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382. Understanding Multinational Corporations in War-torn Societies: Sudan in Focus
- Author:
- Luke A. Patey
- Publication Date:
- 04-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- What do policy-makers at national governments, international organizations, aid agencies, and non-governmental organizations need to know about Multinational Corporations (MNCs) in war-torn societies? The answer is not simple to provide. However, there is a clear starting point: understand the behaviour of MNCs in the instable and insecure environments in which they are engaged. It is certainly a worthwhile objective considering the immense influence, whether de liberate or not, MNCs have on many civil wars in the developing world.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Economics, and War
- Political Geography:
- North Africa
383. Integration without Joining? Neighbourhood Relations at the Finnish-Russian Border
- Author:
- Anaïs Marin
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The Finnish-Russian border is one of the oldest dividing lines on the European continent, but also the most stable and peaceful new border the EU has been sharing with Russia since 1995. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, it became bot h a site and an instrument of increased cross- border interaction and institutional innovation, as illustrated by the establishment of Euregio Karelia in 2000. The paper recalls the historic al background of good-neighbourhood in the Finnish-Russian/Soviet borderlands and calls on constructivist IR theory to elaborate a model for analysing the factors, actors and mechanisms that contributed to the partial integration of this frontier. With Russian regions adjacent to the EU/Finnish border participating in the Northern Dimension, cross-border cooperation contributed to the growing regionalisation of the EU-Russia “strategic partnership”. The pa per addresses the challenging conceptual and political issues posed by this trend towards an “integration without joining” at the EU's external border.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Diplomacy
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
384. An Overview of the Certified Organic Export Sector in Uganda
- Author:
- Peter Gibbon
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper reports the results of a survey of almost all certified and in-conversion organic export operations in Uganda in late 2005. It covers products exported, company size and ownership, standards exported to, certification costs, total export values, value-added in Uganda, marketing channels, crop procurement systems, management of organic operations and the main challenges experienced by exporters. Findings include that numbers of certified exporters are growing rapidly. Export values are also growing, but more slowly: They reached USD 6.2 million in 2005. A handful of firms exporting coffee and cotton dominate the sector and this situation is likely to remain. Though the sector is maturing, most recent entrants are small, relatively weak and currently depend on donor support.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Development, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Uganda and Africa
385. A Complex Reality: The Strategic Behaviour of Multinational Oil Corporations and the New Wars in Sudan
- Author:
- Luke A. Patey
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper reports the results of a survey of almost all certified and in-conversion organic export operations in Uganda in late 2005. It covers products exported, company size and ownership, standards exported to, certification costs, total export values, value-added in Uganda, marketing channels, crop procurement systems, management of organic operations and the main challenges experienced by exporters. Findings include that numbers of certified exporters are growing rapidly. Export values are also growing, but more slowly: They reached USD 6.2 million in 2005. A handful of firms exporting coffee and cotton dominate the sector and this situation is likely to remain. Though the sector is maturing, most recent entrants are small, relatively weak and currently depend on donor support.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Development, and War
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Sudan
386. Diasporas and Conflict Resolution - Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution?
- Author:
- Eva Østergaard-Nielsen
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Diaspora and exile groups may play an important, but sometimes also controversial role in conflicts and political unrest in their countries of origin. This is by no means a new phenomenon. Yet, the growing number of intra-state conflicts, the enhanced possibilities for transnational communication, mobilization and action as well as the upsurge in domestic and international security concerns after 9/11, have heightened attention to the role of diasporas.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, International Relations, and Peace Studies
- Political Geography:
- Africa
387. African Diaspora and Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Africa
- Author:
- Abdullah A. Mohamoud
- Publication Date:
- 02-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Diasporas are one of the contemporary global forces shaping the directions and trends in this 21st century. This makes it imperative to build up knowledge and insights about the long distance activities of the diaspora in order to influence the course of the direction. There are limited studies on some of the older diasporas which however focus disproportionately on negative practices of minority militants in them which do not reflect the total picture of their overall activities. For instance, most of the available studies on the subject are largely informed by the activities of Irish, Sri Lankan Tamils, Sikhs and Kurds in the diaspora. There is hardly any documented knowledge and information about the long-distance activities undertaken by the Congolese, Rwandese and Sudanese and others in the diaspora and their impacts on the course of political events in their respective countries of origin. One explanation is the comparatively late emergence of the African diaspora communities. The phenomenon of the contemporary African diaspora is of very recent origin. It is largely the result of violent conflicts and wars that have flared up in many African countries since the early 1990s. More importantly, it is because of their recent origin -- now just a decade old -- that we know very little about the activities of the African diaspora as compared with the older and well-established diaspora. This is an area which is still waiting to be explored as the interactions of the African diaspora with their homelands in Africa have not yet been sufficiently studied.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Development, and Migration
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Sri Lanka
388. EU Civilian Rapid Reaction - trouble ahead!
- Author:
- Peter Viggo Jakobsen
- Publication Date:
- 12-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- This brief takes issue with the prevailing view that the ESDP capacity building process is easier and has been more successful in the civilian than in the military field. It argues that civilian capacity building is harder than military capacity building, demonstrates that the EU's civilian rapid reaction capacity is considerably smaller and less integrated than it is generally assumed, and that the capacity goals set for 2008 are unattainable. Yet another major EU expectations-capability gap has been created and there is now a real danger that this gap will seriously damage the EU's reputation as the global leader in civilian crisis management.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Civil Society, and Development
- Political Geography:
- Europe
389. Multiculturalism in Denmark and Sweden
- Author:
- Ulf Hedetoft
- Publication Date:
- 12-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Danish controversies over multiculturalism and integration can be enlightened by a fresh look at the ostensibly polarised differences on these questions between Denmark and its closest neighbour Sweden. Danish integration policies appear to be assimilationist in effect, if not in intent, while Sweden has openly pursued an official multiculturalism towards its ethnic minorities for over thirty years. Differences rooted in history and political tradition are real, but there appears to be some evidence of convergence today. Multiculturalism in Sweden looks increasingly unviable as a compromise, and vulnerable to the current political atmosphere, while in Denmark local policy implementation and pragmatic international adaptation to 'diversity management' belie the hostile tone of national politics. Both countries are wrestling with the adaptation of long standing traditions and institutional forms – particularly those of the welfare state – in a difficult international environment. The convulsions over multiculturalism are typical of the adaptive politics and symbolic difficulties of small states in the face of wider global transformations.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Demographics, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Denmark, and Sweden
390. Tradeoffs Between Equality and Difference: The Crisis of Dutch Multiculturalism in Cross-National Perspective
- Author:
- Ruud Koopmans
- Publication Date:
- 12-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- I compare the outcomes of Dutch integration policies in a cross-national European perspective. The Dutch approach is of wider theoretical and practical interest because it stands out for its far-reaching state support for multicultural group rights, which were intended to combat the socio-economic marginalization of immigrants. Contrary to these intentions, I show that the Netherlands performs worse than most other European immigration countries in various domains of socio-economic integration, including the labour market, education, residential segregation, and crime levels. I identify three mechanisms that can link multicultural integration policies to these outcomes: insufficient language and other cultural skills among immigrants; discrimination and white flight; and a lack of intercultural contacts. I also discuss why multiculturalism seems to be especially counterproductive in the context of highly developed welfare states. The dilemma of multiculturalism that I identify is that it aims to achieve socio-economic equality by way of maximizing immigrants' opportunities to develop and maintain their cultural difference. The analysis suggests that it is not always possible to have it both ways.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Demographics, and Migration
- Political Geography:
- Europe