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This paper will focus on the policies developed by the European Union towards the Western Balkans, especially those related to human mobility and visa liberalization. The main target of the paper will be to show how the conditionality policies towards these countries have been developed related to security, geopolitical needs and interests, instead of the objective/technical criteria stated in the communitarian official documents. We will see how the last enlargements of the Union have affected considerably the different positions adopted by member states in their approach toward the Balkan countries, especially in relation to chapters 23 and 24 of the negotiation agreements, dealing with issues of Justice and Home Affairs. Since then, the pragmatic approach of the Union has been reinforced, so that the accession of candidates has been delayed in time. However, some things might change, if we take into consideration the current refugee and Ukraine crises, the new relationships that have been developed with Russia (especially by Serbia), and Greece’s approach towards Moscow on the verge of the economic crisis. If the European Union has, until now, followed a stick-and-carrot approach towards the Balkans in order to maintain a security belt on its southeast border, this approach might change within a new geopolitical context. In this paper we will analyse the visa liberalization process and its developments since Thessaloniki 2003, to show how the decisions taken by the Union have been more linked to political matters related to security than to technical reasons related to passport design.
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Kosovo, like all EU members as well as those aspiring to join the EU, is fighting on different “fronts” aiming to attain EU and international standards. Among these standards, media freedom represents without any doubt one of the most difficult challenges as the country aspires to be democratic and transparent, as well as to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms. Having this in mind, the Kosovo Government is trying to accelerate the integration process by supporting the idea of free and transparent media as a precondition to EU membership. Such an objective has become an obligatory part of many documents deriving from the Kosovo constitution as well as other plans and strategies like the National Strategy for European Integration “Kosovo 2020”. In Kosovo’s integration process, there are several other obstacles, specifically with the opposition of some EU members to recognize the authority of the Republic of Kosovo, but with no doubt, media freedom is among the basic and fundamental ones. Thus, this paper attempts to present and analyse the approaches that the Kosovo institutions are using to improve the process of having a free, transparent and democratic media as an important component of the integration process and EU membership.
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review of: ------------------ Gabriela Horoşanu. 2014. NATO-EU: A Smarter Collaboration, Bucharest, Tritonic Publishing House, 194 pages, ISBN: 978-606-8571-41-6.
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Miruna Troncotă. 2014. Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Critical Case Study of Europeanization, Bucharest, Tritonic Publishing House, 327 pages, ISBN: 978-606-8571-36-2.
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After the latest European electoral cycle, right wing parties on the far side of the political spectrum along with right-wing euro-sceptics and conservative anti-federalists won 112 seats. The presence of the radical right in the European Parliament (EP), has often been attributed to the second order election model theorised by Reif and Schmitt (1980). In European elections, turnout is traditionally lower compared to “first” order national elections, parties in government tend to lose vote-shares while smaller parties benefit from the European system of proportional representation. This article analyses the relationship between radical parties and the EP by examining the French and Danish results in the 2014 elections. Though both constitute the third political force in their countries at that time, Front National and Dansk Folkeparti’s electoral support is representative of a second order election. The former party benefited from a classic sanction vote while the second one owes its breakthrough to a particular Danish voting behaviour, somewhat singular in the European Union. The article offers an in-depth overview of the literature on both the radical right, the Second Order Election model as well as radical right parties’ dynamic at the European Parliament level.
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Through the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), the European Union aimed at offering a stable framework for the development of its neighbouring countries. The Eastern dimension of this policy, the Eastern Partnership, proved to be the catalyst for an unprecedented internal wave of protests. Ukraine, probably the most demanding country in the ENP, has posed a great challenge to this framework. In this article I offer an analysis of those events from the perspective of the EU to show that the factors for these surprising events are rooted in Ukraine’s internal structure. As the conflict in Ukraine is still ongoing at the moment of writing, I complete my analysis with the Minsk 2 agreements. My argument is that the aim to get close to the EU has been motivated by Ukraine’s desire to obtain a political system based on good governance, which was at the same time another goal. I explain the desire to sign the Association Agreement and the deepening of relations with the EU as attempts to ensure that the country would not transform its internal political regime in order to look more like the Russian Federation.
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The present paper aims to portray a clear perspective of the problem of immigrants, who are arriving in Europe from the Middle East conflict zones (particularly Syria and Iraq) and from North Africa (mainly Libya). The causes that conducted to the development of such a phenomenon represent the motivation for choosing this theme, as well as its effects on the functionality of the EU at an institutional level and finally yet importantly the “trenchant” visions of the European public opinion, amplified by the mass media: the pros and cons of accepting the wave of refugees. The author's approach aims to put in balance both the positive effects of the phenomenon on the European continent, as well as the negative ones. Positive effects might consist in obtaining additional work force, as Europe is currently facing a demographic aging phenomenon. Furthermore, from the perspective of EU citizens, who believe in the cohesion of the European institutions, the acceptance of refugees represents a basic value for unity and further on stands for the formation of a homogenous European Union, therefore emphasising the importance of each individual. On the other hand, analysing the matter in the most realistic possible way, the risk of potential terrorist penetration in Europe is quite high and unmanageable. As a research method, we will use document analysis, referring to media articles and official documents. This phenomenon is particularly complex and the crisis result will depend on the effectiveness of the manner in which each national authority as well as the European ones will handle the issue.
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Carl Clausewitz's main book, "On War", suffered from its inception continued misinterpretations and distortions, compounded by the frequent opacity of the text itself. One of the most damaging such misinterpretations has probably been the one suggested by Paul Wolfowitz in the framework of the so-called "Wolfowitz Doctrine". The primary objective of the present note is to demystify the situation and to correct the main points of incoherence, in order to contribute to a more accurate interpretation of Clausewitz's thinking. We identify first the main characteristics of "On War" including its implicit moral dimension, and subsequently examine the main areas of incoherence in Wolfowitz's interpretation, among which the excessively ambitious definition of "minimum objectives" originated in an erroneous understanding of the concept of "Total War". As a result, we see that this latter misinterpretation frontally clashes against what is most likely Clausewitz's main thesis, i.e. War as a Rational act. War is a political act and as such is part of a dynamic in which decisions must be taken considering their likely effects, in order to reach the optimal outcome. Given that armed conflicts invariably produce damaging, undesirable losses, preventing them and limiting their scope and duration are obvious demands of rational decision-making, clearly implied in Clausewitz's work. Limitation of war is thus a desirable, appropriate, necessary and efficient objective, contrary to the Wolfowitz's misinterpretation, which needs urgent correction.
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This article addresses the contemporary issues and challenges of the international environment, from the perspective of geopolitics, and focuses on understanding how all these elements affect the states' sovereignty. Thereby, the two main research questions are the following: How the geopolitical context changed after the end of the Cold War? and What are the new meanings and dimensions of sovereignty within the international system? We considered analyzing the geopolitical context after the Cold War being given the fact that the aforementioned moment was the last one that changed profoundly the international structure. Also, we assume that the nature of state sovereignty has altered in the post-Cold War period in order to reflect new trends of a changing global society
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In an international system characterized by interdependencies, morality and ethics have played over time an important role in determining the relations among actors. These concepts may impose responsibility to actors to respect their interactions and this paper aims to make an analysis on how sovereignty is affected by morality and ethics as instruments of interventions in conflict areas.
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The rise of emerging powers is challenging the current traditional world order dominated by the Western powers. Countries like the ones in the BRICS claim a greater role in the formulation of international politics and in the main international institutions based on their increased economic power. This paper aims to analyze their perspectives on humanitarian interventions and Responsibility to Protect. The BRICS are traditional countries in terms of state sovereignty and rejected the concept from the beginning (2001). In 2005, the five countries signed for the implementation of the concept and agree with the first two pillars of the concept, but disagree with the implementation of the third pillar, the actual military interventions
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This article emphasizes some key aspects of sovereignty in a brief synchronic analysis, insisting on the dynamic denotations the concept has in the actual global framework. Aspects related to asymmetric interactions of the migrants with the host society in a rather cosmopolitan world, where the nation-state is only one of the omnifarious actors involved in the policy- and decision making process are underlined, primarily in constructivist terms
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This paper takes into discussion the proposal of establishing, into a progressive manner, of a Common European Army, an institution having a collective defense role, imposing the European interests and maintaining the European unity, in the context in which the member states of the EU want to maintain their distinct elements that belonged to the national sovereignty. Or, the army meaning is - beyond its role of “leading the struggle” – “national sovereignty”. In order to sustain its international role – maybe, to increase it – EU needs a deeper integration of the member states and it must create institutions capable to design its interests internationally. The establishment both of Common Foreign and Security Policy and of the European External Action Service is an insufficient approach, as long as it has no real elements able to achieve its objectives. According to these general considerations, the paper aims to identify which could be the relation between the existence of a common European army and the sovereignty of member states, taking into account the socio-cultural context of partners within the EU and, especially, the new challenges that EU will have to face and to solve in the next period.
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This paper tries to shed some light on the aspects in regard to the principle of sovereignty and the right to self-determination as decisive elements in the course of the Nagorno-Karabakh war. Defining sovereignty and the right to self-determination as well as linking them to the conflict in Transcaucasia is the first part of this paper. Likewise, the reactions of the Azeri government and civil society are also analysed, as well as the factors which influenced the outcome of the conflict. Simultaneously, we shall analyse how the structure of the political power of the two states was formed as a result of the conflict in Mountainous Karabakh. Last but not least, the relation between the central leadership of the USSR with Azerbaijan and Armenia will be analyzed.
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Although perceptible since 1957, the Sino-Soviet ideological disputes became public only in 1960. The main bilateral ideological dissensions were ignited by topics such as: the significance of the 20th Congress of the CPSU for the international communist movement, the nature of the contemporary era, questions of war and peace, the doctrine of peaceful coexistence and the forms of transition from capitalism to socialism. Based on a series of inedited and edited documents, the present paper aims at recollecting the main ideological divergences manifested between the CPSU and the CCP at the beginning of the 1960s.
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Taking back the classic interpretation of the concept of sovereignty, the paper aims to analyze this concept in the light of the terrorist group ISIS. Methodologically speaking the analysis is based on content analysis tool. Starting with a discussion related to the concept of sovereignty and terrorism, and after a brief history of this group, the paper focuses on how the idea of sovereignty is reflected in the recently promoted magazine of the Islamic State group.
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The third millennium A.D. was expected to bring peace and to solve many of humankind’s problems, from security to health or environment - to name a few. Instead, a black day came in the history of mankind (as Pope John Paul II once called 9/11) and the dogs of war have been once again unleashed, starting a sequence of events that lead to chaos in the Middle East and the establishment of ISIL. This paper approaches two of the most important events of the beginning of the 21st century, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the war(s) on terror, from the perspective of the just war theory and tradition. The most important finding is that both the ‘Al-Qaeda terrorism’ and the ‘war on terror’ are not justified even by the standards imposed by the Catholic Catechism or the Qu’ran regarding the just cause for waging warfare. However, a traditional characteristic of state sovereignty (waging war) is no longer exclusively associated with the nation-state. It is already shared with non-state actors aspiring more or less to statehood
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