The EU within the G8: A Case of Ambiguous and Contested Actorness. College of Europe EU Diplomacy Paper 05/2009, August 2009

This paper analyses the degree of European Union (EU) actorness within the Group of Eight (G8). Drawing on the work of Jupille and Caporaso, actorness is probed along the criteria of ‘recognition’, ‘authority’, ‘autonomy’ and ‘cohesion’. We argue that the vague and informal nature of the G8 is conducive to EU participation in the summit. The system of EU representation within the G8 can be seen as a case of constructed ambiguity because the ambiguity that is inherent in the EU’s participation has been institutionalized within the G8. When assessing the above criteria, actorness of the EU as a whole remains questionable. However, recognition, authority, autonomy and most of all cohesion differ considerably per context. We suggest that the ‘independence’ aspect of ‘autonomy’ constitutes a weakness in the conceptuali-sation of actorness and may better be replaced by ‘proactivity’. Finally, on the basis of our findings it can be tentatively hypothesised that a number of factors condition EU actorness in the G8, including the degree of integration at EU level, the degree of politicisation and whether or not an EU member state is acting as G8 host

Evolution of Strategic Communication and Information Operations Since 9/11: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Emerging Threats & Capabilities of the H. Comm. on Armed Services, 112th Cong., July 12, 2011 (Statement of Rosa Ehrenreich Brooks)

I know that members of this sub-committee are deeply committed to ensuring that reform of strategic communication organizational structures and policies remains a top priority for the executive branch. I have to confess that in my former role as a Defense Department official with responsibility for a range of SC and IO issues, I was not always wholly grateful for your interest: you and your colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee put the Department through the ringer with quite a lot of different reporting requirements. As a citizen, however, I am deeply grateful to you for having kept us on our toes— and occasionally held our feet to the fire. This is a vital area, and we can’t afford either to ignore it or rest on our laurels. I would like to begin today by looking briefly at the emergence of the concept of “strategic communication” within the US government, and talk about some drawbacks to the term itself. I’d then like to highlight some of the lessons we can draw from the decade since 9/11, and I will close by offering some thoughts on the future

Australia in the UN Security Council

Overview: In this Lowy Institute Analysis, Richard Gowan reviews Australia’s time as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. Gowan argues that while it has not changed the world, Australia has acquitted itself well, bringing extra rigour and professionalism to the Council’s debates. It has carved out a niche on the issue of humanitarian access in the Syrian conflict, and solidified its reputation as a good international citizen and a serious country. Key findings Australia’s advocacy for human rights, humanitarian causes and more effective sanctions has had a positive impact on both the Security Council and attitudes to Australia across the UN. Australia’s main substantive achievement has been to carve out a diplomatic niche on humanitarian aid to the conflict in Syria. Australia will hold the Council presidency again in November, and can use this to solidify its legacy, especially on the issue of humanitarian access

The U.S.-Iran Track II Dialogue (20022008): Lessons Learned and Implications for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund's Grantmaking Strategy

From 2002 through 2008, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) supported a Track II dialogue involving influential American and Iranian citizens, co-organized and co-facilitated with the UnitedNations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA), under the able leadership of Ambassador William Luers. Recognizing that the U.S.-Iranian relationship presents perhaps the most important and troubling foreign policy challenge facing both countries, the Track II dialogue was launched in December 2002.The purpose of this paper is to examine the RBF's experience with the practice of Track II dialogues in light of other experiments with similar dialogues both as a conflict prevention and management tool and as an important component of a peacemaking strategy

U.S. Interagency Coordination on Countering Violent Extremism Abroad

CVE is complex. It requires combatting the narratives and ideology of many extremist groups around the globe, constructing environments with appealing alternatives to extremism, and most importantly, sensitivity to the variety of circumstances in which CVE takes place to effectively battle the root causes of extremism. Constructing a complete CVE effort thus requires a great variety of skills, coordinated to efficient implementation. Despite notional commitment, U.S. CVE abroad lacks interagency coordination. JIATF-S offers a strong model of interagency coordination, from which lessons may be applied to the formation of an interagency CVE effort. Interagency coordination would bring extensive expertise and resources to bear on CVE operations

What Makes Autocracies’ Soft Power Strategies Special? Evidence from Russia and China

The paper problematizes the national soft power strategies of authoritarian states arguing that many of their features stem from those countries’ political regime. In particular, the author focuses on such features as actors involved in soft power policies, the public media’s international and domestic rhetoric, the presence or absence of ideological commitments, strategies’ proactiveness/reactiveness as well as their long- and short-termness. The author presents his argumentation in a fashion similar to what is called theory-building process tracing: first, he shows causal links between an autocratic political regime and each of those features, and then illustrates them with relevant examples taken from case studies and media publications on the soft power strategies of contemporary Russia and China

Making and Breaking Impasses in International Regimes. The WTO, Seattle and Doha

WTO; international agreements; international trade; governance