Between a rock and a hard place? Navigating domestic and international expectations on German foreign policy

This article takes stock of German foreign policy during Angela Merkel's third term in office (2013–17). It argues that the longer-term significance of Germany's foreign policy during this period is twofold. First, the Merkel government was confronted with multiple European and international crises which worked as a magnifying glass for the growing international expectations on Germany to become more actively engaged on the international stage. Second, the tenure of the Grand Coalition saw a significant shift in the German domestic foreign policy discourse that was marked by a concerted effort of leading decision-makers to make the case for Germany to accept greater international responsibilities. This emerging consensus among foreign policy elites expresses a changed self-conception of German foreign policy which, however, continues to be viewed with scepticism in the broader public. Informed by such a broad two-level perspective that focuses on the interplay between international and domestic expectations on German foreign policy, the article explores the record of the Grand Coalition in the main international crises it had to engage with. It suggests that the Merkel government was better able to live up to its own aspirations in two-level contexts which left it with greater domestic room for manoeuvre

Eastern partnership migrants in Germany: outcomes, potentials and challenges

Despite the ongoing dialogue on facilitating mobility between the European Union and the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries, very little is known about the magnitude and characteristics of migration from these countries. We find that EaP migrants experience worse labor market outcomes than other migrant groups, but current and potential migrants hold qualifications in those areas were skill shortages are expected. Therefore, the monitoring and supervision of EaP integration will be consequential in order to understand how much of the current brain waste is driven by poor assessment of foreign qualifications, and to unleash the potential of migration for the German economy

Rights-based Approaches and Bilateral Aid Agencies: More Than a Metaphor?

It could be argued that the rights based approach … is no more than ametaphor; a concept that catalyses a set of values into a phrase that many people can adopt and adapt. It is a general statement in favour of equitable development, involving widespread participation of those with no direct control of, or access to, the power of the state … If we still take rights as a legal concept then much of what passes as rights based is unlikely to be successful because there are often no state bodies committed to meeting the obligations implied. There is also a sense in that the “emperor has no clothes ” as there are too many people arguing about the details of what a rights approach should be and how it should be operationalised.Meanwhile, this is happening in the absence of any clear idea of what it is they are engaging with. (Pratt 2003: 2)

'Image' leveraging and sports mega-events: Germany and the 2006 FIFA World Cup

The broader setting for this research is the increase in willingness of governments of all political hues to stage sports mega-events. The paper starts from the observation that many states have and do instrumentalise sport to promote their country's image or 'brand' and attempt to gain prestige. This paper argues that Germany employed a deliberate leveraging strategy to improve their nation's (poor) image abroad. How did Germany do this? This study focuses on three aspects that were central to Germany's leveraging tactics: a series of long-term, carefully co-ordinated campaigns; the focus on a 'fan-centred' approach to the organisation of the event and the creation of a 'feelgood factor' around the tournament. More broadly, the article seeks to contribute to the nascent literature on leveraging sports mega-events by employing Chalip's 2004 model of leveraging legacies as an organising principle and focusing on strategies to improve a nation's image used by Germany. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Clashing Traditions: German Foreign Policy in a New Era

A series of crises over the last decade have put pressure on Europe's fundamental ordering principles. In response, German policymakers have scrambled to reinterpret Germany's foreign policy for a new era. To understand this process, the authors utilize an interpretivist approach, analyzing the discourse of German foreign policymakers through the lens of four traditions of thought informing debates: regionalism, pacifism, realism, and hegemonism. The article suggests that despite serious challenges, prevailing patterns of belief centered round regionalism and pacifism, supported by a particular civilian understanding of hegemony, persist. Yet, Germany's allies are challenging this framework and calling for it to accept more responsibility for regional and global security. As a result, a realist tradition is reemerging in Germany's discourse. The taxonomy provided here allows a richer understanding of these debates as well as an appreciation of how policymakers mobilize ideas to resist or enable policy change

Urban Land and Housing Markets in the Punjab, Pakistan

Well-functioning urban land and housing markets are critical success factors for achieving robust economic growth. This paper provides an overview of urban land and housing market performance in Punjab Province of Pakistan. It describes the characteristics of well-functioning markets and argues that the Punjab's present markets are not performing. In fact, there exists a range of impediments to efficient urban land and housing market performance: excessive public land ownership, inadequate infrastructure services, weak property rights, counterproductive urban planning policies and regulations, costly subdivision and construction regulations, limited financing for property development and acquisition, rent controls, and distortive taxation mechanisms

Predictive Multi-Objective Scheduling with Dynamic Prices and Marginal CO₂-Emission Intensities

Buildings’ energy consumption accounts for approximately 35% of emissions in most industrialized countries. In spite of several studies on the economy of energy management in buildings, the environmental aspect has often been overlooked. Therefore, in the context of decarbonization, we investigate the potential for smart homes to lower their CO2 footprint while saving on their energy bills. We model a smart home as a multi-energy system equipped with several technologies to satisfy both electric and thermal demands. A home energy management system (HEMS) coordinates the supply and demand of energy carriers by shifting consumption in time and by changing energy vectors based on dynamic energy prices and marginal CO2-emission intensities. The HEMS aims at reducing daily CO2 emissions and/or energy costs preserving user’s satisfaction. Due to the binary nature of on-off decisions and information uncertainty, we formulate a multi-objective mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) problem within a model predictive control (MPC) framework. Using prices and CO2-emission intensities of the German power grid, our approach is effective in reducing both energy costs and CO2 emissions, balancing between the two objectives. The results show that integrating energy carriers has a higher impact than time-flexible loads. If solar panels are available, emissions and costs strongly depend on the importance given by the users to the environmental and economic goals