Search

Begin New Search Political Geography Europe

11111. Expanding NATO: Will it Weaken the Alliance?

Author:
Michael E. Mandelbaum and Richard C. Holbrooke
Publication Date:
12-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
Good evening. Welcome to the second or the third of our Great Debates, it depends on how you're counting. The first formal one was about six weeks ago when Madeleine Albright, our new Secretary of State designate, and Jeane Kirkpatrick debated about the United Nations. Before that we had a trial run with Bob Ellsworth, one of Senator Dole's closest friends and advisors, and Tom Donilon, the chief of staff of the State Department.
Topic:
Security, NATO, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

11112. Bulgaria and the European Union in the Process of Buliding a Common European Defence

Author:
Plamen Pantev, Valeri Ratchev, and Tilcho K. Ivanov
Publication Date:
09-1996
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Abstract:
During the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) of the European Union (EU) for reviewing the provisions of the Maastricht Treaty once again public and experts around the world realize the dramatic improvement of the security situation of the old continent that European integration led to. Few would doubt about the impact IGC will have on the security of the broader area of the Northern Hemisphere and the world in general. This is even more true considering the coincidental interaction of the EU with the evolutionary developments of the Western European Union (WEU), the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and of the internal national adaptations in the once divided into East and West parts of the Euroatlantic social, economic, political and defence space. Important outlines of a new design for the Euroatlantic security architecture with stronger European security and defence identity are already drawn. One should soberly admit that whatever political decisions are taken in the next two years, some more time would be needed to give a better shape and clarity of the new security design and its defence component. Bulgaria's structured dialogue with and pre-accession strategy to the EU as well as her formal submission of an application for full membership of the Union and the intensified dialogue that stemmed from it logically bring the country to the need of taking decisions for practical adaptation to the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the future Common European Defence (CED) of the EU. These evolutionary developments importantly coincide in a non contradictory manner with the deepening involvement of the country in the activities of the WEU, NATO's instruments - the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC) and the Partnership for Peace (PFP) programme, with the efforts of the governments of the Balkan and the Black Sea regions to improve their stability and strengthen regional peace and with the procedures of formulating a concept for the European security in the 21 century by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Treaties and Agreements, and European Union
Political Geography:
Europe and Bulgaria

11113. The Bulgarian Military Education at a Crossroads

Author:
Todor Tagarev
Publication Date:
10-1996
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Abstract:
The Bulgarian system of military education is the most important source of officers for the Armed Forces. More than ninety percents of the Bulgarian officers are graduates of one of the three service academies. Furthermore, the graduation of the "G.S. Rakovski" Military College of the General Staff is a prerequisite for an appointment at commanding positions above battalion level, and the completion of the newly established strategic course at the "Rakovski" college - a requirement for command positions above brigade level. Therefore, we examine the quality of military education as a factor determining the future of the Armed Forces. Since the 1960s, the service academies provide higher education to their graduates. Shaped after the Soviet style, the five-year long education at the academies is highly specialized with a strong emphasis on engineering sciences. This specialization reflects the compartmentalization of the Armed Forces, and continues during the officer education at the "Rakovski" military college. Although such education might have been rationalized in the years of the Cold War, in the author's opinion, it does not meet security, technological, and organizational demands of the post-Cold War era. The current requirements to military education are shaped by the new world political order, economic, technological, and legal factors, and the development of Bulgarian democratic institutions. Some of these are general for military educators worldwide, while others are specific for the present situation in Bulgaria. Of a particular importance is the role of the military education for the development of democratic civil-military relations in Bulgaria. The most important single factor demanding change, however, is the Information Revolution and the corresponding Revolution in Military Affairs. More than ever, military must be educated to anticipate change, cope with ambiguity, question traditional boundaries, and lead organizational transformation. To be effective, Bulgarian military needs a rapid transformation. The Bulgarian system of military education and the people responsible for it have the unique opportunity to lead in this transformation. They will either lead it or military colleges and academies will become anachronisms.
Topic:
Education, Military Affairs, Democracy, and Information Technology
Political Geography:
Europe and Bulgaria

11114. An International Methodology for Evaluation of Combat Capabilities of Military Systems: The Bulgarian Perspective of Greater Transparency and Confidence

Author:
Volodya Kotsev
Publication Date:
10-1996
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Abstract:
The problems of peace and security in Europe occupy an important place in the public conscience. New ways of improvement of the security situation are constantly being examined. The lessons learned from the terrible events in former Yugoslavia show us there is a lot to be done. Europe needs new and better instruments for strengthening of stability and security, applicable to all countries. This Research Report offers some ideas in that direction. The dissolution of the Warsaw Pact increased the number of countries in Europe whose national security interests are being defended mainly by themselves. The usefulness of all the international efforts, like the Helsinki Final Act, the Declaration of Madrid Meeting and the CFE Treaty is indisputable. They treat the problems of the then existing two opposing military alliances. The efforts of the people who gave birth to these processes deserve the highest estimation and respect. Now new steps towards a further development of the confidence and the security of our continent are needed. Our special interest is directed to a higher transparency in the military area.
Topic:
Security, Military Affairs, Weapons, Transparency, and Political System
Political Geography:
Europe and Bulgaria

11115. Confidence and Security in the Balkans: The Role of Transparency in Defence Budgeting

Author:
Tilcho K. Ivanov
Publication Date:
11-1996
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Abstract:
The Balkan security is a measure and a means for guaranteeing an acceptable level of economic welfare, human freedoms and stable peace for the states in the subregion and for the whole of Europe. The traditional views of a military concept about the building of state's security systems (by means of defending their integrity, sovereignty and independence) are focused on the usage of power in the international relations. If we take a deeper look into the Balkan security problem we will see that these views are getting more and more irrelevant to the new strategic environment. Though the military fundamental does not disappear, it gives way to other determinants. It is getting more and more obvious that the erosion of the economic and the social public tissue eats away the traditional institutions of the law, of the power and of the statehood. It also aggravates the building of modern civil society. The economic and social destabilization leads to the escalation of crises and conflicts, that pass over the reasonable political and legal limits. The acute clash of interests takes the uncivilized guise of genocide, ethnic cleansing, terrorism and other crimes against humanity. In the new strategic conditions security means more than territory and sovereignty. Economic security and welfare and the protection of civil rights begin to dominate subregional security. More and more often we also add to the latter the problems of national and transnational security. These three factors form the foundations of the stable regional development concept. When we combine them with the opportunities for technological transfer they give us the real measure of social development, there by contributing to keep crises under control, to prevent conflicts and to build peace.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Budget
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Balkans

11116. Hazards in Implementing a Monetary Conditions Index

Author:
Neil R. Ericsson, Kari H. Eika, and Ragnar Nymoen
Publication Date:
10-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
Some recent studies have suggested constructing a Monetary Conditions Index (or MCI) to serve as an indicator of monetary policy stance. The central banks of Canada, Sweden, and Norway all construct an MCI and (to varying degrees) use it in conducting monetary policy. Empirically, an MCI is calculated as the weighted sum of changes in a short-term interest rate and the exchange rate relative to values in a baseline year. The weights aim to reflect these variables' effects on longer-term focuses of policy — economic activity and inflation. This paper derives analytical and empirical properties of MCIs in an attempt to ascertain their usefulness in monetary policy.
Topic:
Economics and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Europe and North America

11117. Broad Money Demand and Financial Liberalization in Greece

Author:
Neil R. Ericsson and Sunil Sharma
Publication Date:
07-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
This paper develops a constant, data-coherent, error correction model for broad money demand (M3) in Greece. This model contributes to a better understanding of the effects of monetary policy in Greece, and of the portfolio consequences of financial innovation in general. The broad monetary aggregate M3 was targeted until recently, and current monetary policy still uses such aggregates as guidelines, yet analysis of this aggregate has been dormant for over a decade.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Europe

11118. American-Ukrainian Nuclear Relations

Author:
Roman Popadiuk
Publication Date:
10-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
On June 1, 1996, the last strategic missiles were shipped from Ukraine to Russia, bringing to an end a contentious issue that had marred the early stages of U.S.-Ukraine relations. In welcoming this development, President Clinton stated, “I applaud the Ukrainian government for its historic contribution in reducing the nuclear threat .... We remain committed to supporting Ukraine through its ambitious and far-sighted reforms and to working with Ukraine and our European partners to promote Ukraine's integration into the European community.”
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and International Law
Political Geography:
Europe and Johannesburg

11119. Trouble in Paradise? Europe in the 21st Century

Author:
Steven Philip Kramer and Irene Kyriakopoulos
Publication Date:
03-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
When political observers talk about European security, they invariably refer to the challenges Western Europe faces on its peripheries from a renationalized Russia, conflicts in the Balkans, and Islamic fundamentalism in North Africa. Rarely do they imagine that the greatest dangers to the new Europe may come from within, that the kind of stability Europe has enjoyed since World War II could be merely a passing chapter in history, not a transcendence of history. Without suggesting that there is necessarily a worst case ending, this study will argue that there is indeed a series of crises converging on post-Cold War Europe that threaten its stability and that need to be addressed by European policy makers and taken into account by Americans.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, International Law, and War
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and North Africa

11120. The European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy

Author:
Richard Whitman
Publication Date:
10-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster
Abstract:
The Treaty on European Union (TEU, or 'Maastricht Treaty'), which came into force on 1 November 1993, established a 'three pillar' structure for the new European Union. Pillar one consists of the European Communities - the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC); the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC); and the European Community (EC). Pillars Two and Three were introduced by the TEU and consist of, respectively, the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and co-operation in Home and Judicial Affairs (HJA).
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Europe