The collapse of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union has resulted in a proliferation of discontented minorities. Preventing the violent conflict triggered by such disaffection has become a driving issue in post-Cold War Europe. National Minorities and the European Nation-States System reveals that the contemporary international system is the root cause of the problem and viable solutions to it must acknowledge this structural limitation.

The European Union can be perceived as an enormous bilateral and multilateral process of internal and external negotiation. This book examines negotiations within member states, between member states, within and between the institutions of the Union and between the EU and other countries. It also analyzed processes, actors and interests. This book is, therefore, a unique probe into the relatively unknown arena of negotiation processes in the European Union.

This book is the first history of the World Food Programme, the food aid arm of the United Nations. It tells the story of the growth of WFP from modest beginings as a three-year experiment in 1963-65 to its current role as the main source of international food aid for both disaster relief and development against the background of the evolution and development of food aid.

Legal Aspects of the Regional Integration Processes in the Post-Soviet Area is the first ever comprehensive overview of regional integration processes in the territory of the former USSR introducing the core concepts of regional integration theory and presenting a solid foundation of factual information regarding all the regional integration agreements (RIAs) operating in the Eurasian landmass and consisting of the former Soviet republics. The book analyzes the legal nature and background of the regional integration in the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Russian-Belarusian Union, the Single Economic Space, the Eurasian Economic Community and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. It also deals with the RIAs created outside of the Russian control in the format of GUAM and among Central Asian countries. Finally, the book contains conclusive remarks attempting to assess the possibility of the creation of an Eurasian Union.

This book is the first full-spectrum analysis of Russian and European norms of political action, ranging from international law, ethics, and strategy, to the specific norms for the use of force. It brings together leading scholars from these various fields, examining the differences in norm understanding between Russia and Europe. In light of the 2014 occupation and annexation of Crimea by Russia, and its subsequent covert participation in the internal affairs of Ukraine, including aggressive flying and major military exercises, Russia seems to be a classical revisionist power, intent on changing the balance of power in Europe in particular. It also reaches beyond Europe, inserting itself as the key actor in the Syrian war. The book therefore considers how we should understand Russia. It also questions whether or not the West, in particular Europe, responds adequately in this delicate and dangerous new situation. The book concludes that at present Russia acts strategically and with considerable success whereas Europe is reactive in its response.

European Union equality and anti-discrimination law were revolutionized by the incorporation of Article 13 into the EC Treaty, adding new anti-discrimination grounds and new possibilities. This comprehensive 2007 volume provides a fresh approach to Article 13 and its directives; it adopts a contextual framework to equality and anti-discrimination law in the European Union. Part I deals with the evolution of Article 13, demographic and social change and the inter-relationship between European Equality Law and Human Rights. Part II contains expert essays on each of the Article 13 anti-discrimination grounds: sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation, with common themes weaving throughout. This book will be of interest to everyone concerned with combating discrimination, academics, NGOs, lawyers, human resource professionals, employers, employees, research students and many others in the European Union and beyond.

This work offers a fresh perspective to the study of 'Europe' by placing the discussion of 'What is Europe?' and 'What is it to be European?', in a wider context of the study of modernity through a collection of nine case studies.

Divisions in the EU are considered, as well as the conflicts that have arisen from enlargement and foreign policy concerns. Leading specialists on European politics and society reflect on the nature of consensus and competition between elites, and whether the EU may be able to provide a sense of common identity and purpose for its citizens.

Protectionism is a major concern in the international trading community. The question that arises is how the emergence of protectionism can be prevented and whether regional trade arrangements are a suitable mechanism to enforce liberal trade policies. This book examines these issues, concluding that the success of regional trading arrangements in enforcing good trade policies depends on the quality of the regional agreement and its implementation--simple free trade area is unlikely to be sustainable in the long-run without firm commitments of members to deeper integration.

The Europa Directory of International Organizations 2016 serves as an unequalled one-volume guide to the contemporary international system. Within a clear, unique framework the recent activities of all major international organizations are described in detail. Given alongside extensive background information the reader is able to assess the role and evolving functions of these organizations in today's world. The contact details, key personnel and activities of more than 2,000 international and regional entities have again been thoroughly researched and updated for this 18th edition. Highlights in this edition include: - a fully revised Who's Who section with biographical details of the key players in the international system. - the response of the international community to crises and conflicts throughout the world. - details of the new `Global Goals' - introductory essays, written and updated by experts in their field, which consider topics including global environmental governance, the international criminal justice system, international humanitarian co-operation, and governance of the global economy.

This volume addresses the problem of cohesion in the European Union. It examines EU cohesion policies and other policies which significantly reduce the likelihood of cohesion being achieved, and also challenges the idea that regional policy is a form of wealth distribution. It argues that cohesion, rather than being an objective in its own right, has been systematically redefined as a tool of competitiveness, and that neo-liberal economic priorities have led to the privileging of regional autonomy over cohesion.

East Asia is a powerhouse of automobile production. Yet, across the region, national automobile industries have had strikingly different patterns of development. Despite starting from equally low levels of performance and initially similar strategies, countries have experienced vastly different results. From Thailand's success as an assembly hub for foreign automakers and China's unexpected achievements in building its own car industry, to South Korea's impressive development of an integrated industry, to the Philippines' persistent weakness, these divergent paths offer a fascinating window into the determinants of economic growth. The Political Economy of Automotive Industrialization in East Asia provides a political explanation for why development strategies and performance have been so uneven within one of the world's most important regions. Utilizing interviews and original-language research from multiple nations, this book explains that factors such as market size and neoclassical economic policies alone cannot explain these patterns of development. Richard F. Doner, Gregory W. Noble, and John Ravenhill instead highlight the significance of two sets of factors: countries' very different capabilities for implementing policies and the political forces that help to explain the emergence of effective institutions. Through cross-national analyses of China, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, the book sets up a clear structure for understanding industrial development and how it enables or constrains the capabilities of domestic firms. Brief comparisons with Brazil, Mexico, and other developing countries confirm the utility of the analytic framework and demonstrate how it is superior both to accounts in mainstream economics and much of political science, which fail to give sufficient emphasis to the role of public and public-private institutions, or provide an explanation of the political bases of those institutions. In a world where auto assemblers and suppliers are facing new challenges in an ever-evolving industry-such as the transition to electric and autonomous vehicles-this book offers a crucial perspective on the centrality of institutional capacities and political economy. By tracing the divergent trajectories of seven nations, The Political Economy of Automotive Industrialization in East Asia offers lessons beyond the automobile industry that illustrate the broader importance of institutions to economic growth.

A fast reduction of regional disparities within the EU is unlikely. Regional policy will thus remain an important European topic. This text analyzes regional policy and its co-ordination with other European and national public policies, namely investment grants, research and development policy and transport policy. The analysis identifies shortcomings within EU regional policy as well as co-ordination, problems with other public policies, and demonstrates how cohesion problems are often due to a lack of policy co-ordination at the domestic level.

Can NATO survive? The stimulating and highly original essays contained in this volume provide important new insights into why the treaty organization was formed, how it developed, and what it has contributed both to the security and to the integration of Europe. The authors examine NATO as a strong and intricate webbing holding together the nations of Europe as well as binding them to the United States as guarantor of free world stability. This book is essential to the re-examination now under way of NATO's role in the radically different post-Cold War world.

Germany has played a leading role in the development of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union. This study assesses the influence of German policy makers on EU policy and the impact of EU membership on foreign policy making at the national level. The book concludes that limitations remain on the Europeanization of German foreign and security policy and Germany's ability to play a leading role in military crisis management.

There is a glaring imbalance between the impressive amount of research into first-tier EU decision-making by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament and the limited research into second-tier EU rule-making by the Commission and the comitology committees. This book seeks to redress that imbalance and find answers to fundamental unresolved questions about the comitology system. It looks at why the system was created, how it has evolved over time and how it functions day to day. The EU Comitology System in Theory and Practice applies a novel theoretical approach, the delegation perspective, and provides answers by analysing a plurality of data sources, including EU legislative databases, survey data of comitology committees, legal documents and news reports. The book argues that member states use the comitology system to strike a balance between delegating powers to the Commission and controlling it.

Combined with the US pivot to Asia, NATO enlargement could press Russia and a rising China into a tighter alliance--but with Russia playing the role of a junior partner. This book argues for bringing Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey into a new Euro-Atlantic confederation, not only in order to draw Moscow away from forging a closer military relationship with Beijing but also to help revitalize a Europe in crisis. Concurrently, Washington and Moscow need to work together to prevent disputes between North and South Korea, Japan, and China, as well as between Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Iran from exploding into a major power war.

This systematic assessment of the -often opaque- European Council looks at its characteristics, leaders and output as well as its impact on EU supranational and intergovernmental dynamics. Taking account of historical and contemporary developments up to and beyond the Lisbon Treaty, it encourages in-depth understanding of this key institution.

This work examines European democracy, showing how it has developed through key episodes in the long history of the process: precursors in the Low Countries, the founding of British parliamentary, then American federal democracy, post-revolutionary France, post-war Germany, and the European Parliament. It explores the significance of each episode in the development of national or federal democracy and concludes with a positive assessment of the prospects of liberal democracy. This book should be of interest to political scientists, historians and others concerned with the development of democracy in Europe and beyond.

Is the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) an effective and legitimate tool in European social policy-making? Milena Buchs analyses the goals and instruments of the OMC, discusses approaches which theorize its functioning, examines its policy content and develops a framework for its evaluation. Through the examination of a case study the author demonstrates how policy actors apply the OMC in employment in Germany and the United Kingdom. The book concludes that the OMC pursues contradictory goals and is unlikely to achieve them simultaneously.

A major result of the Second World War was the emergence of small states which vastly increased the membership of the international system. While a number of small states existed before the war many of these had made no effort to participate actively in the system; since then, the doctrine of equality of states has been established, in theory at least, through their admission to the UN. This book, first published in 1984, deals with the factors which have contributed to the emergence of such a large number of small states, the difficulties which they have experienced in achieving statehood, and their struggle to gain political integration. A precise analysis of the foreign policy and economic factors governing the activity of small states, particularly that of Kuwait and the other Gulf states, is presented here.

Geopolitical shifts, increasing demands for accountability, and growing competition have been driving the need for change within transnational nongovernmental organizations (TNGOs). As the world has changed and TNGOs' ambitions have expanded, the roles of TNGOs have shifted and their work has become more complex. To remain effective, legitimate, and relevant in the future necessitates organizational changes, but many TNGOs have been slow to adapt. As a result, the sector's rhetoric of sustainable impact and social transformation has far outpaced the reality of TNGOs' more limited abilities to deliver on their promises. Between Power and Irrelevance openly explores why this gap between rhetoric and reality exists and what TNGOs can do individually and collectively to close it. George E. Mitchell, Hans Peter Schmitz, and Tosca Bruno-van Vijfeijken argue that TNGOs need to change the fundamental conditions under which they operate by bringing their own "forms and norms" into better alignment with their ambitions and strategies. This book offers accessible, future-oriented analyses and lessons-learned to assist practitioners and other stakeholders in formulating and implementing organizational changes. Drawing upon a variety of perspectives, including hundreds of interviews with TNGO leaders, firsthand involvement in major organizational change processes in leading TNGOs, and numerous workshops, training institutes, consultancies, and research projects, the book examines how to adapt TNGOs for the future.

The research presented in this book provides a stakeholder analysis of human rights protection at a time when the region appears to be regressing into an insidious and deep authoritarianism. As political space shrinks in Southeast Asia, the book provides an insight into how civil society engaged with the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council during the first (2008-2011) and second (2012-2016) cycles. Through evidence-based research, the authors in this volume identify gaps in human rights reporting and advocacy during the UPR, notably on civil and political issues such as the right to life, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and belief, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention and claims for greater autonomy. In short, The Universal Periodic Review of Southeast Asia: Civil Society Perspectives, highlights the need for more engagement on civil and political issues during the third cycle of the UPR in 2017-2020. Failing this, the UPR process risks being reduced to a platform where civil society only engages on issues that States are willing to cooperate on. If this is the case, Southeast Asia's democratic transition will suffer a long term set back.

This work examines the British government's negotiation of the Treaty on European Union which took place between December 1990 and December 1991. On the basis of documentary and interview-based evidence of leading participants from Britain and Europe, it offers an insight into the objectives and motivations of the British government. The author analyzes the various constraints and pressures that impinged on the British government and sets its successes and failures in the Maastricht negotiations in a broader context of British European policy. general interest

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are increasingly recognised as playing a significant role in the health sector in developing countries. This book examines the background to the growth both in the sector and interest in it, the strengths and weaknesses of NGOs and the arguments for and against their use for different aspects of the health sector. It focuses particularly on the relationship between the State and non-governmental organizations and the issues critical to the development of policies towards the sector.