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621. Seminar on Regional Development Policies in Romania

Publication Date:
09-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
On 19 September 1998, the EastWest Institute and the Pro Democracy Association hosted a Seminar on Regional Development Policies in Romania for representatives from the North-west Development Region in the town of Felix near Oradea in Bihor county. The participants included central governmental officials responsible for implementing the newly adopted Law on Regional Development, Members of Parliaments from the region, and representatives from regional and local institutions, local business and non-governmental organisations.
Topic:
Development
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe and Maryland

622. Modelling a Multi-Ethnic Society

Author:
Dr. Renata Dwan
Publication Date:
06-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
Since 1992-93, the Institute for EastWest Studies (IEWS) has been organizing meetings of a 'Strategy Group for Strengthening Cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe'. The Strategy Group brings together representatives of the Central and Eastern European Associates of the European Union and Ukraine (and Western states and neighbouring countries where appropriate) to discuss the security challenges facing the region. The Strategy Group aims to foster the development of cooperative solutions to the problems facing Central and Eastern Europe. Participants in Strategy Group conferences and workshops come from diverse backgrounds, including governmental representatives, politicians, business people, academics and non- governmental representatives.
Topic:
Development and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, and Maryland

623. Subregional Relations in the Southern Tier: Prospects for Development

Publication Date:
05-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
Doubts were expressed as to the extent one could define the Caucasus and Central Asia as a single region, particularly for the purposes of exploring the potential for subregional cooperation to develop among its constituent states. External considerations (complex relationship between Russia and the states involved; presence of other outside actors; energy transit perspectives; influence of external conflict, i.e. Afghanistan) may point towards consideration of the Southern Tier as one region. However, internal perspectives, geographical, historical, political and cultural, suggest that treating subregionalism separately in the Caucasus and Central Asia might be a more realistic and potentially fruitful approach.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
New York, Europe, Eurasia, Eastern Europe, and Maryland

624. Deposit Insurance Funds: An Instrument of Banking Stability and Issues of Authority, Information and Effectiveness

Author:
Eugene Spiro
Publication Date:
03-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
The EastWest Institute is interested in the issue of banking supervision as one of the primary goals of our Economics Program since 1990 has been to support the establishment of a reformed, market-based banking system in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Former Soviet Union (FSU). As an integral component of our broader work in providing expert support to commercial bank managers and economic policymakers on the concrete aspects of implementing reform-oriented practices and strategies, we see the underlying stability and transparency of the banking system to be of critical importance. In Hungary as elsewhere, banks are indispensable to the smooth functioning of the economy, and the EWI has long subscribed to the view that the banking sector (e.g. in the context of privatisation) is a 'special' sector and requires special treatment.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Soviet Union, and Maryland

625. Strategies for EU-Integration

Publication Date:
04-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
The decision to enlarge the European Union to applicant countries in Central and Eastern Europe is by far the most important instrument to secure the process of democratic and market economic reform in the new, post-Cold War Europe. To implement and manage this decision is indeed a challenge to both the existing members of the Union and the applicants. In principle, the roadmap is clear. Together with the acquis communautaire , the 1993 Copenhagen criteria outline the main framework for the way to full membership. The Union has further developed its enlargement strategy in the Agenda 2000 presented in July 1997.
Topic:
Economics and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Maryland

626. Security and Integration in Eurasia's New Boundary Zones: The Role of Sub-Regional Relations

Publication Date:
02-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
Security and Integration in Eurasia's New Boundary Zones: The Role of Sub-Regional Relations' is the second year of a project which the Institute for EastWest Studies (IEWS) is running with generous support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. This project explores the contribution made by intergovernmental sub-regional groupings to security and integration in the OSCE area. In 1996-97 a detailed comparative study of six Central and Eastern European groups was undertaken and the role they play in assisting states of the region in their democratic transition, in entering wider European integration processes and in increasing the stability and security of the the region. Two conferences were held and a book summarizing the conclusions of the six case studies will shortly be published. Cooperative relations with OSCE, EU and WEU have been established to help develop these international organizations' policies toward sub-regional relations.
Topic:
Security, International Organization, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
New York, Eurasia, Eastern Europe, and Maryland

627. Existing and Emerging Cooperation in New Central and Eastern Europe

Publication Date:
02-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
Security and Integration in Eurasia's New Boundary Zones: The Role of Sub-Regional Relations' is the second year of a project which the Institute for EastWest Studies (IEWS) is running with generous support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. This project explores the contribution made by intergovernmental sub-regional groupings to security and integration in the OSCE area. In 1996-97 a detailed comparative study of six Central and Eastern European groups was undertaken and the role they play in assisting states of the region in their democratic transition, in entering wider European integration processes and in increasing the stability and security of the the region. Two conferences were held and a book summarizing the conclusions of the six case studies will shortly be published. Cooperative relations with OSCE, EU and WEU have been established to help develop these international organizations' policies toward sub-regional relations.
Topic:
Security and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
New York, Europe, Eastern Europe, and Maryland

628. Confidence-Building and Regional Security in the Baltic Sea Space

Publication Date:
01-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
Confidence-building is a process aimed at increasing security and stability amongst and within nation states. It begins with the recognition of each state's legitimate claim to security and proceeds on the principle of equality of all states involved. Confidence, ultimately, is a matter of perception: transparency and inclusiveness are thus key elements in the building process.
Topic:
Security and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, and Maryland

629. Conflict in Kosovo: Failure of Prevention? An Analytical Documentation, 1992-1998.

Author:
Stefan Troebst
Publication Date:
05-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
Not too much of inside knowledge of the Balkans was needed to realise that the winter of 1997/98 turned the formerly autonomous Yugoslav province of Kosovo inhabited predominantly by Albanians into one of the most violent-prone crisis zones in Europe. In September 1997, a massive protest movement of Albanian students gained momentum; from November 1997 on, an underground "Liberation Army of Kosovo" (UÇK)) with an estimated strength of several hundred fighters increased the number of attacks on and assassinations of Serbian officials and police officers; and the regime retaliated first by police violence, show trials, long-term sentences, and nationalist tirades, then by bringing more and more security forces into the central part of Kosovo. In January 1998, The Economist depicted Kosovo as "Europe's roughest neighbourhood”.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Ethnic Conflict, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Kosovo, Serbia, Balkans, and Albania

630. MILOSEVIC: DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN?

Publication Date:
12-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
In the past few weeks the Belgrade authorities have sacked a number of key public officials. The two most prominent were security chief Stanisic and head of the army general staff Perisic. The firings triggered much speculation in the international media about the stability of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's regime. According to one interpretation, the sackings signal a fundamental weakness in government ranks, with Milosevic moving pre-emptively to oust potential rivals to his authority. Alternatively, the sackings may represent an attempt by the Yugoslav President to further consolidate his power base and to effectively rule with the backing of Yugoslavia's military and security establishments. Both Stanisic and Perisic were seen as Milosevic's opponents on several key policies, notably Belgrade's handling of relations with the Kosovo Albanians. Both Perisic and Stanisic, reportedly moderates not favouring the use of severe force against the Kosovars, have been replaced by Milosevic "yes-men" regarded as proponents of a violent resolution of the Kosovo question. If this is even in part the case, Stanisic's and Perisic's sackings do not necessary reflect a weakness in Milosevic's rule. Instead, the sackings may only signal Milosevic's resolve to return to force as a means of regional problem solving.
Topic:
Security, Diplomacy, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Kosovo, and Yugoslavia