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1391. Biélorussie 2006. Manipulation électorale dans une dictature post-soviétique

Author:
Jean-Charles Lallemand
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:
Lors de l'éclatement de l'Union soviétique en 1991 et de la chute du parti unique, les élites dirigeantes des quinze républiques nouvellement indépendantes semblaient converties au principe démocratique de l'élection libre et pluraliste. Quinze ans plus tard, plusieurs Etats post-soviétiques connaissent au contraire le renforcement de régimes présidentiels autoritaires. Tout en organisant des scrutins pseudo-concurrentiels à échéances régulières, les élites au pouvoir manipulent sans scrupule les élections pour renforcer leur emprise autoritaire. Parmi ces pays, la Biélorussie d'Alexandre Loukachenko est un modèle du genre : elle n'a pas connu de scrutin libre et honnête depuis 1996.
Topic:
Politics and Elections
Political Geography:
Russia and Belarus

1392. The Fate of the Earth in the Balance - The Metaphysics of Climate Change

Author:
Steven F. Hayward
Publication Date:
10-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
A close reading of Al Gore's views on the linkages between environmental issues and broader social and philosophical currents reveals their problematic political and policy implications. Gore derives our environmental problems from deeper metaphysical and psychosocial currents, a path that will foreclose a number of productive policy approaches to the problem of climate change.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, Environment, and Politics

1393. The European Union as a "Green Normative Power"? EU Leadership in International Biotechnology Regulation

Author:
Robert Falkner
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
This paper examines the transformation of the European Union (EU) from a laggard to a leader in the international politics of biotechnology regulation. The emergence of EU leadership in global environmental politics during the 1990s seems to support recent arguments about the distinctive nature of the EU as a "normative power" in international relations. However, as this paper argues, this perspective lacks historical depth and fails to capture tensions between competing principles and conflict among domestic interest groups in Europe. The paper calls for a more critical reading of the normative power argument and identifies shifts in the domestic political economy of agricultural biotechnology as the key factors behind the EU's support for a precautionary international regime on trade in genetically modified organisms.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe

1394. Gender Equality Politics in the Changing European Union: The European Union Anti-Discrimination Directive and Sexual Harassment

Author:
Kathrin S. Zippel
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
The European integration process has provided both challenges and opportunities to domestic women's movements. One such ambivalent success is the European Union anti-discrimination directive of 2002 that is the outcome of the lobbying efforts of an emerging European transnational advocacy network on gender. The 2002 Directive prohibits sex discrimination, including sexual and gender harassment. It calls on member states to better protect the rights of victims of sexual harassment and to ensure the integrity, dignity, and equality of women and men at work. This paper examines the 2002 Directive and its potential to effect significant changes in EU member states, in particular, to improve victims' rights in member states laws. It addresses the main question: “Is the EU Directive an opportunity to progress in the direction of protecting victims' rights?” The argument advanced here is that the 2002 Directive is the outcome of a political compromise among the member states, on which feminist discourses did have some bearing. On the one hand, the 2002 Directive can be interpreted as a success of feminist activism around sexual harassment, in particular, in the very definition, linking the problem to sex discrimination. On the other hand, it has limitations and does not go as far as feminists had hoped; for example, the EU has left it up to member states to deal with the most difficult aspects of the problem, prevention, implementation, and enforcement of the laws.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Human Rights, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe

1395. Access to Information: Jamaica: Building a Culture of Transparency

Author:
Alicia Athié
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
In passing and implementing the Access to Information Act 2002, Jamaica has established a new and more open form of governance and accomplished what many other countries are still attempting. The Act, which provides citizens an enforceable right to official documents held by public authorities, is key to enhancing democracy, ensuring citizens' participation, and building greater trust in Government decision making. Access to public documents can assist citizens in exercising their other fundamental socioeconomic rights, such as the right to housing, appropriate health care, and a clean and healthy environment, and it can serve to make government more efficient and effective.
Topic:
Government, Human Rights, and Politics
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, South Africa, and Caribbean

1396. The Resistance of the Westphalian System: September 11 and World Politics

Author:
Gökhan Bacik
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
This article aims to present several assumptions about world politics since the end of the Cold War. First, as the ancillary argument of this paper, what we have been experiencing since the end of the Cold War era is a sign of a newly emerging world system which bears contradictions with the Westphalian model by focusing on new developments that are inconcistent with the principles of this model. Second, as the basic arguments of this paper, since September 11, the struggle between the Westphalian structure and newly emerging forces has entered a new phase. I take the cognitive process of the current world powers to analyze the struggle between the Westphalian structure and the challenging forces.
Topic:
Cold War and Politics

1397. European Union as a Postmodern and Multicultural Space: Technicalization of Politics and the Dilemmas of National Democracies

Author:
Nazim Irem
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
Basic principles of the EU's politics of expansion have begun to be laid down since the mid-1990s following the historical decision to expand the Union towards Eastern Europe. By giving a meta-norm status to the principle of reciprocal intervention, the EU, as described by Robert Cooper, has taken the form of a postmodern state during the long process of integration. Unlike the integration policy, the EU formulates its expansion policy on realistic terms assuming that the candidates, which are not fully incorporated into the post­modern policy realm of the EU, are modern nation states. It is argued that the structural problems such as democratic deficit and/or the erosion of legitimacy inherent to the EU's postmodern integration politics have been exported to the candidate states in the process of the adapta­tion of the acquis communautaire.
Topic:
Politics
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe

1398. Globalization of Culture and Change of Established Political Positions

Author:
Kudret Bülbül
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
This article argues that the modernization process has created standardization in different areas of life, while culture has been relatively and independently preserved during this process. Nevertheless, it is difficult for societies to sustain independent compartments in the cultural area while employing standardized techniques, institutions, and principles in the areas of economics, politics, and technology. This article explores the reflections of members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) on cultural globalization, since the TGNA is the main policy maker in Turkey. Although the perceptions of TGNA members generally differ, according to whether they are members of the AKP (Justice and Development Party) the CHP (Republican People's Party), their approaches do not depart greatly from that expected from general theoretical discussions. The approaches of the members of parliament (MPs) do not pertain to Turkey only.
Topic:
Globalization and Politics
Political Geography:
Turkey

1399. Environmental Management and Conflict in Southeast Asia – Land Reclamation and its Political Impact

Author:
Kog Yue-Choong
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:
Land-scarce Singapore has no choice but to carry out massive reclamation to cope with its population growth and economic development. The ability for Singapore to continue to carry out its reclamation to enlarge its territory is tied to its survival as a competitive economy. Land reclamation works have been carried out in Singapore since the late 19th century when Singapore was a British colony. After Singapore was separated from Malaysia in 1965, massive land reclamation has been ongoing almost non-stop since then without giving rise to any dispute with its neighbours. Dredged sea sand has been used for reclamation in Singapore long ago, initially the sea sand come from seabed within Singapore's territory and later from Malaysia and Indonesia. But for the first time in 2002, such reclamation works have figured in volatile ties between Singapore and Malaysia when Malaysia protested vehemently about the trans-boundary environmental impact of Singapore's reclamation works. At the same time, Indonesian leaders imposed an export ban of sea sand from Indonesia to Singapore because they felt that sea sand was being shipped to enlarge Singapore's territory at environmental costs that surpassed the economic benefits from selling the sand. This paper will review the reclamation efforts by Singapore and the perceived threat that it poses to neighbouring countries including Malaysia and Indonesia in the context of the concerns over environmental degradation, territorial rights and the tensions engendered in the relations among these countries. This paper will argue that the dispute between Singapore and Malaysia as well as Singapore and Indonesia should not be securitised. Instead, such non-traditional security issues should be viewed as 'desecuritised'. This need is particularly acute in this uncertain time because of the threats of terrorism and the challenge of escalation in economic rivalry brought about by globalisation and the opening of China and India.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Environment, and Politics
Political Geography:
China, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Singapore, and Southeast Asia

1400. Securitization Of Illegal Migration of Bangladeshis To India

Author:
Josy Joseph
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:
Over 10 million illegal migrants from Bangladesh live in India, according to both official and unofficial estimates. This paper examines the securitization of the issue by various actors through a century. The paper goes into the influences of political ideologies on the Indian State's response to the issue, and the impact of speech acts and other actions of securitizing actors on the issue. The study also examines if desecuritization of the issue would have any positive impact on solving the problem.
Topic:
Security, Migration, and Politics
Political Geography:
Bangladesh and India