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541. Externalizing the Crisis: Buffer Zones Around the EU

Author:
Emma Burström
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Global Political Trends Center
Abstract:
With the Syrian civil war soon entering its fifth year of armed conflict, the European Union is facing the largest influx of people in its history. Over 710,000 refugees and irregular migrants, of which a majority were Syrians, entered EU territory in the first 3 quarters of 2015 only (FRONTEX, 2015). Despite several informal top-level meetings between the EU member states and a pledge to relocate 160,000 refugees from the two main reception countries Greece and Italy, concrete action has yet to be taken and, as of yet, less than two hundred have been resettled within the EU (European Commission (d), 2015). Attempts to manage the influx of refugees and irregular migrants on a supranational level have been met with resistance from the governments of the member states. As the situation deteriorates and the number of people arriving shows no sign of abating, the member states are desperately looking outside the EU for solutions. Hoping to persuade transit countries to participate in refugee protection, and to contribute to stronger borders, the EU is engaging in various projects and negotiations focusing on its near abroad, with the aim of creating a buffer against the migrants. This policy update will briefly explore the history and implementation of these buffer zones, from the visa restrictions during the Yugoslav wars in the 90’s to the increasing use of ‘safe third countries’ today. Further, the positive and negative aspects of these buffer zones will be examined with the objective of: 1) detecting the possible risks of human rights violations, poverty, and insecurity, that closed border could cause; and 2), highlighting the potential benefits to the refugees and irregular migrants, the host countries, and the refugee sending countries, that could be the result of well-constructed policies.
Topic:
European Union, Refugees, Conflict, and Syrian War
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, and Syria

542. The transnational extension of a symbolic fight: how State knowledge on borders cross the State borders? | L’extension transnationale du domaine de la lutte symbolique : comment les savoirs d’État sur les frontières passent-ils les frontières de l’État ?

Author:
Médéric Martin-Mazé
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Cultures & Conflits
Institution:
Cultures & Conflits
Abstract:
Why does the EU promote the OSCE concept of border security in Kyrgyzstan while the OSCE export the EU Integrated Border Management in Tajikistan? To elucidate this paradox, this article lays bare the transnational symbolic struggle between two professional guilds: Finnish and Austro-Hungarian border guard contest for the monopoly over the legitimate definition of means of circulation in Europe, and beyond. In European headquarters, the Fins successfully occupy the forestage of the EU, thereby relegating their Austro-Hungarians competitors to the backstage of the OSCE. On the Central Asian fields, however, the former provide the assistance of the OSCE to Tajikistan, whereas the later deliver the aid of the EU to Kyrgyzstan. This chassé-croisé helps understand why the Tajik strategy of border reform incorporates key elements of the Schengen 4 tiers model, while the Kyrgyz strategy implicitly refers to the cooperative approach put forth by the OSCE.
Topic:
Security, European Union, and Borders
Political Geography:
Central Asia and Asia

543. Nuevos planteamientos en la seguridad energética de la Unión Europea y opciones en el Mediterráneo Occidental

Author:
Soledad Segoviano
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Revista UNISCI/UNISCI Journal
Institution:
Unidad de investigación sobre seguridad y cooperación (UNISCI)
Abstract:
Durante la última década, la seguridad energética ha experimentado una escalada en la lista de prioridades estratégicas de la política energética y exterior de la UE. Las profundas transformaciones en el panorama energético global, impulsadas por los continuos avances tecnológicos, importantes desafíos geopolíticos, además de los imperativos derivados de la transición hacia un sistema energético descarbonizado, exigen la reevaluación de la estrategia de seguridad energética de la UE. Un proceso que, sin embargo, se encuentra condicionado por las tensiones derivadas de la necesidad declarada en favor de políticas de cooperación y coordinación reforzadas y el respeto por los intereses nacionales energéticos de los Estados Miembros. El objetivo de este trabajo se centra en analizar los desafíos que afronta la estrategia de seguridad energética de la UE en un mundo en transformación, identificando políticas y mecanismos que contribuyan a su fortalecimiento. La promoción y desarrollo de unas sólidas relaciones energéticas entre la UE y sus vecinos del sur del Mediterráneo representan una extraordinaria oportunidad para diseñar y alcanzar renovados objetivos estratégicos en beneficio de ambas regiones.
Topic:
Security, Energy Policy, and European Union
Political Geography:
Europe and Mediterranean

544. Hacia un nuevo y diferente «Flanco Sur» en el Gran Magreb-Sahel

Author:
Raquel Barrás and Pablo Rey García
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Revista UNISCI/UNISCI Journal
Institution:
Unidad de investigación sobre seguridad y cooperación (UNISCI)
Abstract:
La unión de espacios subgobernados, la corrupción, el crimen organizado y terrorismo es la amenaza a la que se enfrenta la UE y sus estados miembros en el Gran Magreb, el cual está recreando un nuevo y diferente Flanco Sur al que existía durante la Guerra Fría. El aumento de la actividad extremista en la región del Sahel-Sáhara a partir de 2005 ha ido en paralelo con el crecimiento de las redes de crimen organizado transnacional a través del área. Aunque hay un intenso debate sobre su relación, intensidad e impacto, es una dinámica innegable en el área. La UE no tiene realmente una política unificada Magreb-Sahel y en términos de crimen organizado y terrorismo, el Sahel no se puede separar del Magreb. Hay una comprensión limitada y parcial del problema tanto en términos de amenazas como en soluciones viables, ampliado irremediablemente por la acción de Boko Haram y desbordando la visión, proyección y estrategia de la UE. A pesar del "Sahel Regional Action Plan 2015-2020", las medidas tomadas son reducidas, muy recientes y probablemente insuficientes y tardías desde el punto de vista de la dinámica y sinergia entre terrorismo-crimen organizado en un contexto de corrupción. La UE sigue manteniendo un enfoque seguridad-desarrollo, básicamente en una concepción de seguridad humana, a pesar de que este enfoque es altamente discutible para enfrentarse a este tipo de amenazas.
Topic:
Terrorism, European Union, Conflict, Hybrid Warfare, and Organized Crime
Political Geography:
Europe, North Africa, Morocco, and Sahel

545. Time for European Politics

Author:
Vaclav Havel Library
Publication Date:
05-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Vaclav Havel Library
Abstract:
The return of geopolitics to Europe from the East together with the publics‘ reaction to the spectre of immigration from the South has finally dawned on EU’s politicians. It is no longer possible to pretend that the „outside“ and the „inside“ can be kept apart. Europe‘s identity is being questioned with surprising intensity and in unexpected ways. Reactionary East- West political and cultural alliances are being forged, feeding and fed by nationalism, populist radicalism and antiliberal conservatism with Eurasian flavour. At the same time European citizens volunteer to take part in wars abroad, mirrored by and linked to acts of terrorism and violence in European countries. With state, institutions, parties and democratic politics in decline, what are the chances for peace and European democracy? We have to understand what is going on. Europeans inside the Union have to know how they are seen by our neighbours East, Southeast and South. What are their expectations? What do they want to achieve by joining the EU? What are they ready to sacrifice to reach that goal? On the other hand, we need to be clear what defines Europe’s own attitude towards others. Is it trade, economic interests, security or moral values? Can Europe still define its own ways or has it lost the initiative to others? Who can and should take action? The Ukraine crisis is forcing Europe to recognise that its post-Cold War order has reached its limits and needs to contend with harsh facts. Europe has to acknowledge the real world beyond its borders while focusing its energies on consolidating its own political space, which now also includes Ukraine.
Topic:
Civil Society, Regional Cooperation, European Union, and Democracy
Political Geography:
Europe

546. A Changing Global Environment

Author:
Antonio Missiroli and Gerald Stang et al
Publication Date:
12-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:
The last 20 years have brought huge reductions in global poverty, opening economic, political and personal opportunities for hundreds of millions of people and the countries where they live and work. This is changing old power balances, altering how humanity uses the earth’s scarce resources, and democratising – for good and for ill – access to many advanced technologies. Governance institutions are struggling to react to all these changes. And while economic, demographic and technological trends will greatly influence the changing international balance of power, concerns of security and geopolitics will likely retain their own unique rationale. The first section of this Chaillot Paper explores these issues through thematic, and the second through geographic, lenses.
Topic:
Economics, Environment, Poverty, and European Union

547. Eurasian Union: the real, the imaginary and the likely

Author:
Nicu Popescu
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:
The recent history of attempts to reintegrate the post-Soviet space is littered with failed political and economic initiatives. Such initiatives have included the creation of the Union State of Russia and Belarus in the 1990s, the Eurasian Economic Community launched in 2000, and the GUUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova) grouping launched in 1997. So far the only project which seems likely to come to fruition is the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan which is scheduled to become the Eurasian Economic Union as of 1 January 2015. The Eurasian Union exists already. Its physical headquarters – the Eurasian Economic Commission – is a bureaucratic structure with a staff of 1,000 housed in an eleven-storey glass and steel building on Vivaldi Plaza in a business complex near Paveletsky railway station in Moscow. Its legal basis is the Eurasian Union treaty signed in May 2014
Topic:
European Union and Russia

548. New EU Energy and Climate Framework: Challenges for Poland and Germany

Author:
Aleksandra Gawlikowska-Fyk and Ryszarda Formuszewicz
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Polish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The EU’s new energy and climate framework for 2030 is an exercise in reconciling Europe’s green agenda with its need for renewed competitiveness—as well as the domestic concerns of Member States. As the energy policies of Poland and Germany are shaped by EU policy, the 2030 policy proposal might serve as an opportunity for a shift towards bolstered bilateral cooperation. The conditions for this are twofold: mutual understanding and thinking outside the box. The publication is a part of the project “The German ‘Energiewende’ from Different Perspectives” carried out by the Polish Institute of International Affairs in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Poland.
Topic:
Climate Change, Diplomacy, Energy Policy, Bilateral Relations, and European Union

549. Rocky Road to a Level Playing Field in EU–China Investment and Trade Relations

Author:
Damian Wnukowski and Artur Gradziuk
Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Polish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
At the beginning of 2014, the European Union and China launched negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty that would launch the next stage in economic relations between them. Although both approach numerous issues differently, they have also strong incentives to seek compromise. Reaching an agreement on investment topics could be a significant step towards creating a favourable environment for cooperation and resolving most contentious sticking points in bilateral relations in the near future. It could also become a template for future similar EU agreements.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Bilateral Relations, China, and European Union
Political Geography:
China and European Union

550. Bumps on Russia’s Road to the Eurasian Economic Union: Postponed Integration, Costly Enlargement and Delayed International Recognition

Author:
Stanislav Secrieru
Publication Date:
07-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Polish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
Eurasian integration has been formally elevated to a new level. On 29 May, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed in Astana the founding treaty of the Eurasian Economic Union. However, problems related to integration, enlargement and international cooperation with the EEU indicate the effort is far from a point of no return. Despite the upbeat mood in Moscow, integration remains weak and selective, and in several important fields has been shelved until 2025. At the same time, the enlargement process has encountered security-related obstacles and triggered additional costs for Russia.
Topic:
Security, International Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, and European Union
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe