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161. The Future of NATO

Author:
Whitney Shepardson
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
If the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) did not exist today, the United States would not seek to create it. In 1949, it made sense in the face of a potential Soviet invasion to forge a bond in the North Atlantic area among the United States, Canada, and the west European states. Today, if the United States were starting from scratch in a world of transnational threats, the debate would be over whether to follow liberal and neoconservative calls for an alliance of democracies without regard to geography or to develop a great power concert envisioned by the realists to uphold the current order.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, NATO, International Cooperation, International Organization, and International Security
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Canada, and Soviet Union

162. Power and the Past: Collective Memory and International Relations

Author:
Eric Langenbacher (ed) and Yossi Shain (ed)
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Georgetown University Press
Abstract:
Collective memories have long influenced domestic politics and especially international affairs—a fact most recently exemplified by the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. The events and the memories resulting from them became powerful motivating forces for Americans almost overnight. At home, an infrastructure of commemoration quickly arose—in films like United 93 ( 2006 ); memorials including one unveiled at the Pentagon in September 2008 and the Tribute World Trade Center Visitor Center opened in 2006; and even in political campaign discourse, as at the 2008 Republican National Convention. 1 Yet, as with other collective memories worldwide, there is no consensus as to the overall meaning and lessons of September 11 over time. Instead, the continued vehemence of discussions about 9 / 11 reveals still-unresolved struggles over the construction, content, and power of the memory. What degree of prominence should this memory have in American political culture? What historical narratives are offered as explanations? Most importantly, what values and policy implications—both domestically and abroad—ought to follow?
Topic:
International Relations, Human Rights, Politics, Political Theory, and History
Political Geography:
Europe

163. Prime Minister of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

Author:
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Columbia University World Leaders Forum
Abstract:
The New Economic Order and the Millennium Development Goals" This event will feature and address by Prime Minister of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
Topic:
International Relations, Regional Cooperation, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Europe

164. The Pentagon, Information Operations, and Media Development

Author:
Peter Cary
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
A core principle of the United States is that a free and independent press is vital to the formation and maintenance of democracies. During the Cold War, the State Department's media outreach into the former Soviet Union and other Communist- leaning nations was largely limited to the broadcasts of the U.S. Information Agency (USIA). With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the effort broadened: USAID began to encourage and develop independent media in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. In the early 1990s, when the Balkans erupted in conflict, that region became the focus of assistance for media development.
Topic:
International Relations, Cold War, Development, Mass Media, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, and Berlin

165. The State of Play of the Union for the Mediterranean in the Euro-Med Context

Author:
Roberto Aliboni
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The author examines problems related with the political identity of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), its relations with the EMP's Euro- Mediterranean "acquis" and the functioning of its institutions. While the UfM has been designed to give new momentum to the EU's cooperation with Mediterranean countries, results have hardly met ambitions so far. There is a lot the EU can do to increase the UfM profile: revise its institutional settings; create a parallel, but connected, multilateral dimension in the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy; quickly implement large-scale regional projects; expand cooperation to agriculture; and scale back the ambition that the UfM can promote political solidarity in the short- to mediumterm.
Topic:
International Relations, Agriculture, International Trade and Finance, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe

166. Strasbourg's Interpretive Ethic: Lessons for the International Lawyer

Author:
George Letsas
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The article offers an account of the judicial philosophy which underpins the European Court of Human Rights' approach to treaty interpretation. The first part argues that Strasbourg's interpretive ethic has been dismissive of originalism and textualism and has favoured instead the moral reading of the Convention rights. The second part of the article explains why Strasbourg's interpretive ethic is fully justified, by offering an account of the nature of treaty interpretation in general. It argues that treaty interpretation is intrinsically an evaluative task in identifying the moral values which normatively constrain the projects that states pursue on the international plane. Treaty interpretation is only derivatively an exercise in discovering drafters' intentions and in determining the meaning of treaty provisions. Which interpretive methods an adjudicative body should use depends on the nature of the treaty in question and the moral value in play.
Topic:
International Relations
Political Geography:
Europe

167. Peter J. Katzenstein (ed.), Civilizations in World Politics: Plural and Pluralist Perspectives

Author:
Ömer Aslan
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
The quest to incorporate non-material factors into international relations has continued apace into the twenty-first century. After religion, culture and identity, now 'civilization' seems to be attracting a great deal of attention from international relations (IR) scholars. Civilizations in World Politics: Plural and Pluralist Perspectives, which is the result of a roundtable and a panel organized at the 2007 and 2008 annual meetings of the American Political Science Association, investigates the potentiality of the concept of civilizations in order to better explain world politics. The book consists of six case studies of civilizations (American European, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Islamic) in six chapters, bookended by an introduction and a conclusion by Peter J. Katzenstein and Patrick T. Jackson respectively.
Topic:
International Relations and Politics
Political Geography:
China, America, and Europe

168. Dış İlişkiler Kapsamında Avrupa Birliği'nin Tüzel Kişiliği ve Lizbon Antlaşması

Author:
Derya Büyüktanir
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
This paper examines the European Union’s legal personality in terms of external relations. The developments from the onset of the European integration till the Lisbon Treaty and the structural characteristics of the Union are analyzed in this paper. The Union’s participation and representation in international organizations and the third countries and the problems encountered during the implementation process are examined. The legal personality of the former European Community was abolished with the Lisbon Treaty which took force in 2009. Treaty also contains a catalogue of competence that has brought about some structural changes. As a legal entity the European Union after the Lisbon Treaty will no longer be the object of some problems related with its legal personality. But the extent to which these changes can lead to orchestrated behavior in external politics and solve the problems of representation is highly doubtful.
Topic:
International Relations and European Union
Political Geography:
Europe and European Union

169. The European Union's Asia strategies: Problems of foreign policy and international relations

Author:
Michael Smith and Natee Vichitsorasatra
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Politics
Institution:
Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:
European Union (EU)–Asia relations raise linked problems (on the one hand) of EU collective action and identity and (on the other hand) of cooperation. The relationship is characterized by complexity and variety in three dimensions: first, 'voices' and history; second, institutional engagement and structure; and third, issue structure. In order to explore the implications of this complexity and variety, and to generate propositions for further research, we deploy International Relations theories based on material interests, ideas and institutions. These help us to demonstrate not only the application of 'analytical theory' but also the role of 'practitioner theory' in the evolution of relations between the EU and Asia, and thus to reflect systematically on the problems of collective action and cooperation identified at the beginning of the article.
Topic:
International Relations and Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Europe and Asia

170. China–Europe relations: The limits of strategic partnership

Author:
Pradeep Taneja
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Politics
Institution:
Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:
The China–European Union (EU) relationship has grown rapidly over the past three decades with international trade being its mainstay. China and the EU also share a number of common strategic interests and positions. To maximize the potential of this relationship, both sides decided to build a comprehensive strategic partnership. However, serious differences remain between the two sides on questions of norms and values, delaying progress on a strategic framework. This article argues that while these differences constitute a serious obstacle to the realization of a genuine strategic partnership, the growing importance of trade and investment relations between China and the EU will cushion the impact of these differences, thus allowing each side more leverage over the other in dealing with complex bilateral and international issues.
Topic:
International Relations
Political Geography:
China and Europe