Number of results to display per page
Search Results
36492. The Chechen Problem: Sources, Developments and Future Prospects
- Author:
- Alexandru Liono
- Publication Date:
- 12-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The political, economic and social situation in Chechnya is a matter of concern for all the analysts of the current environment in the North Caucasus. Every day brings about new developments in Chechnya, which can hardly be characterised as encouraging. The more recent events, which culminated with the intervention in Chechnya and the siege of Grozny by the Russian Federal troops in November – December 1999, have raised even more questions about the future of the Caucasus.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Economics, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Russia and North Caucasus
36493. Denmark and the Northern Dimension
- Author:
- Bertel Heurlin
- Publication Date:
- 11-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- This country study consists of three parts. First some introductory observations aiming at placing the Northern dimension concept in a broader context. Secondly, a description of the Danish participation in Baltic sea- activities and programs. Thirdly, an overview of the official Danish position.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe
36494. The International System of the 21st Century
- Author:
- Bertel Heurlin
- Publication Date:
- 08-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- In 1969, 30 years ago, a large portion of the earth's population had to revise their conception of the world. Pictures of Earth as seen from the moon taken by American astronauts made a considerable impression. The pictures portrayed a very beautiful planet - shining, inviting, sunny, fertile, full of life and beauty. This was Spaceship Earth, a spaceship apparently characterised more by nature than by culture. The spaceship Earth appears hospitable and yet vulnerable. It faces space, communicating. It is a spaceship the population of which lives on the outside in stead of within.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Foreign Policy, and International Cooperation
36495. And Never the Twain Shall Meet ? The EU's Quest for Legitimacy and Enlargement
- Author:
- Lykke Friis and Anna Murphy
- Publication Date:
- 08-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The European Union in the 1990s is a contested, open-ended polity. It regulates almost as many policy-issues as nation-states and has been accepted by politicians, interest groups and many parts of the public as an appropriate framework for policy-making. Despite the increasing importance of the EU there is however no consensus about what the EU actually is, yet alone where it is heading. The ever-expanding agenda of integration in the 1990s has also led to considerable public scepticism towards the EU-project. Indeed, legitimacy crisis and democratic deficit have become the codewords in the literature and practice of European integration in the 1990s.
- Topic:
- Politics and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe
36496. EU and Legitimacy - The Challenge of Compatibility: A Danish Case Study
- Author:
- Lykke Friis and Anna Murphy
- Publication Date:
- 07-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Since the difficulties of ratifying the Maastricht Treaty legitimacy has topped the EU's agenda. Departing from the dominating trend in the literature that the EU's legitimacy problems are largely due to the EU's inability to develop a common identity, which can compete or even replace national identities, this article shifts the focus to compatibility. The core legitimacy test is whether the EU and its member states – as a multidimensional governance system, in which nation states persist alongside supranational institutions – can develop identities, which are compatible. Based on this approach the article analyses the ratification debate on the Treaty of Amsterdam in one Member State, namely Denmark. Its core conclusion is that it is indeed important to abandon the traditional conceptualisation of EU legitimacy. As the Danish case shows legitimacy can be enhanced if member states are able to (re)construe the EU as being compatible with national identity.
- Topic:
- Nationalism and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe
36497. CIAO: The Imposition of Governance: Transforming Foreign Policy through EU Enlargement
- Author:
- Thomas Diez
- Publication Date:
- 08-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Driving me through Ankara only a couple of hours after I disembarked the plane, my Turkish colleague points to the latest apartment buildings and a hypermodern shopping mall further down the road. These places, he points out, would be ready for the EU. If only all of Turkey would already look like them - but eventually, it will. Only give us some time. And indeed, the economic change over the past decade seems remarkable. Then Prime Minister Turgut Özal's final abandonment of statism, one of the six pillars of Kemalism, in favour of a widespread, although still restricted, liberalisation strategy, looks like bearing visible fruits. Despite the Turkish economy nonetheless still experiencing a great deal of difficulties (inflation in 1999 was still above 60%, and that already was a huge improvement on previous years), my conversations in the following week centre on a different issue - Turkey's foreign policy. With its 40,000 soldiers in northern Cyprus, its continually problematic relationship with Greece, its ventures into northern Iraq and threatenings towards Syria, Turkey's foreign policy is, together with human rights issues, one of the central stumbling blocs for starting membership negotiations after the acknowledgement of candidate status in Helsinki. In Cyprus's southern part, the economic problem of the day is its overheated stockmarket. My friend multiplied his assets within half a year. More and more villas are mushrooming in beautiful settings, and the younger generation in particular is very well off. Accordingly, Cyprus is the forerunner in the enlargement negotiations, with a GNP per capita above some of the current EU member states (Pace 2000: 122). No wonder then that my conversation again focus on what most Cypriot politicians regard a domestic issue, but which at least has a strong foreign policy aspect to it: its policy towards the northern part of the island, 'under Turkish occupation' as the official labelling goes, and thereby also to Turkey. Despite Cyprus's status in the negotiations, its probable future membership is thus overshadowed by the conflict on the island.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Government, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, Middle East, and Ankara
36498. Will the EU use Northern Dimension to solve its Kaliningrad dilemma?
- Author:
- Lyndelle Fairlie
- Publication Date:
- 08-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- A Northern Dimension for the European Union is now taking shape. Originally a Finnish initiative, it tries to take a regional view of the Baltic area which includes member states, EU applicants such as Poland and the Baltic states and Russia. The Northern Dimension specifically mentions the Russian oblast of Kaliningrad. There is very little time left to develop an Action Plan which the EU Council can adopt at the December Helsinki summit. This essay addresses the question of whether or not the EU will use Northern Dimension to solve its Kaliningrad dilemma.
- Topic:
- International Relations, International Organization, and Sovereignty
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Eastern Europe, and Asia
36499. The Never-Ending Iraqi Crisis
- Author:
- Bjørn Moller
- Publication Date:
- 03-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- There is little doubt that Iraq was in blatant violation of the 1991 ceasefire agreement in general and of the famous “mother of all resolutions”, UNSCR 687 (3 April 1991) in particular, in which the extent and modalities of the disarmament of the defeated aggressor were detailed: The Security Council..... 8. Decides that Iraq shall unconditionally accept the destruction, removal, or rendering harmless, under international supervision, of: a) all chemical and biological weapons and all stocks of agents and all related subsystems and components and all research, development, support and manufacturing facilities; b) all ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150 kilometres... 34. Decides to remain seized of the matter and to take such further steps as may be required for the implementation of this resolution and to secure peace and security in the area.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, International Law, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- United States and Middle East
36500. Acoustic Weapons—A Prospective Assessment: Sources, Propagation, and Effects of Strong Sound
- Author:
- Jürgen Altmann
- Publication Date:
- 05-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
- Abstract:
- Acoustic weapons are under research and development in a few countries. Advertised as one type of non-lethal weapons, they are said to immediately incapacitate opponents while avoiding permanent physical damage. Reliable information on specifications or effects is scarce, however. The present report sets out to provide basic information in several areas: effects of large-amplitude sound on humans, potential high-power sources, and propagation of strong sound.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States