The rhetoric of “science diplomacy": Innovation for the EU's scientific cooperation? EL-CSID Working Paper Issue 2018/16 • April 2018

In the recent years, the EU policy discourse has endorsed the notion of “science diplomacy” that points to the interaction between scientific research and foreign policy as instrumental in the societal and political progress. Commissioner for science, research and innovation Carlos Moedas is particularly keen on seeing “the EU play an increasingly active and visible role in international science diplomacy” (Moedas, 2016). In doing so, the EU is part of, and perhaps leading among, those global actors that have jumped on the “science diplomacy” bandwagon, where the activities concerned with scientific cooperation (such as part of the work by UNESCO or The World Academy of Sciences – TWAS) are framed as “science diplomacy”

Can Oslo’s failed aid model be laid to rest?

Overview: Since the signing of the 1993 Oslo Declaration of Principles, the donor community has invested more than $23 billion into “peace and development” in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), making it one of the highest per capita recipients of non-military aid in the world. However, aid has not brought peace, development, or security for the Palestinian people, let alone justice. Al-Shabaka Guest Author Jeremy Wildeman and Program Director Alaa Tartir examine the origins of the present aid-for-peace model as well as its effects on socio-economic conditions and pull together the many critiques of the Oslo economic model. The authors argue that donors are reinforcing failed past patterns associated with the so-called peace dividends model while making only cosmetic changes to their engagement. Indeed, donors do not appear ready to change an approach dominated by policy “instrumentalists” who ignore and reject outcomes that do not match their pre-determined values instead of upholding international law on Palestinian rights and international development principles that strive to “do no harm.” They underscore the alarming possibility that the Oslo aid model may serve too many interests to be dismantled and conclude with an assessment of what will be needed for change

Israel Education Through Encounters With Israelis

This guide probes the broad subject of contact between Diaspora Jews and Israelis both in Israel and in your Jewish community. It describes the instances in which encounters currently occur, present some of the issues which need to be addressed by those wishing to enhance the experience, and recommend specific ways for expanding and increasing the effectiveness of such a potentially rich form of Israel education

EU Neighbourhood policy: implications for public services and trade unions

The EU Neighbourhood policy creates pressures to liberalise and privatise public services. It affects 17 countries in North Africa, the Middle East and former Soviet Union

Conflict resolution: the missing link between liberal international relations theory and realistic practice

This Handbook is a collection of works from leading scholars in the Conflict Analysis and Resolution (CAR) field, all working from their own disciplines yet cognizant of the multidisciplinary nature of that field. The central theme is the value of interdisciplinary approaches to the analysis and resolution of conflicts. This approach consists of moving from the study of analytical approaches to understanding the deep-rooted causes of conflict to third-party intervention approaches to prevent or end violence and resolve conflict

The EU as a global-regional actor in security and peace: the EU-GRASP final integrative report

This report is a final product of a research project, called EU-GRASP that aimed at a better understanding of the EU’s role in regional and global peace and security issues. Undertaking this was a fascinating and challenging task, especially as the subject matter was, for various reasons, a real moving target

A scientometric look at scholory cooperation between Europe and Israel. An explorative study of a changing landscape.

Cooperation; Studies;

Regional Politics in a Highly Fragmented Region: Israel’s Middle East Policies

The region of the Middle East is highly conflict-loaded. The absence of one distinct regional power may be considered both cause and consequence of this structural feature. At the same time, there are significant power gaps between states in the Middle East, with Israel among the most powerful actors and accordingly defined as a potential regional power. Due to the specific empirical setting of the Middle East region, an analytical design emphasizing relational and procedural dynamics is required. In attempting to develop such a design, this paper utilizes three well-established schools of thought of international relations: (neo)realism, institutionalism, and constructivism. These three schools of thought are further used for developing hypotheses on both Israeli regional policy and its effects on the Middle East. After illustrating these hypotheses in relation to four periods in the contemporary history of Israel, theoretical lessons to be learned for the analysis of regional powers in other world areas are presented.concept of regional power, Middle East, Israel, regional policies

ERAWATCH country reports 2011: Israel

The main objective of the ERAWATCH Annual Country Reports is to characterise and assess the performance of national research systems and related policies in a structured manner that is comparable across countries. The 2011 country reports assess the evolution on the national R&D investments targets, the efficiency and effectiveness of national policies and investments into R&D, the articulation between education, research and innovation, with an increased focus on the last two in terms of their wider governance and policy mix. The reports for EU MS and AS integrates in the assessment the evolution of the national policy mixes in the perspective of the Europe 2020 Strategy goals and on the realisation and better governance of ERA.JRC.J.2-Knowledge for Growt