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31. Size and Influence - How small states influence policy making in multilateral arenas

Author:
Maria Nilaus Tarp and Jens Ole Bach Hansen
Publication Date:
11-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
In an increasingly interconnected world multilateral cooperation becomes more important as countries are forced to work together to address new global challenges. Traditionally, multilateral fora have provided a stage for small countries to exercise influence and act internationally. The authors argue that small countries have a set of assets at their disposal compared to larger countries that give them a comparative advantage in a multilateral world order. To make that argument, the paper highlights a number of examples based on the authors' first-hand experience from the Danish Foreign Service and the United Nations and summarises the toolbox of small countries that seek to pursue political influence in multilateral organizations.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Globalization, International Cooperation, International Organization, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
United Nations

32. Bahrain and the global balance of power after the Arab Spring

Author:
Lars Erslev Andersen
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The global balance of power is changing, and the role of the US as the only superpower is being challenged by emerging new powers and a still more powerful China. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Persian Gulf. This Working Paper by DIIS researcher Lars Erslev Andersen argues that if we are fully to understand the developments in the Persian Gulf we need to analyze the Persian Gulf as a regional security complex in its own right. The argument is developed empirically with reference to the case of Bahrain.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, International Trade and Finance, International Affairs, and Power Politics
Political Geography:
United States, China, Middle East, Arabia, and Bahrain

33. The World Bank and the Emerging World Order Adjusting to multipolarity at the second decimal point

Author:
Jakob Vestergaard
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The voice reform process originated in the Monterrey Consensus, which was articulated at the United Nations International Conference on Financing for Development held in Monterrey on 22 March 2002. For several years after the Monterrey Consensus, progress in deliberations on voice reform in the governing bodies of the World Bank was modest. But the global economic crisis raised the urgency of reforming the Bretton Woods institutions in the eyes of most countries and the creation of a G20 Leaders Forum gave further impetus to the voice reform process.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, International Cooperation, International Affairs, and World Bank
Political Geography:
United Nations

34. The Academia and Foreign Policy Making: Bridging the Gap

Author:
Stephan de Spiegeleire, Pertti Joenniemi, Alyson J. K. Bailes, and René Dinesen
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The paper aims at probing the way the social distance between research and practice has been unfolding in the spheres of foreign and security policies. It is noted that the landscape has been changing considerably during the last two decades, and further changes seem to be in train. While inevitably non-exhaustive and idiosyncratic, the paper still attempts to capture some key features of a shifting and rather complicated picture by looking at the demand as well as supply of research. In conclusion, the paper also comments on the frequently used concept of a 'gap' by pointing out that the two spheres relate extensively to each other despite their dissimilarity in regard to the underlying principles and departures. The relationship appears to have grown increasingly tense and so close that rather than discussing and pointing to an alleged gap, there are reasons to focus on the very nature of the relationship, discuss the terms to be applied in devising it, but also to map and outline it far better than has been the case so far.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, International Affairs, and Political Theory

35. The EU's Eastern Neighbours: The state of reforms and the reform of the state

Author:
Julie Herschend Christoffersen
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This report is based on the DIIS conference "The EU's Eastern Neighbours – The Road to Viable Reforms and Efficient Assistance" held in March 2011 in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. The aim of the conference was to provide input for the upcoming evaluation of the Danish Neighbourhood Programme (DNP) in the light of the ongoing review of the European Neighbourhood Policy. Focusing on various aspects of development in the Eastern Neighbourhood, various stakeholders, donors, politicians, NGO's and researchers all gave their views on how development can be improved. The roles of conditionality, economic growth and donor coordination were among the issues discussed. Several of the contributions can be found in this publication.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Europe and Denmark

36. The Concept of Normative Power in World Politics

Author:
Ian Manners
Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The social sciences have many different understandings of 'normative power'. The purpose of this brief is to help clarify the concept of normative power in world politics as developed in European Union (EU) studies over the last ten years. The brief uses a five-point conceptualisation of normative power as being ideational; involving principles, actions, and impact; as well as having broader consequences in world politics. For each point both a general observation about world politics and a specific comment about the EU is made.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Europe

37. Piracy off the Coasts of Somalia

Author:
Bjoern Moeller
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The piracy problem off the coasts of Somalia veritably exploded in 2008, due to a mixture of push and pull factors. The general misery in the country pushed Somalis into piracy, and the high earnings from successful pirate attacks pulled businessmen into the pirate business. The international community has sent several patrols to the area, but the decisive factor is what happens on the ground in Somalia.
Topic:
Crime, International Law, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Africa and Somalia

38. Come Home, NATO? The Atlantic Alliance's New Strategic Concept

Author:
Sten Rynning and Jens Ringsmose
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This DIIS Report provides an overview of the political and military issues that are likely to shape the coming discussions about NATO's new Strategic Concept. NATO's current Strategic Concept dates back to 1999 and over the last couple years an increasing number of policy-makers have suggested that it is time to take stock of the transatlantic Alliance. The exercise is significant because the Strategic Concept represents the operational view of the Washington Treaty - the basic text of NATO - and because it will bequeath a new strategic direction to the Alliance. The Report presents three arguments. One is that the Strategic Concept serves several functions: it codifies past decision and existing practices; it provides strategic direction; and it serves as an instrument of public diplomacy. The second argument is that the new Strategic Concept must balance the push and pull of two competing visions of NATO, one being 'Come home, NATO;' the other being 'Globalize, stupid.' The contest between these diverging visions has consequences for a number of issues that the Strategic Concept must address. Lastly, it is argued that although the agenda of globalization is being questioned, NATO will continue down the path of global engagement.
Topic:
Security, International Organization, Regional Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

39. Are the northern sea routes really the shortest?

Author:
Svend Aage Christensen
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
We hear a lot about changes in the extension of the ice cover in the Arctic Ocean. Reading the headlines in the newspapers one gets the impression that the Arctic Ocean will soon be ice-free.
Topic:
Climate Change, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, Treaties and Agreements, and International Affairs

40. On the measure of power and the power of measure in International Relations

Author:
Stefano Guzzini
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Power is a central concept in theories of International Relations. Its explanatory role shows in such a key concept as the 'balance of power' which predicts that allied groups of states will tend to balance their respective powers. But it also plays an important role for understanding the outcome of conflicts, since here 'power' has often been likened to a 'cause': getting someone else to do what he/she would not have otherwise done. Knowing power distributions therefore is said to explain state behaviour and the outcome of their interaction. Such power analysis must assume the measurability of power. Unfortunately, as this Working Paper argues, such measure is of no avail, not because we have not yet thought enough about it, but because it is not possible. There are two main reasons. First, because of the missing fungibility of power resources, no standard of measure can be established. And secondly, for understanding power phenomena and the very value of such resources in the first place, we need to analyse legitimacy, which is, however, not reducible to any objective measure. Still, since power as a measurable fact appears crucial in the language and bargaining of international politics, measures of power are agreed to and constructed as a social fact: diplomats must agree first on what counts before they can start counting. The second part of the paper therefore moves the analysis of power away from the illusion of an objective measure to the political battle over defining the criteria of power, which in turn has political effects. In other words, besides understanding what power means, one has also to assess what its understanding, if shared, does. Being tied to the idea of responsibility in our political discourse ('ought implies can'), the act attributing power to actors asks them to justify their action or non-action: it 'empowers' certain actions. The paper illustrates such interactive effects by discussing the present debate about US power, showing the way we conceive power, if it becomes shared, implies and legitimates particular foreign policy action.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and International Affairs
Political Geography:
United States