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3391. The Construction of Europe in the Northern Dimension

Author:
Christopher S. Browning
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This article focuses on the construction of Europe at the turn of the millennium. Unlike most approaches to this issue that tend to focus analysis on debate in Brussels, the most powerful member states, or on the various IGCs, this paper looks at this question through the lens of the discourses surrounding a regional initiative. The initiative in question is that of the Northern Dimension with the argument being that it is on the EU's borders and in the regional peripheries that the debates constructing the EU can be most clearly identified. In this respect the article contributes to a growing constructivist/poststructuralist literature that places boundary producing practices at the heart of the constitution of subjectivity.
Topic:
Globalization and International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

3392. The European Union and Globalisation: Reflections on Strategies of Individual States

Author:
Morten Kelstrup
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Major developments in European politics are related to two simultaneous processes: the process of globalisation and the process of Europeanisation. As Helen Wallace has recently remarked: “For too long the debates on globalisation and on Europeanisation have been conducted in separate compartments and in different terms” (Wallace, 2000, 369). The purpose of this paper is to support the effort in bringing the two debates together. The paper will discuss the two processes, discuss how they interlink, and have a special focus on possible strategies and dilemmas of individual states that are confronted with both processes.
Topic:
Globalization and International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

3393. The New Saint Petersburg: A Case of Border-Making or Border-Breaking?

Author:
Pertti Joenniemi
Publication Date:
11-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The naming of St Petersburg appears to form a distinct pattern. The city emerged in the context of early modern Russia and gained a name that signalled - by having Dutch and German rather than Russian connotations - some degree of mental openness. The choice was very much in line with the overall endeavour of breaking the isolation caused by Russia's somewhat peripheral location in view of the rest of Europe.
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

3394. Structural Geopolitics in Europe: Constructing Geopolitical Subjectivity for the EU and Russia

Author:
Pami Aalto
Publication Date:
07-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper is designed to elucidate structural geopolitics in Europe. This entails mapping the main structural developments and processes in contemporary Europe in the sphere of spatially and geographically coloured politics, i.e. geopolitics.
Topic:
International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

3395. Austria's Role in an Enlarged European Union

Author:
Benita Ferrero-Waldner
Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
European unity has come a long way. As early as 1946 – under the impression of the cataclysm of World War II – statesmen like Winston Churchill dreamed of a better Europe. “We must build a kind of United States of Europe”, Churchill said.
Topic:
Political Economy
Political Geography:
Europe and Asia

3396. The International Symposium: At the Front Lines of Conflict Prevention in Asia

Author:
Hisashi Owada
Publication Date:
07-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Japan Institute Of International Affairs (JIIA)
Abstract:
The Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) held an international symposium in July 2001 entitled "At the Front Lines of Conflict Prevention in Asia" and sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA). This is a summary record of the symposium proceedings.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Asia

3397. Terrorism and America: Five Asia Pacific Perspectives

Author:
Terutomo Ozawa
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
Just over a decade ago, the phenomenal economic growth of Japan was admired and even feared. It had pursued a successful strategy of industry upgrading to catch up with the West, maximizing bank-based, state-directed financing. Ironically, the very institutional setup that was required for success eventually resulted in a devastating economic downturn. Japan remains languishing in a state of economic stagnation, but that may change: market forces are now driving Japan to carry out major reforms. A market-oriented business environment is crucial, and thus Japan is being propelled toward deregulation and institutional reform. In particular, its traditionally protected, inner-dependent sector must be opened to competition in order to improve efficiency, and obstacles to direct foreign investment must be eliminated. Although the process is a gradual one that has been further hampered by the slump in the U.S. economy, dramatic changes are in motion, creating promising roles and opportunities for foreign investors as well as potential for Japan to realize a new economic vitality.
Topic:
Religion and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Japan and Asia

3398. "Déjà vu all over again?" Why Dialogue Won't Solve the Kashmir Dispute

Author:
Arun R. Swamy
Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
The intensification of a long-standing dispute between India and Pakistan over the state of Kashmir has become the cause of international concern. The stakes for these nuclear-armed rivals are high. Each views Kashmir as the validation of its national ideology; each fears that giving it up will result in serious domestic turmoil. Moreover, each country has plausible legal arguments for its claims along with a long history of grievances. The deep differences over Kashmir that divide the two countries have so far proven intractable, and following September 11 the movement toward confrontation accelerated. There has never been a more urgent need for international attention to Kashmir. While diplomatic engagement seems necessary for a resolution of this dispute, past results indicate that simply pressuring the two sides to talk may be disastrous. In order to avoid such results, any effort to intervene in this dispute must be undertaken with an awareness of how it evolved, why it has been so difficult to resolve, and what kinds of solutions to it might realistically be pursued.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and Security
Political Geography:
South Asia, Asia, and Kashmir

3399. Terrorism and America: Five Asia Pacific Perspectives

Author:
Harry Bhaskara, Gautam Chikermane, Unaloto Ofa Kaukimoce, Amantha R. Perera, and Takeshi Yamashina
Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
Three weeks after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., five journalists—from India, Fiji, Japan, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka—visiting the East-West Center on an exchange program accepted an invitation to write about the attacks and "America's War on Terrorism" from the perspective of their own country. Their responses are frank and sometimes anguished. "As global terrorism evolved into a beast out of control, America enjoyed the good life," writes a Sri Lankan. The United States has declared a war on terrorism but, an Indian asks, is it only because now "the grief pours out of American eyes"? In Japan, resentment over America's increasing "unilateralism" coexists with an unprecedented willingness to send troops overseas, says a writer for The Mainichi Newspapers. A Fijian broadcaster notes that calls for international action are accompanied by "unease over violent retaliation." The mixed emotions described by many are dramatically evident in predominantly Muslim Indonesia where, says a newspaper editor, anti-American demonstrations defied President Megawati's assurances of support for the United States.
Topic:
Religion and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Japan, America, Indonesia, India, Asia, and Sri Lanka

3400. Japan's Uneasy Citizens and the U.S.-Japan Alliance

Author:
Sheila A. Smith
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
Since the end of the Cold War, U.S. and Japanese policy-makers have successfully reaffirmed the U.S.-Japan security alliance. Yet, even as they have done so, a series of events has revealed a deeper ambivalence in Japan about the terms of the alliance. These events began with the 1995 rape of a school girl in Okinawa by U.S. servicemen, focusing attention on the social costs to residents of hosting U.S. forces. In 1999 came North Korea's launch of a missile over Japan, raising doubts among many Japanese about their alliance partner's ability to protect them. Most recently, the outcome of the 2001 sinking of the Ehime Maru training ship by a U.S. nuclear sub seemed to many to sacrifice Japanese citizens' interests to those of the U.S. military. Taken independently, these developments may seem temporary set-backs to policymakers, but together they suggest that there is increasing impatience among Japan's citizens with the way the alliance is managed. This disconnect between the public and policymakers could, if untended, have serious implications for the U.S.-Japan alliance.
Topic:
Security, Cold War, and Government
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, Asia, and North Korea