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1681. The Rule of Law in China: Incremental Progress

Author:
Jamie P. Horsley
Publication Date:
04-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
Western media reporting on China does not give the impression of a rule of law country. We read of frequent corruption scandals, a harsh criminal justice system still plagued by the use of torture, increasingly violent and widespread social unrest over unpaid wages, environmental degradation and irregular takings of land and housing. Outspoken academics, activist lawyers, investigative journalists and other champions of the disadvantaged and unfortunate are arrested, restrained or lose their jobs. Entrepreneurs have their successful businesses expropriated by local governments in seeming violation of the recently added Constitutional guarantee to protect private property. Citizens pursue their grievances more through extra-judicial avenues than in weak and politically submissive courts. Yet China's economy gallops ahead, apparently confounding conventional wisdom that economic development requires the rule of law.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:
United States, China, and Asia

1682. China: The Balance Sheet - Issue Snapshots

Publication Date:
04-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
American strategy can—and must—respond to China's rise in a way that assures regional security, realizes the greatest possible economic benefit, averts worst-case outcomes from China's remarkable social transformation, and increasingly integrates the country as a partner—or at least not an active opponent—in achieving a prosperous and stable world order for future generations. All this can be done—if the United States asks the right questions, understands China's complexities, and reinforces America's strengths. China: The Balance Sheet, a joint publication by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Institute for International Economics, provides the foundation for an informed and effective response to the China challenge in four critical areas.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Economics
Political Geography:
United States, China, America, and Asia

1683. The Five Best Resource Decisions in National Security

Author:
Anthony H. Cordesman
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
I was originally asked to address the five areas where our country has the most need to invest more for its security. This, however, is not the approach I would currently take to either issues involving national security or federal spending. In fact, my approach is almost the opposite. I am not a “spend without taxing” Republican, and I don't find much to celebrate in a President and Congress that have done the worst job of fiscal management in our nation's post-World War II history, if not our nation's entire history.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Defense Policy, and Development

1684. The European Union, the United States and 'Liberal Imperialism'

Author:
Michael Brenner
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Transatlantic Relations
Abstract:
The Iraq crisis has been a stress test for the transatlantic partners.1 It is the latest in a series that at once has been revealing and redefining their relationship since the Cold War's end. The first Gulf War, Bosnia, and Kosovo: each measured the ability of Americans and Europeans to continue working effectively together. Each highlighted distinctive habits of national mind and action obscured by the exigencies of the Cold War. Each raised pointed questions about the pattern of interaction between the United States and its major allies. Each provided insights into the capabilities, limitations, and internal strains of multilateral organizations: NATO, the European Union, and the United Nations. Each altered attitudes and images in ways that affected how the next crisis was handled.
Topic:
International Relations and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, Europe, Bosnia, Middle East, Kosovo, and United Nations

1685. On the Manner of Practising the New Diplomacy

Author:
Jorge Heine
Publication Date:
10-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
The traditional model of diplomacy, founded on the principles of national sovereignty and of statecraft, is becoming less relevant as a field of new, influential actors enter the international system. Diplomats must now engage a vastly larger number of players in host countries, as the age-old “club model” of diplomacy gives way to a less hierarchical “network model.” This paper calls for a new approach–one in which diplomats project their nation's values and interests to the growing field of international players, focusing on a critical set of issue areas of special relevance to the mission. Although the environment in which diplomacy is practised has changed drastically, the adaptive behaviour of many diplomats and foreign ministries has not always kept pace with this new reality. This is part of the reason they are not fully able to take advantage of the many opportunities offered by increased international flows and interactions. Drawing on the author's diplomatic experience in South Africa and India, it is argued that diplomats are no longer sheltered from the political realm; that they are more accessible by and have wider access to non-state actors; and that they must respond to the vast array of demands these new factors pose.
Topic:
International Relations, Diplomacy, Nationalism, and Sovereignty
Political Geography:
India and South Africa

1686. VISA POLICIES IN SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE: A HINDRANCE OR A STEPPING STONE TO EUROPEAN INTEGRATION?

Author:
Martin Baldwin-Edwards
Publication Date:
10-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
South Eastern Europe (SEE) has been under great pressure from the European Union (EU) to modernize and improve its border management, while simultaneously trying to facilitate cross-border flows and good neighborly relations in the region. The forthcoming accession to the EU of two countries from the region, Bulgaria and Romania, and recently opened negotiations for the accession of two more, Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, have the potential to damage both cross-border flows and regional stability. One of the principal factors influencing this potential is the requirement for acceding countries to implement the Schengen regime – in particular, the so-called “black list” of countries whose nationals require visas to enter the Schengen area. At this time, from the Balkan region only Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania are not on the “black list”.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Balkans, Romania, Macedonia, and Croatia

1687. G8 INITIATIVE FOR PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS TO COUNTER TERRORISM

Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
In November 2006, Russia will host the Global Forum for Partnerships between States and Businesses to Counter Terrorism. This event marks the completion of a successful year of international mobilization by Russia as President of the G8. The decision by the G8 countries in St. Petersburg in July of 2006 to support the Russian initiative in this field has been one of the most important decisions in the field of counter-terrorism in a long time. This decision gives further impetus to a number of pre-existing moves in the direction of establishing public-private partnerships to combat terrorism.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, International Cooperation, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Russia

1688. Contending Approaches To Water Disputes In Transboundary River Basins: What Can The Discipline Of International Relations Offer?

Author:
Aysegül Kibaroglu and Vakur Sümer
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
The vital role of water for human beings and development has received worldwide attention. Through activities of intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations since the beginning of the 1970s, much emphasis was placed on the global status of water, namely water scarcity in absolute terms, and a lack of access to clean water and sanitation. Later on, some specific regions of the world were identified as the scarcest regions with shared surface and groundwater resources between two or more countries, which received much more attention than other parts of the globe. Under such striking developments, there has arisen an ongoing debate among scholars on the issue of management and utilization of water resources, as well as on the likelihood of a conflict that would be a result of the worsening situation of water supply and demand. In the debate one can delineate basically three groups of scholars and experts whose views can be associated with the leading schools of thought in international relations (IR) theory, namely realism and liberal institutionalism, and the leading sub-branch of the IR discipline, namely international (liberal) political economy. The paper will discuss the contending approaches to water disputes in transboundary river basins with particular references to the international relations discipline.
Topic:
International Relations and Development

1689. The Level-of-Analysis Problem in International Relations

Author:
David Singer
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
In any area of scholarly inquiry, there are always several ways in which the phenomena under study may be sorted and arranged for purposes of systemic analysis. Whether in the physical or social sciences, the observer may choose to focus upon the parts or upon the whole, upon the components or upon the system. But whereas the pros and cons of the various possible levels of analysis have been debated exhaustively in many of the social sciences, the issue has scarcely been raised among the students of our emerging discipline. Such tranquillity may be seen by some as a reassuring indication that the issue is not germane to our field, and by others as evidence that it has already been resolved, but this writer perceives the quietude with a measure of concern. He is quite persuaded of its relevance and certain that it has yet to be resolved. It is the purpose of this paper to raise the issue, articulate the alternatives, and examine the theoretical implications and consequences of two of the more widely employed levels of analysis: the international system and the national sub-systems.
Topic:
International Relations

1690. Between Utopia and Practice: Conceptualization of Human Security in International Relations

Author:
Sevket Ovali
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
The conception of human security has become one of the most crucial components of security studies in the Post Cold War period. Shifting the focus of security studies from the state to the individual, the concept symbolizes an on-going departure from the realist security conception. Even though its theoretical underpinnings can be traced back to the Enlightenment, the concept appeared in the security studies literature studies during the mid 90s. The proponents of the human security conception faced criticism for being utopist, non-scientific and non-policy oriented. However the developments in international politics and their devastating effects on human lives revealed the links article aims to explore the development and ingredients of the concept of human security, as well as its applicability in daily politics and its revelance for some theoretical issues of the discipline of International Relations.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Cold War