Creating norms around the Eastern Mediterranean energy resources as a necessary means of security

ABSTRACT

The energy discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean since the 2000s have placed the long-standing rivalry between Turkey and Cyprus (and by extension Greece) in a new context, bringing also Egypt and Israel into the geopolitical equation. Turkey, on the one hand, has adopted an assertive profile, whereas, on the other hand, two axes of cooperation have been formed, Greece-Cyprus-Egypt and Greece-Cyprus-Israel, convening trilateral summits and signing agreements. In view of that, it is currently upheld that the confluence of energy interests among the actors of the trilateral summits has facilitated a legalisation throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, propelling states towards the development of the energy resources according to the UNCLOS, and the implementation of the international law in the Cyprus problem, as a necessary means of guaranteeing the actors’ sovereignty, creating norms, and enhancing security, without targeting any third country. The argument shows how legalisation, as a special form of institutionalisation, and soft law, in particular, nurture regional cooperation and place it under the “protective wings” of international institutions.     

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.     

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…     

Power and agency in the human security framework

The concept of human security is arguably a progressive move away from the narrow conceptions of military and territorial security that have traditionally dominated international relations. The human security framework is argued to have the potential to empower and emancipate individuals by putting them at the centre of policy, analysis and debate and addressing the problems they face in their daily lives. In this paper I will argue that the human security framework cannot live up to its promises to empower the citizens of poor and developing countries. Whilst the human security framework problematizes the relationship between the state and its citizens, the framework replaces this relationship with relationships with other states or international agencies that lack accountability, effectively further disempowering citizens in weak or unstable states. The human security framework serves to reinforce international power inequalities and renders criteria for intervention by powerful states and international institutions less transparent and less accountable.     

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.     

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.     

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.