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441. Palestinian Islamism: Conflating National Liberation and Socio-political Change

Author:
Khaled Hroub
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
For many decades, mainstream Palestinian Islamists have oscillated between two agendas: Islamising their own society and resisting the Zionist project in Palestine. Prioritising one over the other has always been problematic even if responsive to context and capabilities. Though they emerged in Palestine in the 1940s as the Palestinian chapter of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, it was not until 1987 with the forming of Hamas that these Islamists moved to the forefront of Palestinian politics. Hamas' project espouses "resistance" as a priority, yet without marginalising socio-religious activism, an effective formula that has enabled Hamas to compete with the PLO for Palestinian leadership, culminating in its victory in the 2006 elections.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
Palestine and Egypt

442. Principled or Stubborn? Western Policy toward Hamas

Author:
Nathan J. Brown
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
American and European policies toward Hamas have been based largely on the movement's reputation as terrorist, a threat to the peace process and emblematic of the dangers contained in democratic reform. While some debate has occurred in policy circles, US policy remains extremely strict. This has had effects, many of which are negative (undermining Palestinian institutions), while it has not produced a softening of Hamas' position. In recent years, some European states have shown discomfort with the harshness of this policy and the political chaos it threatens to unleash. An alternative policy toward Hamas, more conditional and nuanced, would not necessarily have produced better results over the short term, although it could have produced longer term changes and avoided some of the costs of the draconian path followed.
Political Geography:
America, Europe, and Palestine

443. One State in the Holy Land: A Dream or a Nightmare?

Author:
Menachem Klein
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
With Israeli having de facto control over historical Palestine, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has shifted from being a border conflict to an ethnic struggle between almost minority but powerful Israeli Jews and Arab Palestinians. Hence, the "one-state proposal" now circulating for the two peoples is not a viable solution but rather the current problematic reality: the area between the Jordan and the Mediterranean is heading toward Balkanisation. Nevertheless, as long as the majority on both sides rejects the joint state in favour of their own nation state, the Balkan model can be avoided. Indeed, when the cost of ethnic conflict becomes too high, Israel will be quick to put new effort into working on the idea of two states.
Political Geography:
Israel, Palestine, and Arabia

444. Partition as a Solution to Ethnic Conflict

Author:
Costantino Pischedda
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Partition has historically been more effective than its more popular alternative power-sharing as a lasting solution to ethnic civil war. However, partition does not appear to be a "cheap" strategy because it tends to require the deployment of robust international peacekeeping forces in order to work. In addition, international support for partition risks generating incentives for more secessionist rebellions. Thus policymakers are likely to face a difficult trade-off between the objective of putting an end to ethnic war in one place and running the risk of encouraging violence somewhere else.

445. European and American Roles in Nation-Building

Author:
James Dobbins
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Contrary to popular belief, the number of conflicts and the number of casualties, refugees and displaced persons resulting from them has fallen dramatically since the end of the Cold War. Previously, with neither superpower wanting a dispute to be settled to its disadvantage, conflicts dragged on indefinitely or were permanently frozen. After 1989, dynamics changed and international interventions began to pursue more far-reaching objectives: to disarm combatants, promote civil society, restore the economy, etc. Nation-building thus replaced inter-positional peacekeeping as the dominant form of international intervention with such missions becoming larger, longer and more frequent. The UN's success rate, as measured in enhanced security, economic growth, return of refugees and installation of representative governments meets or exceeds that of NATO- and EU-led missions in almost every category. It is time, therefore, for Western governments, militaries and populations to get over their disappointment at the UN's early failures and begin once again to do their fair share in these efforts.
Topic:
NATO, Cold War, and Government
Political Geography:
America and Europe

446. Not a Zero-Sum Game: Atlanticism and Europeanism in Italian Foreign Policy

Author:
Osvaldo Croci
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
In Italy, Atlanticism and Europeanism should not be seen as two alternative and therefore mutually exclusive policies. Strengthening Atlanticism, for instance, does not necessarily correspond to an equal weakening of Europeanism, as implicitly assumed by those who expect a tilt one way or the other each time a centre-right government replaces a centre-left one or vice versa. Rather, the two policies are hierarchical and constitute a "nested game", with Europeanism nested, as it were, in Atlanticism. Italy's foreign policy choices thus result from a double constraint, one of which, Atlanticism, is more important than the other, Europeanism. More precisely, Italian foreign policymakers have traditionally regarded Europeanism as a policy aimed at reinforcing Atlanticism.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Government
Political Geography:
Europe

447. European Foreign Policy Without Legal Personality?

Author:
Carmen Campo Fanlo and Miguel Medina Abellan
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The European Union was not explicitly granted legal personality by its founding Treaty. As a result, the matter has been the subject of debate ever since. Is there a relationship between legal personality and the EU's foreign policy? Are there legal obstacles to the articulation of an EU foreign policy worthy of the name? The external representation and treaty-making power of the EU are often said to suffer from the lack of explicitly conferred legal personality. Nevertheless, it can hardly be blamed for the EU's record in international affairs. In the end, conferring legal personality will be just one more step on the road towards a unitary system of EU foreign policymaking.
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

448. Making Sense of Euro-Mediterranean Relations

Author:
Nathalie Tocci
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Review of: European foreign policy making toward the Mediterranean, Federica Bicchi, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

449. An Empire of Liberty?

Author:
James Edward Miller
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Review of: Libertà e impero : gli Stati Uniti e il mondo, 1776-2006, Mario Del Pero, Laterza, 2008

450. Crisis Does Not Mean the End: the Atlantic Alliance in the 21st Century

Author:
Emiliano Alessandri
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Review of: The end of the West? : crisis and change in the Atlantic order, edited by Jeffrey Anderson, G. John Ikenberry, Thomas Risse, Cornell University Press, 2008