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1442. Regional Trade Agreements in East Asia
- Author:
- Innwon Park
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- Both intra - and inter-regional trade agreements are proliferating in East Asia. Deepening regional interdependence through trade and investment, and the necessity for stability and revitalization of the regional economy since the East Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s led the East Asian countries to adopt discriminatory RTAs. Accordingly, East Asian commercial policy stance has shifted from unilateral to bilateral to mega-lateral liberalization. This report attempts to assess the East Asian countries' efforts to liberalize the regional market by cooperating with each other. We investigate (i) why RTAs have been proliferating in East Asia, (ii) what the main characteristics of East Asian RTAs are, (iii) whether the East Asian countries are natural trading partners for each other to enhance welfare gains from RTAs, and (iv) whither East Asian RTAs. From our analysis, we recommend following policy options. First, East Asian RTAs should follow an expansionary RTA path (for example, AFTA and five ASEAN+1 FTAs → RCEP and/or TPP → FTAAP). Second, as we consider the high dependence on external economies through global trade and investment, East Asia needs to cooperate with major external trading partners by forming cross-regional RTAs with the EU and US. Third, in order to enable East Asian economies to take the more desirable expansionary RTA path, harmonizing or simplifying ROO, the cumulation of value contents among the RTA members in East Asia, and enhancing trade facilitation should be a prerequisite considering the complicated web of RTAs, regional production networks, and the consolidation of the FTAAP.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- East Asia and Asia
1443. Women's Economic Leadership in Asia: A review of WEL programming
- Author:
- Bowman Kimberly
- Publication Date:
- 09-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- This report summarizes an internal review of Women‟s Economic Leadership (WEL) programming in Asia. Conducted by an internal MEL advisor in 2013–2014, the review draws upon project documentation, evaluation reports, site visits and staff and partner interviews to try and reflect how WEL programming is being implemented by Oxfam and partners in Asia. Part of a formative evaluation activity, the report aims to help gather and consolidate good practice, based on what Oxfam project teams and partners have learned through recent experience and evaluation. There are at least four distinct topics covered in this report that may be of specific interest to readers.
- Topic:
- Economics, Gender Issues, and Sociology
- Political Geography:
- Asia
1444. Five Long-Term Challenges for NATO beyond the Ukraine Crisis
- Author:
- Karl-Heinz Kamp
- Publication Date:
- 07-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- Moscow's aggression against Ukraine has truly been a “game changer” for the Atlantic Alliance. Its implications for NATO's further evolution can hardly be over-estimated and after the likely shoot-down of a Malaysian civil aircraft over Ukrainian territory, controlled by pro-Russian rebels, the situation is even more unpredictable. Even if the catastrophe has put heavy political pressure on President Putin to reduce Russian involvement in Ukraine, Moscow is still not likely to revert the annexation of the Crimean peninsula. As a result, the crisis will dominate the international security debate for a long time to come. Thus, signs of resolve directed at Russia, measures to reassure the NATO members in Eastern Europe and indications of further cooperation with Ukraine will rank very high on the agenda of the NATO summit in Wales in September 2014. With the draw-down of the operation in Afghanistan, some Allies tend to see NATO's future role as primarily to preserve the territorial integrity of its member states. Hence, they argue in favour of a “back to basics” approach with an Alliance concentrated on its defence mission, according to Article 5 of the Washington Treaty.
- Topic:
- Security, Terrorism, and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Malaysia, Ukraine, Asia, and Moscow
1445. NATO Enlargement and Russia: Die-Hard Myths and Real Dilemmas
- Author:
- Michael Ruhle
- Publication Date:
- 05-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- The crisis in Ukraine, which culminated in Russia's annexation of the Crimea, marks a new low in NATO-Russia relations. While this relationship had been deteriorating for quite some time, Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis revealed a geopolitical agenda that caught many observers by surprise. In the course of just a few weeks Russia clearly emerged as a revisionist power, behaving in a manner reminiscent of the "predatory nation-states from the 19th century" and changing borders by force in order to deny a neighbouring country the choice to determine its own alignments.
- Topic:
- Security, Political Violence, and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Ukraine, Asia, and Moscow
1446. Cold War Déjà Vu? NATO, Russia and the Ukraine Crisis
- Author:
- Roger McDermott, Brooke Smith-Windsor, and Heidi Reisinger
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- Russia's behaviour in the Ukrainian crisis has been described by some as giving rise to “the most dangerous situation in East-West relations since the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.” For one, NATO's recently retired Supreme Allied Commander has called for immediate action in response. This could include, for example, bringing the NATO Response Force – a sea, air, land, special forces capability – to a higher state of alert, and sailing NATO maritime forces into the Black Sea.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and NATO
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Ukraine, and Asia
1447. Ukraine's Euromaidan: Questions from the (R)evolution
- Author:
- Hanna Shelest
- Publication Date:
- 02-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- The pictures of Kyiv on fire in early 2014 have attracted attention of the world's media, with Molotov cocktails, barricades and injured journalists making headlines. This is in sharp contrast to the previous two months, when hundreds of thousands of people were coming every Sunday to the main square – Maidan Nezalezhnosti – in peaceful protest.
- Topic:
- Security, Politics, and Social Movement
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Ukraine, and Asia
1448. Does Russia Matter? Purely Political Relations Are Not Enough in Operational Times
- Author:
- Heidi Reisinger
- Publication Date:
- 02-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- On 27 January 2014, the NATO Defense College Research Division hosted its Russia Roundtable, where international experts from various research institutions meet senior practitioners from the International Staff and International Military Staff from NATO HQ.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, NATO, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
1449. Democratization and Instability in Ukraine, Georgia, and Belarus
- Author:
- Robert Nalbandov
- Publication Date:
- 06-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- This monograph analyzes the interconnections between the democratic institutionalization of the newly independent states of Ukraine, Georgia, and Belarus, their political (in)stability, and economic development and prosperity. By introducing the concept of regime mimicry into the field of public administration, this monograph extends the epistemological frameworks of the democratization school to the phenomenon of political culture. Successes and failures of the democratic institutionalization processes in these countries largely depend on the ways their institutional actors reacted to internal and external disturbances of their domestic political, econmic, and cultural environments. While Georgia's political culture revealed the highest degree of flexibility in accepting the externally-proposed institutional frameworks and practices, the bifurcate political culture in Ukraine impeded its democratic institutionalization, while the rigid political culture in Belarus completely stalled the process of institutional transformations.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, and Economics
- Political Geography:
- Ukraine, Asia, Georgia, and Belarus
1450. The Future of American Landpower: Does Forward Presence Still Matter? The Case of the Army in the Pacific
- Author:
- John R. Deni
- Publication Date:
- 05-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- The time has come for a reappraisal of the U.S. Army's forward presence in East Asia, given the significantly changed strategic context and the extraordinarily high, recurring costs of deploying U.S. Army forces from the 50 states for increasingly important security cooperation activities across the Indo-Asia-Pacific theater. For economic, political, diplomatic, and military reasons, the Indo-Asia-Pacific theater continues to grow in importance to the United States. As part of a broad, interagency, multifaceted approach, the U.S. military plays a critical role in the rebalancing effort now underway. The U.S. Army in particular has a special role to play in bolstering the defense of allies and the deterrence of aggression, promoting regional security and stability, and ameliorating the growing U.S.-China security dilemma.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and Arms Control and Proliferation
- Political Geography:
- United States, East Asia, Asia, and Australia