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10252. Is the European Union Ready for Turkey?
- Author:
- Soner Cagaptay
- Publication Date:
- 10-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- On October 6, the European Union (EU) Commission, the executive arm of the EU, will issue its much-anticipated report on whether Turkey has satisfied the EU's accession rules, the Copenhagen Criteria. The report will serve as a recommendation to the EU Council, the top ministerial body of the union, which will meet on December 17 to decide on Turkey's EU accession prospects. Based on the commission's recommendations, the council will either open accession talks with Turkey -- paving the way toward the country's eventual EU membership -- or keep Ankara's application, which dates back to 1987, on the backburner. Is Ankara ready for the EU? And, if so, is Brussels ready for Turkey?
- Topic:
- Security and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, Middle East, and Arab Countries
10253. The IAEA and Iran: The Perils of Inaction
- Author:
- Michael Eisenstadt
- Publication Date:
- 09-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- Deep divisions among the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), currently meeting in Vienna, continue to hamper U.S. efforts on two key fronts: pressing Iran to suspend work on its nuclear program, and referring allegations of Iranian violations of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to the UN Security Council. With the current meeting unlikely to produce tangible steps to halt Iran's nuclear program, it is important to understand the potential consequences of Iran's acquisition of a nuclear weapons capability.
- Topic:
- Security, Cold War, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Iran, Middle East, and Arab Countries
10254. Mounting Humanitarian Catastrophe in Sudan: Implications for U.S. Policy
- Author:
- Michael Rubin
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- Secretary of State Colin Powell will visit Sudan on Tuesday, June 29, stopping first in Khartoum before visiting the war-torn western province of Darfur. Powell will be the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Sudan since Cyrus Vance in 1978. In addition to meetings with Sudanese officials, Powell will confer with UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, who will be in Sudan as part of a three-week tour of Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.
- Topic:
- Security and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, Sudan, Middle East, Asia, and Arab Countries
10255. Istanbul NATO Summit: Bridging Brussels and Baghdad?
- Author:
- Soner Cagaptay, Simon Serfaty, and Philip Gordon
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- On June 22, 2004, Philip Gordon, Simon Serfaty, and Soner Cagaptay addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. Dr. Gordon is a senior fellow and director of the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution. He has also served as director for European affairs on the National Security Council. Dr. Serfaty is the director of the Europe Program and the Zbigniew Brzezinski chair in global security and geostrategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is also a senior professor of U.S. foreign policy at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Dr. Cagaptay is coordinator of The Washington Institute's Turkish Research Program. The following is a rapporteur's summary of their remarks.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, NATO, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Washington, and Middle East
10256. European Union Elections: Implications for Middle East Policy
- Author:
- Simon Henderson
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- On June 22, 2004, Philip Gordon, Simon Serfaty, and Soner Cagaptay addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. Dr. Gordon is a senior fellow and director of the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution. He has also served as director for European affairs on the National Security Council. Dr. Serfaty is the director of the Europe Program and the Zbigniew Brzezinski chair in global security and geostrategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is also a senior professor of U.S. foreign policy at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Dr. Cagaptay is coordinator of The Washington Institute's Turkish Research Program. The following is a rapporteur's summary of their remarks.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Washington, Middle East, and Arabia
10257. UN Plan Fails In Cyprus: Implications For Turkey, The European Union, And The United States
- Author:
- Soner Cagaptay
- Publication Date:
- 04-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- On April 24, Greek and Turkish citizens of Cyprus voted on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's plan to resolve the long-standing dispute on the island. The elusive Cyprus issue once again evaded solution: although 65 percent of the Turkish Cypriots voted to accept the Annan plan, 76 percent of Greek Cypriots said no. The plan — born out of recent UN-sponsored negotiations between Turkey and Greece, as well as Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaderships — envisaged the unification of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), recognized only by Turkey, and the internationally recognized Government of Cyprus (GOC) in the ethnically Greek south into a federal state ahead of the May 1 deadline when the GOC is scheduled to enter the European Union (EU) representing the whole island. Why was the Annan plan accepted by the Turkish Cypriots, yet rejected by the Greek Cypriots? What are the implications of the new situation for Turkey, the EU, and the United States?
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, Turkey, and Middle East
10258. Terror Attacks and Elections: The Challenge for Europe
- Author:
- Simon Henderson and Patrick Clawson
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- Three days after the terrorist bombings in Madrid, the pro-American, conservative Spanish government was defeated in general elections, to the surprise of many observers. Although officials have not yet confirmed that the al-Qaeda terrorist network was responsible for the attacks, the polling result was immediately interpreted as reflecting electorate anger at retiring Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, and the belief that his foreign policy had made Spain a target of foreign terrorists. An immediate pledge to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq by incoming Socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is a blow to the Bush administration's Iraq policy and represents, albeit unintentionally, a major political triumph for al-Qaeda.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, America, Europe, Middle East, and Arab Countries
10259. Europe, Syria, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Author:
- Dalia Dassa Kaye
- Publication Date:
- 01-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- Syrian president Bashar al-Asad's January 6 interview with London's Daily Telegraph -- in which he indicated that Syria would not relinquish its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) capabilities until Israel did so also -- suggests that Syria is not likely to follow Libya's recent example of foregoing WMD in order to improve relations with the West. Still, Europe's newly aggressive approach to countering proliferation offers an opportunity for greater transatlantic coordination and the potential to reap concrete results.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, Middle East, Arab Countries, and Syria
10260. Longevity in Russia's Regions: Do Poverty and Low Public Health Spending Kill?
- Author:
- Oleksiy Ivaschenko
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- This paper examines the impact of changes in poverty and public health spending on inter-temporal variations in longevity using a unique regional-level dataset that covers 77 regions of Russia over the period 1994-2000. The dynamic panel data model is used as a tool for the empirical analysis. The model is estimated using the Arellano-Bond dynamic panel data estimator. The changes in regional levels of poverty and real per capita public health expenditure are identified to be significant determinants of the variations observed in longevity over time. The empirical results indicate that while male life expectancy responds more strongly than female life expectancy to economic circumstances, the latter appears to be more predisposed to the influence of public health spending. The results support the idea that the (positive) effect of public health spending on life expectancy is larger for those regions that experience higher incidences of poverty. The paper also finds that the financial crisis which hit Russia at the end of 1998 had a significant negative effect on longevity independently of the factors directly related to poverty and public health spending.
- Topic:
- Human Welfare, Political Economy, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10261. Chechnya Weekly:Observers Note Tenth Anniversary Of Chechen Intervention
- Author:
- Andrei Smirnov and Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 12-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- December 11 marked the tenth anniversary of the Russian military intervention that began the first of the two modern Russo-Chechen wars. Russian, Western and Chechen media alike featured commentaries on the start of then President Boris Yeltsin's campaign to “restore constitutional order” in the breakaway republic and what has happened over the intervening decade.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10262. Chechnya Weekly: Turkish Demonstrators Denounce Putin
- Author:
- Emil Pain and Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 12-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- Two thousand demonstrators marched in Istanbul, Turkey to protest President Vladimir Putin's visit to Ankara, Newsru.com reported on December 7. The demonstrators carried placards reading “Murderer Putin!” and “Get Out of Turkey!” A group of protesters from among Turkey's large community with roots in the Caucasus laid wreaths at the Russian consulate in Istanbul.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Asia, and Istanbul
10263. Chechnya Weekly: Alksnis Wants Soldiers' Mothers Investigated
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 10-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- Viktor Alksnis, one of the Russian parliament's most strident ultra-nationalists, harshly assailed the Union of Committees of Soldiers' Mothers last week for its recent offer to help promote peace negotiations in Chechnya. Alksnis, a member of the pro-Kremlin Rodina (Motherland) party, called on the federal procuracy to investigate that human-rights movement's sources of funding. The clear implication was that the soldiers' mothers are in league with western forces deliberately seeking to destroy the Russian military.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10264. Chechnya Weekly: Appointed Governors: Disastrous For The Caucasus?
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 10-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- The federal government has no visible long-term strategy for handling the crisis in the North Caucasus, one of Russia's leading specialists in the region told correspondent Dmitry Taratorin of Novye izvestia in an interview published on October 15. “The federal center's policy for the Caucasus can be stated exhaustively in the phrase 'we have power, so we don't need wisdom,'” said Sergei Arutiunov, director of the section for the study of the peoples of the Caucasus in Russian Academy of Science's Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10265. Chechnya Weekly: Beslan Terrorists Executed Schoolboys…
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell and Zaindi Choltaev
- Publication Date:
- 10-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- Further confirmation that the Beslan terrorists killed schoolboys, not just grown men, in cold blood came in an October 4 article in Novaya gazeta by Kseniya Leonova, who interviewed 14-year-old ex-hostage Andrei Kuznetsov and his mother. Andrei is convinced that his short height saved his life; he said that the terrorists forced his taller schoolmates along with the adult male hostages to carry boxes of weapons up from the basement—”and then they shot many of them.”
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10266. Chechnya Weekly: Officials Statements On Beslan: A Study In Obfuscation
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 09-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- One of the most striking features of the Beslan atrocity and its aftermath has been the unwillingness of Russia's top leadership to state clearly and candidly what it knows, or even what it thinks it knows. Though officials have repeatedly made with an air of great certitude statements that later turned out to be untrue—or could be seen to be manifestly untrue even while those officials were making them—most often these statements have come from mid-echelon officials, not from the very top. Vladimir Putin's public stance has shown a combination of fanaticism and evasiveness. Hence the importance of the detailed oral report to Putin by Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov, broadcast in full by the state-controlled electronic media on September 8.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10267. Chechnya Weekly: Officials Statements On Beslan: A Study In Obfuscation
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 09-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- One of the most striking features of the Beslan atrocity and its aftermath has been the unwillingness of Russia's top leadership to state clearly and candidly what it knows, or even what it thinks it knows. Though officials have repeatedly made with an air of great certitude statements that later turned out to be untrue—or could be seen to be manifestly untrue even while those officials were making them—most often these statements have come from mid-echelon officials, not from the very top. Vladimir Putin's public stance has shown a combination of fanaticism and evasiveness. Hence the importance of the detailed oral report to Putin by Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov, broadcast in full by the state-controlled electronic media on September 8.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10268. Chechnya Weekly: Some Passports Are More Equal Than Others
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 08-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- As readers will recall from the July 28 issue of Chechnya Weekly, the strongest rival to the Kremlin's preferred candidate in this coming weekend's special election for the presidency of Chechnya's pro- Moscow administration was forced out of the race last month. The election authorities claimed that the details in Malik Saidullaev's passport were not fully accurate. In an August 5 article for Novaya gazeta entitled “Passportgate,” Orkhan Dzhemal has found some piquant details about the passport of Kremlin favorite Alu Alkhanov.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10269. Chechnya Weekly: Saidullaev Removed From Chechnya's Presidential Race
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 07-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- On July 22, the election officials of Chechnya's pro-Moscow administration formally rejected the registration of Malik Saidullaev as a candidate in the republic's special presidential election scheduled for the end of August. The pro-Moscow authorities thus removed from contention the one serious competitor to Kremlin-anointed candidate Alu Alkhanov, who is now being given saturation, Putinstyle coverage by the state-controlled broadcast media.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10270. Chechnya Weekly: Abramov Narrowly Escapes Assassination…
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 07-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- A mine exploded in Grozny on July 13 just as a large, highly guarded convoy was passing which included the car of Sergei Abramov, who has of course been acting president of Chechnya's pro-Moscow administration since the assassination of Akhmad Kadyrov more than two months ago. Abramov, who was riding an armored Volga limousine, was not harmed—but one of his bodyguards in an accompanying car was killed and another wounded. Abramov's adviser Andrei Aleksintsev was also seriously wounded. An official of the republic's Interior Ministry told journalists that the mine was probably detonated by a remote control.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10271. Chechnya Weekly: Holocaust Museum Hosts Panel On Chechnya
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 07-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- This evening (Wednesday, July 14), the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., is to host a panel of experts on the topic “Chechnya after a Decade of Destruction.” Featured speakers are Chechen medical doctor Khassan Baiev, author of The Oath: A Chechen Surgeon Under Fire; Rachel Denber of Human Rights Watch; and photojournalist Stanley Greene, author of Open Wound: Chechnya, 1994-2003. The panel is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10272. Chechnya Weekly: Federal forces failed to block escaping ingushetia raiders.
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 07-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- Just how passive was the federal military during last month's rebel raid on Ingushetia? Issa Kostoev, who represents Ingushetia in the upper house of the federal parliament, provided further revelations in an interview with Sanobar Shermatova published by the weekly Moskovskie novosti on July 1. According to Kostoev, federal forces were summoned from neighboring Chechnya and Northern Ossetia, but halted at the Ingushetian border, just a few kilometers from the guerrilla attacks. “It's obvious even to someone with no military expertise,” he said, “that the guerrillas were going to have to leave [Ingushetia] in the direction of the Assa Gorge [in southern Ingushetia]; all other routes were closed to them. And that is just what they did. One group escaped to the gorge through the village of Nesterovskaya [near Ingushetia's eastern border with Chechnya], another through Surkhakhi and Ekazhevo [just southeast of Nazran]. It would seem that those were the places where they should have been blocked—but that was not done.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10273. Chechnya Weekly: Ingushetia Raids Leave Officials Blaming One Another.
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- On June 27, a conflict surfaced between Ingushetia's president Murat Zyazikov and his former employer, the Federal Security Service (FSB). According to a report published that same day by the Newsru.com website, the Ingushetian branch of the FSB claimed it learned in advance that a guerrilla raid was being prepared and warned Zyazikov's Interior Ministry. Zyazikov denied the claim, telling the Interfax news agency that “we did not receive any advance information about preparations for an attack by the guerrillas.” The FSB, however, stuck to its position: According to report posted on the Grani.ru website later on June 27, Sergei Koryakov, head of the FSB's branch in Ingushetia, backed his deputy Andrei Konin's earlier claim that the agency received information about the impending attack half an hour before it started. Directly contradicting Zyazikov, Koryakov continued to insist that the FSB had shared this information with Ingushetia's Interior Ministry. Zyazikov, his turn, was quoted by Izvestia on June 28 as holding fast to his own version. He hinted that those who failed to share advance information—“you know who they are”—were guilty either of “treason, or carelessness, or disorderly behavior, or irresponsibility; I think that all of the above were present in equal measure.”
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10274. Chechnya Weekly:Guerrillas Strike Ingushetia's Capital.
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- In what appeared to be a bold escalation in tactics and targeting by Chechnya's separatist guerrillas, the headquarters of Ingushetia's interior ministry in the republic's capital of Nazran was seized on the evening of June 21 by gunmen shouting an Islamic slogan popular among those guerrillas. Such a direct infantry assault on such a key central headquarters of the pro-Moscow authorities, as distinct from a suicide truck-bombing or the clandestine planting of a mine, had not taken place for a long time either in Ingushetia or in Chechnya.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Asia, and Moscow
10275. Chechnya Weekly: Ingushetia: last camp closes, but many refugees remain.
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- On June 10 the last remaining tents of the last remaining Chechen refugee camp in Ingushetia were dismantled in a modest ceremony. According to a June 11 article by Ivan Sukhov for Vremya Novostei, the authorities decided not to make a grand spectacle of the occasion. Some 576 former residents of the “Satsita” camp returned to Chechnya, while another 90 decided to seek other living quarters within Ingushetia.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10276. Chechnya Weekly: Moscow's body count doesn't add up.
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- Yelena She sternina is not the first Russian journalist to do it, but she has performed a valuable service by bringing the figures up to date. The correspondent for Russky Kurier reported in that newspaper's June 3 issue on a simple exercise in arithmetic: adding up the cumulative total of rebel guerrillas which the federal forces claim to have killed in the various statements of their press spokesmen, and comparing that total with the number of guerrillas who, according to those same federal military sources, are still fighting. It turns out that if the numbers of those ostensibly killed were accurate, there would not be a single rebel fighter left.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Asia, and Moscow
10277. Chechnya Weekly: Final push to drive chechen refugees out of ingushetia?
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- The Russian and Ingush authorities are making what they apparently hope will be the final push in driving Chechen refugees out of their tent camps in Ingushetia. The sole remaining camp, Satsita, is due to be closed on June 10, according to the Federal Migration Service. The deputy head of that agency, Igor Yunash, told the Interfax news agency on May 27 that “there's no point in keeping the camp.” The recent upsurge of violence in Chechnya has apparently had no effect on the authorities' refugee policies.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10278. Chechnya Weekly: Ramzan kadyrov says he knows who killed his father.
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 05-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- In an obscure aside during an interview with the popular weekly Argumenty i Fakty, Ramzan Kadyrov said that he knows who it was who killed his father. He chose not to be more precise except to say that the mastermind of the May 9 assassination was neither Shamil Basaev (who has claimed responsibility) nor Aslan Maskhadov. “Maskhadov does not have enough strength or courage to do such a thing,” Ramzan said. “He was afraid of my father.”
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10279. Chechnya Weekly: Is Georgia Starting To See Chechnya Moscow's Way?
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 05-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- Georgia's new government under President Mikheil Saakashvili may be tilting toward Russia on Chechnya-related issues in order to win concessions in other areas. In early May, the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights sent an open letter to Saakashvili expressing concern over two Chechens living in Georgia, Islam Khashiev and Hussein Alkhanov, who may have been secretly handed over to Russian authorities even though a Tbilisi court had acquitted them of violating border regulations. The two have disappeared and reportedly are now in Russian hands.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Paris, Asia, and Georgia
10280. Chechnya Weekly: American peace group condemns kadyrov killing.
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 05-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- The American Committee for Peace in Chechnya (ACPC) has condemned the May 9 assassination of Akhmad Kadyrov, calling on May 10 for a renewed commitment by both parties to end the war through peace negotiations.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, America, Europe, and Asia
10281. Chechnya Weekly: Russian Security Agency Report-Edly Targeting Widows
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 04-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB; the renamed KGB) appears now to be using a new, stunningly self-defeating tactic to try to forestall possible terrorist attacks: kidnapping widows of Chechen men already killed by those same agencies. A handful of such widows have become suicide bombers, and the FSB is now seizing women for no reason other than that they are widows and therefore might, in theory, become terrorists in the future. According to an April 8 article by Julius Strauss of the London Daily Telegraph, the Russian human rights center Memorial has reported ten such kidnappings in January alone.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10282. Chechnya Weekly: No Letup In Pressure On Refugees
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- According to an Interfax report on March 17, the federal, Chechen and Ingush authorities are continuing with their plans to dismantle the remaining refugee camps in Ingushetia, and human rights activists are continuing to protest that this is a tactic to force refugees to return to Chechnya against their will. Mompash Machuev, deputy head of the Kadyrov administration's committee for refugees, told the news agency that the Sputnik camp in Ingushetia--one of only two that remain in that republic--is to be closed by the end of March, and all its tents dismantled. Lyudmila Alekseeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, commented “I continue to insist that the refugees are returning to Chechnya not voluntarily but because they are being forced to. Those who truly wanted to return have long since done so.”
- Topic:
- Security, Ethnic Conflict, and Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Asia, Chechnya, Moscow, and Ingushetia
10283. Chechnya Weekly: Minister For Maskhadov Government Surrenders
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- Pro-Moscow security agencies in Chechnya won a major victory on March 7 with the surrender of Magomed Khambiev, minister of defense in the underground separatist government of Aslan Maskhadov. Many, though not all, reports of this event in the Russian media have failed to mention the key tactical method by which this victory was apparently achieved: The systematic targeting, kidnapping and torture of the Khambiev family's relatives.
- Topic:
- Security, Ethnic Conflict, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Asia, Chechnya, and Moscow
10284. Chechnya Weekly: Pressure Intensifies To Close Ingush Refugee Camps
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- As of March 1, the federal and Ingush authorities had not fully succeeded in their campaign to close all the refugee camps in Ingushetia by that date. But they were getting closer. An official of the Kadyrov administration told Interfax on March 1 that the Bart refugee camp in the Ingush town of Karabulak had been officially closed. That leaves only two tent camps still operating in the Ingush republic: Satsita and Sputnik.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Asia, and Ingushetia
10285. Chechnya Weekly: Newspaper Describes Deplorable Conditions Awaiting Refugess; Human Rights Report Reaches Similar Conclusions
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 02-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- What awaits the refugees now living in Ingushetia if the administration of Russian President Vladimir Putin succeeds in its stated goal of getting all of them to return to Chechnya by March? Anna Politkovskaya reported in the February 16 issue of Novayagazeta on her visit to the hamlet of Okruzhnaya on the outskirts of Grozny—which construction workers hired by the Kadyrov administration are supposedly making livable.
- Topic:
- Security, Ethnic Conflict, and Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Asia, Chechnya, and Ingushetia
10286. Chechnya Weekly: No Evidence Required: Chechens Blamed For Subway Bombing
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 02-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- Last week's terrorist atrocity on the Moscow subway system, in addition to killing dozens of unsuspecting civilians, underlined an ugly reality of Russian politics. The Putin administration has now created, or at least thinks it has created, an emotional atmosphere such that it can blame terrorist acts on Chechens even when there is no specific evidence or claim of responsibility.
- Topic:
- Security, Ethnic Conflict, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Asia, Chechnya, and Moscow
10287. Chechnya Weekly: Questions Raised About UN Education Aid
- Author:
- Lawrence Uzzell
- Publication Date:
- 01-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- North Caucasus Weekly (formerly Chechnya Weekly), The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- The Jamestown Foundation: Chechnya Weekly Table of Contents Questions Raised About UN Education Aid Pressure Intensifies to Close Refugee Camps Kadyrov Maneuvers For More Influential Role Saudi Arabia and Russia: A Budding Rapprochement? Kremlin Rights Observer is Removed From Post International Community Criticized For Chechnya Response Thoughts on Dubrovka.
- Topic:
- Security and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Asia, Chechnya, and Saudi Arabia
10288. Why German-US Relations Still Matter to the Transatlantic Alliance—One Year after War in Iraq
- Author:
- Michaela C. Hertkorn
- Publication Date:
- 12-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Columbia International Affairs Online
- Abstract:
- A declaration on NATO transformation of October 6, 2002 stated the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) needed to be “capable of taking action whenever the security of its members was threatened, upon the basis of the United Nations Charter. By making it clear that there is no safe haven for those who would threaten our societies or for those who would harbor such people” the deterrent element of Alliance strategy was strengthened. The North Atlantic Council should decide actions on a case-by-case basis. Where NATO as a whole was not engaged, allies willing to take action should be able to make use of NATO assets, procedures and practices. The declaration stressed high priority goals essential to the full range of Alliance missions including the defense against terrorism. This new initiative was to be based on firm national commitments with specific target dates. National commitments should be made transparent for parliamentary monitoring and oversight. Priority should be given to projects maximizing multi-nationality, and which had the potential to become common NATO assets. NATO and European Union capabilities initiatives needed to be mutually reinforced and thoroughly harmonized through permanent co-ordination mechanisms and procedures in a spirit of openness. NATO should redouble its efforts to reduce the fragmentation of defense procurement efforts through the pooling of military capabilities, co-operative acquisition of equipment and common funding. It should reduce to a minimum the obstacles for the sharing of technology. The alliance had to be able to act wherever NATO' s interests were threatened, creating coalitions under NATO' s own mandate, as well as contributing to mission-based coalitions, concerning both, old and new threats. NATO General Secretary, Lord Robertson referred to the experience NATO had with post-conflict stabilization, as in Kosovo and Macedonia. On October 8, 2002 Robertson declared, an enormous number of security issues on the Euro-Atlantic agenda required the greatest possible communication and coordination among Europeans and North Americans. The November 2002 Prague Summit would be a transforming event for the Alliance. It covered a wide range from terrorism, NATO' s military command arrangements and headquarters structure, to a further development of Partnership. The most visible issues referred to enlargement and improvements to NATO' s military capabilities. The question of capabilities concerned the member countries of NATO and of the European Union (EU). Because each nation had only one set of forces, it was necessary to make the best use possible of the scarce resources, avoiding duplication and overlaps. The message was very clear: the European Capabilities Action Plan and NATO' s Prague Capabilities Commitment needed to be coherent. Work in full transparency on capabilities issues was imperative, if EUNATO impasse was to be avoided or ended.
- Topic:
- Terrorism and War
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, Europe, Kosovo, Germany, United Nations, and Macedonia
10289. Small Arms and Light Weapons Production in Eastern, Central, and Southeast Europe
- Author:
- Yudit Kiss
- Publication Date:
- 10-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- With the accession of ten states to the European Union (EU) in May 2004, Eastern Europe strode firmly into the international spotlight. A few months earlier, Bulgaria and Romania had joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), further extending the membership of Eastern, Central, and Southeast Europe in the alliance. These developments support the region's ongoing policy of integration into the West and its emergence as a socio-political landscape entirely distinct from that imposed by the Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO) until its demise in 1991. Not surprisingly, these drastic changes are vividly reflected in the national defence industries of the region.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, International Relations, and Arms Control and Proliferation
- Political Geography:
- Europe and North Atlantic
10290. Crossing the Atlantic, A Report from the Aspen Atlantic Group 2003 Workshops
- Author:
- Madeleine Albright and Kurt M. Campbell
- Publication Date:
- 04-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- In two workshops, June 6-8 and July 31-August 2, 2003, the Aspen Atlantic Group and its guests examined avenues for renewed transatlantic cooperation in light of contemporary and cumulative challenges to the relationship. Having conducted a frank and in-depth diagnosis of core differences and commonalities in the first workshop, the second workshop extended its scope to include sessions on specific areas of collaboration such as homeland security and humanitarian intervention.
- Topic:
- International Relations and NATO
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
10291. A Matter of Degree: The Role of Journalists as Activists in Journalism Business and Policy
- Author:
- Neil Shister
- Publication Date:
- 04-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The prevailing view of journalism today draws on strands from a diverse portfolio of political, legal, and commercial theories. Some of the propositions underlying the way we regard the practice of the craft date back to the 18th-century “age of reason;” others are as current as yesterday's Wall Street media deal. “Journalism” is a historical hybrid— more an evolving social construct than a fixed point of reference. As such, it conveys contradictory associations: on one hand a band of swashbuckling iconoclasts daring to “speak truth to power;” on the other hand considerably more temperate, disinterested professionals gathering content to distribute through the “information division” of giant corporations. Each image is exaggerated; neither is wholly wrong
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
10292. Renewing the Atlantic Partnership
- Author:
- Lawrence H. Summers, Henry A. Kissinger, and Charles A. Kupchan
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The accomplishments of the Atlantic alliance are remarkable. History records few, if any, alliances that have yielded so many benefits for their members or for the broader international community. After centuries of recurrent conflict, war among the European great powers has become inconceivable. The Cold War has been won; the threat of nuclear war has receded. Freedom has prevailed against totalitarian ideologies. Trade, investment, and travel are more open today than ever before. Progress in raising living standards—in rich and poor countries alike—is unprecedented.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Security
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
10293. Russia and the West
- Author:
- Michael Emerson and Irina Kobrinskaya
- Publication Date:
- 09-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- Russia and the EU talk in their summit communiqués about their strategic partnership, but it seems like an awkward partnership. The relationship is not that bad, certainly not life-threatening, but it is not that good either.
- Topic:
- Security and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
10294. Welfare and the Labour Market in the EU
- Author:
- Marie-Laure Michaud
- Publication Date:
- 09-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- Over the last two decades, EU institutions have been increasingly concerned with the issues of unemployment reduction and job creation. The EU has recommended that member states develop welfare systems that moderate the negative effects of market relationships on the one hand, and enhance the efficiency of market performance on the other.
- Topic:
- Economics and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- Europe
10295. Are the Balance of Payments Deficits in the Baltic Countries Sustainable?
- Author:
- Jorgen Drud Hansen and Morten Hansen
- Publication Date:
- 07-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- For almost a decade all three Baltic countries have witnessed substantial deficits on the current accounts of the balance of payments. This paper discusses whether this situation should be a matter of concern. Recent literature on the sustainability of balance of payments deficits is reviewed and put into a Baltic context. The main conclusion is that the recurrent large deficits in the Baltic countries pose a risk for the fixed exchange-rate policies until the countries adopt the euro. In the longer term, large deficits will influence the time path of convergence of living standards between the Baltic countries and the EU as a whole.
- Topic:
- Development and Economics
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Eastern Europe
10296. Measuring the Economic Impact of an EU–GCC Free Trade Agreement
- Author:
- David Kernohan and Dean A. DeRosa
- Publication Date:
- 07-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- Economic growth rates in the Gulf region have languished in recent years and need to be raised to accommodate the rapidly growing populations and social aspirations of the region. Using a simple model of world trade, this report investigates the economic impacts of the new customs union of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the GCC and European Union. The quantitative results suggest that the new customs union and proposed EU-GCC free trade agreement both appreciably expand trade and improve economic welfare in the GCC countries, with little significant economic impact on the EU. As expected, the FTA results in larger GCC economic gains than the customs union because it affords GCC consumers greater opportunity to enjoy imports at internationally competitive prices. Although welfare gains under the proposed FTA closely approximate those under open regionalism (concerted trade liberalisation on a most favoured nation basis), reducing the 5% GCC common external tariff to about 3% as part of the FTA negotiations would not only ensure near-maximum trade performance and welfare gains but also add further to the attractiveness of the GCC countries as a location for foreign direct investment.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Treaties and Agreements, and Population
- Political Geography:
- Europe
10297. Why Is There a Productivity Problem in the EU?
- Author:
- Francesco Daveri
- Publication Date:
- 07-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- Magazines and newspapers often refer to or even take for granted the economic decline of the EU, particularly when contrasting the EU data with US data. The first part of this paper poses the question of whether IT – as often alleged – is really the only cause for the EU's productivity slowdown. The conclusion is that it is not. The non-IT part of the economy has not only contributed to the slowdown but appears to have crucially contributed to the EU-US growth gap as well. There is thus little reason for the EU to target IT-diffusion as an intermediate goal, as implied by the Lisbon strategy. The second part of the paper, after showing that the growth slowdown comes from the reduction of non-IT capital deepening and the lack of acceleration in total factor productivity growth, argues that the slowdown of capital deepening will continue. The scarce resources available for enhancing growth should concentrate on providing incentives to R and innovation at large, rather than financing traditional infrastructures. This is at odds with the goals pursued by the EU within the framework of the European Growth Initiative.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe
10298. The Impact of Unemployment on Individual Well-Being in the EU
- Author:
- Namkee Ahn, Juan Ramón García, and Juan Francisco Jimeno
- Publication Date:
- 07-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- Among the working-age population, one of the most damaging individual experiences is unemployment. Many previous studies have confirmed the devastating effects of unemployment on individual well-being, both pecuniary and non-pecuniary. Using the data from the European Community Household Panel survey, we examine the factors that affect unemployed workers' well-being with respect to their situations in their main vocational activity, income, housing, leisure time and health in Europe.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Economics, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- Europe
10299. Has Trade any Importance in the Transmission of Currency Shocks?
- Author:
- Roberta De Santis
- Publication Date:
- 07-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- The object of this study is to assess the role of trade in the transmission of currency shocks across geographically close countries. The analysis will focus on identifying and comparing the degree of vulnerability of new EU member states from the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) to currency shocks.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Eastern Europe
10300. Economic Policy Coordination in EMU: What Role for the SGP?
- Author:
- Jørgen Mortensen
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- The present paper discusses the implications of the recent institutional crisis in the EU provoked by the failure of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) to impose the sanction on Germany and France provided for in the Stability and Growth Pact, along with Article 104 and the associated protocol of the Maastricht Treaty. The paper situates the debate concerning the application of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) in a broader evolution of the struggle between two schools of thought concerning macroeconomic policy–making in the European Union: the school calling for a strengthening of competences at the EU level (federal economic government) and the school arguing for preserving national competences for budgetary policy even in the face of the transfer of competence for monetary policy to the European Central Bank (ECB). The paper argues that the SGP represents an acceptable comprise between the two views of the schools in so far as it establishes rules to be respected without actually transferring competence to the Council in the field of budgetary policy. Consequently, the SGP has not and does not add to the 'democratic deficit' within the EU institutional framework. The paper argues, nevertheless, that the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) puts too strong an emphasis on the government budget deficit and suggests that emphasis on the sustainable level of public debt would ensure a stronger basis for assessing whether a given budget deficit may be considered excessive or not.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Economics, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe, France, and Germany