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91. Towards a Sustainable Cocoa Chain: Power and possibilities within the cocoa and chocolate sector

Author:
Jan Cappelle
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The cocoa tree is an important source of income for millions of farming families in equatorial regions. Cocoa originates in the river valleys of the Amazon and the Orinoco in South America. Its discoverers, the Maya people, gave it the name 'cocoa' (or 'God's food'). Cocoa was introduced to Europe in the fifteenth century. Cocoa imports were heavily taxed, and as a result it was consumed as a drink only by the wealthy. Investment from Great Britain and The Netherlands, combined with the launch of the chocolate bar in 1842 by Cadbury, resulted in a greater demand for chocolate. This led to the gradual expansion of cocoa production, spreading to Africa in 1870.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Britain, Africa, Europe, South America, Netherlands, and Amazon Basin

92. What Type of Islamism for Europe? Islamism in Germany and the Netherlands

Author:
Gonul Tol
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
Despite the general tendency within the literature on Islamism to label all Islamist associations as undemocratic due to a shared Islamic ethos, this article suggests that Islamist groups vary in ideology and methods from one another. They can become a counter-hegemonic force that threatens the democratic order or a potential force for democratization of the Islamic community. The role Islamist associations play in society is determined by the role of Islam within the Islamist discourse that is shaped by the social, economic and political structure within which Islamists operate. By comparing the dominant Turkish Islamist movement Milli Gorus in Germany with its Dutch counterpart based on data collected during field research between the years of 2004 and 2007, this article argues that European states ultimately determine the form Islamism takes within the European public space.
Topic:
Islam
Political Geography:
Europe, Germany, Netherlands, and Dutch

93. Resettling Peoples, Redressing Histories: Challenging Answers to the Land Question in Namibia and the Netherlands

Author:
Liora Barba
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Nearly a decade after national liberation in South Africa and Namibia, demonstrators outside of the 2002 United Nations Conference on Development filled the streets of Johannesburg with the resounding melodies of apartheid protest songs. Meanwhile, inside the conference gates, former President Thabo Mbeki called for an “end to global apartheid.”Nearly a decade after national liberation in South Africa and Namibia, demonstrators outside of the 2002 United Nations Conference on Development filled the streets of Johannesburg with the resounding melodies of apartheid protest songs. Meanwhile, inside the conference gates, former President Thabo Mbeki called for an “end to global apartheid.”
Political Geography:
South Africa, Netherlands, and Namibia

94. Identities in Migrant Cinema: The Aesthetics of European Integration

Author:
Jalene Betts
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Although much progress was made in Europe over the last half century with regard to the integration of markets and the near-vaporization of national borders, recent years show that, contrary to the illusion of an “enlightened” continent free from the racism of the past, ethnicity continues to play a role in European culture. As demonstrated by disputes in the Balkan region over Kosovo's independence, debates on the acceptance of new member states into the European Union (in particular Turkey's application for admittance), and growing concerns over immigration in the Netherlands and France, ethnicity seems to prove itself as a thing of the present, not the past. Media coverage of the “problems” of Islam—unemployed “Arab” youths roaming the streets, young girls forced to wear head-coverings by their “sexist” relatives—is a reality, whether or not the claims made by such representations are valid.
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, France, and Netherlands

95. Lingering Borders in the European Union: Migrant Workers in Spain and the Netherlands

Author:
Andra Bosneag
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
With the two European Union (EU) Enlargements of 2004 and 2007, an understanding of the antiquated and modern challenges, fears, and contradictions surrounding the inclusion of accession countries, as well as the respective rights of the “old” member states, has become essential to any contemporary analysis of current EU dynamics. This work incorporates my two semesters abroad in Barcelona, Spain, and Maastricht, the Netherlands, with the intended approach of further clarifying the Program's mission: “intensive interrogation and observation of globalization in comparative perspective.” Before embarking on my study abroad, I was profoundly marked by an incident that solidified my resolution to study Eastern and Central Europe. In an effort to skip the bureaucratic visa process, I attempted to use my Romanian passport instead of my American passport to enter Europe. After inquiring at five different Spanish embassies as to whether my Romanian passport, after EU accession, would eliminate the need for a visa, I left the country still not knowing if my passport was yet functional in the realm of the European Union. Upon entering Spain, a border patrol officer enthusiastically informed me that the EU required no entry papers (besides a passport) for its citizens studying abroad; my Romanian passport had ceased to be just a sentimental souvenir. This incident was one of many that attested to the lack of general knowledge surrounding the new EU members and it contributed to my decision to study the interactions between the old and new member states. Furthermore, both Spain and the Netherlands have generally been viewed as “different.” While Franco's authoritarian regime emphasized the popular slogan, “España es diferente,” it is currently employed as a tactic to garner tourists. In contrast, the political and cultural dynamics of the Netherlands have traditionally been perceived as anomalous in their liberalism, compelling many to label the country as “different.”
Political Geography:
Europe, Spain, Netherlands, and Barcelona

96. From Neo-Enlightenment to Nihonjinron: The Politics of Anti-Multiculturalism in Japan and the Netherlands

Author:
Jack Eisenberg
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
On September 6, 2007, politician Geert Wilders addressed the Dutch Parliament, boldly proclaiming that “multiculturalism” was destroying European civilization: Madam Speaker, the Islamic incursion must be stopped. Islam is the Trojan Horse in Europe. If we do not stop Islamification now, Eurabia and Netherabia will just be a matter of time. One century ago, there were approximately 50 Muslims in the Netherlands. Today, there are about one million Muslims in this country. Where will it end?...No Islamic tra-dition must ever be established in the Netherlands: not now and also not in a few centuries' time.
Political Geography:
Japan, Europe, and Netherlands

97. Sites of Solidarity: Ethnic Belonging in Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, and a World of Difference

Author:
Eleni Zimiles
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Arriving on European soil in August 2007, my perception of globalization was largely comprised of the extensive and intangible tides of contemporary macro-institutional forces, such as that of the global economy or international governing bodies. Over the course of the year, another face of globalization was revealed, one that was a “much wider and deeper rendez-vous.” I began to more fully comprehend globalization as a historically deep conglomeration of overlapping global and local processes that affect individuals on an intimate level. However, while definitions are indispensably parsimonious, they are not sufficient. It is the anthropology student's role to open these compressed understandings and expose the full details of globalization's universalities and particularities, in effect creating a global “ethnography of the particular.”
Political Geography:
Europe, Netherlands, and Ireland

98. Defence R&D: Lessons from NATO Allies

Author:
Tomas Jermalavicius
Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Centre for Defence and Security - ICDS
Abstract:
Defence research and development (R&D) is a field of strategic significance in developing modern defence organisations as well as the entire national security sector. In knowledge-based societies, pursuit of state-of-the-art military capabilities, organisational innovation in the armed forces, sensible long-term management of security threats and risks or deeper integration with allies go hand in hand with investments in scientific research and effective use of their results. The importance of this field is well acknowledged by NATO, which continuously calls its member states to devote at least 2% of their defence budgets to R&D programmes. So, today’s choices made in the national defence R&D strategy will have an impact on Estonia’s security and defence as well as its credibility within the Alliance 10-20 years down the road. The ICDS has completed a small study on general trends in this sector and on how several small NATO allies – Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands – think and go about their defence R&D, which will hopefully serve as a source of new ideas and will stimulate a debate on the merits and shortcomings of the approach adopted by Estonia.
Topic:
NATO, Development, National Security, Science and Technology, and Research
Political Geography:
Europe, Norway, Estonia, Denmark, and Netherlands

99. The Starlink Program: Training for Security Sector Reform in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine

Author:
Sami Faltas and Merijn Hartog
Publication Date:
06-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
For the last two years the Center for European Security Studies (CESS) has demonstrated that training can serve as a useful tool to actively stimulate democratic governance in the security sectors of transitional countries in the former Soviet Union. Between 2006 and February 2008, CESS implemented a program called Starlink in five PfP countries in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. The Starlink program (which is short for Security, Transparency, Accountability and Reform: Linking the Security Sectors of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine to the European Mainstream) was designed to help connect the beneficiary countries to the wider European security community by promoting reforms and democratic governance of the security sector. More specifically, the focus is the development and delivery of training materials and courses for key groups in the countries concerned. While Starlink pays specific and separate attention to various communities within the security sector—such as military, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies—it adopts a comprehensive, or “whole government” approach, emphasizing the need for close cooperation and coordination between these communities. The Starlink program was subsidized by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs; in Armenia and Azerbaijan, the local OSCE missions kindly cofinanced Starlink.
Political Geography:
Ukraine, Moldova, Eastern Europe, Soviet Union, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Netherlands, and South Caucasus

100. Essential Steps for the European Union after the "No" Votes in France, the Netherlands Ireland

Author:
John Temple Lang and Eamonn Gallagher
Publication Date:
08-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
In the referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon in June 2008, Irish voters who voted against the Treaty gave several specific reasons as well as a variety of vague or general reasons that were unrelated to anything that was in the Treaty. These vague or general reasons are important because they probably were also significant influences in the “no” votes in France and the Netherlands. Moreover, they may be shared by a substantial but unknown number of people in other EU member states who did not get an opportunity to vote in a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty or the Treaty for a Constitution. There were positive referendum results in Luxembourg and Spain. Other countries promised referenda, but did not hold them.
Topic:
International Organization, Regional Cooperation, and Sovereignty
Political Geography:
Europe, France, Netherlands, and Ireland