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551. Conventional Arms Control in Europe and Related Regional Security Concerns

Author:
Isabelle Francois
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Conventional arms control in Europe remains relevant more than two decades after the singing of the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE). Today, it could serve as a useful vehicle for collaboration with Russia on a broad range of security issues, and productive movement forward would also do much to reassure and secure smaller NATO allies and regional partners. Ultimately, what is needed is a paradigm shift away from "mutual assured destruction" and towards a concept of "mutual assured stability."
Topic:
NATO, Arms Control and Proliferation, Diplomacy, Regional Cooperation, and International Security
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

552. Inaugural Suna Roundtable Discussion The Middle East on Rise: Turkey and The EU

Author:
Lenka Peťková
Publication Date:
10-2012
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Global Political Trends Center (GPoT)
Abstract:
The Inaugural Suna Roundtable Discussion was jointly organized by Global Political Trends Center of Istanbul Kültür UniS versity and the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences (FSES) of the Comenius University with the aim to commemorate H.E. Suna Çokgür Ilıcak, who passed away while serving as the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to the Slovak Republic in 2006. The event entitled! “The Middle East on Rise: Turkey and the EU” took place on the premises of the FSES in Bratislava on October 25, 2012, with the participation of representatives of diplomatic corps, academics, experts and students. The debate was followed by a ceremony, during which a birch tree in the memory of H.E. Suna Çokgür Ilıcak was planted in the garden of the FSES.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Politics, and European Union
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, and Middle East

553. The Danish Presidency and Turkey's EU Accession: Turning the Page Towards New Positive Agenda

Author:
Sofia Hafdell
Publication Date:
07-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Global Political Trends Center (GPoT)
Abstract:
This paper will touch upon developments in bilateral relations between Denmark and Turkey and the conditions for Turkey's accession process to the EU in light of the 2012 Danish presidency. While Danish-Turkish relations have been hurt by recent events, such as the political disputes over freedom of speech and the press surrounding the Cartoon Controversy and the Roj TV Affair, at the same time Turkey's stalled negotiation talks with the EU amid freedom of expression issues, human rights concerns, and the unsolved Cyprus dispute have not effectively moved forward since 2010. As a result, the six-months Denmark presidency, preceding the Republic of Cyprus during the second half of 2012, has both demonstrated willingness for closer dialogue and continued EU integration of Turkey and given a genuine gesture towards improved bilateral ties.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Bilateral Relations, and European Union
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Denmark, Cyprus, and Mediterranean

554. Public Diplomacy: A Remedy for NATO's Image Problem

Author:
Emine Akçadağ Alagöz
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
BILGESAM (Wise Men Center for Strategic Studies)
Abstract:
The new security threats that have appeared after the Cold War have showed that NATO still matters in helping to ensure global security. However, NATO‟s image has recently been deteriorating and its credibility has been damaged. That is why an effective public diplomacy seems indispensable to overcome this problem. Even though NATO has tried to implement an active public diplomacy since 2004 through its Public Diplomacy Division, the efforts seem to not yet be fulfilling. Thus, it is crucial for the Alliance to reshape its public diplomacy strategy.
Topic:
NATO, Diplomacy, Public Opinion, Alliance, and Soft Power
Political Geography:
Europe and North America

555. Worse, not Better ? Reinvigorating Early Warning for Conflict Prevention in the Post Lisbon European Union

Author:
John Brante, Chiara De Franco, Christoph Meyer, and Florian Otto
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
Abstract:
The number and lethality of conflicts has been declining significantly since the end of the Cold War, but five new armed conflicts still break out each year. While costly peace-making, stabilisation and reconstruction efforts have helped to end conflicts, no comparative efforts have gone into preventing them from occurring in the first place. The international community appears stuck in the never-ending travails of managing crises, finding it difficult to act early to prevent new conflicts from escalating. Encouraging signs that this is changing include the United Nations (UN) promotion of the preventive arm of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and the United States' efforts to improve its capacity to prevent conflicts and mass atrocities emerging from the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review. Similarly, since the launch of the Gothenburg programme in 2001, the European Union (EU) has embraced the case for conflict prevention in policy documents as well as in the Lisbon Treaty itself, making it a hallmark of its approach to international security and conflict in contrast to conventional foreign policy. Yet, it has fallen significantly short in translating these aspirations into institutional practice and success on the ground. It suffers from the 'missing middle' syndrome between long-term structural prevention through instruments such as conditionality for EU accession and development policy, and short-term responses to erupting crisis through military and civilian missions.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Diplomacy, Peace Studies, War, Armed Struggle, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Europe and United Nations

556. Bridge over the Dniestr: Confidence-Building Measures in Moldova

Author:
Walter Kemp
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Peace Institute (IPI)
Abstract:
Damaged by shelling during the 1992 conflict, the Gura Bicului Bridge, which spans the Dniestr river, was reconstructed in 2001 with money from the European Union. The bridge—along the main highway between the Black Sea and the Baltic coast—should facilitate trade and contacts between Moldova and the break-away region of Transdniestria. But it has never been reopened: only pedestrians and bicyclists are allowed to cross. It stands as a potent symbol of how hard it has been, for the past twenty years, to bridge the two sides of the Dniestr.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Diplomacy, and Sovereignty
Political Geography:
Europe, Moldova, and Asia

557. Turkey-Ukraine Relations: High Potential, Low Voltage

Author:
Habibe Özdal and Viktoriia Demydova
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Strategic Research Organization (USAK)
Abstract:
With its strategic location of the existing power lines and economic potential, Ukraine, as one of the most important countries of Eastern Europe, is one of the pilot countries with which Turkey aims to develop its relations in an 'exemplary manner'. Besides, since Ankara and Kiev, share common values and priorities within the framework of preserving stability in the region, the Black Sea neighborhood adds another dimension to bilateral relations.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Ukraine, and India

558. The Future of Diplomacy: European and Global Challenges

Author:
Ondřej Horký
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute of International Relations Prague
Abstract:
As identified by the participants of the 1st Czech-French Forum of Young Talents, diplomacy needs to face globalization, geopolitical shifts, the call for transparency and budgetary restrictions. The diplomat has to act as a manager and interpreter of knowledge in a world characterized by an overflow of information. The need for a strong and effective EU diplomacy is not disputed but the European interest has not been clearly defined so far. The European External Action Service seems to offer an institutional setting that will help to articulate the European interest through everyday practice. The contradictory ideal of a generalist diplomat has not waned, but the diplomat must update its competences, enter the public debate and keep up dated with technological progress.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Globalization
Political Geography:
Europe

559. Dealing with Iran: How can the EU Achieve its strategic Objectives?

Author:
Shirin Pakfar
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The European Union has a unique opportunity to prove its relevance as a global foreign policy actor through resolving the international community's standoff with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Using its High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and its member states, the EU should utilize its powerful trade and energy ties with Tehran to embark on a dialogue with the regime that goes beyond the nuclear programme and addresses a broader set of issues of mutual concern.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Diplomacy
Political Geography:
Europe, Iran, Middle East, and Tehran

560. Divided we fail: Time for the EU to speak with one voice to Belarus

Author:
Anaïs Marin
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA)
Abstract:
The West has come to admit that the Belarusian regime is indifferent to incentives and sanctions alike. The crackdown on the opposition that has been ongoing since Alexander Lukashenka's last fraudulent re-election shows that Belarus is drifting ever further away from democratic values and the EU's “ring of friends”. Reversing this trend requires EU member states to acknowledge that they bear part of the responsibility for the failure of the engagement policy launched in October 2008.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Democratization, and Diplomacy
Political Geography:
Europe and Brussels