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1041. Turkey-Armenia Dialogue Series: Assessing the Rapprochement Process

Author:
Alexander Iskandaryan, Aybars Görgülü, David Barchard, and Sergey Minasyan
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
After unimaginable steps in recent years, Turkish-Armenian relations have reached a point where full diplomatic relations could be established and the land border between the two countries could be opened. However seven months on from the signing of the historic protocols in Zurich, the process has stalled. TESEV Foreign Policy Program and Caucasus Institute’s new report “Assessing the Rapprochement Process” attempts to analyse progress to this point, identify why the process has stalled and offers recommendations aimed at solving the current impasse. Working in a collaborative fashion, the authors from both organisations identified the following areas where progress can be made: The ratification process must continue. Momentum is fickle and letting the protocols sit and fester is in no one’s interest. Rapprochement is a two pronged process: one involves the technical normalisation of relations and the other is reconciliation between the two societies. Both are extremely important and require both states and society to play a significant and active role. The media in both Turkey and Armenia has a responsibility to create an atmosphere conducive to rapprochement. Unbiased, positive and accurate reporting is far more favourable than the existing sensationalism common on both sides of the border.
Topic:
International Relations, Diplomacy, Regional Cooperation, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
Turkey, Caucasus, Middle East, and Armenia

1042. Turkey: Arab Perspectives (English/Arabic)

Author:
Meliha Benli Altunisik and Mustafa Ellabbad
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
The main objective of this study is to uncover different views on Turkey among opinion makers and bureaucrats as well as among the public in the Arab world. To this aim, along with the aforementioned survey data, personal interviews were also conducted and incorporated into the publication. As the report makes clear, not only have Arab perspectives on Turkey become increasingly positive in recent years but also debate of Turkey in the Arab world has become more nuanced.
Topic:
International Relations, Regional Cooperation, and Public Opinion
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and Arab Countries

1043. India's Israel Policy

Author:
P. R. Kumaraswamy
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Columbia University Press
Abstract:
India's foreign policy toward Israel is a subject of deep dispute. Throughout the twentieth century arguments have raged over the Palestinian problem and the future of bilateral relations. Yet no text comprehensively looks at the attitudes and policies of India toward Israel, especially their development in conjunction with history. P. R. Kumaraswamy is the first to account for India's Israel policy, revealing surprising inconsistencies in positions taken by the country's leaders, such as Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, and tracing the crackling tensions between its professed values and realpolitik. Kumaraswamy's findings debunk the belief that India possesses a homogeneous policy toward the Middle East. In fact, since the early days of independence, many within India have supported and pursued relations with Israel. Using material derived from archives in both India and Israel, Kumaraswamy investigates the factors that have hindered relations between these two countries despite their numerous commonalities. He also considers how India destabilized relations, the actions that were necessary for normalization to occur, and the directions bilateral relations may take in the future. In his most provocative argument, Kumaraswamy underscores the disproportionate affect of anti-colonial sentiments and the Muslim minority on shaping Indian policy.
Topic:
International Relations and Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
India and Israel
Publication Identifier:
9780231525480
Publication Identifier Type:
ISBN

1044. East Asia Before the West: Five Centuries of Trade and Tribute

Author:
David C. Kang
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Columbia University Press
Abstract:
From the founding of the Ming dynasty in 1368 to the start of the Opium Wars in 1841, China has engaged in only two large-scale conflicts with its principal neighbors, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. These four territorial and centralized states have otherwise fostered peaceful and long-lasting relationships with one another, and as they have grown more powerful, the atmosphere around them has stabilized. Focusing on the role of the "tribute system" in maintaining stability in East Asia and fostering diplomatic and commercial exchange, Kang contrasts this history against the example of Europe and the East Asian states' skirmishes with nomadic peoples to the north and west. Scholars tend to view Europe's experience as universal, but Kang upends this tradition, emphasizing East Asia's formal hierarchy as an international system with its own history and character. His approach not only recasts common understandings of East Asian relations but also defines a model that applies to other hegemonies outside of the European order.
Topic:
International Relations and History
Political Geography:
Japan, China, East Asia, Asia, Vietnam, Korea, and Asia-Pacific
Publication Identifier:
9780231526746
Publication Identifier Type:
ISBN

1045. Security Matters

Author:
Centre for European Security Studies
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Centre for European Security Studies
Abstract:
Central Asia presents a broad spectrum of security challenges. These range from religious terrorism, organised crime and simmering ethnic quarrels to endemic corruption, environmental decline and a disintegrating infrastructure. Besides, the danger of instability is heightened by a lurking receptiveness to religious extremism among returned migrants.
Topic:
International Relations and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1046. Harmony and War: Confucian Culture and Chinese Power Politics

Author:
Yuan-kang Wang
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Columbia University Press
Abstract:
Confucianism has shaped a certain perception of Chinese security strategy, symbolized by the defensive, nonaggressive Great Wall. Many believe China is antimilitary and reluctant to use force against its enemies. It practices pacifism and refrains from expanding its boundaries, even when nationally strong. In a path-breaking study traversing six centuries of Chinese history, Yuan-kang Wang resoundingly discredits this notion, recasting China as a practitioner of realpolitik and a ruthless purveyor of expansive grand strategies. Leaders of the Song Dynasty (960–1279) and Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) prized military force and shrewdly assessed the capabilities of China’s adversaries. They adopted defensive strategies when their country was weak and pursued expansive goals, such as territorial acquisition, destruction of their enemies, and total military victory, when their country was strong. Despite the dominance of an antimilitarist Confucian culture, warfare was not uncommon in the bulk of Chinese history. Grounding his research in primary Chinese sources, Wang outlines a politics of power crucial to understanding China’s strategies today, especially its policy of “peaceful development,” which, he argues, the nation has adopted mainly because of its military, economic, and technological weakness in relation to the United States.
Topic:
International Relations, Political Theory, and History
Political Geography:
Asia
Publication Identifier:
9780231522403
Publication Identifier Type:
ISBN

1047. How to revitalize the dialogue between NATO and the Maghreb countries?

Author:
Pierre Razoux
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
At a time when the Atlantic Alliance has just adopted in Lisbon its new strategic concept which acknowledges the importance of the partnerships linking it to its partners, it is worth asking a few questions about ways of giving fresh impetus to the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD), especially with the Maghreb countries. Why this focus on North Africa? For two reasons. First of all because cooperation between the Alliance and the Maghreb countries has not yet reached the same level as cooperation with the Mashreq countries, despite some positive signs that this could change for the better in the near future. Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia have in fact reached agreement with NATO on individual cooperation plans (ICP) which it is hoped will enable them to put in place those partnership actions best suited to their needs, while at the same time rationalizing the Alliance's assistance effort. Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia have also signed agreements with NATO on the protection of classified information which make it possible for them to have access to a more ambitious level of cooperation.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, NATO, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Algeria, North Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, and Mauritania

1048. Despite Recession, Immigration Reforms Essential to Normalize Labor Flows: Interview with Michael Chertoff

Author:
Robert McMahon
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
Interview with Michael Chertoff, Former Homeland Security Secretary, on how immigration reforms are essential to normalize labor flows. The global economic crisis has triggered calls in some U.S. policy circles for tightening immigration rules to prevent non-Americans from competing for scarce jobs. Yet despite conditions, lawmakers should be preparing changes to immigration policy in anticipation of the country's economic revival, says former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who had jurisdiction over immigration issues. "We are going to need to have some workers coming from other parts of the world to do the jobs that Americans will not be willing to do," Chertoff said. In addition, he said, U.S. officials should increase contacts with Mexican authorities to work out a system for rationalizing the legal flow of migrant workers into the United States. He also stressed that tough enforcement of immigration laws, at the workplace and border, must be at the core of comprehensive reforms.
Topic:
International Relations, Economics, Human Rights, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
United States and Latin America

1049. China's Growing Role in UN Peacekeeping

Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Over the past twenty years China has become an active participant in UN peacekeeping, a development that will benefit the international community. Beijing has the capacity to expand its contributions further and should be encouraged to do so. China's approach to peacekeeping has evolved considerably since it assumed its UN Security Council (UNSC) seat in 1971, when it rejected the entire concept of peacekeeping. Now, with over 2,000 peacekeepers serving in ten UN peacekeeping operations worldwide, China's motivations for supporting and participating in peacekeeping have led it to adopt a case-by-case approach that balances those motivations against its traditional adherence to nonintervention. This pragmatic policy shift paves the way for China to provide much-needed personnel as well as political support and momentum for peacekeeping at a time when both conflicts and peacekeeping operations are becoming more complex. China's involvement also further binds it to the international system.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Foreign Policy, Peace Studies, and United Nations
Political Geography:
China and Beijing

1050. Challenges for the next U.S. president: Hopes and Realities

Author:
Gerald LeMelle
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
Welcome to International Affairs Forum's fourth special publication. We are once again delighted to be able to offer our readers a diverse collection of views, and I hope everyone will find something of interest. I think this publication stands out not only because of the quality of contributors, who have been generous enough to give up their valuable time over such a busy period, but also the range of subjects and geographical reach—we have contributors based on four continents and from nine countries covering everything from defense policy through Brand America and U.S.-India relations. I don't wish to add anything to the enormous amount of ink spilled over the historic nature of the recent election, except to say that whatever one's views of the past eight years—and this publication contains a full range of them—living in Tokyo has demonstrated to me time and again that although this is the Asian century, the world's eyes have been, and still are, very much on the United States of America and what Barack Obama will do in office.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Government
Political Geography:
United States, America, India, Asia, and Tokyo