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242. Defence Institutions Building - 2005 Partnership Action Plan on Defence Institution Building - Regional Conference
- Author:
- Eden Cole and Philipp H. Fluri
- Publication Date:
- 09-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Austrian National Defence Academy
- Abstract:
- At their meeting in Istanbul, Allied Heads of State and Government launched the Partnership Action Plan on Defence Institution Building (PAP-DIB). EAPC Heads of State and Government also endorsed this initiative. PAP-DIB reflects Allies' and Partners' common views on modern and democratically responsible defence institutions. It provides an EAPC definition of defence reform and a framework for common reflection and exchange of experience on related problems. It is to help interested Partners to reform and re structure their defence institutions to meet their needs and international commitments.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, Democratization, and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Asia, and Istanbul
243. Conjunctural Causation in Comparative Case-Oriented Research: Exploring the Scope Conditions of Rationalist and Institutionalist Causal Mechanisms
- Author:
- Jonathan P. Aus
- Publication Date:
- 11-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Research Papers Archive
- Abstract:
- This paper highlights one of the major benefits of qualitative comparative methodology as applied within a "small-N" research design, namely its potential use for specifying the scope conditions of (theoretically competing) causal mechanisms. It is argued that the identification of set-theoretic relationships, multiple paths, and analytic efforts in typological mapping can make valuable contributions to the elaboration and further development of middle-range theory.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe
244. Synergies and Tradeoffs in International Cooperation: Broadening, Widening, and Deepening
- Author:
- Jörg Friedrichs, Jordan Mihov, and Maria Popova
- Publication Date:
- 10-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Research Papers Archive
- Abstract:
- International cooperation rests on state preferences with regard to the substantive scope, geographical range, and institutional depth of issue-specific devices to over-come collective action problems. Substantive broadening, geographical widening, and institutional deepening are the elixir of life of the European Union. As is familiar from international cooperation more in general, and not only from European integration, this rests upon a complex process of bargaining among states, each of which has its particular preferences. This paper explores two hypotheses about the relationship be-tween preferences on broadening, widening, and deepening. The first hypothesis as-sumes that the relationship is characterized by a virtuous cycle, while the second hy-pothesis assumes that there are tradeoffs rather than synergies. By looking at a sample of 24 distinct case studies from a specific policy field, namely international coopera-tion against drugs, the paper shows that, at least in this particular policy field, state preferences follow a synergetic pattern of broadening, widening, and deepening.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Development, and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Germany
245. When and Why the Council of Ministers of the EU Votes Explicitly
- Author:
- Helen Wallace, Fiona Hayes-Renshaw, and Wim van Aken
- Publication Date:
- 09-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Research Papers Archive
- Abstract:
- This paper reports newly collected empirical data sets on explicitly contested voting at ministerial level in the Council of Ministers of the European Union. These data sets cover the period 1994-2004, with more detail for the years 1998-2004. They provide us with rather steady patterns of explicitly contested voting across the period in terms of: proportions of decisions taken where contested voting was recorded; the different levels of contestation by country; and the issue areas in which explicit voting occurred more often. The data sets draw on the material available on the Council's own website, but they have been supplemented by hand-collected data, in particular as regards issue areas and types of decision. Once arranged appropriately the data sets will be posted on the web, so that other researchers can have access to the material. The initial analysis of the data is reported in the second edition of Hayes-Renshaw and Wallace, The Council of Ministers, Palgrave, forthcoming, Chapter 10. The data show that explicit voting on agreed decisions at ministerial level is rather rare, that in nearly half the roll calls dissent is expressed only by singleton member states, that nearly half the cases concern 'technical' decisions on agriculture and fisheries, and that Germany more often votes 'no' or abstains than any other member state. The data confirm that ministers generally endorse collective decisions by consensus, even on the 70% or so cases where they could activate qualified majority voting (QMV). To the extent that voting takes place in these latter cases, it occurs implicitly rather than explicitly, operates mostly at the level of officials rather than ministers, and is not recorded systematically in publicly accessible form. These patterns are consistent with earlier accounts based on qualitative interview evidence.
- Topic:
- International Relations, International Cooperation, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Europe
246. The Limits of Europeanization: Regulatory Reforms in the Spanish and Portuguese Telecommunications and Electricity Sectors
- Author:
- Jacint Jordana, David Levi-Faur, and Imma Puig
- Publication Date:
- 07-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Research Papers Archive
- Abstract:
- The creation of an EU-level regulatory regimes for telecommunications and electricity was a highly successful political initiative of the European Commission. In promoting market liberalization for telecommunications (a key sector in the creation of the 'information economy') and electricity (one of the sectors most resistant to change) the European Commission asserted the political importance of European project. Indeed, the two new regimes are commonly cited as successful cases of 'Europeanization'. However, this paper argues that the causal link between European initiatives and national policy change is weak. Building on an emerging tradition of cross-sector research of these two sectors, and considering two most-similar European countries, the paper examines commonalities and variations in the regulatory reforms of telecommunications and electricity in Spain and Portugal in the last two decades. It applies a series of comparisons, including a stepwise comparative analysis of two countries (one a reluctant liberalizer, the other an enthusiastic one), of two sectors (a pace-setter and a foot-dragger) and of two time periods (before and after the regulatory reforms). We suggest that processes of Europeanization can impinge on the strategic capacities of European member states only to a limited degree. Spain and Portugal were able to shape their sectors according to the preferences of their national policy communities and in a context of a global shift in the way countries both within Europe and outside it defined their interests.
- Topic:
- International Cooperation, Politics, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Spain, and Portugal
247. Indigenous to Indigenous Cooperation
- Author:
- Axel Borchgrevink
- Publication Date:
- 08-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The Norwegian section of the Saami Council has been cooperating with two indigenous organizations in Africa since 2002: the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Africa, based in Tanzania, and the First People of the Kalahari, in Botswana. The report evaluates this cooperation. It concludes that both organizations are potentially very relevant, but that for different reasons, the full potential has not been reached. Recommendations for how to strengthen the work are given.
- Topic:
- Development and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, Tanzania, and Botswana
248. The New Partnership: Building Russia-West Cooperation on Strategic Challenges
- Author:
- Frances G. Burwell
- Publication Date:
- 04-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- By the beginning of 2005, the improvement in relations between Russia and the West had lost momentum and come to a standstill, as serious concerns emerged in the United States and Europe about developments in Russia. European and U.S. commentators who disagree over economic policies and Iraq find themselves in broad critical consensus about Russian political and economic evolution. Will the term that has been moribund since the death of the Cold War — “containment” — emerge as an option for those in the United States and Europe making policy toward Russia? Already some argue for isolating Russia from Ukraine, Georgia, and other former Soviet republics; will they encourage the building of a new fence around Russia? Or will there be a new effort at engagement, albeit one that is more cautious about Russia's future in the West?
- Topic:
- Cold War, Development, and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Europe, and Asia
249. The Parliamentary Dimension of Defence Procurement. Requirements, Production, Cooperation and Acquisition
- Author:
- Willem F. van Eekelen
- Publication Date:
- 03-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- This occasional paper of the Geneva Center for Democratic Control of Armed Forces attempts to consider defence procurement in its modern political – military setting. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall most European countries no longer regard the defence of their territory and independence as the overriding priority it had during the Cold War. The role of military forces has changed considerably. Collective defence focused on reliable capabilities of 'forces in being' and effective mobilisation and, in the case of NATO, on integrated planning and command structures. Today, the protection of national territory has a new dimension in the face of terrorist at tacks, and in the case of the US, by the programme for missile defence. Everywhere the link between external and internal security has become closer.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, NATO, Arms Control and Proliferation, International Cooperation, and Peace Studies
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, and Berlin
250. Business Cycle Synchronisation in the Enlarged EU: Co-Movements in the New and Old Members
- Author:
- Zsolt Darvas and Gyorgy Szapary
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- It is generally recognised that countries wanting to join a monetary union should display the optimal currency area properties. One such property is the similarity of business cycles. We therefore undertook to analyse the synchronisation of business cycles between the EMU-12 and the eight new EU members from Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs), for which the next step to be considered in the integration process is entry into the EMU. In contrast to the usually analysed GDP and industrial production data, we extend our analysis to the major expenditure and sectoral components of GDP and use several measures of synchronisation. The main findings of the paper are that Hungary, Poland and Slovenia have achieved a high degree of synchronisation with EMU for GDP, industrial production and exports, but not for consumption and services. The other CEECs have achieved less or no synchronisation. There has been a significant increase in the synchronisation of GDP and also its major components in the EMU members since the start of the run-up to EMU. While this lends support for the existence of OCA endogeneity, it cannot be unambiguously attributed to it because there is also evidence of a world business cycle. Another finding is that the consumption-correlation puzzle remains, but its magnitude has greatly diminished in the EMU members, which is good news for common monetary policy.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Cooperation, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Europe