Suchergebnisse

The essay takes a look at twinning, a phenomenon left largely unexplored by European studies & international relations scholars. The author deals with twinning through the institutional prism, focusing on institutional change as a result of non-instrumental change of institutional actors' preferences. Twinning is a secondment of experts from EU member states administratives to the candidate countries. Its aim is to help the applicant countries with institution building for successful & effective implementation of the acquis communautaire. The author seeks to identify processes & mechanisms of institutional changes in the public administration of a given candidate country within the context of twinning projects, aiming to formulate framework conditions for unconditioned institutional change & test these hypotheses on the data collected during research. The essay focuses on institutional change caused by a change of administrative identity through deliberation (of alternatives), argumentative persuasion & social learning as alternatives to instrumental change mechanisms. References. Adapted from the source document.

This paper aims to develop a simple, rigorous, and generally applicable analytical framework for investigation of the ability of international institutions to shape the political contestation among actors in international politics. To achieve this end, it discusses the key conceptual problems of the existing notions of the functioning of international institutions and offers steps to address these problems. It partially reformulates and formalizes the currently used concepts of effectiveness and robustness of institutions and builds upon them the concept of institutional capacity, which captures the quality of the institutions' work in a more complex and analytically rigorous manner. Subsequently, the paper discusses how the concept of institutional capacity can be applied to the study of the political systems of international organizations and presents a list of 24 criteria that are suitable for assessments of their functioning. Adapted from the source document.

Der Verfasser begrüsst die im Amsterdamer Vertrag enthaltene Regelung, wonach im Strassburg als dem Sitz des Europäischen Parlaments Jahr für Jahr zwölf Plenartagungen stattzufinden haben, wobei in Brüssel nur zusätzliche Tagungen abzuhalten sind. Dadurch werde die unselige Praxis unterbunden, in Brüssel bis zu acht erschreckend ineffektive "Miniplenartagungen" pro Jahr zu veranstalten. Soll sich aber Strassburg den Status der Hauptstadt des Europäischen Parlaments dauerhaft sichern, sei u.a. ein grosszügiger Ausbau der Verkehrsnetze und eine angemessene Grundstücks- und Baupolitik dringend notwendig. Man dürfe nicht vergessen, dass Strassburg mehr als nur das Europäische Parlament verkörpert: Hier träfen sich die deutsche und die französische Kultur, ja alle europäische Kulturen in einem hochentwickelten, eigenständigen Gebiet. (BIOst-Hrs)

My target in the present text is to discuss the possibilities and pitfalls of the study of international institutions' design. To achieve this goal I critically review the existing literature on the topic and outline three key reasons for which I believe much of the work on institutional design to be theoretically problematic, and for which any meaningful progress of the study of design as a research programme is unlikely. I argue that we can overcome these problems by returning and sticking to the original concept of institutions as mechanisms for transmission of information that was formulated in the institutional theory in international relations. On the basis of this concept we can develop a research programme on institutional design that takes seriously the basic realist findings about the power nature of international politics. Besides this, by focusing on the information transmission function of institutions we open the space for application of the potentially highly relevant findings from the area of the so-called organizational cybernetics to the study of international relations. With their help new methods for diagnosis of the institutions' functions can be developed and important new empirical and theoretical findings can be achieved. Adapted from the source document.

Der Autor befaßt sich mit substanziellen Zügen der neuen NATO-Strategie, die auf der Washingtoner Sitzung der Allianz (23.-24.4. 1999) beschlossen wurde. Um ihre Hintergründe besser erläutern zu können, schenkt er den teils kontroversen Diskussionen Beachtung, die dem Abschluß dieser NATO-Charta für das 21.Jahrhundert vorangingen. Sie hätten sich auf folgende Themen bezogen: (1) Das Gleichgewicht zwischen Aktionen gemäß Artikel 5 und denen jenseits Artikel 5 des Washingtoner Abkommens von 1949. (2) Die Legitimität letztgenanter Aktionen. (3) Die geographische Allianz-Erweiterung.(4) Die neuen Bedrohungen. (5) Die europäische Verteidigungs- und Sicherheitsidentität. Während der Sitzung müßten dann insbesondere widersprüchliche Auffassungen hinsichtlich der Rolle der UNO bzw. des Sicherheitsrates bei Erhaltung der internationalen Sicherheit überbrückt werden. Im Endergebnis spiegele sich ein beachtenswerter Erfolg der französichen Diplomatie wider. (BIOst-Hrs)

This article summarizes the main contemporary theoretical approaches to international institutions as well as significant theories of institutions, which build upon those approaches. In line with the existing overviews, I focus on realism, neoliberalism & constructivism. All three approaches differ in regard to both the origin & impact of institutions. Whereas, the basic realist perspective regards state interests & power to be the main source of the institution's origin; the basic perspective of neoliberalism emphasizes the structure of state interests & collective action problems, which result from it. Many constructivists presume that so-called general institutions determine the origin of specific institutions. According to realists, the impact of institutions is dependent on state interests & power; institutions only regulate state behavior in a limited way. The neoliberal conception of institutions infers that: institutions significantly regulate state behavior since they help states resolve collective action problems. According to constructivists: institutions even constitute state identities & interests. Adapted from the source document.

The thesis deals with a particular sphere of peacebuilding: transitional justice & the building of a new social conscience. The main aim of this thesis is to focus on the interactions between the international & national levels of reconciliation in the post-conflict societies & to verify the argument that peacebuilding is more effective in those countries where the reconciliation is built on the cooperation of the international community & the original domestic institutions. Adapted from the source document.

Obgleich die Europäische Union zum Gravitationszentrum der politischen Entwicklung im gesamten Europa geworden ist, befindet sich die europäische Politik im Krisenzustand. Das ehemalige Gefühl der Dringlichkeit, "das Europa" zu konstituieren, wich einer Lethargie. Die EU wird heutzutage einem wesentlich stärkeren Druck auf die Rechtfertigung ihrer Existenz ausgesetzt, als es dem zu Zeiten des kalten Krieges war. Nach wie vor bleibt das Haupziel der europäischen Integration die Verhütung jedweder Hegemonie eines nationalistischen Privatinteresses, das den europäischen Frieden zerstören könnte. Nun ist es jedoch vonnöten, in Fragen der europäischen Integration eine überzeugende positive politische Philosophie, eine neue Vision zu entwickeln. Im einzelnen werden in dem Aufsatz u.a. folgende Defizite bzw. offene Probleme der EU ausgeführt: die Verstärkung der demokratischen Legitimität, die Schaffung einer EU-Identität, das Bedürfnis einer institutionellen Reform, das Ungleichgewicht zwischen der politischen und der Währungsunion, das Problem der "unterschiedlichen Geschwindigkeiten" bzw. der "differenzierten Integrierung", die Folgen der EU-Erweiterung für finanzielle und Strukturpläne der EU und die weitgehende Reorganisierung der EU-Finanzen. Diese schwierige Probleme und die teils grundlegenden Differenzen unter den Mitgliedsstaaten hinsichtlich der künftigen Gestalt der EU erlaubten keinen anderen Schluß, als daß die europäische Integration einer unvorsehbaren Zukunft entgegengeht. (BIOst-Hrs)

In the 1990s, the research of political field was ultimately established as part of German political science. The article describes the development of the research of political field in both the international & the German contexts & overviews the current state of this research in Germany. First, the article introduces important researchers & research institutions. Further, the article discusses the relationship between basic & applied research & between research & politics. The list of sources at the end of the article contains not only available literature, but also Internet links of important researchers & institutions. References. Adapted from the source document.

The presented paper describes the first membership of Czechoslovakia in the International Monetary Fund in the post-war period & the circumstances of its expulsion from this institution in 1954. Although Czechoslovakia was one of the founding members of the Bretton-Woods institutions & its relationship with the IMF looked promising at the beginning, the communist political take-over in February 1948 implied substantial change in this development. It was followed by the introduction of a centrally planned economic system & by a shift in the country's foreign-political orientation toward the East. The reason for Czechoslovakia's exclusion from the Bretton-Woods institutions was its repeated non-performance of the member state duties according to the Articles of Agreements of the IMR The main problem was that Czechoslovakia systematically refused to inform the IMF about developments in its economy & consult relevant monetary & economic arrangements with the IMF. Adapted from the source document.

This article deals with contemporary trends within research on extremism research in Germany. Institutionalization of this research in structures of political science is described, including the international impact of this research, with specific attention paid to the situation in East Central Europe. Next, the article analyzes development within the so-called 'theory of extremism,' including new concepts elaborated by scholars (soft and hard extremism, etc.) and developments dealing with the interconnection with terrorism research. Use of results of extremism research by governmental and international institutions is identified. Finally, criticism of the concept of extremism is presented, including criticism of the concept's politicization. Adapted from the source document.