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112. Rewriting the Ground Rules of European Diplomacy: The European External Action Service in the Making
- Author:
- Timo Behr, Aaretti Siitonen, and Johanna Nykänen
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Finnish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- With the Lisbon Treaty finally ratified, EU attention has now shifted towards the arduous task of implementing the treaty reforms. Central amongst these is a complete overhaul of the existing structures of EU foreign policy-making, providing the EU with a new "double-hatted" foreign policy chief—in the person of Catherine Ashton—and creating the European External Action Service (EEAS). Conceived as the EU's own diplomatic corps, the EEAS has been lauded as a "once in a generation opportunity" that will endow Europe with a greater voice and more influence in international affairs. But setting up the EEAS is proving more difficult than anticipated, with different European actors squabbling over composition and structure of the new institution. This should come as little surprise, given that the precise shape and detailed functions of the EEAS were all left to be negotiated during the implementation phase. Moreover, settling these issues entails more than just some fine-tuning of the EU's institutional structures: it requires a wholesale re-writing of the ground rules of European diplomacy. What is at stake in this process is not only how and by whom EU foreign policy is being made, but the nature and direction of European diplomacy itself.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Lisbon
113. Remaking Europe's Borders through the European Neighbourhood Policy
- Author:
- Bohdana Dimitrovova
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- This Working Document explores the implications of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) as an ambitious EU foreign policy for the development of a European political community. It suggests that the ENP can be viewed as an attempt to reconcile two potentially contradictory processes. The first – 'border confirming' – is about confirming border areas of demarcation and division, in which borders are conceived as boundary lines, frontier zones or barriers that protect the European Union and its citizens. The second – 'border transcending' – consists of a challenge to open EU borders and involves the transformation of the EU's external boundaries into zones of interactions, opportunities and exchanges, with the emphasis on the transcendence of boundaries. To unravel some of the contradictions surrounding the highly contested phenomena of mobility in the neighbourhood, this paper analyses three bordering strategies: state borders, the imperial analogy and borders as networks. Each corresponds to different forms of territoriality and implies a different mode of control over the population.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, International Organization, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Europe
114. Single voice, single chair? How to re-organise the EU in international negotiations under the Lisbon rules
- Author:
- Piotr Maciej Kaczyński
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen last December taught many lessons to the participating stakeholders. The European Union learned that a choir of European leaders could not sing convincingly even with a single voice. These lessons are still being processed in many national capitals and in Brussels, especially in the context of the new legal framework provided for by the Treaty of Lisbon, which entered into force on 1 December 2009. It is important to recognise, however, that the new rules came into effect only after nine long years of negotiations and its application is being tested in a wholly different international environment than prevailed in the early 2000s.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Climate Change, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Europe, United Nations, and Lisbon
115. The EU in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Powers, Decisions and Legitimacy
- Author:
- Bart M. J. Szewczyk
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Union Institute for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- This Occasional Paper analyses the issue of the Bonn Powers in Bosnia – whereby the Office of the High Representative (OHR) can enact laws and remove elected officials – by comprehensively assessing the legitimacy of past OHR decisions. Adopting an established theory of legitimacy developed by Harold Lasswell and Myres McDougal, it argues that empirical legitimacy is best conceived as serving common interests of effective actors within an authorised process, and normatively prescribes that such process should be shaped to maximise values of human dignity. Given this theoretical framework, it examines the process authorised under the Dayton Agreement, which created the political structure that currently exists in Bosnia. It discusses the origins of the Bonn Powers and surveys the various criticisms that have been levelled against them. It then develops an overall analysis of all OHR decisions to date and provides a critique of those categories of decisions that appear inconsistent with the Dayton order and its proclaimed organising principles. Moreover, it provides a focused assessment of a sample of the most problematic decisions, e.g. the removal of elected officials, to show how their empirical legitimacy can be analysed. Finally, the paper concludes with policy recommendations, focusing on the issue of whether the Bonn Powers should be renounced or retained in the future.
- Topic:
- Government, Treaties and Agreements, International Affairs, and Political Theory
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Bosnia, and Balkans
116. Immigration in Europe at a Time of Economic Hardship
- Author:
- Toby Archer
- Publication Date:
- 02-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Finnish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The global recession is resetting the context of the immigration debate across Europe. Immigration is one of the most visible manifestations of globalization for large numbers of Europeans. Globalization is a disruptive process challenging long held social assumptions and beliefs. It creates resistance, and concern over immigration is part of this. The recession is amplifying this effect significantly. The costs and benefits of globalization have never been equally shared, either within states or amongst them. Certain social groups fear immigration more than others, particularly in labour competition. The recession is leading to national or nationalist priorities becoming more popular and xenophobia can result. Political leaders understand this and even those who actively try to explain the advantages of immigration still tend to discuss it unhelpfully as a security issue. Immigration is a legally complex set of interrelated but different issues. The public discourse tends to not separate them, leading to all immigration issues being politically loaded. The EU plays an important role, but because borders and who can cross them is so closely linked to notions of sovereignty, the Union takes a secondary position to national policies.
- Topic:
- Globalization, Migration, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Europe
117. The Concept of Normative Power in World Politics
- Author:
- Ian Manners
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The social sciences have many different understandings of 'normative power'. The purpose of this brief is to help clarify the concept of normative power in world politics as developed in European Union (EU) studies over the last ten years. The brief uses a five-point conceptualisation of normative power as being ideational; involving principles, actions, and impact; as well as having broader consequences in world politics. For each point both a general observation about world politics and a specific comment about the EU is made.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Europe
118. Incomplete Internalization and Compliance with Human Rights Law: A Reply to Ryan Goodman and Derek Jinks
- Author:
- Roda Mushkat
- Publication Date:
- 04-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- In a series of influential articles, Ryan Goodman and Derek Jinks, professors at Harvard Law School and University of Texas Law School respectively, have proposed a distinctly sociological approach to analysing compliance with human rights law. The conceptual framework which they have constructed for this purpose is grounded in the notion of acculturation, a well-established social process whose dynamics in the international legal context has been examined by the two authors in a multi-step fashion, featuring a progression from general model-building to elaborate responses to specific issues raised by critics. Their latest contribution on the subject falls predominantly into the latter category. It is entitled ' Incomplete Internationalization and Compliance with Human Rights Law ' and has been recently published in the European Journal of International Law .
- Topic:
- Human Rights and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Texas
119. Come Home, NATO? The Atlantic Alliance's New Strategic Concept
- Author:
- Sten Rynning and Jens Ringsmose
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- This DIIS Report provides an overview of the political and military issues that are likely to shape the coming discussions about NATO's new Strategic Concept. NATO's current Strategic Concept dates back to 1999 and over the last couple years an increasing number of policy-makers have suggested that it is time to take stock of the transatlantic Alliance. The exercise is significant because the Strategic Concept represents the operational view of the Washington Treaty - the basic text of NATO - and because it will bequeath a new strategic direction to the Alliance. The Report presents three arguments. One is that the Strategic Concept serves several functions: it codifies past decision and existing practices; it provides strategic direction; and it serves as an instrument of public diplomacy. The second argument is that the new Strategic Concept must balance the push and pull of two competing visions of NATO, one being 'Come home, NATO;' the other being 'Globalize, stupid.' The contest between these diverging visions has consequences for a number of issues that the Strategic Concept must address. Lastly, it is argued that although the agenda of globalization is being questioned, NATO will continue down the path of global engagement.
- Topic:
- Security, International Organization, Regional Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
120. The Georgia Crisis: Implications for the Partnership for Peace
- Author:
- Graeme P. Herd and Daniel A. Flesch
- Publication Date:
- 03-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Connections
- Institution:
- Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
- Abstract:
- On 7 August 2008, Georgia attacked Tskhinvali, the capital city of South Ossetia, with heavy artillery, rocket launchers, and ground troops in an attempt to take control of the breakaway republic, which contained bases of both Russian and OSCE peacekeepers. Russia, claiming to be acting under the mandate of peace enforcement, pushed Georgia out of both South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian republic, Abkhazia, and deep into Georgian territory. This created the potential for regime change, as the Russian Army appeared to be moving on Tbilisi with the intent of overthrowing Georgia's democratically elected government. On 8 August 2008, Russian military forces crossed the Georgian border into South Ossetia and Abkhazia in a successful effort to repulse Georgian troops. The immediate casus belli for Russia was genocide, with claims that “over two thousand” South Ossetians had been killed by Georgian troops, along with the shooting of ten Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia, which necessitated a humanitarian and peace enforcement operation. The Russian advance included ground troops, tanks and armored personnel carriers, and air and sea operations, combined with coordinated kinetic and cyber attacks. Russian forces also crossed into Abkhazia in defense of their compatriots – 70 percent of the Abkhaz population of 220,000 are Russian passport holders, and 90 percent of the South Ossetian population of 70,000 are also Russian citizens.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, International Affairs, and Population
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Georgia, and South Ossetia