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.

This paper aims at defining the concept of "geopolitical space of the geopolitics of the Sea" and it analyses the way it is constructed. Given that the notion of geopolitical space in the general sense has been largely neglected in contemporary geopolitical theory, this is not a simple task. The paper deals with a physical space of the World Sea and utilizes the theory of modern human geography in which space is understood as a product of human activity. We argue that there is a significant connection between geopolitics of the Sea and the academic discipline of the International Law of the Sea. This link is taken as the basis for the discussion regarding geopolitical space, which encompasses three teleological elements: the fulfillment of the paper's main objective; the argument regarding the connection of Geopolitics of the Sea with the International Law; and, finally, presenting the political science context of the codification of the modern International Law of the Sea. By using earlier studies, the paper analyses the geopolitical space through ideas of construction within dichotomy, as well as through the process of establishing a community within the international framework. The paper also offers our own theory according to which the geopolitical space is the space of manifestation of geopolitical phenomena. ; Temeljni je cilj rada prikazati na koji način nastaje i šta zapravo jeste "geopolitički prostor geopolitike mora". Argumentacija nije bila jednostavna jer je geopolitički prostor kao pojam u općem smislu zanemaren u recentnoj geopolitičkoj teoriji. U diskusiji smo se bavili fizičkim prostorom Svjetskog mora te koristili teorijom suvremene humanističke geografije u kojoj je prostor proizvod društvene djelatnosti. Iznijeli smo stav da je geopolitika mora posebno disciplinarno povezana s međunarodnim pravom mora. To smo, dalje, iskoristili kao poligon za raspravu o geopolitičkom prostoru, i to s tri teleološka elementa: ispunjenje osnovnog cilja rada; argumentacija veze s pravom; te prikaz politološkog konteksta procesa kodifikacije suvremenog međunarodnog prava mora. Geopolitički prostor smo ispitali kroz postojeće ideje konstrukcije unutar dihotomije, te pri uspostavi zajednice u međunarodnom okviru. Ponudili smo i vlastitu teoriju po kojoj je geopolitički prostor prostor manifestacije geopolitičkih fenomena.

Every country in the world is currently trying to reduce opportunities for corruption in the country. Fighting corruption is very challenging and difficult. The corruption occurs primarily in the public sector, where the object of interest is funding from public sources. Corruption has a negative impact primarily on the economy of the state in terms of their current, but also potential investors and strategic partners in the area of production. Second, it can not ignore the negative impact on the society, respectively citizens of the state affected by corruption. The paper aims to quantify the interdependence between the Corruption perception index and selected indicators of economic health in selected countries of the European Union. In terms of proven relationship between defined variables can then infer the interdependence of achieved Corruption perception index value in selected EU countries and to determine whether are these states in the problem unified or differentiated.

The aim of the paper is to examine interconnections between the process of state-building and the process of nation-building during a period of post-conflict reconstruction. The specific case of the current reconstruction process in Kosovo is exceptional due to extensive international support expressed through political and economic means. Regardless of efforts towards reform made by powerful members of the international community, future sustainability may be questioned. An alternative to the currently favoured institutional approach is provided by the work of Barry Buzan on the state, which puts an emphasis on the idea of the state, assuming integration between territorial, societal and political aspects. The conclusion presented in this article might be used as a lesson learnt from previous mistakes in work dealing with ethnically divided societies, for which it is not sufficient to provide institutional structures without an adequate socio-political reconstruction of existing conditions. If a society is not adequately adapted to the newly-established situation, the institutional structures will not be able to fulfil their key functions completely. Furthermore, it has to be clear that any possible reconstruction of institutional bases must be attempted only with a deep consideration of specific local conditions; otherwise its sustainability is doubtful. ; The aim of the paper is to examine interconnections between the process of state-building and the process of nation-building during a period of post-conflict reconstruction. The specific case of the current reconstruction process in Kosovo is exceptional due to extensive international support expressed through political and economic means. Regardless of efforts towards reform made by powerful members of the international community, future sustainability may be questioned. An alternative to the currently favoured institutional approach is provided by the work of Barry Buzan on the state, which puts an emphasis on the idea of the state, assuming integration ...

The article analyses the evolution of the Slovak political party "Smer" (Direction) and its position in the party system of Slovak Republic. The article focuses on the shift of the party program from the "Centrist Populism" towards "Social Democracy." According to the first program documents the Party of "Smer" (Direction) was designed as pragmatic, non-ideological party. In the persistent conflict between authoritarianism vs. democracy "Smer" identified itself as the pro-democratic and pro-market force. Party policy before 2002 contained only few social democratic components; it was closer to the conservative or right-wing populist parties. After the parliamentary election 2002 and the failure of non-communist left "Smer" decided to become a member of the Socialist International (SI) and Party of European Socialists (PES). The process of the institutional approach to the international Social Democratic Party structures was accompanied by the substantial changes in the social and economic program of the party. The process was completed on the institutional level in May 2005, when Smer joined both SI and PES, and on the level of political program on the Party Congress in December 2005. In the process of so called "socialdemocratisation" of "Smer" the international factor played crucial role, especially the need to have an international partner in the European Parliament. "Smer" met the standards of the Social Democratic identity only in the social and economic affairs. The other five dimensions - environmental policy, participative democracy, cultural and human-rights dimension, supra-national dimension and the dimension of equality and freedom "Smer" met only partially or not at all, so these process remains unfinished. According to some political declarations "Smer" remains the populist party and the uncompromising critic of the right-wing government of Mikuláš Dzurinda, on the other side the official documents of the party anticipate only the moderate corrections of the economical and social reforms, ...

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 paper concentrates on attitudes to the enlargement and the future of EU held by relevant political parties in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia in 2002. With respect to the Czech Republic, three basic approaches to the issue of EU enlargement are identified, thus classifying the Czech political parties as "consistently" pro-European, pro-European "with reservations" and anti-European. It will be argued that in Slovakia the relevant political parties acted as "consistently" pro-European with the exception of the anti-European Slovak National Party (SNS) and the Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS). The dividing line was however rather between the parties whose representatives could be viewed by international partners as an obstacle to Slovakia's admission to EU and the parties that were "acceptable" for foreign countries, which played an important role in rallying voters to opt for "acceptable" political subjects. ; The paper concentrates on attitudes to the enlargement and the future of EU held by relevant political parties in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia in 2002. With respect to the Czech Republic, three basic approaches to the issue of EU enlargement are identified, thus classifying the Czech political parties as "consistently" pro-European, pro-European "with reservations" and anti-European. It will be argued that in Slovakia the relevant political parties acted as "consistently" pro-European with the exception of the anti-European Slovak National Party (SNS) and the Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS). The dividing line was however rather between the parties whose representatives could be viewed by international partners as an obstacle to Slovakia's admission to EU and the parties that were "acceptable" for foreign countries, which played an important role in rallying voters to opt for "acceptable" political subjects.

The article discusses the status, rights and perspectives of the minorities and "non-constituent" peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The status of the "constituent minorities" (the "Others") is very specific and different from the minorities' status in neighbouring countries. The article argues that in Bosnia and Herzegovina "traditional" attitudes like ethno-nationalism, discrimination, violation of minorities rights and freedoms are still very dominant. A direct consequence of this socio-political atmosphere is ethno-particularisation of society and destabilization of the state in domestic and international contexts. This short review of the status of minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina is an insight into the international and national instruments that regulate the status and rights of the national minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The authors highlight the specificity of the country, i.e. the institutional discrimination of citizens that belong to the "others", but are still citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The authors claim that the citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina should be an efficient protection against the observed discrimination. ; Tema ovog članka je položaj, prava i perspektiva manjina i "nekonstitutivnih" naroda u Bosni i Hercegovini. Položaj posebne grupe "konstitutivnih manjina" (tzv. ostalih) Bosnu i Hercegovinu čini specifičnom i po mnogim faktorima razlikuje od drugih država u okruženju. Članak se fokusira na tezu da u Bosni i Hercegovini još uvijek dominiraju određene "tradicionalne" političke i društvene projekcije koje se iskazuju u formi etnonacionalizma, diskriminacije, kršenja manjinskih prava i sloboda, odnosno demokraciji neprimjerenih supstrata i supstituta. Izravan produkt ovakvog socio-političkog ambijenta jeste etno-partikularizacija društva i destabilizacija države na unutarnjem i međunarodnom planu. Ovaj kratki ogled o položaju manjina u Bosni i Hercegovini, sem pregleda međunarodnih i nacionalnih instrumenata koji reguliraju status i prava nacionalnih manjina, nudi uvid u pomenutu specifičnost Bosne i Hercegovine: institucionaliziranu diskriminaciju građana koji pripadaju kategoriji "ostali", koji su žrtve diskriminacije, iako bi njihovo bosanskohercegovačko državljanstvo per se, i po prirodi stvari, trebalo predstavljati učinkovitu smetnju ovakvoj diskriminaciji.

Considering that in the spectrum of juvenile criminal sanctions punishment of deprivation of liberty is the most severe criminal sanction, international documents related to juveniles in conflict with the law proclaim standards that this sanction has to be imposed only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest period. Issues like possible duration of subject sanction and scope of its imposition, represents some of the basic features of the legal and judicial policy of sanctioning of juveniles, and represent the subject of this paper. The author analyzes how these issues are regulated in Bosnia and Herzegovina"s and comparative law, and how aforementioned standards are applied in practice. Applying the comparative analysis it was determined that there are certain indicators that Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the countries that has in its heritage "humane" sanctioning policy of juvenile offenderes, and that the aforementioned international standards are consistently accepted in domestic law as well as in the jurisprudence. ; Imajući u vidu da u spektru maloljetničkih krivičnih sankcija kazna lišenja slobode predstavlja najstrožiju krivičnu sankciju, međunarodni dokumenti iz oblasti postupanja sa maloljetnicima u sukobu sa zakonom proklamiraju standard da se ona ima izricati samo kao krajnje sredstvo (ultima ratio) i u što kraćem trajanju. Upravo pitanja mogućeg trajanja predmetne sankcije, te obima njenog izricanja predstavljaju neka od osnovnih obilježja zakonske i sudske politike sankcioniranja maloljetnika, te čine predmet istraživanja ovog rada. Autor je analizirao kako su ova pitanja uređena u bosanskohercegovačkom i uporednom pravu, te kako su spomenuti standardi oživotvoreni u praksi. Primjenom komparativnopravne analize utvrđeno je kako postoje određeni pokazatelji da Bosna i Hercegovina spada u red zemalja koje baštine "humanu" politiku sankcioniranja maloljetnih učinitelja krivičnih djela, te da su spomenuti međunarodni standardi dosljedno prihvaćeni kako u pravu, tako i u sudskoj praksi ove zemlje.

The aim of this article is an analysis of the Iranian policy towards the region of Western Balkans, mainly the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, since the early 1990s until present days. The security and political dimensions of mutual relation between Iran and Bosnia and Herzegovina are examined. This country has been on the focus of Iranian foreign policy for decades. The article maps Iranian political, religious and cultural activities in the country during and after the civil war. One of the main outcomes of the text is the analysis of stagnation, and we might say even fall of Iranian influence in the region caused by changing of the international atmosphere, Iranian regime itself and the decline of Iranian money flow to Bosnia and Herzegovina caused by problematic economic situation in the Islamic Republic suffering the lack of sources.

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.