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1652. Europe: The Current Situation and the Way Forward
- Author:
- Wolfgang Schäuble
- Publication Date:
- 04-2015
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Columbia University World Leaders Forum
- Abstract:
- This World Leaders Forum program features an address by Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany's Federal Minister of Finance, titled Europe: The Current Situation and the Way Forward. The address will be followed by a panel discussion and question and answer session with the audience.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Economics, International Trade and Finance, Regional Cooperation, and Monetary Policy
- Political Geography:
- Europe
1653. Russia's Economy under Putin: From Crony Capitalism to State Capitalism
- Author:
- Simeon Djankov
- Publication Date:
- 09-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- In the 15 years of President Vladimir Putin's rule, state control over economic activity in Russia has increased and is greater today than in the immediate postcommunist era. The concentration of political and economic power in Putin's hands has led to an increasingly assertive foreign policy, using energy as a diplomatic tool, while plentiful revenues from extractive industries have obfuscated the need for structural reforms at home. The West's 2014 sanctions on Russia have brought about economic stagnation, and with few visible means of growth, the economy is likely to continue to struggle. Watching Europe struggle with its own growth, in part because of deficiencies in its economic model, Russia will not be convinced to divert from state capitalism without evidence of a different, successful economic model. Changing course can only be pursued in the presence of political competition; the current political landscape does not allow for such competition to flourish
- Topic:
- Economics and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Russia and Europe
1654. Her Excellency Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, President of the Republic of Croatia
- Author:
- Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović
- Publication Date:
- 10-2015
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Columbia University World Leaders Forum
- Abstract:
- This World Leaders Forum program features an address by Her Excellency Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, President of the Republic of Croatia, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
- Topic:
- Humanitarian Aid, War, and Refugee Issues
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Balkans
1655. Europe’s Return to UN Peacekeeping in Africa? Lessons from Mali
- Author:
- John Karlsrud and Adam C. Smith
- Publication Date:
- 07-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute
- Abstract:
- In a break from recent tradition, European member states are currently contributing significant military capabilities to a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operation in Africa. Europeans are providing more than 1,000 troops to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) by staffing a wide range of operations including an intelligence fusion cell, transport and attack aircraft, and special forces. Yet for European troop-contributing countries (TCCs) that have spent several years working in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) operations in Afghanistan, participating in a UN mission has been a process of learning and adaptation. For the UN, the contributions of key capabilities by European countries have pushed the UN system to adjust to the higher expectations of the new European TCCs, which has proved difficult in Mali’s complicated operating environment and political situation.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, NATO, United Nations, and Peacekeeping
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Europe
1656. The Myth of Dynastic Wealth: The Rich Get Poorer
- Author:
- Robert Arnott, William Bernstein, and Lillian Wu
- Publication Date:
- 09-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century rocketed to the top of the best-seller lists the moment it was published in 2013, and remained there for months. While this feat is quite remarkable for a weighty tome on economics, it’s no mystery why Piketty’s magnum opus created such a sensation; it is clearly articulated, is accessible to the non-economist, and contains a trove of historical insights. We believe Piketty’s core message is provably flawed on several levels, as a result of fundamental and avoidable errorsin his basic assumptions. 1 He begins with the sensible presumption that the return on invested capital, r, exceeds macroeconomic growth, g, as must be true in any healthy economy. But from this near-tautology, he moves on to presume that wealthy families will grow ever richer over future generations, leading to a society dominated by unearned, hereditary wealth.
- Topic:
- Economics
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
1657. The Basque Conflict and ETA: The Difficulties of an Ending
- Author:
- Teresa Whitfield
- Publication Date:
- 12-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Violence at the hands of the Basque separatist organization ETA was for many years an anomalous feature of Spain’s transition to democracy. This report, which draws on the author’s book Endgame for ETA: Elusive Peace in the Basque Country (Hurst and Oxford University Press, 2014), explains why this was the case, examines both the factors that contributed to ETA’s October 2011 announcement of an end to violence and the obstacles encountered in moving forward from that announcement to disarmament and dissolution, and extracts lessons relevant for other contexts.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Armed Struggle, Territorial Disputes, and Counter-terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Spain
1658. Toward a European Migration and Mobility Union
- Author:
- Jacob Funk Kirkegaard
- Publication Date:
- 12-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- After surviving its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and the near collapse of its common currency, Europe is now engulfed by hundreds of thousands of desperate migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa. It needs new and permanent migration institutions and resources not only to accommodate the influx of refugees but also to set up a new border control system throughout the region. These demands pose a challenge for European policymaking as serious as the euro crisis of the last five years. Kirkegaard proposes a migration and mobility union, to be implemented gradually, with the goal of comprehensively reforming European migration policy.
- Topic:
- Economics, Migration, Politics, and Refugee Issues
- Political Geography:
- Europe
1659. Stability Bonds for the Euro Area
- Author:
- Angel Ubide
- Publication Date:
- 12-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- The rules and buffers created in the last few years to enable the euro area to withstand another sudden stop of credit and market-driven panic in one or more of its member states are welcome steps, but they are widely recognized as inadequate. Ubide proposes creating a system of stability bonds in the euro area, to be issued by a new European Debt Agency, to partially finance the debt of euro area countries—up to 25 percent of GDP. These stability bonds should be initially backed by tax revenues transferred from national treasuries, but ultimately by the creation of euro area–wide tax revenues, and used to fund the operations of national governments. They could also be used for euro area–wide fiscal stimulus, to complement the fiscal policies of member states. Such bonds would strengthen the euro area economic infrastructure, creating incentives for countries to reduce their deficits but not forcing them to do so when such actions would drive their economies further into a downturn. The bonds would permit the euro area to adopt a more flexible or expansionary fiscal policy during recessions.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, Monetary Policy, and GDP
- Political Geography:
- Europe
1660. A Multi-Speed EU? An Institutional and Legal Assessment
- Author:
- Giuseppe Martinico
- Publication Date:
- 12-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- Asymmetry has frequently been experimented within federalising processes, especially in those federal or quasi-federal contexts characterised by the coexistence of different legal and cultural backgrounds (Canada, for instance). By adopting a comparative approach, this paper offers a reflection on asymmetry as an instrument of differentiated integration in the current phase of the EU integration process. It aims to show the potential of the concept and some of the risks connected to its use.
- Topic:
- Markets, Regional Cooperation, Culture, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe
- Publication Identifier:
- 978-88-98650-73-6
- Publication Identifier Type:
- DOI