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332. Human Rights and Regional Co-Operation in the Caucasus: The Role of Georgia
- Author:
- Ettore Greco and Marco Gestri
- Publication Date:
- 11-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- The first session of the seminar focused on “Georgia and the European System for the Protection of Human Rights”. Analysis of the topics to be discussed within this framework was preceded by some introductory remarks by Ambassador Maurizio Moreno, Department of Political Affairs of the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Moreno gave a concise but stimulating overview of the political context in which Georgia's international relations must be considered. First, he emphasised the clear will of the majority of the Georgian people and of Georgian institutions to strengthen ties with European and Euro-Atlantic organisations. Then he drew the attention of the Georgian participants to the fact that there is a firm determination on the part of the European Union and its member states to consider Georgia a full member of the European family of nations; this has been proven, in particular, by Georgia's accession to the Council of Europe.
- Topic:
- Human Rights and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Georgia
333. Aftermath: Internally Displaced Women and Women's Organizations in Postconflict Georgia
- Author:
- Pat McNees
- Publication Date:
- 04-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United States Agency for International Development
- Abstract:
- ALL POST-SOVIET STATES underwent difficult political and economic transitions in the years after the breakup of the Soviet Union, but Georgia's was especially traumatic. Ethnic conflict broke out in Georgia virtually as soon as the Soviet Union collapsed. By 1992, Georgia's central authority had been diminished to near anarchy, the economy was in complete disarray, and the country had plunged into civil war that tore its fabric.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Economics, Education, Gender Issues, and Migration
- Political Geography:
- Eastern Europe and Georgia
334. Global Markets, National Tax Systems, and Domestic Politics: Rebalancing Efficiency and Equity in Open States' Income Taxation
- Author:
- Steffen Ganghof
- Publication Date:
- 09-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
- Abstract:
- Competitive pressure on some capital income tax rates reinforces a generic "quadrilemma" or a four-way tradeoff in domestic income taxation. To maintain competitiveness, governments have to cut some tax rates on capital income down to "international standards." If these cuts lead to a de-alignment of different rates on capital income, domestic allocation becomes more inefficient, all else being equal. Cutting all tax rates on capital income to a uniform low level, while maintaining high and progressive tax rates on labor incomes, avoids this inefficiency, but sacrifices comprehensive income taxation, that is, joint and equal taxation of capital and labor incomes. Finally, reducing all income tax rates to international standards, including top rates on labor income, implies a strong significant reduction in the progressiveness of labor income taxation (and/or significant revenue losses). As a result, governments that aim at all four goals” competitiveness, allocative efficiency, horizontal equity (comprehensive income taxation) and progressivity – and want to maintain a given revenue level cannot avoid seriously compromising one of them. This paper analyzes how this income tax quadrilemma has played out in seven OECD countries: Australia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden. Combining the results of this matched comparison with exploratory data analysis for all OECD countries, the paper discusses the general implications of the quadrilemma for the domestic political economy of tax competition and the future of "domestic compensation" in open states.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Finland, Norway, Denmark, Georgia, Australia, Sweden, and New Zealand
335. Armenian Minority in Georgia: Defusing Interethnic Tension
- Author:
- Natalie Sabanadze
- Publication Date:
- 07-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
- Abstract:
- July 2000 was the deadline for the withdrawal of two Russian military bases in Vaziani (near Tbilisi) and in Gudauta (Abkhazia). The agreement on Russian military withdrawal was reached at the 1999 OSCE summit in Istanbul, according to which the first two bases would be withdrawn by July 1 of the current year, to be followed by the two remaining bases in Javakheti (Southern Georgia) and Batumi (Western Georgia) in the near future. Russia did not meet the deadline on the Gudauta base, which has become the main source of renewed Georgian-Russian political confrontation over the past few days. However, as the talks on withdrawal intensified, the issue of the Javakheti base also came to the fore. Javakheti is the southernmost region of Georgia where the local population is predominantly Armenian. Similar to Abkhazia, the situation in Javakheti is very sensitive and could be exacerbated by the Russian military withdrawal which is strongly opposed by the local Armenian population. This at first sight benign case of base closure is thus likely to involve broader issues of regional political alliances, competing national interests, minority policies and a potential risk of yet another ethnopolitical confrontation in the region. Among the most common descriptions of Javakheti found in both journalistic and scholarly literature is that of a "potential zone of conflict", "area waiting to explode" and in the more radical accounts 'the second Nagorno-Karabakh'. Despite many contrary predictions, Javakheti managed to maintain peaceful interethnic relations and to survive in peace and relative stability. However, in order to maintain the fragile peace and cooperation much has to be done in terms of minority protection and power-sharing structures within Georgia. What follows is a brief discussion of the Armenian minority in Georgia in the context of ongoing regional geopolitical changes, interests and vulnerabilities of the states involved. In addition, Javakheti here is regarded as a zone of ethnopolitical tension which requires serious efforts, and well-developed preventive measures to avoid its deterioration into a zone of conflict.
- Topic:
- Minorities, Ethnicity, Conflict, and Protected People
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Georgia
336. Central Asia and the South Caucasus: Reorientations, Internal Transitions, and Strategic Dynamics
- Publication Date:
- 12-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- Abstract:
- In April 2000, the National Intelligence Council sponsored a conference that examined the strategic dynamics of the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, and the South Caucasus countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. The conference brought together approximately 100 government and outside experts, including officials and scholars from the countries concerned. It consisted of six panels with presentations from more than 30 academic and regional experts, followed by question-and-answer sessions. The purpose of the conference was not to arrive at a consensus but to deepen understanding of the region.
- Topic:
- Development and Government
- Political Geography:
- Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and Georgia