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Map of Europe |
CIAO DATE: 07/03
Vol. 6, No 1 (March 2003)
Articles
The Transnationalisation of Political Conflict: Beyond Rationalism and Constructivism
(PDF format, 17 pgs, 180 kb)
by Ondrej Císar
This article seeks to understand how transnationally acting non-governmental organisations influence politics and policy-making. It is firmly positioned in the field of transnational relations. However, in order to address some shortcomings of the prevalent approaches in this area of study the article draws on notions from the literature on social movements and from sociology. In order to grasp the patterns of interactions of the relevant transnational and local political actors, the article combines a policy process approach to the study of social movements with a general theory of political fields. The general theory of political fields provides a suitable theoretical background for understanding the dynamic dimension of political interactions in the multilevel arenas that form the infrastructure of today’s global politics. The presented theoretical points are developed on the basis of an empirical case that focuses on the conflict over the second Czech nuclear-power station Temelí.
Complementarities and Differences in EU and US Policies in Northern Europe
(PDF format, 28 pgs, 244 kb)
by Christopher S. Browning
This article analyses the relationship between the European Union’s (EU) policy framework for northern Europe, the Northern Dimension Initiative (NDI), and the United States’ parallel policy, the Northern European Initiative (NEI). On the one hand, it is noted that these policies share much in common. Of particular note is that both policies lead to a relatively inventive approach to questions of governance and regional co-operation that departs from the confines of modernist understandings of international politics with their focus on questions of state sovereignty. On the other hand, the policies have also exhibited certain and important differences, in particular in their relationship to the issue of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) enlargement to the Baltic States. Having laid out, explored and tried to account for these similarities and differences, the article then debates what 11 September and the future enlargements of the EU and NATO will entail for the development of the NDI and NEI and the relationship between them. Whilst it is argued that opportunities for further co-operation between the initiatives will probably grow, there is a danger that the innovative aspects of the policies will be lost with the reassertion of the concerns of high politics.
Preference Similarities and Group Hegemony: G-7 Voting Cohesion in the UN General Assembly
by Thomas J. Volgy, Derrick V. Frazier and Robert Stewart Ingersoll
The Group of Seven (G-7) nations hold economic and military/political capabilities in hegemonic proportion in international politics. Organisationally, the G-7 has worked during both the Cold War and thereafter to address a broad series of global governance issues and to develop global architecture. Yet, there has been little by way of systematic analysis to determine the extent of the group’s cohesiveness, and the likelihood that such cohesiveness will endure in the post-Cold War environment. Here, we develop a method for assessing G-7 cohesion and apply it to systematically describe trends in G-7 cohesion since 1975 in the United Nations General Assembly. We conclude with some suggestions for future research.
OSCE Studies: The State of the Art and Future Directions (Review Essay)
by Michael Merlingen
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has been given little attention in International Relations scholarship. Against this background, 2001 was a bumper year for (English) books on the institution with four major contributions emerging. Yet, if one turns from quantity to quality, one returns to normality. All but one of the books is descriptive, which is indicative of the state of the art. OSCE studies mostly eschew any explicit reference to analytical frameworks or theories. Such a descriptive orientation limits what can be said about the institution. This essay brings three theoretical frameworks into focus in order to illustrate the argument that research on the OSCE would benefit from a theoretical turn. It is shown how these three approaches — constructivist security studies, the Copenhagen school and Foucauldian power analysis — extend OSCE studies in previously unexplored directions, thereby opening new windows on the institution to reveal aspects of what it is and what it does that have not been brought to light before. While these three approaches do not exhaust the possibilities for theoretically informed research on the OSCE, they do point out the need for going beyond the state of the art of OSCE studies.
Book Reviews
European Integration after Amsterdam: Institutional Dynamics and Prospects for Democracy by Karlheinz Neunreither and Antje Wiener (eds)
by Lucie Konigova
The Tragedy of Great Power Politics by John Mearsheimer
by Carlos L. Yordán
Power Shuffles and Policy Processes: Coalition Government in Japan in the 1990s by Hideo Otake (ed.)
by Bostjan Bertalaniè
The World Turned Upside Down? Globalization and the Future of the State by R. J. Barry Jones
by Petr Reimer
Culture and International Conflict Resolution: A Critical Analysis of the Work of John Burton by Tarja Väyrynen
by Radka Havlová