DPJ Government and Climate Change Policy

Author(s): Marcin Socha / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In 2009 election manifesto Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) leaders voiced their decisive support for stronger engagement in international climate negotiations. The promises were realized by an ambitious climate mitigation proposal presented by Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio at COP 15 in Copenhagen. 25% CO2 levels reduction commitment was heavily criticized by Japanese opposition, METI bureaucrats and business circles. Despite strong domestic opposition Prime Minister Hatoyama decided to place climate mitigation among priorities of his foreign policy. Next DPJ administration quickly backtracked from the position of climate leader. The head of the Japanese delegation at COP 16 in Mexico stated that Japan would not be a part of new Kyoto Protocol commitment period. The aim of the article is to identify changing factors in decision–making process that led to quick change in DPJ’s approach to international climate mitigation efforts.

Cercetări ale INCD URBAN-INCERC în Programul Nucleu

Author(s): Doina Bubulete / Language(s): Romanian Publication Year: 0

Основни тези на конференцията, тенденции, подходи и възможни алтернативи (основни акценти в дискусията)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bosnian,English Publication Year: 0

The compilation of papers strives to offer the reader a point of view, stepping on the solid ground of comparative analysis of the various aspect of power and authority toward building a sustainable change of policies in integrating society. The selected papers thus represent corrective actions in strategic visions and sustainability recommendations. A comprehensive overview of the ideas and ideologies in historical context and functioning practices with global, national and regional impact are carefully studied, revealing their paradoxes and application weaknesses.

Rodičovský čas v Německu

Author(s): Zuzana Jürgens / Language(s): Czech Publication Year: 0

Česko se ani v těchto letech, kdy se na místo ve školce stojí fronty, není schopné v prorodinné politice inspirovat u svého nejbližšího souseda, v Německu. Zde se vláda kancléřky Angely Merkel zavázala, že do roku 2013 bude mít každé dítě po dovršení prvního roku právo na místo ve školce. A tento slib je už viditelný i v realitě - v obcích se staví školky, nabírá se personál. U nás je zodpovědnost za péči o děti zcela ponechána v rukou matek, které nemají ani zákonnou možnost pomoci si samy. Místo otevřeného prostoru jsou válcovány hygienickými nařízeními nutnými pro zřízení zařízení péče o děti, firemní školy je nutné hledat lupou a něco v Německu tak běžného jako institut Tagesmutter, denních matek, je stále v nedohlednu.

Entrepreneurial Activity in Slovakia: Selected Regional Aspects and the Role of Governmental Environment

Author(s): Ondřej Dvouletý,Anna Pilková,Juraj Mikuš,Miroslava Rimská / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Purpose: The main aim of our study was to contribute to this increasing body of the regional entrepreneurship literature by a better understanding of the regional entrepreneurial activity in Slovakia as an example of post-communist economy. Design/methodology/approach: We exploit the existing measures of entrepreneurship from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic, and we explore the inter-regional differences in the levels of entrepreneurial activity among eight Slovak NUTS 3 regions during years 2011-2015. We also employ the multivariate regression models and empirically investigate the relationship between the business environment and entrepreneurial activity in Slovakia. Findings: The average engagement in entrepreneurship in Slovakia was during the analysed period 16-18% of the economically active population depending on the measure used. The results of multivariate regression models have shown that the overall improvement of the general business environment positively influences the levels of entrepreneurship in Slovakia. Research/practical implications: We believe that such an observation may serve as an encouragement for the further efforts invested in improving business conditions for the established and new Slovak entrepreneurs. We also encourage future researchers to study further other location factors of entrepreneurial activity such as cultural, logistic and socioeconomic variables. Future research might also address the role of entrepreneurial infrastructure and public entrepreneurship and SME policies. Originality/value: The presented study empirically contributes to the body of knowledge on the regional entrepreneurship and the conducted approach towards quantification of the entrepreneurial activity might serve as an inspiration for other scholars.

Prezydencja w Unii Europejskiej – porównanie rozwiązań funkcjonujących kiedyś i obecnie przy uwzględnieniu polskich doświadczeń

Author(s): Joanna Modrzyńska / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

Artykuł naświetla zmieniające się w zależności od aktualnych potrzeb i gromadzonych doświadczeń rozwiązania dotyczące prezydencji w Unii Europejskiej. Jest próbą ich oceny oraz bilansu polskiej prezydencji.

Evropska unija: pravni okvir i mehanizmi za rodnu ravnopravnost

Author(s): Adrijana Hanušić-Bećirović / Language(s): Bosnian Publication Year: 0

Evropska unija funkcioniše na principu vladavine prava tako da su sve njene radnje utemeljene na ugovorima na čiji sadržaj su dobrovoljno i demokratskim putem pristale sve države članice EU. Pravni instrumenti Evropske unije (EU) su podijeljeni u dvije grupe. Prvu grupu čini takozvano primarno zakonodavstvo EU – osnivački ugovori; Ugovor o Evropskoj uniji (UEU), poznat i kao Ugovor iz Mastrihta iz 1992. godine, Ugovor o funkcioniranju Evropske unije (UFEU) te Povelja EU o temeljnim pravima. Obaveze iz ugovora jesu postavile temelje za EU politike rodne ravnopravnosti i imaju posebnu težinu. One su provodive od strane država članica, EU institucija, kao i – zahvaljujući doktrini o njihovom direktnom efektu – od samih građana EU pred domaćim sudovima. Sekundarne izvore prava čine pravilnici/uredbe, odluke, preporuke, mišljenja te uputstva/direktive, koje su obavezujuće u smislu rezultata. To znači da su države u postizanju definisanih ciljeva slobodne da odluče o najboljem načinu njihove implementacije (čl. 288 UFEU).

Institucionalni mehanizmi i javne politike za rodnu ravnopravnost

Author(s): Adnan Kadribašić / Language(s): Bosnian Publication Year: 0

Postojanje institucionalnih mehanizama za ravnopravnost spolova se smatra bitnom pretpostavkom za ukidanje diskriminacije na osnovu spola/roda i ostvarivanje ciljeva rodne ravnopravnosti. Potreba za uspostavljanjem institucija koje će se specifično baviti ovim pitanjima je prepoznata i istaknuta tokom Četvrte svjetske konferencije o ženama 1995. godine u Pekingu (vidi rad II.1 Ujedinjene nacije autora Damira Banovića). Zaključci ove konferencije su sadržani u Pekinškoj deklaraciji i Platformi za akciju kada je zaključeno da vlade imaju primarnu odgovornost za sprovedbu Platforme za akciju te da bi mehanizmi i institucije za unapređenje položaja žena trebali sudjelovati u formuliranju javne politike i poticati sprovedbu Platforme ali i djelovati kao katalizator u razvoju novih programa (Platforma za akciju, 1995, Glava V-A). Komitet za eliminaciju diskriminacije žena Ujedinjenih naroda (Opća preporuka br. 28, 2010) preporučuje postojanje ovih institucija kao jednu od osnovnih pretpostavki za sprovođenje člana 2. CEDAW konvencije.

Rodna analiza

Author(s): Jelena Milinović / Language(s): Bosnian Publication Year: 0

Postizanje rodne ravnopravnosti kao ljudskog prava propisano je ustavima i zakonima o ravnopravnosti polova/rodnoj ravnopravnosti, antidiskriminacionim zakonodavstvom i cijelim nizom međunarodnih instrumenata ljudskih prava koje smo obavezni poštovati i primjenjivati. Odredbe kojima se štiti ravnopravnost i zabranjuje diskriminacija po osnovu pola/roda dio su i sistemskih i drugih propisa u različitim oblastima, od zakona, podzakonskih i drugih akata, pa sve do strateških i planskih dokumenata, odnosno javnih politika. U čemu je onda problem, pitamo se. Zašto ove deklarativne odredbe u zakonima ne znače odmah i njihovu primjenu u stvarnosti? Zbog čega i dalje postoje izražene rodne neravnopravnosti, pa čak i diskriminacija i nasilje kao ekstremni oblik diskriminacije? Zašto određene mjere vlasti imaju različite učinke na različite društvene grupe muškaraca i žena? Zašto naoko neutralne norme imaju nejednake efekte, iako nejednakost ili čak diskriminacija nisu uopšte bili namjera zakonodavca ili donosioca neke mjere? Zbog čega „ne vidimo“, odnosno odbijamo da vidimo da rodne nejednakosti postoje i da je njihovo uporno opstajanje zapravo legitimisana nejednakost u moći, podjeli rada i pristupu resursima?

“Nova” istorija za novi identitet

Author(s): Milivoj Bešlin / Language(s): Serbian Publication Year: 0

Poslednjih nekoliko godina, nakon nasilnog gušenja građanskih protesta zbog izbornih nepravilnosti (2011) i u obnovljenom predsedničkom mandatu Vladimira Putina (2012), Rusija je otvorenije nego do tada krenula u spoljnu ekspanziju. Nakon već ranije izvršene agresije na Gruziju (2008), sledio je oružani napad na suverenu Ukrajinu, potom i intervencija u Siriji. Slabo delotvorne zapadne sankcije zbog agresivnog rata protiv južnog suseda, čiju je nepovredivost granica i sama Rusija garantovala međunarodnim sporazumom iz Budimpešte (1994) i aneksija Krima (2014), kao dela međunarodno priznate teritorije Ukrajine, ojačale su hladnoratovske tendencije u svetu, a posebno u Evropi. Srbija se zbog svoje spoljnopolitičke dezorjentacije našla u središtu političkog disputa između nesigurnog zapadnog sveta i imperijalne autokratije Vladimira Putina. Ruska „meka moć” i pokušaji da destabilizuje Srbiju i odvrati je od nevoljno prihvaćene evropske agende ogledali su se i u činjenici da je Rusija uložila puno truda i materijalnih resursa u pokretanje desetina medija, portala, fondacija, udruženja građana i nevladinih organizacija sa ciljem jačanja antizapadnog raspoloženja u Srbiji i snaženja nacionalističkih, ksenofobičnih i proruskih tendencija. [...]

Stany Zjednoczone – dokąd zmierza Ameryka pod przywództwem Donalda Trumpa?

Author(s): Aleksandra Jarczewska / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

The second year of Donald Trump’s presidency was not a time of breakthroughs orevents of historical significance. However, there have been some signs foreshadowingsignificant changes for the US.After Trump’s two years in office, the economy is still booming, although afteryears of prosperity one could expect slowdown in the nearest future. In domesticpolitics, the President focused on fulfilling his campaign promises and supportingthe Republicans in maintaining the majority in Congress after the midterm elections.The greatest obstacles for accomplishing Trump’s election goals include: growingconflicts between the President and Democrats, problems related to the investigationby the special prosecutor R. Mueller’s commission, instability and rotation at the toppositions in the administration, and the President’s war with the news media.The “America First” approach continued to dominate in the field of foreignpolicy. The President concentrated his efforts on disposing of Obama’s legacy andimplementing initiatives aimed at protecting the interests of the US and of Americancitizens. However, the lack of a clear vision and consistency in foreign policy,disputes within the administration, a stiffer position and tightening of dialogue withforeign partners led to a further drop in confidence and loss of US credibility on theinternational arena.In general, in fulfilling the vision of Making America Great Again, D. Trump usesmethods and means which are far from the standards previously known in Americanpolitics. As a result, the nature of American domestic and foreign policy is changing.It is an open question, however, whether the processes will prove permanent, to whatextent, and, if so, how will it affect the US political system and international order.

Europa Wschodnia i Kaukaz Południowy: dziesięciolecie Partnerstwa Wschodniego

Author(s): Andrzej Szeptycki / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

The article aims to analyze the region of Eastern Europe and South Caucasusfrom the perspective of the EU Eastern Partnership programme. Ten years afterits initiation, the region remains unstable both politically and militarily. It is stillstruggling with post-Soviet heritage, such as corruption and authoritarian tendencies.While some countries (Armenia) try to counter these challenges, in others (Moldova)there was a significant deterioration of democratic standards. Such a situationseems to indicate the weakness of the EU’s policy mechanisms towards its Easternneighbourhood.According to the EaP assumptions, the cooperation with the countries of theregion is conducted on the case by case basis. This results in the separation of theEastern neighbours of the EU into two subgroups: the first one is made up of Ukraine,Moldova, and Georgia, which in 2014–2017 concluded association agreements withthe EU, providing for the creation of Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas,and were offered a visa-free regime; the second one gathers Belarus, Armenia, andAzerbaijan, with which cooperation is more limited.Russia’s policy remains a key challenge both for the countries of the region and theEU. The Russian Federation is striving both to increase its influence in the countriesof Eastern Europe and South Caucasus, and to limit their cooperation with the EU.An important instrument, though not the only one, of the expansive Russian policyin the region are the frozen conflicts affecting Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia,and Azerbaijan. In the case of Belarus, progressive integration of this country withRussia should not be excluded.

Bliski Wschód – krajobraz po bitwie

Author(s): Wiesław Lizak / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

After several years in which the reports from the Middle East were dominated bynews on the fight against the Islamic State, in 2018 there was a significant change.A series of failures of IS in 2016-2017 led to the situation in which the basic questionconcerning the Middle East focussed not so much on the way to overcome theorganization, but rather on the essence of the new international order, shaped asa result of clashing interests of different states and political forces. In Syria, plungedinto civil war since 2011, the scale of victory clearly shifted to the side of the forcesfaithful to President Bashar al-Assad. In Iraq, after a period of cooperation of differentpolitical forces faced with IS expansion, ethnic and confessional divisions revivedagain. At the same time, mechanisms for seeking effective ways to eliminate threatsto the stability of the country have been introduced. Conflicts in Libya and Yemenare still far from settled. Both countries have no governments that can effectivelycontrol the situation in their territories and external actors get involved to furthertheir particular interests. Local conflicts thus become a playing field for competingregional and global powers, hindering stabilization processes.

Crises and capitalist oligarchies: a radical critique of society and its political economy

Author(s): Judith Dellheim / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Author's examination of 'crises and capitalist oligarchies' focuses on the socio-economic power exerted by economic elites in advanced economies and the particular role of contemporary oligarchies in shaping the mode of production of financialised capitalism. The author underscores the malign effect of intertwined ownership structures (including the role of credit rating agencies) on human and environmental development and proposes a radical reordering of social and economic priorities.

ALBANIA: Radicalization and the Governance of Islam in Albania

Author(s): Arjan Dyrmishi / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

With some hundred or more Albanian citizens having now joined the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), radicalization has become a salient issue in both policy and scholarly domains in Albania. Given the Albanian tradition of religious tolerance and moderation, the quest to understand and explain the foreign fighter phenomenon has sparked extensive debate – in media, among the public, and within academia. Explanations for this trend have focused mainly on the socioeconomic factors affecting certain local communities and individuals, and on the failure of state institutions in some sectors, including in security, intelligence, and education. In general, academic researchers and pundits alike argue in favor of a more robust response by the government. [...]

MONTENEGRO: Montenegro and the Foreign Fighter Phenomenon

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Like other countries in the region, Montenegro has had its fair share of citizens participating as foreign fighters on battlefields abroad; and for the purpose of this study, we will focus on Montenegrin foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq. Due to its geographical location and shared borders with countries that have dealt to a greater degree with this phenomenon – such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Albania – the number of Montenegrin foreign fighters joining the fronts of the so-called Islamic State has varied over time, reaching its peak in 2014. Numbers in 2016 were the lowest they have been since the start of the phenomenon; and one can argue that this is the result of legal and operational mechanisms implemented by the Montenegrin government in 2015. [...]

THE PRINCIPLE OF COMPETITION IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT – POSSIBILITY OF SUSTAINABLE AND COMPETITIVE DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONS

Author(s): Maria Boteva / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The object of the article is the award of the public procurement in compliance with the principles of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and more specially the ones for free movements of goods, freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services and mutual recognition. From them comprise other principles, which are explicitly mentioned in Art. 2 in the Public Procurement Act – among them is the principle of free competition and this is the subject of this research. The purpose is to analyze the significance of the principle of free competition in public procurement award procedures both in the spending of public funds and for the successful management and implementation of the growth, sustainability, convergence and competitive development policies of the regions.

SOFT LAW, EFFECTIVENESS OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND MIGRATION: HOW EFFECTIVE ARE MIGRANTS’ FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN AN ERA OF EUROPEAN GOVERNANCE?

Author(s): Roila Mavrouli / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The objective of this research paper is to examine the valorization of procedural rationality in the field of fundamental rights related to migration from non-EU countries. This is in the context of an EU which is strengthening its constitutional nature, which sees a transition from the concept of government to the concept of governance. In this legal environment it is crucial to guarantee the effectiveness of fundamental rights, thus increasing their normative scope with regard to migration. The challenge to European governance practices and structures is how to transform the valorization of procedural rationality to essential rationality. This leads the democratic praxis to re-appropriate its origin. Nevertheless, this concept of procedural rationality establishes soft law as the fastest and most flexible solution to the migration challenge.

Going mainstream – feminist influence on comparative welfare state research

Author(s): Dorota Szelewa / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This chapter aims at reviewing some of the most important developments in feminist research on the welfare state. The first section outlines the core of the debate between the feminists and mainstream literature, often centred on the critique of Esping-Andersen’s Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, the second one presents some alternative typologies developed for gender-centred comparative analyses of welfare states. Thirdly, I will review this scholarship in the light of the developments in Central and Eastern Europe. The fourth section briefly touches upon thechallenges for current feminist debates, especially with regard to the politics of the welfare state, strategic dilemmas and varieties of feminist standpoints.

Multi-level Governance of Human Mobility: Ending Discrimination and Promoting and Protecting Human Rights of All People on the Move

Author(s): Miguel Santos Neves / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Human mobility is the human face of globalization, the cement that links human communities across the globe and a highly relevant political issue increasingly controversial in many societies in the face of mounting pressures. The main drivers behind human mobility across and within borders are related to the three Ds, Demography and demographic gaps; Development failures and poverty; Democratic and governance failure associated with human rights violations. Moreover, mobility is both a consequence and a cause of human insecurity. On the one hand it is a response to a deregulated globalization that produces increasing inequality and human insecurity but, on the other, mobility itself is increasingly associated with higher levels of human insecurity in the absence of a robust system of international protection.