Manifestation of what foreign policy : EU actorness in the context of Operation Atalanta

The topic of this master thesis is the European Union foreign and security policy. More detailed, what sort of foreign policy EU is implementing through its military operation EU NAVFOR Atalanta launched to prevent and combat piracy off the coast of Somalia, and which kind of power position it is seeking through it internationally. The theoretical framework creating the structure of the research comes from Hans Morgenthau and his realistic theory, which he introduced more in detail in his book called Politics Among Nations – The Struggle for Power and Peace (1948). In this book, he separates three different policy types based on the state’s foreign policy: policy of imperialism, policy of status quo and policy of prestige. The method of the research is directed content analysis. All the state’s actions, especially the ones that are considered to belong to the area of foreign politics, are somehow after power: they either seek to increase, stabilize or show off it. Consequently, the objective is to recognize wether EU is trying to acquire more power, hold on to its present power or mainly just demonstrating its power through Operation Atalanta. Furthermore, embarking upon the identification of the foreign policy type allows us to further see what kind of power distribution EU is seeking in relation to other security actors. By recognizing EU’s global ambitions and how it seeks to pursue them in the international security arena predictions can be made of EU’s future engagement beyond its borders in the field of foreign and security politics. The analysis shows that EU is implementing mainly policy of prestige in the context of Operation Atalanta; in the beginning policy of prestige contributing towards status quo and later policy of prestige to increase power. Its main purpose was to bring visibility and recognition to EU as a global security actor and increase its estimation of power internationally. Through acquiring more equal power distribution it was trying to place itself next to other big security actors and thus present itself as a credible and capable alternative security source. However, its fundamental objective was not to overthrow the present power balance completely but to make adjustments and shift the power structures towards more beneficial to its global actorness

State of the World's Volunteerism Report: Universal Values for Global Well-being

The focus of this report is on the universal values that motivate people the world over to volunteer for the common good and on the impact of volunteer action on societies and individuals. The authors advocate the power of volunteering to promote cooperation, encourage participation and contribute to the well-being of individuals and of society as a whole

Meditative Interactivity: The Power to Create the Self Through the Virtual

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Presence of Mind: A Political Posture

The political posture often encouraged in liberatory movements is that of urgency. Urgency is based on the idea that if oppressed peoples do not act “now,” then their fate is forever sealed as subordinates within social and political power hierarchies. This paper focuses on a contrasting political posture, termed presence of mind, motivated by the current political atmosphere of distrust and disenfranchisement in which some Muslim-Americans find themselves. Presence of mind is defined as the ability to critically unpack visceral affective responses to injustice—giving special consideration to power structures, one’s social location, and relationships—and then to asses an appropriate response in virtue of that consideration that best upholds our commitments. This paper argues that cultivating presence of mind acknowledges the complexities of the Muslim-Americans’ identity while providing a posture that allows the resistor to best represent their political commitments

Fundamental Rights in the European Community Legal Order

The role of the courts in the protection of human rights in any legal system is a constitutionally sensitive one. The observance and protection of such rights articulate with many aspects of the exercise of governmental and legislative power. The value nature of human rights accentuates these sensibilities. Some have viewed sovereign law as an essential ingredient in the make-up of national identity, a perception which tends to confirm a presumption that legal systems, while responsive to new pressures, are nonetheless holistic, coherent, and state-bound. National law is a rampart against outside corruption of the national ethos. Inevitably all of this poses particular challenges for a supranational court with jurisdiction to pass judgment on human rights compliance, directly or indirectly, by states that are justly proud of their own legal democratic traditions. The exercise by the European Court of Justice (“Court of Justice” or “Court”) of jurisdiction to protect the individual from breaches of their fundamental rights is a constitutional role which trammels not only the exercise of political power by the institutions of the European Community (the “Community”) but indirectly (and often directly) the use of governmental and legislative power at a national level. This constitutional role, exercised in the context of the doctrines of primacy and direct effect, challenges the ideology of a state\u27s legal autonomy and the associated sense of self-determination. Not surprisingly, the Court of Justice at the early stages showed a marked reluctance to be drawn into this area

The constitution and mobilization of soft power in the people's republic of China

This thesis asks the central question of how soft power has been constituted and mobilized by the People's Republic of China (PRC). It also investigates what factors have shaped the constitution and mobilisation of China's soft power in PRC's international engagement. This study argues that soft power derives from the mobilization and promotion of non-material power sources. It treats soft power not as a static quality but as multifaceted and dynamic. In PRC's case, there is both change and continuity of state government's efforts to attract targeted audiences through the mobilization and promotion of non-material dimensions of power at different historical moments. Change and continuity of China's soft power is rooted in this country's evolving perceptions of its national identity and role in the international system. In supporting this argument, the thesis examines the promotion of non-material sources of power in PRC's international engagement at two key historical moments: Maoist China in the first half of the 1960s; and China during the hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games. In both cases, this thesis demonstrates that sources of China's soft power has been purposefully chosen and promoted by the PRC in its interaction with foreign countries. The thesis thereafter compares and contrasts the two case studies with respect to international context, purposes, components, tools, and targeted audience of China's soft power. It concludes by reflecting on change and continuity of China's soft power and provides an explanation of such change and continuity. This study of China's soft power aims to make two main contributions. In terms of its theoretical contribution, this thesis suggests that soft power is not a static attribute of a state. A state's sense of identity may shape how it seeks to cultivate, interpret and mobilize the non-material sources of power. How an actor seeks to represent itself on the world stage can shape the way it chooses to interpret, cultivate, mobilize and project its non-material sources of power. The articulation and promotion of its "chosen" sources of soft power are both derivative of and reproductive of that representation. In terms of the study of China's soft power, this thesis provides a deeper understanding of China's soft power. It demonstrates that soft power is not something "new" to China. It has, however, been understood and used differently over time according to China's sense of its own identity and its role in the global community. This is closely related to its perceptions of its role in relation to others in the international system and the way in which it seeks to project this role

Multilateral security in the Mediterranean post-Cold War: NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue and the EuroMed Partnership. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 7 No. 10 May 2007

[From the introduction]. In this paper I will compare and contrast how the multilateral efforts in terms of NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue (“Dialogue”) program, involving i.a. U.S. interests in the Mediterranean, and the European Union’s (“EU”) EuroMed Partnership as the EU’s European Neighborhood Policy’s main approach to its Mediterranean neighbors (3) have affected Mediterranean security post-Cold War. This study takes place at the system level of analysis, exploring both bilateral and regional issues and interactions, including those of institutional and non-governmental actors (NGOs) (Neak 2003, 12). This paper takes a constructivist approach and, although acknowledging aspects of realism inherent in it such as rational actors (4), by contrasting the hard power and soft power approaches in the institutional analysis (in order to understand the history, culture and institutional dynamics post-Cold War) of the EMP and the Dialogue. Klotz and Lynch (2007, 3) write: The end of the Cold War shattered stable antagonisms and alliances… This destabilization widened the political and intellectual spaces - and increased the need – for scholars to ask questions about the cultural bases of conflict, alternative conceptions of national identity, [and] the ethics of intervention… Individuals and groups are not only shaped by their world but can also change it. People can … set into motion new normative, cultural, economic, social, or political practices that alter conventional wisdoms and standard operating procedures

Status, revisionism, and great power strategy : US-China positional competition and the struggle for leadership in Asia-Pacific

The dissertation addresses the core IR problem of revisionism and relates it to both the declining superpower and the rising great power, both the United States and China. The dissertation also offers a novel conceptualization of international order in terms of which revisionism is understood. The theoretical innovation of the dissertation modifies established structural realist theories and shifts the explanatory focus from security to status. Since status, defined as social position, is composed of both power and prestige, both change in the balance of power and the balance of prestige explain revisionism, which then cause dissatisfaction in the form of status anxiety in the dominant state. This leads the dominant power to revise the international order to maintain its leading status. It then attempts to block the ascendance of the rising challenger, which frustrates the status aspirations of the rising power who responds by carving out an alternative international order that can satisfy its desire for status. The theory explains when and why revisionism relates to both the status-maintenance strategy of the declining dominant power and the status-enhancement strategy of the rising great power. The declining superpower revises to maintain, whereas the rising great power revises to enhance. The dissertation applies this insight to the positional competition for leadership in the Asia-Pacific and the struggle between alternative regional orders. The US pivot to Asia under the Obama administration exemplifies the revisionist status-maintenance strategy. China, after Xi Jinping’s assumption of power, then begins to carve out an alternative regional order. On the US side, the dissertation scrutinizes the cases of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and America’s Principled Security Network. On the Chinese side, the dissertation scrutinizes the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and China’s project for an Asian Security Order

Sovereignty - Modern: A New Approach to an Outdated Concept

This article, however, does not purport to cover all possible dimensions of sovereignty but, instead, focuses primarily on what might be thought of as the core of sovereignty - the monopoly of power dimension - although it will be clear that even this focus inevitably entails certain linkages and slop-over penumbra of the other sovereignty dimensions. This core dimension is examined in the context of its roles with respect to international law and institutions generally, and international relations and related disciplines such as economics. National government leaders and politicians, as well as special interest representatives, too often invoke the term sovereignty to forestall needed debate. Likewise, international elites often assume that international is better (thus downplaying the importance of sovereignty) and this is not always the better approach. What is needed is a close analysis of the policy framework that gets us away from these preconceived mantras”. The objective is to shed some light on these policy debates or, in some cases, policy dilemmas, and to describe some of the policy framework that needs to be addressed

Property rights, collective Action, and poverty: The role of institutions for poverty reduction

"This paper presents a conceptual framework on how institutions of property rights and collective action can contribute to poverty reduction, including through external interventions and action by poor people themselves. The first part of the paper examines the initial conditions of poverty, highlighting the role of assets, risks and vulnerability, legal structures and power relations. The latter part investigates the decision-making dynamics of actors—both poor and non-poor—and how they can use the tangible and intangible resources they have to shape their livelihoods and the institutions that govern their lives. The paper concludes with a discussion of how attention to property rights and collective action can improve the understanding of outcomes in terms of changes in wellbeing." authors' abstractCollective action, Property rights, Poverty reduction, Conceptual framework, Vulnerability, Power, Institutions, Wellbeing,