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The Impacts of International Aid on the Energy Security of Small Island Developing States (SIDS): A case Study of Tuvalu
Issue:
2012 - Volume 6, Issue 1
Abstract: Tuvalu is a small island developing state (SID) with least developed country (LDC) status. The island has gained international attention due to the threat to its land territory as a result of climate change and subsequent sea-level rises. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference, held...
Moldova’s Political Self and the Energy Conundrum in the Context of the European Neighbourhood Policy
Issue:
2012 - Volume 6, Issue 1
Abstract: This article employs a method of discourse analysis from a social constructivist perspective to evidence the emergence and stabilisation of a discourse of sovereignty in Moldova over the last decades. Within this context, it also explores the meaning of Transnistria and energy security for...
The Political Economy of Energy Security and Nuclear Energy in Jordan
Issue:
2012 - Volume 6, Issue 1
Abstract: In 2007 the Jordanian government announced its intention to build one nuclear power plant by 2015 and a number of others by 2030. The objective of this nuclear energy programme was to provide a sustainable domestic energy supply and relieve the burden of reliance on external energy sources....
Why Isreal Fears a Nuclear Iran: Realism, Constructivism & Iran’s Dual-National Identity
Issue:
2011 - Volume 5, Issue 3
Abstract: This work compares and contrasts the theoretical models of realist and constructivist thought within international relations theory as they relate to the subject of Iranian nuclear proliferation. The spread of nuclear weapons to Iran and to the Middle East represents a unique international...
Civic Activism, Social Capital & Social Media in the Modern MENA Region
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2011 - Volume 5, Issue 3
Abstract: The unfolding unrest in the Middle East opened up new debates on the relationship between social capital and civil society. This work has a threefold focus: first, it explores how the existing stock of social capital spurred on the contemporary civic activities in the search of constructing...
Remaking US Foreign Policy for a Fresh Start with the Muslim World: Linguistic and Discursive Features of Obama’s Cairo Speech
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2011 - Volume 5, Issue 3
Abstract: Since his inaugural speech on 20 January 2009, Barack Obama has consistently kept the eloquence of his political speech that addresses the issue of change and the need to remake America by reintroducing it to itself and the world at large. In his Cairo Speech, delivered from the most populous...
Democracy & Human Rights Promotion in US Foreign Policy
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2011 - Volume 5, Issue 3
Abstract: This article delves into the driving forces behind the US’s human rights and democracy promotion policy. To facilitate the investigation of this work, liberal internationalism is deployed. This theoretical framework has been selected because of its insistence on the logic of consequences and...
Europeanisation, Bosnian Style
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2011 - Volume 5, Issue 3
Abstract: There is a wealth of literature criticising European Union (EU) member states for not speaking “with a single voice” regarding foreign affairs priorities. This work is yet another contribution to such scholarship though its direction, analysing EU approaches to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)...
The Potential Use of PMSCs to Fulfill the EU's Security Strategy
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2011 - Volume 5, Issue 3
Abstract: The EU is facing a gap between its security ambitions and the reality of its military capabilities. It is often argued that the suitably regulated use of Private Military Companies and Private Security Companies (PMSCs) by international organisations would prove beneficial for cost savings...
EU External Relations from Non-Intervention to Political Conditionality
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2011 - Volume 5, Issue 3
Abstract: The international system developed after the Peace of Westphalia placed at its core the idea that nation-states are equal units that cannot intervene in the internal affairs of other states, an idea which ultimately led to the conclusion that international anarchy is a reality of international...
Peacekeeping & Jus Post Bellum: Towards a Concept of Rules in Post-Conflict Situations
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2011 - Volume 5, Issue 3
Abstract: This article argues that post-conflict peacekeeping should be seen as highly valuable for further developing jus post bellum, since the UN is the main actor in contemporary post-conflict situations. It elaborates on the historical background of jus post bellum, as well as the revival of the...
The Dark And Bright Sides Of Non-State Actors: An Evaluation
Issue:
2011 - Volume 5, Issue 2
Abstract: Non-state actors occupy an irreplaceable position in the current global system. Over the past decades they have become so influential that any analysis of international relations is impossible without their characterisation. This article advances a controversial hypothesis that the existence...
Reshaping Europe In A Multipolar World: Can The EU Rise To The Challenge?
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2011 - Volume 5, Issue 2
Abstract: Globalisation and the emergence of economic players such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) have led to predictions that US hegemony will quickly decline as a new world order emerges. With the European Union (EU) also facing a downgrading of its own status – as economic, political and...
Is The EU Attractive?
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2011 - Volume 5, Issue 2
Abstract: This article introduces the EU as an attractive actor. It aspires to classify approaches shaping the current debate about various aspects of the EU’s relations towards other international actors (Europeanisation, soft power, civilian power or normative power) and derives two dimensions of attractiveness:...
The Potential Of Poland's Bio-Petrol
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2011 - Volume 5, Issue 2
Abstract: The aspiration to promote the bio-petrol industry is an attempt to provide a solution for some of the problems the European Union countries share, such as the decreasing importance of peripheral areas, the need to diversify energy sources and the commitment to the Kyoto Protocol. Once Poland...
French Foreign Policy And The EU's CFSP
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2011 - Volume 5, Issue 2
Abstract: This article examines some of the main phases of French activities within framework of the EU´s Common Foreign and Security Policy. Since the end of the Cold War the Fifth Republic has become obsessed with strengthening European political and military importance around the world. This was caused...
Statism In Russia: Implications For US-Russian Relations
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2011 - Volume 5, Issue 2
Abstract: This work identifies and assesses the general shift in Russian foreign policy thinking during Vladimir Putin’s presidency. The main thesis of this work is that a general shift in Russian foreign policy had occurred during Putin’s presidency owing to the rise in Statist thinking. To substantiate...
Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo? Assessing Imperialist Aspirations Of The EU, Russia & The US
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2011 - Volume 5, Issue 2
Abstract: After the Cold War, three substantially different powers have emerged in international politics. While the United States has already established itself as a key international leader, though is attempting to limit an imperialist label, the EU and Russia struggled throughout the 1990s over their...
Informality Reigns The Country: The Case Of The Czech Republic
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2011 - Volume 5, Issue 2
Criminal networks have infiltrated the Czech justice system. Czech Security Information Services BIS, 2007
Abstract: This work focuses on informal politics for the political elite level in the Czech Republic and proposes an actor-based view. It considers the relationship between formal and informal...
The Case For The Creation Of A ‘Global FBI’
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2011 - Volume 5, Issue 2
Abstract: Global society is in need of the same law-enforcement development as with the introduction of the FBI in the US in 1908; to introduce another layer of expertise and specialism to deal with transnational criminals and international terrorism and to bring the rule of law to the whole of global...
War Is Not the Answer... to New Security Threats
Issue:
2011 - Volume 5, Issue 1
Abstract: This article shows that war represents an inappropriate solution to so-called new security threats such as terrorism, organised crime, regional conflicts and failed states. Compared to previous times, when threats were largely posed well-defined enemies, new security threats are markedly more...
The European External Action Service: A Preliminary Evaluation
Issue:
2011 - Volume 5, Issue 1
Abstract: This work examines the new European diplomatic corps launched within the framework of the Lisbon Treaty. Based on the decision from 26 July 2010 by which the Council of the European Union established the organisation and functioning of the European External Action Service, this work constructs...
The Ideas of Europe in CEE
Issue:
2011 - Volume 5, Issue 1
Abstract: The central aim of this work is to present some ideas of Europe in Central and Eastern Europe throughout various time-periods, starting from the Soviet period, then moving to the pre-accession period and finally the post-accession period. Throughout those periods, Central and Eastern European...
Identities, Not Money: CEE Countries’ Attitudes to the Euro
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2011 - Volume 5, Issue 1
Abstract: The research conducted in this research challenges more conventional views that Central and East European (CEE) countries are driven by financial and materialistic concerns in their attitudes towards the adoption of the Euro. It argues that neither indicators of economic benefits, nor the distributive...
The Role of the EU's Civil Society Development Assistance in the Process of Peacebuilding: The Case of the EU Enlargement
Issue:
2011 - Volume 5, Issue 1
Abstract: This article presents the role of civil society in peacebuilding processes and how the concepts of peacebuilding and civil society development fit into a broader EU foreign policy framework. In its empirical part, this article analyses the role of civil society development as part of the EU’s...
The Chimera of Europe’s Normative Power in East Asia: A Constructivist Analysis
Issue:
2011 - Volume 5, Issue 1
Abstract: Utilising constructivism this work analyses the contemporary relational complexities of East Asia vis-à-vis the European Union (EU). Mindful of the social constructivist themes of identity and interests, it is argued that there are fundamental difficulties found in these interregional relations,...
Canada’s Arctic Policy: Prospects For Cooperation In A Warming World
Issue:
2011 - Volume 5, Issue 1
Abstract: This assessment of the Arctic is divided in to four sections. First, the true value of the region is defined in terms of its environmental, geostrategic, economic and socio-cultural importance. Such a definition stresses the need for countries involved in Arctic expeditions (notably Canada,...
The Melting Poles: Between Challenges And Opportunities
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2011 - Volume 5, Issue 1
Abstract: The Arctic and Antarctica have traditionally been treated as footnotes in larger international relations. Recently however, the polar caps have entered the priority lists of a multitude of international actors and captured the attention of the international community at large. Despite popular...
Unpacking Pandora’s Box: Defining Transnational Crime and Outlining Emerging Criminal Trends
Issue:
2010 - Volume 4, Issue 2
Transnational crime has been accepted as a working concept in most related disciplines. Yet, regardless of its wide recognition by academicand policy making communities, the term has remained amorphous. In order to provide greater precision, this article engages in a bold effort to conceptualise transnational...
Iran’s Nuclear Policy: Russia’s Perspective
Issue:
2010 - Volume 4, Issue 2
Abstract: Despite Iran’s claim that its nuclear intentions are based strictly on developing the technology for peaceful purposes, the regime is constantly criticised – notably by the US and EU – and has come under immense pressure, resulting in debilitating international sanctions to prod the regime...