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3501. The Musician

Author:
Asaf Avidan
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
I was born in a nation of immigrants. Over the 62 years of its existence, Israel has become a melting pot of social and cultural exchange. Poles, Germans, Yemenites, Moroccans, Egyptians, Russians and more— all foreigners that have unintentionally contributed their traditions to the biological and cultural composition of Israel.
Topic:
Immigration
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, Israel, and Egypt

3502. A Nobel Sensibility

Author:
Horace Engdahl
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
Because of the attention that the literature prize attracts across the world and because of its prestige, the Nobel laureates have inevitably come to be seen as forming a kind of modern canon. This has provoked the critical reproach that many of the 20th century's greatest writers are missing from the list, and that it includes too few women and not enough non-Europeans. I believe that the Academy members who comprised that first Nobel Committee in 1901 would have been terrified had they realized what they were about to set in motion. Certainly in those first few years no one thought of the prize as a means to define a canon. (Nor was the concept of a canon applied to contemporary literature— that is a late development.) Alfred Nobel's will intends to reward a literary work published in the previous year—a single book, not a body of writing. Nobel clearly wanted the literature prize to act in the present, rather than crown masters for all time. As it turned out, the Swedish Academy gave the prize a distinctly monumental character. In doing so, it could appeal to the wording of the Nobel Foundation's statutes, the final document that directs the activity of the Nobel Prize committees. According to the statutes, older works may be awarded, “if their significance has not become apparent until recently.” This concession was used to motivate the practice of considering a lifetime's creativity rather than an individual work. The phrase “during the preceding year” was interpreted in a broader sense, as a demand for the continued viability of a work.
Political Geography:
Europe

3503. The Roots of Hate

Author:
Michael J. Jordan
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
Heves, Hungary—The past few years have been turbulent for Szabolcs Szedlak, far worse than most Hungarians could have imagined two decades ago, when they tore a hole in the Iron Curtain and changed their world. Szedlak, 34, came of age during the tumult of the postcommunist transition from dictatorship to democracy. Back then Hungarians were told, and many believed, they'd become like neighboring Austrians—a BMW in every driveway. Just don't remind folks of those daydreams in this bleak corner of northeastern Hungary.
Political Geography:
Europe

3504. State-Building from the Outside-In: UNMIK and Its Paradox.

Author:
Nicolas Lemay-Hébert
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Woodrow Wilson School Journal of Public and International Affairs
Institution:
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract:
With the independence process of Kosovo well underway, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has reduced its involvement in direct governance. As UNMIK formulates an exit strategy and the European Union braces itself to take over as the international presence in the region, it is an opportune moment to consider the impact that UNMIK has had during the last nine years. This article seeks to shed light on UNMIK's management of Kosovo and particularly the following question: why has UNMIK's legitimacy in the eyes of the local population generally and consistently declined during its tenure as administrator of the region?
Political Geography:
Europe, Kosovo, and United Nations

3505. Making Choices: Prospects for a Canada-EU Free Trade Agreement.

Author:
Joseph Blomeley
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Woodrow Wilson School Journal of Public and International Affairs
Institution:
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract:
With a population of over 500 million, the European Union (EU) is Canada's second-largest trading partner. In 2006, two-way merchandise trade between Canada and the EU was approximately $78 billion and two-way investment reached $263 billion. While these figures are far from marginal, they pale in comparison to the $626 billion in two-way merchandise trade and $497 billion in two-way investment with the United States. In light of these numbers, analysts have argued that there is room for improvement in the economic relationship between Canada and the EU. They believe that the relationship has been significantly under-traded and under-valued. In an attempt to bolster this claim, a Canada-EU Joint Trade Study commissioned by the European Commission and the Government of Canada (GoC) recently noted that Canada is the EU's 11th-largest merchandise trading partner, with only 1.8 percent of external EU trade in this category (GoC, 2008). In light of the financial crisis in the United States, discussions to revive talks of a Canada-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) have begun to garner attention.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and Canada

3506. Policy Matters But How? Explaining Non-Compliance Dynamics in the EU

Author:
Tanja A. Börzel, Tobias Hofmann, and Diana Panke
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
The European Union's infringement procedure is highly legalized. Nevertheless, as in other international institutions, non-compliance occurs on a regular basis and its transformation into compliance varies across EU infringement stages and over time. State of the art compliance literature focuses mainly on country-specific explanations, such as power, capacity, and legitimacy. In particular power-capacity models explain a good part of whether non-compliance occurs and how quickly it can be resolved. Yet, these approaches leave substantial parts of the empirical variation that we observe unexplained. This paper argues that policy and, in particular, rule-specific variables – although often neglected – are important for explaining non-compliance. Based on a quantitative analysis, we show that policy matters not only for the frequency with which EU law is violated, but also the persistence of non-compliance over time and over the different stages of the infringement procedure.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation and Law
Political Geography:
Europe

3507. 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

3508. Avrupa İnsan Hakları Sözleşmesinin Yaşamın ve Sağlığın Korunması ile İlgili Olarak Taraf Devletlere Yüklediği Pozitif Yükümlülükler

Author:
Yüksel Metin
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
In this study, through the concept of positive obligation, the reproductions of positive obligations are clarified, and the positive obligations that the European Convention on Human Rights have imposed on the state parties within the framework of the protection of life and health are presented. At the same time, the approach of the European Court of Human Rights towards protection and use of the rights in the Convention in an effective manner is emphasized. The case law of the European Court of Human Rights is used in ascertaining the positive obligations of the Contracting Parties within the area of protection of life and health.
Topic:
Health and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Europe

3509. Table of Contents Full Issue

Author:
Vladimír Bilčík
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Issues: Slovak Foreign Policy Affairs
Institution:
Slovak Foreign Policy Association
Abstract:
This article aims to outline and explain new preferences that the NMS have brought to the EU since 2004. The contribution is chiefly empirical, drawing on research and interviews conducted with 64 policymakers in Brussels from 2008 to 2009. In short, the text seeks to highlight what has been learned about the key foreign and security policy preferences of the NMS and what policy innovations, if any, the post-communist Europe is bringing to the EU's external agendas. The contribution concludes by highlighting the distinct interests and geographic focus of foreign policy in post-communist Europe whereby issues of historical identity, nationhood and ethnicity are atleast as important in post-communist foreign policy thinking as calculations of trade benefits and economic gains.
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

3510. Can the EU budget support climate policy in Central and Eastern Europe?

Author:
Anna Korppoo, Thomas Spencer, and Agata Hinc
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
In October 2010 the Commission released the long-awaited review of the EU budget, setting out the parameters of the debate around the next financial perspective, 2014-2020. The Budget Re view outlined a rather conservative programme for reform of the Cohesion and Common Agricultural Policy, largely envisaging the preservation of existing objectives and instruments. However, policymakers have also called for a stronger integration of EU climate policy with EU fiscal policy, particularly with regard to the Central and Eastern European (CEE) Member States; the budget has also been proposed as a mechanism to compensate for the potential loss of surplus Assigned Amount Units under the Kyoto Protocol. Likewise, the 20/20/20 climate and energy targets were placed at the heart of the EU 2020 strategy. The question therefore arises: What role should the EU budget play in supporting climate policy in CEE Member States?
Topic:
Climate Change and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
Europe