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391. Fiscal Asymmetries and the Survival of the Euro Zone

Author:
Paul R. Masson
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
The independence of the European Central Bank (ECB), seemingly guaranteed by its statutes, is presently under attack. The ECB has been led to acquire large amounts of government debt of the weaker euro zone members, both to help contain their interest costs and to help protect the solvency of banks throughout the zone that hold their debt. This paper presents a model of a dependent central bank that internalizes the government's budget constraint. Using a Barro-Gordon framework, the model embodies both the desire to stimulate output and to provide monetary financing to governments. As a result of the inability to pre-commit to first-best policies, the central bank produces excess inflation — a tendency partially reduced in a monetary union. The model implies that not only shock asymmetries, but also fiscal asymmetries, are important in the membership calculus of desirable monetary unions. On the basis of this framework, calibrated to euro zone data, the current membership is shown not to be optimal: other members would benefit from the expulsion of several countries, notably Greece, Italy and France. A narrow monetary union centred around Germany is sometimes mooted as a preferable alternative, especially if it could guarantee central bank independence. However, simulation results suggest that such a narrow monetary union would not be in Germany's interest: though better than the euro zone with a dependent central bank, it would not internalize enough trade to make it more attractive than the resumption of monetary autonomy by Germany.
Topic:
Debt, Economics, Monetary Policy, and Governance
Political Geography:
Europe, Greece, France, Germany, and Italy

392. Transformation of the German Armed Forces after the End of the Cold War

Author:
Tomás Kucera
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Obrana a strategie (Defence & Strategy)
Institution:
University of Defence
Abstract:
In July 2011 Germany abandoned conscription. This step is the most significant part of the ongoing reform of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) and by no stretch also the greatest change in the entire history of the Bundeswehr. The current reform, however, is only the last one in the long line of attempts to adapt the Bundeswehr to post-Cold-War circumstances and missions. The German Armed Forces have been undergoing an almost uninterrupted process of transformation since the end of the Cold War. In the course of the last two decades the anticipated end-state of the reform has been changing accordingly with respect to the changing perception of strategic assumptions. The strategic reasoning behind the distinct reform attempts is to be analysed in this article.
Topic:
Cold War and Reform
Political Geography:
Germany

393. ISAF Lessons Learned: A German Perspective

Author:
Rainer Glatz
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
PRISM
Institution:
Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
Abstract:
Following several largely futile attempts to gain control over Afghanistan, the British Empire granted independence to the country in 1919. Seventy years later, Russian forces withdrew having failed to establish control through a pro-Russian government. Today, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) struggles to establish a stable political system in order to prevent the country from again becoming a safe haven for terrorists. The question is: Will the Alliance prevail or will it join the club of losers? The answer is open, and it is up to NATO and the international community to sustain the positive momentum gained in 2010. The difficulty of nation-building in this remote, but nevertheless strategically important, part of the world can be seen in daily media coverage of the setbacks and losses, progress and success.
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Russia, North Atlantic, and Germany

394. No Marshall Plan for the Middle East

Author:
Amitai Etzioni
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
PRISM
Institution:
Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
Abstract:
At first blush, the idea that the United States, working with other nations, should initiate, guide, and finance economic development and introduce democratic regimes to the nations of the Middle East—just as it did in post–World War II Germany and Japan—is appealing. From a humanitarian viewpoint, one cannot help but be moved by the idealism of helping millions of people who are currently unemployed and poor—including many children and young people, and others who live under oppressive regimes—to gain the kind of life Americans cherish. From a realpolitik viewpoint, military means will not suffice when it comes to ending the terrorism that threatens the United States and its allies, or halting the insurgencies that destabilize the Middle East.
Topic:
War
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, Middle East, and Germany

395. Munich Alumni and the Evolution of International Human Rights Law

Author:
Thilo Rensmann
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
As a tribute to Bruno Simma on the occasion of his 70th birthday this article follows the traces of two of his fellow alumni from Munich University who belonged to the first generation of 'droit-de-l'hommistes'. In the early 1940s they laid the foundations for the entrenchment of human rights in the international legal order. Ernst Rabel and Karl Loewenstein, who taught in Munich during the inter-war period, each played a significant role in breaking the mould of isolationism prevalent in German legal scholarship at the time. Hitler's rise to power, however, put an abrupt end to the internationalization of legal thought in Germany. Rabel and Loewenstein, like many other legal scholars of Jewish descent, were forced into exile. It so happened that in 1942 the two Munich alumni were invited by the American Law Institute to join a committee 'representing the major cultures of the world'. This committee was charged with the momentous task of drafting an international bill of rights for a new post-war global order. Their draft was later to become the single most important blueprint for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Against this backdrop the article attempts to identify the specific contribution made by Rabel and Loewenstein to the evolution of international human rights law.
Topic:
Human Rights
Political Geography:
Germany

396. Sir Hersch Lauterpacht, The Function of Law in the International Community

Author:
Isabel Feichtner
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Almost eight decades after its publication in 1933, Oxford University Press recently republished Hersch Lauterpacht's book, The Function of Law in the International Community, with a new preface by Martti Koskenniemi that situates the work within the German legal tradition. The Function of Law is a significant work for several reasons and its renewed accessibility therefore very much welcomed.
Political Geography:
Germany

397. An Interview with David Petraeus

Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
PRISM
Institution:
Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
Abstract:
Recent polling shows that two-thirds of Americans do not believe the war in Afghanistan is worth fighting anymore. What makes you think it is worth fighting?
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, and Germany

398. Volunteering in Japan and Germany: How moral citizenship strengthens society and the state

Author:
Patrick Hein
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Central European University Political Science Journal
Institution:
Central European University
Abstract:
For many years the prevailing image of Japan and Germany was one of “strong state, weak civil society”. The market and the state dominated public life. This article traces the role of the state in the civil society traditions of Japan and Germany and questions the “state versus civil society” institutional approach. First, it proposes a normative theoretical framework that overcomes the state/civil society dichotomy by highlighting the impact of political culture on institutional patterns of governance. Second, it contends that  modern volunteering is agent based and driven by concerns for “moral citizenship” going beyond mere advocacy and traditional political activism. Third, it argues that libertarian value changes represent a shift towards greater autonomy and self-assertiveness among citizens. The article concludes that selfless volunteering has been incremental in shaping a more legitimate state and a more self responsible society in both countries.
Political Geography:
Japan and Germany

399. Distance Learning in the Bundeswehr: Skills Are More Than Knowledge

Author:
Manuel Schulz and Andrea Neusius
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
As it is a military force that often conducts operations, the German Bundeswehr must always be prepared to cope with new tasks and challenges. This holds true not only for the organization as a whole, but also for each soldier and civilian employee. The diverse nature of these challenges imposes new and complex requirements on the Bundeswehr, requirements that must be met primarily through the competent action of Bundeswehr soldiers and staff. Therefore, the fi eld of training holds a central position in the organization's diverse processes. The success of the overall organization in all fi elds depends heavily on the competence of its staff. As a result, it becomes clear that training that is appropriate in terms of tasks and their complexity has a considerable infl uence on the force's success at all levels and across the entire spectrum of tasks.
Political Geography:
Germany

400. Agreement needed on liquidity provision to restore confidence in the eurozone

Author:
Stefano Micossi
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
Some eighteen months after the first Greek rescue (May 2010), there is little doubt that the multiple attempts at crisis management in the eurozone have failed to restore confidence. Indeed, following each round of emergency measures agreed by the eurozone summits, matters have turned for the worse (see Figure 1 for the widening spreads, over the German Bund, for sovereign borrowing in the eurozone). At the time of writing, contagion has spread beyond Spain and Italy to the core sovereigns, with France close to losing its triple A rating and even Germany experiencing partial failure in a Bund auction on November 23rd. Spreads are also opening up for Austria, Belgium, Finland and even the virtuous Netherlands. Meanwhile, the banking system Europe- wide is under increasing strain, with term funding all but closed for any bank with significant exposure to distressed sovereign debtors and the interbank market close to seizing up. Deposit withdrawals have surfaced in a number of large banks from the periphery. The euro has started to weaken in foreign exchange markets, narrowing the room for a distinction between eurozone debt crisis and euro-currency crisis from which some observers were until recently drawing comfort.
Topic:
Economics, Regional Cooperation, Monetary Policy, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany