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1311. Conceptualising Regional Power in International Relations: Lessons from the South African Case

Author:
Daniel Flemes
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Regional powers can be distinguished by four pivotal criteria: claim to leadership, power resources, employment of foreign policy instruments, and acceptance of leadership. Applying these indicators to the South African case, the analysis demonstrates the crucial significance of institutional foreign policy instruments. But although the South African government is ready to pay the costs of co-operative hegemony (such as capacity building for regional institutions and peacekeeping), the regional acceptance of South Africa's leadership is constrained by its historical legacy. Additionally, Pretoria's foreign policy is based on ideational resources such as its reputation as an advocate of democracy and human rights and the legitimacy derived from its paradigmatic behaviour as a 'good global citizen'. However, the Mbeki presidency is more successful in converting these resources into discursive instruments of interest-assertion in global, rather than in regional bargains. In effect the regional power's reformist South-oriented multilateralism is challenging some of the guiding principles of the current international system.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Africa and South Africa

1312. The Role of Southern Actors in Global Governance: The Fight against HIV/AIDS

Author:
Lars Kohlmorgen and Sonja Bartsch
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This paper analyses the role of actors from developing countries in global processes of policy making and governance. To systematically examine the channels of influence of Southern actors and interactions in global governance it develops the concept of interfaces. It differentiates between organisational, discoursive, legal and resource-transfer interfaces in global governance. This approach is exemplified in the analysis of a specific field of global governance, the global fight against HIV/AIDS. The paper examines the role of the Southern governments and non-state actors in ther central organisation of global health, their influence in debates and discourses on strategies to fight HIV/AIDS, and the financing mechanisms that were introduced to fight HIV/AIDS in the developing world. It shows that albeit actors from Northern countries dominate global governance in general, in particular areas the current institutional setting of global governance provides significant opportunities for rather weak actors such as civil society organisations and governments from the South to influence strategies and policies.
Topic:
International Relations, Civil Society, and Health

1313. Political Party and Party System Institutionalisation in Southeast Asia: A Comparison of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand

Author:
Andreas Ufen
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
It is generally acknowledged that a higher degree of party and party systems institutionalisation is positively correlated with the consolidation of democracy. It is, thus, useful to compare different levels and types of institutionalisation. In this article the distinction made by Levitsky ("value infusion' vs.'behavioural infusion') with reference to party institutionalisation will be employed. Moreover, institutionalised party systems are characterized, according to Mainwaring and Torcal, by 'stability of interpary competition'. The empirical research of this paper finds that the early organisational consolidaton of social cleavages, such as in Indonesia, enhances institutionalisation. Furthermore, the relation between central and local elites appears to be essential strong bosses or cliques undermine institutionalisation in the Philippines and in Thailand respectively. Most Indonesian parties are better institutionalised than those in the Philippines and Thailand with reference to 'value infusion'. In addition, the party system in Indonesia is better institutionalised in terms of 'stability of interpary competition'.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, and Politics
Political Geography:
Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Southeast Asia

1314. Making Sense of Climate Change, Natural Disasters, and Displacement: A Work in Progress

Author:
Elizabeth Ferris
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
There has been a lot of talk lately about climate change and displacement. Predictions have been made that millions of people – perhaps a billion people – will be displaced because of climate change in the coming years The terms being used for those displaced by environmental factors vary. Some scholars and policy-makers refer to 'environmental refugees' which is in turn criticized by others (particularly by those coming from a refugee background.) Anke Strauss of the International Organization for Migration predicts that by 2010 – 3 years from now – we'll see an additional 50 million 'environmental migrants' which she defines as “persons or groups of persons who, because of sudden or progressive changes in the environment affecting adversely their livelihoods, have to move from their habitual homes to temporary or durable new homes, either within their country or abroad.” The 2006 Stern Review by the UK government refers to permanently displaced “climate refugees” while the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change refers to “climate change refugees” or just “refugees.” The issue of climate change and displacement has become a popular issue in the public debates with major conferences organized on the issue, including this year's International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in November 2007. More will certainly be written about these connections in the coming years.
Topic:
International Relations, Climate Change, Diplomacy, and Environment
Political Geography:
United Kingdom

1315. Looking Back and Looking Forward: North Korea, Northeast Asia and the ROK-U.S. Alliance

Author:
Hyeong Jung Park
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Following the inauguration of the Bush administration in 2001, South Korea and the United States entered into a period of dissonance and even mutual repugnance. It began with differences in North Korea policy in 2001, and expanded into other areas. The Bush administration's mismanagement ignited a surge of anti-Americanism in South Korea, which in turn led to a round of Korea-bashing in the United States.
Topic:
International Relations, Diplomacy, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
United States, Israel, East Asia, South Korea, North Korea, and Korea

1316. Tracking Trade Votes

Author:
Lael Brainard
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
No abstract is available.
Topic:
International Relations, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and Treaties and Agreements

1317. China's New Military Elite

Author:
Li Cheng and Scott W. Harold
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Analyses of the 17th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have largely focused on the policy and personnel changes taken at the leadership conference. 1 Much less has been said about the implications of the massive turnover among the military representatives who sit on the Party's 17th Central Committee (CC), including its powerful Central Military Commission (CMC). While generational turnover is leading to a new Chinese political leadership that is less technocratic and more broadly trained in economic and legal fields, the Chinese military elites on the Party's top bodies are becoming ever more functionally-specialized in their areas of military expertise. Meanwhile, various forms of patron-client ties and political networks have played crucial roles in the rapid rise of young and technocratic officers.
Topic:
International Relations, Defense Policy, and War
Political Geography:
Israel and East Asia

1318. CURRENT RUSSIA – NORTH KOREA RELATIONS: CHALLENGES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Author:
Alexander Vorontsov
Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Policy toward North Korea is an important component of Russia's general strategy toward the Asia-Pacific region, which is now regarded by Moscow as a crucially import ant area. This growing emphasis on Asia is evidenced by President Vladimir Putin's increased participation in APEC summits including the November 2005 meeting in Pusan, South Korea, and Russia's development of a dialogue partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). During the first Russia-ASEAN summit, held in Malaysia just before the East Asian Summit in December 2005, President Putin gave a speech to the participants of the nascent East Asian Community (EAC), a new multidimensional integration association in the region.
Topic:
International Relations and Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Malaysia, East Asia, Asia, South Korea, North Korea, and Asia-Pacific

1319. Top Ten Global Economic Challenges - An Assessment of Global Risks and Priorities

Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The beginning of 2007 offers a conflicting picture of the global economy for those trying to discern trends, challenges and opportunities. Concerns about energy security and climate sustainability are converging — finally bringing consensus in sight on the need for action in the United States. But prospects for breaking the global stalemate are still years away. Though some developing countries are succeeding in bringing hundreds of millions out of poverty, too many are still mired in a doom spiral of conflict, poverty and disease— despite the entry of new philanthropists, advocates and global corporations into the field of development. China's projected 9.6 percent growth rate is sending ripples to the farthest reaches of the planet—creating opportunities but also significant risks. The United States remains in the “goldilocks” zone, but this is premised on continued borrowing from abroad at historically unprecedented rates while many Americans fret about widening inequality and narrowing opportunity. While the United States concentrates on civil war in the Middle East, most leaders in the region are preoccupied with putting an outsized cohort of young people to work and on the road to becoming productive citizens.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Economics, and Energy Policy
Political Geography:
United States, China, and Middle East

1320. Beyond Microfinance: Getting Capital to Small and Medium Enterprises to Fuel Faster Development

Author:
David de Ferranti and Anthony J. Ody
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), typically employing between 10 and 250 workers, form the backbone of modern economies and can be crucial engines of development through their role as seedbeds of innovation. In much of the developing world, though, SMEs are under-represented, stifled by perverse regulatory climates and poor access to inputs. A critical missing ingredient is often capital.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:
United States