Suchergebnisse

Migration did not figure in the European Security Strategy of 2003. Never mentioned as a threat, it was not even mentioned as a risk. Thirteen years later, migration is widely cited in the new European Union Global Strategy. Much richer than the previous security document and global in aspiration, the Global Strategy treats migration as a challenge and an opportunity, recognising the key role it plays in a rapidly changing security landscape. However, this multi-faceted perspective on migration uncovers starkly different political and normative claims, all of which are legitimate in principle. The different narratives on migration present in the new strategic document attest to the Union's comprehensive approach to the issue but also to critical and possibly competing normative dilemmas.

Recently introduced in the academic and political debate, the concept of "security governance" still needs to be clarified. In particular, to make the concept more useful for an assessment of current security dynamics, four main shortcomings need to be overcome: in the first place, attention has been devoted more to "governance" than to "security", while greater attention should be paid to how security is understood and perceived by the actors involved in the governance system. Second, the literature is divided in two main branches, one looking at security governance predominantly by/through governmental organizations and one dealing with non-state actors: attempts should be made to give sense of coordination efforts (or lack thereof) among different actors and layers of governance, even when focussing attention predominantly on one type of actor (e.g. regional state powers). Third, the literature (with notable exceptions though) has predominantly focused on Europe and the transatlantic area: an effort should be made to look at extra-European dynamics, also with an aim to evaluate the relationship between political/security culture and security governance, as well as between political/economic development and security governance. Finally, the literature on security governance has been too often detached from reflections over regionalism, while it would be useful to explore further the relationship between cognitive definitions of regional and security dynamics. This is all the more important when considering the progressive emergence of non-European regional powers, possibly interpreting security challenges in different terms and displaying different likelihoods and modalities to arrange coordination patterns and solve security problems.

IntroduzioneA distanza di molti anni, è tuttora difficile contestare la famosa affermazione di Stanley Hoffmann secondo la quale le Relazioni Internazionali (Ri) sono una disciplina americana (Hoffmann 1977). Basti notare che larghissima parte degli articoli pubblicati su riviste di Ri americane o europee oggi sul mercato sono scritti da autori americani (Wæver 1998, 696-701), che la storia degli sviluppi teorici della disciplina è raccontata soprattutto in riferimento a dibattiti teorici (iGreat Debates) che solo raramente si svolgono in Europa continentale (J⊘rgensen 2000), e infine che le tendenze quanto a citazioni e adozione di teorie prodotte altrove rivelano un rapporto fortemente sbilanciato tra le Ri americane e quelle europee continentali.

This article contributes to the Continental (vs American) IR debate by investigating IR theory in one of the islands of the Continental IR archipelago most successful in keeping secret its vices & virtues: Italy. Here, theoretical IR has proven to be unable to fully exploit post-Cold War opportunities to establish itself as a discipline with higher visibility. Italian theoretical IR tends to produce few efforts at theory-building & some recent theoretical developments never reached the peninsula; further, Italian IR suffers from a certain detachment from broader IR trends in terms of both import, but far more, export, of literature. We suggest that to understand the Italian situation it is necessary to develop an account that goes beyond the traditional purely external explanation of IR developments in a given community, & also draws on the cultural-institutional context, ie, on the organizational characteristics of the research environment, the habits of interaction among national professionals & between them & the external market, & the political culture of the country. 2 Tables, 3 Appendixes, 89 References. Adapted from the source document.

Although constructivism in its various forms has been the most popular theoretical approach on the continent, the Italian peninsula remained surprisingly immune to this "epidemic." In this article, the characteristics of Italian IR production in relation to the broader IR community are investigated, & domestic structural & cultural explanations for those (such) features are provided. The authors claim that there is a predilection for the classics & certain dissatisfaction with the Anglo Saxon rationalistic turn in the 1980s. They argue that certain separateness with respect to participation in international debates & gatherings has an immediate structural explanation (the small number of scholars) but also deeper structural causes in the organization of the academic system & the dominant academic culture. They also claim that the relative weakness of the discipline in Italy is intertwined with the history & cultural evolution of the country. 2 Tables, 162 References. Adapted from the source document.

The article discusses the role of independent research institutes (think tanks) in the Italian political system. We first argue why a focus on think tanks can add to our understanding of Italian politics & policy change & then provide information on research institutes & the challenge they face. We find that they face a more competitive environment than in the past. Next, we draw on the advocacy coalitions approach to examine the role of think tanks in major political & policy change. We present two stylized case studies, that is, the change of the electoral laws & the run-up to the Euro. Think tanks as organizations have not played a significant role in electoral reforms, although some think tank leaders have been personally engaged. We explain why think tanks have been somewhat at the periphery of this debate. By contrast, in the arena of economic policy, think tanks have operated as policy fora. They have thus facilitated social interaction amongst intellectuals & the emergence of an economic policy discourse based upon the paradigm of 'sound finance' & EMU (Economic & Monetary Union) convergence. We conclude with some suggestions for further research on think tanks: We think that the analysis of research institutes & policy-oriented knowledge should be integrated in theoretical approaches to policy change, rather than fueling yet another 'cottage industry' of studies on a specific & very limited topic. 37 References. Adapted from the source document.