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3821. Political or Economic Crisis?

Author:
Raúl de Arriba Bueno
Publication Date:
07-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Romanian Journal of Political Science
Institution:
Romanian Academic Society
Abstract:
This study analyzes why the presence of economic policy on rural development is justifiable and the recommendable modes of intervention from the perspective of rural area needs and diversification opportunities of the rural economy in the European context. This reflection on the role of economic policy in rural change and the structure of the paper are organized around the following questions: what is the importance and specificity of the rural sphere? What does rural development mean? What arguments justify the intervention of the State in the rural sphere? Which objectives and what forms must this intervention adopt?
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
Europe

3822. A "New" Strategy for Afghanistan and Its Region

Publication Date:
08-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
Abstract:
The Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination (LISD) at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs convened a private workshop, “A Strategy for Afghanistan and Its Region,” May 7-10, 2009 in Triesenberg, Liechtenstein. The workshop's aim was to discuss in-depth the strategy of the Obama Administration toward Afghanistan and its region and to formulate additional recommendations. Some twenty leading international experts from the region, Asia, Europe and the United States participated. The meeting was co-funded by LISD, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Stiftung für Selbstbestimmung und Internationale Beziehungen (SiBiL) in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. The workshop was co-chaired by Francesc Vendrell and Wolfgang Danspeckgruber.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Islam, War, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, New York, and Europe

3823. Incomplete Internalization and Compliance with Human Rights Law: A Reply to Ryan Goodman and Derek Jinks

Author:
Roda Mushkat
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
In a series of influential articles, Ryan Goodman and Derek Jinks, professors at Harvard Law School and University of Texas Law School respectively, have proposed a distinctly sociological approach to analysing compliance with human rights law. The conceptual framework which they have constructed for this purpose is grounded in the notion of acculturation, a well-established social process whose dynamics in the international legal context has been examined by the two authors in a multi-step fashion, featuring a progression from general model-building to elaborate responses to specific issues raised by critics. Their latest contribution on the subject falls predominantly into the latter category. It is entitled ' Incomplete Internationalization and Compliance with Human Rights Law ' and has been recently published in the European Journal of International Law .
Topic:
Human Rights and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Europe and Texas

3824. At the Crossroads: The World Trading System and the Doha Round

Author:
Fiona E. Marshall
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This volume documents the proceedings of a conference held in 2003 on 'The WTO after the Failure of Cancún', organized by the European Community Studies Association (ECSA), Austria. Participants included both scholars, expert in WTO law and practice, and practitioners from private practices and departments within the WTO. While its contents reflect the state of play immediately following Cancún, due to the continued lack of consensus in the Doha Round negotiations the contributions can be considered pertinent today to the extent that they reflect the state of negotiations in 2004. Irrespective of this, however, and while not expecting the volume to take account of the July 2008 meeting, it is unfortunate that the contributions were not published sooner in a volume, or that an additional chapter was not provided highlighting relevant developments since 2004. Equally, given that the majority of, if not all, the contributors are experts on the particular topic on which they wrote, it is perhaps surprising that they themselves were not interested in providing an up-to-date account.
Topic:
World Trade Organization
Political Geography:
Europe and Austria

3825. Démocratie, cohérence et transparence. Vers une constitutionnalisation de l'Union européenne?

Author:
Juan Santos Vara
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This interesting edited book is the outcome of a research project carried out by Bologna University, the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, and financed by the Jean Monnet Action of the European Commission. The main themes which guided this research are democracy, coherence, and transparency in the European Union. Since these issues pertain to the great challenges currently affecting the constitutional structure of the EU, one welcomes this choice of the coordinators of this research project. The book includes articles which analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the constitutional system of the EU with respect to these themes. While the original objective was to examine whether the Constitutional Treaty had satisfactorily responded to the demands for democracy, coherence, and transparency, the abandonment of the constitutional path redirected the research to analysing whether the EU would respect these principles with the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon.
Political Geography:
Europe and Lisbon

3826. Equality Law in an Enlarged European Union. Understanding the Article 13 Directives

Author:
Dimitry Kochenov
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
When you are on the subway in New York, it is difficult not to notice numerous Spanish language information posters about equality and non-discrimination, such as 'Housing discrimination on the basis of sex, race, ethnic origin… is unlawful'. They not only state the law: a telephone number in the corner informs you of where to call to make sure that if you are the victim of discrimination, help is available. Have you seen such posters in a Romani language in the Prague metro? Or in Arabic on the trains around Rotterdam?
Topic:
Law
Political Geography:
New York and Europe

3827. The European Courts and the Security Council: Between Dédoublement Fonctionnel and Balancing of Values

Author:
Pasquale De Sena and Maria Chiara Vitucci
Publication Date:
02-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The recent case law of various international tribunals facing questions related to UN Security Council resolutions shows the clear tendency to grant primacy to the UN legal order. This trend, far from being well founded on formal arguments, appears to be a tribute to a legal order perceived as superior, and, at the same time, is revealing of the 'value oriented' approach followed by the courts. Such an approach can be categorized from a theoretical perspective in the light of Scelle's theory of relations between legal orders, whereby the courts implement in their respective legal orders values stemming from the UN legal order. Various critical remarks can be advanced in relation to this attitude. Basically, when different legal values are at stake, the need arises to strike a balance between them, as the ECJ has recently done in the appeal decision in the Yusuf and Kadi cases. Such a tendency, if consistently followed, could serve as a valuable instrument to find the correct equilibrium between the security interest and the need for respect of human rights.
Topic:
Security, Human Rights, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Europe

3828. A Solution for Europe's Banking Problem

Author:
Adam S. Posen and Nicolas Véron
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Since mid-2007, public authorities in the European Union have broadly met the challenge of ensuring a functional degree of liquidity and preventing financial meltdown. The Eurosystem has even been ahead of the curve compared with the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England in discounting early on a wide variety of assets to a range of counterparties. However, despite unprecedented central bank intervention, extensive government guarantees since October 2008, and macroeconomic assistance (with the International Monetary Fund) to the European Union's weakest member states, the underlying state of continental Europe's banking industry remains very fragile.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, and Monetary Policy
Political Geography:
United States, United Kingdom, and Europe

3829. Evaluating and Comparing Strategies of Peacebuilding and Transitional Justice

Author:
Olga Martin-Ortega, Chandra Lekha Sriram, and Johanna Herman
Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre on Human Rights in Conflict
Abstract:
Following the end of violent conflicts, whether by military victory or negotiated settlement, international actors such as the European Union and the United Nations play an increasing role in peace building, through a range of security, governance, and development activities. These may or may not be mandated by a peace agreement or other formal settlement, and may or may not follow or work in tandem with a peacekeeping mission. International, regional, national, and local actors may work in a more or less collaborative, or coherent fashion. Nonetheless, many of the key challenges of peace building remain the same, and a familiar set of policies and strategies have emerged in contemporary practice to address these. Chief among the challenges of contemporary peace building is that of addressing demands for some form of accountability, often termed transitional justice (discussed in section 3). However, as this guidance paper explains, the demands of transitional justice and its relation to broader peace building activities, involve not just decisions about accountability, but a complex set of policy and institutional choices about security and governance as well. Thus, this guidance paper examines peace building and transitional justice as a set of linked policies and strategies regarding not just accountability, but security sector reform (SSR), disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants, and development of the rule of law.
Topic:
Political Violence, Human Rights, Peace Studies, and War
Political Geography:
Europe

3830. A Proposal for a Global Upstream Emission Trading System (UGETS)

Author:
Akinobu Yasumoto and Mutsuyoshi Nishimura
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
An effective policy approach to climate change would be a global emission trading system. Opinions differ, however, as to what approach should be pursued when fostering a global emissions trading system. Many argue in favor of linking various national and regional emission trading systems as a possible way forward. However, an alternative method, which involves developing a new system from the ground up, could prove more advantageous. Under an Upstream Global Emission Trading System (UGETS), all nations would use an upstream emissions trading system that would result in far fewer monitoring points than a downstream system. A nation would only need to keep track of domestic shipments and imports of fossil fuels.
Topic:
International Relations, Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe