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251. Not a Zero-Sum Game: Atlanticism and Europeanism in Italian Foreign Policy

Author:
Osvaldo Croci
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
In Italy, Atlanticism and Europeanism should not be seen as two alternative and therefore mutually exclusive policies. Strengthening Atlanticism, for instance, does not necessarily correspond to an equal weakening of Europeanism, as implicitly assumed by those who expect a tilt one way or the other each time a centre-right government replaces a centre-left one or vice versa. Rather, the two policies are hierarchical and constitute a "nested game", with Europeanism nested, as it were, in Atlanticism. Italy's foreign policy choices thus result from a double constraint, one of which, Atlanticism, is more important than the other, Europeanism. More precisely, Italian foreign policymakers have traditionally regarded Europeanism as a policy aimed at reinforcing Atlanticism.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Government
Political Geography:
Europe

252. European Foreign Policy Without Legal Personality?

Author:
Carmen Campo Fanlo and Miguel Medina Abellan
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The European Union was not explicitly granted legal personality by its founding Treaty. As a result, the matter has been the subject of debate ever since. Is there a relationship between legal personality and the EU's foreign policy? Are there legal obstacles to the articulation of an EU foreign policy worthy of the name? The external representation and treaty-making power of the EU are often said to suffer from the lack of explicitly conferred legal personality. Nevertheless, it can hardly be blamed for the EU's record in international affairs. In the end, conferring legal personality will be just one more step on the road towards a unitary system of EU foreign policymaking.
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

253. Making Sense of Euro-Mediterranean Relations

Author:
Nathalie Tocci
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Review of: European foreign policy making toward the Mediterranean, Federica Bicchi, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

254. An Empire of Liberty?

Author:
James Edward Miller
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Review of: Libertà e impero : gli Stati Uniti e il mondo, 1776-2006, Mario Del Pero, Laterza, 2008

255. Crisis Does Not Mean the End: the Atlantic Alliance in the 21st Century

Author:
Emiliano Alessandri
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Review of: The end of the West? : crisis and change in the Atlantic order, edited by Jeffrey Anderson, G. John Ikenberry, Thomas Risse, Cornell University Press, 2008

256. The Foundations of American National Security

Author:
Francesco N. Moro
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Review of: Creating the national security state : a history of the law that transformed America, Douglas T. Stuart, Princeton University Press, 2008
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
America

257. Making Sense of Turkish Politics

Author:
Sahin Alpay
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Turkey, a candidate state that started negotiating membership in the EU in 2005, has witnessed serious political conflict since April 2007 when the military threatened to intervene once again in the political process. The Chief Prosecutor filed closure cases before the Constitutional Court first against the Democratic Society Party, the first pro-Kurdish party to enter parliament, and then against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) which won a landslide election victory in the parliamentary elections of July 2007. The Court decided by the slimmest of margins against the closure of AKP, allowing the country to escape narrowly one of its worst political crises. The attempted "judicial coup" can only be explained by the state ideology of and the nature of democracy in Turkey. The political conflicts are related not to a fight over dismantling or protecting secularism, but to the power struggle between old and new elites in the country.
Topic:
Development
Political Geography:
Turkey

258. The Union for the Mediterranean: A Genuine Breakthrough or More of the Same?

Author:
Dimitar Bechev and Kalypso Nicolaidis
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The new French scheme for a Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), officially inaugurated on 13 July, has stirred up a great deal of controversy inside the EU. Even in its watered-down form, the initiative promises to relaunch the stalled relations between the two sides of the Mediterranean in the context of the Barcelona Process. Though vulnerable to all manner of external shocks linked to the multiple inter- and intra-state conflicts around the Mediterranean, the Sarkozy plan is a welcome move to a greater degree of "co-ownership" through the institution of a joint presidency. Of great importance in the interest of overcoming at least some of the problems that have bedeviled the Barcelona Process is further "decentring" of Euro-Med politics away from Brussels and more comprehensive trade opening by the EU.
Political Geography:
Europe and Brussels

259. Threats from Within: Four Challenges Inside the NATO Alliance

Author:
Julianne Smith and Michael Williams
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Common wisdom is that NATO's future hinges solely on the outcome of the International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan. While the state of Afghanistan will impact the future of the Alliance for better or for worse, it will not be the sole or even primary factor to influence the future of NATO. In many ways, Afghanistan has become an excuse for the Alliance to ignore some of the in-built problems of the organisation. The allies' inability to define clearly the nature of the Alliance and its core missions, a lack of capability and poor funding, topped off by exceedingly weak and troubled relations with other international organisations, particularly the European Union, all pose significant challenges that the alliance must address to remain relevant, coherent, and equipped to engage effectually in future operations.
Topic:
Security and NATO
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Europe

260. A Global Response to Terrorism

Author:
Ian Shapiro
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The Bush administration has been too quick to dismiss containment as an obsolete hangover of the Cold War. Appropriately modified to operate through international institutions and regional alliances, containment provides the most viable available basis for responding to terrorist threats emanating from rogue regimes and weak states.
Topic:
Cold War and Terrorism