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1261. The Strategic Triad: Form and Content in Brazil's Triangular Cooperation Practices

Author:
Adriana Erthal Abdenur
Publication Date:
11-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs
Abstract:
Triangular cooperation, in which two countries form a partnership to lend technical assistance to a third country, is a growing model of technical cooperation in the developing world. Why do developing countries participate in triangular cooperation, and how are these arrangements different from bilateral and multilateral linkages? An analysis of Brazilian triangular cooperation arrangements reveals that, in addition to offering pragmatic solutions, triangular cooperation is a tactic for national self-promotion within a broader strategy of foreign relations. The spread of triangular cooperation marks a shift in both the configuration and politics of international cooperation networks.
Topic:
International Relations, International Cooperation, and Politics
Political Geography:
Brazil and Latin America

1262. Global Political Violence: Explaining the Post-Cold War Decline

Author:
Andrew Mack
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
This paper reviews global trends in political violence since the end of World War II, focusing in particular on the decline in conflict numbers that followed the end of the Cold War. It argues that the single most compelling explanation for this decline is found in the upsurge of peacemaking and peacebuilding activities that started in the early 1990s,was spearheaded by the UN, but also involved many other international agencies, donor governments, and NGOs. The paper also examines trends in war fatalities, which have been declining unevenly since the early 1950s and reviews possible explanations for the change.Trends in civilian deaths from organized political violence—including genocides and terrorism—are also reviewed.
Topic:
International Relations, Cold War, Development, and Politics

1263. Le vote confisqué en Russie Etude des élections régionales de 2007

Author:
Mikhaïl Sokolov
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:
Depuis les dernières élections législatives, en décembre 2003, le système électoral russe a été peu à peu transformé en profondeur. Cette transformation vise à permettre une manipulation calculée et centralisée du vote afin d'assurer l'élection des partisans du pouvoir poutinien et de l'élite proche du Kremlin.
Topic:
Politics
Political Geography:
Russia

1264. A New Direction for Bush Administration Climate Policy

Author:
Samuel Thernstrom and Lee Lane
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
President George W. Bush was widely expected to propose ambitious new initiatives to control greenhouse gas emissions in the State of the Union address on January 23. The week before the speech, his top environmental advisor told a Washington Post columnist that a carbon tax or cap-and-trade system would be “the most elegant” solution to climate change, raising expectations that a proposal along those lines might be forthcoming. In the end, however, the president proposed a remarkably modest (and poorly conceived) initiative to cut gasoline consumption by 20 percent in the next ten years. This was an important lost opportunity for leadership at a crucial juncture.
Topic:
Development, Environment, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
Washington

1265. The Vagaries of the Presidential Succession

Author:
Leon Aron
Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Russian president Vladimir Putin's term expires in March 2008. Despite the propaganda barrage designed to persuade everyone of an orderly change of government, the coming Russian presidential succession is far from a done deal. The stability and legitimacy that flow from democratic arrangements are compromised when these arrangements are weakened, as happened under Putin, ushering in uncertainty and risk.
Topic:
Corruption and Politics
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Eastern Europe, and Asia

1266. Was Liberty Really Bad for Russia? (Part I)

Author:
Leon Aron
Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Criticizing preceding regimes is a popular pastime of Russian leaders. But in denouncing the “chaos of the 1990s,” the Vladimir Putin regime seems to have an additional purpose: to defame the idea of liberty itself. Part I of this two-part Russian Outlook examines the claim that the revolution was entirely responsible for Russia's economic woes in the 1990s. Part II will take issue with the assertion that the Yeltsin years brought nothing but “chaos.”
Topic:
Corruption, Democratization, and Politics
Political Geography:
Russia and Eastern Europe

1267. Was Liberty Really Bad for Russia? (Part II)

Author:
Leon Aron
Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Part I of this Russian Outlook dealt with what might be called the errors of commission, or false attribution, in the “chaos-of-the-1990s” stereotype, which became a major theme of the Putin Kremlin's propaganda. The economic crisis of that era, mostly inherited from the decaying Soviet economy, was laid at the revolutionary regime's door. Yet the “chaos” legend also contains errors of omission, for, on closer inspection, there was a great deal in the 1990s besides the alleged “chaos.”
Topic:
Corruption, Democratization, and Politics
Political Geography:
Russia and Eastern Europe

1268. The Internet in the Arab World: Playground for Political Liberalization

Author:
Albrecht Hofheinz
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
This article analyses the usage of internet in the Arab World. The level of internet usage, for what reasons and who are using it and how much the internet has been influential on the changes in the traditional Arab societies are the main points of the article. Internet in Arab countries are mostly used by young people, upper-middle and high classes, and women. In addition to search engines, e-mail, music and software downloading, the discussion boards are very popular in Arab societies. In these platforms, intense discussions take place about the taboo issues such as politics, religion and relations between sexes. These discussions, while contributing to the emergence of new understandings especially on individual level, also highlight the importance of individual's right of election. The Blogs, becoming as popular as the discussion forums, are also apparent indications of forming private and awareness of personal right of election.
Topic:
Politics
Political Geography:
Arabia

1269. Political Trends in the New Eastern Europe: Ukraine and Belarus

Author:
Vitali Silitski
Publication Date:
07-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
For most of its existence as a newly-independent state in Eastern Europe, Belarus enjoyed a dubious reputation of being the continent's last dictatorship. The regime established by the country's president, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, has a solid domestic base. Nevertheless, the continuous political, economic, and diplomatic support provided to Lukashenka's Belarus by its Eastern neighbor, the Russian Federation, greatly contributed to the overall stability and smoothness with which the Belarus leader accumulated power, institutionalized his autocratic rule, and fended off both internal and external challenges.
Topic:
Security, Democratization, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe

1270. Ukraine's Military Between East and West

Author:
Marybeth Peterson Ulrich
Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
Ukraine's geopolitical location positioning it firmly between North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to the west and Russia to the east has demanded that its foreign and security policy take into account its interests in the east and the west. The pro-reform forces in power since the Orange Revolution would like to move Ukraine squarely into the Euro-Atlantic community with only limited deference to Russia in matters where Ukrainian dependency remains unavoidable. Political forces favoring a more neutral stance between east and west or openly in favor of leaning eastward remain formidable. Russia's astute deployment of its national instruments of power in support of these forces will loom large into the indefinite future.
Topic:
Security, Democratization, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe and Ukraine