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2111. Rethinking the Conflict- Proneness of Oil-Rentiers State in Historical Context

Author:
Muhammed Kürsad Özekin and Zeynep Arıöz
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:
Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:
With the rise of intra-state conflicts in the Middle East, particularly in the last two decades, the causality relationship between oil wealth and political stability has become a matter of debate in the literature. However, despite the proliferating research interest, the impact of oil revenues on regime stability and civil conflicts still remains contested in both theoretical and empirical terms. Bearing this limitation in mind, this article aims to present a fairly general but analytically broadened framework to explain the relationship between the decline of the oil-rentier states, and the rise of intra-state conflicts experienced in the Middle East in the past two decades. Putting matter into the historical context of the state formation and the colonial legacy in the Middle East this study presents a slightly different reading of the causality relation between oil revenue and the conflict-proneness of rentier states. Thus this article, to a certain extent, moves beyond the conventional explanations of the rentier state theory and argues that oil revenue cannot be taken as an explanatory variable of conflicts per se.
Political Geography:
Middle East

2112. Religion as a Factor in Israeli-Turkish Relations: A Constructivist Overlook

Author:
Tugçe Ersoy Oztürk
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:
Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:
The influence of religion in the foreign policy has recently begun to be discussed among the scholars of international relations field. That the role of religion as an attribute of individuals and communities and in its institutional connections with the state cannot be ignored has started to be widely accepted. This study argues that besides the material reasons stemming from realpolitik, there are also behind the scene, certain “cultural codes” that have played an important role on the actions and discourses of Turkey's leaders on the foreign policies and especially on the deterioration of Israeli - Turkish relations. This study seeks to find the effects, if there are, of religion in the Israeli - Turkish relations by exemplifying Turkey in its relations with Israel to see whether the recent rupture is a result of the religious orientation of AKP government.
Political Geography:
Turkey and Israel

2113. An Empirical Look to the Arab Spring: Causes and Consequences

Author:
Muhammed Kürsad Özekin and Hasan Hüseyin Akkaş
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:
Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:
This article pursues two main objectives. First, mainly drawing on empirical evidences rather than journalistic impressions and reports on the Arap Spring, it aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the sets of socio-economic and socio-political factors that have been deeply rooted in the region for more than half a century and which have driven (and continue to drive) a wave of uprisings across the region commonly labelled as the 'Arab Spring'. Thus, this study expects to present a slightly different reading of the Arap Spring by placing the issue into the socio-economic and socio-political context of the recent past. Secondly, by considering a range of factors such as the responses of the regimes, the role of security forces, the ethnic and sectarian makeup of the societies and the politico-institutional feature of states, it explains how the unfolding of events has differed from country to country and why some uprisings have succeeded in toppling regimes and others have not.
Political Geography:
Arabia

2114. Turkeys Development Assistance to Fragile States: From Sporadic Actions to System Building Practices

Author:
Deniz Göle
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:
Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:
This article aims at presenting policy recommendations for Turkish decision makers with a view to address Turkey's needs to ensure effective and timely development assistance to fragile states. The analysis begins with a quick look at the controversial relation between aid, growth and poverty in order to provide a basis for understanding aid effectiveness as well as some of the ongoing debates and limitations in the development assistance field. It then gives an insight on the current state of Turkey's development assistance to fragile states and briefly explains major characteristics of Turkey's aid policies and practices in fragile state contexts. The study focuses on describing the necessity for shifting Turkey's development assistance paradigm and is concluded with recommending a new paradigm along with its operational framework in three pillars namely; Institutionalizing Peace, Building the Functional State and Risk Distribution.
Political Geography:
Turkey

2115. Editor's Note: The Economic War And The Silence Of The Academy

Author:
Paulo Fagundes Visentini
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:
Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:
The last several years have been characterized by a growing acceleration of International Relations. With the end of the Cold War, amidst the Gorbachev government, the fall of the Eastern European socialist regimes in 1989 and the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, there was room for a reordering of forces in the world-system. When the vacuum started to be occupied by old and new international players, the situation turned into a War of Positions. China and the other emerging nations, especially the members of BRICS, were able to gain more leverage. But this precarious balance was significantly affected by the economic crisis of OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries since 2008-09.
Political Geography:
China, Europe, and Soviet Union

2116. The Brazil-United States Bilateral Relations In The Dilma Rousseff Administration, 2011-2014

Author:
Cristina Soreanu Pecequilo
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:
Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:
The Brazil - U.S. bilateral relations are structural in the evolution of the Brazilian international relations because of the political, economic, strategic and ideological weight that the U.S. holds on the country's agenda. This weight results from a complex combination of factors that involves the nature of the U.S. power resources, its projection capacity and Brazil's perception of itself and about such partner. This trend of the debate ideologization and internal polarization that breaks down into currents which are in favor or against an autonomous foreign policy, in opposition to the alignment with the U.S., has remained until the twenty - first century, going through the administration of Luis Inácio Lula da Silva (2003/2010) and reaching that of Dilma Rousseff (2011/2014).
Political Geography:
United States and Brazil

2117. The Return Of Geopolitics: The Ascension Of Brics

Author:
Ronaldo Carmona
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:
Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:
The sixth BRICS Summit, which took place in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza last July, by starting the second cycle of annual Meetings of Heads of State of five major developing nations of the world 3, marked a qualitative leap of the alliance, which enters a new phase, strengthening the trend to a polycentric world.
Political Geography:
Brazil

2118. From Containment Policy To Reemergence: Russia Is Back On The Chessboard

Author:
Diego Pautasso
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:
Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:
The US government became used to face the world, especially after the Cold War end, as a chessboard. But a chessboard in which it was the only chess player to play – the others were just pieces . This practice reflected the disintegration of the USSR and the North - American perception that the world had turned unipolar. During the 1990s, China prioritized modernization and the overcoming of the vulnerabilities resulting from the socialist camp's collapse; Brazil, with great economic hardships (unemployment, foreign debt with the IMF, stagnation), had a foreign policy with a high degree of alignment towards the decision - making centers of the international system; India initiated reforms and sought to overcome the constraints related to the stressed tensions with Pakistan and due to the effects of going nuclear; and Russia faced a unique disorganization during a peace scenario. Naturally, such scenario reduced the scope of peripheral countries which s eek an autonomous and/or non - aligned international insertion.
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Russia, and Brazil

2119. China Also Looks Towards The Arctic

Author:
Alexandre Pereira da Silva
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:
Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:
The increasing defrost in Arctic ice layer has been causing great concern among environmentalists. On the other hand, the actual possibility of decreasing the amount of ice in the Arctic opens up a set of new perspectives for the region, both for countries bordering the area and for the ones elsewhere. Within the second list, a certain state deserves particular attention: China.
Political Geography:
China

2120. Apartheid South Africa's Nuclear Weapons Programme And Its Impact On Southern Africa

Author:
Jo-Ansie van Wyk
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:
Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:
Apartheid South Africa's nuclear related activities in Southern Africa have a long history. Apart from, inter alia, the development and existence of at least six nuclear devices (which was denied for decades), South Africa operated a nuclear test site in the Kalahari Desert on the border of Botswana, utilised uranium from Southwest Africa (now independent Namibia), and employed a nuclear deterrent strategy in response to Soviet support for Angola and liberation movements in the region. This elicited responses from the so - called Frontline States (FLS) as well as the members of the Southern African Development Community (SADCC). Therefore, the purpose of this contribution is to determine the extent of South Africa's nuclear activities as well as its impact on the region from the mid - 1970s until 1991. This period covers the period since the Portuguese regime's collapse in 1974 and its domino effect in Southern Africa, the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the termination of the Cold War.
Political Geography:
South Africa, Soviet Union, Angola, and Botswana