Number of results to display per page
Search Results
82. From Revolution to Reform - Georgia's Struggle with Democratic Institution Building and Security Sector Reform
- Author:
- Eden Cole and Philipp H. Fluri
- Publication Date:
- 07-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Austrian National Defence Academy
- Abstract:
- The theme of this book is 'Georgian Security Sector Governance after the 'Rose Revolution''. After the downfall of Shevardnadze's authoritarian regime, apostrophied by many Western observers as 'mild', and therefore worthy of support, there have been definite changes in how security is perceived. 'Good governance' means introducing fundamental political changes according to the principles and practices of democracy. Although the countries that we recognize as democratic do not have completely identical political mechanisms, methods and procedures for governance, it is not difficult to determine whether a political system is democratic or not. For Georgia, as for all transition countries, the first important matter on the reform agenda was setting up the structure of governance, that is, writing constitutions and laws, erecting political institutions, and making them work. External experts who assess how well security sector governance functions in those countries designated as 'new democracies' sometimes neglect to take into account the fact that they indeed are new; that they have not had the many years, even many centuries, that the Western countries have had to develop the ways and means, the habits and customs, of their Executives and Legislatures.
- Topic:
- Security, Democratization, International Organization, Non-Governmental Organization, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Balkans and Georgia
83. After Intervention: Public Security Management in Post-Conflict Societies - From Intervention to Sustainable Local Ownership
- Author:
- Anja H. Ebnöther and Philipp H. Fluri
- Publication Date:
- 08-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Austrian National Defence Academy
- Abstract:
- The transition from interventionist (military) peace-keeping to local (civilian) ownership of public security management has proved not only to be a severe challenge for most peace-keeping operations and their civilian administrators, but also a reason for such operations being prolonged at tremendous cost. In many cases, peace-keeping operations and/or other international agents rapidly became part of the local economy, and thus contributed to the preservation of the status quo rather than to a sustainable process leading toward local governance; meanwhile local police organs - often remnants of the winning force in the antecedent conflict - remained tribal or clannish in their approaches and interests. They could thus hardly be seen as enforcement agencies of a law which remains equally applied to all citizens.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Security, Development, International Organization, and War
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Middle East, and Balkans
84. Promoting security sector governance in the EU's neighbourhood
- Author:
- Heiner Hänggi and Fred Tanner
- Publication Date:
- 07-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Union Institute for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- With the European Union's enlargement eastwards and southwards, its neighbourhood now stretches from the Balkans to the south Caucasus, and from Russia to the southern Mediterranean. The EU's eastern and southern neighbourhood is composed of areas which, to a greater or lesser extent, have serious deficits in security, development and democracy. There are many types of security problems, ranging from weak states and rampant international crime to spoilers in post-conflict reconstruction and unpredictable authoritarian leaders who pursue regime security often at the expense of national or regional security. In terms of socio-economic development, most of the countries in the EU's neighbourhood are fragile, often struggling with the effects of black market economies and cronyism, and burdened by bloated defence and security sectors that escape any accountability. As regards political systems, the EU's neighbourhood is composed of regime types ranging from new but weak democracies to regimes with authoritarian features and limited political participation.
- Topic:
- Security, Development, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Caucasus, and Balkans
85. Security Sector Governance in Southern Caucasus – Challenges and Visions - Regional Stability in Southern Caucasus Security Sector Reform
- Author:
- Gustav E. Gustenau and Anja H. Ebnöther
- Publication Date:
- 02-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Austrian National Defence Academy
- Abstract:
- The present study was conceptually embedded in the Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes (PfP C). It is the outcome of a close cooperation between the PfP C Track on "Security Sector Reform" and the "Regional Stability Track". It is also part of the cooperation agreement between DCAF and the National Defence Academy.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Balkans
86. Global views on the European Union
- Author:
- Amitav Acharya, Toshiya Hoshino, Marcel F. Biato, Babacar Diallo, Francisco E. González, Terence O'Brien, Gerrit Olivier, and Yi Wang
- Publication Date:
- 11-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Union Institute for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- Over the last 25 years, the European regional integration process has advanced very quickly on four different fronts. During the 1980s, the Common Market and its associated freedoms (free movement of goods and of persons, the right to establish and freedom to provide services) were completed. The Maastricht Treaty on European Union (TEU) of 1992 added a second dimension, when it set up a monetary union and established a European Central Bank and shared budgetary rules–a development that was eventually confirmed by the introduction of the euro in January 2002. Also in the 1990s, as a result of the creation of the European Union, which was born on 1 November 1993, a third, political dimension was developed. The Union entailed inter alia a leading role for the European Council and the various councils of ministers, some coordination of member states' foreign policies through a CFSP, and the growing importance of the European Parliament, which gradually enlarged its areas of competence.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, and Defense Policy
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Balkans
87. U.S.-Turkish Cooperation against New Maritime Threats in the Mediterranean Basin
- Author:
- Orhan Babaoglu
- Publication Date:
- 12-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- Abstract:
- On November 23, 2004, Gen. James Jones, NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe, praised Operation Active Endeavour (OAE) for its role on the war on terror. OAE is NATO's post-September 11 answer to the question of naval security in the Mediterranean Sea. With the threat of terrorism on the open waters gaining increasing attention, especially in the aftermath of the 2000 USS Cole bombing in Yemen and the September 11 attacks, the Mediterranean basin (including the Black Sea) has become a new focal point for policymakers. The basin lies between three dangerous conflict areas -- the Middle East, the Balkans, and the Caucasus. Moreover, as a passageway between developed and underdeveloped nations, with access to three strategically important sea passages -- Gibraltar in the west, the Suez Canal in the south, and the Turkish Straits in the north -- the Mediterranean gives terrorists, human traffickers, and drug and arms smugglers easy access to the long and difficult to patrol coastlines of Europe. Is the West doing an adequate job of confronting the new threats in the Mediterranean? What role does the U.S.-Turkish alliance play in this enterprise?
- Topic:
- Security and Religion
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Middle East, Yemen, Arab Countries, and Balkans
88. Macedonia: No Room for Complacency
- Publication Date:
- 10-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Recent events require that policymakers revise substantially the conventional assessment that Macedonia is the foremost political “success story” of the Balkans. In fact, it is an underperforming post-conflict country still very much at risk, unable to tackle – operationally or politically -- its security challenges without upsetting an uncertain ethnic balance. Clear-eyed analysis of the dynamics driving unrest, from criminality and weak policing to an equally weak economy and corruption, is needed if a country that narrowly avoided war in 2001 is to secure long-term stability. Specifically, Macedonia cannot yet safely do without the presence of an international security force.
- Topic:
- Security, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Eastern Europe, Balkans, and Macedonia
89. Potential and Limits of the Pact of Stability for South East Europe: Prioritising Objectives
- Author:
- Plamen Pantev
- Publication Date:
- 02-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Austrian National Defence Academy
- Abstract:
- The Pact of Stability for South East Europe was “born” after the end of the Kosovo crisis in 1999 as a concept of dealing radically with the Balkan instabilities, but also as a geopolitical compromise of the great power centres, involved in the treatment of the post-Yugoslav conflicts. The ripeness of launching this concept and policy had several dimensions: Most of the countries from South East Europe, especially those in transition to democracy and market economy, had a definite strategy of integrating in both the European Union and in NATO; A certain level of regional cooperation had already been reached in the years that preceded the Kosovo crisis in 1999; Influential external powers had already realised that the Balkans need to be treated in the long-term only in a benign way to overcome historical deficiencies and belated modernisation of the economy, society, politics, technology and infrastructure; The disgusting consequences of four post-Yugoslav wars – a development that did not happen to two other former federal structures in Central and Eastern Europe (the Czechoslovak and the Soviet) necessitated a comprehensive and encompassing approach to deal with the plethora of issues in the Balkans, and the EU gradually evolved to the understanding that an additional strategic instrument needs to be launched to cope with the risks and instabilities in the region of South East Europe on the way of its own expansion and of turning the Balkan Peninsula into an integral part of the Union.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, Development, and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Eastern Europe, Kosovo, and Balkans
90. Regional Integration through the Stability Pact
- Author:
- Frederic Labarre
- Publication Date:
- 02-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Austrian National Defence Academy
- Abstract:
- This paper attempts to argue that the current structure of relations in South East Europe (SEE) and in the Balkans in particular requires regional, or local, integration before any membership in greater bodies (like the European Union) can be considered.
- Topic:
- Security, International Cooperation, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Eastern Europe, and Balkans