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1431. The Carter Center News Spring 2010

Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
In 1986, when The Carter Center decided to take on the challenge of eradicating Guinea worm disease, outside observers probably believed success to be impossible. After all, there were 3.5 million cases of the disease spread across 20 countries in impoverished areas and no vaccine or medicine to stop the scourge. Not to mention that The Carter Center was a four-year-old organization with just a handful of staff.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Development, Diplomacy, Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Guinea

1432. Kosova'nın Bağımsızlığı ve Türk Dış Politikası (1990-2008)

Author:
Birgül Demirtaş Coşkun
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
This article seeks to analyze Turkey's policies toward the Kosovo issue since the early 1990's. While Turkey had pursued a rather cautious policy concerning the independence of Kosovo during the Albanian-Serbian conflict, it extended diplomatic recognition only one day after Kosovo declared independence. Turkish recognition took place at a time when countries like Russia and Serbia were objecting to it and a heavy debate was going on regarding whether the Kosovo independence was in line with the international law. The main research question of this study is why Turkey decided to extend its diplomatic recognition on 18 February 2008. The main argument of the paper is that change in Turkish foreign policy toward Kosovo is instrumental and tactical and does not represent a radical transformation. The decision-makers in Turkey continue to follow the line of the Western countries in the first decade of the 21st century as it had been the case during the Cold War and in the 1990's. The article makes it clear that Ankara prepared the necessary background for the recognition of Kosovo in the recent years step by step.
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Turkey and Kosovo

1433. Table of Contents Full Issue

Author:
Vladimír Bilčík
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Issues: Slovak Foreign Policy Affairs
Institution:
Slovak Foreign Policy Association
Abstract:
This article aims to outline and explain new preferences that the NMS have brought to the EU since 2004. The contribution is chiefly empirical, drawing on research and interviews conducted with 64 policymakers in Brussels from 2008 to 2009. In short, the text seeks to highlight what has been learned about the key foreign and security policy preferences of the NMS and what policy innovations, if any, the post-communist Europe is bringing to the EU's external agendas. The contribution concludes by highlighting the distinct interests and geographic focus of foreign policy in post-communist Europe whereby issues of historical identity, nationhood and ethnicity are atleast as important in post-communist foreign policy thinking as calculations of trade benefits and economic gains.
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

1434. Zimbabwe-Russia Relations in the 21st Century

Author:
Percyslage Chigora and Dorothy Goredema
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:
Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:
The 21st century has witnessed the intensification of relations between Zimbabwe and the East and other favorable states, Russia among them. Historically under the socialist rhetoric the two countries shared a common political ideology. Zimbabwe-Russia relations dates back to the era of the liberation struggle. The Soviet Union aided Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe People's Union and later the Patriotic Front which included Mugabe's Zimbabwe National African Union. The Soviet Union aided the Patriotic Front freedom fighters with training, material and logistical support. After Zimbabwe's independence in 1981, diplomatic relations between Russia and Zimbabwe were efficiently established. These relations were interrupted in 1989 with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia maintained her ties with Zimbabwe during this interruption but all the same the relations were non-eventful. The inception of the 21st century witnessed the revival intensification of relations between the two states. Russia's ties with Zimbabwe were re awakened following the invasion of Iraq by the US led coalition of the willing in March 2003which coincided with the unprecedented pressure on Zimbabwe following the 2002elections. The revival of these relations is depicted by trade agreements signed between the two states, actions of government officials concerned, in the diplomatic and academic circles as well as by the media reports. The aim of this paper is to highlight how common ideology, foreign policy principles and objectives and commonality of interests between the two states have led to cooperation. Issues characterizing the revival and intensification of relations between the two states will be highlighted and these will provide the appropriate framework upon which the relations between Zimbabwe and Russia could be understood. The paper brings to evidence that the revival of relations between the two states is partly driven by the deterioration of relations between Zimbabwe and the West.
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Russia, Soviet Union, and Zimbabwe

1435. The European Union's Asia strategies: Problems of foreign policy and international relations

Author:
Michael Smith and Natee Vichitsorasatra
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Politics
Institution:
Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:
European Union (EU)–Asia relations raise linked problems (on the one hand) of EU collective action and identity and (on the other hand) of cooperation. The relationship is characterized by complexity and variety in three dimensions: first, 'voices' and history; second, institutional engagement and structure; and third, issue structure. In order to explore the implications of this complexity and variety, and to generate propositions for further research, we deploy International Relations theories based on material interests, ideas and institutions. These help us to demonstrate not only the application of 'analytical theory' but also the role of 'practitioner theory' in the evolution of relations between the EU and Asia, and thus to reflect systematically on the problems of collective action and cooperation identified at the beginning of the article.
Topic:
International Relations and Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Europe and Asia

1436. Regions in the world: The EU and East Asia as foreign policy actors

Author:
Cesar de Prado
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Politics
Institution:
Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:
This article argues that multidimensional regional processes have an external projection that may be explained by their semi-liberal governance structures. It analyses the European Union (EU) and the East Asian grouping of countries, focussing on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the active participation of Japan, South Korea and the People's Republic of China within ASEAN Plus Three. Both regional processes have a multi-level external projection as seen in their links with key states (especially the United States), other regional processes, and global regimes like the UN and the G20. In both cases, one finds that public actors have to collaborate with private actors, although they do so in a restricted fashion and often using think tanks and elite public-private intellectual (track-2) actors. The comparative analysis concludes with some hypotheses regarding the consolidation of regional processes in the world.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and United Nations
Political Geography:
Russia, China, Taiwan, East Asia, South Korea, and Southeast Asia

1437. Intellectual legacies, ethical policies and normative territories: Situating the human rights issue in EU–Asia relations

Author:
Georg Wiessala
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Politics
Institution:
Palgrave Macmillan
Abstract:
This article investigates EU foreign policies regarding Human Rights with Asia. The perspective adopted here argues for a consideration of selected, social-constructivist, perspectives. The article emphasizes ideas, identities, values, educational exchange and human rights in EU policy towards Asia. Through a number of case studies, the article demonstrates that there is both an 'enabling' and an 'inhibitory' human rights dynamism in EU–Asia dialogue. The article suggests some ways of translating this into policies. It proposes a more inclusive, 'holistic', understanding of human rights discourse in East–West relations.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Europe and Asia

1438. Generational Change and the Future of U.S. - Russian Relations

Author:
Jeffrey Mankoff
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
While post-Cold War generation Americans are more sober in assessing Russia, the next Russian generation (those under 35) is in some ways more problematic. Russian youth are much more entrepreneurial and politically engaged than their elders, but also more skeptical of the US and more comfortable with intolerant nationalism. The Kremlin is also reinforcing some of the more worrying trends among Russian youths. There is no going back to the Cold War, but the coming of the new generation does not portend smooth sailing, unless current officials can figure out ways to fundamentally alter the nature of a relationship still dominated by mutual distrust.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Cold War, and Nationalism
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, America, and Soviet Union

1439. Re-Examining Russian Energy Power

Author:
Michael Broache
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
The conventional wisdom concerning Russian energy policy is overwhelmingly alarmist: Russia's role as a major oil and gas producer has strengthened the Russian state vis-à-vis domestic civil society, undermined democratization and market reforms, and emboldened Russia to pursue a more aggressive foreign policy. Russian Energy Power and Foreign Relations, a compilation of essays edited by Jerome Perovic, Robert W. Orttung, and Andreas Wenger, confronts this conventional wisdom by presenting a nuanced account of recent developments in Russian energy policy and their implications for global energy security and Russian foreign relations.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Reform
Political Geography:
Russia

1440. Unwrapping Russian Foreign Policy

Author:
Thomas J.R. Kent
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
A typical outsider's concept of Russian foreign policy might envisage Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin seated comfortably in the Kremlin, deciding what they want to accomplish, then skillfully selecting from an array of policy tools readily at their command: the military and security services, Gazprom's collections department, state-controlled media (i.e. drivers of public opinion), and state businesses ready to ship arms and build nuclear power plants wherever needed.
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Middle East