Suchergebnisse

"What happens in Spain, among the euro zone's largest economies, matters. Its high unemployment (over 26%), burgeoning public debt, and banking crisis will be formative for the zone's future. In Spain: What Everyone Needs to Know, a timely addition to Oxford's acclaimed What Everyone Needs to Know series, veteran journalist William Chislett provides much-needed political and historical context for Spain's current economic and political predicament. Chislett recounts the country's fascinating and often turbulent history, beginning with the Muslim conquest in 711 and ending with the nation's deep economic crisis, sparked by the spectacular collapse of its real estate and construction sectors in 2010. He explains the country's transition from dictatorship to democracy and covers such issues as the creation of a welfare state, the influx of immigrants, internal strife from the separatist Catalan region, the effects of stringent austerity measures, the strengths and weaknesses of the economy, and how the country can create a more sustainable economic model for the future. In a concise, question-and-answer format that allows readers to quickly access areas of particular interest, the book addresses a wide range of questions, including: What was the legacy of the Muslim presence between 711 and 1492? How did the Spanish Empire Arise? What were the causes of the 1936-39 Civil War? Why did the Socialists win a landslide victory in the 1982 election? What was the impact of European Economic Community membership? What is the violent Basque separatist group ETA? What caused the banking crisis? and more. This engaging overview covers a wide sweep of Spanish history and helps readers understand Spain's place in the world today."--Publisher's website

Abstract
I apply the well-known slogan 'Spain is different' to the consequences of the country's economic, political and social crisis in order to try to gauge the extent to which the crisis has been different to that in other euro zone countries. The most notable difference is the disproportionate rise in the unemployment rate which more than tripled from a low of 8 per cent in 2007. One major factor behind this is Spain's economic model, excessively based on the labour-intensive construction sector. The bursting of the property bubble as of 2008 had a huge impact. Other factors are the influx of immigrants: Spain received more immigrants per capita in the ten years before its crisis than any other country except the United States. Many of them worked in construction; indeed without them the boom would not have been possible. Remarkably, Spain does not have a party along the lines of Britain's UKIP. Political discontent with the two-party system has been largely channelled into the leftist Podemos.

The mildly Islamist Justice and Development party (AKP) of Recep Tayyip Erdogan won its third absolute victory in parliamentary elections, enabling it to press ahead, should it wish, on a host of issues including reviving the moribund EU accession negotiations and drafting a new constitution. The AKP won 326 of the 550 seats, 14 fewer than in 2007, while the Republican People's Party (CHP), the traditional voice of secularism, captured 23 more seats for a total of 135. As a result, the AKP will have to negotiate a new constitution to replace the one drafted by the army in 1982 with the opposition parties, including the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, as it did not achieve the 330 seats needed to make amendments and submit them to a referendum.

In five years of negotiations Turkey has only opened 13 of the 35 'chapters' or areas of EU law and policy needed to complete the process. Because so many of the other chapters are blocked for various reasons, only three are left to be opened. Patience is wearing thin on the Turkish side. The cost for Europe of 'losing' Turkey would be high in the spheres of foreign policy, migration, economic benefits and defence and security, among others.

The Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot leaders renewed negotiations in May for reunifying Cyprus, the only divided country in the EU. Little progress of substance was made during 19 months of talks between Demetris Christofias, the Greek-Cypriot President, and Mehmet Ali Talat, the former President of the internationally unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), who was defeated in April by the more hard-line Derviş Eroğlu. The international community is becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of progress on a settlement and the idea of a negotiated partition is gaining credence.

The defeat of Mehmet Ali Talat in the presidential election of 18 April in the internationally unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and the victory of Dervish Eroglu, the Prime Minister, dealt a potentially severe blow to the chances of reunifying Cyprus, the only divided country in Europe. Talat was more disposed to reach an agreement for a unified state than Eroglu, who, at least in public, favours separate states. But his 70 rounds of talks over two years with Demetris Christofias, the Greek Cypriot leader and President of the Republic of Cyprus, did not produce a comprehensive settlement. Cyprus has been split into Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities since Turkey's invasion in 1974 in response to inter communal strife and a military coup backed by the junta ruling Greece at the time (see Figure 1). The Cyprus issue has a direct bearing on Turkey's ailing bid to become a full EU member.

The 'yes' vote by a significant margin in Turkey's constitutional referendum on 12 September should revive the flagging negotiations for Turkey's full entry into the EU, launched in October 2005, which have virtually ground to a halt. The result was a resounding victory for the conservative Islamist-based Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and boosts his chances of winning a third term as head of a single-party government in 2011 and running for the presidency in 2012. Erdogan's opponents in the secular establishment (the military, judiciary and state bureaucracy) contend, however, that the outcome will make the government more authoritarian.

The European Commission's annual report on Turkey's progress toward full EU membership showed the country's arduous accession process in a more positive light, but there will be no breakthrough until the Cyprus problem is resolved. The report, released on 9 November, recognised advances, particularly as a result of the approval of constitutional reforms in September's referendum, but pointed out deficiencies in various areas of fundamental rights, including press freedom.

The UN's patience with Cyprus, divided since 1974, is beginning to run out. The Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders have made little progress over reunification in the last two years of negotiations. Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, warns that a 'critical window of opportunity is rapidly closing' and the negotiations run the risk of 'foundering fatally'. The toughly worded report, produced after 88 meetings between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, says progress has been 'frustratingly slow' and few of the confidence-building measures agreed have been implemented. The property question remains the most complex and contentious issue. Ban Ki-moon urged the leaders to bring to their meeting with him in January a practical plan for overcoming the points of disagreement. The idea of partition, in the absence of a settlement, is no longer such a taboo.