Search

Begin New Search Topic Regional Cooperation Publication Year within 25 Years

241. No Strangers at the Gate: Collective Responsibility and a Region’s Response to the Venezuelan Refugee and Migration Crisis

Author:
Michael J. Camilleri and Fen Olser Hampson
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
Venezuela suffers from a profound and multifaceted crisis. Years of mismanagement have led to a crippling economic contraction and an inflation rate projected to reach 1,000,000 percent in 2018. Citizens are chronically short of food and medicine and face some of the world’s highest levels of violence. The governing regime has systematically dismantled democratic checks and balances, consolidating power through fraudulent elections, violent re­pression and the cynical use of scarcity as a tool of control. Unsurprisingly, Venezuelans are fleeing, generating the largest refugee and migration flow in the history of the Western Hemisphere — more than 1.6 million people since 2015. Most have sought refuge within Latin America, but Venezuelans are now also the leading requesters of asylum in the United States and Spain. With no end in sight for the economic, humanitarian and governance crisis in Venezuela, the forced migration challenge will only grow. The regional response to Venezuelan refugees and migrants has been marked by a spirit of solidarity. Latin American countries — particularly neighbouring Colombia, where authorities report receiving 5,000 Venezuelans per day — have taken important steps to ensure freedom of movement and to provide avenues for legal stay and access to basic rights for those fleeing Venezuela. Nonetheless, many significant challeng­es to effective response remain. Meeting them requires reinforcing the existing re­gional solidarity toward Venezuelan refugees and migrants and combining it with greater creativity, collective responsibility and political will from the international community. This report aims to galvanize such an effort and offers concrete proposals for action.
Topic:
Migration, Regional Cooperation, Refugee Crisis, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
South America and Venezuela

242. Euro-area Governance Reform: The Unfinished Agenda

Author:
Miranda Xafa
Publication Date:
11-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
Since the debt crisis of 2010-2012, sustained efforts toward deeper integration, supported by accommodative monetary policy, helped promote the recovery of the euro-area economy and dispelled fears of a breakup of the single currency. Fiscal rules were tightened and macro surveillance tools were set up for crisis prevention. Yet significant challenges remain to be tackled. Gaps remain in the euro-area architecture; limited progress has been made in establishing the Capital Markets Union and the banking union remains incomplete. Today’s environment of solid growth remains an ideal time to advance the reform agenda. There is wide agreement that building a well-functioning and resilient monetary union in Europe requires further steps to break the bank-sovereign doom loop and to increase risk sharing among members of the union. Many competing proposals have been tabled to make the governance of the euro area more robust. Views differ on the shape and sequencing of reforms, and on the degree of integration that is ultimately desirable, with some observers arguing for a full fiscal union with shared risk, and others going all the way to full political union through the creation of a federal state. This paper assesses and prioritizes key proposals that are economically sound and politically feasible.
Topic:
Debt, Regional Cooperation, Financial Crisis, and European Union
Political Geography:
Europe

243. Policy Implications of Increased Migration to Spain

Author:
Marcela Szymanski and Małgorzata Pawłowska
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Polish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
Despite the significant reduction of irregular migration to the European Union, the number of migrants arriving to Spain is increasing. In the national debate on this issue, the Socialist government of Pedro Sanchez faces growing criticism from both the right and the left. Maintaining the current course in migration policy will require intensifying cooperation with Spain’s European partners. The Spanish authorities will reinforce the pressure on them to increase EU financial support for southern European countries and to find a European solution to asylum.
Topic:
Migration, Regional Cooperation, European Union, and Asylum
Political Geography:
Europe, Spain, and North Africa

244. Military Expenditures and the Armed Forces Actions in South America: An Appreciation About the Regional Defense Convergence

Author:
Graciela De Conti Pagliari
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:
Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:
It is investigated the approximation in defense and security in South America. The hypothesis tested considers that these countries just tend an approximation whereby the costs are less linked to a changing in their individual policies. In this way, they propose just a superficial consensus rather than incorporate joint policies. Therefore, the analysis focuses on the confidence measures in relation to the military expenditures adopted since the SADC foundation, as well as the military forces functions to verify if – in that instance – the measures served to empower the convergences in defense, and – in the case of these – if, in the face of the highlighted common defense problems, the attributions have converged.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Regional Cooperation, Military Strategy, and Military Spending
Political Geography:
South America

245. Regional Cooperation in Public Security: Assessment of UNASUR's Normative Framework

Author:
Juliana Viggiano
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:
Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:
This paper considers the normative framework that support regional cooperative practices in public security based on the activities carried out by UNASUR’s South American Council on Citizen Security, Justice and Coordination of Actions against Transnational Organized Crime. The article discusses differences and similarities between the conceptions of cooperation and public policies, analyzes the documents produced within the Council and presents limitations, obstacles and opportunities identified from the reading of these documents with regard to regional cooperation in public security.
Topic:
Security, Regional Cooperation, and United Nations
Political Geography:
South America

246. Armament Modernization in South America: Empirical and Theoretical Pressures on the Dualistic Views of Regional Security

Author:
Rafael Duarte Villa
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:
Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:
Research that focuses on security systems in South America usually identifies the existence of two regional security subsystems: one in the Andean countries of the North, with more traditional characteristics such as militarized tensions at the borders and intense drug trafficking problems; and a second one located in the Southern Cone, with security and integration regimes, which could qualify as a security community. This is what we call a dualistic view of security. This paper challenges this thesis to show that contemporary developments and concerns about the purchase of sophisticated weaponry by some South American countries, especially Chile, Venezuela, and Brazil in the first two decades of this century are critical points for the idea of a permanent (democratic) peace zone located only in the Southern Cone. In fact, arms purchases transform the South American region into a single regional security complex with tensions and militarized representations in both the Andean system and the Southern Cone.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Regional Cooperation, Military Strategy, and Drugs
Political Geography:
Brazil, South America, Venezuela, and Chile

247. The Geopolitics of the South American Cybernetic Space: The (Non) Shaping of Security Policies and Cybernetic Defense

Author:
Selma Lucia Moura Gonzales and Lucas Soares Portela
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:
Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:
The purpose of this article is to analyze the current cyber security and defense policies in Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, that have the higher density of internauts, placing these policies in the context of two regional forums: the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), and the possible existence of an interdependence among them or if a new cyberspace geopolitics is being framed in the region, that influences the organization of regional power.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Regional Cooperation, Cybersecurity, Geopolitics, OAS, and UNASUR
Political Geography:
Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and South America

248. The Afghan Taliban's Relationship with Pakistan

Author:
Safi Khalilullah and Joseph Mohr
Publication Date:
09-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
Abstract:
This paper seeks to reflect the views of those fighting the Afghan government, which includes the movement of the Afghan Taliban. The movement of the Afghan Taliban grew out of multiple sources, but came mainly from primarily local bands of religious students who joined the anti-Communist uprising of Afghan religious scholars. These bands of religious students captured branches in some of the Pakistan-based religious resistance parties, and were frequently integrated in provincial organizations as separate “fronts” inside Afghanistan. The religious students did not appropriate the modernizing Islamist discourse of Hezb-i Islami and other parties, but demanded the creation of an Islamic system of governance, the "Islamic Emirate," headed by the commander of the faithful (amir al-muminin), and not a President. This vision was realized in 1998, two years after the fall of Kabul. Pakistani support had been used up to this point by all parties in order to capture power in Afghanistan as a tactic. With the fall of the Islamic Emirate, this tactic changed to become the strategy for their survival, come-back and counter-offensive. Every time the Taliban used Pakistan in order to secure their leadership, establishing command centers, recruitment, or any other activity, the increasing reliance colored their whole activity. In the matter of recruitment, this meant that Pakistani youth would be admitted into the Afghan Taliban ranks as full members. Ultimately, this reliance also opened up the Afghan Taliban to Pakistani penetration and influence. Mullah Omar, the “amir al-muminin” tried to counter this trend by relocating into hiding inside Afghanistan, where he also died. In the process, he had ceded much actual control to his messengers, who could operate in Pakistan and the world in his name. The article provides an overview of Mullah Omar’s movements between Afghanistan and Pakistan after the fall of the Taliban Emirate up to his death. In light of President Trump speech on 21 August 2017, and subsequent briefings by Secretary of Defense Mattis and General Dunford to the Senate on 3 October, a stronger focus of the United States on Pakistan’s role in supporting the Taliban is evident. The views of the Taliban and Al-Qaida operatives on the role played by Pakistan appear to support this shift in American focus from President Obama’s approach.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Regional Cooperation, Military Strategy, Peacekeeping, and Al Qaeda
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Middle East

249. Advancing East Asia’s Trade Agenda: A Korean Perspective

Author:
Kijm Sangkyom
Publication Date:
08-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI)
Abstract:
According to the WTO, in 2018 there are 459 regional trade agreements, the most in the institution’s recorded history.1 Countries are now more actively engaged in regional trade agreements as a policy option to achieve their outward growth strategy. In addition to efforts to build up trade and investment links, regional integration is expected to spill over to more complicated socioeconomic issues, covering a wide range of areas such as gender, environment, labor, and cultural exchanges. Given this upsurge, policy coordination within the framework of regional agreements has attracted considerable attention from policymakers and other stakeholders. This is certainly the case in Korea, where the promise of such agreements is widely recognized, and recent challenges are actively discussed in the hope of overcoming them. Regionalism is a relatively new concept for most East Asian countries.2 Through most of the 1990s, East Asian countries generally engaged in regional integration discussions as a pathway to eventual multilateral trade liberalization under the auspices of the ASEAN and ASEAN+ processes. The subsequent proliferation of FTAs was the result of a number of economic and political factors, which had much in common with similar processes in other world regions, but advanced with particular intensity in East Asia and states closely connected to it. Today, all Asia-Pacific economies are involved in the regional economic process and are active participants in the establishment of multilayered FTAs. The growing interdependence and interconnectedness of the global economy has intensified the need for most East Asian countries, including Korea, to engage in regional economic cooperation and integration. Korea’s high dependency on trade explains its preference for the rapid expansion of regional trade agreements. This chapter begins with a review of the trends, key characteristics, and implications of East Asian economic integration, followed by an examination of potential opportunities and challenges facing regional integration. Korea’s FTA strategies are then reviewed, and its expected role in advancing the regional trade agenda is addressed.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, World Trade Organization, Economy, and Trade
Political Geography:
Asia, South Korea, and North Korea

250. Russia’s hybrid warfare in the form of its energy manoeuvers against Europe: how the EU and NATO can respond together?

Author:
Vira Ratsiborynksa
Publication Date:
06-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
NATO continues evolving and adapting to new security challenges and threats coming from the East and the South. At the NATO Summit in Warsaw in July 2016 the member states of the Alliance reaffi rmed their commitments on the core purposes of the Alliance: collective defense, crisis management and cooperative security. Th e Warsaw Summit marked a shift from reassurance to deterrence posture sending a signal that the Alliance is ready and is able to meet the challenge of hybrid threats. Th e changing security landscape in the Eastern fl ank reinforces NATO’s need to strengthen its core ‘hard power’ principles as well as update its ‘soft power’ infl uence on issues such as energy security.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, NATO, Energy Policy, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, North Atlantic, and North America