VI: National and Area Studies/Études Nationales et Régionales
| DOI | 10.1177/002083451606600406 |
| Date | 01 August 2016 |
| Published date | 01 August 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Abstracts |
519
VI
NATIONAL AND AREA STUDIES
ÉTUDES NATIONALES ET RÉGIONALES
66.4971 AGIRDAG, Orhan ; PHALET, Karen ; VAN HOUTTE, Mieke
— European identity as a unifying category: national vs.
European identification among native and immigrant pu-
pils. European Union Politics 17(2), June 2016 : 285-302.
This article investigates whether European identity is a feasible and
functional alternative to national id entity. We examine the extent, deter-
minants and consequences of national and European identification
among (immigrant) Turkish and native Belgian pupils, with data gathered
from 1629 pupils across 68 Belgian schools. The results show that
immigrant Turkish pupils identify more strongly with Europe than with
Belgium. The groups are closer to each other with respect to their Euro-
pean identification, while the latter is not in conflict with national identifi-
cation. Moreover, European identity is less ethnically and more civically
defined than national identity. Importantly, European identification was
moderately related to academic achievement, though it is hard to make a
causal claim. [R]
66.4972 AHRAM, Ariel I. ; LUST, Ellen — The decline and fall of the
Arab State. Survival 58(2), Apr.-May 2016 : 7-34.
The malaise of Arab states was triggered by domestic battles, but made
possible by global changes in the nature of sovereignty. [R]
66.4973 ARNDT, Melani — Tschernobyl – die bekannte, un-
bekannte Katastrophe (Chernobyl — the known and un-
known catastrophe). Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte 66(12-
13), 21 March 2016 : 3-10.
It is widely acknowledged that the Chernobyl accident created irrepara-
ble problems to the local population, but what do we really know about
this catastrophe and its consequences? Why is there still so little infor-
mation after thirty years? Some aspects of the deterioration of the nucle-
ar power plant’s fourth reactor remain unclear, as well as the real num-
ber of concerned people. Neither have the accident’s effects on ecosys-
tems been determined with precision. The April 1986 catastrophe
marked a turning point in public opinion concerning the use of nuclear
energy, but the changes in nuclear policies have been relatively scarce.
[R] [First article of a thematic issue on “Global energy”. See also Abstr.
66.4228, 4290, 4367]
66.4974 BALANCHE, Fabrice — Les dés sont jetés : les Kurdes
traversent l’Euphrate (The die is cast: the Kurds are
crossing the Euphrates). Cahiers de l'Orient 122, Spring
2016 : 39-46.
Although the latest Kurdish offensive in Syria runs the risk of spurring
direct Turkish intervention, it could also help isolate Islamic State forces
in the area from their capital Raqqa, with significant implications for the
rest of the combatants in Syria. [R] [See Abstr. 66.5019]
66.4975 BAPAT, Navin A. ; ZEIGLER, Sean — Terrorism, dynamic
commitment problems, and military conflict. American
Journal of Political Science 60(2), Apr. 2016 : 337-351.
Studies indicate that the costs of terrorism are insignificant compared to
the damage created by war. Why do states initiate costly wars when the
risk posed by terrorism appears marginal? This study first arg ues that
while terrorists frequently fail to achieve their strategic objectives, terror-
ists can accomplish tactical objectives and may transition to insurgencies
by seizing control of pockets of territory. States may respond by initiating
preventive wars to stop terrorists from consolidating control over their
strategically valuable territories (e.g., resource-rich areas). Second, rival
states may opportunistically exploit terrorist violence by declaring that the
government is a “weak state”. This allows rivals to seize portions of the
government's territory under the cover of fighting terror. We test these
hypotheses using post–Cold War African dyads from 1990 to 2006. [R,
abr.]
66.4976 BIVAND ERDAL, Marta ; LEWICKI, Alekandra, eds. —
Polish migration within Europe: mobility, transnational-
ism and integration. Social Identities 22(1), Jan. 2016 : 1-
128.
Editors’ introduction, pp. 1-9. Articles by Anne WHITE; Elzbieta GO
DZIAK; Paula PUSTULKA; Izbella MAIN; Justyna BELL; Michal P.
GARAPICH; Marta BIVAND ERDAL and Alekandra LEWICKI.
66.4977 BLASCHKE, Björn — 360 Grad Damaskus: Zur Lage der
Flüchtlinge in der Region (360 degrees around Damas-
cus: the state of refugees in the region). Aus Politik und
Zeitgeschichte 66(8), 22 Feb. 2016 : 46-53.
Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict, hundreds of thousands of
people have fled to Europe, especially in the last two years. However,
this humanitarian catastrophe also strongly affects Syria’s neighbors,
where, approximately, four and a half million civilians search protection,
coping with extremely hard living conditions. Moreover, it is estimated
that m ore than seven million Syrians are currently in transit within the
country’s frontiers. Massive camps have emerged in Jordan, Turkey, Iraq
and Lebanon but the refugees’ legal and social situations differ signifi-
cantly from one country to another. Some jurisdictions even hinder the
UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees’ control of the camps. [See Abstr.
66.4993]
66.4978 BRISKU, Adrian — Renegotiating the empire, forging the
nation-state: the Georgian case through the political
economic thought of Niko Nikoladze and Noe Zhordania,
c. 1870-1920. Nationalities Papers 44(2), March 2016 : 299-
318.
This article observes a recurring political dilemma that small nation-
states face with respect to larger states in being either inside or outside
of supranational political entities regarding political and economic asym-
metries. Employing an intellectual history approach, the article explores
this dilemma with reference to the Georgian nation in late-19th-c. Tsarist
Russia and the early 20th c., when that territory briefly became a nation-
state: It explores this through the language of political economy articulat-
ed in the thoughts and actions of two founding Georgian national intellec-
tual and political figures, the statesman Niko Nikoladze and Noe Zhorda-
nia, who was one of the first prime ministers. It argues that conceiving of
the nation(state) primarily in economic terms, as opposed to exclusively
nationalist ones, was more conducive to the option of remaining inside a
supranational space. [R, abr.]
66.4979 BUCHTA, Wilfried — Iraks zerfall und der Aufstieg des IS.
Zwei Seiten einer Medaille (Iraq’s collapse and the rise of
ISIS. The two sides of a medal). Aus Politik und Zeitges-
chichte 66(8), 22 Feb. 2016 : 23-30.
In 2003, the US opened a Pandora’s Box in Iraq. When S. Hussein was
ousted, the absence of an opposition force meant that no local figures
were on hand to assume the now-vacant administrative posts. The
power vacuum led to the rise of the self-professed “Islamic State” (ISIS)
and the outbreak of the conflict between Shia and Sunni populations.
Today, the 2014 US-led intervention in the territory with the aim of
defeating ISIS comes down to doing more of the same of what led to its
rise in the first place. The result of the successive American interventions
is the almost complete destruction of the Iraqi state. [See Abstr. 66.4993]
66.4980 BYMAN, Daniel — Understanding the Islamic State — a
review essay. International Security 40(4), Spring 2016 :
127-165.
This article reviews several recent books on the Islamic State in order to
understand its goals, motivations, strategy, and vulnerabilities. It argues
that the Islamic State's ideology is powerful but also highly instrumental,
offering the group legitimacy and recruiting appeal. Raison d'état often
dominates its decision-making. The Islamic State's strength is largely a
consequence of the policies and weaknesses of its state adversaries. In
addition, the group has many weaknesses of its own, notably its brutality,
reliance on foreign fighters, and investment in a state as well as its
tendency to seek out new enemies. The threat the Islamic State poses is
most severe at the local and regional levels. [R, abr.]
66.4981 CAMPBELL, Al — Updating Cuba's economic model:
socialism, human development, markets and capitalism.
Socialism and Democracy 30(1), March 2016 : 1-29.
The large majority of articles written outside Cuba about its process of
“updating” its economic model (appropriately) address what they consid-
er the economic effects, both of what has already been implemented,
and of what will come next, a comprehensively debated issue. This work
considers an intimately-related but fundamentally different aspect of the
reform process. Many supporters of Cuba's 50-year effort to begin
building socialism fear, and m any opponents hope, that the economic
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