Search

Begin New Search Topic Security Political Geography Europe

911. The Discourses of St. Petersburg and the Shaping of a Wider Europe: Territory, Space and Post-Sovereign Politics

Author:
Viatcheslav Morozov
Publication Date:
03-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
St. Petersburg enjoys the image of being the most European of Russia's cities. The stories about the past and the present of Russia's northern capital resonate with such concepts as 'the new Hansa', the Baltic Rim or the Northern Dimension of the EU. However, the image of St. Petersburg – the capital of imperial Russia – might also be conducive to processes preserving or (re)creating dividing lines in the Baltic Sea region and in Europe as a whole. The present-day St. Petersburg certainly finds itself in search of new discursive departures that could show the way out of the present situation, which is generally regarded as unsatisfactory. This search is developing along various paths, some of which remain embedded in 'traditional' discourses, whilst others dare to step into the unknown.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and NATO
Political Geography:
Europe

912. Can Europe Be Told From The North? Tapping Into the EU's Northern Dimension

Author:
Pertti Joenniemi
Publication Date:
03-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The European Union has been furnished with a Northern Dimension (ND). The initiative, taken originally by Finland in 1997, has landed on the Union's agenda yielding policy documents, high-level conferences and some projects pertaining to Europe's North. It outlines, in terms of the spatial markers used, a sphere that reaches far beyond the northernmost North. The initiative aims, in one of its aspects, at turning northernness into a representational frame and regime that nurtures communality and influences the relations between the Union, its northern member states, some accession countries and Russia as well as Norway as non-applicants. The neo-North embedded in the move offers a joint arena for those already 'in', actors on their way 'in' and the ones that remain 'out'. In essence, it mediates in their relations, and contributes to what Christiansen, Petito and Tonra have called the "fuzziness" of the European Union by blurring established divisions.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and NATO
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Norway

913. "Realisms at war": Robert Gilpin's political economy of hegemonic war as a critique of Waltz's neorealism

Author:
Stefano Guzzini
Publication Date:
03-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
There are two main ways to approach the general topic “International Political Economy and war”. One consists in adding a list of items to a definition of war already known. This usually includes a longer list of strategically important economic resources for which countries might go to conflict or they might need in a conflict. Some of this comes now often under the grandiose name of “geo-economics”. Another approach, however, would look what a different understanding of human motivation and the international system makes to our very understanding of war.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Economics, International Organization, and War
Political Geography:
Europe

914. Global Ungovernance: Mercenaries, States and the Control over Violence

Author:
Anna Leander
Publication Date:
06-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
There is a tendency for political protestors and academic critics of 'glo bal-isation' to focus their attention on the institutions of Global Governance. The meetings of the EU and WTO have to placed in far off, complicated location to be safe from the p hysical threats of the pro testors. And there is literally a flood of critical writings on the impact of the IMF, the World Bank or the G7 on developing countries. However, in this article I want to shift the focus to another, and it seems to me potentially more threatening tendency: the tendency towards 'ungovernance'. In particular I want to dis-cuss the role of mercenaries as an example of this d evelopment.
Topic:
Security, Government, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Europe

915. Iraq: The Transatlantic Debate

Author:
Philip H. Gordon
Publication Date:
12-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:
Most Americans see the regime of Saddam Hussein as a major threat to regional and international security that must be thwarted, even if that means threatening or even using military force. If Saddam were to acquire nuclear weapons, they fear, he would seek to use them to dominate the Middle East, possibly invading his neighbours as he has in the past and perhaps deterring the United States from stopping him. His nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, moreover, might end up in the hands of Islamic terrorists who would show no compunction about using them against the United States, or Saddam himself might do so out of a thirst for vengeance. Whereas failure to act in Iraq would make a mockery of the United Nations Security Council and international law, a decisive action to topple Saddam would liberate the Iraqi people, allow the United States to lift sanctions on Iraq and withdraw its forces from Saudi Arabia, and perhaps make progress toward a freer and more democratic Middle East.
Topic:
Security and NATO
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Europe, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, and United Nations

916. Iraq: A European Point of View

Author:
Martin Ortega
Publication Date:
12-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:
UNSC Resolution 1441 has given the Iraqi regime a last opportunity to abandon any WMD programmes. If Iraq does not comply fully with the resolution or if inspections show that Iraq is indeed hiding WMD, the Security Council will have to consider the situation and decide what measures must be taken to maintain international peace and security.
Topic:
Security and NATO
Political Geography:
Iraq, Europe, and Middle East

917. International Terrorism and Europe

Author:
Thérèse Delpech
Publication Date:
12-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:
The events of 11 September moved all Europeans, but were never understood for what they really were: the return of war to the most developed societies. Thus, the emotion quickly gave way to the belief that an isolated event had taken place, or at least one that would not be repeated on the same scale. The entry of the Americans and their Afghan allies into Kabul a month after the first air strikes reinforced this belief. Even if the military operations in Afghanistan were far from over then, the Europeans, more so than the Americans – who at that time still had to cope with a biological attack – began to lose their focus. The first reason for that short-lived emotion is that 11 September, even when perceived as an attack on the entire Western world, had not happened in Europe. There is also a widespread refusal in Europe, after the turbulent history of the previous century, to admit that European territory might again be vulnerable to serious threats. Lastly, European leaders were anxious not to frighten their populations or to strain relations with the Muslim minorities living in Europe.
Topic:
Security, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, America, Europe, and Kabul

918. Getting There: Building Strategic Mobility Into ESDP

Author:
Katia Vlachos-Dengler
Publication Date:
11-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:
The commitment to create a credible military capability for Europe lies at the heart of European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). A credible defence capability does not depend exclusively on sound armed forces but also on swift projection of these forces into theatres of operations. A European Rapid Reaction Force will be expected to be capable of intervening in any area where European interests are affected and to intervene rapidly enough to conduct effective crisis management.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and NATO
Political Geography:
Europe

919. What model for CFSP?

Author:
Hans-Georg Ehrhart
Publication Date:
10-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:
An opinion poll throughout Europe, conducted by Eurobarometer and released in July 2001, indicated increasing scepticism and indifference among Europeans towards the ongoing process of European integration. Following these findings, EU foreign ministers acknowledged 'that an abyss had opened up between European citizens and their institutions'.The citizens of the four largest member countries in particular are increasingly dissatisfied with the way in which the EU is run. Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel concluded that 'the link between the Union's objectives and the actions it takes through its policies is no longer clear'.
Topic:
Security, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Europe

920. The United States: The Empire of Force or the Force of Empire?

Author:
Pierre Hassner
Publication Date:
09-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:
There is no society or policy that does not have its contradictions, but some have more than others, and that is certainly true of the United States. Raymond Aron evoked a classic paradox in giving his book on the United States the title The Imperial Republic. That paradox has two aspects. Firstly, are the republic's institutions (which are designed to guarantee citizens' rights and a separation of powers) suited to the running of an empire, or are they prejudicial to the decision-making ability and continuity that that implies? Conversely, does not the expenditure on empire, in terms of resources and time, and in particular the methods used to acquire and preserve it, affect the economic, political and moral health of the republican homeland? These dilemmas are made even more acute since, on the one hand, this is not a classic empire, like that of Rome, but rather a bourgeois, individualist one based on the acquisition of wealth rather than the winning of wars and, on the other hand, this is the first truly world-wide empire and has appeared at a moment when the threats facing humankind raise key questions on the interests of the international system and the planet itself, over and above those of the 'hyperpower'.
Topic:
Security and Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
United States and Europe