Suchergebnisse

Today few people deny the existence of regional substate diplomacy (Criekemans 2010). But there is still no common agreement on a region's right to do so and, above all, on their scope of action. This question goes against what used to be the dominant approach in international relations, the state-centric approach that leads to the logic of speaking with one voice. Increasingly, a multilevel-governance approach has contested this state-centric view and proposes an alternative logic of multiple actors speaking with their voice, nuancing strongly the seminal distinction between "sovereignty-bound" and "sovereignty-free" actors (Rosenau 1990). From the 1970s, the world has seen the growing presence of sovereignty-free actors in international relations. Among these actors, non-central or, better, substate, governments of federal states have developed intensive foreign relations. These governments are using a range of techniques: from shaping the federal government's foreign policy to establishing themselves directly in the international arena (Blatter et al. 2008). For minority nation governments this is particularly a challenge, as they have to act internally – where they have developed full-fledged legislative powers within a multinational federation – and externally – where international and national laws are often still reluctant to recognise their right of action (Lejeune 2003). Yet some minority nations have thrived in developing their own international relations. Bavaria, Catalonia, Flanders, Quebec, Scotland and Wallonia are often seen as successful international players even if they are not fully sovereignty bound (Michelmann 2009; Criekemans 2010). The international actions of these minority nations have been characterised under the umbrella of "identity paradiplomacy" (Paquin 2003); that is, a willingness to use international relations to foster a nation-building process within a multinational state. This observation was particularly prevalent for minority nations strongly in competition with a federal government about their nationbuilding process, albeit for different reasons, namely Flanders, Quebec and Scotland (Paquin 2004). The case of Wallonia seems to fits less well into the identity paradiplomacy framework, which therefore raises the question of alternative roads to international relations. This is the core question of this chapter: is identity paradiplomacy the only way to go for minority nations? Quebec and Wallonia are both well known for their active foreign relations.

The participation of non-state actors to international politics has been investigated since the creation of international institutions. Yet, the rules, principles and norms of global governance are no more discussed in single, isolated institutions. Rather, with the proliferation of international regimes and organisations, international issues are now negotiated in a context of institutional interactions known as "regime complexes". This poses new questions, in particular on the negotiation burden that these new processes place on international actors. To answer this question, this contribution compares non-state participation in both contexts (single regimes and regime complexes), using the international forest negotiations as a case study. It uses quantitative methods to measure the negotiation burden of single regimes and compare it to the negotiation burden of regime complexes. The negotiation burden of single regimes is found insignificant with political interest being the major motivation for participation, while the negotiation burden of regime complexes is found relevant, requiring a certain type of material and organisational resources for non-state actors to participate. Yet a certain diversity of non-state representation is maintained within regime complexes, with non-governmental organisations being dominant with respect to business groups.

While a great deal of attention is devoted to the Pacific region as the new chessboard of international politics, Pakistan remains a key actor in terms of both threat and potential. Two observations back this argument: first, Pakistan's fundamental roles as a state are challenged by its ongoing conflict with India and internal insurgencies. Second, due to a power-status gap, Pakistan experiences difficulties in holding specific self-conceived roles. In addition to hampering its socio-economic potential, these developments prevent Pakistan's quest for normalization in the system. As a consequence, we argue that engaging with Islamabad should be a priority for Washington so as to prevent the country from further aligning with Beijing, thus reinforcing China's regional leadership and status as peer-competitor to the United States. Indeed, as the potential for deviance in the international system arises from its normative dimension, the US, as the global leader, counts among its roles that of norm-setter and primary socializer for most states. Our research proposes to look at an old puzzle with new theoretical insights. By addressing the question of Washington's engagement towards non-conforming states, we aim to document a set of socialization processes as intervening variables linking American global role as leader and primary socializer to Pakistan's process of social integration (normalization/deviance). Drawing from sociology and social psychology, the paper seeks to explore the ability of the leader to act as a primary source of role location and status recognition towards non-conforming states so as to integrate them (back) into the US-led system.

The Red Devils, chocolate or beer and the King, such is the typical answers given to the oft-asked question of what is still holding Belgium together. To these three symbols, two extra elements are often added: the debt and Brussels, the capital of the country and of the Flemish Region/Community, the French Community (politically but not constitutionally the Wallonia-Brussels Federation), the European Union (to be more specific, one of the three capitals, along with Strasbourg and Luxemburg), while being as well the seat of the Brussels Capital Region. Generally, the list of factors of unity in Belgium ends with this short list. Is it already too long, or on the contrary, is it really too short? This is the main question of this chapter. Paradoxically, although this question often arises, there are very few scientific writings analyzing it. To do so, this chapter will discuss six sets of factors: historical, identity, socio-economic, political, international and symbolic. Nonetheless, it is important to take into account that such enterprise seeks to be informative and not prescriptive. This chapter does not assume that Belgium should be united. There are several points of view about what Belgium should be, and this contribution merely wishes to nurture the political debate by conveying an original approach on six types of factors.

After years of political crises and negotiations, the deep-rooted conflict between Dutch- and French-speaking parties recently led to the 2011 agreement concerning a further reform of the Belgian state. This reform mainly furthers decentralises the – already federal – state structure, including the allocation of additional competences and fiscal powers to sub-national entities (Regions and Communities). But this new state reform also brings about a radical reform of the upper house: the Belgian Senate. Since 1995, the Senate was composed of three different types of members: Senators directly elected by two linguistically separated electorate (the Dutch-speaking and the French-speaking electorates), Senators indirectly elected by the Community parliaments and Senators coopted by the two other types. The French- and German-speaking linguistic minorities had a fixed amount of seats in this assembly. The reform of the state radically changed the legislative competences of the Senate and its composition as its members will now be designated by Regional and Community parliaments (plus 10 coopted senators). Broadly speaking, the appointment of the majority of the Senators moved from a system of direct and language-based election to a system of indirect and mixed regional and language-based designation. This change is not without consequence for the representation of linguistic minorities. In May 2014, regional, community and federal elections will be organised in Belgium, testing for the first time this new system of designation of Senators by regional and community parliaments. This paper intends to present the 2013 reform of the Senate in Belgium and its consequence for the representation of linguistic minorities. The situations before and after the reform of the Senate will be compared, not only in terms of the way Senators are appointed but in terms of its consequence on the linguistic aspects of the regional and community elections campaign and of the profile of the appointed Senators.

The impact of the foreign assistance on economic growth and development of the recipient country remains unclear at both theoretical and empirical levels. While the number of studies devoted to the mechanisms of enhancing the effectiveness of foreign aid is growing progressively, international community is organizing high-level forums aimed at coordinating actions of donor countries, international financial institutions and recipient countries. The paper reviews main principles of enhancing aid effectiveness highlighted in the Declarations and Action Agenda's adopted by member countries of United Nations and Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. The use of national development strategies of developing countries in aid allocation as well as introduction of new forms of aid provision as South-South cooperation may lead to better developmental outcomes.

In the articleUzbekistan's accession to international documents developed and adopted within the framework of UNESCO contributes to the international legal protection of our cultural heritage by the world community, Uzbekistan's scientific potential, science, culture, historical programs, unique archeological and architectural complexes, national and spiritual masterpieces. Along with the wide range of opportunities to promote and increase the effectiveness of their work in this area, the further development of our legislation in this area, as well as the further development of education, science, culture, information and communication technologies in Uzbekistan. and focuses on opportunities to help it stay strong in its place among influential states. The reason is that the state independence of Uzbekistan is a legitimate result of the hard and arduous struggle of our people for many years. Now the fate of our people is in their hands, they are working hard to strengthen the independence of their country. As an independent state, Uzbekistan has become a party to international conventions and influential world organizations such as the UN, OSCE and ILO. Since gaining its independence, Uzbekistan has taken the path of establishing and developing interstate relations with influential countries around the world, defining the main directions of foreign policy and finally joining UNESCO, one of the 15 specialized organizations of the United Nations. The results of the cooperation since its accession in October to the present are described in the article. The article also covers the relations of our country with UNESCO and its history during the period of national independence. Finally, Uzbekistan's integration into the world community, mutually beneficial political, diplomatic, economic and cultural ties with the world's largest, developed countries are widely covered. The most important thing is that in a short historical period, Uzbekistan has taken a worthy place in the world community, rising to the level of a state with its own independent voice on global issues.

In the articleUzbekistan's accession to international documents developed and adopted within the framework of UNESCO contributes to the international legal protection of our cultural heritage by the world community, Uzbekistan's scientific potential, science, culture, historical programs, unique archeological and architectural complexes, national and spiritual masterpieces. Along with the wide range of opportunities to promote and increase the effectiveness of their work in this area, the further development of our legislation in this area, as well as the further development of education, science, culture, information and communication technologies in Uzbekistan. and focuses on opportunities to help it stay strong in its place among influential states. The reason is that the state independence of Uzbekistan is a legitimate result of the hard and arduous struggle of our people for many years. Now the fate of our people is in their hands, they are working hard to strengthen the independence of their country. As an independent state, Uzbekistan has become a party to international conventions and influential world organizations such as the UN, OSCE and ILO. Since gaining its independence, Uzbekistan has taken the path of establishing and developing interstate relations with influential countries around the world, defining the main directions of foreign policy and finally joining UNESCO, one of the 15 specialized organizations of the United Nations. The results of the cooperation since its accession in October to the present are described in the article. The article also covers the relations of our country with UNESCO and its history during the period of national independence. Finally, Uzbekistan's integration into the world community, mutually beneficial political, diplomatic, economic and cultural ties with the world's largest, developed countries are widely covered. The most important thing is that in a short historical period, Uzbekistan has taken a worthy place in the world community, rising to the level of a state with its own independent voice on global issues.

Transparency is a widely used concept in debates on international politics, from transnational anti-corruption campaigns to renewed requests for greater disclosure on health, finance, or even security issues. Calls for transparency date back at least to the League of Nations, when internationalists demanded open diplomacy. Yet, it is in the subfield of GEG, and its developments on nonstate actors as a key research topic (see introduction), where the practice and theory of transparency has made the most profound inroads (Gupta 2010a). GEG has been a particularly fertile ground for the development of informational governance (Mol 2008) and the rise of numerous transparency initiatives which have been analyzed in a rapidly developing literature. Importantly, current GEG research is also highly relevant for other IR subfields. For one, recent GEG research can help IR scholars to further refine the concept of transparency and to increase conceptual clarity and sophistication. Second, research on GEG has improved our understanding of the factors that determine the effectiveness of transparency as a governance tool in international politics.

The EUROSUR system is supposed to further the surveillance of external borders of European Union Member States. From this point of view, it can be considered an important step in the construction of a controlled space. Drawing inspiration from the Foucauldian attention to programs and technologies, and mobilizing the Actor- Network-Theory concepts of setting and actant, the paper investigates EUROSUR main methodological operations. It highlights how the making of a controlled space is, first and foremost, a mise-en-discours going well beyond surveillance and pro- hibition: a continuous effort to make sense of a disparate multiplicity, encompassing both human and nonhuman elements, both controlled and controlling ones. From a theoretical perspective, the chapter contributes to on-going endeavors to reinvigor- ate the post-structuralist studies of International Relations with approaches inspired by Actor-Network-Theory.

This scientific article analyzes the importance of the conceptual ideas put forward in the address of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Parliament of December 28, 2018. Special attention is paid to their importance in raising large-scale reforms in the country to a new level, carried out on the basis of an Action strategy. In particular, the issues of deepening globalization processes occurring in the world and difficult international situation under its influence, the need to take into account the international situation in the process of independent political development, the main tasks of further improving the effectiveness of the political system, democratizing society at the current stage of our country are illuminated in it. The President's address paid special attention to improving the practice of strengthening parliamentary oversight over decisions, passing laws and applying democratic mechanisms in the activities of parliament. The article also deals with the optimization of the executive system, justified in the address of the President, about topical issues of increasing the efficiency of the activities of the Cabinet of Ministers. The author of the article talks about the most advanced models of modern democracy being implemented in our country. In particular, he sets forth his analytical thoughts on such concepts as "Democracy of monitoring", "Deliberative democracy", "E-democracy", "Mobile democracy" and on other new models of democracy. The article analyzes the great goals and objectives related to the achievement of great results, based on modern mechanisms and principles of democracy in the context of the implementation of innovative state policy containing the actual needs of our country's renewal and development based on the most advanced requirements of our time, which were set forth in the address of the President. At the same time, it is shown that the leading principles, the philosophy of the implementation of innovation policy express the expectations and aspirations of our people. In this regard, the article presents the conclusions about the importance of the implementation of modern innovative democratic development in society.

The role and place of public diplomacy in international relations, peace and stability, and the strengthening of mutual relations among nations are constantly increasing in the context of globalization. People's diplomacy plays an important role in shaping friendly relations between Uzbekistan and the international community with political, diplomatic and economic ties. In the development of public diplomacy, scientists, science and culture representatives, educational institutions, public and religious organizations, as well as public associations founded by fellow citizens, play a key role in the development of public diplomacy. The article aims to provide a systematic illustration of the history of cooperation of the Republic of Uzbekistan with Germany within the framework of public diplomacy. It follows from the following tasks: The Role of Public Diplomacy in Foreign Policy of Uzbekistan; Opening of the main directions of the German cooperation in the field of public diplomacy; The role of societies in the cooperation of the Republic of Uzbekistan with public diplomacy with Germany. The research has been used in the analysis, synthesis, history, logic research ways. The external mining partnership, formed in connection with public diplomacy, has given its results in the short run. In 1992, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan received 36 representatives from 9 countries (England, Germany, Israel, India, Malaysia, Turkey, USA, France and JAR). In 1993, about 160 countries recognized the independence of Uzbekistan and established diplomatic relations with 60 countries. In 1993, The First President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov visited Germany, France, England, the Netherlands, Japan and India. As a result of the visit, an agreement on cultural cooperation was signed with India, Turkey, Germany, France, Great Britain and China. The development of public diplomacy has played a significant role in the Uzbek Culture Days in Germany and the German Cultural Days in Uzbekistan. At the same time, the role of art and theater days in the countries in the development of cooperation between two countries in the sphere of culture was particularly significant. The role of friendship societies and cultural centers in the development of bilateral relations between two states in Eurasia – Germany and Uzbekistan is immense. The role of "Uzbekistan-Germany" Friendship Society and "Germany-Uzbekistan" societies, which unite representatives of two nations in the development of cooperation within the framework of people diplomacy are unique.

In this article, the conceptual and doctrinal foundations of the ideas of non-use of force and ensuring peace in the foreign policy of Uzbekistan are investigated in chronological order. The foreign policy of Uzbekistan is, first of all, a course aimed at ensuring vital tasks, primarily for the state and society. Uzbekistan's foreign policy strategy is primarily aimed at ensuring integration into the world community. The deepening of the country's integration into the world community in the current difficult conditions of international relations is an important task facing the foreign policy of Uzbekistan. The conceptual idea of foreign policy and foreign policy of the Republic of Uzbekistan is the indivisibility of security and joint and partnership actions to ensure it. The problem of national and regional security occupies an important place in Uzbekistan's foreign policy. One of the main tasks in the foreign policy of Uzbekistan was the formation of a system of regional security, which is necessary both for the republics of Central Asia and for the vast geographical area bordering the region. Another advanced idea for Uzbekistan's foreign policy is the postulate that the problems of the Central Asian region should be solved without the intervention of external forces and only by the countries of the region. Given all this, the cornerstone of Uzbekistan's foreign policy remains the non-use of force and the threat of force, and the maintenance and observance of peace. The article examines the changes occurring in the foreign policy of Uzbekistan, their regulatory consolidation, guidelines for the short, medium and long-term perspective, and on the basis of this, a number of scientific conclusions and practical recommendations are given.

Some states are widely recognized by policy makers and scholars as middle powers. The characteristics that were highlighted for these countries have become the basic guidelines for understanding middle powermanship and developing the corresponding theory. While those analyses offer rich in-depth insights into the foreign policy of specific countries, they have so far lacked a further step of generalization. When establishing such power-based rankings, we assume the possibility to determine states' capacities so as to identify their position in said ranking. As appealing as this theoretical model may be, the reality of international politics increasingly challenge it. Thus, we argue that this theoretical inadequacy is due to the fact that middle power theory as it has been developed so far should be understood as an inductive, not a deductive, approach . Consequently, the contemporary reality calls for yet another stage of development in this theory. The choice of Pakistan as our case study arises from the observation that while Pakistan can hardly fit into the current classification(s) of middle powermanship due to its poor economic and development performances, it is a nuclear state and is –at least– in the top twenty armies of the world. Moreover, we find several cases in which Pakistan has used the diplomatic tools characterizing middle powers, such as mediation or niche diplomacy. Our paper aims at answering two questions: (1) can middle power theory bring some light on Pakistan's positioning in world politics? (2) Alternatively, what does the case of Pakistan tell us about the (ir)relevance of middle power theory? We build upon role theory to develop the case of middle powermanship as a status-role bundle, by analyzing three specific cases of Pakistan's foreign policy: Pakistani nuclear posturing, its Afghan policy and its posturing vis-à-vis the Saudi-Iranian regional competition.