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4052. Central Asia's growing partnership with China
- Author:
- Sébastien Peyrouse
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Since the start of the 2000s, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has become an increasingly important player on the Central Asian scene, which until then had been essentially divided between Russia and the US. Today, Central Asia's future lies in its ability to avoid the destabilisations of the Afghan–Pakistan zone, and through Chinese influence, to partake of the Asia–Pacific's economic prosperity. In less than two decades, Beijing has managed to make a massive and multiform entry onto the Central Asian scene: it has proven itself a loyal partner on the level of bilateral diplomacy and has succeeded in turning the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) into a regional structure appreciated by its members. China has also become a leading actor in trade as well as in the hydrocarbon sector and infrastructure. In examining the shift that China has generated in Central Asian realities, this paper focuses on the political and geopolitical impact of Beijing's growing influence, along with the economic implications of the Chinese presence in Central Asia. To what extent will this affect the objectives of the European Union? China is one of the EU's economic competitors in domains such as energy; it obstructs cooperation between Central Asian states and Western countries, and it encourages the authoritarian tendencies of political regimes. Yet, partnership and economic competition go hand in hand, as EU texts recognise. In addition, the EU's rationale for setting up in Central Asia is not to compete with neighbouring states, but instead to seek cooperation in accordance with the idea that a multiplicity of actors will guarantee the zone's stability and its geopolitical balance. So what joint interest might China and the EU have in Central Asia? On a certain number of questions such as security and long-term development, the EU and China share the same concerns and Beijing is seeking greater collaboration with Europe.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy, International Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, and Bilateral Relations
- Political Geography:
- China, Europe, and Central Asia
4053. Russia in Central Asia: Old History, New Challenges?
- Author:
- Marlène Laruelle
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Russia is a power unlike others in Central Asia, given its role as the region's former coloniser, which started in the 19th century and even in the 18th for some of the northern parts of Kazakhstan. This legacy has its positive and negative aspects: it has been positive insofar as it has involved a long period of Russo–Central Asian cohabitation that has given rise to a common feeling of belonging to the same 'civilisation'; it has been negative insofar as it has accrued all the political resentment and cultural misinterpretations of the coloniser–colonised relationship. Russian–Central Asian relations are therefore complex, with each of the actors having a highly emotional perception of its relation to the other.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Post Colonialism
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, and Asia
4054. Towards the Next Phase of the EU's Area of Freedom, Security and Justice: The EC's Proposals for the Stockholm Programme
- Author:
- Sergio Carrera and Elspeth Guild
- Publication Date:
- 08-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The European Union needs a new five-year strategy for the development of the next phase of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ). The existing plan, designed in The Hague Programme of 2004, expires at the end of this year. The Justice and Home Affairs research unit of CEPS has already set out, in several contributions, the big issues and provided policy recommendations for the next five-year plan – The Stockholm Programme – which will be adopted under the Swedish Presidency in December. In June 2009, the European Commission published its perspective towards the Stockholm process in its Communication: “An area of Freedom, Security and Justice serving the citizen: Wider freedom in a safer environment”.3 In this Policy Brief, we take a closer look at the Commission's Communication and highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the approaches adopted for each of the different policy domains falling under the AFSJ rubric. The Communication assesses the AFSJ under three main headings: 1. successes, 2. ambivalent areas and 3. challenges. We will also follow these headings and comment accordingly. Our commentary on the three areas also provides answers to some of the thorny questions raised in the priorities for the Stockholm Programme. We spell these out in the conclusions and put forth a set of policy recommendations.
- Topic:
- Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe
4055. German Companies Engaging in China: Decision-Making Processes at Home and Management Practices in Chinese Subsidiaries
- Author:
- Geny Piotti
- Publication Date:
- 11-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- This paper attempts to explain why internationalization processes to China are growing despite the significant difficulties that foreign direct investments into China encounter. The answer to this question can be found in the processes of decision-making on internationalization at the company level and how these affect management practices in Chinese subsidiaries. The argument I put forward in this paper is that for the small and medium-sized enterprises the study focuses on, the decisions concerning investment in China are mainly the product of structural and legitimation pressure. Structural pressure can encourage cognitive mechanisms and behavioral consequences similar to those occurring when individuals (and organizations) cope with threat. Legitimation pressure can foster wishful thinking, which pushes actors to believe that desired options are good despite evidence to the contrary. These pressures have an impact on how well companies are prepared when they internationalize and can particularly affect some crucial management practices, leading to inefficiencies and problems in subsidiaries.
- Topic:
- Economics and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- China, Europe, Asia, and Germany
4056. Twenty Years After: from Fall to Fall?
- Author:
- Alfio Cerami
- Publication Date:
- 12-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Romanian Journal of Political Science
- Institution:
- Romanian Academic Society
- Abstract:
- This article provides a brief description of the main systemic problems (strukturprobleme) of post-communist capitalism(s), as well as exploring the main changes occurring in the socio-economic structure and the subsequent new social risks emerging. It shows that post-communist societies are characterized by more intense strukturprobleme, which are resulting in the materialization of broader social risks types and groups. As a consequence of a difficult and still uncompleted process of recalibration (functional, distributive, normative and institutional), the welfare states in Central and Eastern Europe and in the Russian Federation are called to face a double burden of responsibilities: they must ensure protection against old and new social risks for a larger proportion of citizens than those in the West, while, simultaneously, dealing with the most serious social, economic and political challenges stemming from the transition.
- Political Geography:
- Russia and Europe
4057. China: Bogus Boom?
- Author:
- John H. Makin
- Publication Date:
- 08-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- China's economic statistics have become the envy of the world. On July 15, China reported a 7.9 percent growth rate for the second quarter of 2009 compared to the same period a year earlier. Meanwhile, China's stock markets are on fire, and its property markets are heating up fast as well. Shanghai's two stock markets are up 75 percent and 95 percent respectively so far this year. The more widely traded Hong Kong Index is up 27 percent, a stellar performance compared to largely flat stock markets in the United States, Europe, and Japan. In even stronger contrast, Russia, which is one of China's emerging-market peers, has seen its economy drop by 10.1 percent during the first half of this year, while its stock market has struggled as well.
- Topic:
- Economics, Emerging Markets, and International Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Japan, China, Europe, and Hong Kong
4058. Liberalism and the Collapse of the Oslo Peace Process in the Middle East
- Author:
- Jonathan Rynhold
- Publication Date:
- 03-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
- Institution:
- School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
- Abstract:
- The end of the Cold War signaled the triumph of liberal democracy and thus 'the end of history,' according to Fukuyama. In Central and Eastern Europe, the iron curtain came down and was replaced by a peace grounded on liberal mechanisms for peace building: regional institutions, economic integration, democratization, mutual recognition of national rights, and the development of mutual trust. The end of the Cold War initiated the Middle East peace process with the 1991 Madrid Conference and the 1993 Oslo Accords signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Here, too, attempts were made to use liberal peace building mechanisms, albeit without democratization.
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Middle East, and Oslo
4059. Wanted: A War on Terrorist Media
- Author:
- Mark Dubowitz
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Journal of International Security Affairs
- Institution:
- Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
- Abstract:
- No abstract is available.
- Topic:
- Government and War
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Europe, and Israel
4060. The Coming Conflict With Russia
- Author:
- George Friedman
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Journal of International Security Affairs
- Institution:
- Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
- Abstract:
- No abstract is available.
- Topic:
- Cold War
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, France, Poland, and Germany