Content Type: Journal Article / Publication Year: within 3 Years

1801. Cultural Security in Shaping the Generation of Civilizational Advancement Within the Universalization of Cultural Transformations. Based on Research Conducted in Samoa

Author:: Mirosława Jaworowska
Publication Date:: 01-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Polish Political Science Yearbook
Institution:: Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:: The Author has demonstrated that Samoan youth is not indifferent to cultural universals, despite attempting to co-create them in the course of a multi-cultural dialogue and globalization processes. The study was founded on research results conducted through local observations and a questionnaire distributed among students of the Faculty of Education at the National University of Samoa in Apia. The research aimed to learn about the opinions, aspirations, attitudes, and value systems of Samoan students as they represent the educated elite of the 21st-century generation. The interviewed approve of contemporary civilizational novelties, as long as those do not harm the traditional culture. The socialization process in the Samoan youth has been occurring on a borderland between upbringing, traditional family-tribal, and the modern state-citizen education in schools and social life. Family and traditional customs are still vivid despite being more open to contemporary civilization and state developments. Although cautious towards novelties that might threaten the Samoan culture, these attitudes may be assessed as a reformatory. Based on the results obtained in Samoa, it is justifiable to state that the process of cultural transformation universalization has been occurring there in many areas of reality.
Topic:: Security, Development, Culture, and Civilization
Political Geography:: Asia-Pacific and Samoa

1802. Beyond Borders: Middle East in Empire, Diaspora, and Global Transitions (Harvard Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy, Spring 2021)

Author:: Reilly Barry
Publication Date:: 04-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Harvard Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy
Institution:: The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:: The Middle East saw its share of globe-altering events in the last year. While JMEPP seeks to offer original analysis beyond the headlines, almost all major contemporary regional developments have been addressed in the present edition. The list, of course, is not exhaustive, but includes the Abraham Accords and increasing international marginalization of Palestinians, the renewed fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan, continued protests amidst crises and weakening state institutions in Lebanon, and the rise of Turkey’s aggressive imperial foreign policy, to name a few. While there are major global transitions afoot as relates to the region, there is also a lack of transition— sadly, the 10-year anniversary of the Syrian revolution marks little change for those living under the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad. Likewise, the humanitarian crisis in Yemen persists. The edition discusses what may become of newly inaugurated President Biden’s policies toward the region, including the challenge of renegotiating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran. And finally, the edition would be remiss to not address how Covid-19 has impacted the region.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Politics, Diaspora, Refugees, Social Media, Alliance, Conflict, Protests, Peace, Houthis, COVID-19, and Polarization
Political Geography:: Iraq, Europe, Iran, Turkey, Middle East, Israel, Yemen, Palestine, Georgia, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, United States of America, and Nagorno-Karabakh

1803. Contemporary Turkey Edition (Harvard Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy, Fall 2021)

Author:: Reilly Barry and Ghazi Ghazi
Publication Date:: 09-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Harvard Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy
Institution:: The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:: In this edition of the Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy, authors examine various aspects of Turkish foreign policy and domestic politics that impact the country’s future in a complex world, and provide guidelines for dealing with this fascinating state and society.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Religion, Public Opinion, Minorities, History, Islamism, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Domestic Policy, and Ottoman Empire
Political Geography:: Africa, Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

1804. The Measurement of The Students’ Attitudes Regarding Tax Consciousness: A Case Study

Author:: Ufuk Gergerli̇oğlu and Deniz Aytaç
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
Institution:: Altinbas University
Abstract:: Tax consciousness means to follow the changes in tax legislation and obtain adequate information regarding tax practices. It is not possible to mention tax compliance without having sufficient tax consciousness. Therefore, efforts to increase tax consciousness are important. If attempts start at an early age, it can be beneficial. In this context, this study aims to reveal tax consciousness levels for university students regarding the impact components of tax consciousness. The data was obtained from 385 students who study at the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Hitit University through questionnaires. The collected data were analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 19. The result of this study demonstrated that 67% of students who participated in the survey believe that education in the family has a substantial role in the improvement of tax consciousness.
Topic:: Education, Economy, Tax Systems, and Survey
Political Geography:: Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

1805. Renewing the U.S.-European Partnership in the Post-Trump Era

Author:: Renee M. Earle
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: In June, European leaders rolled out a plush (some have said “gush”) welcome mat for President Biden when he arrived for G7, NATO, and U.S.-EU meetings with his message that America was back to strengthen alliances. Broad smiles among participating leaders trumpeted similar world views and were in sharp contrast with the sour notes of unpredictable meetings with President Trump. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen conveyed the general warm embrace for the U.S. prodigal son: “Well, Mr. President, dear Joe, we are so pleased to welcome you in Brussels,” von der Leyen said. “You are back in Brussels and America is back on the global scene. It’s great news. It’s great news for our alliance. It’s also great news for the world. And we are really delighted to work with you to tackle together some global challenges.” Upbeat communiqués following the meetings with NATO and the EU outlined a staggering number of areas of transatlantic cooperation, from geopolitical engagement to trade, climate, and cybersecurity. Even the European Parliament expressed optimism in an opinion indicating great expectations for U.S.-EU cooperation with a detailed list of tasks, not least deliverables for the upcoming WTO ministerial meeting at the end of the year, such as “the green and digital transition; a fisheries agreement; a declaration on trade and health; work programmes for the reform of the Dispute Settlement Body for industrial subsidies and state-owned enterprises; and negotiations on electronic commerce.”
Topic:: Foreign Policy, NATO, Diplomacy, European Union, Partnerships, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden
Political Geography:: Europe and United States of America

1806. When Anarchy Spills Across Borders

Author:: Edward Marks and Marshall Adair
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Editor’s Note: American Diplomacy Journal asked several foreign policy commentators to address the significance of growing chaos in many parts of the world, as failed and failing states are increasingly unable to perform the fundamental functions of the sovereign nation-state. This is one of five articles looking at those concerns. The first two decades of the 21st century have seen explosive international terrorism, accelerating climate change, degradation of the oceans, expansion of illegal narcotics production and consumption, and a deadly worldwide pandemic. None of these respects national borders. All of them cause terrible human suffering, weaken national governments, undermine cultural integrity, and threaten peaceful relations between states. We have not seen such widespread anarchy in the West since the Thirty Years War in Europe half a millennium ago. Out of that experience came the development of the nation-state, an institution required to fulfill two functions: to project authority over its territory and peoples and to protect its national boundaries. Now, the legitimacy of the Westphalian nation-state system is being challenged, as is the current international system which is its descendent. National sovereignty was the foundation of the Westphalian system, and it is still sacrosanct in our international system. Governments that fail to protect their populations are nothing new in history, and for hundreds of years, the risks of intervening in the affairs of nation states generally outweighed the benefits. Today, however, what happens in one country – intentionally or by accident – increasingly affects immediate neighbors, more distant nations, continents and international human intercourse. This is destabilizing and can lead to international conflict. To mitigate that destabilization, the international community needs to become more active and adept at intervening with sovereign states to resolve anarchic pressures before they spill across national borders. The international community does, more than ever, have a “responsibility to protect.”
Topic:: Diplomacy, Sovereignty, Borders, State, and Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1807. Dealing with Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Author:: Herman J. Cohen
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Editor’s Note: American Diplomacy Journal asked several foreign policy commentators to address the significance of growing chaos in many parts of the world, as failed and failing states are increasingly unable to perform the fundamental functions of the sovereign nation-state. This is one of five articles looking at those concerns. Because of its vast size, about equal to the U.S. east of the Mississippi, and its large deposits of strategic minerals, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is of special interest to American and western national security. In the current rush to develop renewable energy, for example, the minerals cobalt and lithium are essential. The DRC is the most important source of these minerals outside of Russia. The DRC is also one of the few countries that produces columbite and tantalum that are necessary for the world’s portable phones. The DRC is also host to the second largest tropical rain forest in the world after the Amazon. Preservation of this carbon sink is essential to the worldwide effort to limit global warming. The maintenance of stability in the DRC, a country that has seen long periods of instability in its sixty-year history, is therefore an international priority. With the end of the Kabila regime in the Democratic Republic of the Congo came new hopes for peace and progress in one of Africa’s most historically violent and corrupt nations. Yet since President Felix Tshisekedi’s administration formally assumed power in January 2019, the eastern DRC has seen thousands of murders and kidnappings, in a dramatic escalation of violence. The second quarter of 2021 was the deadliest in recent history, according to the nonprofit Kivu Security Tracker: 564 killings over just the past three months. Hundreds of discrete militias and insurgencies operate in the area – rendering a negotiated settlement unlikely – but the single worst offender is the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a decades-old Ugandan group responsible for 37% of civilian killings, far more than any other faction. President Tshisekedi pledged to “definitively exterminate” the ADF during a “final offensive” shortly after his inauguration, but so far this initiative has been met with failure, while massacres and other human rights abuses increase in frequency and brutality. With international aid dwindling under pandemic pressures, how can the Tshisekedi administration rein in the ADF and other militant groups, and get the violence under control? Insurgencies can be intractable even for the world’s largest and best equipped militaries. But Congo’s militants have three unique advantages: a steady source of finance, infighting in Congo’s civilian government, and corrupt allies in the Congolese armed forces (FARDC).
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, National Security, Insurgency, Natural Resources, and Violence
Political Geography:: Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and United States of America

1808. Towards a New Normalcy?

Author:: Robert Cox
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Editor’s Note: American Diplomacy Journal asked several foreign policy commentators to address the significance of growing chaos in many parts of the world, as failed and failing states are increasingly unable to perform the fundamental functions of the sovereign nation-state. This is one of five articles looking at those concerns. “The current coronavirus crisis emphasizes the need for the European Union to devote more effort to anticipatory governance, notably through analysis of medium- and long-term global trends, as well as structured contingency planning and the stress-testing of existing and future policies.” – European Parliament study, April 2021 Europe is the spiritual home of anarchism. But it will argue that failed states are a third world phenomenon, while conveniently forgetting that such failure is often, or at least partly, a consequence of its colonial rule. Today’s European Union (EU) is not plagued by anarchy nor by outright failure. But its growth pains, and now the Covid pandemic, have sharpened its strains of governance. There are areas of Europe where anarchy and failure are real and the EU is either unwilling or unable to act in mitigation. A new US administration, seeking fresh partnership with Europe, has a vested interest in looking at what anarchy and failure might do to its European partners. This essay looks too at Europe’s immediate neighbourhood where state failure – and failed European response – are rife. Politics starts at home. So let’s first look at that. President Biden during his June tour of Europe will certainly have done so and wondered how politically solid, predictable and reliable the re-discovered European partners are.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Governance, European Union, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: Europe and United States of America

1809. A Collapsing World?

Author:: György Schöpflin
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Editor’s Note: American Diplomacy Journal asked several foreign policy commentators to address the significance of growing chaos in many parts of the world, as failed and failing states are increasingly unable to perform the fundamental functions of the sovereign nation-state. This is one of five articles looking at those concerns. Historically, the world always has been unstable. Colonialism, the Cold War and the Hyperpower decade (the 1990s) created an illusion of global stability. That moment has gone, hence strategies have to be reconfigured. Global connectivity, the autonomy of capital movement, the uneven spread of technology, the rise of resentful elites – resentful of the West’s hegemony – all combine to resist human rights, the democracy agenda, gender mainstreaming and much else dear to liberals. To complicate matters, two tiers of states have the capacity to resist liberalism. There are the civilisation states – China, Russia, India, which make up their own rules, and large regional powers each believed to be responsible for generating one percent of the world’s GDP. Brazil, Turkey, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa are in this category. Japan is in a category of its own. Also relevant here is the economic success of non-liberal states as role models, Singapore, most obviously. This is very hard for the West to accept. The legacy of hegemony and empire live on, above all as a kind of low-grade civilising mission. Those who would thus be civilised do not take kindly to this at all. But they may be open to negotiation if treated with parity of esteem. Stability is not just a Western goal, though its definition can vary. The sense of superiority exists in the non-West just as much as in the West. There are non-Western civilising missions too.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Globalization, Political stability, and Crisis Management
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1810. On American Diplomacy and the Disorderly Oscillation of World Orders

Author:: Chas W. Freeman Jr.
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Editor’s Note: American Diplomacy Journal asked several foreign policy commentators to address the significance of growing chaos in many parts of the world, as failed and failing states are increasingly unable to perform the fundamental functions of the sovereign nation-state. This is one of five articles looking at those concerns. As the final decade of the 20th century began, the Soviet Union gave up its effort to become the global hegemon and dissolved into its constituent republics.[1] This ended the Cold War and the bipolar world order it had created. The USSR and the Soviet bloc were no more. The consequences of this vindication of George Kennan’s grand strategy of “containment” were both immediate and long term. A new and unfamiliar international reality began to emerge. Those who had grown up in the Cold War had come to consider the international system it created normal, but in historical terms it was sui generis.
Topic:: Cold War, National Security, Strategic Competition, Rivalry, and Soviet Union
Political Geography:: Russia and United States of America

1811. A Soviet Diplomat’s Memories of Beijing 1973-1975

Author:: Simon Schuchat
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Editor’s Note: This excerpt from a Soviet diplomat’s memoir of his China service is translated by Simon Schuchat. The diplomat, Aleksei Arkadevich Brezhnev (1930-2008, no relation to Leonid Brezhnev), worked on Sino-Soviet affairs from 1953 until 1978, in Beijing and Moscow, including serving as acting head of the USSR embassy during part of the Cultural Revolution in China. In 1998 he published China: A Thorny Path to Neighborly Relations. Memoirs and Reflections, from which this excerpt is taken.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, International Affairs, and Memoir
Political Geography:: China, Asia, and Soviet Union

1812. Mentoring Partnership Aims to Boost Diversity at State Department

Author:: Tom Brannan
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: With calls for greater racial and ethnic diversity within the State Department, a new partnership promises to open a little wider the talent pipeline for minorities leading to diplomatic careers. In early September, the Washington-based DACOR organization and the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) signed a mentoring partnership aimed at expanding the flow of women and minorities to diplomatic careers in the U.S. Foreign and Civil Service. The agreement between DACOR, an organization of foreign affairs professionals, and UDC, one of 51 public historically Black colleges and universities, comes at a time of increased attention by the Biden administration, Congress, and foreign affairs organizations to achieving a more diverse and inclusive State Department workforce.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Diversity, and State Department
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

1813. American Leadership and a Global Offensive Against COVID

Author:: John Blaney and Christopher Datta
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: While the U.S. has made major advances against COVID, it is imperative that much more be done as quickly as possible to end a disease that threatens our health, our economy and our leadership in the world. We need to go on the offense world-wide and become the world’s arsenal for vaccines. Without such an offensive, it is only a matter of time before the virus mutates into a form that is resistant to our current vaccines. As we have seen repeatedly, no matter where it starts, a new variant always finds its way into communities everywhere. Only the United States is uniquely positioned to lead the world out of this crisis.
Topic:: Leadership, Crisis Management, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

1814. Transforming Cambodia’s “Killing Fields” into Farm Fields: American Diplomacy and Combatting Genocide

Author:: Kenneth M. Quinn
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Paris Peace Agreement on Cambodia. That accord closed the door on years of war, during which the Khmer Rouge “Killing Fields” caused the deaths of up to two million persons (out of a population of seven million) and brought the 1,000-year- old civilization to the point of obliteration. When I landed in Phnom Penh in 1996 to begin my term as U.S. Ambassador, the country was in the fifth year of implementing that 1991 agreement. Looking back on this improbable diplomatic success offers a chance to assess the effectiveness of American diplomacy in the 1990s, and how, despite one extremely unfortunate regression, Indochina and Southeast Asia were irrevocably changed by that accord.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Genocide, and History
Political Geography:: Cambodia and Southeast Asia

1815. Colin Powell’s Legacy

Author:: W. Robert Pearson
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Colin Powell touched our national life and our personal lives in more ways than we realized during his time with us. His passing has brought into sharp focus the difference between the America he believed in and the America we face today. The son of immigrants, his drive to overcome, his respect for all who labor, his belief in the power of the community, and his ability to see what mattered all made him who he was and made us believe in what he believed. The odd thing was that we all thought that world was not only the normal world but also the world that would remain normal—because we lived in America, because we were Americans, because we believed we had a national destiny that was still unfulfilled, that our country was a force for good on the planet and that Americans would always strive to keep it so. The legacy first framed by our Founding Fathers and brought into being over succeeding generations was the vision we inhabited and believed.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Legacy, and Colin Powell
Political Geography:: United States of America

1816. Celebrating American Diplomacy

Author:: Chris Van Hollen
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: There’s no question that this program’s theme, what diplomacy does for Americans, is on the front of everyone’s minds especially given the current challenges in Afghanistan and the fast-paced events around the world. In recent weeks in Afghanistan, our diplomats have been on the front lines working overtime to orchestrate the safe evacuation of Americans and many of our closest Afghan partners. Even though the last American soldier has left Afghanistan, America’s diplomats are still working around the clock in capitals around the world to bring people to safety. I believe we have an obligation to ensure the safety and help those Afghans who for years have worked closely in support of our common mission. Our nation’s diplomats display extraordinary courage each and every day, often putting themselves in harm’s way for the rest of us.
Topic:: Foreign Policy and Diplomacy
Political Geography:: Afghanistan and United States of America

1817. Multilateral Training and Work at Foreign Ministries

Author:: Kishan S. Rana
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Editor’s note: The author was India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Environment Program and to UN Habitat at Nairobi, 1984-86. In foreign ministries, as in all organizations, training has risen to the top of the institutional agenda.[1] ‘Life-long training’ has taken root. In the past, most foreign ministries believed that diplomats needed training on entering the profession, and thereafter learnt on the job. In the past 20 years, at least 30 foreign ministries have established training institutes, including the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which had managed without one for over two centuries.[2] Thanks to increased work demands (new issues on the international agenda, the range of official and non-official partners involved, and concepts like public and diaspora diplomacy), the pace of work, especially multilateral, is more frenetic, complexified. Another question comes up: is multilateral work a speciality, or is it just a different diplomatic setting, compared with work in a bilateral embassy or consulate? For most countries, around 85 to 90% out of the diplomatic staff based abroad (as distinct from those in the foreign ministry), engage in bilateral work, also working in embassies and consulates, i.e. handling relations with individual foreign states. The balance are to be found in ‘multilateral missions’, accredited to international or regional organisations. But this is an oversimplification. At around 20 capitals, find the headquarters of multilateral and regional organizations, and the diplomatic missions at such places double as permanent missions accredited to that entity; examples: Addis Ababa (AU), Brussels (EU, NATO), Jakarta (ASEAN), Manilla (ADB), Nairobi (UNEP, Habitat) Paris (OECD, UNESCO), Rome (FAO), Vienna (IAEA, UNIDO). At the headquarters, multilateral and regional affairs may occupy around 10 to 15%. In this essay, we will subsume regional work with multilateral affairs. Other questions come up. How should diplomats be trained for multilateral work? Who should be selected for this work? What are the contemporary trends? We look also at senior management at the US State Department, and professionalization, related to multilateral work. These issues are interconnected.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Multilateralism, Training, and State Department
Political Geography:: Global Focus and United States of America

1818. “Reformed Multilateralism” at the United Nations

Author:: Asoke Mukerji
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Editor’s note: The author was the Indian Ambassador to the UN 2013-2015. Calls for “reformed multilateralism”[1] at the UN’s 75th anniversary session in September 2020 stressed the need for equal participation by member-states in UN decision-making. Five years earlier, when adopting Agenda 2030, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) acknowledged the inter-linkage between peace, security, and development.[2] With its universal scope, Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development has become the central focus of the United Nations (UN) for the foreseeable future. Agenda 2030 requires a paradigm shift in the approach of UN member-states to global issues and underscores the imperative for an inclusive human-centric approach through the participation of multiple stakeholders in UN activities. This would enable the UN to pool resources through partnerships to meet the major challenges in all its three “pillars” – political, human rights, and socio-economic development.
Topic:: Development, Human Rights, Politics, United Nations, Reform, and Multilateralism
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1819. Making Change Happen Within the United Nations

Author:: Catherine Bertini
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Editor’s note: The author was Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme 1992-2002 and United Nations Under Secretary General for Management 2003-2005. President Biden’s nomination of Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield as US Ambassador to the United Nations promises to bring effective leadership, professionalism, and immense knowledge to the role. She is one of only a few American diplomats who have had leadership postings dealing with important UN operations at every level—in countries where she served as a foreign service officer, in Geneva, and in Washington DC. In New York, the ambassador will need to summon all her skills and experience to lead the American team at the US mission to the UN. Along with the USUN ambassador and the Secretary of State, US multilateral efforts are led by the Assistant Secretaries of the Bureau of International Organizations and the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration and the Permanent Representatives to the UN in Geneva, Rome, Vienna, and Nairobi. The president should nominate people for these positions who have in-depth knowledge of the system and related issues, solid judgment, and strong interpersonal skills. The diplomats must be strategic, prepared, creative, goal oriented, and personally engaging. Process oriented micro-managers will not accomplish much.
Topic:: Diplomacy, United Nations, and Multilateralism
Political Geography:: Global Focus and United States of America

1820. Multilateralism and the Superpower

Author:: Jeremy Greenstock
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Editor’s note: The author served as UK Ambassador to the UN 1998-2003. The UN, with its network of institutions and agencies, is the only truly global organisation. It is a great experiment, not in global governance, because the political direction of the UN lies firmly in the hands of sovereign nations, but in providing both norms and tools for managing the international arena 1. Its system is flawed and may well be unimprovable. But what it tries to do, and does, is indispensable for the avoidance of catastrophic war and for the development of a sustainable world. The UN as an institution is also, not unlike the American Constitution, an adversary of raw power. Born in an era of war and empire, its charter and principles provide shelter and help for weaker nations, and set limitations on the capacity of the strongest countries to throw their weight around selfishly—the generator of empires and wars. It came into being at the instigation of the great powers, and so they know —or they used to know—what they were creating and why. The United States was at the centre of it, seeing it as a great step towards the ending of the era of imperialism. The UN is not just about what happens in the Security Council. The work of the Secretariat, the funds, agencies and programmes, and indeed of several of the intergovernmental institutions such as ECOSOC, is primarily dedicated to every aspect of international development. They act on the premise that if a large part of the world is racked by poverty and disease, the more fortunate part will not have a stable environment in which to enjoy their relative success. The history of regional conflict over the last 75 years bears this out. As the UK’s Permanent Representative between 1998 and 2003, with a permanent place on the Security Council, I made a point of setting my inevitable focus on the Council’s work in the context of this wider UN purpose. The maintenance of international peace and security is an essential component of sustainable development, not just an end in itself.
Topic:: Security, United Nations, Governance, Sustainable Development Goals, Multilateralism, and Peace
Political Geography:: Global Focus and United States of America

1821. Promoting Peace and Prosperity Through the United Nations

Author:: Thomas R. Pickering
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Editor’s note: The author was U.S. Ambassador to the UN 1989-1992. Franklin Roosevelt knew a good thing when he saw it. In 1943, in the midst of a military campaign for American survival in the Pacific and clawing our way back against Nazi Germany in the Atlantic, Roosevelt put bright people to work to shape what would come next. International cooperation under the League of Nations had twice failed – the U.S. resolved to stay out and the League’s weakness led to World War II. To fix it, Roosevelt took the name for the victory coalition of that great crusade – the United Nations – and fashioned an international organization to promote peace and prosperity through cooperation. Isolationist opposition in the U.S. endured, but many leaders of both parties had the vision and perspicacity to know that friends and allies working together made sense in achieving both objectives. Failure dogged the pursuit, but in Korea, the Gulf, Afghanistan, and the Balkans the organization made a real difference in war and peace. Americans have now been through four years of disdain and disparagement about the United Nations and the Trump administration’s failure to understand or make good use of it. Chinese and Russian opposition did not help. The Biden team comes to power with the challenge – how can we use more effectively Roosevelt’s vision to promote peace and prosperity on the planet?
Topic:: Diplomacy, United Nations, History, and Peace
Political Geography:: Global Focus and United States of America

1822. Cold War Conflicts over a Khmer Temple

Author:: John Burgess
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Judges at the International Court of Justice in the Hague typically rule on dry and technical issues such as rights of passage through foreign air space or obligations under international conventions. But in October 1959, they were asked to determine ownership of a ruined, thousand-year-old stone temple standing on the windy summit of a cliff in Southeast Asia. The case known as Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand) transfixed the two countries during the three years of litigation that followed but also drew close attention from the region’s American diplomats. While declaring themselves neutral in the dispute, the Americans were eager to see it resolved. To them it was a troublesome distraction from the main job in the region, shoring up South Vietnam, where an insurgency that would become the Vietnam War was already underway. American claims of neutrality faced an awkward complication a year into the proceedings. One of the biggest living names in American diplomacy, former Secretary of State Dean Acheson, signed on as hired counsel for Cambodia. His presence in the court’s ornate hearing hall in the Hague led many people to conclude that the U.S. was backing Cambodia.
Topic:: Cold War, Diplomacy, and Disputes
Political Geography:: Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Southeast Asia, and United States of America

1823. How Do We Talk to Foreign Audiences After Trump’s Subversion?

Author:: Ken Moskowitz
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: When I was the U.S. Embassy press officer in Kyiv, Ukraine in the late 1990s, the public affairs section sponsored programs showcasing and explaining American democracy in the post-Soviet republic. One major event I organized was a public symposium entitled “Holding Elections in a Free Society”. We featured American government and academic experts on topics such as how to maintain a level playing field among competing political parties, registering to vote, ensuring fairness in the counting of ballots, election monitoring, equal access to the media, and similar features of our electoral system. The implicit message, of course, is that our election system is worthy of emulation. But our experience in last November’s presidential election, and the groundless objections about its integrity and result raised by President Donald Trump, culminating in a pro-Trump mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, did not resemble the exemplary depiction in my symposium. How could American diplomats justify holding such programs today, after the president himself condemned our Federal elections as rigged and massively fraudulent, our national government as corrupt, federal bureaucrats as members in a disloyal or self-serving Deep State, and the federal and state courts as biased institutions? The world has noted the deterioration in America’s democratic culture. In the 2019 Index of Democracy published by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the rating of the U.S. on its democracy scale fell from 8.05 in 2015 to 7.96 in 2019 (with 10 as the top score), dropping it further into the “flawed democracy” from the “full democracy” category. The U.S. now ranks 25th of 167 countries rated. American diplomats might be shocked to learn that the Economist team now grades U.S. democracy lower than Mauritius, Chile, and Uruguay according to its measures of features such as the electoral process and pluralism, and the functioning of government.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Democracy, and Donald Trump
Political Geography:: United States of America

1824. Can the U.S. Still Be an Example to the World?

Author:: Renee M. Earle
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Between January 6 and January 20, disbelieving viewers in America and throughout the world watched two weeks of American history, unlike any before, cascade across their TV screens like a 33vinyl record played at 78 RPMs. Cameras recorded the dizzying transformation of the Capitol from take-for-granted placidity, to unimaginable desecration, and finally to a stage festooned to welcome the inauguration of a new president. Foreign Service friends and colleagues in Washington, DC and abroad wondered what the world would take away from these images. We had often encountered military and armed police patrolling cities in other countries—but never in OUR capital. A Department of Justice colleague worried that our work abroad, such as justice system reform in countries from Colombia to Afghanistan, might now be at risk. After witnessing the January 6 events on Capitol Hill, would our overseas partners embrace us with as much confidence? The Constitution and citizen participation in a democracy played a large role in my career abroad as a public diplomacy foreign service officer with the State Department. In the years after the Berlin Wall and Iron Curtain fell, supported by the FAS (Freedom Support Act) and SEED (Support for East European Democracy) Congressional appropriations, helping the people of Central Europe and the former Soviet Union construct, or reconstruct, democratic institutions and practice was an important focus for our embassies in East and Central Europe. These programs were broadly welcomed by our host countries.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Democracy, and January 6
Political Geography:: North America, Global Focus, and United States of America

1825. Can Sisyphus Win? Reforming Diplomacy for New Challenges

Author:: June Carter Perry
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Moving the bureaucracy is akin to Sisyphus: forever pushing the rock up the hill only to have it roll back. However, with a renewed interest in making diplomacy and the State Department more effective and equitable, the New Year brings a plethora of reports and recommendations to align the oldest and premier United States agency into an institution prepared to meet contemporary challenges. Four of the most prominent reports comes from the American Academy of Diplomacy, the Association of Black American Ambassadors (ABAA), the Belfer Center at Harvard, and the Council on Foreign Relations. The brain trusts of these groups are lifelong diplomats, foreign affairs think tanks, State Department affinity groups, and universities. All put forward overlapping themes: high level responsibility to improve diversity, extensive training and education, and commitment to strengthen State’s relationship with Congress to significantly increase resources.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Education, and State Department
Political Geography:: United States of America

1826. Time to Rethink Development Assistance in the Sahel

Author:: Mark Wentling
Publication Date:: 05-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: The main assistance theme of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), U.S. embassies, other donors, and host government agencies in the impoverished Sahel Region of Africa has been focused for a decade on strengthening the resilience of rural households eking out a living on the edge of the Sahara Desert. More than 40 million people reside in this marginal arid geographic area, mostly pursuing subsistence agricultural and pastoral livelihoods. The countries most concerned by this effort to build rural resilience are Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Rural, Development Aid, USAID, and Resilience
Political Geography:: Africa, North America, Mali, Sahel, Niger, United States of America, and Burkina Faso

1827. Why the U.S. Should Help Prevent Lebanon’s Collapse

Author:: Imad K. Harb
Publication Date:: 05-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Lebanon today is experiencing wrenching convulsions that threaten its complete disintegration. It may be difficult, or unwise, for the Biden Administration to wade into Lebanon’s waters. But if the United States wants to preserve its strategic posture along the eastern Mediterranean––which is essential for its influence in the entire Levant––it cannot afford not to be involved in helping the country.
Topic:: Politics, Foreign Aid, International Community, and Economic Crisis
Political Geography:: Middle East, Lebanon, and United States of America

1828. The Impact of Climate Change on U.S. Foreign Policy and the National Interest

Author:: John Harbeson and Keith P. McCormick
Publication Date:: 05-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Editor’s note: In September 2020 the DACOR Bacon House Foundation invited climate experts from government, science, diplomacy, the academy, and media as well as an audience of foreign affairs professionals to examine the current state of knowledge on climate change and its impacts on U.S. foreign policy and the national interest. A summary of the conference proceedings follows.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Climate Change, and Diplomacy
Political Geography:: North America, Global Focus, and United States of America

1829. Is Diplomacy Back? Making the Case to the American People

Author:: Mary Thompson-Jones
Publication Date:: 05-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Within hours of being sworn in, President Joe Biden put the United States on track to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organization. A week later, he signed a new START Accord with Russian President Vladimir Putin, extending the nuclear missile nonproliferation treaty for another five years. These actions—along with many others—were important messages to a world that had grown accustomed to seeing America walk away from treaties. Why would Biden prioritize the international community? Americans are far more concerned about the pandemic, the events of January 6, the faltering economy, and scores of pressing domestic issues. Clearly, the early attention was a chance to give substance to his inaugural promise that “we will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again.” Biden underscored the change of focus in a speech to the State Department in which his now-familiar line, “diplomacy is back,” has become a rallying cry for a crowd eager to resume the day-to-day operations that underpin diplomacy. They can now proceed with the confidence that their work will be valued by the boss.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Treaties and Agreements, International Community, and Joe Biden
Political Geography:: North America, Global Focus, and United States of America

1830. How Diversity Can Enhance Diplomacy

Author:: June Carter Perry and Christopher Faison
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Given their life experiences, People of Color (POC) and women already possess many of the skills to succeed in diplomacy. These include cross cultural communications, linguistic competence and acceptance of practices absent from life in the United States and Western countries. From childhood, People of Color and women often learn “to fit” into concepts of appropriate attire, hairstyles and even speech, an experience akin to what diplomats face as they encounter new cultures. Male colleagues often dismiss their statements in meetings. Or, later take credit for their ideas and may perceive efforts to reinforce contributions as demonstrating the individual as being “difficult” or “overbearing”, which leaves often good ideas by the wayside in negotiations.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Women, Diversity, and People of Color (POC)
Political Geography:: United States of America

1831. VOA – A Biased, Sentimental Recollection

Author:: Philip Brown
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Editor’s note: Created in 1942 as a U.S. government broadcasting effort to combat Nazi propaganda, VOA is now part of the U.S. Agency for Global Media. VOA provides news, information, and cultural programming to worldwide audiences in more than 40 languages. Throughout the barrage of news over the past year —the pandemic, the presidential election and transition, race relations, climate change, environmental disasters —the Voice of America also made headlines. While multiple reports of outside interference may not have commanded the attention of the general public, they always interested me, partly because of the potential damage to VOA’s well-deserved reputation for objectivity but also because of the soft spot I have in my heart for the institution. My first-ever Washington DC job was in 1964 as a 23-year old summer intern at the Voice of America. I had spent the previous summer as a volunteer (Operation Crossroads Africa) in Nigeria; I had quite a bit of journalism experience and I fit in well as a news writer on the Africa desk, a small cadre of individuals who would pull copy off wire service tickers and other sources and adapt it for broadcasts to Africa.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Media, Memoir, and Voice of America
Political Geography:: United States of America

1832. ConOff’s Suspicions are Aroused

Author:: Michael Mates
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: As a newly minted vice consul at Embassy Islamabad, I interviewed high-ranking generals, scholars, and artists as well as those from the other end of the spectrum—the peasant with no English planning a marketing survey for local sandals in the USA, the convicted rapist who wanted a refusal in order to avoid a court summons, the oily types with no bank statements and dollops of gold nestling on their chest-fur. The cool mendacity of some applicants took the breath away. But it was the multifaceted complexity of fraudulent efforts to gain undeserved benefits via fiddled documents that fascinated us most. One of the most fascinating was the case of a drug-smuggler who claimed to have been born in Montana to a Sierra Leonean mother.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Memoir, and Smuggling
Political Geography:: Pakistan and United States of America

1833. A Light in the Window in Communist Times

Author:: Jonathan B. Rickert
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Sometimes a Christmas tree is more than just a decorated evergreen. In connection with Christmas 1994, the last Yule celebration in Bucharest for me and my wife Gerd before our transfer back to Washington at the completion of our tour, we hosted a large holiday party for many of our Romanian friends. The lovely Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) residence on Strada Pangratti was richly decorated for the season. The focal point was the large Christmas tree standing in the living room next to the staircase leading to the second floor. The tree was well over twenty feet tall and beautifully trimmed, with electric lights and decorations from the United States, my wife’s native Sweden, Romania, and other countries where we had served. For us it was a delight to behold as it and the decorations held so many associations with family and Christmases past. Our guests all seemed to enjoy themselves, eagerly sampling the generous selection of seasonal goodies on offer, and we were pleased to have the opportunity to share our holiday with them. One guest even brought with him a group of a cappella singers, who enriched the festive atmosphere with lovely traditional Romanian colinde, or Christmas carols.
Topic:: Communism, Memoir, and Christmas
Political Geography:: Romania and United States of America

1834. Mongolia’s Emergence

Author:: Peter Bridges
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: I had long been curious about Mongolia, a lightly populated country twice the size of Texas, which under Genghis Khan and his successors produced, in the 13th century CE, the largest contiguous land empire the world has ever known—9 million square miles. For much of the 20th century people spoke of Outer and Inner Mongolia. The Inner was firmly under Chinese control. The Outer claimed independence but was in fact the first Soviet satellite state, the Red Army having expelled Chinese troops in the early 1920s. The country was almost totally isolated from the rest of the world. In 1939, Japanese forces advanced into Mongolia from China and were pushed back by Soviet forces, in battles that involved tens of thousands of troops but went almost totally unreported in the West. After World War II, Communist China sent twenty thousand or more “guest workers” into Mongolia. It was a prelude to colonization, as China had brought about in Inner Mongolia and would do later in Tibet and Xinjiang. The Soviets did not want a new Chinese state on their border. They and the Mongols managed to get the guest workers sent home. What I knew about the past of Mongolia, Tibet, and Xinjiang came mainly from reading the work of three great explorers and travelers: Sven Hedin, Sir Aurel Stein, and the American diplomat William Woodville Rockhill, who once crossed Tibet on foot. (Henry Adams said that meeting with Rockhill was like having dinner with Genghis Khan.)
Topic:: Diplomacy, History, and Memoir
Political Geography:: Mongolia and Asia

1835. Beijing Brushstrokes

Author:: Beatrice Camp
Publication Date:: 05-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: While studying Chinese in Taiwan in preparation for assignment at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, I gave birth to baby William, our first child. Along the way, I learned a fair amount about Chinese birthing beliefs; our teachers at the Foreign Service Language School were happy to talk about the importance of fetal education and how my studying Chinese while pregnant would benefit the baby. A few days before my due date, my husband David dreamed I gave birth to a koala. David’s shock over having a furry animal for a son was compensated by the thrill of hearing the newborn utter a Chinese phrase. We had, after all, spent the previous two years struggling to master tones and characters. Not to mention that the little koala’s question of “gànmá” (干吗) or “whatever for?” seemed right on the money.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Culture, Language, and Memoir
Political Geography:: China, Taiwan, and Asia

1836. Military Crackdown in Burma and the Massacres of 8/8/88

Author:: Franklin Huffman
Publication Date:: 05-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: The February military take-over in Burma called to mind the tragic events of 1988, while I was serving as press attaché at U.S. Embassy Rangoon. During August and September that year, massive pro-democracy demonstrations resulted in the massacre of several thousand Burmese citizens at the hands of the brutal military regime. Previous attempts to throw off the shackles of totalitarianism, usually led by students, had taken place in 1962, when ruling General Ne Win’s police killed several hundred students at the University of Rangoon and dynamited the historic Students’ Union Building, and again in 1974, when the regime shot down several hundred students who marched in support of a general strike, arrested thousands, closed down schools and universities, and declared martial law. In 1988, there had been no major uprisings for 14 years, but astrologers were predicting that dire events would happen on the magical date of 8/8/88—the four eights of August 8, 1988. At the embassy, we knew things were coming to a boil. There were widespread reports of students being beaten, raped and killed in the notorious Insein Prison north of Rangoon. In the ethnic minority areas, rape, beatings, looting, and the burning down of villages were commonplace wherever the Burmese army operated. The country’s economy was in a shambles. In September of 1987 the regime suddenly and without explanation demonetized all 25, 35, and 75 kyat notes (whose strange denominations were established in a previous demonetization), so that people holding cash were wiped out; 80 percent of the money in circulation became worthless. Hundreds of enraged students stormed out of the prestigious Rangoon Institute of Technology, smashed traffic lights, and burned vehicles. The regime’s inevitable response was to close schools and universities.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Military Affairs, Violence, Memoir, Demonstrations, and Massacre
Political Geography:: Burma, Southeast Asia, and Myanmar

1837. When the KGB Sends Its B Team

Author:: Jonathan B. Rickert
Publication Date:: 05-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: During my foreign service tour in Moscow 1966-1968, embassy security regulations prohibited employees from traveling alone within the Soviet Union. We were warned that we risked being targeted by the KGB, whose operatives might attempt to compromise us in any number of ways. Among those often needing a travel companion to comply with this regulation were the embassy’s Publications Procurement Officers (PPOs), who traveled extensively within the country buying all sorts of books and other publications for various U.S. government organizations. And that is how I came to be invited to join PPO Bill Pryce on a book-buying trip to Ufa and Kazan in early December 1966.
Topic:: Cold War, Diplomacy, Memoir, and KGB
Political Geography:: Russia, Soviet Union, and United States of America

1838. Memories of the U.S. Legation in Budapest 1945-47

Author:: Scott R. Schoenfeld
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Editor’s note: The author lived in Budapest in the immediate post-war period while his father, H.F. Arthur Schoenfeld, was U.S. Minister to Hungary 1945-47. As an eight-year-old, he experienced the pervasive Russian military presence in the heavily damaged city. The house the family lived in has been the residence of U.S. ambassadors ever since. These excerpts from his unpublished memoir of the early days of the U.S. Legation have been edited for length. We arrived just days after hostilities ended in Hungary and less than three months after the Soviets’ long winter siege of Budapest, which damaged or destroyed almost every building in the city. Surprisingly, the house did not seem in bad condition when we moved in. In my bedroom, the occupying Russian troops had lit a fire in the washbasin to warm themselves. This had heavily scorched the wall and blackened the ceiling. Some of the large classical paintings that hung in the downstairs rooms had been bayoneted. The Russians had driven hooks in the dining room walls to tether their horses, but that was pretty much the worst of it. Outside was a different story. The house was situated near the route of the main Soviet military thrust into the city in the last days of the siege. Two German soldiers were buried in shallow graves on the hillside just a few yards behind the house. In the garden field below and in front of the house were the graves of twelve Russian soldiers killed in the fight. We were told that the bodies had been wrapped in the house curtains and stacked for two or three days in the lower entry hall of the house awaiting burial. Above the driveway was a large cave hollowed out of the steep hillside where civilians had taken refuge.
Topic:: Cold War, Diplomacy, History, Violence, and Memoir
Political Geography:: Hungary and United States of America

1839. Diplomatic Intervention Made a Difference in Suriname

Author:: Jonathan B. Rickert
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: The smallest and least populous independent state in South America, the former Dutch colony of Suriname nonetheless attracted an inordinate amount of U.S. government attention in the early 1980s, due to the presence of aluminum giant Alcoa and the fear that Cuba might use it to establish its first foothold on the continent. Although the U.S. embassy in Paramaribo had adequate personnel for “normal” times, it was not prepared for the situation following the so-called Sergeants’ Coup of February 25, 1980, led by Sergeant Desire “Desi” Bouterse, against the elected Henck Arron government. Following the coup, Bouterse gained effective control of the government as chairman of the country’s National Military Council (NMR) and, initially at least, sought support from Cuba and other leftist regimes.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Memoir, and Intervention
Political Geography:: South America, Cuba, United States of America, and Suriname

1840. Red Tape in Russia

Author:: Peter Bridges
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Russia is famous for red tape, with paperwork required for just about any activity. I had my own first-hand experiences with this obstructive bureaucracy during my assignment to the USSR 1962-1964. As assistant general services officer during my first year in Moscow, I ordered forms and furniture, supervised the motor pool, got broken toilets fixed, and tried to keep in operation our creaky Soviet elevators, which liked to break down late on Friday afternoons. While this was not glamorous diplomacy, it probably taught me more about Russia than what I gained as a political officer during my second year in the post.
Topic:: Diplomacy and Memoir
Political Geography:: Russia, Eurasia, Soviet Union, and United States of America

1841. Jack F. Matlock and American Diplomacy with Russia

Author:: Olga Krasnyak
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Editor’s note: Dr. Krasnyak’s research was supported by the Matlock Archives Short-term Fellows in Residence Grant. The grant was provided by the Center of Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies (CSEEES) of Duke University. US-Russia relations are currently at a low point without promise for improvement in the short term. Russia and the US once again seem more likely to be talking about each other than with each other. Research into the career of Jack F. Matlock, a long-term diplomat and an Ambassador to the Soviet Union, offers insights into ways to conduct diplomacy to advance American interests with Russia. Ambassador Matlock’s contributions to diplomacy are important for understanding the history of US diplomacy with Russia; the Matlock archive collection at Duke University is a rich source for researching and teaching diplomacy.
Topic:: Cold War, Diplomacy, History, and Literature
Political Geography:: Russia, Soviet Union, and United States of America

1842. Harnessing Halloween for Diversity in Sweden

Author:: Beatrice Camp
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: When my husband David and I starting working at the U.S. embassy in Stockholm in 1989, formerly homogeneous Sweden was beginning to grapple with an increasingly diverse population. I was surprised that the international school included a large number of students from Yugoslavia, and then equally surprised how they melded into the local community as their home country broke up. Faced with growing immigrant issues, the Swedish government generated programs to help foreigners assimilate; David and I spent one weekend brushing up our Swedish language skills with Iraqi Kurds in a government-run language camp. Little did we imagine that we would later be supporting Swedish diversity training by introducing the exotic American holiday of Halloween to schoolchildren. As U.S. embassy spokesperson, I was regularly on the receiving end of a wide range of inquiries. One day while I was out of the office, a journalist called asking to talk to an American about Halloween. In my absence, one of our local employees thought to transfer the reporter to my husband. David obligingly regaled the reporter with stories of Halloween pranks from his childhood, including one involving a mean old man, his prized Cadillac, a cat, and Ex-Lax. His account made the front page of Svenska Dagbladet the next day; fortunately, no one in the embassy seemed overly disturbed by this unauthorized messaging.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Diversity, Memoir, and Halloween
Political Geography:: Europe, Sweden, and United States of America

1843. My British Exequatur, “By Her Majesty’s Command”

Author:: Jonathan B. Rickert
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: In order to join the U.S. foreign service, applicants pass through a gauntlet of written and oral assessments, physical examinations, and security clearance. Once those steps are successfully completed, the Secretary of State sends to the President for approval a list of those to be commissioned as diplomatic and consular officers. The commission is what makes one officially a Foreign Service officer. It’s our only badge of membership, unaccompanied by the diplomatic uniform or other regalia used by some other countries to denote diplomatic status. When I sailed into the port of Southampton in the United Kingdom on the S.S. United States on October 26, 1965, as a newly minted and very junior U.S. diplomatic and consular officer, I was armed with my diplomatic passport and commission, issued by President Johnson and signed by Secretary of State Dean Rusk. Those signatures, of course, were printed on the form, but my name, title, the date, etc. had been entered, elegantly in cursive, apparently by hand. The document, on velum-like paper adorned with an impression seal of the United States, looked to me more like a fancy university diploma than anything else. However, it meant that I was a “real” diplomat and authorized to take on the responsibilities required by my career.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Memoir, and Bureaucracy
Political Geography:: Britain and United States of America

1844. William Rockhill, The Man Who Shaped China Policy a Century Ago

Author:: Peter Bridges
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Linguist, author, explorer, and diplomat, William Woodville Rockhill is best known as the author of the Open Door policy toward China put forth by the United States in 1899. In between his first diplomatic assignment in China and his later role as the top U.S. diplomat there, he trekked for months across North Asia, and recorded meticulous observations of climate, geography, and local people in a book published in 1894 by the Smithsonian Institution. In his two decades of service to the United States, Rockhill served both in Washington and as the American envoy to several major countries. He was, however, not just a diplomat. He lived a life uniquely diverse for an American of his or any day. When a boy, he moved with his widowed mother to France. In his teens he entered St. Cyr, the French military academy, where he found time to study Tibetan, the first American to do so. After St. Cyr he became an officer of the French Foreign Legion, and served in Algeria, where the French administration was taking stern measures to control the native Muslim majority.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and History
Political Geography:: China and Asia

1845. "Is the Internet Trying to Kill Us?" And other Technology Security Unknowns In the New Roaring Twenties

Author:: Miles Taylor
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: Machines are poised to transform life as we know it... and America isn’t ready. A hundred years ago, machines remade the world. Society in the 1920s was transformed by a proliferation of cars, radios, movies, and airplanes, dramatically altering the way we lived, worked, and played. We did not know it then, but the sweeping technology revolution was poised to change the way we fought, too. The 1930s saw a revolution in military affairs as warfare became deadlier and faster-paced, a foreseeable consequence of the previous decade’s innovations.278 This nevertheless caught many nations by surprise, such as those affected by the German blitzkrieg. We are entering a New Roaring Twenties, and again we are unprepared for how it will affect national security in the decades to come. Make no mistake: today’s innovations will be tomorrow’s economic drivers, which is why we should be actively investing in the bleeding-edge tech of the future. But we must also be vigilant about how such developments will affect our security at home and reshape international conflict, or else risk a reordering of the global balance of power. This article previews several emerging technology dilemmas, what’s being done about them, and why—in some cases—it’s already too late.
Topic:: Security, Science and Technology, Cybersecurity, Internet, and Innovation
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1846. Data Science Teams: Evolution of the Full-Contact Sport

Author:: Colleen McCue and Brandon Daigle
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: No one today questions whether data science can confer competitive advantage to organizations effectively adopting these capabilities. Considerable attention has been paid to technology, talent, and training as organizations attempt to build data science programs in an effort to convert aspiration to practice; moving from simply counting and reporting what happened to datainformed prediction and prescription. As understanding of the various and specific data science roles has evolved, talent development, management, and leadership are emerging as new frontiers. Organizations now work to create data science capacity where effective and responsible use of advanced analytics makes the whole truly more than a sum of the parts. Organizations increasingly recognize data science as a “must have” capability and are scrambling to recruit and hire data science talent. Data literacy programs are also proliferating given growing empirical research demonstrating the importance of upskilling across the organization in order to optimize data science talent and efforts. At the same time, the community is moving away from the data science “unicorn” concept in favor of a data science ecosystem. This is built through aggregation and assembly of complementary data science skill sets in support of meaningful, scalable, and sustainable breadth and depth of capacity. The challenge many organizations now face is how to organize and manage this disparate yet complementary talent? While the data science Venn Diagram has become ubiquitous, recent analysis suggests we are actually looking at something with far greater complexity and depth– more akin to a data science “tapestry” where unique data science capabilities and roles are intricately interwoven across the enterprise.297 Although aesthetically appealing, the tapestry construct is inherently static. Experience increasingly suggests that fixed data science resource allocation constructs are inflexible and even brittle; breaking in response to rapid evolution or change. Moreover, fixed or otherwise inflexible organizational constructs may have limited capacity to adjust on the fly to address unanticipated challenges and opportunity alike. What is needed, therefore, is data science capacity that is relatively fluid, agile and dynamic. It should be able to rapidly pivot in response to changing conditions, including unforeseen shortcomings or failures, while also setting the conditions to fully capitalize on unexpected windfalls in support of true competitive advantage. With this evolving understanding of high-performing data teams, we propose that analytically competitive organizations actually operationalize data science as something closer to a full-contact team sport where no one rides the bench.
Topic:: Science and Technology, Leadership, Data, and Management
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1847. Transforming Military Technology Through Aquisition Policy

Author:: Rabia Altaf
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: The Trump administration’s 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) emphasized the need for continued technological modernization of the U.S. Armed Forces.324 This notion, first brought to light by the Obama administration, is underlined by the military’s inability to adapt and modernize at the pace necessary to restore the United States’ military dominance. At the root of this issue is the relationship between the Pentagon and the defense industry, which currently operates with an inadequate military technology acquisition process. Acquisition allows the Department of Defense (DoD) to communicate its strategic vision and shape the military to meet current and future threats. As it stands, this deficient process results in the mis-regulation of the defense industry. Improving the acquisition process by clearing hurdles, creating policy with innovation in mind, and carefully crafting regulation is critical for the United States to regain its competitive military advantage to tackle the global security issues of the coming decades. The Pentagon must also rethink its relationship with the private sector to induce more companies to join its supply chain and provide fresh solutions and perspectives to problems the United States has never faced before. As a notoriously difficult customer, the Pentagon must remove unnecessary roadblocks to attract a more diverse group of companies to supplement the defense industrial base.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, Science and Technology, Armed Forces, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:: United States of America and north amer

1848. Bringing Down the Hammer On Chinese Tech

Author:: Dawn M. K. Zoldi
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: Law is what you must do; policy is what you should do. With regard to country-of-origin bans on technology, either one has the effect of the proverbial hammer. Of late, the U.S. government has been wielding that hammer consistently against China in what amounts to an all-out tech war. The most visible fronts have involved Huawei, ByteDance (TikTok), and TenCent (WeChat). However, a lesser-known conflict relating to the commercial drone sector involves Da Jiang Innovations (DJI), a Chinese technology company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong. It is a three-pronged assault based on cybersecurity, national security, and human rights concerns. Will the U.S. commercial drone ecosystem get hammered in this conflict?
Topic:: Human Rights, National Security, Science and Technology, Cybersecurity, and Drones
Political Geography:: China, Asia, North America, and United States of America

1849. Russian New and Experimental Nuclear-Capable Missiles: A Short Primer

Author:: Christopher Mihal
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: Russia has tested a wide variety of new weapon systems in an effort to modernize and upgrade its nuclear forces. Russian President Vladimir Putin has not been shy about publicly discussing these new weapon systems or the capabilities of several of them, though a few are not currently feasible for any sort of deployment. More of a threat, however, are the two weapons that Putin did not boast about: the SSC8 and SSC-X-31, both of which were almost certainly in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. While these missiles represent a threat in and of themselves, a far greater threat is the indication that Russia does not feel bound by international agreements. These missiles have already had their first successful casualty in the death of the INF Treaty, and they may have also dealt a mortal blow to the New START Treaty. To adequately understand Russia’s new nuclear arsenal, one must simultaneously look at the weapon systems themselves as well as the context in which they are being developed. Russia continues to view both the U.S. and NATO as supreme existential threats. Unfortunately for Russia, both the U.S. and NATO have greater military, political, and economic power, and so Russia has long sought avenues to achieve its national objectives without conventional military confrontation.386 Russia has turned to two primary means of ensuring supremacy: enhancing its nuclear arsenal, which it views as a powerful deterrent that is cheaper to maintain than a large conventional military, as well as ‘hybrid’ war, which encompasses a number of techniques just shy of war including cyber warfare, informatsionaya voyna (information warfare) and a large amount of maskirovka (deception) in both military and non-military realms.387 Putin has emphasized information control and manipulation since coming to power, ranging from direct methods such as election interference and masking the identity of irregular forces in Ukraine, to more subtle methods of dezinformatsiya (disinformation), of which the exaggerated capabilities of Russia’s new nuclear weapons are prime examples. Dezinformatsiya is using false or misleading information and disseminating it to credible news outlets. This causes opponents to either act upon the incorrect information, thus wasting time and resources, or it undermines the credibility of the news outlet when it is proven false.388 Both of these goals of dezinformatsiya are being met with the current furor regarding Russia’s new nuclear weapons. This primer aims to dispel some of the false or misleading claims regarding these weapons and present a factual foundation from which to react to Russia’s new weapon developments and how they fit into Russia’s strategic vision.
Topic:: Defense Policy, NATO, National Security, Nuclear Weapons, Cybersecurity, and Weapons
Political Geography:: Russia, Eurasia, and United States of America

1850. Transitions in Global Health Diplomacy: Views of Donors During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author:: Cynthia Buckley, Ralph Clem, and Erik Herron
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: Sickening and killing people worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting national and international economies and creating enormous human suffering. Current and future geopolitical implications are substantial, requiring long term attention by national security policymakers in the United States and elsewhere.245 Central among these foreign policy concerns is the capacity of states across the globe to deliver health care (and other services) to their populations and the role of health and human security in promoting national security.246 Prior to the pandemic, interest in Global Health Diplomacy (GHD) as a foreign policy tool was growing, reflecting the recognition of border crossing health concerns and the effectiveness of health-focused development aid. Health assistance provided through GHD enables improvements in the quality of life, expansion of infrastructure, and strong donor-recipient ties, each of which can contribute to recipient state capacity. Emerging impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic increase the importance of international health assistance.247 The value of health assistance in generating grassroots aid recognition, thereby capturing “hearts and minds,” is a potent means of building international recognition of both a state’s humanitarian mission and building a positive reputation in recipient state public opinion. In the American context, the four years of the Trump administration were marked by a decline in American bilateral and multilateral engagement in terms of GHD, specifically its stated intention to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO).248 Importantly, this coincided with a period of rising efforts in this area by China and Russia. These changes highlight the importance of understanding how changes in GHD participation emerge and enable stronger linkages between GHD studies and global rivalries (more common in the field of International Relations).249 We set out to explore how transitioning patterns of GHD engagement inform the positioning priorities of the United States, Russia, China, and multinational organizations such as the European Union. How have the acute health, economic, and in some cases political crises of the global COVID-19 pandemic altered donor engagement in GHD? What are the effects of changes in the perceptions of their engagement in recipient states? We incorporate data from three strategically important post-Soviet countries—Estonia, Ukraine, and the Republic of Georgia—to illustrate how major players in GHD are viewed on the ground. Situated on a long arc from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea and beyond to the Caucasus, these states neighbor Russia proper. Proximity to Russia itself implies a core national security problem: Moscow has actively undermined the territorial integrity of Georgia and Ukraine, seizing parts of both via kinetic warfare while causing massive infrastructure damage (including healthcare infrastructure), thousands of deaths, and the internal displacement of millions.250 Estonia has been the target of cyberattacks emanating from Russia, and all three countries must cope with relentless disinformation campaigns intended to destabilize their governments and societies. These three cases provide insights into how citizens in recipient states view GHD engagement in a time of crisis.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Pandemic, COVID-19, Donors, and Global Health
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1851. Win-Win Cooperation: Welcoming Hong Kong Refugees Would Benefit the United States

Author:: Emily Young Carr and Zack Cooper
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: In his first address to employees of the U.S. State Department, President Joe Biden promised to “take on directly the challenges posed [to] our prosperity, security, and democratic values by our most serious competitor, China.” One of the best ways for the United States to show support for democratic values is to welcome victims of repression in Hong Kong to America. Such a step would not only signal America’s commitment to protecting freedom and democracy abroad, but would also strengthen the U.S. economy. Over the last few years, the Communist Party of China has systematically unwound the freedoms the people of Hong Kong once enjoyed. The United States and likeminded partners have responded by placing sanctions and other economic and financial restrictions on the Chinese officials who direct this repression. Yet, Beijing continues to undercut the “one country, two systems” model, which was supposed to guarantee that the rights and liberties of Hongkongers would be protected after the 1997 handover. Indeed, in the last days of the Trump administration, Chinese authorities arrested over 50 key figures in Hong Kong, including an American lawyer and numerous politicians and activists. Although these arrests were appalling, they did not come as a surprise. Since the passage of the national security law on June 30, 2020, the Chinese government has engaged in a series of increasingly harsh crackdowns on pro-democracy forces in Hong Kong. In August, media mogul Jimmy Lai, social activist Agnes Chow, and other prominent dissidents were swept up in a series of arrests. Months later, the central government dismissed four pro-democracy lawmakers from the city legislature, prompting the remaining 15 to resign in protest. This repressive campaign is aided by the vague language of the national security law, which gives mainland authorities great leeway to define the now criminal acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign powers.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Immigration, Authoritarianism, and Refugees
Political Geography:: Asia, Hong Kong, and United States of America

1852. The Climate-Security Century: Three Climate Hotspots

Author:: Mark Nevitt
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: The climate-security century is here. With global temperatures rising, climate change is poised to massively destabilize the physical environment. This century may well be defined by our ability (or inability) to reduce our collective greenhouse gas emissions. We must also adapt and respond to climate change’s multivariate security impacts. From raging wildfires in Australia and California to melting ice sheets and permafrost in the Arctic, climate change acts as both a threat accelerant and a catalyst for conflict. Climate change is also unlike any other traditional security threat. It accelerates and exacerbates existing environmental stressors—such as sea level rise, extreme weather, drought, and food insecurity—leading to greater instability. Climate change impacts are already taking center stage this century, forcing us to think more broadly about climate change’s relationship with human security and national security. Complicating matters, climate-driven temperature increases do not rise in a neat, uniform fashion around the globe. The pace of climatic change unfolds unevenly and erratically. Some parts of the world—such as the Arctic—are warming at a rate two to three times faster than the rest of the world. Three specific climate-security “hotspots” foreshadow greater destabilization and serve as climate “canaries in a coal mine”—a sneak preview of our climate-destabilized future.
Topic:: Security, Climate Change, National Security, and Human Security
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1853. Forget China: A Policy for an Interconnected Region

Author:: Scott McDonald
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: The United States (U.S.) must approach the growing assertiveness and revisionism of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) by deemphasizing its importance to U.S. policy formation. Although this will seem counterintuitive to most observers, it is an important first step in placing the very real challenges posed by the PRC in their appropriate context. Neither is this to suggest the intentions and actions of the PRC do not pose a serious threat to the interests of the U.S., for in many areas they do. However, in crafting foreign policy, the U.S. government must first focus on promoting and defending its own interests. By contrast, the popular emphasis on “countering” other states is a second-handed approach that cedes the initiative and allows one’s adversary to control one’s policy. That is not to say that U.S. policy should not, where appropriate, be confrontational. Washington should not feel the need to kowtow or appease an increasingly aggressive Beijing. However, any action—cooperative or confrontational—must be taken in pursuit of a larger, positive purpose. The starting point for any policy towards the PRC, therefore, is a grand strategic approach to the Indo-Pacific as a region. It lies in a positive, provalue orientation towards building the world in which the U.S. wants to live.
Topic:: Security, Foreign Policy, and Defense Policy
Political Geography:: China, Asia, and United States of America

1854. The Siren's Song of Coast Guard Behavioral Norms in the Western Pacific

Author:: Marc Zlomek
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: Since 2014, naval forces operating in the Western Pacific have agreed on the need to moderate operational assertiveness against the risk that a miscalculation on the water could lead to wider confrontation. Increased activity by coast guards in these waters dictates that the same considerations should apply to white hull vessels. In 2015, President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China committed to developing behavioral norms for coast guards. The fact that six years later no such coast guard norms have materialized even though the naval services provide a readily adaptable blueprint is curious, to put it diplomatically. In April 2014, the 21 member-navies of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium approved the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) to promote communication and operational safety when their vessels met. In November 2014, the United States Secretary of Defense and the Chinese Minister of Defense signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding on The Rules of Behavior for Safety of Air and Maritime Encounters (The Rules or Rules of Behavior). The Rules, which took root during the 2013 Sunnylands Summit between President Obama and President Xi, are meant to reduce the risk of an incident at sea and to promote confidence building between the United States and Chinese military. CUES and The Rules are similar in many respects and share the same fundamental purpose of reducing the risk of an incident at sea. During the 2015 Sunnylands Summit, President Obama and President Xi committed to developing similar measures for coast guards. At the time, China took the position that the China Coast Guard was not covered by the existing instruments. While no such coast guard version of The Rules exists, the China Coast Guard’s astounding growth and militarization, combined with the United States Coast Guard’s increased regional presence, serve to underscore the need. As detailed in this article, the very bureaucratic reorganization that transformed the China Coast Guard into a military service now make the existing Rules of Behavior easily applicable. The two sides do not need a new coast guard specific agreement but could voluntarily apply the existing Rules of Behavior to white-hulled vessels as they do to gray-hulled vessels. The solution of adapting the Rules of Behavior used by the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) and the United States Navy (USN) to the United States and China Coast Guards is so simple that its failure to materialize begs the question of whether China wants shared expectations for coast guards or if it believes that operational unpredictability better serves its strategic interests.
Topic:: Armed Forces, Navy, Norms, and Coast Guard
Political Geography:: Asia-Pacific

1855. Adversaries or Competitors: A Conversation on U.S. - China Relations with David Dollar

Author:: Dylan Land and David Dollar
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: Fletcher Security Review (FSR): How would you characterize the relationship between the U.S. and China today? Are the two countries adversaries or competitors? How might this change under the Biden administration? Dr. David Dollar (DD): The relationship is very complicated. In some ways, the U.S. and China are collaborators on a global order and global public goods, and they are obviously competitors in a healthy economic sense—the same way the U.S. competes with Japan or Western Europe—but then I would say the U.S. has legitimate security concerns about China. I don’t think China is an adversary, but there’s the risk that it becomes an adversary. China is really the only country in the world powerful enough to be a threat to the United States, so that potential threat colors the relationship. As far as the transition from the Trump administration to the Biden administration, some of the measures President Trump has taken are perceived as harsh toward China, but he has given them a pass on other things. He has not personally raised issues of human rights or democracy. Trump is perceived as someone who has respect for strongmen around the world, so I think in some ways the U.S. under President Trump has given China a pass, while being tough in other areas. I would expect the Biden administration to be more consistent; it will certainly raise human rights and democracy issues, and it will continue some of the sanctions that deal with national security. I’m hoping the Biden administration rationalizes the economic policy because clearly the trade war with China has not worked, so we need to try something different.
Topic:: National Security, Interview, and Strategic Competition
Political Geography:: China, Asia, North America, and United States of America

1856. The Future of the Eurasian Economic Union

Author:: Katia Glod
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) was established in 2015 and incorporates five countries of the former Soviet bloc—Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. The declared goal of the project was to create a common market with 180 million consumers, coordinate economic policies, and eliminate non-tariff barriers. The idea behind the EAEU was to revive the economic ties that had broken down when the Soviet Union dissolved by facilitating better growth and more trade. Its member states claimed that the EAEU would emulate the European Union (EU) by adopting a system based on clear and transparent rules to promote free trade. The reality, however, is proving different. So far, the EAEU has failed to transform into a full-fledged economic union. Many outstanding issues require greater political will from the member states to work out common approaches and practices.
Topic:: Economics, Tariffs, Free Trade, and Soviet Union
Political Geography:: Russia, Eurasia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, and Belarus

1857. Pandemic Preparedness: A Conversation with Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo (Interviewed by Dana Hatic)

Author:: Jennifer Nuzzo and Dana Hatic
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: Fletcher Security Review (FSR): Dr. Nuzzo, thank you for taking the time to speak with FSR today. I would love if you could give us a brief introduction and tell me about what your role has been like since the start of the pandemic. Jennifer Nuzzo (JN): I am an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. I am also a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. I have been involved working on COVID-19 since the first news of an outbreak in China. I run a project called the Outbreak Observatory, which does operational research to improve outbreak responses. One of our activities is to publish a weekly blog, which we do to take stock of what is going on in the world and to try to learn about events—even if we are not actively doing research projects on them, just reminding people that things are happening all the time.
Topic:: Security, Interview, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: Global Focus and United States of America

1858. Economic Crisis and Elections: A Recipe for Turbulence in Latin America

Author:: Jimena Blanco
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: Latin America experienced the second biggest pandemicinduced economic contraction of any region in 2020, just behind the Euro-zone, and Verisk Maplecroft’s Recovery Capacity Index—which measures more than a dozen factors that determine a region’s ability to recover from the crisis—puts Latin America below all but Africa in recovery capability. The resulting social and economic distress has worsened longstanding inequalities and acted as a catalyst for civil unrest. Despite restrictive lockdowns, the pandemic crisis and economic shock sparked demonstrations across the region throughout 2020 as governments proved unable to meet even the most basic needs of their populations. A string of general elections scheduled for 2021 will take place against a backdrop of a surge in poverty and unemployment, setting the stage for another unstable year. With forecasts from the International Monetary Fund projecting the regional economy unlikely to recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2023, and household incomes not until 2025, this situation will continue. Falling tax receipts will cripple governments’ ability to address spiralling demands from already impoverished workers likely to be pushed into even lower-paid, unstable, and informal jobs. Young people and informal workers who average 60 percent of the regional labour force, on data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, will continue to be disproportionately affected. Dissatisfied and often disenfranchised, these sections of society can be particularly restive, able to mobilise fast in political or anti-establishment protests.
Topic:: Elections, COVID-19, Civil Unrest, and Economic Crisis
Political Geography:: Latin America

1859. The UN Security Council: Stress Tested

Author:: David M Malone
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: After the United Nations’ (UN) 75th anniversary, it is easy today to forget that this most central and far-reaching of all multilateral organizations was born in very high hopes of its permanent relevancy in maintaining international peace and security. But by baking in a veto for each of the five victorious World War II powers—or deemed as such by the 1945 governments in Washington and London, the godparents of the UN Security Council—the seeds of its frequent spells of semiparalysis were sown, spells which have been intensifying for at least the past four years. Indeed, the council arguably operated at near-peak effectiveness only during the years between 1987 – 1994, when the Cold War was ending and then briefly, as of 1990, appeared to have ended. However, misjudgments in Washington over the extent to which Moscow’s alignment with the thinking of Western capitals could be taken for granted—an attitude bitterly resented at the time by the new Russian Federation—ended that brief spell.
Topic:: United Nations, History, Multilateralism, and UN Security Council
Political Geography:: Russia, Global Focus, and United States of America

1860. Currency Power & International Security

Author:: Benjamin Cohen
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: For anyone concerned about U.S. national security, international finance today poses an intriguing dilemma. On the one hand, in geopolitical terms, the United States seems to have entered a period of relative decline. Some commentators speak of a broad power transition from unipolar hyperpuissance to a new, more threatening multipolar world. Others focus more narrowly on the rise of China and the risk of a “Thucydides Trap.”72 Yet in global finance, the U.S. dollar remains undeniably dominant, still by far the most popular national monetary unit in use for international purposes.73 The greenback is as mighty as ever. Can this disparity continue, or should we expect that geopolitical decay will be followed by—perhaps even exacerbated by—an erosion of the dollar’s standing? Much rides on the answer. An international currency is a source of power for the economy that issues it.74 For some three-quarters of a century, the greenback’s central role in monetary affairs has enhanced the political capabilities of the United States. America’s security has been amplified by currency power. At a time, therefore, when the nation is feeling increasingly vulnerable to adversaries abroad, the outlook for the dollar’s future takes on added importance. Three questions are addressed in this essay. First, how does a currency’s international standing affect the political capabilities of the issuing country? Second, how has currency power been used by the United States? And third, what are the prospects for the greenback looking forward? Much analysis suggests that the outlook for the currency is not bright.75 Some experts worry that we are approaching a tipping point that could lead to an abrupt and panicky dumping of the dollar. I disagree. No sudden rush to the exits would appear to be likely. But over time it does seem plausible to anticipate a gradual, maybe even accelerating loss of monetary primacy. The threat to the greenback—and hence to U.S. security—is not the sudden appearance of a wolf at the door. The risk, rather, is a persistent spread of termites in the woodwork.
Topic:: Economics, International Security, Geopolitics, Finance, and Currency
Political Geography:: China and United States of America

1861. Medical Security, Covid Challenge and the U.S. - Japan Alliance

Author:: Kent Calder
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: National security has been classically conceived as a narrowly military and state-centric concept, especially in the Western industrial world. Security is, generations of strategists and statesmen have told us, a matter of defending core nation-state values and interests by force of arms. Two world wars across the first half of the twentieth century, and a long nuclear confrontation to follow, engrained this military and state-centric conception deeply into global consciousness and public discourse. The tragic COVID-19 crisis now confronting us suggests that this logic may be flawed, or at least oversimplified. Over 2.3 million people worldwide died in the first year of this global pandemic, with well over 100 million infected. These figures are likely understated.44 Untold millions of people continue to suffer from “long COVID” maladies around the world.
Topic:: Economics, Health, National Security, COVID-19, and Health Crisis
Political Geography:: Japan, Asia, North America, and United States of America

1862. The Essentiality of Cognitive Diversity in American National Security

Author:: Barry R. McCaffrey
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: Two decades after UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security was passed, the Biden administration appears poised to usher in a new era of female leadership. Why is this increase in cognitive diversity so important to American national security? The U.S. national security enterprise is undergoing a profound transition. As the world moves toward cyber and information-centric modes of conflict, cognitive and intellectual diversity will arguably play a more decisive role in determining success—more so than the number of infantry divisions, aircraft carriers, or fighter wings a nation can deploy. National security organizations must therefore transform to fully leverage all available talent and innovation in the national security sector to drive success across the spectrum of conflict around the world. The complexity and interconnectedness of nations around the world make effective national security strategy development and operations extremely challenging. Boiled down, successful national security strategy, policy, and operations ensure the continued existence of nations and their way of life. This mandate places immense pressure on presidents when they build their senior leadership team. Presidents must choose a team to deter and defeat potential threats, and thus can neither afford poor nor ineffective leadership.
Topic:: Gender Issues, National Security, Women, Leadership, and Diversity
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

1863. Do Morals Matter? A Conversation with Dr. Joseph Nye

Author:: Joseph S. Nye, Grady Jacobsen, and Alex Betley
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: Fletcher Security Review (FSR): Welcome, Dr. Nye, to The Fletcher Security Review. Thank you very much for spending time with us today. Before we discuss your recent book, Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump, would you mind speaking first about the origins of your career? Many readers of FSR are young professionals pursuing careers in diplomacy and national security. I am sure they would appreciate hearing that background. Joeseph Nye (JN): Well, I came to Harvard to do a Ph.D. Thinking I was going to go into the State Department, I thought it might be useful to have a Ph.D. but, in the process, I wound up doing some teaching and enjoyed it. I went and did my thesis in Africa and enjoyed writing about that. When Harvard offered me a job, I thought I would take it for a little while. A “little while” turned out to be quite a long while. I emphasize this to say that if you do not have all your career moves figured out at this stage, not to worry about it. Leave room for serendipity. In any case, as it turned out, I enjoy the writing and the research. After working in Africa, I went to Central America, and then spent some time in Europe looking primarily at regional integration and then broadened out to a number of things related to trade. . .
Topic:: Security, Diplomacy, Ethics, Interview, and World System
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

1864. Post-Covid Security Landscape: A Conversation with Raffaelo Pantucci

Author:: Raffaello Pantucci
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: Fletcher Security Review (FSR): Thank you for joining FSR today. To begin, what challenges do you believe countries or security practitioners will face in preventing terrorism or countering violent terrorism in a postCOVID-19 world? Raffaelo Pantucci (RP): There are going to be a lot of challenges. The difficulty with trying to make judgments about what is going to happen in a post-COVID world is that we are not in the post-COVID world yet. We are still in the midst of the pandemic, so a lot of this work and assumptions that we look into are based on assessments of what we think could happen. I think a number of things will happen. First, I think we are going to see real pressure on security forces’ resources. On the one hand, kinetic security forces—police and intelligence services—probably will not suffer too much. But the real dilemma will come with some of the upstream funding. Money is being used to try to stop people from being drawn to violent groups in the first place. Countering violent extremism projects will face immense challenges since it is very hard to understand and make direct causal links between the issues the programs are addressing and the ultimate threats. We are going to see a push on budgets and that will result in cuts for security forces. These will have an impact in different ways in different places. Unfortunately, terrorist threats are global. You can have a good grip on your threat matrix, but it has links across borders which are beyond your control. This creates a potential risk if a country you are connected to does not have a grip on their security and are under the same sort of budgetary pressures, then it is possible you will see a negative knockon effect.
Topic:: Security, Terrorism, Interview, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1865. Grievance in Space and Time: The State, Militias, and the Irredentist Temptation

Author:: Bradford McGuinn
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: The armed militia is an emblem of political decay. With the weakening of institutions designed to regulate the ambitions and anxieties of those inhabiting a state, and with the erosion of a political culture meant to confer legitimacy upon the rituals of governance, martial energy once held to constitutional prescription in the service of impersonal public rule can be redirected toward private purpose. Dissenting factions within a governmental structure, groups seeking its overthrow, or militias fighting within society itself challenge the viability of states, stability in their regions, and international order. This essay will consider ways in which narratives of grievance play dangerously upon the triangular system of mutual obligation that ideally orders interaction between a state, society, and the military. In this configuration of civil-military relations, the state exercises a “legitimate monopoly” on the production of violence, binding militaries to civilian control. Acting as an acid upon the alloy of this triangle, allowing leakage of “privatized” violence, is a dissatisfaction with a configuration of geography, politics, and culture of such intensity that reality can be considered oppressive.
Topic:: Security, Armed Forces, State, and Militias
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1866. Losing the Long Game: A Conversation with Phillip Gordon (Interviewed by Zach A. Shapiro)

Author:: Philip Gordon and Zach Shapiro
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Fletcher Security Review
Institution:: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:: Fletcher Security Review (FSR): Dr. Gordon, it’s a pleasure to introduce you to our audience. Your new book, Losing the Long Game: The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East, is fascinating and we are excited to hear about it. To get us started, could you briefly describe your argument? Philip Gordon (PG): In briefest form, as the title of the book indicates, the argument is that regime change in the Middle East doesn’t turn out very well. I’ll just unpack that a little bit. First, by “regime change” what I’m talking about is when the United States sets out as a matter of policy to bring about a different government and political system in a country for whatever reason. It’s not when it happens naturally or internally. We have to have it as a policy and we have to do something about it. It turns out that we’ve done this fairly regularly in the post-World War II period. In fact, we’ve done it on average about once per decade. In the book, I look back all the way to the first time in 1953, to the CIA-backed coup in Iran, and look at all the episodes for the track record. I started thinking about this in particular as the Trump administration was pivoting towards what looked like a regime-change policy in Iran. It wasn’t their official, announced policy, but it looks like that’s what they were trying to achieve in Iran. That led me to think more about the track record: when have we done this before, why have we done it, and how it has turned out?...
Topic:: Security, Foreign Policy, Regime Change, and Interview
Political Geography:: Middle East and United States of America

1867. The Interactions of International Relations: Racism, Colonialism, Producer-Centred Research

Author:: Deep K. Datta-Ray
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:: Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:: The racial hierarchy underscoring colonialism persists, organises core-periphery interactions and so undermines International Relations’ (IR’s) purpose of accounting and explaining to mitigate violence. Despite IR’s awareness of its colonialism, it reconstitutes in the hermeneutic’s deductive and inductive method via aphasia (calculated forgetting) about its heuristic: diplomacy. The result, analytic-violence or the core’s heuristic corrupting interaction with the periphery. Yet, its evasiveness testifies to a meaningfulness beyond IR’s hermeneutic. Irretrievably corrupted by its heuristic, IR’s hermeneutic is ejected for an altogether new hermeneutic: Producer-Centred Research (PCR). Eschewing deduction and induction, and so colonialism, PCR initiates with abduction or a problem arising from theory and practice to resolve it in terms of rationality because of its, and the problem’s, significance. Changing “rationality” to “rationalities” registers the core’s rationality as colonialism while preventing it from contaminating PCR’s collection and assessment of peripheral practices to determine if they cohere into another rationality. Moreover, treating peripheral practitioners authoritatively, as capable of rationalising themselves and thus equal to rationality, further protects PCR from aphasia. Verifying efficacy shows PCR’s decolonisation of the hermeneutic is not entirely replicated externally, amongst IR scholars. The core engages PCR, but it incites violence in the periphery which defends rationality and so is colonialism’s bastion, now.
Topic:: International Relations, Diplomacy, Colonialism, Eurocentrism, Racism, and Hermeneutics
Political Geography:: India and Global Focus

1868. Hedging as a Survival Strategy for Small States: The Case of Kuwait

Author:: İsmail Numan Telci
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:: Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:: Strategic hedging has not been studied adequately in Middle Eastern countries. This study is an attempt to include hedging into the analysis of a small state’s foreign policy choices. It contends that the hedging strategy can be applied to small states because of its confrontation at three levels: international, regional and sub-regional. It is argued that Kuwait has pursued a hedging policy by taking possible shifts in the global and regional power distribution and the lasting regional security dilemma into consideration. By strengthening military cooperation with China and Turkey, Kuwait has aimed to hedge the risks that could arise from the rise of China and Turkey in the Gulf, the US’ retrenchment from the Middle East, and Saudi Arabia’s aggressiveness. The main purpose of this strategy is analysed as a move to empower the regional alliance with Turkey, ensuring Kuwait’s security and warding off potential risks from the changing dynamics of the Middle East.
Topic:: International Relations, Foreign Policy, International Cooperation, Military Affairs, and Hedging
Political Geography:: China, Turkey, Middle East, Kuwait, and Gulf Nations

1869. A Government Devoid of Strong Leadership: A Neoclassical Realist Explanation of Turkey’s Iraq War Decision in 2003

Author:: Samet Yılmaz
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:: Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:: This study deals with Turkey’s Iraq War Decision that led up to the March 1 Parliamentary Motion Crisis in 2003 from the perspective of neoclassical realism, which analyzes the interaction between systemic and unit-level variables. The United States requested Turkey’s collaboration in the war against Iraq. The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government initially sought a peaceful settlement but eventually decided to align with the United States. Systemic and structural factors made cooperation with the United States an imperative for Turkey, which may be classified as a secondary state in the regional context. While the domestic political environment was favorable for the Turkish government to reach such a decision, it was hindered by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (GNAT). In this framework, the study has two primary purposes. The first is to prove that in restrictive international environments where opportunities and threats are clear and the decision-making process is constrained by time, domestic divisions may matter in foreign policy and prevail over the systemic imperative, contrary to conventional expectations. The second is to demonstrate that in a restrictive international milieu, strong leadership, a factor underappreciated by neoclassical realists, is essential even for single-party governments, which are normally expected to have greater autonomy in democratic parliamentary systems, to formulate foreign policy.
Topic:: International Relations, Government, Leadership, Domestic Politics, Iraq War, Political Parties, and Neoclassical Realism
Political Geography:: Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

1870. Tianxia (All-Under-Heaven): An Alternative System or a Rose by another Name?

Author:: Mehmet Şahin
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:: Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:: Tianxia is considered as an alternative institutionalization to govern the international system. It refers to world governance that is regulated by a world institution. Accordingly, a world institution plays the harmonizer role under this system. States, on the other hand, choose their economic models and the leader organizes the relations among different units. This paper thus argues that Tianxia is an alternative framework to Western-oriented IR theories. In that sense, this article aims to explore the similarities between the philosophical idea of Tianxia and Western-oriented IR Theory. More specifically, the article explores the issue from the international system perspective. The epistemological gaps and ontological similarities between the two frameworks will be demonstrated.
Topic:: International Relations, Governance, International Relations Theory, and International System
Political Geography:: China, Asia, and Global Focus

1871. Reputation Building as a Strategy for Terror Group Survival

Author:: Efe Tokdemir
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:: Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:: In this paper I investigate terror groups' survival. The fate of terrorists hinges heavily on the power the terror group derives from its reputation. The reputation, which depends on policies and actions the group takes within their constituency, determines the degree to which each group can find recruits, resources, and support for its cause. I contend that terror groups investing on positive or negative reputation within their constituency— the people they claim to represent==are likely to survive longer. Yet, I argue, building a positive reputation has a greater impact on a group’s staying power given that this attracts loyal and committed supporters. Conversely, groups with no clearly defined reputation-building policies undergo an organizational change. I find support for my expectations by testing my arguments over all domestic terror groups active between 1980 and 2011 using the RTG and GTD databases. The findings reveal that once a terrorist group is formed, it is exceedingly difficult to obliterate it so long as it follows a clear reputational strategy to achieve their goals.
Topic:: Terrorism, Non State Actors, Group Survival, and Reputation
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1872. Exogenous Dynamics and Leadership Traits: A Study of Change in the Personality Traits of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Author:: Ali Balcı and Ibrahim Efe
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:: Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:: Do leadership attributes change/persist with experience in office, and after a dramatic event? Answers to this agent-structure question represent the main division line between dispositional and situational theorists. While the first posits that leader’s actions are a product of configuration imposed by experience, and traumatic events, the latter focuses on persistent set of beliefs in leaders. This paper aims at testing the role of these two variables, experience, and traumatic event, on the personality of political leaders with a special focus on Recep Tayyip Erdogan. To recover the personality attributes of Erdogan, and measure their resilience or weakness against experience and traumatic events, the paper uses Leadership Trait Analysis (LTA) developed by Margaret Hermann. LTA assumes that leaders’ choice of certain words in public speeches reflects their personality traits, through which they can be compared with other leaders, and even themselves in different roles and times.
Topic:: Leadership, Trauma, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Personality, and Trait Analysis
Political Geography:: Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

1873. At the Brink of Nuclear War: Feasibility of Retaliation and the U.S. Policy Decisions During the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis

Author:: Yang Gyu Kim and Félix E. Martín
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:: Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:: Recent studies in nuclear deterrence show that nuclear punishment is infeasible in most cases due to the opponent’s second-strike capability, tactical redundancy, and the logic of self-deterrence. However, if the challenge against nuclear deterrence is expected to go unpunished, the deterrent policy is not credible and will likely fail. Can the defender violently punish the challenger possessing nuclear weapons? If it can, under what conditions? Thanks to President Kennedy’s tape recordings, the Cuban Missile Crisis provides researchers an exceptional laboratory for testing various theories on the defender’s policy choices after deterrence failure. This article derives a research hypothesis and its competing counterpart and examines their respective explanatory power via a process-tracing analysis of key members within the Executive Committee during the crisis. The study finds that the challenger’s feasibility of retaliating with atomic weapons is a crucial predictor for the defender’s policy choices.
Topic:: International Relations, Foreign Policy, Nuclear Weapons, History, Deterrence, Credibility, Cuban Missile Crisis, and Feasibility
Political Geography:: Cuba and United States of America

1874. The City and the Citizen: Breaking Down Barriers to Active Citizenship

Author:: Didem Cakmakli
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Alternative Politics
Institution:: Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
Abstract:: Ideally, democracies are built on the ability of all segments of society to participate in civil society to enhance their community’s well-being or to claim rights. Participation in civic and political activities is a key feature of equal citizenship. Sociopolitical features of a city may influence participation, developing different citizenship practices at the local level. Cities will differ in the types of CSOs that thrive, the particular grievances that CSOs address and the types of civic activities that prevail. This study examines how different sociopolitical settings in Turkey impact the development of active citizenship practices among participants in civil society organizations (CSOs). The conditions under which CSO participation may develop active citizenship is key to understanding the potential transformation of hierarchical and passive conceptualizations and practices of citizenship at the national level in Turkey. The study is based on semi-structured interviews conducted in three cities in Turkey. Findings reveal that sociopolitical differences foster the development of different dimensions of active citizenship at the urban level and hence challenge different legacies of citizenship in Turkey.
Topic:: Civil Society, Citizenship, Urban, and Civic Engagement
Political Geography:: Europe, Turkey, and Asia

1875. Conservative Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Anti-Gender Issues in Croatia, Slovakia, and Poland

Author:: Elif Tektas and Asuman Ozgur Keysan
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Alternative Politics
Institution:: Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
Abstract:: The anti-gender movement has been gaining prominence since the 2000s, supporting the idea that gender theory is wrong and unscientific. Conservative civil society organizations (CSOs) have played a leading role in promoting the ideas and demands of the movement. Recent studies have elaborated on the relationship between right-wing populism, Church and anti-gender movement; however, it is still significant to further the studies focussing on the involvement of conservative CSOs in the movement. To serve this aim, this paper will analyze the role of conservative CSOs in the anti-gender movement in Eastern Europe, with particular focus on three conservative groups in Croatia, Slovakia and Poland, providing a ground against gender equality politics. The online presence of three groups – “Vigilare”, “Aliancia za rodinu”, and Centrum Wspierania Inicjatyw dla Życia i Rodziny" will be investigated with thematic analysis. This study argues that contrary to the linear relationship between civil society and democratization established by the mainstream liberal view, conservative CSOs operating within anti-gender movements work to the detriment of democracy.
Topic:: Civil Society, Gender Issues, Conservatism, LGBT+, Sexuality, and Civil Society Organizations
Political Geography:: Europe, Poland, Croatia, and Slovakia

1876. Tea Farming Industry in Turkey and Social Economic History 1920-1960

Author:: Rahsan Inal
Publication Date:: 06-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Alternative Politics
Institution:: Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
Abstract:: This study aims to present the economic and social history of the tea farming industry in Turkey between 1920-1960. In Turkey, the “domestic tea” farming industry was initiated and continued under an initiative led by the nation-state at all stages. The present study investigates the historical process between 1920 and 1960 based on news reports from the central and local press, agricultural journals of the time, and parliamentary records, using also local, and regional historical resources. The state-led initiative is considered both an intervention that regulated social and economic structure in rural areas and a policy to encourage “domestic” tea consumption. The reasons underlying this intervention are addressed in two periods. In the first period, the primary goal was to overcome social and economic problems specific to Rize, the central city of tea cultivation, and the Eastern Black Sea Region, of which Rize is a part. In the second period of the state-led tea farming initiative, the goal was to complete the goals of the preceding period, and to satisfy the domestic demand for tea consumption through “national self-sufficiency” policies, and to start tea exports in the years to come. As a consequence of these efforts, not only tea has become a drink easily accessible by all social classes in Turkey today, but also the social structure in the tea-producing rural areas has been transformed.
Topic:: Agriculture, Nation-State, Industry, Farming, and Socioeconomics
Political Geography:: Europe, Turkey, and Asia

1877. The Sikh Struggle for Khalistan: Refocusing on the Punjabi Suba (Province) Movement in India

Author:: Amir Ali
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Political Studies
Institution:: Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:: This study problematizes the Sikh’s demand for Khalistan, a separate country of their own. To begin with, they demanded a greater degree of political autonomy within the domains of India. During the colonial period the Sikhs supported the Indian National Congress’s demand for the division of Punjab and inclusion of the East Punjab into Bharat. But soon after the creation of Bharat(India), `the Sikhs realized that they were betrayed and they started to vow for more autonomy. Initially, they felt that PEPSU was a step towards their aspirations but later they felt that they had missed the train and moved for Punjabi Province. After much deliberation and delaying tactics, finally the Punjab emerged on the Indian Territory in the form that always proved a nightmare for the Sikh community.
Topic:: Multiculturalism, European Union, Refugee Crisis, Arab Spring, and Autonomy
Political Geography:: Europe, India, and Syria

1878. A Critical Analysis of Fundamental Rights Under the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973

Author:: Naveed Ahmed
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Political Studies
Institution:: Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:: In general sense the right is considered that source by using that a person is being entitled for all obligation intended to other persons as per the approved limitation of law. The legal right after its recognition takes power for its enforceability from the Constitution. Therefore, in order to alter a legal right, it needs amendments in the Constitution by legislature. The philosophy of human rights is as old as the establishment of mankind. The right to life is considered as the most important and basic human right and is the foundation of all other rights guaranteed by the Constitution. However, where there is right there is always some obligation to enjoy that right. The right of equality demands that all the people have same rights and self-respect as they are born as free and entitle for equal protection as per the Constitution without any discrimination. Generally, human rights are deliberated as a matter of right other than special favor and privilege and must be accepted with full regard not being constrained to the territorial limitations. Therefore, the focus of this study is to critically analyze the most important fundamental rights and how seriously the judiciary of Pakistan perceives these rights in the context of Constitution of Pakistan, 1973. The study may provide an opportunity to build a bridge between the judiciary and the executive for the proper implementation of fundamental rights in Pakistan.
Topic:: Human Rights, Constitution, and Judiciary
Political Geography:: Pakistan and South Asia

1879. Intrastate Hydro Politics: Issues of Hydro Resource Management in India

Author:: Nusrat Asif, Asia Mukhtar, and Hafiz Abdur Rashid
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Political Studies
Institution:: Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:: This article addresses the intrastate hydro issues and conflicts in India. With the advancement of industrial development, the issue of hydro resource sharing and acquisition has emerged as a major issue in the country. Presently Indian states are facing serious disputes over the hydro resource sharing formulas and construction of mega water reservoirs over the shared water resources. Water deprivation has even compelled some states to demand for themselves a separate state, causing alienation from the Indian federation. This article strives to look into the parameters adopted by the federal government of India for resolution of the issues. It also investigates how India has been unable to adopt and devise a permanent hydro management policy. The expert view opines that if the grim hydro management situation is not addressed properly it may lead to water scarcity and consequent deteriorated internal political scenario. This article suggests that this issue can be resolved through viable hydro management strategies that involve all stakeholders with a positive purpose to satisfy each one of them. Ultimately, it is suggested that unless India improves its water sharing mechanisms with the neighboring countries, the internal strategies to resolve the issue would go in vain.
Topic:: Natural Resources, Water, and Disputes
Political Geography:: South Asia and India

1880. Issues and Conflicts in Balochistan: Implications for Pakistan

Author:: Muhammad Muzaffar, Imran Khan, and Zahid Yaseen
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Political Studies
Institution:: Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:: Strategically situated Balochistan, its immense assets and exceptionally inconceivable area have expanded its importance in the world. The external forces are appreciating its most easily open corridor to the huge resources of Central Asian States. From the 1947, the misunderstanding rose among the Pakistani government and Baloch individuals. Pakistan interplanetary toward Balochistan has exacerbated the condition in region especially with respect to the financial and social advantages of Baloch individuals which brought about blood insurgence in the part. In the use of its huge resources for the revenue of Pakistan and especially the Balochi peoples, insurgency has been the crucial difficulty. The brokenness of the election based procedure and interventions by the army especially in military governments has motivated the grievances of Baloch societies. In this article, we present the history of Baloch conflicts and other major issues of Balochistan and also draw some implications for the Pakistan.
Topic:: Security, Ethnicity, Conflict, and Military Government
Political Geography:: Pakistan, South Asia, and Balochistan

1881. Identity Crisis and Rights in Trouble: Transgenders in Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Author:: Muhammad Mumtaz Ali Khan
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Political Studies
Institution:: Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:: Transgenders have been facing grim situations since ages and in Pakistan since its inception. They have been murdered, raped, sexually abused, physically victimized, and discriminated in all fields of life. In wake of their grievances Supreme Court of Pakistan has laid down a milestone whereby they are recognised as subduct of human rights and allowed them to be a part of mainstream of society. However, at institutional level in Pakistan, whether it relates to education, health, or any other domain, it needs severe scrutiny for the implementation of the rights given to transgenders. Moreover, society as a whole, needs a big transition and drastic change of behaviours to be receptive and inclusive, so that the complexes faced by the transgenders through centuries be redressed and cured.
Topic:: Human Rights, Constitution, Transgender, and Gender Minorities
Political Geography:: Pakistan and South Asia

1882. Path Dependency and Implementation of Administrative Reforms: Case of Civil Services of Pakistan

Author:: Labiba Sheikh and Aisha Rizwan
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Political Studies
Institution:: Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the structure and characteristics of the civil services in Pakistan and determine the extent of application of path dependency principles to the civil services in Pakistan. The paper also aims to discuss the factors that have led to the path dependency in civil services of Pakistan. More specifically, this study will try to identify the set of initial conditions that triggered the events that led to path dependency in civil services of Pakistan and debate on the nature of the mechanisms that have kept the civil services of Pakistan on the same track, making it path dependent. Also in the context of path dependency, what have been the critical junctures in the path dependent model of civil services of Pakistan? This paper also explores the various attempts of reforming civil service since the creation of Pakistan and argues that path dependency has acted as a barrier to the civil service reforms in Pakistan. The study also proposes a theoretical model for conducting empirical research on the implementation of civil service reforms in Pakistan.
Topic:: Reform, Civil Services, and Path Dependency
Political Geography:: Pakistan and South Asia

1883. Issues of Shia Hazara Community of Quetta, Balochistan: An Overview

Author:: Gulshan Majeed
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Political Studies
Institution:: Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:: The issue of Hazara community living in Quetta has become vulnerable in the contemporary era. It has been observed that a major number of people from Shia Hazara community have been killed in different suicide attacks, particularly in Quetta and generally in other areas of the province. The contribution of Hazara community has remained positive in the development of Balochistan particularly and overall in the development of country. They did contribute in Bureaucracy, military, education, health and in different other administrative departments. Economically this community is perceived as a prosperous community but during past many years they have faced different sectarian incidents which have created a negative impact on the development of this community. They have been facing different problems in the field of education, health and in earning their livelihood. In this article researcher will critically evaluate various problems of this community and provide recommendations to address their actual grievances.
Topic:: Security, Minorities, Shia, Hazara People, and Vulnerability
Political Geography:: Pakistan and Balochistan

1884. Political Dynamics of Biraderi Politics An Empirical Analysis of District Toba Tek Singh

Author:: Nabila Akhtar and Qamar Fatima
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Political Studies
Institution:: Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:: The political behaviours of individuals towards the process of democratization of Punjab depend on the basic institutions of the society, i.e. family lineage, caste, clan and biraderies, etc. Being foremost institutions for political socialization of the individual, these have great impact on his/her political behaviour influencing his/her choice to elect a representative in electoral politics. Thus the individual does not fully enjoy his/her rational choice indeed. The aim of the study is to probe through applying the theory of rational choice, what are the political dynamics that strengthen and weaken the emancipating power of the individuals? To what extent these dynamics are significant predictors of biraderism in the process of democratization. For this empirical, descriptive and analytical research District Toba Tek Singh is selected for a case study with a minimum respondent 220 for the set of questionnaire scale PDBPQ* has made.
Topic:: Democratization, Politics, and Data
Political Geography:: Pakistan, South Asia, and Punjab

1885. De-Radicalization through Education Reforms: Comparative Analysis of Closed-Book and Open Book Examination Regime

Author:: Farhan Akhtar
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Political Studies
Institution:: Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:: The education system in Pakistan, especially its closed-book examination regime, is the legacy of the British Raj dating back to 1857. The examination style of the University of London was introduced in the subcontinent for native students at the high school level to promote English and with an incentive of preference in government jobs. Since the creation of Pakistan, the closed-book examination system, instead of evolving with the changing requirements, got further strengthened where it was also introduced in the higher education in the country. A closed-book examination system promotes rote learning and memorization among the students to fetch good grades. The entire purpose of education becomes questionable when student's efficacy and intellect are assessed in the light of marks attained. The GAP culture of educational institutions is detrimental to the students and society alike. Education in itself has shrunk to passing the exams for promotion to the next level or attaining jobs rather than developing the personalities and transforming the youth into thinking minds and effective, contributing members of the society. Education in Pakistan is merely a test of memory where those with good memory skills who can reproduce the textbooks as verbatim attain good marks and are considered educated and knowledgeable, and failures are discarded from the society. Closed-book examinations are at a tangent to critical, reflective, and creative thinking skills. The analytical abilities of the students of this exam regime are at its lowest ebb. In order to address the menace of extremism, violence, increasing intolerance, and exclusivity in the society, there is a need to find an alternate in the shape of an open-book examination regime that will promote critical, reflective, and problem-solving skills among the youth. Open-book exams assess the true analytical skills of the students, and since this type of examination can only be attempted by students with conceptual clarity and enhanced understanding instead of parroting and rote learning.
Topic:: Education, Pedagogy, Political Extremism, Critical Thinking, and Intolerance
Political Geography:: Pakistan and South Asia

1886. Influencer Marketing on Instagram: Effects of Promotional Posts on Purchasing Behavior of Consumers

Author:: Muhammad Rashid Khan, Maryam Iqbal, and Ayesha Jahan Lodhi
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Political Studies
Institution:: Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:: Celebrities around the world have huge followers who trust their words and experiences. Marketing with the involvement of celebrities act as aristocracy in increase consumers behavior of buying product. Given study was intent to found the effects of promotional posts with influencer marketing through Instagram on purchasing behavior of cosumers. Experiemental research design was use to experiment the phenomenon for patterns of behavior, livingness and rate of buying increase with influencer marketing on Instagram. Instagram users were selected as sample of the study and 203 participants were selected as sample using convenient sampling technique. Self-Constructed questionnaire was used to collect responses of the participants after checking reliability and validity of the questionnaire through piloting. Participants demographic characteristic were measured for getting standard deviation, mean, frequency and percentages. Product Moment Correlation analysis of association between two variables was followed to found relationship between influencer marketing on Instagram and purchasing behavior of consumers. Univariate analysis of variance within group for the effects of promotional marketing with influencer on Instagram was carried out. Results of the study revealed that there was significant positive correlation between consumers purchasing behavior and influencer marketing on Instagram. There was also found significant differences in mean and variance between two groups on the effects of influencer marketing through Instagram professional posts.
Topic:: Social Media, Consumer Behavior, and Instagram
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1887. Contemporary Ecological Paradigms and Emerging Challenges of Water Security Nexus for Pakistan

Author:: Asma Siddique
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Political Studies
Institution:: Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:: Water Securitization is key hindrance to socio-economic and human development for a water-based economy. The trajectory relations among states, hydrological vulnerabilities, multi-faced water meagerness with crucial water sharing challenges are prompting geo-strategic and geo-political arduousness in South Asia. The chief intension of research is to elaborate the eminence of extreme water belligerences related with traditional state security concerns predominantly in case of Pakistan and India which are co-basin rival states of Indus Rivers System. Pakistan being single basin and lower riparian is profoundly reliant on Indus Basin (a lifeline for the country) due to its agrarian economy. The ever-increasing gap between demand and supply is instigating water scarceness, possessing numerous domestic aspects, political and climatic factors, Indian hydro-hegemonic intensions, etc. The ideology of water securitization along with national security is toxic in body politics, ensuing hydrological security complexes, security dilemmas and sufferer anxiety syndrome for Pakistan, elaborated by Securitization Theory paradigms. The research is based on descriptive and deductive reasoning approaches, mixed research methodology and utilization of secondary data resources. There is a dire need of dynamic responses, establishment of operative institutions, mutual cooperation at all levels, with de-securitization of riparian and hydrological security discourses can be valued, if not then it could intensify the human, national and hydro-security challenges for concerning states.
Topic:: Water, Human Security, Ecology, Securitization, and Rivers
Political Geography:: Pakistan and South Asia

1888. China’s Economic Diplomacy in South Asia: Emerging Dynamics and Regional Implications

Author:: Usman Qais
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Political Studies
Institution:: Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:: China is assertively developing its relations with South Asian states. Constructions of huge projects and massive economic investments demonstrate China’s intentions for long term presence in the region. Apart from seeking lucrative trade opportunities, the regional seaport facilities initiated by China primarily for economic purposes have also been brought secure and easy access of China into Indian Ocean via South Asia region. Interestingly most of these regional projects are being financed by Chinese state owned enterprises which seem to be a reflection of China’s global intentions of dramatic economic expansion in different regions. However, China’s true concerns in South Asia can possibly be explored only by identifying the dynamics of its economic integrations with regional states. Certainly it would assist further to anticipate about regional implications escalating by China’s regional integrations. That is the foremost purpose of this study to understand the dynamics of China’s economic diplomacy in South Asia and identifying its possible implications for the region.
Topic:: Regional Integration, Trade, Integration, and Economic Diplomacy
Political Geography:: China, South Asia, and Asia

1889. Thinking beyond Democracy and Freedom: A Post 9/11 War on Terrorism Scenario

Author:: Rana Eijaz Ahmad and Muhammad Sajid
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Political Studies
Institution:: Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:: This paper is going to explore the world beyond democracy and the shrouded concept of freedom. In the world of 'globalution' where revolution comes through Multinational Corporations and any specific form of government does not work but tolerance. Tolerance for this paper is all about respect for each other’s' ideology, opinion, and status. It makes us wise enough to make our surroundings a harmonized and liveable place. The dichotomous nature of societies demands space for each other. However, we humans are supposed to respect each other's existence without any specifications. We are just human beings instead of Confucianists, Communists, Capitalists, Hindus, Christians, and Muslims. Humans are born free but their specifications have made them intolerant towards each other. Tolerance is a basic ingredient of democracy, which is a means to an end, not an end itself. Freedom can only be observed with impositions and impositions are against the concept of freedom. Thus, this paper will conclude the outcome of the nature of the modern sovereign state system. It is teemed with liberalism (a mixture of liberalism and realism) and liberacantilism (a mixture of liberalism and mercantilism). Misinterpretations of the West have made certain errors during the post 9/11 socalled war against terrorism. These errors cumulatively transform terrorism into 'errorism'. This 'errorism' is bringing home the world that inequality and imbalances are occurring horizontally and vertically making this world disorder. Industrialization is going on in the West and the population is increasing in the rest, breaking the "iron cage of liberalism." It demands a glocal system of governance that could sustain people's co-existence at home and abroad. The triangulation method with primary and secondary sources would be used in the process of this research.
Topic:: Globalization, Democracy, 9/11, War on Terror, and Freedom
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1890. Can and “should” Qualitative Research Be ValueFree? Understanding the Epistemological Tussle between Positivists and Interpretivists

Author:: Dayyab Gillani
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Political Studies
Institution:: Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:: This paper seeks to address the question of value-free research in qualitative methods. The primary argument of the paper is that qualitative research is not value-free because it is not intended to be as such. It analyzes this question by tracing the roots of qualitative research at the ontological and epistemological level. It argues that qualitative research tradition has evolved out of constructivism and interpretivism both of which prioritize people’s interpretation and discount objectivity in social science research. Furthermore, the paper argues that social science research cannot be value-free because of strong ethical considerations. All the cases presented in the paper will fundamentally try to show that all qualitative research is essentially subjective not just because of the impediments but because it is not designed to be value-free.
Topic:: Ethics, Constructivism, Ontology, Social Science, Qualitative Research, Subjectivity, Epistemology, Interpretivism, and Objectivity
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1891. Foucauldian Panopticon: A Model for U.S. Cyber Surveillance

Author:: Nida Sheikh and Muhammad Usman Askari
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Political Studies
Institution:: Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:: Unlike the conventional means of surveillance in the past, cyber surveillance has become a great security tactic due to being technologically advanced, ungoverned and holistic in scope. In context of contemporary international relations, China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are using the components of information warfare to serve their strategic interests. The internationally competitive trends of information technology and surveillance make U.S. more concerned about its national security and defeating the information warfare threat. Being a global leader, U.S. is constantly developing its cyber capabilities to contain the rise of China.On account of persistent threat perception of cyber intrusions from China, U.S. has been using cyber surveillance as a counter measure. U.S has integrated its cyber capabilities with military operations in the form of aerial, land and naval surveillance to ensure its national security. The present research aims to explore that how cyber surveillance has become an indispensable component of U.S. defense strategy? Michel Foucault’s surveillance theory has been used as a foundation of the study to analyze the implication of surveillance and power in context of U.S. defense policy. The study used qualitative content analysis and furthermore, directed approach has been used. The research is mainly bifold; initially it endeavors to analyze U.S. national strategies within the timeframe of 2015-2020 and subsequently discusses U.S. cyber surveillance capabilities, using the lens of Foucauldian panopticon.
Topic:: National Security, Infrastructure, Surveillance, Cyberspace, Michel Foucault, Power, Panopticon, and Threat Perception
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

1892. Baku Dialogues

Author:: Fariz Ismailzade
Publication Date:: 10-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Baku Dialogues
Institution:: ADA University
Abstract:: “Baku Dialogues” is a series of events featuring leading world personalities who will address subjects of current international interest by presenting their views and participating in discussion of these subjects with interested Azerbaijani and international figures. These presentations and discussions, along with other submissions, will be recorded in the “Baku Dialogues”, ADA University’s new journal of record for academic and policy research.
Topic:: Diplomacy, International Cooperation, Politics, and Conflict
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1893. ‘Azeri’ vs. ‘Azerbaijani’ Language and Identity in Nation-building

Author:: Jala Garibova
Publication Date:: 08-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Baku Dialogues
Institution:: ADA University
Abstract:: Whether in everyday conversations, media discussions, or social media, not infrequently do we hear assorted debates regarding the use of the term ‘Azeri’ in reference to the titular ethnic group and the titular language of the Republic of Azerbaijan (as well as those who belong to this same group and speak this same language beyond its borders). While the use of ‘Azeri’—although restricted to certain domains—can be traced back many years, debates around the use of this term (and its derivatives) have intensified within the framework of national revival tendencies in post‑Soviet Azerbaijan
Topic:: Nationalism, Language, Identity, and Nation Building
Political Geography:: Asia and Azerbaijan

1894. Achieving Full Resolution to the Karabakh Conflict

Author:: Steven J. Klein
Publication Date:: 08-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Baku Dialogues
Institution:: ADA University
Abstract:: Azerbaijan’s decisive defeat of Armenia in the Second Karabakh War is certainly cause for optimism that any remaining issues between the two countries can be resolved through diplomacy rather than military might. After all, Azerbaijan managed to recover all the territories outside the Karabakh enclave captured and occupied by Armenia since the 1990s—as well as parts of the former Nagorno‑Karabakh Autonomous Oblast itself—in addition to forcing Armenia to withdraw all its troops from sovereign Azerbaijani territory. However, past indisputable successes in other conflicts indicate that Azerbaijan must be careful not to overestimate its capabilities to translate the recent military triumph into full resolution of the Nagorno‑ Karabakh conflict. While it is tempting to declare the conflict over and to talk strictly of post‑conflict construction and development, a handful of countries have painfully learned that such declarations can be premature. For instance, in August 1982 Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin predicted that the imminent defeat of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Lebanon portended 40 years of peace; and in May 2003 U.S. President George W. Bush declared “Mission Accomplished” after ousting Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. Both of these declarations came back to haunt the respective countries that had believed they had put behind them the conflict at issue. The crucial element that both of the aforementioned leaders had missed was that they did not control completely the fate of the conflict they chose to treat as being resolved. In Israel’s case, the PLO relocated to Tunis, from where it was able to rebuild its power base and receive support from the Soviet Union, while Hezbollah—which didn’t even exist at the time of the defeat of the PLO in 1982—arose with the support of Iran to become a much more formidable and menacing force in southern Lebanon than the PLO had been. In the case of America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the resulting power vacuum allowed numerous external forces to enter the picture and disrupt the plans of the United States. Moreover, corruption and disorganization within the governments established with American help contributed to the deterioration of stability in the region.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Military Strategy, Conflict, and Peace
Political Geography:: Europe, Asia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan

1895. Spotlight on Normalization Armenian-Azerbaijani Relations in the Wake of the Second Karabakh War

Author:: Gulshan Pashayeva
Publication Date:: 08-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Baku Dialogues
Institution:: ADA University
Abstract:: More than half a year has passed since the end of the Second Karabakh War and the signing of the Moscow‑brokered trilateral statement by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, and the President of the Russian Federation on a complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno‑Karabakh conflict. These developments have ended the almost 30‑year‑long illegal Armenian occupation, restoring Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. They have also contributed to the ultimate implementation of numerous decisions and resolutions adopted by various international organizations, including four resolutions of the UN Security Council (822, 853, 874, and 884) demanding the immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories. At the same time, a new political reality has emerged in the region as a result of the war. This has brought about at least seven implications:
Topic:: Conflict, Peace, Normalization, and Rivalry
Political Geography:: Europe, Asia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan

1896. Winning the Peace Azerbaijan’s Karabakh Reintegration Challenges

Author:: F. Murat Ozkaleli
Publication Date:: 08-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Baku Dialogues
Institution:: ADA University
Abstract:: The Karabakh conflict was not resolved peacefully. Decades of unfruitful negotiations held under the auspices of the Co‑chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (France, Russia, and the United States) produced no diplomatic solution. The 30‑year‑long stalemate ended when Azerbaijan re‑gained its occupied territories with a decisive military victory after 44 days of fighting. After the Second Karabakh War, Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity in conformity with four UN Security Council resolutions. Formally, Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over all Karabakh was restored through the signing of a trilateral settlement that was reached between Azerbaijan and Armenia on November 10th, 2010, with Russia being the facilitator and third signatory. The settlement, which is more than a conventional truce but less than a full peace agreement, ensured the return of the remaining five occupied Azerbaijani areas immediately. A five‑kilometer‑wide corridor connecting Armenia to Karabakh was opened through Lachin, with control granted to a newly‑established Russian peacekeeping force, which also took over control of Khankendi and some surrounding areas populated by ethnic‑Armenians. Despite some delays, the trilateral settlement is being enforced and the Armenian occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories came to an end in early 2021. Other provisions of the settlement, such as the establishment of the free movement of all Azerbaijani persons, services, and capital to the region, is to follow.
Topic:: Diplomacy, United Nations, Conflict, Peace, and Reintegration
Political Geography:: Europe, Asia, and Azerbaijan

1897. Georgia After the Second Karabakh War

Author:: Mamuka Tsereteli
Publication Date:: 08-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Baku Dialogues
Institution:: ADA University
Abstract:: The outcome of the Second Karabakh War between Azerbaijan and Armenia significantly transformed the geopolitical reality in the South Caucasus, with implications for the wider Black Sea‑Caspian region. The unsettled political geography of the South Caucasus and the ethno‑political separatism fueled by external actors since the early 1990s left bleeding wounds on the bodies of the newly re‑emerged sovereign states of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. These conflicts have determined the trajectory of the geopolitical developments of the region for the last 30 years, including on the foreign policy orientations of these new states. The conflicts in the South Caucasus were the primary challenge for transforming the strategic assets of this region into greater political and economic success. Three major conflict areas in the South Caucasus were former autonomous regions, created in the early Soviet period: Nagorno‑Karabakh, Abkhazia, and the Tskhinvali region, what was called South Ossetia. (Briefly: the latter term was introduced by the Soviets in the 1920s as a name for the newly created autonomous area in Georgia, populated by Ossetians alongside ethnic Georgians. The historic homeland of Ossetians is located to the north of the Greater Caucasus mountains. Following the Soviet tradition of planting ethno‑political time bombs, Ossetia proper—located in the Russian Federation—was named North Ossetia, while the Tskhinvali region of Georgia—with the Ossetian population at the time concentrated in the border areas with Russia—was named South Ossetia.) As of today, all three of these areas are self‑proclaimed independent states, are formally ruled by de facto governments, and saw fierce military confrontation in the early 1990s. In 2008, the Tskhinvali region became the battleground between Russian and Georgian forces. In 2020, Azerbaijan regained through a combination of military action and diplomatic brinksmanship all seven regions outside of Nagorno‑ Karabakh that had been occupied by Armenia, as well as one‑third of the former Nagorno‑Karabakh region. In the case of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia, as of mid‑2021, these territories remain, in reality, governed by Russian occupational forces. The Russian military influence was inserted into Karabakh after the war that ended on November 10th, 2020, with Russian peacekeepers playing an increasing role in the governance of the region. In terms of geopolitical orientation, Armenia willingly allowed Russian troops onto its territory, seeing them as a security guarantee and deterrent against Azerbaijan. Georgia aligned itself with the Western powers, determined to join NATO and the EU. The conflicts on Georgian territory are seen as punishment from Russia for Georgia’s pro‑Western focus. As a result, there has been a heavy Russian military presence in the separatist areas of Georgia since the Russian invasion to Georgia in 2008.
Topic:: Security, Economics, Military Strategy, Conflict, and Peace
Political Geography:: Europe, Asia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia

1898. What Do Energy Sanctions Say About the World?

Author:: Aurelie Bros
Publication Date:: 08-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Baku Dialogues
Institution:: ADA University
Abstract:: Statecraft is often understood as the art of conducting state affairs in order to exert a direct influence on other actors in the international system in order to get them to do what they would not do otherwise. To achieve their goals, policymakers are able to employ a variety of levers such as diplomacy, propaganda, military statecraft, and economic statecraft. According to Elizabeth Ellis of the Inter‑ Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre of the University of Leeds, the latter category encompasses all economic means—including recourse to economic sanctions— that might be used by international actors with the intention of (i) preventing objectionable policy or behavior, (ii) sending a message, or (iii) punishing unlawful policy or behavior. Princeton University’s David A. Baldwin wrote in 1985 that economic sanctions are divided into two main categories: those with a punitive function and those aimed at encouraging or rewarding. He also noted that they impact trade (e.g. embargo, quotas, and (un)favorable tariff discriminations) as well as capital (e.g. aid suspension, controls on imports or exports, and (dis)advantageous taxation), and that they can be used wisely or unwisely, justly or unjustly, depending on the situation at hand. Although economic sanctions have a long history, with origins in Antiquity, they are unequally distributed over time. For example, their use greatly increased during the post‑World War II era, especially in the energy sector. This increasing use of energy sanctions has been particularly noticeable since the early 1970s. Over the past several decades, they have essentially become a way for energy producers and consumers to exert disapproval over one another and to weaken those considered to be morally responsible for objectionable policies (not always related to energy issues). Energy sanctions, therefore, are often paired with non‑energy economic sanctions targeting a large array of goods and services. For example, an oil embargo can take place in tandem with nuclear‑related sanctions aimed at stopping military use of civilian nuclear power technology—as in the Iranian case. Energy sanctions are always deeply rooted in a wider political and economic environment, reflecting the global order of their time. This essay will focus mainly on the bipolar international system led by the United States and the Soviet Union between 1947 and 1991, which was followed by a post‑Cold War international system in which the United States assumed the role of the world’s leading power, supported by Western‑dominated organizations. Nevertheless, this unipolar, rules‑based order is now under pressure, perhaps even duress—some argue it is coming to an end.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Energy Policy, Sanctions, and Conflict
Political Geography:: Global Focus

1899. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

Author:: Ali Haider Saleem and Arhama Siddiqa
Publication Date:: 08-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Baku Dialogues
Institution:: ADA University
Abstract:: The term Silk Road is used by scholars to describe a network of trading posts and markets linking East Asia to the Mediterranean. In terms of geographical context, the editors of Baku Dialogues define the region as the “geographic space looking west past Anatolia to the warm seas beyond; north across the Caspian towards the Great Plain and the Great Steppe; east to the peaks of the Altai and the arid sands of the Taklamakan; and south towards the Hindu Kush and the Indus valley, looping down around in the direction of the Persian Gulf and across the Fertile Crescent.” States falling under this parasol include China, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, the five Central Asian republics, Azerbaijan, and Russia. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which traverses several continents, is a long‑term, strategic investment plan with the objective of facilitating economic integration of countries in line with the historic Silk Road. In April 2015, China’s President, Xi Jinping announced the China‑Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which amounts to BRI’s flagship project. This enterprise, which encompasses road, rail, and oil pipeline links, will help Beijing advance its influence across South and Central Asia.
Topic:: Economics, International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, Bilateral Relations, Infrastructure, and Silk Road
Political Geography:: Pakistan, China, and Asia

1900. Azerbaijan’s Pathways After the Second Karabakh War

Author:: Laurence Broers
Publication Date:: 04-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Baku Dialogues
Institution:: ADA University
Abstract:: n the aftermath of the Second Karabakh War, Azerbaijan stands at a critical moment in its history. The war has resolved many of the issues driving Azerbaijani grievances over the last three decades. Yet it leaves others both unresolved and entangled within a new regional configuration that more than ever hinges on the interactions of external great powers and the fractured local politics of the South Caucasus. The regionalization of the Armenian‑Azerbaijani conflict— meaning its transition to a Russian‑Turkish condominium— ultimately links the conflict to the vagaries of what Pavel Baev and Kemal Kirişci call the “serpentine” relations between Moscow and Ankara in the era of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin. The conflict is now one link in a string of conflict theatres where Russia and Turkey are involved, and across which Moscow and Ankara may negotiate trade‑offs that have little to do with the interests of local parties. To be sure, Azerbaijan’s closeness to Turkey assuages concerns over Russian influence for now. And the strategic, rather than tactical, outlook on Azerbaijani‑Turkish partnership means that few in Azerbaijan believe that Turkey would ever engage in trade‑offs that cross Azerbaijani red lines. This belief is reflected in the experience of the Turkish‑ Armenian “football diplomacy” normalization initiative that took place in in 2008‑2009. Nevertheless, while the Armenian‑Azerbaijani conflict is now seen by many in Azerbaijan as resolved, it has in fact been repackaged and embedded in a new, highly complex, and unpredictable web of linkages.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Conflict, Peace, and Strategic Interests
Political Geography:: Europe, Asia, and Azerbaijan

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