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182. The Aachen Mutual Defence Clause: A Closer Look at the Franco-German Treaty
- Author:
- Elie Perot
- Publication Date:
- 02-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- On 22 January 2019, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel signed a new treaty on “Franco-German cooperation and integration” in Aachen. Complementing the 1963 Elysée Treaty which symbolized the reconciliation between Germany and France in the post-war period, the Aachen Treaty aims to further strengthen the ties between the two countries in the domains of economy, culture, administration, environment, diplomacy and defence. Although the Treaty has been criticised for its lack of ambition, a closer reading of its text reveals some hidden gems, including its mutual defence clause. What does this new clause mean for the Franco-German tandem and for collective defence in Europe?
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Diplomacy, Regional Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, and Bilateral Relations
- Political Geography:
- Europe, France, and Germany
183. Assessing Europe’s Efforts to Oppose Islamist Extremism
- Author:
- Robin Simcox
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Hudson Institute
- Abstract:
- Determining precisely what factors lead to radicalization is a pressing challenge. In fact, beyond the violent Islamist threat, the influence of political Islam and varying shades of Salafism are also growing across Muslim communities in Europe. This, too, has harmful social consequences. The scale of the problem facing Europe was exacerbated by the decision made by Germany in 2015 to open its borders to refugees fleeing conflicts in Muslim-majority countries. While security threats undoubtedly entered with the refugee flow (or individuals were radicalized and became threats once in Europe), the refugee issue has also introduced social and cultural questions relevant to overall cohesion and integration in Europe. This essay looks at these issues from the perspective of four European countries: the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and France. Islamist terrorists have attacked each country in the last two years, and each has taken differing approaches to preventing extremism and facilitating integration. Dozens of conversations with government officials from across Europe have informed my conclusions.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Government, National Security, Violent Extremism, Counter-terrorism, Ideology, and Islamism
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom, Europe, France, Germany, and Sweden
184. Armed Drones in Europe
- Author:
- Srđan Cvijić, Lisa Klingenberg, Delina Goxho, and Ella Knight
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Open Society Foundations
- Abstract:
- The use of armed drones in the European Union has become a topic rife with controversy and misinformation. This report gives a comprehensive and in-depth overview of the approach to, and use of, armed drones in five European countries: Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom. Further, the report is intended to start a wider debate about armed drones in Europe and to serve as a guide on this topic for the European Parliament.
- Topic:
- Science and Technology, Military Strategy, Military Affairs, and Drones
- Political Geography:
- Europe, France, Germany, Italy, and Netherlands
185. CSIS European Trilateral Track 2 Nuclear Dialogues
- Author:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Publication Date:
- 02-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
- Abstract:
- The European Trilateral Track 2 Nuclear Dialogues, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in partnership with the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and the Fondation pourla Recherche Stratégique (FRS), has convened senior nuclear policy experts from the United Kingdom, France, and the United States (P3) for the past ten years to discuss nuclear deterrence, arms control, and nonproliferation policy issues and to identify areas of consensus among the three countries. The majority of the experts are former U.S., UK, and French senior officials; the others are well-known academics in the field. Since the Dialogues’ inception, high-level officials from all three governments have also routinely joined the forum and participated in the discussions. The Dialogues have been unique in bringing U.S., UK, and French representatives into a trilateral forum for discussing nuclear policy. The United States, United Kingdom, and France hold common values and principles directed toward a shared purpose of global peace and security, as well as an understanding of their respective roles as responsible stewards of the nuclear order. Their sustained engagement will thus, irrespective of political shifts in any of the three countries, remain unique in the context of international alliances and partnerships and essential into the foreseeable future. In 2018, the group’s discussion addressed a range of issues in the Euro-Atlantic security environment and beyond, prompting agreement among the group’s nongovernmental participants to issue the following statement reflecting the consensus views of the undersigned. All signatories agree to this statement in their personal capacity, which may not represent the views of their respective organizations.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Diplomacy, International Cooperation, Nuclear Weapons, and Military Strategy
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom, Europe, France, North America, and United States of America
186. TBTs, Firm Organization and Labour Structure
- Author:
- Giorgio Barba Navaretti, Lionel Fontagné, Gianluca Orefice, Giovanni Pica, and Anna Cecilia Rosso
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales (CEPII)
- Abstract:
- This paper investigates the effects on firms' occupational structure of shocks induced by the introduction of Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTs) in importing countries. We rely on the Specific Trade Concern (STC) data released by the WTO to identify trade-restrictive TBT measures, combined with matched employer-employee data for the population of French exporters over the period 1995-2010, and with information on the list of product-destinations served by each French exporter. Controlling for time-invariant firm/occupation effects and for time-varying sector/occupation shocks, IV estimates show that exporters respond to increased complexity associated with restrictive TBTs at destination by raising the share of managers at the expense of blue collars, white collars and professionals. This evidence is consistent with the growing literature exploring how firms organize their workforce composition in presence of exogenous (foreign) shocks; and it is also related to the well-beaten literature on the labour market effects of trade.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, Exports, Trade, Trade Policy, and WTO
- Political Geography:
- France
187. The transmission channels of unconventional monetary policy: Evidence from a change in collateral requirements in France
- Author:
- Anne-Laure Delatte, Pranav Garg, and Jean Imbs
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales (CEPII)
- Abstract:
- Using a bank-firm level credit registry combined with firm-level balance sheet data we establish the presence of heterogeneity in the effects of unconventional monetary policy transmission. We examine the consequences of a loosening in the collateral eligibility requirement for credit refinancing in France. The policy was designed to affect bank lending positively. We expect a linear increase in lending and an additional increase in loans to firms with newly acceptable rating. We find a large heterogeneity of the monetary policy transmission including the unexpected reduction of lending by the banks benefiting the most from the policy. These are small, risk-averse banks whose foremost concern after the recession was to strengthen their balance sheets. Banks least affected by the policy respond with a reduction in credit to low risk borrowers in reaction to the change in the market structure. Last we document heterogenous effects of the policy on firms depending on their size.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Political Economy, and Monetary Policy
- Political Geography:
- France
188. The Exorbitant Privilege of High Tax Countries
- Author:
- Vincent Vicard
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales (CEPII)
- Abstract:
- The well documented US excess returns on its net foreign assets is no exception at the world level. Excess returns on foreign assets owe largely to yield differential within the FDI asset class and are correlated to the corporate tax rate for a large sample of countries, consistently with tax motivated profit shifting by multinational corporations. Using French firm level data on dividends and reinvested earnings from foreign affiliates, I provide evidence and quantify the impact of corporate tax avoidance on international asset returns. Profit shifting inflates the investment income balance and accounts for the average 2 percentage points return differential between French FDI assets and liabilities. Missing profts in France, estimated at €36 billions or 1.6% of GDP in 2015, are mostly shifted to EU countries.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Political Economy, European Union, GDP, Tax Systems, Profit, and Corporate Tax
- Political Geography:
- United States and France
189. The Most Indian of the Major French Poets: Charles Leconte De Lisle
- Author:
- Come Carpentier de Gourdon
- Publication Date:
- 08-2019
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- India International Centre (IIC)
- Abstract:
- Indian civilisation has, time and again, influenced French literary and artistic life in various ways, more particularly from the mid-17th century, when the travel accounts of Francois Bernier and Jean-Baptiste Tavernier achieved great popularity in an intellectual class exposed to the fine goods imported by the French East India Company (la compagnie des Indes), or bought by traders. These included Golkonda diamonds, carved ivory, muslin, indigo, cashmere shawls, printed cotton fabrics known as ‘Indiennes’ or ‘madras’ , ‘Coromandel’ screens and miniatures of the Mughal school. The first poems, fables, novels, comedies and operas on Indian themes appeared in Europe in the years that followed.
- Topic:
- Culture and Literature
- Political Geography:
- India and France
190. Journal of Advanced Military Studies: Great Power Competition
- Author:
- Christopher C. Harmon, T. J. Linzy, Jack Vahram Kalpakian, Bruce I. Gudmundsson, Ryan Burke, Jahara "Franky" Matisek, Zsofia Budai, Kevin Johnston, Blagovest Tashev, Michael Purcell, David McLaughlin, Kashish Parpiani, Daniel De Wit, and Timothy Chess
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Advanced Military Studies
- Institution:
- Marine Corps University Press, National Defense University
- Abstract:
- In this issue of MCU Journal, the authors discuss various concepts of power and great power competition. For generations, scholars have debated changes in power and how that evolution could potentially impact the United States, its allies, and those hovering on the edge of greatness in whatever form that may take. The concept of power has taken on many meanings as the character of warfare has adapted to the time—hard power, soft power, sea power, airpower, space power, great power, combat power, etc. So how do we define such an abstract concept as power? The Department of Defense (DOD) defines combat power as “the total means of destructive and/or disruptive force which a military unit/formation can apply against the opponent at a given time.” Clearly, power must be projected; and for our purposes, that means an entity has the “ability . . . to apply all or some of its elements of national power—political, economic, informational, or military—to rapidly and effectively deploy and sustain forces in and from multiple dispersed locations to respond to crises, to contribute to deterrence, and to enhance regional stability.”
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, Climate Change, International Cooperation, Migration, History, Power Politics, Armed Forces, Navy, Populism, Grand Strategy, Alliance, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Strategic Competition, Geography, Ottoman Empire, Information Technology, and Clash of Civilizations
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Russia, China, Europe, Sudan, India, Norway, Asia, France, North America, Egypt, Arctic, United States of America, and Antarctica