Suchergebnisse

1. Introduction -- 2. Exploring the reasons behind the adoption of international norms -- 3. Closing the implementation gap with Transnational Experience and Expertise Networks -- 4. Local Content policies: aiding or harming internationalization? -- 5. The international norm on world-class universities and its Russian implementation -- 6. The international norm on APG Flaring and its Russian implementation -- 7. Optimal policy design for successful norm implementation -- 8. Conclusion.

The emergence, diffusion and internalization of international norms face underestimated challenges in the sphere of arms control, which attempts to regulate and restrict the development and use of weapons. We explore the concept of uncertainty and reveal how it sets arms control apart from some other spheres that have experienced a rapid development and consolidation of international norms. The dynamic nature of technological change creates expectations of revolutionary novelty and perceptions of radical uncertainty, which run against some of the main mechanisms supporting international norms including grafting, strategic bargaining and moral consciousness raising. An original qualitative case study on norms related to the prohibition of biological weapons confirms that overcoming uncertainty is particularly difficult in arms control and that norms regulating weapons remain fragile after their institutionalization, due to ever-evolving technological change.

AbstractConstructivists argue that international norms represent shared understandings of appropriate behaviour which become universally accepted after their successful internalisation. However, studies of norm contestation, localisation and death suggest that many norms having originated in the West are perceived elsewhere as instruments used by states to promote their interests abroad. This paper examines whether norms can be a vehicle for non-violent rivalry between states based on a study of the norm on the sustainable energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables. Interviews with representatives of the Russian government, O&G industry and media show that there is a lot of scepticism surrounding this norm because it is geopolitically advantageous to the West and damaging to Russia. The theoretical findings reveal that although grafting a diplomatic initiative onto a mature norm could be effective, this does not mean that norms can easily be created to gain the upper hand in punctual disputes.

This paper explores the role of nuclear power in substituting fossil fuels and contributing to the net zero. It considers to what extent the French position on nuclear energy is viable within the framework of EU green energy governance. The analysis of EU legal attempts to develop a common strategy for member countries and the case study of France reveal the controversial nature of nuclear energy. The authors argue that the EU could work towards easing off nuclear energy and could successfully overcome the pro-nuclear views of countries which currently depend on it for electricity production. The limited climate benefits of nuclear energy, when the whole life-cycle of nuclear reactors is considered, and the unease of the population with nuclear energy, even in countries that depend on it, chart a probable new course for a renewable energy mix in the EU. This phasing-out of nuclear energy is likely to be progressive so as to avoid lost investments in developing the technology and will hinge on how rapidly renewables reach their technological maturity.

Sustainability is a critical issue for resource-rich countries encountering environmental and social problems in remote regions and struggling to overcome the national economy's reliance on the oil and gas industry. We explore, through a case study of Russian oil-producing regions, the interdependency of economic, social and environmental issues by analysing the trade-offs between the need to adopt new technology to combat gas flaring and the demand for socio-economic policies. The findings suggest that international companies can serve as effective vectors for promoting gas flaring technologies if regional governments take a flexible integrated approach to socio-economic and environmental policies formulation.

This article analyses the reasons why Russia adopts foreign norms in the sphere of higher educa-tion, looking at how isomorphism, Transnational Advocacy Networks and the global market for education have brought about the country's integration in the global network of universities necessary. It investigates how Russia strives to adopt international and western educational norms by adhering to the Bologna process and launching pro-jects such as 5-100 to reinforce the competitiveness of its universities on the global stage, but remains concerned about security and national identity issues. These fears have resulted in the government prioritizing the adherence to formal criteria while preserving the historical content of its higher education, thus leading to a dichotomy between substance and structure. This mismatch between the organization of higher education and its content leads to an in-effective implementation of the international norms but also to significant disruptions in the existing system. At-tempts to levy the advantages of both systems have had opposite results. Indeed, the risks of sudden change are mul-tifold: the sudden "catch-up" mode leads to resistance and to a decline in the overall quality of education in those universities lacking the institutions to support the fast tempo of change. The authors outline the benefits of an in-cremental adaptation to the international higher education system and the need to adjust the international norms to local conditions, by building off the assets of the country's Soviet heritage. The benefits of involving Transnational Experience and Experience Networks in the implementation of international norms are also reviewed.

This article considers the ideational and political contexts in which Project 5-100, the Russian excellence in higher education initiative emerged, as well as the specificities of its organisational and behavioural model. While Project 5-100 has been studied in the academic literature as regards its efficiency and how it affected the performance and inner workings of the participating universities, the question of how the project came about and the characteristic traits of its internal set-up still remain largely overlooked. The study focuses on the involvement of local and international players, arguing that their successful and organic cooperation influenced both the architecture and the implementation of the project. This paper contributes to the literature on policy networks by showing that transnational actors do not necessarily undermine or challenge state power and can on the contrary help governments implement systemic change. Inspired by the international experience of establishing world-class universities, Project 5-100 was conceived and lobbied by a small but influential group of visionaries pushing for change who – acting in a concerted and purposive manner – acquired a novel and powerful capacity to use international expertise for the development of a key national project, capable of deeply transforming the country's higher educational system.

Introduction. This paper deals with the international environmental norms on combatting the flaring of Associated Petroleum Gas (APG) and its adoption by Russia (decrees no. 7 and 1148). Flaring, or the systematic burning of associated gas during oil production, leads to the release of carbon dioxide and other harmful substances, endangering the surrounding and global environment. Methods. The authors use qualitative methods resting upon the analysis of primary and secondary documents, including articles from the media, legal texts, official communications and scholarly literature, to trace back the conditions that brought about the emergence of a distinct international norms condemning flaring. Analysis. The analysis of the norm through its life cycle reveals that the multi-faceted framing strategies employed by the Transnational Advocacy Network allowed the issue of flaring to gain salience in a relatively short timeframe. The flexible, durable, technical and apolitical approach adopted by the World Bank's Global Gas Flaring Reduction Private Public partnership explains the Russian Government's willingness to address the issue of flaring and to legislate on APG utilization. Results. The findings suggest that international campaigning for environmental protection need not be confrontational and that transnational advocacy networks may gain in efficiency if they adopt targeted strategies and systematically recode their message for each group of actors they plan to sensitize. Authors contribution. This article is based on research carried out by one of the authors, Anne Crowley-Vigneau for her dual doctoral thesis on international norms and Local Content policies completed at MGIMO University and the University of Reading. As the coordinating author she gathered the primary data through expert interviews. Andrey Baykov participated in coding, triangulating the data and studying legal documents. Prof. Yelena Kalyuzhnova, the supervisor of this research, provided guidance and created the research methodology. The writing of the paper was a joint effort of all three authors.