Number of results to display per page
Search Results
5492. Where is the transatlantic divide in public opinion on climate change issues? Evidence for 1989-2002
- Author:
- Thomas L. Brewer
- Publication Date:
- 07-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper is based on an analysis of the results of more than 40 public opinion surveys taken during the period from 1989 through 2002; special attention is given to surveys taken during 2000-02. The analysis concludes that approximately two-fifths of the public are seriously concerned about global warming. Another two-fifths are moderately concerned; shifts in the opinions of this moderately concerned group would likely alter the future course of government policies. The other one-fifth of the public does not consider global warming much of a problem, does not worry about it very much or not at all, and does not believe that carbon dioxide emissions are a cause of it. A substantial majority of the US public wants the government to do something about the problem of global warming, and they would like the US to participate in the Kyoto Protocol. Most respondents prefer mandatory rather than voluntary emission reductions by industry. A majority of the public supports US economic assistance to fund mitigation projects in developing countries. Gaps between the US public and US leaders are evident, with the public exhibiting more concern and more support for new policies. The level of US public concern is nearly as high as it is among European publics, where there is also opposition to current US policy.
- Topic:
- Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe
5493. The Deployment of Multinational Military Formations: Taking Political Institutions into Account
- Author:
- Marc Houben and Dirk Peters
- Publication Date:
- 06-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Multinational military formations exist in many forms, shapes and colours. Their size varies; their raison d'être varies; the type of military units involved varies; and the countries involved vary. In most cases governments take into consideration the economic, militarytechnical and operational arguments for participation in a multinational formation. They participate because it will save them money for example, or it enables them to maintain a critical capability, such as F-16 fighter planes. States thus usually take care to shape the units in a way that contributions complement each in technical terms and that the whole unit pays off in economic terms. Not often, however, is the compatibility of the political systems of the participating countries taken into account when a multinational unit is formed. Our contention is that more attention should be paid to the political/institutional compatibility of participating states when creating multinational units. Some political systems are more compatible than others and this fact has consequences for the effectiveness of jointly owned multinational units.
- Topic:
- Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe
5494. Caucasus Revisited
- Author:
- Michael Emerson
- Publication Date:
- 06-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Three years ago, after the Kosovo war and the launch of the Stability Pact for South East Europe, there was a spasm of interest in the idea of a stability pact for the Caucasus. However nothing came of this, since neither the region's leaders nor the international community were willing or able to do anything of substance, although a comprehensive proposal had been published by CEPS as a 'track 2' initiative. As a result, the de facto secessions of Abkhazia and Nagorno Karabakh have become more deeply entrenched, but only with the protection of Russia and Armenia, respectively, with which these entities have become increasingly integrated de facto. Since conventional diplomacy in the Caucasus under UN or OSCE auspices has failed to deliver solutions over a whole decade, we take a wider look here at the kind of solutions that may emerge for these so-called frozen conflicts of the European periphery. New developments external to the region are coming from the EU and the US: the widening of the Europeanisation process on the one hand, and the 'democratic imperialism' or Pax Americana coming out of Washington since 11 September 2001 and now the Iraq war. We explore below how these developments may affect the prospects for the Caucasus.
- Topic:
- Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe
5495. Optimizing the Mechanism for 'Enhanced Cooperation' within the EU: Recomendations for the Constitutional Treaty
- Author:
- Eric Philippart
- Publication Date:
- 05-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Policy development in the EU is often impeded by member states being either unwilling or unable to participate. One way to overcome that problem is to resort to flexible approaches accommodating diversity. Convinced that an enlarged Union would require more flexibility, the current member states agreed in 1997 to introduce a new safety valve in the treaties, named 'enhanced cooperation'. Thanks to that mechanism, a group of member states may be authorised to use the EU framework to further their cooperation or integration in policy areas under EU competence whenever it appears impossible to do so with all of the member states.
- Topic:
- Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe
5496. Reforming the Composition of the ECB Governing Council in View of Enlargement: An Opportunity Missed!
- Author:
- Daniel Gros
- Publication Date:
- 05-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- It is widely accepted that enlargement requires reform of the highest decision-making bodies of the European Central Bank (ECB). In particular, there are concerns that the Governing Council, which is composed of the six-member Executive Board of the ECB plus the governors of the participating national central banks (NCBs), will grow too large to work efficiently. In the absence of reform, it could end up having over 30 members - resembling more a mini-parliament than a decision-making body that has to manage a global currency in fast-moving financial markets. Moreover, the accession of a number of small countries is often perceived as a threat to the "power balance" in the Governing Council.
- Topic:
- Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe
5497. Constitutionalising the Open Method of Coordination - What Should the Convention Propose?
- Author:
- Gráinne De Búrca and Jonathan Zeitlin
- Publication Date:
- 03-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Within the Convention process, the final reports of no less than four separate working groups - those on Simplification, Complementary Competences, Economic Governance and Social Europe - have come out in favour of including the 'Open Method of Coordination' (OMC) within the Constitutional Treaty. The relevant sections of these reports are attached in an annex.
- Topic:
- Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe
5498. A Public Stability Pact for Public Debt?
- Author:
- Daniel Gros
- Publication Date:
- 01-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- There is an urgent need to link the excessive deficit procedure with the issue of sustainability and hence the evolution of public debt. This note shows that there exists a simple way to introduce the evolution of public debt in the Stability Pact, which so far has focused exclusively on deficits. The link starts from the Maastricht criterion for participation in EMU concerning public debt and its reference value of 60% of GDP. The Maastricht criterion on public debt stipulates that if public debt exceeds 60% of GDP, it must be 'sufficiently diminishing and approaching the reference value at a satisfactory pace''.This note provides a numerical rule for evaluating whether public debt is indeed diminishing 'at a satisfactory pace'. This numerical rule is in accordance with the reference values in the Treaty and could be used as the basis for an 'excessive debt procedure'.
- Topic:
- Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe
5499. The Requirements of European International Society: Modernity and Nationalism in the Ottoman Empire
- Author:
- Ayla GÖL
- Publication Date:
- 12-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Australian National University Department of International Relations
- Abstract:
- This paper critically examines the 'admittance' of the Ottoman Empire as the first non-European and non-Christian state into European international society, challenges the idea that international society had a universal character, and explores how the Empire encountered and adapted to the requirements of this society. There are two premises to explore. First, the Empire was never accepted as an equal member of the European society of states. Second, the Ottoman Empire's desire to enter European international society initiated its modernisation, which gradually led to the emergence of Turkish nationalism in the twentieth century. The first part of this paper deals with the 'otherness' of the Ottoman Empire within European international society. The second part explains the paradoxical character of Ottoman–European relations, which initiated the Empire's modernisation. The last part explores the emergence of Turkish nationalism in relation to the policies of Ottoman modernisation that brought the transition from an Islamic empire into a modern secular nation-state. It concludes by questioning whether or not the modern Turkish state is considered a European member of international society.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Nationalism
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, and Middle East
5500. Reimagining International Society Through the Emergence of Japanese Imperialism
- Author:
- Shogo Suzuki
- Publication Date:
- 11-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Australian National University Department of International Relations
- Abstract:
- In the not too distant past Timothy Dunne asserted that '[International] society is what states have made of it'. Since then much has been written about how the English School offers a valuable interpretivist approach, how it has spread across the world, how it can be improved, and what it has to say about non-European societies and 'world society'. This paper aims to contribute to all three facets of the debate through a case study of how the Japanese elite understood international society during the bakumatsu (late-Tokugawa)/early-Meiji periods (1853-95). In doing so, it examines the emergence of Japanese imperialism from the perspective of international society as perceived by English School scholars.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Development
- Political Geography:
- United States, Japan, Europe, and Asia