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6361. The Deployment of Multinational Military Formations: Taking Political Institutions into Account

Author:
Marc Houben and Dirk Peters
Publication Date:
06-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
Multinational military formations exist in many forms, shapes and colours. Their size varies; their raison d'être varies; the type of military units involved varies; and the countries involved vary. In most cases governments take into consideration the economic, militarytechnical and operational arguments for participation in a multinational formation. They participate because it will save them money for example, or it enables them to maintain a critical capability, such as F-16 fighter planes. States thus usually take care to shape the units in a way that contributions complement each in technical terms and that the whole unit pays off in economic terms. Not often, however, is the compatibility of the political systems of the participating countries taken into account when a multinational unit is formed. Our contention is that more attention should be paid to the political/institutional compatibility of participating states when creating multinational units. Some political systems are more compatible than others and this fact has consequences for the effectiveness of jointly owned multinational units.
Topic:
Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Europe

6362. Caucasus Revisited

Author:
Michael Emerson
Publication Date:
06-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
Three years ago, after the Kosovo war and the launch of the Stability Pact for South East Europe, there was a spasm of interest in the idea of a stability pact for the Caucasus. However nothing came of this, since neither the region's leaders nor the international community were willing or able to do anything of substance, although a comprehensive proposal had been published by CEPS as a 'track 2' initiative. As a result, the de facto secessions of Abkhazia and Nagorno Karabakh have become more deeply entrenched, but only with the protection of Russia and Armenia, respectively, with which these entities have become increasingly integrated de facto. Since conventional diplomacy in the Caucasus under UN or OSCE auspices has failed to deliver solutions over a whole decade, we take a wider look here at the kind of solutions that may emerge for these so-called frozen conflicts of the European periphery. New developments external to the region are coming from the EU and the US: the widening of the Europeanisation process on the one hand, and the 'democratic imperialism' or Pax Americana coming out of Washington since 11 September 2001 and now the Iraq war. We explore below how these developments may affect the prospects for the Caucasus.
Topic:
Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Europe

6363. Optimizing the Mechanism for 'Enhanced Cooperation' within the EU: Recomendations for the Constitutional Treaty

Author:
Eric Philippart
Publication Date:
05-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
Policy development in the EU is often impeded by member states being either unwilling or unable to participate. One way to overcome that problem is to resort to flexible approaches accommodating diversity. Convinced that an enlarged Union would require more flexibility, the current member states agreed in 1997 to introduce a new safety valve in the treaties, named 'enhanced cooperation'. Thanks to that mechanism, a group of member states may be authorised to use the EU framework to further their cooperation or integration in policy areas under EU competence whenever it appears impossible to do so with all of the member states.
Topic:
Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Europe

6364. Reforming the Composition of the ECB Governing Council in View of Enlargement: An Opportunity Missed!

Author:
Daniel Gros
Publication Date:
05-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
It is widely accepted that enlargement requires reform of the highest decision-making bodies of the European Central Bank (ECB). In particular, there are concerns that the Governing Council, which is composed of the six-member Executive Board of the ECB plus the governors of the participating national central banks (NCBs), will grow too large to work efficiently. In the absence of reform, it could end up having over 30 members - resembling more a mini-parliament than a decision-making body that has to manage a global currency in fast-moving financial markets. Moreover, the accession of a number of small countries is often perceived as a threat to the "power balance" in the Governing Council.
Topic:
Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Europe

6365. Constitutionalising the Open Method of Coordination - What Should the Convention Propose?

Author:
Gráinne De Búrca and Jonathan Zeitlin
Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
Within the Convention process, the final reports of no less than four separate working groups - those on Simplification, Complementary Competences, Economic Governance and Social Europe - have come out in favour of including the 'Open Method of Coordination' (OMC) within the Constitutional Treaty. The relevant sections of these reports are attached in an annex.
Topic:
Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Europe

6366. A Public Stability Pact for Public Debt?

Author:
Daniel Gros
Publication Date:
01-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
There is an urgent need to link the excessive deficit procedure with the issue of sustainability and hence the evolution of public debt. This note shows that there exists a simple way to introduce the evolution of public debt in the Stability Pact, which so far has focused exclusively on deficits. The link starts from the Maastricht criterion for participation in EMU concerning public debt and its reference value of 60% of GDP. The Maastricht criterion on public debt stipulates that if public debt exceeds 60% of GDP, it must be 'sufficiently diminishing and approaching the reference value at a satisfactory pace''.This note provides a numerical rule for evaluating whether public debt is indeed diminishing 'at a satisfactory pace'. This numerical rule is in accordance with the reference values in the Treaty and could be used as the basis for an 'excessive debt procedure'.
Topic:
Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Europe

6367. To Give or Not to Give: The Crisis of Confidence in Charities

Author:
Paul C. Light
Publication Date:
12-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Public confidence is essential to America's 1.5 million charitable organizations and the 11 million Americans they employ. Confidence clearly affects the public's willingness to donate time and money, shapes the political and regulatory environment that governs charitable organizations, and has at least some influence on morale within the charitable workforce.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Government, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
America

6368. Reconsidering the Peace Corps

Author:
Lex Rieffel
Publication Date:
12-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The Peace Corps is one of the smallest instruments in the foreign policy toolkit of the United States. It is a “boutique” agency with a superb reputation. The Bush administration has proposed doubling the number of Peace Corps volunteers working in developing countries to 14,000 by 2007, still below the 1966 peak of over 15,000 volunteers.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Agriculture, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
United States

6369. Building Intelligence to Fight Terrorism

Author:
James B. Steinberg, Mary Graham, and Andrew Eggers
Publication Date:
09-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The Bush administration has begun to revise cold war rules governing national security information in order to counter terrorist threats to the United States. The president's homeland security plan calls for new intelligence efforts to protect the nation's borders, defend against threats within the United States, minimize infrastructure vulnerabilities, and improve emergency responses. Congress has given the new Department of Homeland Security responsibility for coordinating these strategies and assuring that accurate and complete information gets to those who need it.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Government
Political Geography:
United States

6370. Higher Education Spending: The Role of Medicaid and the Business Cycle

Author:
Thomas J. Kane and Peter R. Orszag
Publication Date:
09-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
In recent years, many public colleges and universities around the country have announced double-digit increases in tuition. The recession and the resulting squeeze on state revenues are the immediate causes. However, the short-term crisis should not be allowed to obscure a longer-term shift in state financing of higher education, which began more than a decade ago. As states have struggled to respond to other demands on their budgets-primarily due to rising state Medicaid obligations-parents and students have been asked to pay an increasingly large share of the costs in public higher education.
Topic:
Economics and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States