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32. Syrian Crisis
- Author:
- Rougi Toure
- Publication Date:
- 04-2017
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
- Abstract:
- Recently with the sinking of the migrant boat off the coast of Greece, or the deceased of the Syrian child refugee on the beach of Turkey has us questioning how to tackle the refugee crisis. Deriving from the Refugee Convention of 1951, it states that a refugee is an individual “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Migration, Diaspora, Immigration, and Refugees
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Syria
33. Cuba-US Relations: Normalization and its Challenges
- Author:
- Margaret Crahan, Soraya M. Castro-Mariño, William M. LeoGrande, Soraya M. Castro-Mariño, Jorge I. Domínguez, Claudia Marín Suárez, Susan Eckstein, Jesús Arboleya Cervera, Margaret Crahan, Alberto R. Coll, Geoff Thale, Bárbara Garea Moreda, Ramón Pichs Madruga, Julia Sagebien, Eric Leenson, Robert L. Bach, Ashley Miller, Ted Piccone, Carlos Ciaño Zanetti, Mike Kopetski, John H. Coatsworth, Philip Brenner, and Colleen Scribner
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Institute for Latin American and Iberian Studies at Columbia University
- Abstract:
- This volume is a result of the dialogue between experts on Cuba-U.S. relations initiated by the Centro de Investigaciones de Política Internacional of the Instituto Superior de Relaciones Internacionales (CIPI/ISRI). Aimed at bringing together scholars and policymakers, among others, with expertise on the topic, the annual meetings in Havana have for years stimulated in-depth discussions by participants primarily from Cuba, the United States, and Latin America. The exchanges represent a wide range of perspectives and even of vocabularies. For example, the Cubans use the word blockade when referring to the U.S. embargo of the island and tend to hear “regime change” when U.S. officials refer to “democracy promotion”. In one respect there has been considerable consensus—that U.S. policy toward Cuba since the 1960s was a failed policy as the Obama administration eventually concluded and many experts have argued. The 2014 annual CIPI/ISRI meeting was in full swing on December 17, 2014 when rumors began to circulate that President Raúl Castro and President Barack Obama were going to make statements at mid-day concerning Cuba-U.S. relations. Tension mounted and at noon there was standing room only in the conference auditorium as the two Presidents announced on TV their commitment to the normalization of relations that had been ruptured in 1961. The room erupted in cheers, sobs, and the singing of the Cuban and U.S. national anthems. The experts were shocked. In panel after panel during the previous two days, they had speculated that there might be some relaxation of tensions, but no one predicted the initiation of a move toward normalization and the resumption of formal diplomatic relations. In the midst of the celebration Wayne Smith, who as a young Foreign Service officer had been tasked with closing the U.S. embassy in Havana in 1961, entered the auditorium and soon chants of “WAYNE—WAYNE” echoed throughout and he was pushed forward and asked to speak. Wayne had been honored the night before for his work to resolve U.S.-Cuban conflicts beginning when he resigned as the Chief of the US Interest Section in 1982 over differences with the Reagan administration’s policies toward Cuba. From that time forward he fought for a reconceptualization of U.S. policy toward Cuba as a scholar-advocate. Wayne simply said that the night before December 17, 2014 he had prayed that normalization would occur before he died and that his prayers had been answered. The moment catalyzed what many conference participants were feeling—a sense that after more than fifty years of hostilities the long road toward normalization could begin. It is the objective of this book to analyze the first two years of the process toward normalization of Cuba-U.S. relations from December 17, 2014 to January 2017. The majority of the chapters are revised and updated versions of papers presented at the 2015 CIPI/ISRI conference. A few of the chapters were commissioned afterwards to cover such topics as sanctions and claims. This volume does not attempt to modify the opinions or conclusions of the authors. Rather it lets the differences stand in an effort to better comprehend what has kept the two neighboring countries apart for so long and the nature of the challenges facing the process toward normalization. The authors analyze the causes of over fifty years of hostile relations interspersed with fitful negotiations that were marked by lack of trust, misperceptions, and miscues, as well as the challenges the process toward normalization currently faces. Since D17 (December 17, 2014) a bilateral Cuba-U.S. commission has been established, as well as technical working groups, in order to devise new agreements and stimulate the unravelling of the substantial accumulation of laws, regulations, and directives in both countries that have slowed the process toward normalization. Progress in introducing new regulations and directives has been slow and arduous. While some advances have been made particularly in terms of easing restrictions on travel to Cuba, as well as encouraging commerce and communications, much remains to be done. In addition, major impediments exist—the principal one being the U.S. embargo/blockade of Cuba which requires action by the U.S. Congress to remove. There are also major issues relating to U.S. preferential treatment of Cuban immigrants, continuing U.S. sanctions, as well as legal claims by both parties for expropriated properties and damages. The identification of mutual interests and agreements to cooperate has been apparent in Cuba-U.S. exchanges on security and environmental issues, among others. Both the Cuban and U.S. negotiators have admitted over the last two years that the process is difficult. Among the challenges are developing a common vocabulary regarding issues of sovereignty. Other questions are related to the direction of each country’s foreign policy particularly given domestic developments in both countries, for example, the level of political and ideological polarization in the United States and the actions that President Donald Trump and a Republican Congress might take beginning in January 2017. Add to this the stated intention President Raúl Castro to end his term as head of state in early 2018 and unknowns abound.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Diaspora, Bilateral Relations, Immigration, Sanctions, Regional Integration, and Normalization
- Political Geography:
- Cuba, Latin America, Caribbean, North America, and United States of America
34. Population Displacement in Africa: Top 10 Countries of Origin
- Author:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Publication Date:
- 09-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- While much attention has focused on refugee migration into Europe, two-thirds of Africa’s dislocated population are internally displaced.
- Topic:
- Migration, Regional Cooperation, United Nations, and Diaspora
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Democratic Republic of Congo
35. PORTUGUESE WOMEN IN FRENCH PUBLIC SPHERE: FROM INVISIBILITY TO EMANCIPATION
- Author:
- Manuel Antunes de Cunha
- Publication Date:
- 02-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
- Abstract:
- This paper aims to examine the representation and role of Portuguese women in French public space. If the media discourses today are still being dominated by the national and masculine figures, it is nonetheless true that the immigration context is often a space of gender roles reorganization. Between a dual legal discrimination in media sphere (being an immigrant and being a woman) and a process of individual emancipation in the spheres of work and family, migrant women outline a process of identity reconfiguration. Our case study focuses on the diachronic analysis of the image of Portuguese women in France (since 1960) from a corpus consisting of thirty samples from emissions of the main TV channels as well as formulated in the framework of the so-called ethnic humour speeches. This case study is limited to the emigration of economic nature, distinct from most graduate migration. Keywords: Diaspora, Portuguese women, television, France.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Mass Media, Diaspora, and Discrimination
- Political Geography:
- Europe, France, Portugal, and Western Europe
36. THE SYRIAN MUSICIANS IN ISTANBUL: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN REPERTOIRE AND STAGE
- Author:
- Hussain hajj
- Publication Date:
- 10-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Alternative Politics
- Institution:
- Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
- Abstract:
- This article aims to present some notes and findings about the fieldwork that I conducted in Istanbul with Syrian musicians in 2015. The main questions of the research were the identity of the Syrian musicians and the status of Syrian music and musicians in Istanbul. In this article I will first present some details about the musical institutions in Syria and the problems related to “being a musician” and studying music in the era of Al-Baath party ruling. I will add some notes about the Kurdish musicians in Syria. The second section is about Syrian musicians in Istanbul. I will discuss how far they can communicate among each other and with musicians from Turkey, and what are the messages that they try to spread through their music. For this aim, I analyze some musical activities that took place in Istanbul, such as the concerts of the Syrian community, as well as the relationship with the Turkish music of the Syrian alternative media in Turkey. Then, I discuss whether Turkey is seen as a temporary or permanent station by Syrian musicians. Lastly, I will analyze two musical activities and their repertoire that took place in two different stages to show the diversity of Syrian community in Istanbul. Keywords: Syrian refugees, ethnomusicology, musicians, cultural diversit
- Topic:
- Diaspora, Culture, Refugees, and Music
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, Middle East, Asia, and Istanbul
37. Hotspots, Rights Denied: The lack of a legal framework is threatening the rights of migrants reaching Italy
- Author:
- Guilia Capitani
- Publication Date:
- 06-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- The flow of migrants into Italy continues to be dealt with as an 'emergency' situation. The EU's 'hotspot' approach, outlined in the European Agenda for Migration of May 2015 as a short-term measure, has been implemented in Italy and Greece and is an approach involving EU officers, in collaboration with national authorities, in the identification, fingerprinting and registration of migrants. This paper from Oxfam Italia examines the hotspot approach in Italy through the experiences of humanitarian agencies and civil society organizations on the ground, and through the voices of migrants themselves. It concludes that, due to the lack of a legal framework, the hotspot approach seriously violates the fundamental rights of people reaching Italian shores. Oxfam calls for the Italian government and the European Union to define hotspot procedures and activities in EU and national regulations and to take medium-term action to expand the capacity of the receiving and support systems in Italy.
- Topic:
- Migration, Diaspora, Immigration, Refugees, and Legal Theory
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Greece, Italy, and Mediterranean
38. La Turquie face aux réfugiés syriens : entre engagement humanitaire et instrumentalisation politique (Turkey Hosting Syrian Refugees: Between Humanitarian Commitment and Political Instrumentalisation)
- Author:
- Bayram Balci and Juliette Tolay
- Publication Date:
- 12-2016
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
- Abstract:
- While the issue of Syrian refugees has led an increasing number of countries to work on curbing arrivals, one country, Turkey, hosts almost half of these refugees. Yet, far from imposing restrictions, Turkey has distinguished itself for its open border policy and large-scale humanitarian contribution. Turkey’s generosity alone is not sufficient to understand this asylum policy put in place specifically for Syrians. There are indeed a number of political factors that indicate a certain level of instrumentalisation of this issue. In particular, Turkey’s benevolent attitude can be explained by Turkey’s early opposition to Assad in the Syrian conflict and its wish to play a role in the post-conflict reconstruction of Syria, as well as by its willingness to extract material and symbolic benefits from the European Union. But the refugee crisis also matters at the level of domestic politics, where different political parties (in power or in the opposition) seem to have used the refugee issue opportunistically, at the expense of a climate favorable to Syrians’ healthy integration in Turkey.
- Topic:
- Globalization, Migration, Nationalism, Religion, Terrorism, War, International Security, Diaspora, Peacekeeping, Refugees, Syrian War, Regional Integration, and Transnational Actors
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Turkey, Middle East, Balkans, and Syria
39. Migrants and Refugees: Impact and Future Policies. Case Studies of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Greece
- Author:
- M Shteiwi
- Publication Date:
- 09-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic Studies (CSS)
- Abstract:
- For Europe, 2015 was the year of the biggest migration and refugee crisis in the European Union’s history. Around 1.5 million asylum seekers arrived in Europe (0.2% of the combined EU population) in 2015, most of them Syrian refugees. More than 4 million Syrians have fled their country since the onset of the conflict in 2011. According to the Syrian Regional Refugee Response, there are 639,000 UNHCR registered refugees in Jordan (8% of the population), 1 million in Lebanon (17%), 2.7 million in Turkey (3.5%), 246,000 in Iraq (0.7%), and 118,000 in Egypt (0.1%). Many other Syrians living in those countries have not been registered by UNHCR. In addition, 7.5 million are estimated to be internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Syria itself. These are only the numbers directly related to the Syrian conflict. Iraqi, Sudanese, Somali, Palestinian, Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees are also registered in the aforementioned countries. Between 1998 and 2003 unauthorised entries by sea into Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain had stabilised, except for 2011 due to the Arab Spring (Fargues, 2015), but in 2015 the numbers increased dramatically, as shown in this pape
- Topic:
- Diaspora and Refugee Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Middle East
40. Conflict Zones, Israel and Diaspora Perspectives in Canadian Foreign Policy
- Author:
- Aya Al-Shachli, Ramina Ghassemi, and Areej Rashid
- Publication Date:
- 09-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- While Canadian Jewish community organizations are actively engaged in lobbying the Canadian government on its foreign policy with Israel and Palestine, it is not at all clear that the perspectives of the Jewish-Israeli diaspora that have emigrated from this conflict zone have been considered. The absence of diaspora voices from the region seems a missed opportunity for the development of a more comprehensive foreign policy position.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Foreign Policy, Political Violence, Ethnic Conflict, and Diaspora
- Political Geography:
- Canada, Israel, and Palestine