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42. Preventing Recidivism of Islamist Extremists
- Author:
- Sofia Koller
- Publication Date:
- 07-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)
- Abstract:
- Dresden and in a Paris suburb in October 2020 as well as the shooting in Vienna in November 2020 painfully reminded the European public of the threat that Islamist extremism and terrorism continue to pose in Europe. Especially worrysome is the fact that two of these attacks were apparently carried out by recently released terrorist offenders. In both cases, the alleged attackers had been in contact with deradicalization programs. This raises the question of how to prevent or reduce recidivism and potential violence.
- Topic:
- Terrorism, Violent Extremism, Radicalization, and Islamism
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Europe, France, Syria, and Austria
43. Greater than the Sum of its Parts?: How does Austria Profit from a Widening Network of EU Free Trade Agreements?
- Author:
- Julia Grübler and Oliver Reiter
- Publication Date:
- 09-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW)
- Abstract:
- Political debates and economic analyses often focus on single free trade agreements and their potential economic effects on participating trading partners. This study contributes to the literature by shedding light on the significance of trade agreements in the context of countries’ positions in worldwide trade agreement networks, by combining network theory with gravity trade modelling. We illustrate, both numerically and graphically, the evolution of the global web of trade agreements in general, and the network of the European Union specifically, accounting for the geographical and temporal change in the depth of agreements implemented. Gravity estimations for the period 1995-2017 distinguish the direct bilateral effects of trade agreements from indirect effects attributable to the scope of trade networks and countries’ positions therein.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, Treaties and Agreements, Profit, and Models
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Austria
44. Employers’ Skills Requirements in the Austrian Labour Market: On the Relative Importance of ICT, Cognitive and Non-cognitive Skills over the Past 15 Years
- Author:
- Sandra Leitner and Oliver Reiter
- Publication Date:
- 12-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW)
- Abstract:
- This paper analyses job advertisements to identify the particular skills, abilities and characteristics that are in demand on the Austrian labour market. It takes a novel approach and uses information extracted from over 1.5 million job advertisements over the past 15 years from Austria’s largest online job portal, karriere.at, to shed light on employers’ skills needs and the relative importance of, and demand for, different skill types over time. It develops a taxonomy which classifies observable skills into information and communications technology (ICT) skills (which are of increasing importance as a result of the ongoing digital revolution), cognitive skills, cognitively based skills and non-cognitive (soft) skills; but it also takes into account other factors that frequently appear in job advertisements, such as previous work experience, physical appearance, and the willingness to travel, work overtime, weekends or shifts, among others. It shows that Austrian employers are quite demanding: cognitive skills, previous work experience and ICT skills were the three most frequent requirements, appearing in (almost) every second job advertisement in 2019. Over the years, these categories have also become increasingly important to employers. Among cognitively based skills, language skills were the most important, also appearing in every second job advertisement. The ability to work as part of a team, communication skills, independence, flexibility and accuracy were the top five non-cognitive (soft) skills demanded by employers.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Political Economy, Communications, Labor Issues, Employment, Labor Market, Skilled Labor, and Informal Economy
- Political Geography:
- Austria
45. Factsheet: Austrian Integration Fund (Österreichische Integrationsfonds, ÖIF)
- Author:
- Bridge Initiative Team
- Publication Date:
- 11-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
- Abstract:
- The Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF) is a fund of the Republic of Austria in charge of integration affairs (social integration of minorities) at both the federal and state levels. In the past few years, the ÖIF has used its platform to promote anti-Muslim views through speakers and reports. The ÖIF supports the anti-Muslim policies of the Austrian People’s Party’s (ÖVP).
- Topic:
- Islamophobia, Integration, Political Parties, Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), and Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF)
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Austria
46. Factsheet: Sebastian Kurz
- Author:
- Bridge Initiative Team
- Publication Date:
- 04-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
- Abstract:
- Sebastian Kurz is the current Federal Chancellor of Austria and Chairman of the centrist-right New Austrian People’s Party (Neue ÖVP). He previously served as State Secretary of the Interior Ministry for Social Integration and was the Foreign Minister of Austria from 2013 to 2017. Under his leadership, the ÖVP has swung to the far-right, adopting anti-immigrant and Islamophobic views and policies.
- Topic:
- Immigrants, Islamophobia, Far Right, Xenophobia, Political Parties, and Sebastian Kurz
- Political Geography:
- Austria
47. Factsheet: Freedom Party of Austria (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ
- Author:
- Bridge Initiative Team
- Publication Date:
- 06-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
- Abstract:
- The Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) was founded in 1956 as a party of former Nazis. While the party remained a marginal opposition party during its first three decades, by the mid-1980s it became one of the first (and most successful) populist far-right parties in Europe. FPÖ has primarily targeted Muslims and Islam in its policies and rhetoric, and has maintained connections with far-right, anti-Muslim parties, movements, and figures across Europe, in the U.S., and in Israel.
- Topic:
- Populism, Islamophobia, Far Right, Political Parties, and Muslims
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Austria
48. An Analysis of Four Case Studies of Youth Migration
- Author:
- Elizabeth Stites, Anastasia Marshak, Niharika Betkerur, Sarah Carson, Mackenzie Seaman, and Erica Shaps
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Feinstein International Center, Tufts University
- Abstract:
- This paper synthesizes findings from four studies on youth migration and resilience in different urban contexts. This work emerges from a collaboration between Save the Children US (Save US) and Feinstein International Center, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. The study entailed mixed-methods research by four students in the second year of their Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) degrees at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Save US sought out the opportunity to generate evidence on populations of interest through in-depth and independent student research. In particular, Save US was interested in better understanding the experiences of youth migrants who were not currently benefiting from the programming and services of aid organizations. This interest originated from the assumption that such youth may be more marginalized than those who are directly participating in programming.
- Topic:
- Security, Humanitarian Aid, Migration, Urbanization, Children, and Refugees
- Political Geography:
- Uganda, India, Ethiopia, and Austria
49. EuroPACE Market Analysis
- Author:
- Grzegorz Poniatowski, Izabela Styczynska, Karolina Beaumont, and Karolina Zubel
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
- Abstract:
- EuroPACE is an innovative tool designed to make home renovation simple, affordable and reliable for all Europeans by combining affordable financing with people-centric technical assistance. EuroPACE offers 100% up-front financing that can be repaid over a long term of up to 25 years. The innovation lies in the collection and repayment mechanism – financing is attached to the property and is repaid regularly with charges linked to a property. Homeowners are offered logistical and technical support throughout the process and access to trained and qualified con-tractors. Thus, EuroPACE overcomes the main barriers to home renovation – lack of financing, technical knowledge and complexity of the works. The concept of EuroPACE is inspired by the success of a financing model called Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), launched in California in 2008. In the United States (US), the PACE market reached over USD 6 billion in funded projects, including the retrofit of over 220,000 homes, which resulted in more than 50,000 new local jobs and the creation of hundreds new companies.EuroPACE combines the best practices from the US PACE market with project partners’ substantial experience in improving energy efficiency in European buildings. EuroPACE is a three-year project that intends to assess market readiness, deploy a pilot programme in Spain and scale across Europe to four leader cities. A two-phase research (firstly – legal & fiscal readiness, and secondly – market demand) has been carried to assess the overall readiness for adaptation of this model across the European Union (EU). This document is the second phase of the EuroPACE readiness assessment developed to identify European countries most suited for EuroPACE implementation. It complements the legal and fiscal assessment by focusing on the “demand dimension” by analysing local needs for energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy sources (RES) in residential building renovation of seven selected countries. Based on the results of legal and fiscal analysis of the EU28 MS, in October 2018 the Steering Committee Group of the EuroPACE Horizon2020 (H2020) project chose seven countries: Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Romania, for the second phase of evaluation. These countries were selected based on the scoring outlined in D2.1 and two additional considerations developed by the Steering Committee Group. First, a diverse geo-graphical distribution of the countries was an important element for the selection of these seven countries. Secondly, the knowledge and expertise of the Steering Committee Group about the national potential market opportunity was taken into consideration during the selection process. While in Austria a similar mechanism has already been tested but was unsuccessful, the country still has been chosen for further analysis. In Belgium, despite being a federal state, there is a strong local and regional interest in new financial mechanisms designed to upscale residential retrofits across the country. In the Netherlands, asset-based financial instruments are currently being discussed at the national level, which opens a window of opportunity for EuroPACE to be tested in the country. As for Italy, although the property-taxation system is far from stable, potential synergies with successful programmes like Ecobonus or Sismabonus should be explored. In Poland, nearly 70% of the 6-million residential buildings need significant energy efficiency overhaul; these buildings contribute to some of the worst air quality across the EU leading to approximately 47 thousand premature deaths annually. Portugal, given its Mediterranean climate, proves a great potential not only for EE, but also prosumer RES development, given that current incentives are far from sufficient. Romania has been chosen mainly because of its highest home-ownership rate across the EU and the most institutionalised property-related taxation, possibly setting a stable base for EuroPACE being collected alongside existing charges.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Fiscal Policy, and Innovation
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Poland, Belgium, Romania, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Austria, and European Union
50. Entangled Entertainers
- Author:
- Klaus Hödl
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Berghahn Books
- Abstract:
- Viennese popular culture at the turn of the twentieth century was the product of the city’s Jewish and non-Jewish residents alike. While these two communities interacted in a variety of ways to their mutual benefit, Jewish culture was also inevitably shaped by the city’s persistent bouts of antisemitism. This fascinating study explores how Jewish artists, performers, and impresarios reacted to prejudice, showing how they articulated identity through performative engagement rather than anchoring it in origin and descent. In this way, they attempted to transcend a racialized identity even as they indelibly inscribed their Jewish existence into the cultural history of the era.
- Topic:
- Religion, Culture, Film, and Anti-Semitism
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Austria, Vienna, and Central Europe