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372. How Russia is Not Ukraine: The Closing of Russian Civil Society
- Author:
- Maria Lipman
- Publication Date:
- 01-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- The revolutionary events in Ukraine in November–December 2004 highlighted the absence of checks and balances in the Russian political system. What happened in Ukraine is inconceivable in today's Russia.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, and Asia
373. Three Years of the Global Partnership. A View by Russia
- Author:
- V. Semin
- Publication Date:
- 07-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- Three years have passed since June 2002, when G8 Leaders, in the Canadian town of Kananaskis, launched the Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction (GP), and committed to support projects initially in Russia.After the end of the Cold War and demise of the Soviet Union, Russia inherited a large number of strategic nuclear missiles, means of their delivery (including strategic and generalpurpose submarines) and huge arsenals of chemical weapons. In 1991-1992 we had to consolidate urgently and put into secure storage all nuclear weapons from the Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Byelorussia, which became non-nuclear states under the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Arms Control and Proliferation, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Soviet Union
374. Nuclear Energy Today
- Publication Date:
- 02-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
- Abstract:
- Nuclear energy has been used to produce electricity for more than half a century. It currently provides about 17% of the world's supply and 23% in OECD countries. The oil crisis of the early 1970s provoked a surge in nuclear power plant orders and construction, but as oil prices stabilised and even dropped, and enough electricity generating plants came into service to meet demand, orders tailed off. Accidents at Three Mile Island in the United States (1979) and at Chernobyl in Ukraine (1986) also raised serious questions in the public mind about nuclear safety.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Development, Nuclear Weapons, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States and Ukraine
375. A Presentation of Preliminary Findings and a Roundtable Discussion with Government and Civil Society Actors in Georgia
- Author:
- Denika Blacklock
- Publication Date:
- 08-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Centre for Minority Issues
- Abstract:
- The Meskhetian Turks are one of the last of the national groups of the Soviet Union deported by Stalin in 1943–44, who have not yet been able to return to their native region (in southwest Georgia). Currently numbering some 370–400,000 people, the Meskhetian Turks, following pogroms and multiple displacements, find themselves scattered across vast territories of Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and, most recently, the United States. In some of these countries, the Meskhetian Turks are exposed to ethnic persecution and discrimination, while Georgia, so far, has effectively blocked resettlement to their native region. International actors seeking to address these problems encounter severe difficulties in finding solutions, inter alia, due to a lack of consistent knowledge on the Meskhetian Turks' own perceptions of their displacement and their visions for future settlement.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Development, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Turkey, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Soviet Union, Azerbaijan, and Georgia
376. The EU in Moldova - settling conflicts in the neighbourhood
- Author:
- Nicu Popescu
- Publication Date:
- 10-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Union Institute for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- A key objective of the European Union is to have a stable, secure, prosperous and democratic neighbourhood. Failing an offer of accession to close neighbours in the medium term, the EU should and can offer stronger CFSP engagement. Contributing to conflict resolution in the neighbourhood is key to the achievement of EU objectives. However, the conflict resolution dimension of the ENP is under-developed. It is time for the EU to focus on the conflicts in its immediate neighbourhood. Promoting the security aspect of ENP can start with the Transnistrian conflict in Moldova. This conflict is the closest geographically to the EU; at the same time, it is the most 'solvable.' The conflict features high on the agenda of EU-Russia and EU-Ukraine relations. A settlement of the conflict in Transnistria would attenuate the soft security challenges the EU faces on its eastern border. Settlement would also assuage an irritant in EU-Russia relations, and set a positive precedent in building the EU-Russia common space for external security. It would also be an example of positive cooperation with Ukraine under ENP. The focus of EU policy should be to alter the context in which the conflict is situated and sustained, rather than hoping for an early agreement on the status of Transnistria. The primary objective should be to increase Moldova's 'attractiveness' while decreasing the benefits of maintaining the current status quo. The Transnistrian separatist project is to a large degree based on false economic arguments for independence. Undermining these claims will be central to efforts to reunify the country. The EU has already appointed an EU Special Representative for Moldova and is expected to launch an EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine that would monitor the border between the two countries, including the section controlled by the secessionist authorities of Transnistria. EU border monitoring is necessary, but is not a sustainable long-term solution. The EU should help Moldova strengthen its own capacity to control the Transnistrian section of the border by launching an EU Police Mission to Moldova. Building a sustainable context for the resolution of the conflict in Transnistria can be achieved through greater support to Moldova's Europeanisation and implementation of the ENP Action Plan, more active support to democracy inside Transnistria and greater engagement with Ukraine under CFSP.
- Topic:
- Security and Democratization
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Ukraine, and Moldova
377. EU security and defence - Core documents 2004
- Publication Date:
- 02-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Union Institute for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- 1. On 8th December 2003, the Council mandated that the EU's military rapid response capability should be further developed. Separately, UK, France and Germany have considered how the Union can contribute further to conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations in close co-operation with the United Nations (UN). Together, we have proposed that the EU should aim to build upon the precedent set by Operation ARTEMIS in the DRC by developing a number of battle-group size forces available to undertake autonomous operations at short notice, principally in response to requests from the UN. These forces should be capable of operating under a Chapter VII mandate. 2. This paper aims to set out in more detail the battle-groups (BG) concept, to establish its context within the ongoing development of EU rapid response and EU-UN co-operation, and to propose a process of consultation (including with the UN) and implementation.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Defense Policy, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom, Europe, Turkey, and Ukraine
378. An Analytical Overview of Democratic Oversight and Governance of the Defence and Security Sector in Ukraine
- Author:
- Leonid Polyakov
- Publication Date:
- 02-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- Since independence, the Ukraine has made progress in establishing a system of democratic civilian control over the Armed Forces. The regulatory-legal basis which governs the activity of security structures and which defines the different aspects of civil-military relations has basically been established. These regulatory-legal structures co-ordinate and oversee the activity of these security structures. Co-operation between different authorities in matter pertaining to the formation of the defence budget and the development of state programmes in the military sector is gradually improving. Ideological indoctrination has loosened its hold on Ukraine's security structures and democratic values are formally now the foundation of their activity.
- Topic:
- Security, Democratization, Politics, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Ukraine and Eastern Europe
379. What Iraq and Argentina Might Learn from Each Other
- Author:
- Anna Gelpern
- Publication Date:
- 06-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- Financial collapse usually triggers a flurry of market, academic, and policy innovation. The Latin American debt crisis of the 1980s produced the Brady Bonds and led to the rise of today's emerging markets. In the late 1990s, crises in Pakistan, Ecuador, and Ukraine helped teach the markets how to restructure international sovereign bonds. Crises in Mexico, Russia, Brazil, Turkey, and throughout East Asia raised doubts about the international system's ability to manage vast and rapid capital flows, and prompted a big-picture reassessment under the rubric “international financial architecture.” This included most famously the sovereign bankruptcy proposals discussed elsewhere in this volume.
- Topic:
- Development and Economics
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Middle East, East Asia, Brazil, South America, Latin America, and Mexico
380. Belarus : Is a Peaceful Turn Towards Democracy Possible?
- Publication Date:
- 12-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Described as the last remaining dictatorship in Europe, Belarus is scheduled to have a presidential election in 2006 that could prove crucial to the future of the country. After nonviolent democratic revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine, questions arise about similar changes in Belarus: Is a peaceful transition to democracy in Belarus possible? And if so, what would be needed to make that happen?
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, and Peace Studies
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Ukraine, and Georgia