The problems of Eastern Europe

The outlook for conflict settlement in the Middle East is gloomy, and the chances for a new round of peace talks being initiated by the parties in the region are next to zero. US President Barack Obama has announced that he wants to engage “aggressively” in favour of Middle East peace making and has taken first encouraging steps in that direction. It would be wrong, however, to assume that the US President can achieve conflict settlement largely on his own. Europeans should therefore rethink their policy approaches -- above all, how to deal with Hamas, the Gaza Strip and how to push the peace process forward -- and seek a more effective division of labour and coordination with the Obama administration.     

The lessons of Eastern Europe for modern intelligence reform

The proliferation of threats to security, which emerge in states going through major reform processes, demands a functional intelligence architecture. Accurate intelligence is essential in identifying risks to the wider reform process. Western intelligence agencies have viewed intelligence services in reforming states as tactical opportunities and sources of intelligence rather than as targets for reform in the context of a wider reform agenda. Sensitivities inherent in intelligence gathering in states with a recent history of repressive government make the relationship between the intelligence services and civil society crucial if the intelligence services are to be effective and to play a positive role in the transition process. The practice of countering terrorism has altered the nature of intelligence gathering in ways that make accountability and public legitimacy more central to the effectiveness of intelligence services than the ‘traditional’ threats did. Western models of intelligence oversight and accountability are inadequate in states without developed traditions of democratic governance and weaknesses in wider political culture means that these models are not effective in lending intelligence services popular legitimacy. Alternative models for structuring the relationship between the intelligence services, parliament, the executive and the public must therefore be identified.     

The New Geopolitics of Central and Eastern Europe

Central and Eastern Europe is located between the East and the West.Big powers have traditionally competed for influence in the region and it has only enjoyed limited independence.After the Cold War,most of Central and Eastern Europe joined the EU and NATO and focused on political and economic transformations.Mostly these processes went smoothly and the region lost the world's attention.     

The Origins of Atlanticism in Central and Eastern Europe

This article argues that the Atlanticism of Central and Eastern Europe originates in a specific set of historical experiences these countries have had with the United States over the past century. These include the Central and East European encounter with both Nazi and communist totalitarian regimes; a recognition of the leading role the US played in toppling communism and in facilitating the integration of these countries into Euro-Atlantic institutions; and the strategic calculation of many countries in the region that their national interests in Europe are better preserved via active American engagement that balances the influence of other major European powers.     

The Brest-Litovsk Moment: Self-Determination Discourse in Eastern Europe before Wilsonianism

The article argues that the historical origins of the concept of self-determination had less to do with Woodrow Wilson than with the specific circumstances during the last phase of the Great War. It argues that self-determination became the “centre of the discourse of legitimacy in international relations” as a result of a dynamic process involving multiple actors. Lenin and the Bolsheviks first started to employ the concept. Self-determination discourse gained further momentum during the Brest-Litovsk peace conference, where the Austro–German and Russian delegations debated its application at some length. This prompted Allied statesmen to crystallise their ideas and make self-determination their principal war aim. The increasing appeal of self-determination first manifested itself in the entangled spaces of Eastern Europe, where the national aspirations of Poles and Ukrainians, bolstered by the new discourse, converged with the rhetoric emanating from Brest-Litovsk to create a “Wilsonian moment” before Wilson.     

2000年中东欧形势回顾与展望

2000年中东欧地区政治形势总体趋稳,经济普遍增长,加入欧洲一体化的进程也取得了进展。预计今后几年该地区将继续保持稳定发展的势头,加盟入约的步伐也将加快。一、政治形势趋稳2000年中东欧国家虽选举活动频繁,但各国政局普遍较为稳定,政权更迭顺利。(一)“大选年”局势平稳新一届领导产生。(1)总统大选。除波兰的克瓦希涅夫斯基在10月8日的总统选举中获得连任,克罗地亚、匈牙利、南联盟、罗马尼亚在2000年都产生了新总统。1月克人民党主席梅西奇当选总统。6月匈牙利无党派人士马德·费伦茨在匈总统选举中以2/3多数获胜。9月24日南大选,反…     

The new brain drain from Eastern to Western Europe

"The purpose of this article is to review major issues associated with the flow of expertise from Eastern to Western Europe.... Four interrelated areas are explored: (i) the levels and factors of current East-West skilled migration; (ii) the needs for future policy-oriented research on labour market trends in the countries of origin, and on the skill profile of recent East European migrants; (iii) the organization of the voluntary return of selected expatriate professionals, including the reintegration with capital of potential investors and entrepreneurs; [and] (iv) measures, in the field of training and economic cooperation/international trade, to prevent future significant levels of skilled migration."     

Democratization and party development in Eastern Europe

Awareness of the problems of prediction has come to the fore with the ending of the cold war and uncertainty has become a major feature of areas affected by it, not least the countries of eastern Europe in relation to the development of democratic institutions and practices. Party development is a central part of this process and one recent attempt to theorize it directs attention, rather like the approach taken by modern chaos theory, to the persistent influence of starting conditions and a particular blend of lightly structured growth from a more tightly coordinated set of preconditions. This framework is applied to the complex developments in post‐communist Poland, and three families of political parties are identified by applying Panebianco's genetic model. The components of this model are, it is argued, quite useful in accounting for the relative success of post‐communist parties and the failure of the political formations that derived from the previously authoritative Solidarity movement.     

中东欧转型经济的现状与前景

中东欧国家①从计划经济向市场经济转型已经 1 0年 ,已渡过混乱、衰退的最艰难时期 ,大多数国家初步确立了市场经济框架 ,转型开始进入攻坚阶段 ,制度基础和金融体系的完善及大中型企业的改造将成为今后的主要挑战。随着地区局势逐步稳定、入盟进程加快 ,中东欧经济增长前景较为乐观。一、转型经济现状(一 )经济转型程度与成效。1、政府职能发生根本转变。目前 ,政府摆脱了“全能政府”的困境 ,走出了完全从经济中抽身的歧途 ,主要通过资源配置、财政政策等手段发挥宏观调控作用 ,利用税收、利率、信贷等手段对国有企业实行间接管理 ,并通过…     

Lost in Transition: The Liberal International Order in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus

Abstract

While espoused by the newly independent states after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the liberal order has not taken root in interstate relations and is now openly contested in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus. However, the challenges presented (primarily by Russia) to the international order also trigger growing contestation, in several Eastern European and South Caucasus countries, of an existing regional order premised on Russian hegemony. Therefore, the picture that emerges from these multiple contestations is not an alternative regional order, but rather overlapping orders in a fragmented region.     

波兰因素与东欧导弹防御系统

2008年7月8日,美捷签署反导协议,捷克同意美国在其领土上部署雷达;8月20日,波兰与美国正式签署反导协议,同意美国在波部署10枚导弹拦截装置。至此,美国在东欧建立导弹防御系统的法律程序基本完成。东欧反导系统是大国博弈的“显微镜”,波兰是“焦点”,折射出美俄、美欧和俄欧之间的复杂关系。