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461. Russian Foreign Policy Think Tanks in 2002

Author:
Katri Pynnöniemi
Publication Date:
01-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
This report provides a general picture of research institutes working in the areas of foreign and security policy in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In the following, I will briefly discuss changes in research financing and the consequent reorganisation of the research community. After this, major changes in the study of international relations in Russia are also discussed. A list of the most important research institutes in Moscow and St. Petersburg is appended to the report. In addition, information is provided on the forums and publications of most importance in the foreign-policy debate.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Non-Governmental Organization, and Politics
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Asia, and Moscow

462. From Yugoslavia to Iraq: Russia's Foreign Policy and the Effects of Multipolarity

Author:
Vadim Kononenko
Publication Date:
06-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The aim of this study is to analyze the evolution and political implications of Russia's doctrine of multipolarity. Multipolarity emerged as one of the earliest doctrinal solutions to the post-Soviet Russian foreign policy dilemma, and has remained essential for Russia's strategic behavior since the early 1990s. The multipolarity doctrine describes the post-Cold War world and Russia's place in it. As I argue in this study, Russian “multipolarity” – (the idea of the multipolar world; the vision of Russia as one of its 'poles'; and the understanding of the principles of international politics in the strict terms of realpolitik) is not an ideological resource for Russia's foreign policy but rather, a result of learning how to secure the country' s international status given the scarcity of foreign policy resources available, and the drastic change in the international institutional position of Russia. To sum up the central argument of this study: the multipolarity of Russian foreign policy – both a doctrinal strategy and foreign policy practice – has evolved as a template-like foreign policy approach to solve Russia's strategic dilemma since the demise of the Soviet Union: how to secure its place in the new international structure and compensate for the loss of the international arrangements that disappeared with Soviet might and the bipolar international system as a whole.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Diplomacy
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Russia, Iraq, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Soviet Union, and Balkans

463. Reversing the Decline in the Balkans: Recommendations for Western Policy

Publication Date:
10-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Public International Law Policy Group
Abstract:
The results of Serbia's December 2003 parliamentary elections accelerated concerns that the situation in the Balkans is seriously deteriorating. On 2 March 2004 the Public International Law Policy Group and The Century Foundation convened a roundtable of sixteen people deeply involved in Balkan issues from the region, Europe, and the United States to review the general situation in the Balkans and examine the approach of the United States and European Union (EU) to the region.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Politics, and Sovereignty
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Serbia, and Balkans

464. A Jobless Recovery?

Author:
Allan H. Meltzer
Publication Date:
11-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
While Alan Greenspan and most analysts continue to discuss the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs since the Bush administration took office, the Labor Department Household Survey shows such claims to be either wrong or greatly exaggerated.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Democratization, and Economics
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

465. Hail Britannia

Author:
Thomas Donnelly
Publication Date:
09-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Prime Minister Tony Blair has been widely praised for articulating a more persuasive and comprehensive rationale for war against Saddam Hussein than the Bush administration put forward. Now Blair's defense secretary, Geoffrey Hoon, has released a report on Operation Iraqi Freedom, which—in conjunction with Britain's defense white paper—suggests that London may be ahead of Washington in identifying some of the toughest lessons for the war on terrorism.
Topic:
Security and Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

466. Food for Thought the Stability Pact for South East Europe - Dawn of an Era of Regional Co-Operation?

Author:
Gjergj Murra
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Austrian National Defence Academy
Abstract:
These past three years have been a useful learning process for the Stability Pact. Some achievements are visible, but there also has been much criticism with regards to its real outcome and performance. However, an independent assessment of the process is needed to analyse what is functioning well, and what could be improved, as judged by participants from the region. So far either no through assessment is done, or assessment have been at project level, (technical, in terms of project completion, disbursement, timing, task performed), not in terms of the political goal that projects were designed to achieve. One of the main lessons appears to be the need to refine the approach and priorities. Some topics have already found an answer, while for some other a clearer vision in needed.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, NATO, International Cooperation, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Europe and Eastern Europe

467. Regional Approach - An Obstacle or an Opportunity for an Early Integration of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Into the European Structures

Author:
Vladimir Bilandzic
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Austrian National Defence Academy
Abstract:
I would have to start this presentation with a disclaimer. When I was kindly invited to give a perspective from Serbia on the issue we are discussing at this seminar, I told the organisers that my contribution could not be regarded as a representative one, since I work for an international organisation - the OSCE - in Belgrade. At the same time, I cannot claim that my views represent the views of the organisation I work for. So, what I am going to say are my personal views, based of course on my experience and research on Southeast European politics, especially in the countries of former Yugoslavia. Therefore, while apologising for not being in a position to give a more authoritative presentation, I will try to give a meaningful contribution on the subject, especially from a perspective of someone coming from Belgrade.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Yugoslavia

468. A Swift, Elusive Sword: What if Sun Tzu and John Boyd Did a National Defense Review?

Author:
Chester W. Richards
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
What kind of question is: “What if Sun Tzu and John Boyd did a National Defense Review?” Sun Tzu, if he existed at all, has been gone some 2,500 years. The late Col. John R. Boyd, U.S.A.F., while intimately involved in fighter aircraft design during his active duty years, wrote practically nothing on hardware or force structure after he retired, when he created the strategic concepts for which he is best known today.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

469. Why Delegate the Allocation of Foreign Aid to Multilateral Organizations? Principal-Agent Problems and Multilateralism

Author:
Helen Milner
Publication Date:
09-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International Studies, University of Southern California
Abstract:
Why do countries delegate the distribution of foreign aid to international institutions? Specifically, why have the advanced industrial countries chosen to distribute part of their foreign aid through multilateral organizations, such as the European Union (EU), World Bank, IMF, UN, and regional development banks (RDBs)? The delegation of aid provision to an international institution is puzzling. Why would governments relinquish control over their aid if they are a useful instrument of statecraft? Governments delegate aid delivery to international institutions when their publics lack information about the consequences of aid and fear that their governments will deviate from their wishes concerning its use. By using the international organization to send aid, the government issues a credible signal to voters about the use of foreign aid. This signal leaves all actors better off by helping to solve a principal-agent problem in domestic politics. When publics are skeptical about the benefits of aid, governments are more likely to turn aid over to multilateral organizations in order to reassure taxpayers that their money is being well spent. Using data on about 20 donor countries of the OECD from 1960-2000, I investigate the sources of multilateral giving, showing that public opinion has the expected negative relationship to multilateral aid-giving.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Europe and United Nations

470. Toward a European Strategy for Iraq

Author:
Giacomo Luciani and Felix Neugart
Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
The Iraq crisis has been a disaster for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union (EU). Member countries are very visibly split in their position towards the war against the regime in Baghdad. EU institutions have been unable to agree on more than the unconditional implementation of the relevant United Nations resolutions leaving the door open for widely diverging interpretations. The challenge of the Iraq crisis does not bode well for the future of a cohesive European Foreign Policy, and the CFSP requires a fresh approach.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and War
Political Geography:
Iraq, Europe, Middle East, Arabia, and United Nations