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131. How Urban Planners Caused the Housing Bubble

Author:
Randal O'Toole
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Everyone agrees that the recent financial crisis started with the deflation of the housing bubble. But what caused the bubble? Answering this question is important both for identifying the best short-term policies and for fixing the credit crisis, as well as for developing long-term policies aimed at preventing another crisis in the future.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United States, California, and Georgia

132. El desenvolvimiento de las relaciones de la Federación Rusa con la Unión Europea entre los años 2007 y 2009. Sus aciertos y desaciertos

Author:
Pablo Telman Sánchez Ramírez
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
En el presente artículo analizaremos el desenvolvimiento de las relaciones entre la Federación Rusa y los países europeos miembros de la Unión Europea (UE), haciendo hincapié en el análisis de las causas y escenarios que han provocado un auge en el clima de contradicciones y tensiones que se han registrado en los años más recientes. Asimismo, abordaremos el papel y la influencia que han ejercido los estados postsoviéticos europeos (Estados Bálticos, Ucrania, Georgia, Azerbaiyán) dentro del espectro de las relaciones bilaterales de Rusia con la UE, dada su importancia para la estabilidad y seguridad regional. Estos países ocupan un papel muy importante no solamente dentro del espectro de la política comunitaria de vecindad europea, sino también en la dinámica de los vínculos de Bruse¬las con Moscú. También analizaremos el papel que ha desempeñado el gobierno de Estados Unidos (EE.UU.), en el marco de las relaciones de la UE con Rusia, al colocar, tanto a la UE como a Rusia, en una posición de rehenes de los desacuerdos y fricciones mayores que se han suscitado entre Washington y Moscú durante los últimos dos años; expondremos, igualmente, las expectativas que se mantienen con la llegada del presidente Barack Obama a la Casa Blanca. Hasta el año 2008, Rusia se había fortalecido como potencia, fundamentalmente, a causa del aumento de los precios del petróleo, del gas y de recursos naturales, mientras que mantenía invariable su in ISSN tención de recuperar su posición como potencia regional y global, lo cual, incomodaba (e incomoda) a algunos gobiernos europeos, fundamentalmente a los países ex-socialistas. Para este año 2009, se pronostica un crecimiento de apenas un 3% a causa de la crisis mundial, que también los afecta.
Topic:
Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Georgia

133. Eastern Partnership and Conflicts in the South Caucasus: Old Wine in New Skins?

Author:
Nona Mikhelidze
Publication Date:
08-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
On 7 May 2009 in Prague the European Union inaugurated its Eastern Partnership (EaP). The initiative is based on a Polish-Swedish proposal of May 2008, which was held in standby until 2009. It took a full-blown war for the EU to pull this proposal out of the closet, as the August 2008 Georgian-Russian conflict and the ensuing Russian recognition of independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia posed new challenges to European foreign policy.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Poland, Georgia, and Sweden

134. What's in a Line? Is Partition a Solution to Civil War?

Author:
Nicholas Sambanis and Jonah Schulhofer-Wohl
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Security
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
The debate over territorial partition as a solution to civil war is highly politically relevant. At the height of the Iraqi civil war in 2006 and 2007, faced with intensifying violence against civilians, mistrust among the main Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdish groups, and bleak prospects for state building, policymakers and analysts turned to ideas about partitioning the country. War-induced partitions and partition-induced wars continue to be prominent features in international security—two recent examples being the de facto partition of Kosovo from Serbia in 1999 followed by international recognition of Kosovo's independence in 2008, and the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia following the latter's invasion of the separatist region of South Ossetia.
Political Geography:
Russia, Iraq, Kosovo, Serbia, Georgia, and South Ossetia

135. U.S.-Russia Relations Chronology

Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Comparative Connections
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
No abstract is available.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, and Georgia

136. Institutions of Georgia for Governance on National Minorities: An Overview

Author:
Giorgi Sordia
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
Since the 'Rose Revolution' in November 2003, significant reform has taken place in Georgia. The new Georgian government led by Mikheil Saakashvili, eager to push forward the process of reform and enhance the pace of integration with Euro-Atlantic structures and institutions, has taken a range of important steps to develop the institutional arrangement of government. A number of key ministries have been radically reformed, including the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Education and Science. Structural reform is also ongoing in many other ministries and state bodies.
Topic:
Democratization, Politics, Governance, and Minorities
Political Geography:
Europe and Georgia

137. Georgia and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages

Author:
Jonathan Wheatley
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
Georgia is a multilingual and multi-ethnic society. A large number of minority languages are spoken in Georgia, including Abkhazian, Ossetian, Azeri, Armenian, Russian, Ukrainian, Kurmanji (Kurdish), Chechen (Kist), Ottoman Turkish, Pontic Greek, Syriac, Avar, Tsova-Tush and Udi. In addition, four distinct languages are spoken by the majority Georgian population -- Georgian, Megrelian, Svan and Laz -- although these are basically vernacular languages that are not normally written. According to Article 8 of the Georgian constitution, the official state language is Georgian, and in Abkhazia, also Abkhazian. Most minority languages are spoken only in certain regions of the country.
Topic:
Politics, Multiculturalism, and Minorities
Political Geography:
Russia, America, Turkey, Ukraine, Georgia, and Syria

138. The Integration of National Minorities in the Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli Provinces of Georgia: Five Years into the Presidency of Mikheil Saakashvili

Author:
Jonathan Wheatley
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
This paper aims to explore the extent to which national minorities in the Georgian provinces of Kvemo Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti are integrated into the economic and political life of Georgia and to investigate how government policy in the aftermath of the Rose Revolution of November 2003 has affected the relationship between the state and minority communities in these two regions. It is divided into eight parts. First I provide a general overview of the main characteristics of the population of the two provinces in terms of ethnicity and language use. The second part turns to the economy of the two regions, focusing on both agricultural and industrial production. The next section turns to state-society relations by showing how government policy in the fields of education, local government, infrastructure and economic development has impacted upon the integration of national minorities in the two provinces. The fourth section explores in greater depth the modes of local governance in the two municipalities of Samtskhe-Javakheti (Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda, collectively known as Javakheti) and the five municipalities of Kvemo Kartli (Gardabani, Marneuli, Bolnisi, Dmanisi and Tsalka) in which members of national minorities are concentrated, by identifying the main power brokers in these municipalities and by looking at how local power structures have changed in the last five years. The following part focuses on the process of migration and includes both permanent migration of Georgians and members of national minorities within Georgia and to destinations beyond the country's borders, as well as seasonal migration abroad. The sixth part deals with the issue of land distribution, which has been a contentious one in both provinces. The seventh section is the final substantive part of the paper; it takes the "view from below" by looking at the most salient issues from the point of view of members of national minorities that live in the two provinces. The paper then closes with a short conclusion.
Topic:
Politics, Governance, and Minorities
Political Geography:
Georgia

139. Ossetians in Georgia in the Wake of the 2008 War

Author:
Giorgi Sordia
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:
As a result of the August war of 2008, the demographic situation in South Ossetia has been entirely altered. After the Georgian authorities lost administrative-territorial control over the Didi and Patara Liakhvi gorges and Akhalgori district, the majority of the population of these territories, including the entire population of Didi and Patara Liakhvi, were forced to leave their homes. The demographic structure of districts adjoining the conflict zones was also affected. As of September 2008, internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the conflict zone (including districts of Shida Kartli) numbered more than 127,000 in total. After the ceasefire agreement between Russia and Georgia was signed and Russian troops removed from the region, a large number of those forcibly displaced outside the administrative borders of the former autonomous region of South Ossetia returned home. However, the entire ethnic Georgian population of Didi and Patara Liakhvi, as well as several thousand Georgians from Akhalgori districts, remain displaced. The Ministry of Refugees and Accommodation of Georgia has granted them the status of IDPs and housed them in 38 specially constructed cottage settlements. According to official figures from the Ministry of Refugees and Accommodation, the number of IDPs from the August war (excluding those displaced from Upper Abkhazia) currently stands at 24,729.
Topic:
Ethnic Conflict and Minorities
Political Geography:
Georgia and South Ossetia

140. NATO Enlargement to Ukraine and Georgia: Old Wine in New Bottles?

Author:
Dušica Lazarević
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
This article examines the question of possible NATO enlargement to Ukraine and Georgia, although it will not venture to provide a firm answer as to its likelihood. The aim of the essay is to offer an accurate analysis of the aspiration of these two former Soviet republics to join the Alliance, with a primary focus on relations between the West (in this case, NATO) and Russia, the successor of the Soviet legacy. In the process, it will try to uncover the underlying principle of NATO enlargement as such. To this end, the article will use geopolitics as a theoretical background to explain the behavior of the parties involved, carefully taking into consideration the specific position of NATO as an alliance. Furthermore, it will elaborate the debates over each post-Cold War round of enlargement, with special focus on the first post-Cold War round of NATO enlargement, as this event established the fact of Alliance expansion and laid out the rules for future enlargement rounds. Studying the positions of Ukraine and Georgia in the context of cooperation with NATO, the article addresses the differences and similarities of the two countries, and examines separately their relations with NATO, Russia, and the United States. The overall conclusion is that the prospects for Ukraine and Georgia to accede to NATO membership are not bright, but at the same time they are not completely without prospects. Their ultimate outcome will depend on the terms—whether explicit or tacit— of the ongoing transatlantic bargain between the U.S. and Russia.
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Ukraine, and Georgia