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54152. Composite Indexes of Leading, Coincident, and Lagging Indicators: April 2001
- Publication Date:
- 04-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Conference Board
- Abstract:
- The leading index increased 0.1 percent, the coincident index held steady, and the lagging index decreased 0.3 percent in April. Taken together, the three composite indexes and their components continue to suggest slow growth through the summer of 2001.
- Topic:
- Economics and Political Economy
54153. Composite Indexes of Leading, Coincident, and Lagging Indicators: March 2001
- Publication Date:
- 03-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Conference Board
- Abstract:
- The leading index decreased 0.3 percent, the coincident index increased 0.1 percent, and the lagging index decreased 0.4 percent in March. Taken together, the three composite indexes and their components suggest slow growth until late in the second quarter of this year.
- Topic:
- Economics and Political Economy
54154. Composite Indexes of Leading, Coincident, and Lagging Indicators: February 2001
- Publication Date:
- 02-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Conference Board
- Abstract:
- The leading index decreased 0.2 percent, the coincident index increased 0.1 percent, and the lagging index decreased 0.4 percent in February. Taken together, the three composite indexes and their components show not only that there is no sign of a recession looming on the horizon, but that economic activity continues to grow, although more moderately.
- Topic:
- Economics and Political Economy
54155. Composite Indexes of Leading, Coincident, and Lagging Indicators: January 2001
- Publication Date:
- 01-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Conference Board
- Abstract:
- The leading index increased 0.8 percent, the coincident index increased 0.2 percent, and the lagging index increased 0.1 percent in January. Taken together, the three composite indexes and their components show that the pace of economic activity is moderating, with no clear sign of a recession looming on the horizon.
- Topic:
- Economics and Political Economy
54156. Removing Small Arms from Society: A Review of Weapons Collection and Destruction Programmes
- Author:
- Sami Faltas, Glenn McDonald, and Camilla Waszink
- Publication Date:
- 07-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- A key component of efforts to curb small arms proliferation is the removal of these weapons from society. A broad range of programmes has been carried out in recent years—in every region of the world—for the purpose of collecting and/or disposing of small arms and light weapons. Weapons collection conducted in a peacetime setting for the purpose of reducing and preventing crime is often, though not always, voluntary in nature, with a wide variety of incentives (and sanctions) deployed for the purpose of recovering firearms from legal (and illegal) owners.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Arms Control and Proliferation, and War
- Political Geography:
- Central America
54157. The Small arms Survey: Legal Controls on Small Arms and Light Weapons in Southeast Asia
- Author:
- Katherine Kramer
- Publication Date:
- 07-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Small Arms Survey
- Abstract:
- The uncontrolled proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Southeast Asia threatens the security of both people and states, retards development, and contributes to increasing levels of violent crime. Porous borders coupled with weak and uncoordinated enforcement efforts ensure that the problems caused by small arms in one state are felt in neighbouring ones. Despite these effects, there is no accurate information regarding the number of legal and illegal small arms flowing into and out of the region, nor how many weapons are circulating internally.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Arms Control and Proliferation, and War
- Political Geography:
- Asia
54158. Breaking with Tradition: Service Trade Liberalization in the EU and Germany
- Author:
- Jette Steen Knudsen
- Publication Date:
- 06-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- This chapter asks why and how services that were not previously thought of as tradable have increasingly been opened up to international competition in EU member states including even in Germany. The chapter contrasts an explanation that focuses on the impact of economic interests with an explanation that focuses on the impact of EU membership. The chapter argues that lobbying by producers or users of services cannot fully explain reform nor does EU membership simply constrain reluctant member state governments to adopt new legislation. Instead the chapter argues that in important service sectors the German government has promoted trade reform even sometimes in the face of strong opposition from providers, consumers, and unions. The chapter maintains that a crucial key to liberalisation is the emergence of a break in government opposition. In particular, the ability of the government to re-interpret services as regular tradable products combined with new regulation to "shelter" exposed groups such as consumers and workers against potential harm. Implications of this claim for future service sector liberalisation are subsequently discussed.
- Topic:
- Economics and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Germany
54159. Adaptation of the Legal Systems of Candidate Countries - the Case of the Baltic States
- Author:
- Christen Boye Jacobsen
- Publication Date:
- 08-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- In all the countries of Eastern Europe, the collapse of the socialism presented the legal system and the lawyers and administrators with an immense conceptional and practical challenge. In a couple of years, and in a constantly changing economic and political climate, they were required To introduce the rule of law and democracy (der demokratisch-freiheitliche Rechtsstaat), To introduce and implement the rules and institutions of a market economy, To modernise the normative acts and the public institutions of virtually all aspects of a modern society, and To implement the EU-acquis.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Economics, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Europe
54160. Danish Security Policy over the last 50 Years - Long-Term Essential Security Priorities
- Author:
- Bertel Heurlin
- Publication Date:
- 07-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- This article is about the general priorities of Danish security policy over the last 50 years. But what exactly is security policy – and how should one perceive priorities? First a few remarks on semantics. The term security policy is new. From 1949 Denmark only gradually used the term security policy, rather than defence policy and foreign policy. In 1945 the United Nation's Security Council had been established. It was to act on behalf of the Member States when international peace and security were threatened. In 1947 the National Security Council was established in the United States. The Council was evidently intended to take care of the US' national security. With the introduction of these vital institutions the step was taken towards using the terms ”international” and ”national security policy”. In general the term ”security policy” became common in the beginning of the 1960s. Minister for Foreign Affairs Per Hækkerup talks about security policy in his book on Danish Foreign Policy from 1965. Furthermore the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1967 could publish the first book on Danish security policy.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Europe
54161. Greenland's geopolitical reality and its political-economic consequences
- Author:
- Jens Kaalhauge Nielsen
- Publication Date:
- 06-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- Geopolitics is an old concept, which received its classic modern form in the work of Friedrich Ratzel, Rudolf Kjéllen, Harold J. Mackinder, Alfred T. Mahan, and Karl Haushofer. It can be regarded as an intellectual approach that aims at establishing a political grammar of world politics, through a scientific discipline based on the objective reality of geography. Thus, geopolitics is often seen as a “realistic” attempt to establish world policy as an objective science based on some kind of "physico-spatial reference". The implicit assumption is a discreet claim that it is possible to study international politics and the allocation of power as one studies the weather: as a system based on objective, natural laws with a fixed and firmly established pattern of forces and indispensable reference points. Hence, Halford J. Mackinder believed that he could identify "the Geographical Pivot of History." In this way, somewhere behind the concept of geopolitics as a scientific concept lies a compelling idea: a theory of the international system based on sheer objective forces, which can be reduced to the invariable necessities of an ultimate "physical" matrix that was merely given expression by the vocabulary of "national interests." We find the same notion in the concept of "realpolitik," the idea that it is possible to conduct a policy grounded on a realm of crucial necessities, as in Bismarck's policies framed in the image of Iron and Blood.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Economics, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Europe
54162. In Tempestuous Waters: Denmark and the WTO Regime
- Author:
- Erik Beukel
- Publication Date:
- 04-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- International trade negotiations and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have come into the public limelight. Until a few years ago, the governance of the world trading system, encapsulated in General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), was considered a mundane and dull subject to which only a few people with a special economic interest payed attention. Today, however, the problems dealt with in the WTO affect much broader economic interests and attract attention from different political persuasions and social movements, as illustrated by the battle in Seattle, in December 1999, when the Third Ministerial conference of the WTO was met by massive demonstrations organised by multifarious NGOs. Generally, multilateral economic institutions, such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the WTO, have become tempestuous waters, because among other things these institutions are contested by a medley of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and grass roots movements (O'Brien et al. 2000). The conflict centres on “globalisation”, a controversial and ambiguous notion (Hirst and Thompson 2000), and the WTO is a focal point of the globalisation storm (Hart 1997).
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Europe
54163. European Defence: Visions and Realities?
- Author:
- Julian Lindley-French
- Publication Date:
- 04-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is a real honour for me to be here today to address you on the complex subject of European Defence: Vision and Realities. I am grateful as ever to Bertel Heurlin and David Munis Zepernick for arranging this chance to discuss with you European defence at what is a crucial moment. Last time I was here I spoke a lot about visions, so today, as you will hear, the emphasis will be on realities rather than visions.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Europe
54164. Can Slovakia Catch Up? The Implications of EU Accession Talks a Year After the Helsinki Summit
- Author:
- Vladamir Bilcik
- Publication Date:
- 01-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- Since the dissolution of Czecho-Slovakia in 1993, Slovakia, with its population of about 5.4 million, has emerged as one of the two new successor states. Yet, since gaining its independence Slovakia's political developments have followed a somewhat divergent path from the course of its new western neighbor - the Czech Republic. More broadly, Slovakia also diverged in its transition to democracy from Poland and Hungary, the other two Central European neighbors and two essential elements of the Visegrad group. As a result, Slovakia has been coined as "a region specific country". Its case of regime change from the communist to the post-communist rule has been described as "a borderline case between that of more advanced Central European and lagging South-East European countries". (Szomolanyi, 2000: 16). Â Â
- Topic:
- International Relations, Democratization, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Europe
54165. The Enduring Dilemmas of Realism in International Relations
- Author:
- Stefano Guzzini
- Publication Date:
- 12-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- After the end of the Cold War, realism has been again on the defensive. In recent years, two major discussions have been waged about it. The first debate was triggered by a piece John Vasquez published in the American Political Science Review. In this blunt attack, Vasquez basically argues that realists reject the systematic use of scientific criteria for assessing theoretical knowledge. Vasquez charges (neo) realism either for producing blatantly banal statements or for being non-falsifiable, i.e. ideological. For him, much of the post-Waltzian (neo) realist research results are but a series of Ptolemaic circles whose elaborate shape conceals the basic vacuity of the realist paradigm.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Diplomacy
- Political Geography:
- America
54166. European [security] Union: from existential threat to ontological security
- Author:
- Ian Manners
- Publication Date:
- 12-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- The past ten years have seen the steady escalation of attempts to securitise the EU which, for good or for bad, are now beginning to succeed. Across Europe the EU is fast becoming a convincing reason for groups to mobilise in protest and action - from Copenhagen to Nice to Gothenburg the EU has become a synonym for 'threat'. As this paper will explore, the securisation of the EU is occurring as it begins to be represented as a threat to ontological security, and eventually existential security, in the lives of Europeans and non-Europeans. But how best to think about the European [security] Union as it attempts to balance the headline security concerns of conflicts on its border with the structural security concerns of its citizens. This thinking involves questioning the very nature of the security the EU is attempting to secure through a series of reflections on the many dimensions of security, the ontopolitical assumptions of differing metatheoretical positions, and finally arguing the need to desecuritise the EU.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Europe
54167. Realism and Foreign Policy Analysis
- Author:
- Stefano Guzzini and Sten Rynning
- Publication Date:
- 12-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- Power politics, realists agree, is played by all, be it for reasons of human nature and/or international anarchy. But can one deduce from this general quest for power a theory on state motivations? Recent realist theories seem to agree with this idea in general, but disagree, indeed have opposite claims, about its content. Kenneth Waltz (1979) argues that states are defensive and thus “balance,” while John Mearsheimer (1990) contends that states are offensive and therefore “expand.” Classical realists, as usual, allow for more commonsense and hence variety. Hans Morgenthau (1948) thus included both status quo and imperialist powers in his theory. But the implication of this indeterminacy remains: if realists cannot settle the question which state motivation can be derived from human nature and/or international anarchy, then they need to examine more carefully the study of foreign policy.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Power Politics
54168. Short and Long-Term Dynamics in the EU's Northern Dimension
- Author:
- Nicola Catellani
- Publication Date:
- 12-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- In the last decade the process of European integration has been characterised by an increased capacity of the European Union (EU) to develop a certain subjectivity on the international arena. In particular, the EU has been able to elaborate multifaceted approaches towards most of its neighbouring areas.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy
- Political Geography:
- Europe
54169. The 'Difference Engine': Constructing and Representing the International Identity of the European Union
- Author:
- Ian Manners
- Publication Date:
- 12-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- The purpose of this paper is to more fully develop the notion of the international identity of the EU previously suggested by Richard Whitman and myself. I will attempt to balance our previous focus on the 'active dimension' of the EU's attempts to 'assert its identity on the international scene' by looking at the 'reflexive dimension' of the EU's international identity from a more sociological perspective. This paper will argue that the distinctive polity perspectives and role representations of the EU can be thought of as a form of 'difference engine' which drives the construction and representation of the EU's international identity. Like Babbage's original difference engine, the EU's international identity is not a multiplier of difference, exaggerating the dissimilarities between the EU and the rest of the world through the generation of a new European supranational identity, but functions solely on the basis of addition - by adding an EU element to Europeans' complex and multifaceted identities.
- Topic:
- International Relations
- Political Geography:
- Europe
54170. The Construction of Europe in the Northern Dimension
- Author:
- Christopher S. Browning
- Publication Date:
- 12-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- This article focuses on the construction of Europe at the turn of the millennium. Unlike most approaches to this issue that tend to focus analysis on debate in Brussels, the most powerful member states, or on the various IGCs, this paper looks at this question through the lens of the discourses surrounding a regional initiative. The initiative in question is that of the Northern Dimension with the argument being that it is on the EU's borders and in the regional peripheries that the debates constructing the EU can be most clearly identified. In this respect the article contributes to a growing constructivist/poststructuralist literature that places boundary producing practices at the heart of the constitution of subjectivity.
- Topic:
- Globalization and International Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
54171. The European Union and Globalisation: Reflections on Strategies of Individual States
- Author:
- Morten Kelstrup
- Publication Date:
- 12-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- Major developments in European politics are related to two simultaneous processes: the process of globalisation and the process of Europeanisation. As Helen Wallace has recently remarked: “For too long the debates on globalisation and on Europeanisation have been conducted in separate compartments and in different terms” (Wallace, 2000, 369). The purpose of this paper is to support the effort in bringing the two debates together. The paper will discuss the two processes, discuss how they interlink, and have a special focus on possible strategies and dilemmas of individual states that are confronted with both processes.
- Topic:
- Globalization and International Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
54172. The New Saint Petersburg: A Case of Border-Making or Border-Breaking?
- Author:
- Pertti Joenniemi
- Publication Date:
- 11-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- The naming of St Petersburg appears to form a distinct pattern. The city emerged in the context of early modern Russia and gained a name that signalled - by having Dutch and German rather than Russian connotations - some degree of mental openness. The choice was very much in line with the overall endeavour of breaking the isolation caused by Russia's somewhat peripheral location in view of the rest of Europe.
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
54173. On the Encounter Between the Nordic and the Northern: Torn Apart but Meeting Again?
- Author:
- Pertti Joenniemi and Marko Lehti
- Publication Date:
- 10-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- The North is no longer as immobile and sedimented as before. It does not just mark something local and extremely peripheral but has turned into an increasingly legitimate marker of Europeanness in the form of the EU's Northern Dimension Initiative. The marker is not just used to frame some space in the margins of the European configuration; it is also used as an umbrella in co-ordinating the relationships between specific regional formations such as Nordic, Baltic, Barents and Arctic co-operation. This added centrality of the North raises a host of questions about the unfolding of political space in the northern part ofEurope. Our aim here is to tackle some of them by exploring in particular the encounter that is now unfolding between the new North and the more traditional Norden, two configurations that to some extent compete for the same space. Essential relationships are being re-negotiated, this enforcing various actors to choose between different representational frames, each with their own specific identities and spatial coverage. Above all, we seek to provide the encounter with a temporal background in viewing both of them as discursive constructs that are condusive to change.
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Nordic Nations
54174. NATO and The South-Eastern Europe – Powerless of Powerfuls And Power of Weaks in Ethnic Conflicts
- Author:
- Zlatko Isakovic
- Publication Date:
- 09-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- Several major interrelated events overshadowed others within the relationships between NATO and the countries of the South-eastern Europe last few years. Among them seems to be on the top of the list the NATO enlargement process, the NATO engagement in the Kosovo conflict, and the transformation of NATO's role or mission.
- Topic:
- Security and NATO
- Political Geography:
- Europe
54175. Intrastate Conflicts, International Interventions and their Implications on Security Issues, Case of Kosovo
- Author:
- Enika Abazi
- Publication Date:
- 09-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- Intra-state conflicts are not a new phenomenon. Since 1945 they have been more frequent and more violent than inter-state warfare (SIPRI-UNESCO Handbook, 1998: 13-25). With the end of the Cold War these tendencies exuberated following mostly in the lines of ethno-national and separatist-armed conflicts, bringing a significant shift in the perception of security issues and alternative approaches to it, especially in Europe. In particular, the changing dialogue of sovereignty, identity and security and international responsibility appears to be increasingly significant. Considering that the prepositions in IR depend on both empirical validity and logical soundness a theoretical exercise on the case of intra-state conflicts questions the validity of the traditional state developed concept of security. The path is open for new interpretations and understanding of normative, operational and structural issues in contemporary world politics.
- Topic:
- Security, Ethnic Conflict, and Sovereignty
- Political Geography:
- Europe
54176. Turkey and Europe: Ongoing Hypocrisy?
- Author:
- Dietrich Jung
- Publication Date:
- 09-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- “There is only one way to escape these dangers, which is to emulate the progress of the Europeans in science, industry and military and legal organization, in other words to equal them in civilization. And the only way to do this is to enter European civilization completely” (Ziya Gökalp1876-1924). These words of Ziya Gökalp, the most prominent nationalist intellectual of the late Ottoman Empire, whom Mustafa Kemal Atatürk himself called the “intellectual father of the new Republic”, nicely reveal the historical paradox behind Turkish-European relations. They are an expression of both Turkey's desire to be acknowledged as a European state and the deeply rooted Turkish mistrust vis-à-vis the intentions of Europe. The victim of European power politics wants to be equal to its victimizers. On the basis of this paradox, this article claims that the mutual suspicions that have marred Turkish-EU relations cannot be understood without taking the historical legacies of Ottoman-European relations into account. In particular, it presents a critique of the flawed strategy of some circles that try to facilitate Turkey's EU accession by exploiting the country's geo-strategic assets. In putting the focus on security issues, the article will unmask the contradictions in this strategy, which rather contributes to maintaining the historically caused, distorted and sometimes hypocritical communication between Turkey and the EU.
- Topic:
- NATO
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, and Middle East
54177. Globalisation and the Eroding State Monopoly of Legitimate Violence
- Author:
- Anna Leander
- Publication Date:
- 08-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- This paper is an attempt to trace the link between processes which are usually bundled under the label “globalisation” and the eroding state monopoly of legitimate violence. In a nutshell, I will claim that globalisation has the dual effect of displacing politics and of diffusing authority, there by diminishing the state's legitimacy and capacity to monopolize violence respectively.
- Topic:
- Security and Globalization
54178. Europe and the Crises in the Great Lakes Region
- Author:
- Bjørn Møller
- Publication Date:
- 08-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- The first question one must ask is whether “the Great Lakes Region” is in fact a meaningful and useful frame of analysis.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and Ethnic Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Europe
54179. Another Sociology for IR? An Analysis of Niklas Luhmann's Conceptualisation of Power
- Author:
- Stefano Guzzini
- Publication Date:
- 08-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- In the context of the present sociological turn in International Relations, this paper aims at relating theoretical discussions in International Relations to Niklas Luhmann's social theory. It proposes a dialogue through the analysis of power in Luhmann's theory, a concept which is often considered central in IR theorising. Given the frequently tautological use of power in social theory (and in particular in IR), many social theorists have tried to circumscribe the role of power in their theories. But Niklas Luhmann is one of the few non-individualist theoreticians who ends up having a very reduced role for power in his social theory.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Political Economy
54180. French Military Doctrine in the 1990s
- Author:
- Sten Rynning
- Publication Date:
- 08-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- The end of the Cold War and the disappearance of the strategic rationale for territorial nuclear deterrence have raised fundamental questions in relation to French military doctrine. Significant territorial threats have disappeared, and the main role for military instruments now lies on the peripheries of Europe or further beyond. For those who had invested faith in nuclear deterrence and strategic stability—and that concerns most actors not only in France but also elsewhere among NATO allies—this change of events has been a severe challenge. President Mitterrand symbolizes the pains of adjustment in many ways as he never seriously considered changing track and became instead an ardent opponent of profound reform.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, NATO, Cold War, Nuclear Weapons, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Europe and France
54181. Raising Armies in a Rough Neigh-bourhood: Soldiers, Guerillas and Mercenaries in Southern Africa
- Author:
- Bjørn Møller
- Publication Date:
- 08-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- While the instruments of war, including the weaponry, are surely important, one of the timeless verities of war is that it is fought by people against other people. It therefore matters how armies are raised, as this has, among other things, an impact on the loyalty, “morale” and fighting spirit of the troops, hence also on the military power available to the State. The choice between a militia structure, universal conscription or professionalization (or even privatization) also has implications for civil-military relations and may thus have a (beneficial or detrimental) impact on state-building.
- Topic:
- Security and War
- Political Geography:
- Africa
54182. Structural Geopolitics in Europe: Constructing Geopolitical Subjectivity for the EU and Russia
- Author:
- Pami Aalto
- Publication Date:
- 07-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- This paper is designed to elucidate structural geopolitics in Europe. This entails mapping the main structural developments and processes in contemporary Europe in the sphere of spatially and geographically coloured politics, i.e. geopolitics.
- Topic:
- International Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
54183. Global Conditions and Global Constraints: The International Paternity of the Palestinian Nation
- Author:
- Dietrich Jung
- Publication Date:
- 07-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- In a recent article, Michael Mandelbaum depicted Middle Eastern states as the most combative members of the international community. He painted the picture of a region in which “traditional motives for war – gold and God – are still alive” (Mandelbaum 1999). In line with this rather stereotypical perspective, the Middle East is often viewed as a zone of conflict, in which competition for scarce resources (“gold”) inevitably leads to violent encounters between actors that are guided by irrational ideas (“God”). The long and bloody history of the Palestine conflict has contributed a lot to coroberating this image of a region in which violence seems to be endemic. In terminating the so-called Middle East Peace Process, the current “Al-Aqsa Intifada” marks another violent step in this conflict that has frequently escalated to warlike proportions in the form of popular unrest, communal riots, anti-colonial insurgencies, guerilla and terror attacks, as well as civil and inter-state wars. Yet behind these waves of violence and counter-violence, we can easily discern patterns of a kind of nationalist conflict with which European history is far more familiar than the stereotype of Middle Eastern irrationality admits. Despite the academic obsession with proclaiming the “end of territoriality” and the “decline of the nation-state”, the Palestine conflict represents a painful but vivid remnant of those national conflicts that politically characterized the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Europe.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Palestine, and Arab Countries
54184. Democracy, Human rights and Ethnica Conflicts in the Process of Globalisation
- Author:
- Zlatko Isakovic
- Publication Date:
- 06-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- The aim of this paper is to elaborate relationships between democracy, human rights and ethnic conflicts in the globalised world. The first part is devoted to analysis of the impacts of democracy and human rights on the ethnic conflicts, and second elaborates impacts of the conflicts on the democracy and human rights. Both parts are supposed to elaborate the topic within the context of globalised world. The main conclusion is that if a system cannot be qualified as democratic one and respectful for human rights, appears the complex dilemma what should and would come first: developing democracy and/or respecting human rights or eliminating ethnic conflicts or preventing their escalations/deescalating them.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Ethnic Conflict, Globalization, and Human Rights
54185. Austria's Role in an Enlarged European Union
- Author:
- Benita Ferrero-Waldner
- Publication Date:
- 10-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- European unity has come a long way. As early as 1946 – under the impression of the cataclysm of World War II – statesmen like Winston Churchill dreamed of a better Europe. “We must build a kind of United States of Europe”, Churchill said.
- Topic:
- Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Asia
54186. The International Symposium: At the Front Lines of Conflict Prevention in Asia
- Author:
- Hisashi Owada
- Publication Date:
- 07-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Japan Institute Of International Affairs (JIIA)
- Abstract:
- The Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) held an international symposium in July 2001 entitled "At the Front Lines of Conflict Prevention in Asia" and sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA). This is a summary record of the symposium proceedings.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy and Peace Studies
- Political Geography:
- Asia
54187. Africa Policy Outlook 2001
- Publication Date:
- 01-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Africa Policy Information Center
- Abstract:
- By the end of the year 2000, a peace treaty between Ethiopia and Eritrea, peaceful transfers of power after elections in Senegal and Ghana, and continued growth of public debate about the future in almost every African country were among signs of advance in a year that was more than usually short of good news. Economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa was estimated to climb to 2.7 percent for the year, up from 2.1 percent in 1999. Per capita income in the region south of the Sahara rose by an estimated two tenths of one percent. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced debt reduction packages of $34 billion for 22 countries, including 18 in Africa.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Debt, Development, Diplomacy, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Ethiopia, Senegal, Eritrea, and Ghana
54188. Creating an Environment: Developing Venture Capital in India
- Author:
- Rafiq Dossani and Martin Kenney
- Publication Date:
- 05-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
- Abstract:
- In the last decade, one of the most admired institutions among industrialists and economic policymakers around the world has been the U.S. venture capital industry. A recent OECD (2000) report identified venture capital as a critical component for the success of entrepreneurial high-technology firms and recommended that all nations consider strategies for encouraging the availability of venture capital. With such admiration and encouragement from prestigious international organizations has come various attempts to create an indigenous venture capital industry. This article examines the efforts to create a venture capital industry in India.
- Topic:
- Economics, Emerging Markets, and Industrial Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States, South Asia, and India
54189. Foreign Direct Investment in New Electricity Generating Capacity in Developing Asia: Stakeholders, Risks, and the Search for a New Paradigm
- Author:
- Robert Thomas Crow
- Publication Date:
- 01-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
- Abstract:
- The rate of investment sufficient to provide developing Asia with a reasonably adequate supply of electricity is immense, ranging from a World Bank estimate of 2000 megawatts (MW) each month (which translates into an annual investment of about $35 billion per year) to even higher estimates. All of the larger countries of developing Asia have been looking for foreign direct investment (FDI) to provide a significant amount of the needed capital. In 1996, financial closings for new power projects in developing Asia reached $13.7 billion, or almost 40 percent of the lower range of the estimated requirement. Although data on the foreign share of the monetary value of financial closings is not available, it is likely to be over 80 percent. Thus, the foreign share of total direct investment in power projects in developing Asia appeared to have been around 30 percent before the East Asian currency crisis.
- Topic:
- Economics, Energy Policy, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- East Asia and Asia
54190. The India-China Relationship: What the United States Needs to Know
- Author:
- Justin Sommers and Rapporteur
- Publication Date:
- 11-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Asia Society
- Abstract:
- The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Asia Society are pleased to present the report of our conference entitled “The India-China Relationship: What the United States Needs to Know,” which took place in Washington, D.C., on November 30, 2001. The conference, engaging experts and policymakers both in and out of government, was one phase in a larger joint project of the two organizations that will result in a scholarly volume.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, South Asia, Washington, India, and Asia
54191. American Journalism in Transition: A View at the Top
- Author:
- Amy Korzick Garmer
- Publication Date:
- 01-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- American journalism is in the midst of a transition unlike any other it has experienced in the 225-year history of the republic. Like other societal institutions, news organizations must contend with a variety of forces that are upsetting the status quo and shaping new business and cultural environments. These forces include advances in technology, demographic shifts and the changing interests of consumers, changing government regulations, market consolidation, and globalization, to name a few. The convergence of these market and cultural phenomena and the relentless advance of the information revolution have rocked the comfortably familiar culture of journalism.
- Topic:
- Globalization, Industrial Policy, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
54192. Sustaining Media Pluralism in Democratizing Societies
- Author:
- Craig L. LaMay
- Publication Date:
- 03-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- In 1974 a global "third wave" of democratization began when a military coup in Portugal ended the dictatorship of Antonio Salazar, who himself had come to power in a military coup in 1926. Over the course of the succeeding 15 years, about 30 countries changed from various forms of nondemocratic regimes to nominally democratic ones, most dramatically in South America and Central and Eastern Europe. During this period, notable transitions from nondemocratic rule also occurred in Africa and Asia.
- Topic:
- Industrial Policy and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- Africa, United States, Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, and Portugal
54193. Reinventing Minority Media for the 21st Century
- Author:
- América Rodriguez
- Publication Date:
- 01-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- For the fourth year, the Aspen Institute gathered together policy analysts, industry leaders, and academics to discuss the present state—and the future—of U.S. media that is produced purposefully and strategically for U.S. minority communities. These media, which range from small weekly newspapers in Filipino communities in Northern California to transnational corporations such as Univision (Univisión) which serves the Hispanic community, were the centerpiece of a lively exchange at the Aspen Institute in Aspen, Colorado, July 13-15, 2000.
- Topic:
- Industrial Policy and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States, California, and Colorado
54194. Journalism and Emerging Democracy: Lessons from Societies in Transition
- Author:
- Craig L. LaMay
- Publication Date:
- 01-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The post-Cold War period has presented an opportunity unmatched since the end of World War II to restructure the media systems of much of the world. Free of political repression or ideological constraint, media in developing and developed nations have had the opportunity to ask: Consistent with democratic principles, what should a media system look like? And more specifically for countries emerging from authoritarian rule, what news media practices promote democratization?
- Topic:
- Cold War, Industrial Policy, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States
54195. Transition to an IP Environment
- Author:
- Robert M. Entman
- Publication Date:
- 01-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- This year's Aspen Institute Conference on Telecommunications Policy began as an attempt to chart a future in which packet-based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) will supplant traditional switched circuit telephony. Among other things, VoIP appears to be propelling the marginal cost of long-distance telephoning toward zero, a development with profound implications for interexchange carriers. However, prompted in part by Lawrence Strickling's specially-commissioned piece, “The Telecommunications Marketplace in 2002: A Somewhat Fanciful Scenario,” it did not take long for conference participants to realize that a great deal more than the future profitability of long-distance service is at stake.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Industrial Policy, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States
54196. Uncharted Territory: New Frontiers of Digital Innovation
- Author:
- David Bollier
- Publication Date:
- 01-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Now that the heady first paroxysms of electronic commerce (e-commerce) have faded—and the online sector has experienced its first major shake-out—thinking about what it means to live in a digital economy is becoming more focused. Established businesses are becoming more strategic in exploiting digital technologies. Venture capitalists are becoming more discriminating in their investments. Governments at all levels are exploring how to integrate the Internet and other technologies to advance their missions.
- Topic:
- Industrial Policy and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States
54197. Democratizing U.S. Trade Policy
- Author:
- Pat Choate and Bruce Stokes
- Publication Date:
- 11-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Storm clouds signaling trouble with American trade policy have been gathering for some time. In the early 1990s, Congress barely approved creation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and only strenuous efforts by the Clinton administration and the business community ensured passage of legislation creating the World Trade Organization (WTO). In the late 1990s, President Clinton twice failed to obtain congressional renewal of his trade-negotiating authority. The massive demonstrations during the meeting of the world's trade ministers in Seattle in 1999 reflected a widespread public unease with the impact of trade policy on a range of issues, from clear-cutting practices in the forests of Indonesia to the price of AIDS drugs in southern Africa. Today, public opinion polls consistently demonstrate that, although the American public supports freer trade in theory, it often has profound reservations about trade liberalization in practice. And the current global economic slowdown may only further polarize public opinion on trade issues.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States, Indonesia, South America, and North America
54198. The United States and Southeast Asia: A Policy Agenda for the New Administration
- Author:
- Robert A. Manning and J. Robert Kerrey
- Publication Date:
- 07-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Southeast Asia presents the United States with both an important challenge and an opportunity. American leadership and enlightened action in Southeast Asia in the critical period ahead will almost certainly help stabilize a region undergoing troubling political and economic turbulence. Absent our leadership, democratizing states may founder and economic conditions in a majority of the region's countries will likely worsen. It is in the interest of the people of the United States that we choose the first course. The July 1997 collapse of the Thai baht, which triggered a regional crisis that threatened to destabilize world financial markets, was a chilling reminder of Southeast Asia's importance; the 1999 East Timor crisis is another tragic event that caught the United States unprepared. The 1990–91 Cambodia peace process, on the other hand, was a sterling example of how American leadership can make a difference. We believe the new administration has an opportunity for a fresh start to shape a coherent, proactive approach to the region. As Secretary of State Colin Powell prepares for his visit to the area during the July meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and as the administration considers President Bush's first trip to Asia for the October summit of the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group (APEC) in Shanghai, this is a timely moment to review the situation in Southeast Asia.
- Political Geography:
- Africa, United States, and Southeast Asia
54199. Strategic Energy Policy Challenges for the 21st Century
- Author:
- Edward L. Morse and Amy Myers Jaffe
- Publication Date:
- 04-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- For many decades the United States has not had a comprehensive energy policy. Now, the consequences of this complacency have revealed themselves in California. Now, there could be more California-like situations in America's future. President George W. Bush and his administration need to tell these agonizing truths to the American people and lay the basis for a comprehensive, long-term U.S. energy security policy.
- Political Geography:
- America and California
54200. State Department Reform
- Author:
- Frank C. Carlucci and Ian J. Brzezinski
- Publication Date:
- 02-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Language should designate State Department renewal as one of your top priorities and present your initiative as the next stage of a bipartisan reform process already initiated by Congress. A paragraph in this speech would serve as an invaluable tool to the secretary of state in his efforts to win necessary legislative support and to overcome bureaucratic inertia and resistance.