expenditure pressures, fiscal deficits and public debts have increased rapidly. This has led to the deterioration of current accounts, a depletion of official reserves, the depreciation of some currencies and higher inflationary pressure. To avoid the danger of public debt and a balance-of-payment crisis, comprehensive economic reforms, including fiscal adjustment, are urgently needed. These reforms should involve eliminating energy and food subsidies and replacing them with targeted social assistance, reducing the oversized public administration and privatizing public sector enterprises, improving the business climate, increasing trade and investment openness, and sector diversification. The SEMC may also benefit from a peace dividend if the numerous internal and regional conflicts are resolved. However, the success of economic reforms will depend on the results of the political transition, i.e., the ability to build stable democratic regimes which can resist populist temptations and rally political support for more rational economic policies.
Topic:
Financial Crisis, Arab Spring, Macroeconomics, Fiscal Policy, and Instability
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Mediterranean, and Southern Europe

39666. Employee financial participation in businesses: Is it worth discussing?

Author:
Barbara Blaszczyk
Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
This paper is an overview of the achievements in the area of employee financial participation (EFP) during the last fifty years. It addresses the question of the extent to which EFP is relevant in today’s world. EFP is distinguished from participation in management (industrial democracy), and the various types of EP are discussed. The major arguments for EFP are presented and discussed critically. The evolution of major forms of EFP, the scale of their operation in several advanced economies, and the legal and tax incentives for EFP are described. The efforts of European Union bodies to popularise this idea in all member countries are illustrated. Showing that EFP has become a broadly recognised principle of modern management in thousands of enterprises, we consider opportunities for disseminating these solutions on a wider scale, in particular in Poland. Finally, a number of directions for further research on financial participation are considered.
Topic:
European Union, Employment, Finance, and Management
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland

39667. Employment in Long-term Care. Report on Poland

Author:
Agnieszka Sowa-Kofta, Ewa Kocot, and Stanisława Golinowska
Publication Date:
06-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
The aim of this report is a deepened recognition of employment in long-term care (LTC). It presents past and future trends in the development of LTC employment. Authors collected scattered statistical information, estimated lacking data and projected future growth in the number of employed in care services. Performed analysis includes employment in the health and social sector and across various types of care. Projections of the demand for care and supply of the LTC workforce are based on the demographic prognosis of the population size and changes in the age structure taking into account different scenarios for demographic development. Results show the growing gap between demand and supply in the LTC employment. The policy towards aging in Poland must take up the challenge of growing care needs, family changes and lower opportunities for provision of informal care.
Topic:
Demographics, Employment, Aging, Social Services, and Labor Market
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland

39668. Forecasting Financial Stress and the Economic Sensitivity in CEE Countries

Author:
Grzegorz Poniatowski and Maciej Krzak
Publication Date:
07-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
This paper presents forecasts for the Financial Stress Index (FSI) and the Economic Sensitivity Index (ESI) for the period 2015-2015 for six countries in the region, namely the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. It is a continuation of the endeavor to construct synthetic indices measuring financial stress and economic sensitivity for twelve Central and East European countries using the Principal Component Analysis. In order to obtain forecasts of the FSI, we estimated Vector Autoregression (VAR) models on monthly data for the period 2001-2012 separately for all the countries. Using quarterly historical values of ESI and FSI, we estimated Dynamic Panel Data Model for the complete sample of countries. Parameters of the model were later used for forecasting the ESI. Obtained results suggest that the FSI will start to rise in 2014 in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Estonia. For Latvia and Hungary, we observed a conversion in the trend, i.e. at the beginning of 2015, when the index should start to fall. According to our forecasts, the ESI will be rising in the next two years, except for Hungary, where we predict a continuous decrease in economic sensitivity.
Topic:
Economics, Financial Crisis, and Macroeconomics
Political Geography:
Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, Eastern Europe, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, and Czech Republic

39669. Impact of aging on curative health care workforce. Country Report Poland

Author:
Agnieszka Sowa-Kofta, Ewa Kocot, and Stanisława Golinowska
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
The report discusses employment in the health care system in Poland based on analysis and projections of the demand and supply of medical workforce. The impact of the financial situation and policy on relativelly low employment level of medical personel was accounted for in the analysis while projections were driven by demographic changes in the following two decades. Results of different demographic variants of projections used in Neujobs project and additional scenarios show that while ageing is an important factor that may stimulate demand for provision of medical personnel, changes might be mitigated by further increase in efficiency of care. At the same time the supply of care will be affected by ageing too. The results indicate that more detailed monitoring of employment in the future will be needed in order to assure adequacy of provision of medical professionals, especially of nurses (critical gap), some medical specialists, physiotherapists and medical technical personnel.
Topic:
Social Policy, Aging, Public Health, and Labor Market
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland

39670. EU cooperation with non-member neighboring countries: the principle of variable geometry

Author:
Marek Dabrowski
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
In this study the author analyzes the experience of the European Union in cooperation with non-member neighboring countries, to which the EU’s integration process and institutions are both available. On the one hand, several non-member countries are interested in close cooperation or integration with the organization because of their future membership aspirations or simply because they consider the EU an important economic and political partner. On the other hand, the EU itself is also interested in building such close relations, for economic but often also for geopolitical and security reasons.
Topic:
Globalization, European Union, Trade, and Economic Integration
Political Geography:
Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and Eastern Europe