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4071. The Future of the CFE Treaty

Author:
Jeffrey D. McCausland
Publication Date:
07-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
The future of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, widely considered to be the cornerstone of European security, was thrown into stark question when the Russian Federation announced in December 2007 that it would suspend its participation in the treaty. The 1990 treaty, considered the most ambitious and far ranging conventional arms control treaty in history, established limits on the numbers of conventional military hardware deployed in Europe, required substantial reductions in conventional arsenals, and created an intrusive regime of inspections and verification. In many ways, the treaty changed the face of European security by establishing new, cooperative political-military relationships.
Topic:
Peace Studies, Treaties and Agreements, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe

4072. Euro-Atlantic Security: One Vision, Three Paths

Author:
Piin-Fen Kok
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
The Euro-Atlantic security scene is characterized by a loss of mutual confidence, renewed tensions, and serious disagreements regarding not only practices but principles. Those trends, if not corrected, will produce negative strategic consequences for the security of Europe. New opportunities have emerged today for rethinking the security situation in the Euro-Atlantic region, for strengthening confidence, changing mutual relations, and, if need be, institutions. A basis for this can be found in the hopes for improved U.S.- Russian relations expressed by U.S. President Barack Obama, in the initiative by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on reforming the European security architecture, as well as in the process of elaboration of the new NATO strategic concept.
Topic:
International Relations, NATO, and International Security
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and Europe

4073. Groundbreaking U.S.-Russia Joint Threat Assessment on Iran

Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
Does Europe face a military threat from Iran, and if so what is the nature of that threat? What is Iran's nuclear capability today and what might it be in the future? What ballistic missile capability does Iran have today and what might it have in the future? If Europe had a missile defense system, would that system protect Europe? These questions have been widely discussed in the popular media, often on the basis of misleading information. This report, which has been written by a group of U.S. and Russian specialists, provides an assessment of the Iranian nuclear and missile programs and an evaluation of the European Missile Defense system proposed by the Bush administration. It is not yet clear what the Obama administration's policy on missile defense will be.
Topic:
Treaties and Agreements and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, and Iran

4074. Energy Matters

Author:
András Deák
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Issues: Slovak Foreign Policy Affairs
Institution:
Slovak Foreign Policy Association
Abstract:
The coming great economic recession and likely depression afterwards, is to set energy prices at a relatively low level for the next 5-7 years. However, this migh be the last chance to prepare for an era of extreme energy prices. With a growing gap of invesments into the industry and tight market situation might couple the economic recovery with scarce supplies and high energy prices. All this promises a high price volatility for the next decade, when Western and particularly European instruments to exert influence on the global energy landscape will be rather few. All this means, that even if energy does not seem to be the most urgent task to be solved now, it is a high time to reconsider Europe's energy future and our perceiption of dependence. Understandably, this also raises the questions related to common energy policies. New Eastern EU members brought new aspects for common EU energy policy. The patchwork of Central European energy and Russian policies, however, is only a slightly less colurful, than attitudes in the EU. We have witnessed very few common positions in these regards. Thus, energy policy co-operation is possible only in cases of win-win situations and by bringing these problems, rather to the technical, not to the political level. Common EU policies, regulation and liberalization directives impacted these energy policies much more, than autonomous Central European co-operation.
Political Geography:
Europe

4075. TOWARDS A CENTRAL EUROPEAN SECURITY IDENTITY

Author:
Ivo Samson
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Issues: Slovak Foreign Policy Affairs
Institution:
Slovak Foreign Policy Association
Abstract:
The author defines that institutionalization through the construction of the Visegrad Group identity has aided in this region's rise to prevalence in areas such as trade and security; and contends that in order to have even stronger influence in Europe, the Group must continue to define its relevance as a unified faction. The author concludes that the building up of a common Visegrad identity must be necessarily based on a common language, in which one addresses common security threats, positions toward Russia, toward the transatlantic relations and a common vision of one geographically and culturally shared political view of European and Euro- Atlantic affairs.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe

4076. Corruption in Lithuania

Author:
Raimundas Urbonas
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
The negative impact of corruption on a country and its population is tremendous. It affects state politics, economics, administration, the legal and social sphere, and precipitates a negative international perception of state prestige. The purpose of this article is to describe the status of corruption in Lithuania in comparison with other European Union member states and other counties, discuss achievements in the creation of an anti-corruption legal framework, analyze how corruption affects democracy in Lithuania and, finally, assess corruption in Lithuania by comparing cultural conditions in Lithuania versus selected European Union countries.
Topic:
Corruption
Political Geography:
Europe and Lithuania

4077. Montenegro's Strategic Priorities on the Path of Euro-Atlantic Integration

Author:
Gordana Djurović
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
Euro-Atlantic integration is the best framework for ensuring the long-term stability and security of the countries in the Western Balkans, and is the precondition for their economic development. Euro-Atlantic frameworks provide mechanisms for establishing confidence between countries in the regions, as well as strengthening cooperation and understanding, in the area of security and in many other fields. This is the reason why Montenegro fully supports the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of its neighbors, with a focus on regional cooperation and participation in all regional initiatives that are based on a good-neighbor policy. Montenegro's strategic priorities on the international level are building positive relations with its neighbors, increasing the level of regional security, and contributing to peacekeeping and stability in the world through participation in international missions and operations led by the UN, the EU, and NATO. At the same time, practical and efficient realization and implementation of a range of Partnership for Peace mechanisms have enabled Montenegro to gain access in a very short period of time to the Intensified Dialogue with NATO, and to begin the initial stages of the Membership Action Plan. Montenegro is ready to respond as rapidly as possible to all challenges that might arise in its path toward NATO membership, and looks forward to working in consultation and assistance with NATO, its neighbors, and other member states of NATO and the PfP.
Topic:
Security and NATO
Political Geography:
Europe and United Nations

4078. Political Dimensions of the Northern Afghanistan Resupply Routes

Author:
Gregory Gleason
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
A series of insurgent attacks in Pakistan targeting U.S./NATO supply lines took place during the latter half of 2008 and early 2009. As much as 75 percent of the cargo to support military operations and development programs in Afghanistan previously had been shipped through Pakistan, passing through a small number of precarious transport corridors, constrained by chokepoints and subject to disruption. As a result of insurgent attacks, carriage of supplies through the Khyber Pass along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was repeatedly interrupted for brief periods. These events in Pakistan shifted Allied attention from the southern routes to Afghanistan's northern access routes. The existing transit routes for supplies entering Afghanistan from the north passed across European and Eurasian countries and then through the Central Asian countries. This combination of port, air, rail, and road facilities came to be referred to within the framework of Afghanistan's normalization operations as the NDN-the "Northern Distribution Network."
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, Europe, and Central Asia

4079. Russia's Asymmetric Wars in Chechnya since 1994

Author:
Martin Malek
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
Historically, symmetrical warfare was not the norm, but rather a European anomaly. Today's protracted low-intensity wars seem to point back towards the era of asymmetrical warfare. This development is obviously closely linked to the phenomenon of state failure in Third World countries, in southern regions of the former USSR, and in the Western Balkans.
Topic:
War
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe

4080. Brazil's Rise as an Emerging Power: Implications for the U.S. and Europe

Author:
Stefan A. Schirm
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Transatlantic Relations
Abstract:
The last 20 years have witnessed the economic emergence of several countries, which are considered today to be “pivotal states”, “regional powers”, and “emerging powers” in world politics. These emerging powers encompass countries such as China, India, Brazil and Russia, (the BRICs), which have in common both that they have experienced rapid economic growth and that they seek to influence the global economy and world politics to a greater degree than they did before their rise. The BRICs have become leading exporters and lenders (especially China to the US) as well as holders of currency reserves, and they (plus Mexico) are expected to surpass the GNP of the G7 industrialized countries by the year 2040. The reasons for the assignment of a new role, and often of increased power, to these states are their demographic and geographic size, their economic and military capacities, and their political aspirations.
Topic:
Economics, Emerging Markets, and Globalization
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, China, Europe, India, Brazil, and Latin America