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541. EU-India strategic partnership: Taking the stock

Author:
Alok Rashmi Mukhopadhyay
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute of Foreign Policy Studies, University of Calcutta
Abstract:
The prevalent perception of the European Union (EU) in India is predominantly constructed by the British and American media. At the time of a global economic downturn, its ripple effects on the continent especially on the 'PIIGS' (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) and an imminent crack in the Eurozone have been the debate of the day. In a recent article in The National Interest, James Joyner, has however examined this genre of 'Europe's obituary'. Making a comparison with EU's transatlantic sibling, he identifies three errors in this type of analyses, 'treating the EU as if it were a nation-state, regarding anything less than utopia as a failure, and projecting short-term trends long into the future'. However Joyner is also right when he describes the EU as 'a confusing array of overlapping treaty commitments'.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, America, Europe, India, Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Ireland

542. Portuguese Exceptionalism and the Return to Europe: the 25 April 1974 Coup and Democratization, 1974-2010

Author:
Paul Christopher Manuel
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
The notion of Portuguese exceptionalism resonated with the European political and economic elite for some two hundred years: there was a widespread belief that Portuguese society and government existed outside of European understandings of society, politics and authority relations. In the thirty-five years since the 25 April 1974 Carnation Revolution, the Portuguese political system has developed new mechanisms for debate, elections and policy adoption. Portugal is currently completely integrated into Europe as a member of the European Union, with a democratic government and a developing economy. Portugal's return to the overall pattern of European democratic institutions in the years following the 25 April 1974 revolution can be understood as a much needed corrective of both Portuguese authoritarianism and its associated notions of lusotropicalism: that is, democracy and Europe have replaced corporatism and the Portuguese overseas empire as two of the key defining elements of contemporary Portuguese identity. It was certainly a long historical struggle from monarchy to democracy: the contemporary Portuguese political system is currently dynamic, democratic, durable and European.
Topic:
Democratization, Economics, Politics, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe

543. The Non-Americanization of European Regulatory Styles: Data Privacy Regulation in France, Germany, Italy, and Britain

Author:
Francesca Bignami
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
European countries have experienced massive structural transformation over the past twenty-five years with the privatization of state-owned industries, the liberalization of markets, and the rise of the European Union. According to one prominent line of analysis, these changes have led to the Americanization of European regulatory styles: previously informal and cooperative modes of regulation are becoming adversarial and litigation-driven, similar to the American system. This article explores the Americanization hypothesis with a structured comparison of data privacy regulation in four countries (France, Britain, Germany, and Italy) and a review of three other policy areas. It finds that European regulatory systems are converging, but not on American-style litigation, rather on an administrative model of deterrence-oriented regulatory enforcement and industry self-regulation. The explanation for this emerging regulatory strategy is to be found in government responses to market liberalization, as well as the pressure created by the governance process of the European Union.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Monetary Policy
Political Geography:
Britain, Europe, France, Germany, and Italy

544. The Current State of European Union-China High-Tech Cooperation

Author:
May-Britt U. Stumbaum and Oliver Bräuner
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC)
Abstract:
In line with the European policy of supporting China\'s economic reform and development, research institutes and companies in the European Union (EU) have been the major sources for high-technology exports to the People\'s Republic of China in the past thirty years. Dual-use technologies ranging from aerospace to semiconductors play a central role for economic development as well as for modern military development, including network-centric warfare. Yet a comprehensive EU paradigm on China\'s military rise and the impact of these technology transfers has not evolved. The EU–China "strategic partnership" is still dominated by economic considerations. Lack of coordination between the national and the European level contribute to the risks accompanying EU–China collaboration in this field. The differences between EU and U.S. perceptions of China\'s military rise provide potential for further Transatlantic discord, as happened during the acrimonious debate on the intended lifting of the EU arms embargo on China in 2004–2005.
Topic:
Economics, International Cooperation, Science and Technology, and Military Strategy
Political Geography:
China, Europe, and Asia

545. The Challenge: NATO Amidst Geopolitical Realities

Author:
Rob de Wijk
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Should NATO remain primarily a collective defense alliance or should it be transformed into a worldwide security provider? This question lies at the core of the debate in allied capitals as NATO develops its next Strategic Concept. New security challenges, as well as NATO's military operations in Afghanistan, suggest that the pressure for change has become irresistible.
Topic:
NATO, Climate Change, Economics, Politics, and International Security
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Europe, and North America

546. NATO Initiatives for an Era of Global Competition

Author:
Franklin D. Kramer
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
The transatlantic partnership has historically been at the heart of U.S. foreign policy, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has been at the heart of the partnership. But the factors that long made "transatlantic" the dominant foreign policy construct have fundamentally changed – and with it has come a need for concomitant strategic and operational changes to meet new requirements.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Economics, International Cooperation, and Reform
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Europe, and North America

547. Bulgaria Energy Sector

Author:
Boyko Nitzov, Ruslan Stefanov, Valentina Nikolova, and Dobromir Hristov
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Energy security in Central-Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region is fraught with risks. By virtue of its geography, Bulgaria finds itself in a difficult nexus, drawn into Eurasia's contentious energy geopolitics and as a European Union member, involved in the Union's fragmented energy policy and complex regulatory, energy efficiency and climate change objectives. That position is challenging, but it also presents decision-makers in Sofia with opportunities.
Topic:
Economics, Energy Policy, and Reform
Political Geography:
Europe, Central Asia, and Bulgaria

548. Central Europe and the Geopolitics of Energy

Author:
Franklin D. Kramer, John R. Lyman, and Mihaela Carstei
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Energy security presents quintessential geopolitical challenges. In Central Europe, achieving energy security can be a critical element for a continent seeking to resolve vestigial Cold War complexities with Russia and toward meeting 21st century challenges including balanced economic development, energy diversity and climate change. Central Europe, utilizing both European Union support and Western European national assistance and enhanced by United States technical assistance, can take five key steps that will go far toward resolving energy security challenges and help to reframe the geopolitics of the continent.
Topic:
Security, Economics, Energy Policy, Oil, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and Europe

549. The Danger of Divergence: Transatlantic Cooperation on Financial Reform

Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Two years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers sparked a meltdown of the global financial system, we are at a crucial point that calls for us to step back and examine our progress in the effort to redesign the rules governing global financial markets. The immediacy of the crisis has passed, allowing for clearer analysis of the manifold causes and an evaluation of how the reforms that have been put in place match up with those causes. At the same time, the urgency of the process has not yet entirely dissipated and it is not too late to fill in any holes or to resolve conflicts created by differing approaches around the world.
Topic:
Economics, International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

550. Inward FDI in Russia and its policy context

Author:
Alexey Kuznetsov
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
In the 2000s, Russia became a significant host for inward foreign direct investment (IFDI). But its investment climate problems, especially corruption, do not allow Russia to exploit its locational advantages to the full. Russia attracts mainly European investors in a rather narrow range of industries (although the share of mining is decreasing) and regions (mainly in Moscow, St. Petersburg and oil-rich Sakhalin). However, even during the crisis, a new industrial cluster has developed near Kaluga and some large mergers and acquisitions (M) and greenfield projects have been realized outside the Central and North-West federal districts. Russia is trying to diversify the structure and geography of IFDI using incentives (e.g. in special economic zones).
Topic:
Corruption, Economics, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe