Turkey's foreign policy options: Europe,the USA or Central Asia?

Accession to the European Union (EU) constitutes one of Turkey's primary foreign policy objectives. However, to establish whether the country would benefit from becoming part of an integrated Europe, its foreign policy alternatives to EU membership must also be examined. The first part of this article analyses Turkey's changing relations with Europe. Against this backdrop, the article then moves to assess Turkey's partnership with the USA and the potential of maintaining a close relationship independent from Europe. The role of Russia, Turkey's old neighbours and relations with the Turkic states, as well as the potential for attaining a leading role among them, are also considered. The argument is that Turkey may exploit its geostrategic position to pursue its core foreign policy interests and even assume an important regional role. However, Ankara ought to concentrate on what has long been its priority – full Turkish membership of the EU.     

Trading in development: norms and institutions in the making/unmaking of European Union–African,Caribbean and Pacific trade and development cooperation

This paper offers a contribution to recent debates on European Union (EU) external trade and development policy, with a specific focus on the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries. The question asked is why the EU encountered such difficulties in the attempt to translate its normative preferences for freer trade and closer economic integration into a series of binding agreements? Drawing on both economic constructivist and historical institutionalist insights, it is argued that the case for reform initially rested on a strong convergence between institutions and ideas, enabling the EU to discursively present desired policy reforms as necessary to satisfy World Trade Organisation trade rules. However, in due course, the institutional dynamics behind the latter began to diverge from the EU's policy preferences and blunt its norm-based argument – thus creating the space for transnational coalitions to, first, question and, ultimately, undermine aspects the EU's trade and development prospectus for the ACP.     

EU trade and development policy beyond the ACP: subordinating developmental to commercial imperatives in the reform of GSP

Following the stagnation of negotiations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific states, the centrepiece of the European Union's (EU's) trade and development strategy has been a reform of the Generalised System of Preferences. Although policy-makers in the Commission's Directorate General for Trade have argued they are ‘refocusing’ these preferences on the ‘neediest’, by rendering a significant proportion of emerging economies' exports ineligible for the scheme, this article argues that the reform is actually part of a broader ‘reciprocity’ agenda being pursued in the context of the current economic crisis. This is about ensuring the EU possesses sufficient offensive leverage in ongoing free trade agreement negotiations, rather than representing any mercantilist move towards greater domestic protection. In arguing that the EU's developmental trade agenda is increasingly subordinated to commercial imperatives, this article adds to a literature that has situated the study of EU trade and development policy within the field of political economy.     

The Europeanization of UK Government: from Quiet Revolution to Explicit Step‐Change?

In this paper we review – from a UK perspective – how the UK government and its policy process have adapted to European integration. Has adaptation been a quiet revolution, a step‐change, or both? In exploring this question we draw upon the conceptual literature of Europeanization. We employ it to shed light on the longer‐term pattern of UK adaptation as well as to put into context the domestic changes currently under way. Our argument is that a step‐change is under way in the Europeanization of the UK government. However, at the end of the paper we will reflect on how this development remains over‐shadowed by broader circumstances: the continued weak public support for the EU and the divisions which emerged with key EU partners from the UK's policy over Iraq.     

Tensions in the discourse and practice of the European Union's Aid for Trade

The contemporary global Aid for Trade (AfT) agenda emerged out of world trade negotiations and it could have profound implications for the future of development aid, depending on how it is interpreted. The European Union (EU) has recontextualised this global agenda to suit its own approach to trade and development; specifically a focus on regional integration, and free market but ‘pro-poor’ development models. AfT is ascribed a variety of purposes in EU texts and its use continues to adapt as the EU's trade and development policy evolves. Institutionally the AfT framework has not strongly affected EU processes, organisational structures or methodology. A study of the use of EU aid for regional integration reveals dissonance between its development relationship and its trade policies while a focus on pro-poor AfT reveals a lack of capacity. Overall, there are tensions not just between discourse and practice but between different discourses of the EU.     

Recalcitrant spoiler? Contesting dominant accounts of India’s role in global trade governance

India is frequently cast as a troublemaker and blamed for the breakdown of the Doha Round. This article provides a critical re-reading of India’s trade policy and its position in multilateral trade negotiations. It challenges the widespread characterisation of India as a recalcitrant spoiler, intent on derailing trade liberalisation at the WTO. It shows that with the emergence of its highly-competitive, export-oriented services sector, India became one of the leading advocates of global services trade liberalisation in the Doha Round. Yet, not unlike the traditional powers, India’s offensive trade interests are also combined with significant defensive concerns in agriculture.     

THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF EU AGENCIES: AGENCIES AS ‘MINI COMMISSIONS’

A stream of reviews that take stock of EU governance trends shows that the EU's governance agenda produces mixed results. EU agencies are part of the EU's search for new governance mechanisms. They have not proven to be a break with EU policy‐making processes – underpinning administrative stability rather than reform. This article explores the institutionalization of EU agencies. Using the case of the EU's human resources (HR) policy, it concludes that administrative details are important in order to understand the development of EU agencies turning into institutions. The influence of the EU's institutional environment on their operations is so strong that they must operate as ‘mini Commissions'. This tight control hinders their institutionalization.     

WTO agricultural trade battles and food aid

Recent agricultural trade battles at the WTO between the US and the EU have important implications for the Global South, in particular with respect to food aid. The current Doha round of trade talks hinges closely on agreement in the area of agriculture, and a key issue of disagreement between the US and the EU is the question of whether the WTO should impose disciplines on food aid and agricultural export credits. The US has also challenged the EU at the WTO over trade in genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The outcome of this dispute will affect food aid, as many countries have in recent years rejected GM food aid from the US on the grounds that it would harm their export markets in Europe. Decisions on both of these battles should be forthcoming within the next year or two, and the outcomes will affect food aid policies.     

The EU's Response to the International Court of Justice's Judgment on Kosovo's Declaration of Independence

In this essay an evaluation of the content and determinants of the EU's response to the ICJ is provided. Two core questions are addressed: firstly, did the ICJ's judgment alter EU policy towards Kosovo and Serbia and, secondly, was EU policy towards Kosovo and Serbia effective? It is argued that the EU's response to the ICJ's judgment in 2010 has been consistent and effective, but that the underlying determinants of the policy have not changed since 2008. It is argued that the EU's response to the ICJ's judgment in 2010 has been consistent and effective and that the ICJ judgment has had a catalytic effect on the EU's influence over Serbia and the Serbia–Kosovo relationship. Overall, EU policy has been effective, despite being periodically ad hoc.     

Differentiation within reciprocity: the European Union approach to preferential trade agreements

Recent statements on European Union (EU) trade policy towards developing countries (DCs) have stressed the need for differentiation between trading partners depending on their level of development. But what does this mean in practice? This article assesses the substance of EU trade policy towards a number of partners at different levels of development on the basis of the texts of recent preferential trade agreements (PTAs). It argues that EU PTA policy exhibits differentiation within a general shift towards reciprocity vis-à-vis DCs and that this needs to be assessed at the level of specific policy areas as much as partner country. It also suggests that the factors shaping EU policy vary from case to case with commercial competition and sector interests relatively more important in PTAs with emerging markets and high-income DCs and norms and institutional factors relatively more important in shaping those with least developed or low-income DCs.     

The role of oil and gas in Kazakhstan's foreign policy: Looking east or west?

This study examines the role of oil and gas in the making of Kazakhstan's foreign policy. It argues that Kazakhstan has been following a multi-vector foreign policy in relation to its oil-led development and the geopolitics of exporting oil from this landlocked region. The significance of geopolitical considerations and the resulting pragmatism of Kazakhstan's leadership only allow a limited role for national identity and internal political dynamics in the making of its foreign policy. Kazakhstan's geopolitical imperatives force the country to keep good relations with Russia and China as well as with the US and the EU, as counterbalancing partners.     

Hungary and the European Union: The political implications of societal security promotion

Hungary's constitutional commitment to support kin-nationals beyond its borders (nation policy) has been a central feature of its post-1989 foreign policy and highlights a particularly important national security concern—the societal security of national identity, culture, language and tradition. This article examines Hungary's societal security concerns and the policy methods it utilises, including its EU membership and the promotion of minority rights at the European level, to help combat these concerns. It is suggested that Hungary has found it somewhat difficult to balance its societal security policy objective with internal economic demands on its welfare system and its external foreign policy objective to maintain good neighbourly relations. This article also notes that Hungary's attempts to Europeanise, or rather ‘EU-ise’, minority and ethnic rights issues as a means to enhance societal security for the Hungarian nation has certain political consequences for the EU. This suggests that societal security provision is an issue that cannot be overlooked when trying to understand the longer-term implications of EU eastern enlargement.     

EU LEGISLATION AND NATIONAL REGULATION: UNCERTAIN STEPS TOWARDS A EUROPEAN PUBLIC POLICY

The EU with its supranational powers is a unique institution. Contrary to other international organizations, it can make laws that are binding to its member governments as well as to their citizens and enterprises. However, reviewing the literature, we find little consensus as to its true role as a lawmaker. This article and the articles that follow in this symposium remedy this empirical deficiency. The present article presents a comprehensive analysis of the scope of binding EU regulation. The EU is presented as an important lawmaker. It has, with considerable effectiveness, been able to overcome recurrent crises that have often called its very viability into question. But the same analysis also reveals that the EU, in spite of several treaty reforms expanding its responsibilities into new policy areas, remains a predominantly economic regulator. Finally, EU lawmaking is to an increasing extent delegated to the European Commission, dedicated to the de facto task of maintaining the internal market. Although this article and the articles that follow it cover the present, and refer to the European Union (EU), the EU, since its creation in the 1950s, has changed its official name several times.     

Assessing the European Union's engagement with transnational policy networks on conflict-prone natural resources

Transnational policy networks (TPNs) are attracting greater scholarly interest given their impact on the contemporary conduct of international affairs. While this has been a welcome development for International Relations scholars and provided some preliminary insights, there is a need for more scholarly studies of TPNs that delve into specific issue-areas on a comparative basis. The paper addresses the above need by providing analyses of the role of European Union (EU)-based actors – the European Commission, member states, civil society organizations, and firms – in regulatory frameworks on conflict-prone natural resources such as oil, diamonds, coltan, tin, tungsten, and gold. To that end, the paper draws upon participant observations, interviews with state and non-state actors, and access to primary documents in order to provide a comparative examination of EU-based state and non-state actors within the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and draft EU legislation that seeks to prevent the trade of conflict-prone minerals.     

Technology Transfer: A Mode of Collaboration Between the European Union and China

BEING ONE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION'S MAIN TRADING PARTNERS-ranking fourth in terms of both imports and exports expressed in value-China has emerged as an indispensable market for any multinational enterprise willing to avail itself of the opportunities represented by one of the fastest growing economies at the turn of the century. In order to close the technological gap with the developed economies of the world, China launched its open door policy in the late 1970s, the priority of which was to acquire foreign technology, capital, skills and management, as well as to cut dependence on imports. Foreign direct investment (FDI) and collaborative ventures in China, as important channels for technology transfer, have consequently grown massively. Owing to its size and development requirements, the People's Republic of China is one of the largest importers of technology in the world. During the 1950s it used to import technology from the former Soviet Union and from other East European countries. Since the late 1960s the EU and Japan have been the main sources of Chinese technology imports. Today, the EU-15 is China's major supplier of advanced technology and equipment. The EU represents 43.8% of China's total imports of technology (US$764.4 million), a share which is well ahead of that of Japan (at 25.5%) and of the United States (18.3%).1 These figures need to be appraised against the background of poor EU performance in terms of FDI in China compared with its Japanese and American counterparts. Over the past 15 years total FDI from the EU accounted for less than 5% of total direct investment from overseas firms in China (Qian, 1998). Nevertheless, in the recent past a greater awareness among EU policy makers and businesses of the potential represented by the Chinese market has emerged. The Essen European Council of 1994 endorsed a 'new Asia strategy', which 'called for a higher profile of the EU in Asia' (CEC, 1995, p. 17) and which broadly involves developing a long-term relationship with China. A 'Technology Window' programme was emphasised in the policy, which encourages EU companies to embrace broadly the business opportunities on offer, and to transfer much needed technology to China. This article sees technology transfer (TT) as a practical and strategic means of increased collaboration between the EU and the Chinese economies. Research and studies that have touched on this issue are rare, mainly because the demarcation line between technology transfer and technology imports is blurred. Technology transfer differs from technology imports in conceptual as well as in real terms, as we discuss in this article. It goes along with FDI which requires a full involvement in occupying a new market. After an attempt at defining technology transfer and clarifying the optimal context in which TT can be performed, we shall briefly assess the positive impact of technology transfer from the standpoint of both the transferor and the receiver. We then provide a concise review of Sino-EU relations, with a specific emphasis on technology transfer in two selected industries.     

A Russia that can say “no”?

A rather consistent picture of Russian domestic politics and foreign policy in Putin's second presidential term emerges from the four works discussed. Elements of authoritarian rule, welcome or at least acceptable to large segments of a public weary of the political and economic disorder of Yeltsin's time, combine with Russia's growing energy-driven economic strength to provide a stable environment, and broad support for the regime. These strengths are expressed externally in a more assertive foreign policy, whose manifestations in both trade and security areas pose challenges for the US, and its EU and NATO allies.     

EU–Russian Relations and Turkey's Role as an Energy Corridor

This article analyses the impact of EU–Russian relations on Turkey's role as a corridor for the transit of energy supplies to Europe. While the European Union (EU) has inherent leverage in its collective purchase of most Russian gas exports, market power has shifted in Russia's favour. Russian efforts to build new pipelines and widen downstream access have stimulated EU interest in diversifying energy imports and transit routes. In this sense, the EU has recognised Turkey's potential value as a secure and independent route for importing non-Russian energy supplies, which may in turn have an impact on Turkey's EU accession process.     

The European Union and its energy security challenges: engagement through and with networks

Energy security remains a vital issue for the European Union (EU), even more so in the wake of the events that unfolded in early 2014 in Ukraine. The EU's already fragile position in the international energy arena in terms of security of supply appears to be more uncertain than ever after its umpteenth fallout with its historic energy supplier, Russia. This situation is untenable and calls for swift and decisive action to adequately tackle the issue once and for all. The article looks at the creation of a single EU energy market through the integration of energy networks in the EU. This article then examines various ways to diversify its energy supply, whether through increasing the import of liquefied natural gas or through its relations with the Eurasian Union. It then explores the International Energy Charter as an example of the EU's engagement with transnational policy networks. It concludes that from energy transit, to technology transfer, to investment protection, energy and trade present interplays across various fields. Improvements can be made to the EU trading system to ensure greater energy security and more efficient energy markets.     

Populism in Taiwan: The Rise of a Populist-Democratic Culture in a Democratising Society

Taiwan's democratic transition has emerged alongside a rise of populism. Based on an analysis of post-electoral survey data, it is shown that populist resentments – embodied in such emotion-laden campaign issues as ethnic identity, national identity and a party's image of interest representation and clean politics – have been the most efficient vote-getting appeals in Taiwan's post-authoritarian electoral competition between two major political parties, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT). In Taiwan's democratic transition, mass demands for the ‘indigenisation’ of politics and the people's worry about an ever-increasing military threat from Mainland China have also popularised as well as polarised these populist appeals. As empirical data show, due to its position as the first Taiwanese party with a lion's share of populist advantages, the DPP was able to win the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. In sum, Taiwan's electoral politics in the past decade have given rise to a kind of ‘populist-democratic culture’, which inclines Taiwanese politicians to bring up populist issues rather than the rational policy debates of an electoral democracy.     

Visegrad: Fit for purpose?

Visegrad inter-state cooperation among the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia has faced numerous near-death experiences since its official birth in 1991. Furthermore, it has faced two challenges since the four member-countries’ accession to the EU in 2004. Then Visegrad was eulogized, considered deceased by many precisely for having achieved the apparently ultimate aim of EU membership. Second, having purposefully stated rumours of its death, Visegrad has since 2008 been confronted by issues from outside and ones well beyond its size – the Obama presidency and its apparent abandonment of Central and Eastern Europe in its “reset” strategy towards Moscow; a post-Lisbon EU agenda; strategic reorientations in NATO; and both the general, that is, global, financial crisis and particularly within the EU and regarding the Euro.This article, by contrast, contends that the fundamental changes and challenges that Visegrad has faced enhanced the Group's clear and successful strategy. It identifies and elaborates that strategy, drawing also selectively and thematically on the Group's historical experience since 1991. These strategies include targeted rather than broad selection of aims; retaining an exclusive membership while also inventing variable and flexible mechanisms for adding non-member countries to help them pursue specific initiatives. Through a study of annual Group Presidency agendas and reports, high-level and ministerial meeting declarations and media and secondary source analysis and interviews with National Coordinators, the article contends that the Group continues to promote realistic aims, and provides a unique platform for exercising them. This study concludes that Visegrad, despite the outside challenges remains effective in raising awareness, advancing smaller-scale policies and influencing EU policy towards the Western Balkans and European Partnership (EaP) countries, as well as achieving specific Visegrad initiatives with those states.