Number of results to display per page
Search Results
22. Guatemala’s Achilles’ Heel: The 2030 Agenda and the Fight against Corruption
- Author:
- Jimena Leiva Roesch
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute
- Abstract:
- In late 2015, momentum toward implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was steadily building in Guatemala. This momentum was driven by the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) and protesters in the streets demanding action against corruption. Since 2017, however, a political standoff in Guatemala has started reversing these gains. A sustained reversal would undermine efforts to address the country’s longstanding socioeconomic needs. This study analyzes recent gains and setbacks in Guatemala’s efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda and provides recommendations for ways the country can fight corruption and securitization to sustain peace and promote sustainable development. It suggests better communicating the 2030 Agenda through multi-stakeholder outreach, improving monitoring or progress, aligning international aid with local objectives, and continuing to engage with the private sector. This issue brief is part of the International Peace Institute’s (IPI) SDGs4Peace project, which seeks to understand how the 2030 Agenda is being rooted at the national and local levels and to support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The project focuses on five case studies: Guatemala, the Gambia, Greece, Lebanon, and Myanmar. Implementation of the 2030 Agenda provides each of these countries an opportunity not only to buttress existing aspirations but also to build new partnerships that transcend traditional approaches.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Development, Sustainable Development Goals, and Peace
- Political Geography:
- Greece, South America, Lebanon, Guatemala, Myanmar, and Gambia
23. Making a Case over Greco-Turkish Rivalry: Major Power Linkages and Rivalry Strength
- Author:
- Deniz Sert and Konstantinos Travlos
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Uluslararasi Iliskiler
- Institution:
- International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
- Abstract:
- The goal of the paper is to explore how the intensity of the Greco-Turkish rivalry (in the 19th and 20th centuries) was affected by variation in the intensity of rivalries between major powers that have political and military connections to Greece and Turkey. By comparing the effect of relevant major power rivalries with a battery of alternative domestic, dyadic, military, and political variables, the article serves as a deductive evaluation to see how important, if at all, variation in the volatility of intensity of the relevant major power rivalries is on the Greek-Turkish rivalry intensity volatility.
- Topic:
- History, Power Politics, Geopolitics, and Rivalry
- Political Geography:
- Turkey, Greece, and Mediterranean
24. The Ethics of Kin State Activism: A Cosmopolitan Defense
- Author:
- George Vasilev
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Carnegie Council
- Abstract:
- A notable feature of nationalism’s contemporary resurgence is the increasing eagerness that governments have shown to support and shape the political causes of populations living abroad whom they conceive of as ethnic kindred. Governments engaged in such “kin state activism” assume a natural entitlement to speak for and assert authority over minorities and diasporas in other states, invoking a belief in common territorial, cultural, and even biological origins as a moral basis for that entitlement. A striking example of the trend is the Russian government’s declaration that it will defend the interests of ethnic Russians wherever they may be and regardless of their citizenship.1 The government has made good on this intention since 2014 through the invasion of Crimea and through support for pro-Russia secessionist fighters in eastern Ukraine. Russian officials have also made thinly veiled threats to apply the doctrine in Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, where large Russian-speaking minorities reside and maintain strained relations with authorities.2 Kin state activism has also become increasingly apparent in other contexts, even though it has not involved the military coercion and flagrant disregard for international law characterizing Russia’s interventions. Examples that have made headlines recently include Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz (Federation of Young Democrats) party’s cross-border political collaborations with Romania’s Hungarians,3 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s appeal to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to take action against the discrimination of Greece’s predominantly ethnic Turkish Muslims,4 and Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović’s lobbying for electoral reform in Bosnia so that ethnic Croats there can gain increased representation.5 These and other examples typify a trend in which governments are more stridently assuming a right to protect, counsel, represent, politically organize, indoctrinate, naturalize, financially support, advocate for, and even govern populations beyond state jurisdictions on the basis of an ethnic conception of shared identity.
- Topic:
- Nationalism, Minorities, Citizenship, and Ethnicity
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Turkey, Greece, Hungary, and Croatia
25. The refugee ‘crisis’ in Greece: politicisation and polarisation amidst multiple crises
- Author:
- Angeliki Dimitriadi and Antonia-Maria Sarantaki
- Publication Date:
- 04-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
- Abstract:
- The European refugee “crisis” of 2015 first and foremost unfolded in Greece at a critical period for the country and its place in the EU. Amidst the threat of Grexit and domestic political turmoil, the arrival of the refugees raised to the forefront questions of responsibility and burden sharing between Greece and its EU partners. Drawing from de Wilde’s analytical framework, this paper tried to explore whether the question of responsibility became an issue of politicisation in Greece as well as polarisation and whether it resulted in policy change on migration. The analysis draws from three types of sources: online media, parliamentary debates & party announcements, and public opinion polls. Two periods are investigated: the discussion on relocation from May 2015 to November 2015 and the discussions on the EU-Turkey Statement of March 2016. Politicisation of migration pre-existed the crisis and acquired further salience during 2015-2016. Polarisation, in contrast, featured less in 2015, due to the focus on Grexit, but acquires salience in 2016 following the EU-Turkey Statement. Nonetheless two common themes underscore both periods. There is convergence (with varying degrees of intensity) in blaming the member states for failing to adhere to their responsibility and for showing little solidarity. Similarly, there is a broad convergence that migration policy is designed by the European Union and its institutions, with Greece only responsible for the implementation. Thus, the polarisation of 2016 over migration focuses more on the government’s poor implementation and less on the policies initiated at the EU level.
- Topic:
- European Union, Refugee Crisis, Asylum, and Polarization
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Greece
26. Bulgaria sets tough conditions on North Macedonia’s EU accession path
- Author:
- Yorgos Christidis
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
- Abstract:
- The hardening of Sofia’s position vis-à-vis North Macedonia and the attempt to condition Skopje’s accession process upon the previous satisfaction of a number of key Bulgarian preconditions undoubtedly constitutes a critical moment in bilateral, Bulgarian-North Macedonian relations. No Bulgarian government in the future may easily ignore or abandon these strict conditions. Sofia has “bound itself” into a tough diplomatic position, reminiscent of Greek policy vis-à-vis North Macedonia, where dominant perceptions of history-identity and a feeling of diplomatic superiority dictated a strict diplomatic position that no Greek government dared to openly question, let alone abandon. Some of the key Bulgarian demands on history, however, touch upon fundamental aspects of the North Macedonian national narrative and nation-building and it will be hard for any government in Skopje to accept. It will certainly take a lot of good will and creative thinking by both sides in order to move forward.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Greece, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia
27. Asylum-seekers’ integration: The time has come
- Author:
- Haris Malamidis
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
- Abstract:
- Although four years have passed since the 2015 refugee “crisis”, Greece’s reception system is still inadequate in serving the needs of the arriving populations. Since current debates focus on the weaknesses of the reception system, the issue of asylum-seekers and refugees’ integration has been indirectly outweighed. Without underestimating the issue of reception, this policy brief argues that the current political, social and environmental developments highlight the need to move towards decentralized and locally-oriented integration policies. After discussing the past context and the current developments of migration in Greece, we highlight the political, utilitarian and moral reasons that render integration policies both necessary and beneficiary for the domestic and migrant populations. Finally, we conclude with some recommendations regarding the way forward.
- Topic:
- Migration, European Union, Refugees, Asylum, and Integration
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Greece
28. 2017 Final Evaluation of the Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program
- Author:
- Mirka Martel
- Publication Date:
- 11-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Institute of International Education
- Abstract:
- The Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program is funded by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and implemented by Institute of International Education (IIE) in collaboration with the Fulbright Foundation in Greece. With this grant, IIE supported 49 fellowships in 2016-2017 that created collaborative, mutually beneficial engagements between Greek institutions and North American academics.
- Topic:
- Education, International Cooperation, Higher Education, Academia, and Fulbright Foundation
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Greece, North America, and United States of America
29. Policies and Politics of Migration towards the European Elections
- Author:
- Maria Saide Liperi and Asli Selin Okyay
- Publication Date:
- 12-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- On 6 December 2018, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Rome (FES) and Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) co-organized the conference “External Borders and Internal Divisions of Europe: Policies and Politics of Migration” to foster debate on European migration and asylum governance by approaching it both as a policy issue and a political question. While the scale of migratory flows is no longer the main problem, countries at the Southern external borders continue facing different policy challenges. The lack of political will and continuing tensions among the member states stand out as the main obstacles blocking substantial policy reform at the European level. This context also provides fertile ground for further polarization of the political debate between the two extreme positions of open versus closed borders, highlighting the need for more balanced and neutral narratives on migration in the run up to the European elections. Report of the conference “External Borders and Internal Division of Europe: Policies and Politics of Migration”, organized in Rome on 6 December 2018 by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Rome and Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI).
- Topic:
- Migration, Politics, Refugees, Borders, and Institutions
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Middle East, Greece, Balkans, Spain, Italy, Mediterranean, and European Union
30. Trends in Israel’s Regional Foreign Policies: July-December 2018
- Author:
- Roee Kibrik and Nimrod Goren
- Publication Date:
- 07-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Mitvim: The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies
- Abstract:
- This document briefly outlines major trends in Israel’s regional foreign policies over the past six months. It is based on the Mitvim Institute’s monthly reports that cover ongoing developments in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process/conflict, Israel’s relations with the Middle East, Europe and the Mediterranean, and the conduct of Israel’s Foreign Service.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Regional Cooperation, International Affairs, and Peace
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Turkey, Middle East, Israel, Greece, Jerusalem, Gaza, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Cyprus, and European Union