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1522. The UN Secretary-General and Moral Authority: Ethics and Religion in International Leadership
- Author:
- Kent J. Kille
- Publication Date:
- 10-2007
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Georgetown University Press
- Abstract:
- The office of the UN secretary-general has been described as a needed voice in an international arena where moral principles are often seen as subservient to concerns over power and interest. In fact, because the secretary-generalship is a relatively constrained position lacking in traditional forms of power, those who analyze the position tend to see the moral authority of an officeholder as vital to the operation of the office. Such moral authority is often viewed as dependent on the personal qualities of individual officeholders. As one observer notes, “If it is a moral authority, one may ask, whence does this moral authority derive? It derives from the personality of the Secretary-General himself and not just from the office he holds.” It is therefore appropriate to inquire into the religious and moral values of those who hold the office. If a secretary-general's “own morality . . . must forbid him certain policies,” and presumably encourage other policies, then one should be able to trace the decision-making implications of these values across the activities of the officeholders.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Religion, United Nations, and International Affairs
1523. 'Outsourcing' de facto Statehood: Russia and the Secessionist Entities in Georgia and Moldova
- Author:
- Daniel Gros and Stefano Micossi
- Publication Date:
- 12-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The European Union is suffering a deep crisis: disdain, disillusionment and distrust top the list of prevailing sentiments towards the European institutions, as was brought home dramatically by the failed referenda on the Constitutional Treaty in France and the Netherlands.
- Topic:
- International Relations
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Moldova, Middle East, France, Georgia, and Netherlands
1524. It's a long way to Copenhagen
- Author:
- Willem H. Buiter
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- On October 3, 2005, Turkey officially started negotiations for membership in the European Union. Whether Turkey becomes a full member of the EU is likely to be a defining decision, both for the existing EU members and for Turkey. The regional - and geo-political consequences of success or failure of the negotiations, and its cultural and ideological impact, are likely to be even more significant than its economic consequences, although even from an economic perspective the stakes are very high. Turkey's population of over 70 million is larger than that of the ten countries that joined the EU on 1 May 2004 combined. Unlike the EU-25 (and in particular the ten new member states), the Turkish population is young and growing. Its present per capita income is lower than that of any of the EU-25 countries – about at the level of Romania and Macedonia, using Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) estimates of per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, with the right institutions and policies, Turkey could become a true tiger economy. But this is not guaranteed. With the institutions and policies of the second half of the 20th century, it could end up a mangy cat instead of a tiger.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Turkey, Eastern Europe, Romania, and Macedonia
1525. From Neighbourhood to Integration Policy: Are there concrete alternatives to enlargement?
- Author:
- Eneko Landaburu
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The answer to the question posed in the subtitle is yes, indeed, there are concrete alternatives to enlargement. As there must be. Enlargement has been a key tool in projecting stability across our continent. But it is a reality that the EU cannot expand ad infinitum – everything has its limits. We must honour our present basic commitments, while strictly insisting on the criteria. One of these criteria is our own absorption capacity – it is clear that in some member states the pace and scale of enlargement is approaching the limits of what public opinion will accept. To overstretch, rather than consolidate, the Union would be detrimental not only for us but also our partners. These are all issues with which our leaders will struggle in Vienna in a few months time.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and Development
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Vienna
1526. Deadlock avoided, but sense of mission lost? The Enlarged EU and its Uncertain Constitution
- Author:
- Sebastian Kurpas and Justus Schönlau
- Publication Date:
- 02-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The assertion that the enlarged EU will become dysfunctional under the current treaty provisions has been one of the strongest arguments in favour of the Constitutional Treaty. Also after the two 'no' votes to the text, political leaders continue to see the necessity of institutional reform. Jacques Chirac and Tony Blair, neither of whom is keen to resume the ratification process as such, have stressed independently that the issue needs to be addressed in the near future. The British Prime Minister argues that the EU cannot function properly with 25 member states under today's rules of governance, adding "Having spent six months as EU president, I am a good witness of that." His French counterpart even predicted that the status quo would eventually "condemn the EU to inertia and paralysis."
- Topic:
- International Relations, Diplomacy, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Europe
1527. The game's not over yet for the Capital Requirements Directive...
- Author:
- Rym Ayadi
- Publication Date:
- 02-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Following seven years of painstaking and demanding negotiations, European bankers and regulators breathed a sigh of relief when the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) finally got through the European Parliament on 28 September 2005, and was formally approved by the Council of Ministers of the 25 EU member states on 11 October 2005. The new CRD will finally apply the complex, risk-sensitive Basel II capital adequacy rules to some 8,000 European banks and some 2,000 investments firms in two stages, the first in January 2007 and the second one year later.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Economics, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Europe
1528. An Interim Plan for South-East Europe: Customs Union with the EU and a Regional Schengen for the Free Movement of People
- Author:
- Michael Emerson
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The central recommendation of the Amato report of April 20051 set the year 2014 as the target accession date for the whole of the Western Balkans, which would take the EU from the 27 (in 2007 or 2008) to 32 member states minimally, 33 with Turkey, and 35 in the event of independence for Montenegro and Kosovo. This scenario is in contradiction with the present mood of the EU following the French and the Dutch referenda, which rejected the Constitution that was itself designed to pave the way institutionally for further enlargement. The EU has now officially entered a period of profound reflection on its future, a process which cannot be hurried.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Development
- Political Geography:
- Turkey, Eastern Europe, Kosovo, and Montenegro
1529. Transatlantic Tensions and European Security
- Author:
- Mary Elise Sarotte
- Publication Date:
- 05-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute of European Studies
- Abstract:
- Any nuanced assessment of current transatlantic tensions requires an awareness of their historical context. An understanding of the legacy of the Cold War in particular helps to answer the following questions: (1) What are the sources of current US-European tensions? (2) Has the transatlantic connection sustained mortal damage, or can it endure? (3) What changes of attitude and of focus might help the transatlantic relationship in the future? The argument is as follows: The US-European relationship is under assault not just because of recent US military actions but also because of a longer-term shift away from a successful US Cold War grand strategy that still had much to offer the post-Cold War world. However, cause for alarm is limited, because the history of cooperation, the lack of alternative partners, and the very real nature of external threats means that neither the US nor the Europeans have any realistic alternative to cooperation with each other.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and Cold War
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
1530. Religion, faith and global politics
- Author:
- Mark Beeson, Stuart Harris, Lorraine Elliott, Shahram Azbarzadeh, and Greg Fealy
- Publication Date:
- 07-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Australian National University Department of International Relations
- Abstract:
- Since the end of the Cold War, a number of scholars have speculated that religious differences have come to replace the ideological differences of that earlier period, giving some resonance to Samuel Huntington's clash of civilisations and a new twist to Francis Fukuyama's end of history thesis. The empirical base for claims about a resurgence of religion-based inspiration for and justification of foreign policy actions, and the diplomatic challenges that this inspires, can be found in a number of quarters. This includes the proclaimed role of faith in the personal and public politics of a number of contemporary leaders; the growth in what seems to be faith-based non-state actors whose actions often link religion with rebellion, violence and resistance; internal politics in a number of countries in which religion or faith are increasingly tied up with matters of state and disputes over public policy (ranging from the debate over religious symbols in schools in France to electoral competition over the value of a secular versus Islamic state in Turkey); and provocations of various kinds that seem designed to demonise rather than respect religious difference, such as the recent confrontations over the so-called Muhammad cartoons first published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Cold War, Government, Politics, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Turkey