CIAO DATE: 10/2010
Volume: 8, Issue: 4
Winter 2009
Democracy in the European Union and the Treaty of Lisbon (PDF)
Nevra Esentürk
Democracy, one of the basic values of Western politics, has undergone a comprehensive development process still in progress during the course of European integration. Although at the initial phase of the integration, even no hint of democracy was on the fore, it has become one of the most discussed subjects in the Union. With the recent development of the Lisbon Treaty, the question of democratic legitimacy, transparency and efficiency of the EU was put at the center. Thus, it has been given much more attention and its credentials have been improved day by day in the EU. However, democracy, which is a very comprehensive subject incorporating several issues related to the EU, such as the principles of the EU, the institutional structure, legislative procedures, fundamental rights and the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, despite all this improvement trend in force, is still not sufficient. In this context, in which there still exists “democratic deficit” in the EU, after a brief historical background of the issue, the Lisbon Treaty is analyzed in terms of the novelties, advances it brought to democracy in the EU basically in two parts, namely the democratic principles, and the institutional and functional aspects of European democracy in this study. In the light of this analysis, it is aimed to figure out the advantages and limits of the improvement trend in European democracy, which would open the way for further developments in this issue.
The Policies around the BTC Pipeline (PDF)
Halil Erdemir
The post-Cold War years have witnessed rivalries and cooperation among the players for the Caucasus and Caspian Sea natural resources. The significance of the petrochemical resources of the region was increased by the policies were played for the transportation routes and competition on them. The BTC pipeline project was one of the important alternatives of network route of natural resources of the Caspian region for the western markets in general for the region in particular. The issue became a multi-faced matter in the fields of economic, security, political and diplomatic relations of the regional countries. The paper will discuss the BTC pipeline policies of the involving players’ whys and wherefores of interests.
The Palestinian Refugee Question: A Constitutive Constructivist Interpretation (PDF)
Nassef M. Adiong
The paper aims to present a constitutive constructivist interpretation of the Palestinian refugee question by examining the speeches and other public documents. The proponent questions the perennial inadequacy of mainstream theories particularly realism, thus its purpose is to present an alternative theoretical framework, and with the help of a method to deeply understand the problem. The constitutive version of constructivism differs from the conventional strand because it gives importance to the potency of the use of language. This will be undertaken through the verbs-incontext- system (VICS) method of content analysis. Consequently, the findings are not as good as we would hope for because based on the calculative verbs that were gathered using VICS, it gave us a negative and even pejorative interpretation whether all of the agreements and public statements were done in the spirit of pacta sunt servanda. However, there are glitches in the evaluated statements stating some plethoric and unbinding declarations. Most, if not all, were unilaterally declared based on their perspectives and insinuate some argumentative issues particularly on the right of the refugees to return to their homeland or acquire their lost properties.
The Nexus between the Democratic Peace Theory and Economic Coercion: Why Democracies Fight Each Other?
Heather Chingono
Recent research shows that the Democratic Peace Theory (hereinafter referred to as DPT) is based on the dyadic (democracies rarely if ever fight one another) and the monadic (democracies are more peaceful in general) assumptions. In asserting these premises the DPT has concentrated mainly on militarized conflict. However, recent scholarly work has shown that the definition of the term “conflict” has widened in scope to include economic conflict prompting the use of coercion. Using some sanctions episodes in Hufbauer Clyde Gary et al (2006) this article investigates how and why democracies have used economic sanctions against each other despite their shared values and beliefs, economic interdependence and universal conflict resolution mechanisms that presumably favor peace. This research seeks to falsify the dyadic premise/claim of the DPT by citing a clash of interests, domestic values and priorities among citizens, high levels of trade between democracies and economic strength of democracies as factors facilitating democracies sanctioning each other.
Heather Chingono
Recent research shows that the Democratic Peace Theory (hereinafter referred to as DPT) is based on the dyadic (democracies rarely if ever fight one another) and the monadic (democracies are more peaceful in general) assumptions. In asserting these premises the DPT has concentrated mainly on militarized conflict. However, recent scholarly work has shown that the definition of the term “conflict” has widened in scope to include economic conflict prompting the use of coercion. Using some sanctions episodes in Hufbauer Clyde Gary et al (2006) this article investigates how and why democracies have used economic sanctions against each other despite their shared values and beliefs, economic interdependence and universal conflict resolution mechanisms that presumably favor peace. This research seeks to falsify the dyadic premise/claim of the DPT by citing a clash of interests, domestic values and priorities among citizens, high levels of trade between democracies and economic strength of democracies as factors facilitating democracies sanctioning each other.
On Vulnerability in the South: Sovereignty in the Post-Colonial Space (PDF)
Ioana Puscas
This article engages critically with the question of sovereignty, with a focus on the post-colonial state. Building on Stephen Krasner’s arguments, it will point to the risks of employing European-centered/ inspired concepts for understanding processes in former colonies. In doing so, the paper will reveal the complexity pervading the discourse and history of sovereignty, beyond the purely legalistic definitions, questioning whether this institution was only a new democratic appearance for a system that remained inherently coercive. In relation to this, some epistemological and methodological issues will be explored concerning the discipline of International Relations as such.