Suchergebnisse

Argues that the expiration of the Partnership & Cooperation Agreement (PCA) demands that Russia & the European Union (EU) must decide whether to transform years of cooperation into a strategic partnership. Political, economic, social, & cultural domains covered by the PCA are reviewed, along with relevant aspects of the EU Collective Strategy, & the 1999 Strategy of the Relationships between the Russian Federation & the EU. Attention is given to similarities in the Russia & EU approach to mutual relations; the EU's unwillingness to offer Russia an adequate plan of strategic mutual relations; & areas of disagreement between Russia & the EU. It is pointed out that the EU consistently sacrifices continental security for its own & exploits old fears of a restored Russian Empire. Other matters discussed include economic aspects of EU-Russia relation; the lack of cooperation in the defense/security sphere; & contradictory relations between the EU & the US. It is concluded that it is up to the EU to make the next move toward strategic cooperation with Russia. J. Lindroth

Diplomatic relations between Russia & Paraguay were established in 1992 & since then, the two countries have made considerable progress regarding their foreign policy departments & intergovernmental agreements on trade & economic cooperation. As Russia wills to balance the trade turnover ($ 228.1 million in 2006, for 99.2 percent accounted by Paraguayan meat exports to Russia) through a well thought through trade & economic strategy. As Paraguay seems too small for Russian machinery & technical products, & in view of its advantageous geostrategic position at the center of South America, Russian experts are looking into the possibility to create in Paraguay joint export-oriented production plants to assemble Russian agriculture, road construction, machinery & equipment. Other possible projects are firefighting aviation for Paraguay, sister city partnerships, cooperation in law enforcement & public health, & an intensification of sport ties. O. van Zijl

Discusses the characteristics of modern terrorism, using al Qaeda to illustrate and describing it as an extremely complex interdisciplinary problem. Counterterrorist efforts since the war in Afghanistan are recounted.

Emanuel Adler & Michael Barnett's recently edited volume, Security Communities (1998), purports to explore & explain the development of relationships in which peaceful resolution of conflicts is the norm. An examination of this effort finds it wanting. The editors' approach neglects one of the most crucial of questions: "Whose security is guaranteed by such communities?" An examination of the editors' assumptions reveals that security communities are created to maintain the economic & political power of elites, often at the expense of the populations over which they rule. Moreover, their state-centric approach ignores the importance & influence of transnational phenomena. Finally, the assumption that increased interaction naturally leads to reduced conflict is simplistic at best. The case of West Africa, in particular, the creation of the Economic Community Cease-Fire Monitoring Group, illustrates the shortcomings of Adler & Barnett's arguments. 16 References. K. A. Larsen

Emanuel Alder & Michael Barnett respond to the comments & criticism of their edited volume, Security Communities (1998). Hakan Wiberg (2000) noted that Alder & Barnett's explanation of how security communities are formed does not appear to explain the establishment of such a community in Scandinavia. The authors respond that this is due in part to the timing: their analysis focuses on the post-WWII period while a security community in Scandinavia arose in 1905 if not earlier. Nevertheless, they welcome the questions concerning the importance of language, religion, & culture, as well as concerning the significance of a "core of strength" that the Scandinavian case poses. Janice Bially Mattern (2000) called for greater attention to the relationship between identity & the development of security communities, as well as for a reconsideration of the role of power. The authors agree with the general conclusions of these arguments. However, they note that it does not necessarily follow that they should endorse Mattern's discursive approach as the only way to ascertain reality. The authors heartily disagree with Morten Boas's (2000) analysis of their work. They counter Boas's assertion that security communities serve only the needs of ruling elites by pointing out that even Marxists have argued that peace often benefits the masses. They disagree with Boas's characterizations of their arguments concerning their explanations of causation & their theoretical approach, particularly the idea that their arguments are simply a variation of democratic peace theory. Finally, they note that Boas's use of West Africa as a case study is of little use because they never claimed that West Africa should be thought of as a security community. K. A. Larsen

Beziehungen zur und Außenhandel mit der BRD (1949-1971) und DDR; der sino-sowjetische Konflikt; Ziele der Außenpolitik

In einem Gespräch mit Internationale Politik beschreibt der Bundeskanzler die strategischen Perspektiven einer veränderten deutschen Außenpolitik. Aus seiner Sicht gibt es keinen Bruch im transatlantischen Verhältnis, die Partnerschaft zwischen Europa und den USA bleibe von "fundamentaler Bedeutung" für die internationale Sicherheit und Stabilität, Konfliktprävention und internationale Zusammenarbeit bei der Krisenbewältigung seien für die Bundesregierung oberstes Gebot. (DGAP-IP)

THIS STUDY EXAMINES THE GROWTH FOR CANADIAN TRADE WITH JAPAN IN LIGHT OF THREE MAJOR INFLUENCES; TRENDS IN THE JAPANESE MARKET, THE U.S.-JAPAN TRADE DISPUTE, AND THE INCREASING PROMINENCE OF JAPANESE CORPORATIONS IN RAPIDLY DEVELOPING ASIA. WHILE JAPAN'S MARKET IS LIKELY TO BECOME MORE OPEN AS DEREGULATION PROCEEDS, ITS CHANGING INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE AND DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE WILL INCREASINGLY DEMAND GOODS WHICH CANADA IS ILL-POSITIONED TO PROVIDE. U.S.-JAPAN TRADE FRICTION PROVIDES JAPAN WITH A CONSTANT TEMPTATION TO SHOW INFORMAL PREFERENCE TO THE UNITED STATES ON TRADE AND INVESTMENT DECISIONS, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY EVERY U.S. SUCCESS IN OBTAINING FORMAL CONCESSIONS THROUGH BILATERAL USE OF THREATS UNDERMINES THE RULE-BASED TRADING REGIME IN WHICH MEDIUM-SIZED OPEN ECONOMIES SUCH AS CANADA DEPEND. ASIAN ECONOMIC GROWTH WILL PRESENT NEW CHALLENGE TO CANADIAN FIRMS EVEN TO RETAIN THEIR EXISTING SALES AS JAPANESE FIRMS SHIFT PRODUCTION OFFSHORE.

The purpose of this article is to study the occurrence of the Lucas paradox in the region of Central-Eastern Europe. According to the research conducted by Robert Lucas (1990), the direction of the international capital flows is different than the neoclassical theory suggests. The capital does not flow from the richer, high-income economies to the poorer, but rather stays in those with the higher capital resources or flows to the other ones with similar level of GDP. The paper verifies whether the paradox appears in the region, in the way that it examines the impact of the GDP on the FDI inflows. Additionally, the study implements few basic models with factors that may potentially resolve the puzzle of the capital flows. The study method is based on panel data estimations, initially using pooled OLS, and subsequently using fixed or random effects models as appropriate. The examined economies are the member states of the European Union, from the region of Central-Eastern Europe, and the examined years are 2000-2018. Based on the literature, and the widely emphasized need for differentiating between the types of international capital flows, the article focus is on the foreign direct investment only, as they constitute large part of the whole global capital flows. Results of the research confirm the presence of the paradox in the region in the examined period. Even though the estimation of the additional models helps to remove the effects of the paradox for the region, it does not fully explain under which circumstances the neoclassical theory would be applicable. None of the applied models reverses the sign of the GDP variable to negative, keeping it statistically significant at the same time.