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401. Italy: red, black, and blue

Author:
Mark Gilbert
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
Back in the pre-history of the early Cold War, Italy's politics used to be bitterly divided along ideological lines. On the one side, there were the Christian Democrats, strong from the support of the Catholic Church, and its centrist allies. On the other side, there were the Communists. When the Cold War ended, the party system collapsed, but the hope was raised that Italy might become a "normal country."
Topic:
Cold War
Political Geography:
Italy

402. Building Moderate Muslim Networks

Author:
Angel Rabasa, Cheryl Benar, Lowell H. Schwartz, and Peter Sickle
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
Radical and dogmatic interpretations of Islam have gained ground in recent years in many Muslim societies. Aside from a willingness to resort to violence to compel fellow Muslims to conform to their religious and political views, radicals enjoy two critical advantages over moderate and liberal Muslims. The first is money. Saudi funding for the export of the Wahhabi version of Islam over the last three decades has had the effect, whether intended or not, of promoting the growth of religious extremism throughout the Muslim world. The radicals' second advantage is organization. Radical groups have developed extensive networks over the years, which are themselves embedded in a dense net of international relationships. In this report we describe, first, how network building was actually done during the Cold War—how the United States identified and supported partners and how it attempted to avoid endangering them. Second, we analyze the similarities and the differences between the Cold War environment and today's struggle with radical Islamism and how these similarities and differences affect U.S. efforts to build networks today. Third, we examine current U.S. strategies and programs of engagement with the Muslim world. Finally, informed by the efforts of the Cold War and previous RAND work on the ideological tendencies in the Muslim world, we develop a "road map" for the construction of moderate Muslim networks and institutions. A key finding of this report—which one of our reviewers notes is particularly important—is that the U.S. government and its allies need, but thus far have failed, to develop clear criteria for partnerships with authentic moderates. The net result, already visible, is the discouragement of truly moderate Muslims.
Topic:
International Relations, Cold War, and Islam
Political Geography:
United States

403. Was Liberty Really Bad for Russia? Part I

Author:
Leon Aron
Publication Date:
08-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
It is very much in the Russian and, even more so, Soviet political tradition for rulers to deprecate their predecessors. As they climb up the power ladder, the would-be Kremlin occupants must profess complete loyalty to the current leader in order to succeed. Once in power, the country's new masters bolster their authority by dissociating themselves from previous leaders. Along with the weakness of the country's political institutions, which undermines the legitimacy of the transitions, such repudiations almost inevitably result in the personalization of power, as the new occupants mold the political, social, and economic systems to their liking. Hence, Russian and—again and especially—Soviet history have often looked like a succession of very distinct personal political regimes—indeed, sometimes different states under the same name.
Topic:
Civil Society, Cold War, Democratization, and Politics
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Asia, and Soviet Union

404. The Defense Monitor, Primed and ready

Author:
Philip E. Coyle, Whitney Parker, Bruce Blair, and Brian Ellison
Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
American And Russian political rhetoric attaches the highest priority to imposing ironclad control over their nuclear arsenals. The two nations cooperate extensively and devote substantial resources to achieving this aim, but both nations are shooting themselves in the foot by allowing hoary cold War priorities to take precedence. The anachronistic mind-set of the cold Warrior still dominates their nuclear establishments, their agendas, and their relationship in ways that deeply undermine their efforts to contain “loose nukes.” They spend 25 times more money to preserve their c old War nuclear deterrent postures than they spend on shoring up security against theft.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Cold War, and Nuclear Weapons
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, America, Europe, and Asia

405. U.S. Public and Private Funding of Independent Media Development Abroad

Author:
Peter Graves
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
U.S. efforts to develop an independent media sector abroad are a relatively recent phenomenon. Both public and private funders have supported journalism training since World War II, but some of the most significant opportunities to develop the independent media sector came after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Since most media in Eastern European countries and the former Soviet republics were controlled by the state during the Cold War, the fall of communism spurred American interest in developing free and independent media in these countries as a building block toward transparent and democratic societies.
Topic:
Cold War and International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and America

406. Global Political Violence: Explaining the Post-Cold War Decline

Author:
Andrew Mack
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
This paper reviews global trends in political violence since the end of World War II, focusing in particular on the decline in conflict numbers that followed the end of the Cold War. It argues that the single most compelling explanation for this decline is found in the upsurge of peacemaking and peacebuilding activities that started in the early 1990s,was spearheaded by the UN, but also involved many other international agencies, donor governments, and NGOs. The paper also examines trends in war fatalities, which have been declining unevenly since the early 1950s and reviews possible explanations for the change.Trends in civilian deaths from organized political violence—including genocides and terrorism—are also reviewed.
Topic:
International Relations, Cold War, Development, and Politics

407. UKRAINE AND NATO: The Policy and Practice of Co-operating with the Euro-Atlantic Security Community

Author:
Nienke de Deugd
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Security Studies
Abstract:
The opening lines of the national anthem of Ukraine are a reflection of the country's history. For much of its past, Ukraine was divided between, and subjected by, such powerful neighbours as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Habsburg Empire, Poland, the Russian Empire and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). It was only on 24 August 1991, amidst the epochal events that characterised the end of the Cold War, that the country regained its independence.
Topic:
NATO and Cold War
Political Geography:
Ukraine and Asia

408. A Friendlier Schengen Visa System as a Tool of 'Soft Power': The Experience of Turkey

Author:
Kemal Kirisci
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
In this paper, it is argued that Turkey's geographical location, accompanied by the extensive commercial, cultural and social relations that have developed since the end of the Cold War between Turkey and its immediate neighbourhood, provides an opportunity for the EU to consider formulating a more flexible Schengen visa policy that can also be in harmony with efforts to develop the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). Such a policy can also ease the economic and political costs of Turkey's integration into the EU. This need not necessarily lead to compromising security and border control. The advocates of Turkish membership often stress the potential of Turkey in assisting a process of bridge building between Europe and the world beyond Europe. A modified and better calibrated Turkish visa regime and a Schengen visa system that is able to adjust itself to the lessons of the Turkish experience could become a pillar of that bridge building effort and hence of the ENP too.
Topic:
Cold War
Political Geography:
Europe and Turkey

409. Strategy, National Interests, and Means to an End

Author:
Stephen D. Sklenka
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
This paper focuses on the interrelationship among national interests, stated ends, means to achieve those ends, and the strategies required to tie all of them together into a cohesive and effective vision for the commitment of U.S. forces. The introduction addresses the current U.S. debate regarding proposed actions in the Iraq War and postulates that the lack of true strategic discussion, particularly by our national leadership who instead prefer to focus on far less appropriate discussions such as tactics and techniques, inhibits the development of a comprehensive and effective overarching vision and ultimately is to blame for the setbacks that the U.S.-led coalition has experienced in Iraq. This lack of strategic foresight, however, is not surprising and has become endemic to American foreign policy since the end of the Cold War. The fact that so much of U.S. post-Cold War foreign policy involves interventions merely exacerbates the difficulties a lack of strategic foresight engenders. The U.S. inability—or unwillingness—to connect strategic ends and appropriate means to accomplish clearly defined goals has occurred so often over the past 15 years that one could make a credible argument that it has become a disturbing and pervasive characteristic of the modern American way of war.
Topic:
Cold War, Development, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, and Middle East

410. American Grand Strategy for Latin America in the Age of Resentment

Author:
Gabriel Marcella
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
The fear that extra-hemispheric powers would strategically deny Latin America as a friend of the United States has animated American statesmen since the 19th century. Such fear certainly pervaded the Cold war competition. Today the challenge to the security and well-being of Latin America is neither ideological, nor military, nor external. Strategic denial is more likely to come about from a highly combustible blend of poverty, crime, despair, corruption, resentment, and antidemocratic sentiments that promise a vague 21st century socialism under new authoritarian clothing. The sentiments are sinking deep roots in the socio-political landscape, and they are profoundly anti-American.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Cold War
Political Geography:
United States and Latin America