The “sleep-walking giant” awakes: resetting German foreign and security policy

A quarter of a century after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the role of the Bundesrepublik in Europe is once again the focus of international scrutiny and academic debate. Having long been seen as a “reflexive multilateralist” and “tamed power”, with a “leadership avoidance reflex” and a “civilian power” strategic culture, the Eurozone crisis has pushed the Berlin Republic into the role of “reluctant hegemon”. At the same time, however, Germany has been widely criticized by its EU and NATO partners for its half-hearted commitment to the Afghan war and its failure to support its allies in the Libyan intervention. Prompted by a call by Federal President Joachim Gauck in 2013 for Germany to live up to its international responsibilities, new themes in foreign and security policy have recently emerged. At the Munich Security Conference in February 2014, a more active and engaged approach was outlined by both the Foreign and Defence Ministers. This paper will examine recent shifts in the discourse of German foreign and security policy, and considers the extent to which these have been accompanied by significant shifts in policy outcome and implementation – particularly in the light of the Ukrainian crisis.     

Developing Business Education Infrastructure in Eastern Europe: Albanian Experience

Abstract

Because of its unique characteristics, Albania is faced with severe challenges. Business education is no exception. The baggage of its tragic past, under a ruthless communist dictatorship, especially the isolation of its people from free thought for almost 50 years, still lingers in people's thinking and behaviors. Generally, the Albanian schools system is well developed and there is a tradition of sound education. However, Albanian institutions of higher education are ill prepared to provide modern business education to the future leaders. The University of Nebraska—Lincoln (UNL), under the leadership of the first author, has helped modernize business education infrastructure in Albania through multiyear funding from the United States Agency for International Development and Soros Foundation. This article reports several important initiatives for business education launched by UNL: (1) the first ever MBA and MPA (Master of Public Administration) programs in Albania at the University of Tirana; (2) training more than 5000 university faculty, entrepreneurs, and government officials; (3) establishment of Business Assistance Centers at four universities; (4) development of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) chapters at most universities in Albania; and (5) focused training for faculty research, teaching methods, teaching evaluations, curriculum development, and outreach services.     

Marriage systems and remarriage in 19th century Hungary: a comparative study

The paper tries to examine the intensity and possible influencing factors of remarriages in two distant communities of historic Hungary during the 19th century. It uses longitudinal data gained from parish registers and family reconstitution method and event history models for the analysis of remarriage. Having only incomplete information on the social status of widowed persons, we used sex, age at widowhood, period, duration of widowhood and family composition as independent variables in the models. The analysis could prove that there were considerable differences within the ‘Eastern marriage pattern’: the analysed Transylvanian community showed a higher propensity to remarry than the West Hungarian one. This result fits well into the differing demographic patterns of the two communities. The most probable causes of these differences were better mortality and differing social composition in the Hungarian village. High propensity to remarry and the high proportion of widower/widow marriages stress the unique character of the Transylvanian community. Otherwise the role of sex was decisive in remarriage, that of age and duration of widowhood were also considerable, while period effect could not be observed. The presence of working-age sons decreased the relative risk of remarriage significantly. In this respect there were no considerable differences between the studied communities, and the results are similar to those of other research.     

Management and Mismanagement of Diversity: The Case of Ethnic Conflict and State‐Building in the Arab World

The European Union has a unique opportunity to develop a positive strategy towards Ukraine. A pro-EU government is now in power in Kyiv, there is a revived civil society pressing for democratic reforms and the actions by Russia have both reinforced Ukraine’s pro-West line and led to the priority given Moscow being questioned by some member states. It is therefore essential to grant Ukraine a membership perspective to strengthen this trend and encourage Kyiv to confront and overcome the basic problems that face the country.     

Do social networks bridge political divides? The analysis of VKontakte social network communication in Ukraine

New electronic forms of political communication have become increasingly popular in countries with weak democratic institutions. The effectiveness of these new forms of association in altering political behavior, however, remains uncertain even in developed democratic regimes. This paper investigates connections between regional variation in electoral behavior and regional distribution of electronic social networks in the case of Ukraine's polarized and institutionally unstable democracy. Our analysis of online networks shows that, somewhat contrary to conventional wisdom, electronic communication does not bridge political divides. This finding casts doubt on the effectiveness of online forms of political communication as a source of behavioral change.     

Taking stock of policy performance in Central and Eastern Europe: Policy outcomes between policy reform,transitional pressure and international influence

Despite the ever growing body of scholarly work on policy developments in the post‐communist New Member States of the European Union (NMS), systematic comparisons of policy outcome performance and its determinants are still scarce. This article identifies patterns of post‐communist policy outcomes across the fields of economic, social and environmental policy. By employing pooled time‐series cross‐sectional analysis with a Fixed Effects Vector Decomposition (FEVD) estimator it investigates to what extent policy outcome performance is determined by differing policy efforts (outputs or reform tracks), transitional conditions and international influences. Although citizens are still negatively affected by the initial economic recession, especially in the social domain, policy reforms and efforts are decisive in determining the outcome performance of the NMS relative to one another in the longer run. Successful and comprehensive market reforms and steering capabilities prove to be particularly important in this regard. Furthermore, internationalisation has an important, albeit ambiguous, impact. While exposure to the world market is reflected in negative policy performance, interaction with and financial commitment from Western European Union countries promote positive policy outcomes.     

俄罗斯联邦安全会议的历史演进及对中国的启示

当前,国际局势发生着复杂而深刻的变化,国内安全与国际安全、传统安全与非传统安全问题相互交织、难解难分,世界各国都在采取各种措施应对国际安全局势的变化。俄罗斯的安全会议诞生于苏联解体前夕,作为苏联的继承国,俄罗斯接掌安全会议后,随着国内外局势的变化不断完善该机构的工作和决策机制。俄罗斯总统作为安全会议主席领导安全会议机构,协同国家各个关键参与部门,在事涉国家安全的内政外交方面,尤其在打击车臣恐怖势力方面,做出许多具有重要意义的决策,保证了俄罗斯国家经济发展、社会稳定和领土完整。俄罗斯安全会议还就经济、军事、人口、能源、生态、信息、科技等许多事关国家安全的重要领域出台了一系列战略构想。在国际关系领域,俄罗斯安全会议除出台对外政策构想、对独联体国家发展关系的方针政策外,还在2014年乌克兰危机的关键时刻,及时做出重要决策,有力地保障了俄罗斯的利益与国家安全。俄罗斯作为中国的重要邻国和全面战略协作伙伴,与中国面临着相似的内外安全问题,其设立安全会议的经验及具体运行机制等均对中国新设立的国家安全委员会具有重要的参考意义,值得中国认真研究、学习和借鉴。     

关于1960年代中国与东欧五国关系的若干问题——来自中国档案文献的新证据

1960年代中苏关系走向分裂时期,中国与苏联东欧集团中的保、捷、东德、匈、波五国的关系,受到中苏关系演变的约束,随着中苏两党两国关系的变化而起伏波动。1960年代初期中苏关系一度实现缓和后,中国与东欧五国的关系也随之呈现冷热交替,以争取缓和为主的特点。1962年末63年初,中苏围绕古巴导弹危机和中印边界冲突问题开始酝酿新的斗争。中共将对苏方针调整为以斗争、进攻为基调,准备与苏共进行论战;苏共则部署东欧五国在东欧四国党代会上对中共展开批判。中共与苏东集团意识形态公开论战开始。随着中国文化大革命运动的启动,中苏边界冲突逐步升级为局部战争,中苏关系进入敌对状态,中国与东欧五国关系也严重恶化。1960年代中国对东欧五国方针的变化,总体上与中国的对苏方针同步发展,但也有不同的内容和特点,根据时期的演进呈现出不同的变化。中国以分化苏东集团为主要目的而采取的区别对待方针突出反映在中波关系上。就总体言之,1960年代中共对东欧五国的方针既不断变化,又相互矛盾,其结果非但没有达到分化苏东集团的目的,反而在某种程度上加强了苏东集团的凝聚力。     

Why do anti‐corruption laws fail in Central Eastern Europe? A target compliance perspective

The Central Eastern European member states of the European Union have introduced a host of anti‐corruption measures in the past two decades, yet corruption is still prevalent. Rather than asking what is wrong with the letter of the law, which has traditionally been the focus of analysis, this article identifies some of the reasons why those whose behavior the law seeks to change fail to act as expected. Drawing on theoretical insights from implementation studies and using Hungary as an illustrative example, the article finds that both incentives and normative judgments are skewed towards non‐compliance with anti‐bribery laws. The main policy implications are that anti‐corruption interventions should pay more attention to raising awareness among target groups, take existing social norms into account, and rely on positive incentives as well as, or rather than, increasing penalties.     

Books Received

ABSTRACT

In the summer of 1934 Eastern Thrace was shaken by a wave of antisemitic violence that ended as suddenly as it had begun. The reasons underlying this attack on the Jewish minority are still not well understood, mainly due to the lack of definitive Turkish sources. New evidence indicates that ?brahim Tali, the representative of the Turkish government in Thrace and the district of Çanakkale further south, played a crucial role. The incidents should be understood in light of Turkish–Italian tensions in the spring of 1934, and the strategic need for re-arming the demilitarized zones in Thrace and at the Straits.