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3972. Back from the cold? The EU and Belarus in 2009
- Author:
- Grzegorz Gromadzki, Vitali Silitski, Margarita M. Balmaceda, Sabine Fischer, Andrei Liakhovich, Astrid Sahm, and Leonid Zlotnikov
- Publication Date:
- 11-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Union Institute for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- The EU and Belarus have arrived at an important but difficult crossroads. After a long freeze, relations between Brussels and Minsk have been thawing over the past year. In September 2008, the Council of the European Union announced its readiness to 'begin to review the restrictive measures against Belarusian leaders and to take positive and concrete measures that may lead to a gradual engagement, including via a meeting between the European Union troika and the Belarusian Minister for Foreign Affairs'. A month later, on 13 October, the Council decided to restore political dialogue with the Belarusian authorities and to suspend travel restrictions against leading Belarusian officials for a period of six months. The package of restrictive measures imposed on Belarus in 2006 was extended for one year. Since October 2008, three Troika meetings between the EU and Belarus have taken place. They were complemented by a visit to Minsk by EU High Representative Javier Solana in February, and a visit by EU Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner in June. Mean- while, the European Commission and the Belarusian govern-ment held consultations and began technical cooperation in the fields of energy, transport, phytosanitary regulations and agriculture at the beginning of 2009. In May 2009, Belarus was included in the multilateral dimension of the Eastern Partner- ship. The EU and Belarus launched a dialogue on human rights issues in June 2009.
- Topic:
- Development, Diplomacy, and Bilateral Relations
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Asia
3973. Global security in a multipolar world
- Author:
- Radha Kumar, Álvaro de Vasconcelos, Andrei Zagorski, Paulo Wrobel, Feng Zhongping, Robert Hutchings, Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, and Luis Peral
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Union Institute for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- This is the second Chaillot Paper in a series exploring the various strands of a global topic: multilateralising multipolarity. Through the essays collected in the first study, we set out to assess the scope of change in the international system and how EU action could best be suited to bringing about a multilateral order. After the fall of the Berlin Wall brought about the end of bipolarity, the world has changed no less dramatically since the 1990s witnessed the Balkan wars and the first EU military crisis-management operations. Basically, the post-Cold War 'unipolar' world turned 'multipolar', and as a result the West can no longer tackle global issues – made more pressing indeed due to this very transformation – on its own any more than it can deal single- handedly with regional crises. The comparative analysis of the strategic vision of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, the so-called BRICs, showed that the best policy mindset for the European Union, contrary to some suggestions, was not to try to become a normal hard-power player. It further concluded that, in a multi- polar world, this was simply not a viable option. For the European Union to survive and to influence the outcome of the international order, it must succeed in giving a multilateral dimension to the current multipolarity; in other words, Europe must be able to define together with other world and regional powers the norms and rules that are needed to drive concerted efforts to stay clear of some future clash of competing unilateralisms.
- Topic:
- Security, Globalization, Intelligence, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, Europe, India, and Brazil
3974. Whither the Euro-Atlantic Partnership? Partnership and NATO's New Strategic Concept
- Author:
- Jean-Jacques de Dardel
- Publication Date:
- 03-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- In July 2009, NATO launched a process which should lead to the adoption of a new Strategic Concept. In defining its future referential framework, the Alliance will no doubt dwell on contemporary trends, such as the ever fastening globalisation of international relations and the widening spectrum of threats. In taking such evolutions into account, it would do well in vying for additional flexibility and pragmatism, instead of trying to define a rigid framework of action that would rapidly become obsolete as unforeseen events will constantly call for redirections. The Alliance should fully develop its comprehensive approach so as to interact coherently with international organisations, partner states and civil society. Only thus will it muster wide support for its operations and set up the preconditions for viable exit strategies. In doing so, NATO could build on the assets developed through the Partnership for Peace and its institutional and political framework, the Euro Atlantic Partnership Council. Indeed, EAPC partner nations can contribute a variety of means to secure peace, security and post conflict reconstruction, whose usefulness, not to be measured in terms of military assets alone, should grow as international security challenges take on ever more varied forms. Hence NATO should not dilute a tried and successful PfP/EAPC construct in bundling up all other countries associated in one way or the other with NATO's workings and operations into a one tutti-frutti new Partnership Forum. Instead, NATO should differentiate between different types of partners, all the while focusing more closely on the added value and underestimated opportunities of partnership. Indeed, partnerships should be at the core of NATO's ambitions, and not only be seen as a somewhat burdensome and ambiguous sideshow.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, and Peace Studies
- Political Geography:
- Europe
3975. Medvedev's Plan: Giving Russia a Voice but not a Veto in a New European Security System
- Author:
- Richard J. Krickus
- Publication Date:
- 12-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- How do we give Russia a voice but not a veto in crafting a new European security system? This question has preoccupied analysts on both sides of the Atlantic ever since Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proclaimed that the existing one was deeply flawed and had to be replaced. Vladimir Putin's protégé observed in a series of speeches last summer that the American “unipolar moment” upon which it rested was over, and the United States could no longer dominate the international agenda. At the same time, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was a relic of the Cold War and incapable of addressing existing and anticipated flash points of conflict on the Continent. How could the existing security system function when it excluded Russia—the largest country in Europe—and surrounded it with a curtain of steel on its western frontier?
- Topic:
- NATO, Cold War, and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, and Europe
3976. The Role of Media in European Identity Formation: Understanding the Complexity of Today's European ;Media Landscape
- Author:
- Natasa Simeunovic
- Publication Date:
- 12-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Central European University Political Science Journal
- Institution:
- Central European University
- Abstract:
- This analysis is undertaken in the context of enduring questions in possibility of common European identity. This debate has become urgent over the past decade or so. The question I would like to address here is what is the role of the media in European identity formation? The paper attempts to answer this question through secondary analysis of the data from different research. The challenge is to understand how identity formation takes place in today's European media environment. But, an analytical conception of European identity should be understood as a process rather than a final categorization. Although media in Europe are essentially national, different studies prove that they cover European issues. The media have a key role in advancing our knowledge of Europe. For the formation of collective European identity, a strong European media landscape is a prerequisite.
- Political Geography:
- Europe
3977. Roni Stauber and Raphael Vago, The Roma - A Minority in Europe
- Author:
- Svetla Baeva
- Publication Date:
- 12-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Central European University Political Science Journal
- Institution:
- Central European University
- Abstract:
- The Roma's history is one associated on the one hand with romanticized wanderings and on the other hand with centuries of persecution. Their historical documentation is often squeezed in with other memoirs and accounts. In recent years, researchers have tried to track their history but more often than not the research is fragmented and contradictory particularly on subjects such as Roma origins or population demographics. Even so, as the Roma situation has evolved into a human rights issue, it is taking a more important place on the agenda of European policy.
- Political Geography:
- Europe
3978. The Barbary Wars and Their Lesson for Combating Piracy Today
- Author:
- Doug Altner
- Publication Date:
- 12-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Objective Standard
- Institution:
- The Objective Standard
- Abstract:
- Over the past few years, Somali pirates have attacked numerous ships, hijacking more than forty in 2008, holding more than six hundred seafarers for ransom that same year,1 and extorting more than $150 million in ransom payments from December 2007 to November 2008.2 More troubling is that, as of September, reported pirate attacks for 2009 have already surpassed the total number reported in 2008-a strong indication that the problem of piracy is only worsening.3 Because of these attacks, shipping companies must choose between navigating dangerous waters and taking costly alternate routes in order to protect their crews and goods. In November 2008, Maersk, one of the world's largest container shipping companies, announced that, until there are more convoys to protect its ships from attacks, some of its fleet will avoid taking the most direct sea route to the East through the Suez Canal, which leads to pirate-infested waters.4 By taking the next best route from Europe to the East-around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope-shipping companies such as Maersk will add an average of 5.7 days and three thousand miles to each trip. The average annual cost of this route change to such a shipping company will range in millions of dollars for each of its ships that uses the alternate route,5 not to mention short- and long-term expenses from additional wear on its vessels. And, of course, given the integrated nature of the economy and the amount of goods shipped to and from the East, such route changes negatively affect all industries, directly or indirectly. Although the piracy threat has been well known to those in the shipping industry for a few years, it became manifest to most Americans in April 2009 when Somali pirates hijacked the Maersk Alabama and captured twenty U.S. sailors. Although the sailors soon regained control of the ship,6 four pirates took Captain Richard Phillips hostage on a lifeboat. The three-day standoff that ensued ended when a team of navy SEAL snipers rescued the captain.7 Fortunately, neither the captain nor any sailors were seriously harmed during this attack-but it is disconcerting that a small gang of third-world pirates dared to attack an American ship and abduct its captain. Why were the pirates not afraid of a standoff with the most powerful navy on earth? To determine what is motivating these pirates and how the U.S. Navy should best combat their attacks, many policy analysts, historians, and defense experts are looking to the Barbary Wars-two wars the United States fought in the early 19th century to end North African piracy-for guidance. These experts are wise to look here, for the situation surrounding the Barbary pirates of the revolutionary era is similar in important respects to the situation surrounding the Somali pirates of today. Like the Somali pirates, the Barbary pirates attacked trade ships, stole goods, took prisoners, and demanded ransom from wealthy nations with strong militaries. And like the Somali pirates, the Barbary pirates got away with their thievery for some time. But unlike the Somali pirates, who continue their predations, after the Second Barbary War the Barbary pirates stopped assaulting U.S. ships-permanently. Toward establishing a policy that can bring about this same effect with regard to the Somali pirates, it is instructive to examine those aspects of late-18th- and early-19th-century U.S. foreign policy that were effective against Barbary piracy and those that were not. In particular, it is instructive to identify why the First Barbary War failed to end the pirate attacks but the second succeeded. Let us consider the key events surrounding these two wars. . . . To read the rest of this article, select one of the following options:Subscriber Login | Subscribe | Renew | Purchase a PDF of this article
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy and War
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, South Africa, and Somalia
3979. Serbia - Stepping into Calmer or Rougher Waters?
- Author:
- Djordje Popovic
- Publication Date:
- 11-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Austrian National Defence Academy
- Abstract:
- The May 2008 elections in Serbia showed that the majority of the voters opted for European integration. However, difficulties in forming the government in the period after the elections proved that Serbian society is still highly divided. The polarization between pro-Europeans and traditionalists became so intense that it provided a coalition potential to Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia that even they did not expect. After an exhausting period of negotiations the Socialists decided to join the pro-European bloc, for the time-being.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Serbia, and Balkans
3980. Getting Women into Local Strategic Partnerships: Knowing your community, improving public services
- Author:
- Sue Smith, Antonia Bance, and Louie Fooks
- Publication Date:
- 12-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- This paper, based on two pilot projects conducted by Oxfam with LSPs in Sunderland and Thurrock in 2008-9, looks at how local authorities can increase the representation and participation of women in LSPs, and how needs differ by gender. The evidence from the pilot projects clearly shows that LSPs can, and must, take concrete steps to involve women more effectively in local decision-making – and take their particular needs into consideration in setting targets for services such as transport, unemployment, and housing – in or der to improve their economic and social well-being and tackle the poverty and social exclusion they face. The paper makes a series of recommendations to those involved in LSPs as to how to do this, and gives examples of good practice.
- Topic:
- Economics and Gender Issues
- Political Geography:
- Europe