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AbstractMany analysts and policy makers agree that the withdrawal of the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces and formation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will exacerbate the political, social, ethnic and religious fault lines in Afghanistan and may lead to civil war and chaos in Afghanistan reminiscent of the 1990s. This will also exacerbate non‐traditional security threats such as Islamic fundamentalist and transnational terrorism, drugs/narcotics trade and human migration/refugee crisis in the neighbouring countries and beyond. This article argues that tackling the non‐traditional security threats facing the region and beyond is a public good. It analyses the tackling of non‐traditional security threats – terrorism, narcotics trade and human migration/refugee inflow – through the prism of collective action problem that is joint production of a good or joint action to tackle the problem. It illustrates that difference in threat perception, clash/conflict of interests and geopolitical rivalries will hinder cooperation and intelligence sharing, and lead to uncoordinated action and free riding. It will also create problems of leadership and affect the choice and efficacy of the organisation/institution to tackle the threats. The article highlights that in the absence of collective action, it will be extremely difficult to overcome the non‐traditional security threats emanating from Afghanistan.

The Rambouillet International Conference took place in two phases from 6 to 23 February and from 15 to 18 March 1999. The Rambouillet International Conference itself was of great importance to the Albanians, as the Kosovo Albanian issue was being addressed internationally. The aim of the Albanians in Rambouillet was for the crisis in Kosovo to receive not only political but also legal solutions, in order to achieve Kosovo's independence as soon as possible. What did the Rambouillet Agreement contain? Recognized international principles and human rights, did not infringe on the sovereignty and integrity of Yugoslavia, but expressed the need for self-government in Kosovo. The use of violence in Kosovo as a means of resolution was prohibited, and the withdrawal of Serb forces from Kosovo was demanded. It allowed refugees to return to their homes. Following the Serbian side's opposition to the Rambouillet Agreement, which provided opportunities for a peaceful solution to the conflict, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization warning of the need for a military intervention in the former Yugoslavia as the only option was already on the agenda as a human, legal and humanitarian obligation.Keywords: The Rambouillet International Conference, Kosovo Albanians, The international community, Kosovo delegation, Kosovo, Humanitarian intervention.

Introduction: ASEAN in general is one of the international organizations in the Southeast Asian region whose initial goal was to form a peace zone in the Southeast Asian region.Purposes of the Research: Analyze and discuss arrangements regarding the resignation of member countries from ASEAN membership.Methods of the Research: The research method used in this research is normative law which is sourced from primary, secondary, tertiary legal materials, which data collection is carried out through literature studies.Results of the Research: Based on the results of this study, it is revealed that the resignation of ASEAN member countries cannot be carried out. It is clear that the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969 stipulates that if there is no regulation regarding withdrawal from an international treaty, then the resignation cannot be carried out. However, if a country is difficult to withdraw from ASEAN or other international organizations, it can be said that the member country concerned continues to violate its obligations as a member. Therefore, it would be better to put forward the principles of the ASEAN Way as a norm for peaceful dispute resolution and emphasize deliberation and consensus

Neo-revisionism is a term proposed by Ilan Peleg and Paul Shaum for the philosophy originated by Menachem Begin in 1977 and kept by Yitzhak Shamir and Benjamin Netanyahu. It invokes Vladimir Jabotinski's revisionism with a strong emphasis on state-centrism, bilateral alliances, power and territory. The foreign policy of the Likud leaders showed that a postulated ideological hard-line stand is far from political reality and is closer to a pragmatic interpretation of state's surrounding. The author will try to examine the relation between ideology and pragmatism in the Likud's policy. It will also be shown in the light of neoclassical realism – close to neo-revisionism – by the examples of power, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, non-state representatives but also in the light of pragmatism. The overview of the Likud's policy is divided between ideologised aspects of securing the self-interest of the state, Israeli raison d'état, acting against Arab states' ambitions and securing the territory as a strategic depth and between pragmatic decisions like Begin's peace treaty with Egypt and returning the Sinai, Ariel Sharon's withdrawal of the settlements from the Gaza Strip or the freezing of settlement by Benjamin Netanyahu.

AbstractThe 2016 referendum marks the start of a new era of euroscepticism in the UK, as the basic parameters of debate have shifted from EU membership to non‐membership as the central working assumption of the political system. This shift radically alters the political opportunity structure for those groups and elements that have developed in the period since the Maastricht treaty, removing the unifying and rallying calls of withdrawal and/or radical change to the EU. The achievement of Brexit thus poses an existential challenge, as individuals either demobilise or divert their political energies into other issues. While a core of activists is likely to remain, their scope for influencing public policy or even public debate will be further weakened by the centrality of creating and managing the UK's relationship with the EU to party political debate for the next decade: precisely because it is so important, we would expect many more voices to lobby government and opposition parties. This all points towards a sharp contraction in the organised base of eurosceptic groups, as well as continuing tensions about what still needs to be done in the grand project of opposing European integration.

This article scrutinizes the merits of holding a referendum over UK membership of the EU. It queries the assumption that direct democracy can somehow resolve the longstanding Europe question in British politics. To do this, the analysis traces the existence of an exceptionalist approach to the EU within Britain, now associated with re-negotiating UK membership in the shadow of a referendum. The article argues that the prospects for a radical reconfiguration of the UK's treaty obligations are slim, thereby increasing the risk of a vote to withdraw. Yet withdrawal would be the opposite of a simple solution to the Europe question. Political and economic interests dictate lengthy politicking over a highly complex post-Brexit settlement revisiting free movement of goods, services, capital and people. Such negotiations undermine any mooted cathartic benefits of a popular vote, while Eurosceptics will remain dissatisfied in the event of a yes, a result likely to further destabilize the Conservative Party. Consequently, the simplicity and decisiveness that a referendum-particularly one that spurns the EU-promises is merely a mirage as relations with the EU necessarily form part of an enduring British political conversation. (International Affairs (Oxford) / SWP)

Of the five North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) European countries of US nuclear forward deployment, Italy is the least-known and studied case, even though the country hosts the largest number of US nonstrategic nuclear weapons (NSNWs) and still has two bases of deployment. The paper aims at filling this gap by analyzing Italy's current view on the presence, value, and future of NSNWs hosted on its territory. The analysis begins with the examination of the process of profound devaluation that has minimized, starting from the end of the cold war, Italy's original interest in this category of weapons. It then examines the reasons why Rome continues to pursue conservative nuclear weapon policies and distances itself significantly from the progressive camp of NATO members, particularly Germany, that explicitly call for the withdrawal of US NSNWs from Europe. Through the study of the Italian domestic politics and security culture, the article explains Italy's opposition to any radical change in the NATO nuclear status quo, and its reluctance to pursue policies that are consistent with the process of nuclear devaluation that the country has experienced over the past two decades. Adapted from the source document.

Information systems (IS) have evolved over the last 50 plus years from individual components with single functionality to grand architectures that integrate multiple individual business functions into global organizational enterprises. Similarly several military systems with the single mission of missile defense have evolved in service stovepipes, and are now being integrated into a national and global missile defense architecture. The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is currently tasked with developing an integrated Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) capable of defending against all ranges of ballistic missiles in all phases of flight in defense of the homeland, our deployed forces, and our allies. While this initiative has been proceeding since before Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, the full momentum has only recently been achieved through the withdrawal of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and demonstrated threats from North Korea and Iran. This study draws parallels between the evolution of IS and the BMDS. Further it compiles information management (IM) principles, investigates if they apply to the BMDS, and investigates if they can be used to achieve a better integrated system. Initial indications are that IM principles do apply, but it is questionable if they are being applied.

Illustrates how the post-cold war period unipolar balance of power undermined the international nonproliferation regime. Various 1990s crises precipitated by the loss of the Soviet nuclear security umbrella or rejection of the unipolar power status are discussed: Iraq, North Korea, & India & Pakistan. The rise of international terrorism raised the specter of the use of weapons of mass destruction in terrorist attacks, & the impact of 9/11 on the nonproliferation regime is considered. Attention is also given to North Korea's 2003 withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT); the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which is seen to have undermined US leadership of the international community; & the exposure of the nuclear black market led by Pakistani Abdul Qadeer Khan for 20 years. The crises with Iran & North Korea persist & are taken as failures of US leadership & multilateral consensus at the 2005 NPT Review Conference, which stands in sharp contrast to the 1995 & 2000 meetings. It is concluded that the rise of the US as a unipolar power in the post-cold war period may have unintentionally encouraged proliferation, & a call is made for the US to find ways to revitalize its leadership status & pursue multilateral solutions to current crises. D. Edelman

The paper analyzes the evolution, current state, & prospects of the Visegrad group, one of the more successful subregional cooperation frameworks of East Central Europe. The absence of formalized institutional structures made the arrangement flexible & thus adaptable to changes. At the same time it has been prone to spoilers that could have been avoided in case more established institutional structure had been established. Whereas in the early 1990s its prime objective was to eliminate the remnants of the past, contribute to the termination of the Warsaw Treaty & the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from the region, & coordinate the countries' "return to Europe," nowadays it strives to foster EU integration, help the post-Meciar democratic consolidation & development of Slovakia, & carry out pragmatic cooperation in different areas. It is open to question whether the group could have a new life after the participating countries' upcoming EU accession. The author is of the view that whereas the Central European Free Trade Agreement will have to wind up when EU enlargement occurs, there is hope to continue the Visegrad group with a residual political agenda beyond it. 21 References. Adapted from the source document.

The People's Republic of China's (PRC) potential response to US deployment of a national missile defense system is contemplated. Several factors that will influence the PRC's reaction are identified: the Chinese state's modernization of its strategic systems; the prevailing perception of the US as a hegemonic superpower; the Chinese government's desire for a more multipolar world; previous US military interventions in international crises; the failures of contemporary Chinese domestic & foreign policy; & US intervention in the PRC-Taiwan conflict. In addition, the PRC's potential responses to US attempts to initiate minor, moderate, or extreme revisions to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty are considered; eg, it is asserted that US withdrawal from the agreement would encourage the PRC to stockpile ballistic missiles, seek cooperation from Russia, & reduce its collaboration with Western nations. The need for US policymakers to stipulate this country's nuclear relationship with the PRC is stressed. Also, the impact of the PRC's creation of additional ballistic missiles on its neighbor's nuclear policies is pondered. It is concluded that the US & the PRC should consider cooperative approaches to the production of ballistic missiles & national missile defense in order to avoid international political instability. J. W. Parker

This article explores specific reservations that are being declared to international treaties intended to protect human rights, and also whether the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties is sufficient to ensure such rights. The author considers if reservations declared by a state(s) are incompatible with the object and purpose of a treaty, and what consequences might follow if such a declaration(s) is made. To this end, the article investigates the practice of states that are party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Social and Economic Rights, United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the United Nations Convention against torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment. These treaties were selected because they lay down significant principles for the protection of specific human rights, and also because they are frequently challenged through reservations which seek to alter fundamental provisions. On a theoretical level the regulation of reservations does not appear to be problematic, however on closer examination various reservations point to the inadequacy of current regulation in the 1969 Vienna Convention in terms of the protection of human rights. Accordingly, this article considers a major group of states that seek to become parties to treaties pertaining to human rights, but then make reservations with the intention of diluting fundamental provisions. Specifically, this applies to Islamic countries whose reservations claim incompatibility with Islamic law and by reference to their own cultural diversity. By objecting to the reservations, state parties must decide whether or not their reservation is compatible with the object and purpose of the treaty. According to provisions of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, a treaty may prohibit reservations for some or all of the treaty's provisions, which complicates the position of state parties. Indeed, the withdrawal of reservations can be considered more problematic after analysis of practical cases of various states than it is shown in theory. The author's analysis is intended to ascertain whether or not the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of the Treaties régime is suitable for the process of making reservations to the human rights treaties, and how the applicable regulation could be improved and thereby offer possible solutions to the problems outlined above.

Proposed Meeting of the Council: Meeting in Prague on October 20 and 21, 1950, the foreign ministers of Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Rumania, eastern Germany and the Soviet Union issued a statement in reply to the communiqué on Germany released on September 19 by the foreign ministers of France, the United Kingdom and the United States. Charging that the position of the three western governments was merely a screen to conceal the aggressive objectives of the North Atlantic Treaty and that the creation of mobile police formations was nothing less than the reconstitution of a German army, the eight foreign ministers stated that they considered as urgent 1) the publication by the three western powers and the Soviet Union of a statement of their intent to refuse to permit German rearmament and of their unswerving determination to create a united peace-loving German state; 2) the removal of all restrictions hindering the development of the peaceful German economy and the prevention of a resurgence of German war potential; 3) the conclusion of a German treaty and the withdrawal of all occupation forces within one year of its conclusion; and 4) the creation of an all-German constituent council to prepare for a provisional German government. The text of the communiqué was communicated to the United Kingdom, the United States and France under cover of a Soviet note on November 3. Stating that the Prague declaration possessed "the greatest significance for the cause of assuring international peace and security" and touched the "fundamental national interests of the peoples of Europe," the Soviet government proposed the convening of the Council of Foreign Ministers "for consideration of the question of fulfillment of the Potsdam agreement regarding demilitarization of Germany."

[extract] The relationship between the European Union and the citizens of Europe has been a constant matter of debate since the failure of the European Constitutional Treaty after the referendums in France and the Netherlands. The national referendum on the suggestions of the European Union concerning the Greek crisis, launched by the former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the discussion of Great Britain's possible withdrawal from the EU ("Brexit") have shown that this relationship remains a crucial issue for the European Union, even or maybe especially in times of crisis. Since the failure of the Constitutional Treaty the EU has become more aware of the central role of the citizens of Europe for the success of the European Union. The sometimes sceptically termed "elite driven project" EU therefore has put a lot of effort in the so called "Europe of the citizens", trying to enhance civic participation at EU level. These efforts are part of a wider discussion concerning the so called "democratic deficit" of the EU. With the last comprehensive Reform Treaty of the EU, the Treaty of Lisbon (2009), which could only come into force after the second and then positive referendum of the Irish people, the member states have tried again to redress the "democratic deficit" of the EU. One of the major improvements for the democratic legitimacy of the EU has again been – as in every EU Reform Treaty – the increase of power for the European Parliament. Besides new rules concerning the election of the European Parliament and rules to strenghten the role of national parliaments in the EU, the member states have also created a new participatory opportunity for European citizens, the European Citizens' Initiative in article 11 para. 4 TEU. With the European Citizens' Initiative the European Union gives the European citizens (consisting of a minimum number from at least 7 of the 28 member states) a tool to suggest a legislative act to the Commission.The Citizens' Initiative constitutes the first attempt to introduce an element of direct democracy in the European Union and it also represents the first attempt worldwide to introduce direct democracy into an international organization. The paper wants to adress the relationship between Europe and the European citizens from different perspectives. The first chapter shall deal with the structure of the European Union as an international organization and shall pose the question how democracy as a principle fits into that structure (I.). The chapter shall also describe the various forms of democratic elements in the European Union. The second chapter is supposed to sketch the "European citizen" as an idea of the European Union taking up the citizenship of the European Union (II.). The third chapter is dedicated to scrutinizing the participatory possibilities for European citizens (III.). In that context I also want to display some data how the new European Citizens' Initiative has been working practically so far. The summary will be able to shed some light on the relationship between Europe and the European citizen (IV.).