15 research outputs found

    Defence spending and economic growth: A causal analysis for Greece and Turkey

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    There are a number of studies which consider the relation between military spending and economic growth using Granger causality techniques rather than a well-defined economic model. Some have used samples of groups of countries, finding no consistent results. Others have focused on case studies of individual countries, which has the advantage of the researchers bringing to bear much more data than the cross country samples and a greater knowledge of the structure of the economy and the budget. This paper adds to the literature by providing an analysis of two countries, Greece and Turkey, which are particularly interesting case studies given their high military burdens, the poor relations between the two and the resulting arms race in the area. In addition to analysing the data using standard “pre-cointegration” Granger causality techniques, this paper employs modern vector autoregressive (VAR) methodology that utilises cointegration via Granger's representation theorem. The standard Granger causality tests suggest a positive effect of changing military burden on growth for Greece, but this is not sustained when the cointegration between output and military burden is taken into account. The only evidence of significant Granger causality is a negative impact of military burden on growth in Turkey.Military spending, Economic growth, Granger causality, Greece, Turkey,

    Military expenditure and economic growth: A demand and supply model for Greece, 1960-96

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    This paper contributes to the continuing debate on the economic effects of military expenditure by undertaking a case study of Greece. Within Europe Greece provides a particularly interesting object of study. It has the highest military burden in Europe and NATO, is the only European Union country situated in the unstable environment of the Balkans, faces a military threat from Turkey, and has a very weak economy. After some background analysis of the economy and military expenditure, the paper investigates the determinants of Greek military expenditure as well as whether the high military burden has played an important role in Greece's poor economic performance over the period 1960-1996. It estimates a Keynesian simultaneous equation model with a supply side, which allows the indirect effects of military expenditure to be captured explicitly. It concludes that the major determinants of Greek defence spending are not economic but strategic (the threat of war) and that the direct effect of defence spending on economic growth as well as the indirect effects through savings and trade balance are all significantly negative. On the basis of such strong results, the paper concludes that defence spending is harmful for the Greek economy.Greece, Military expenditure, Economic effects,

    Constructing the CFSP: The Utility of a Cognitive Approach

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    Traditional analyses of the European Union's common foreign and security policy (CFSP) tend to characterize it either as an effete and declaratory expression of lowest common denominator politics, or as a limited framework for median-interest foreign policy bargaining. Even at a modest empirical level, however, these representations of CFSP fail to convince in view of its development in recent years. This article will argue that a cognitive approach towards the study of CFSP opens up new and crucial vistas for analysis, and offers some striking conclusions on the reciprocal relationship between CFSP and national foreign policies and the transforming capacity of the CFSP "vis-Ă -vis" national foreign policies, including their 'Europeanization'. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2003.

    David in Goliath’s citadel: Mobilizing the Security Council’s normative power for Palestine.

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    This article reviews the remarkable success of the Palestinian Liberation Organization in alliance with the Non-Aligned Movement in appropriating the Security Council’s normative power to transform the global understanding of the Israel–Arab conflict. We feature the alliance’s submission of multiple declaratory resolutions from late 1967 through 1980, which condemned Israel’s occupation policies, declared all of the territories conquered in the 1967 war as occupied, and endorsed a Palestinian state. Collectively, these resolutions, including the vetoed ones, legitimized a new consensus whereby Palestinian statehood became regarded as indispensable for a just resolution, while Israel’s continued control over the occupied territories became viewed as the primary obstacle, with full withdrawal expected. This consensus endures despite concerted Israeli–US efforts to undermine it. Besides its appeal to scholars of Israel–Palestine, the study contributes fresh insights into the Security Council’s normative authority and the influence of non-powerful, non-Western actors. We explain the dynamics by which these actors appropriate the Security Council’s normative influence, through its declaratory resolutions, to boost broader advocacy campaigns. Specifically, we highlight anti-colonial normative framing — featuring self-determination and territorial integrity — coalition building, and trapping. The first two dynamics generate powerful political and normative pressure, which, in turn, traps uncommitted states into supporting the cause so as to avoid isolation and the appearance of normative hypocrisy. By featuring the Non-Aligned Movement and the Palestinian Liberation Organization as the primary agents and anticolonial values as the defining norms, we present a rarely examined counter-trajectory of norm dissemination in what is thought to be the least receptive international forum
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