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32. The European Union's Eastern Partnership: Chances and Perspectives
- Author:
- Marcin Łapczyński
- Publication Date:
- 04-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
- Institution:
- The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The European Union has recently introduced its Eastern Partnership initiative (EaP) as a tool to enhance the co-operation and support reforms in its Eastern neighbourhood. The initiative, jointly presented by Poland and Sweden, was an answer to the French efforts to promote and strengthen the Mediterranean Union. The initiative involves several important steps to encourage countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine to build a stable and valuable relationship with the EU. With the Czech EU Council's presidency the project has become a foreign policy priority of the Union and a lot of effort has been put in the launching and preparations. Nevertheless, the EU should not take for granted the partner countries' support and interest in the EaP and should permanently work towards ensuring that the offer presented to the partners is attractive and suited to provide assistance in reforms.
- Topic:
- Reform
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Ukraine, Moldova, Poland, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Sweden, Czech Republic, and Belarus
33. Foreword
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Romanian Journal of Political Science
- Institution:
- Romanian Academic Society
- Abstract:
- Since the collapse of communism and communist states from 1989-1992, the twenty-eight states that currently comprise postcommunist Europe and Eurasia have evolved to different political directions. Some regimes in this region have completed a transition to democracy; others have been arrested at some point on the path to democracy and became a sort of 'defective democracies'; and still others have yet to break with the communist past. This issue focuses on this middle-ground category: countries where elections are regularly held, but the behavior of political actors, notably the government, but not only, is not always democratic. Albania, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, the Caucasus countries present a great variation among themselves, but have also something in common: they do not fit well the classic patterns of either democracy or authoritarianism. The regional trend, particularly noticeable over the past decade, showed hybrid regimes resisting to political change - either in the direction of becoming authentic democracies or reverting back to dictatorship. The purpose of this issue is to explore the lessons for democratization that can be drawn from the postcommunist experience over the past seventeen years. First, what explains defective democracies? Second, what can and cannot be transferred from successful Central Europe to the rest of countries? Finally, is there still a future for democracy promotion in postcommunist Europe?
- Topic:
- Government
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Eurasia, Ukraine, Moldova, Albania, Central Europe, and Belarus
34. Opening the European Commission's Delegation in Minsk: Do EU-Belarus relations need a rethink?
- Author:
- Alena Vysotskaya and Guedes Vieira
- Publication Date:
- 04-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Finnish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- In the first months of 2008, the Belarusian leadership made some unprecedented declarations, demonstrating its willingness to cooperate with the EU. In contrast to similar declarations in the past, the current statements were supported by tangible cooperation-oriented steps on the part of the official Minsk, including the decision on the opening of the Delegation of the European Commission in the country and the release of several political prisoners. The recent attempts of the Belarusian leadership to establish its own terms for the fulfilment of EU demands on the one hand and the establishment of the Commission's Delegation in Minsk on the other, invite further consideration of EU-Belarus relations. Nevertheless, the existence of concessions as far as the official Minsk is concerned should not be mistaken for a fundamental change in the Belarusian approach towards the EU. As before, the official Minsk is not simply promoting cooperation with the EU, but cooperation of a very special type, namely one whereby it defines its own conditions, rather than adopting those defined by the EU, thus developing something of a reverse conditionality. The EU should clarify whether it can reward the Belarusian leadership for single cooperation-oriented steps, and to what extent such rewards can be granted. In other words, the EU needs an inventory of the instruments that are, or can be, employed in its policy towards Belarus. As far as the character of different instruments is concerned, the EU approach might appear contradictory, but this strategy is paradoxically the only way to move forward in its relations with Belarus. If the EU wants to promote the democratisation of Belarus, it should try to find synergies among its own measures and the policies of other actors. As the recent changes have demonstrated, only a combination of pressures from different sides will create a sufficient basis for EU leverage in Belarus.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Diplomacy, and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Eastern Europe, and Belarus
35. "Color Revolutions": Uniformity in Diversity
- Author:
- Yu. Sharkov
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations
- Institution:
- East View Information Services
- Abstract:
- A wave of so-called "color revolutions" has swept the world, including the post-Soviet space, over recent decades. They followed the same scenario although they had different names ("the Rose Revolution" in Georgia, "the Orange Revolution" in Ukraine, "the Tulip Revolution" in Kyrgyzstan or "the Potato Revolution" in Belarus).
- Topic:
- Government
- Political Geography:
- Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, and Belarus
36. The EU's Limited Response to Belarus' Pseudo 'New Foreign Policy'
- Author:
- George Dura
- Publication Date:
- 02-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Relations between the European Union and Belarus have seen little change since President Alexander Lukashenko came to power in 1994. Belarus has languished in a state of selfimposed political isolation despite the subsequent waves of enlargement – most notably, the 2004 enlargement which made Belarus a direct neighbour of the EU – and the formulation in 2004 of the European Union's Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The EU's dual-track approach of imposing sanctions and trade restrictions whilst promoting democratisation in Belarus have so far yielded minimal results.
- Topic:
- Security and Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Belarus
37. Monitoring Country Progress in Eastern Europe and Eurasia
- Author:
- Robyn Murphy and Ron Sprout
- Publication Date:
- 09-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United States Agency for International Development
- Abstract:
- This paper presents an abridged version of USAID/E's 10th edition of its annual report which monitors country progress in the twenty-nine transition country region. The salient findings include: (1) 2005 progress in economic reforms in the transition region was comparable to the good pace of economic reforms in recent years. (2) 2005 data show a continuation of the growing democratization gap between CEE and Eurasia that has been evident since the early transition years. (3) The twenty nine transition countries generally fall into four fairly distinct reform groups: (a) Northern Tier CEE; (b) Southern Tier CEE; (c) Eurasian reformers; and (d) Eurasian non-reformers (Turkmenistan, Belarus, and Uzbekistan). (4) Economic growth rates in the region continue to exceed global norms, and within Eastern Europe and Eurasia, continue to be highest in Eurasia in large part due to favorable primary product trends. (5) Many social indicators continue to recover, apparently at least partly in response to improving economic conditions, including falling poverty and infant mortality rates, and rising real wages and education enrollment rates. (6) Yet many countries are (still) experiencing increasing unemployment rates and the life expectancy gap between CEE and Eurasia continues to grow. (7) And some of the transition countries have among the highest crude death rates worldwide along with among the lowest fertility rates (and birth rates) worldwide.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Health
- Political Geography:
- Eurasia, Eastern Europe, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Belarus
38. Biélorussie 2006. Manipulation électorale dans une dictature post-soviétique
- Author:
- Jean-Charles Lallemand
- Publication Date:
- 06-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
- Abstract:
- Lors de l'éclatement de l'Union soviétique en 1991 et de la chute du parti unique, les élites dirigeantes des quinze républiques nouvellement indépendantes semblaient converties au principe démocratique de l'élection libre et pluraliste. Quinze ans plus tard, plusieurs Etats post-soviétiques connaissent au contraire le renforcement de régimes présidentiels autoritaires. Tout en organisant des scrutins pseudo-concurrentiels à échéances régulières, les élites au pouvoir manipulent sans scrupule les élections pour renforcer leur emprise autoritaire. Parmi ces pays, la Biélorussie d'Alexandre Loukachenko est un modèle du genre : elle n'a pas connu de scrutin libre et honnête depuis 1996.
- Topic:
- Politics and Elections
- Political Geography:
- Russia and Belarus
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