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3172. What Does the Arab Spring Mean for Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus?
- Author:
- Aigerim Zikibayeva
- Publication Date:
- 09-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- The demonstrations that were sparked by Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation in protest of police corruption in Tunisia in December 2010 spread a contagion of revolutions across North Africa and the Middle East. The revolutionary spirit that spread to the neighboring countries of Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen, Morocco, and Jordan, has raised the question of a possible spillover in other regions of the world. The long-term instability in Eurasia as a whole, in Central Asia and the Caucasus in particular, has caused serious concerns about the possibility of rising radical Islamic threats in these regions, as well as the possibility of similar revolutions against the existing regimes. Perceptions and responses to these events in Russia and the United States also bear impact on the "reset" policy between the two nations.
- Topic:
- Armed Struggle and Regime Change
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Europe, Central Asia, and Arabia
3173. Peter Gatrell and Nick Baron (eds.), Warlands. Population Resettlement and State Reconstruction in the Soviet-East European Borderlands, 1945-50 (City: Publishing House, 2009).
- Author:
- Ana Dinescu
- Publication Date:
- 09-2011
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Central European University Political Science Journal
- Institution:
- Central European University
- Abstract:
- More than six decades after the end of the Second World War it is hard to imagine the political, social, and human landscapes of Europe in the aftermath of hostilities. In reconstructing this recent past, we can rely on a large bibliography regarding the events from the Western part of the continent. But for what concerns the territory to the east of the Iron Curtain, the appropriate and single case-study documentation remains problematic and thus, topics such as the political, economic and social effects of the first year of the Cold War reconfigurations are still insufficiently explored. It is, for example, the everyday life of the displaced person or the consequences of displacement on the identity reconfiguration of ethnic minorities.
- Topic:
- Economics, War, and Reconstruction
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Soviet Union
3174. Hobbes and the Law of Nature
- Author:
- Ester Bertrand
- Publication Date:
- 09-2011
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Central European University Political Science Journal
- Institution:
- Central European University
- Abstract:
- Hobbes and the Law of Nature constitutes the final monograph by the late historian Perez Zagorin, who was a specialist in the field of early modern European and English political thought. Zagorin died in April 2009 at the age of 88 and in this last work he presents his assessment of Thomas Hobbes as a political and moral philosopher. Zagorin's analysis is based on Hobbes' three major political works - The Elements of Law (1640), De cive (1641), and Leviathan (1651) – which were written during the English Civil War that resulted in the temporary defeat of the British monarchy. As is explained in the preface, Zagorin's twofold intention is to analyse Hobbes' concept of natural law within its historical context, and to demonstrate his significance “as a humane moral philosopher and theorist of natural law'”(p.x). For this purpose Zagorin repeatedly contradicts scholars who place a one-sided focus on the role of selfpreservation, calculation, and unbridled absolutism, while instead he presents an image of 'Hobbes the moral philosopher'
- Topic:
- Cold War
- Political Geography:
- Europe
3175. Stable Outside, Fragile Inside? PostSoviet Statehood in Central Asia
- Author:
- Arolda Elbasani
- Publication Date:
- 09-2011
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Central European University Political Science Journal
- Institution:
- Central European University
- Abstract:
- Stable Outside, Fragile Inside is one of the newest books in search of the distinctive development, erratic trends and widely perceived failure of Central Asian republics to make a successful transition to democracy after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The volume seeks to explain the region's specific trajectory to independent statehood, focusing on processes of socialization with competing external norms, emanating not only the main protagonists of the Cold War, Russia and US, but also an increasingly influential EU, a myriad of international organizations and European countries, as well as regional powers such as Turkey, China, Iran, and Pakistan. At the same time, the book draws attention to the specific domestic context of awkward statehood of Central Asian polities – a set of authority structures and state society relations as well as unpredictable international behavior – which makes it difficult for the conventional frameworks to capture the current state of affairs. Opting for a flexible and comprehensive analysis of practices of statehood, the analysis claims to go beyond mainstream understanding of compliance and delve into intricate processes of 'localization', which unfold at the intersection of local conditions and the larger world system.
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Russia, United States, China, Europe, Iran, Central Asia, Turkey, and Soviet Union
3176. Gaius, Vattel, and the New Global Law Paradigm
- Author:
- Rafael Domingo
- Publication Date:
- 08-2011
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- Emer de Vattel (1714–1767), in his influential work The Law of Nations, established a new international statist paradigm which broke with the classical partition of the law into the three realities of 'persons, things and actions' (personae, res, actiones). This new paradigm substituted the state for the person, downgraded the generic concept of 'things' to the obligations among states in their relations, and changed the focus of the concept of 'action' to that of 'war' as a legal remedy to resolve conflicts between and among states. This international paradigm (or statist paradigm) has survived almost up to our time in international praxis. Nonetheless, today the statist paradigm appears to be in every way insufficient, since it does not consider humanity as a genuine political community, nor does it reflect the three-dimensionality of the global law phenomenon. The transformation of the law that governs our international community (international law) into a law that is capable of properly ordering the new global human community (global law) demands the creation of a new paradigm, originating in the following conceptual triad: global human community, global issues, and global rule of law. In the construction of this new global paradigm, cosmopolitan constitutionalism could play a key role.
- Topic:
- International Law
- Political Geography:
- Europe
3177. The Genesis of the GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services)
- Author:
- Petros C. Mavroidis and Juan A. Marchetti
- Publication Date:
- 08-2011
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- The Uruguay Round services negotiations saw the light of day amidst pressures from lobbies in developed countries, unilateral retaliatory actions, and ideological struggle in the developing world. The final outcome, the GATS, certainly characterized by a complex structure and awkward drafting here and there, is not optimal but is an important first step towards the liberalization of trade in services. This article traces the GATS negotiating history, from its very beginning in the late 1970s, paying particular attention to the main forces that brought the services dossier to the multilateral trading system (governments, industries, and academics), and the interaction between developed and developing countries before and during the Uruguay Round. We will follow the actions, positions, and negotiating stances of four trading partners – Brazil, the European Union, India, and the United States – that were key in the development of the GATS. Finally, we will, indicatively at least, try to attribute a 'paternity' (or, rather, a 'maternity') to some key features and provisions of the agreement.
- Topic:
- Government
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, India, and Brazil
3178. The European Tradition in International Law: Walther Schücking
- Author:
- Christian J. Tams
- Publication Date:
- 08-2011
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- In their 'mission statement', the European Journal's founding editors announced the launch of an occasional focus section devoted to the work of international lawyers who stood for particular aspects of the 'European Tradition in International Law', rather boldly set in the singular. Previous focus sections have assessed the continuing relevance of (and typically celebrated) the likes of, for example, George Scelle, Roberto Ago, Alfred Verdross, Hans Kelsen, and Max Huber.
- Topic:
- International Law
- Political Geography:
- Europe
3179. How Effective is the United Nations Committee Against Torture?
- Author:
- Ronagh McQuigg
- Publication Date:
- 08-2011
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- This article examines the question of how states have responded to the comments of the United Nations Committee against Torture through an analysis of eight Western European states. It is concluded that the Committee's recommendations have had a substantial impact in four of the states surveyed, however only a limited effect in two other states, and little or no impact in the two remaining states. These findings lead to concerns as regards the effectiveness of the Committee against Torture. The article focuses on the Concluding Observations made by the Committee on the reports submitted by the states in question.
- Topic:
- International Law
- Political Geography:
- Europe and United Nations
3180. Fighting Maritime Piracy under the European Convention on Human Rights
- Author:
- Stefano Piedimonte Bodini
- Publication Date:
- 08-2011
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- On the basis of real examples of anti-piracy operations conducted in the Indian Ocean by European navies, the article examines the legal implications of such military actions and their judicial medium- and long-term consequences in the framework of the European Convention on Human Rights. The only existing authority directly addressing maritime piracy, although from the sole perspective of state jurisdiction, is the recent Grand Chamber judgment in Medvedyev and Others v. France. The Court's approach and conclusions in Medvedyev will be analysed in section 2. Section 3 will explore other important issues likely to be raised under the Convention by anti-piracy operations. Section 4 will consider the question of state responsibility, i.e., jurisdiction and attribution, in the context of anti-piracy operations carried out on the high seas or on the territory of third states.
- Topic:
- Human Rights and International Law
- Political Geography:
- Europe