V: International Relations/Relations Internationales
| Date | 01 February 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002083451606600105 |
| Published date | 01 February 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Abstracts |
88
V
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
RELATIONS INTERNATIONALES
(a) International law, organization and administration/Droit international, organisation et adm inistration internationales
66.868 ALEXANDROVA, Petya — Upsetting the agenda: the clout
of external focusing events in the European Council.
Journal of Public Policy 35(3), Dec. 2015 : 505-530.
Combining data from multiple sources, this study conducts an analysis of
the determinants of prioritization of external focusing events in the
European Council over a period longer than two decades. The results
demonstrate that decisions regarding the placement of crises on the
agenda are underscored by exogenous (humanitarian) and endogenous
(geopolitical interest) considerations. Those events with a higher likeli-
hood of agenda access include manmade incidents (versus natural
disasters), events with larger death tolls and crises in the neighborhood.
Stronger competition between potential focusing events across time and
space reduces the chances of access. The level of attention each event
receives depends on purely strategic interests. Focusing events in
neighboring countries gain a higher portion of attention, as do occur-
rences in states having a larger trade exchange with the EU. [R, abr.]
66.869 ALMEIDA MEDEIROS, Marcelo de ; MEUNIER, Isabel ;
COCKLES, Mariana — Processos de difusão política e le-
gitimidade no Mercosul : mimetismo institucional e me-
canismos de internalização de normas comunitárias
(Policy diffusion processes and legitimacy in Mercosur:
institutional mimicry and internationalization mecha-
nisms of community standards). Contexto internacional
37(2), 2015 : 537-570.
Since its foundation in 1991, Mercosur has been characterized by inter-
governmental mechanisms and a decision-making process based on
consensus. This dynamic puts federal Executive branch in the center of
the integration process, therefore arising questions about representation
and legitimacy in the study of regional institution. Based on the concept
of policy diffusion phenomena, this paper discusses the search for
legitimacy through mimicry: it tests the hypothesis that plural exchanges
between Mercosur and the EU yield internal rules importing European
model, and stimulate technical cooperation spreading institutional prac-
tices. The institutional design influenced by a more ancient and consoli-
dated institution can be exploited as a source of legitimacy, fostered by
employees of Mercosur and epistemic communities. However, these
regional standards are assimilated differently by the member states,
thus, in a second moment, the work confronts the results of the analysis
of institutional diffusion within with data on the effective internalization of
these rules, as means to scrutinize how the regional search for legiti-
macy relates to the effectiveness of domestic rules. The result of the
empirical analysis shows that there is a path of political transfer between
the European Union and Mercosur working by: (i) internal rules which
directly imports the European model; (ii) technical cooperation diffusing
institutional practices; (iii) normative harmon ization as a way to favor
future interactions. [R]
66.870 AMARAL, Manuela — Padrões privados e a atuação ou
omissão do estado : protecionismo público-privado ?
(Private problems and the action or omission of the
state: public-private protectionism ?). Contexto interna-
cional 37(2), 2015 : 403-434.
The proliferation of private standards in international trade raises con-
cerns regarding the possibility of these measures be creating a new type
of protectionism at the fringes of the WTO. WTO rules apply to actions
undertaken by its Members and therefore they do not cover this type of
private protectionism, which is characterized by trade restrictive meas-
ures adopted by private entities, such as an association of retailers,
among other non-governmental entities. The non-application of WTO
rules to private entities can contribute to private regulation, since gov-
ernments may create incentives for the regulation by non-governmental
entities so as to circumvent multilateral trade rules. In this context, to
what extent are governments involved in private certification schemes so
that WTO law could legitimately apply? Based on the analysis of three
case studies, it was found that, in many situations, governments may be
involved in private regulation in different levels. Therefore, in some
cases, it is possible to attribute responsibility to the State for the conduct
of private entities in its territory. However, in other situations, the clarifi-
cation of some terms in the TBTAgreement remains as an important
issue for a final decision regarding the application of WTO law to private
standards. [R]
66.871 ARMINGEON, Klaus ; GUTHMANN, Kai ; WEISSTANNER,
David — Wie der Euro Europa spaltet. Die Krise der ge-
meinsamen Währung und die Entfremdung von der De-
mokratie in der Europäischen Union (The euro splits
Europe. The crisis of the common currency and democ-
ratic alienation in the European union). Politische Viertel-
jahresschrift 56(3), 2015 : 506-531.
Suffering from reducing competitiveness, some member countries of the
Eurozone are forced to pursue a policy of internal devaluation. This leads
to a deficit of [legitimacy] both with regard to the input and the output of
the democratic process. We analyze the development of support of the
democratic political system on the domestic and European level. Our
comparison of 28 EU member countries covers the period from 2001-
2013 and is based on Eurobarometer data. We show that in terms of
political [legitimacy] Europe drifts apart. The stronger internal devaluation
is forced upon a country, the more the citizens of this country withdraws
their support for the democratic system on the domestic and European
level. [R]
66.872 ATEŞOĞLU GÜNEY, Nurşin — Where does the EU stand
in energy dependence on Russia after the Ukrainian cri-
sis: are there any alternatives at hand? Perceptions. Jour-
nal of International Affairs 19(3), Autumn 2014 : 15-34.
Since the 1973 OPEC oil crisis, the EU has been dependent on hydro-
carbon imports from Russia. The latest Ukrainian crisis, resulting from the
Russian annexation of Crimea, has naturally triggered therefore old
European concerns associated with the 2006-2009 Russian gas stop-
pages. In the aftermath of the Crimean situation, the EU Commission
undertook an analysis of the Union’s future energy security strategy. In
June, Brussels issued the 2014 Energy Security Strategy, and [outlining]
objectives as far out as 2030. Following the release of the EU’s strategy,
this paper analyzes the most recent developments to trigger debate
among IR scholars and energy experts on whether the EU can find and
exploit alternative resources in order to transcend its longstanding energy
dependence on Russia. [R, abr.]
66.873 ATEŞOĞLU GÜNEY, Nurşin ; KORKMAZ, Vişne — The
energy interdependence model between Russia and
Europe: an evaluation of expectations for change. Per-
ceptions. Journal of International Affairs 19(3), Autumn 2014 :
35-58.
This paper identifies changes in the interdependence model and energy
dialogue regime between Russia and Europe, constructed during the
Cold War to manage the gas exchange between Moscow and the West.
[Its] political rationale was to keep Russia as a constrained gian t within
the economic logic of interdependence and prevent any assertive action
on Russia’s part. After the demise of the Soviets, changes in the overall
and issue-based power capabilities in the economy and technology led to
an expectation of regime-change. The dependence on Russian gas was
politicized and the Europeans began to implement new energy security
measures as well as diversification strategies. This paper, by reconsider-
ing turning points in the Post-Cold War interdependence like the 2006,
2009, and 2014 crises, predicts how interdependence will evolve. [R,
abr.]
66.874 AZZARITI, Gaetano — Legislatore e giudice nella protezi-
one dei diritti fondamentali. Il caso dell’Unione Europea
(Legislator and the judge in the protection of fundamental
rights. The case of the European Union). Parolechiave 53,
2015 : 97-108.
The essay analyzes the growing central role that the European Court of
Justice has gained in setting the limits of the European legal order and in
defining the European system of fundamental rights. By taking the cue
from some recent decisions of the EU Court of Justice, the essay criti-
cizes the growing “jurisprudentialization” of the European political order
and how this transition has been strengthened by the proclamation of the
Relations internationales
89
European Charter of Fundamental Rights. As a consequence, in the
current economic crisis this judge -made system has pushed towards the
subordination of fundamental rights to the market. [R]
66.875 BAE Ki-Hyun — Neither left-out nor pushed-over: anxious
ASEAN and its 4C practices. Pacific Review 28(5), Dec.
2015 : 703-729.
Building Community, Charter, Connectivity and Centrality — the 4Cs —
is one of the most prominent goals for which ASEAN elites have continu-
ously pledged for years. This article claims that the 4Cs are a reflection
of structural concerns shared by individual ASEAN members. Specifi-
cally, the main source of the ASEAN's current practices is its members’
similar internal conditions that exposed elites to a substantial level of
concerns over dual marginalization in relation to the leadin g countries of
global governance. ASEAN elites have agreed to pursue the 4Cs, de-
spite the 4Cs’ incompatibility with ASEAN members’ domestic practices
as well as some conventional ASEAN ways of doing business, because
they are expected to reduce elites’ dual concerns over becoming left-out
or pushed-over within the current global governance. [R, abr.]
66.876 BAGLIONI, Sebastian ; HURRELMANN, Achim — The
Eurozone crisis and citizen engagement in EU affairs.
West European Politics 39(1), Oct. 2015 : 104-124.
While the Eurozone crisis has contributed to Europeanization trends in
the domestic politics of EU member states, it has not to the same extent
triggered citizen mobilization in EU-level democratic procedures. This
article suggests that the weakness of supranational citizen mobilization is
linked to factors that restrict the citizens’ receptiveness to EU-related
messages: limited knowledge of the EU and a weak sense of political
efficacy, a discursive framing that conceptualizes the EU as a consortium
of member states rather than a supranational entity, and attributions of
responsibility for the crisis that de-emphasize the role of EU policies.
These factors constitute cultural opportunity structures that influence
politicization patterns; they imply that politicization is, under present
conditions, more likely to result in a renationalization than in a suprana-
tionalization of EU politics. [R, abr.] [See Abstr. 66.993]
66.877 BARTA, Zsofia ; SCHELKLE, Waltraud — At cross-
purposes: commercial versus technocratic governance
of sovereign debt in the EU. Journal of European Integra-
tion 37(7), Nov. 2015 : 833-846.
The EMU was premised on the idea that market discipline, informed by
fiscal surveillance, supports the building of a hard currency union. [How-
ever,] the international-commercial and the supranational-technocratic
assessments of sovereign debt were not aligned. We show that credit-
rating agencies and Eurostat have rather different assessments of what
certain policies mean for sovereign debt. These assessments reveal
divergent institutional logics of market actors and regulators. Private
agencies are prone to conformism and herding behavior, allowing for
little consistent discipline, while the public agency follows a bureaucratic
imperative of accountability and transparency, which gets in the way of
evolving policy priorities. Our findings thus shed light on the difficulties of
fiscal governance by regulation only but they also suggest that reforms at
the EMU level do not provide quick fixes. [R, abr.] [See Abstr. 66.924]
66.878 BEGG, Iain, et al. — EMU and sustainable integration.
Journal of European Integration 37(7), Nov. 2015 : 803-816.
This paper considers what will be required to make EMU sustainable
following the successive crises of recent years. It lays out the policy
benchmark, namely the successive “President Reports” produced by EU
institutions. It then suggests three dimensions of sustainable integration
relevant to EMU, namely the pursuit of sustainable growth, the need to
take into account what we call “varieties of modernization” and the
“ownership” of democratically sustainable reforms. It then evaluates the
recasting of EMU governance against the benchmark of sustainable
integration. [R] [See Abstr. 66.924]
66.879 BELLAMY, Alex J. ; HUNT, Charles T. — Twenty-first
century UN peace operations: protection, force and the
changing security environment. International Affairs 91(6),
Nov. 2015 : 12767-1298.
UN peace operations are deployed in greater numbers to more difficult
operating theatres in response to more complex conflict situations than
ever before. To understand these changes, and the implications for UN
peace operations, this article examines three key transformations: the
emergence of the protection of civilians as a central mission goal (and
accompanying principles of due diligence); a subtle move away from
peacekeeping as an impartial overseer of peace processes towards the
goal of stabilization; and a so-called “robust turn” towards greater pre-
paredness to use force. It identifies the challenges posed to contempo-
rary UN peacekeeping operations by these transformations and evalu-
ates the UN's efforts thus far to make peacekeeping fit for purpose in the
21st c. [R, abr.] [See Abstr. 66.992]
66.880 BINDER, Martin — Paths to intervention: what explains
the UN’s selective response to humanitarian crises?
Journal of Peace Research 52(6), Nov. 2015 : 712-726.
This article offers a configurational explanation of selective Security
Council intervention [in humanitarian crises] that integrates explanatory
variables from different theories of third-party intervention. These vari-
ables are tested through a comparison of 31 humanitarian crises (1991-
2004) using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. The analysis
shows that a large extent of human suffering and substantial previous
involvement in a crisis by international institutions are the key explana-
tory conditions for coercive Security Council action, but only when com-
bined with negative spillover effects to neighboring countries (path 1) or
with low capabilities of the target state (path 2). These results are highly
consistent and explain 85% of Security Council interventions after the
end of the Cold War. [R, abr.]
66.881 BJÖRKDAHL, Annika ; SELIMOVIC, Johanna Mannergren —
Translating UNSCR 1325 from the global to the national:
protection, representation and participation in the Na-
tional Action Plans of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Rwanda.
Conflict Security and Development 15(4), Sept. 2015 : 311-
335.
A decade and a half after the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution
(UNSCR) 1325, gendered peace gaps in post-conflict societies are still
wide and deep. This raises pressing questions concerning how UNSCR
1325 and concomitant resolutions on women, peace and security (WPS)
constitute women and gender, and how they as particular discursive
configurations impact on post-conflict societies. We zoom in on the role
of National Action Plans (NAPs) for the implementation of 1325 in na-
tional contexts. We undertake a discursive analysis of Bosnia-
Herzegovina's and Rwanda's NAPs in order to trace how the 1325
agenda of protection, representation and participation is translated into
national contexts. [R, abr.]
66.882 BONEFELD, Werner — European economic constitution
and the transformation of democracy: on class and the
state of law. European Journal of International Relations
21(4), Dec. 2015 : 867-886.
In the context of contemporary analyses of the EU as a post-democratic
form of economic governance, this article explores the (ordo)liberal
character of monetary union as a regime of imposed liberty. The argu-
ment holds that rather than forcing the member states into retreat, the
economic constitution of Europe strengthens their liberal foundation,
securing their utility as the organized force of a mode of social reproduc-
tion founded on free labor. It develops the character of the liberal state as
the political form of a free market economy with reference to Adam
Smith’s classical political economy and the German ordoliberal tradition,
which calls for a rule-based system of federated forms of economic
governance to secure a free labor economy in conditions of mass de-
mocratic aspirations for a freedom from want. [R, abr.]
66.883 BRZOSKA, Michael — International sanctions before and
beyond UN sanctions. International Affairs 91(6), Nov.
2015 : 1339-1349.
UN sanctions are authorized by the international body that is legally
charged with the maintenance of international peace and security, the
UN Security Council. They are grounded in provisions of the UN Charter.
However, only a fraction of all international sanctions are mandated by
the UN. One of the findings of this article, which is based on data col-
lected by the Targeted Sanctions Consortium (TSC), is that the large
majority of UN sanctions are preceded by non-UN sanctions, particularly
sanctions by the US and the EU. Furthermore, it is common practice,
particularly by the US and the EU, to add sanction provisions of their own
to UN sanctions. As a result, for most UN sanctions, there are also non-
UN sanctions against the same targets. [R, abr.] [See Abstr. 66.992]
66.884 BUSEMEYER, Marius R. ; TOBER, Tobias — European
integration and the political economy of inequality. Euro-
pean Union Politics 16(4), Dec. 2015 : 536-557.
This study examines the role of European integration as a potential
source of income inequality in countries of the EU. We distinguish be-
tween both economic and political integration and identify theoretical
mechanisms that link the two to rising levels of inequality. The empirical
analysis draws on time-series cross-section data covering 14 EU mem-
ber states for the time period 1999-2010. In particular, we use a newly
available dataset that measures individual degrees of integration across
different dimensions. We find a positive association between political
integration and inequality on the one hand as well as a non-association
between economic integration and inequality on the other hand. This
suggests that the recent trend toward inequality at the EU national level
is at least partly related to deepening political integration at the suprana-
tional level. [R]
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