Europeanisation should meet international constructivism: the Nordic Plus group and the internalisation of political conditionality by France and the United Kingdom

This article is a plausibility probe for the significance of international constructivist ‘mediating factors’ to explain variation in Europeanisation outcomes. It applies a most similar systems design (or Mill's method of difference) to show that the UK has internalised political conditionality to a larger extent than France at least partially because it has been the object of stronger socialisation pressures within the ‘Nordic Plus’ group. The article contributes to the literature on Europeanisation and development cooperation in two important ways. First, it enlarges its scope of analysis, both geographically (beyond new European Union member states) and thematically (beyond simple measures of aid quality and/or quantity). Second, it emphasises the importance of international (versus domestic) mediating factors. The empirical analysis focusses on three cases of aid sanctions in response to human rights abuses and democratic setbacks: Zimbabwe 2002, Madagascar 2009 and Mozambique 2009

It’s not the size, it’s the relationship: from ‘small states’ to asymmetry

Debate about the definition of “small state” has produced more fragmentation than consensus, even as the literature has demonstrated its subjects’ roles in joining international organizations propagating norms, executing creative diplomacy, influencing allies, avoiding and joining conflicts, and building peace. However, work on small states has struggled to identify commonalities in these states’ international relations, to cumulate knowledge, or to impact broader IR theory. This paper advocates a changed conceptual and definitional framework. Analysis of “small states” should pivot to examine the dynamics of the asymmetrical relationships in which these states are engaged. Instead of seeking an overall metric for size as the relevant variable—falling victim in a different way Dahl’s “lump-of-power fallacy,” we can recognize the multifaceted, variegated nature of power, whether in war or peacetime

A critical review of smaller state diplomacy

In The Peloponnesian War, Thucydides (1972: 402) highlights the effects of the general, overall weakness of smaller states vis-à-vis larger, more powerful ones in a key passage, where the Athenians remind the Melians that: “… since you know as well as we do that, as the world goes, right is only in question between equals in power. Meanwhile, the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.” Concerns about the vulnerability of small, weak, isolated states have echoed throughout history: from Thucydides, through the review by Machiavelli (1985) of the risks of inviting great powers to intervene in domestic affairs, through 20th century US-led contemporary political science (Vital, 1971; Handel, 1990) and Commonwealth led scholarship (Commonwealth Secretariat, 1985). In the context of 20th century ‘Balkanization’, the small state could also prove unstable, even hostile and uncooperative, a situation tempting enough to invite the intrusion of more powerful neighbours: a combination, according to Brzezinski (1997: 123-124) of a power vacuum and a corollary power suction2: in the outcome, if the small state is ‘absorbed’, it would be its fault, and its destiny, in the grand scheme of things. In an excellent review of small states in the context of the global politics of development, Payne (2004: 623, 634) concludes that “vulnerabilities rather than opportunities are the most striking consequence of smallness”. It has been recently claimed that, since they cannot defend or represent themselves adequately, small states “lack real independence, which makes them suboptimal participants in the international system” (Hagalin, 2005: 1). There is however, a less notable and acknowledged but more extraordinary strand of argumentation that considers ‘the power of powerlessness’, and the ability of small states to exploit their smaller size in a variety of ways in order to achieve their intended, even if unlikely, policy outcomes. The pursuance of smaller state goals becomes paradoxically acceptable and achievable precisely because such smaller states do not have the power to leverage disputants or pursue their own agenda. A case in point concerns the smallest state of all, the Vatican, whose powers are both unique and ambiguous, but certainly not insignificant (The Economist, 2007). Smaller states have “punched above their weight” (e.g. Edis, 1991); and, intermittently, political scientists confront their “amazing intractability” (e.g. Suhrke, 1973: 508). Henry Kissinger (1982: 172) referred to this stance, with obvious contempt, as “the tyranny of the weak”3. This paper seeks a safe passage through these two, equally reductionist, propositions. It deliberately focuses first on a comparative case analysis of two, distinct ‘small state-big state’ contests drawn from the 1970s, seeking to infer and tease out the conditions that enable smaller ‘Lilliputian’ states (whether often or rarely) to beat their respective Goliaths. The discussion is then taken forward to examine whether similar tactics can work in relation to contemporary concerns with environmental vulnerability, with a focus on two other, small island states. Before that, the semiotics of ‘the small state’ need to be explored, since they are suggestive of the perceptions and expectations that are harboured by decision makers at home and abroad and which tend towards the self-fulfilling prophecy.peer-reviewe

London calling?: Preferred emigration destinations among Icelandic youth

Post-print (lokagerð höfundar)Preferred emigration destinations among adolescents reflect images and stereotypes of other countries that continuously emerge in a multitude of local and global discourses and from concrete experiences with other countries. The affinities of Icelandic adolescents are split between the islands of the Northern Atlantic, continental Nordic countries, European core countries, and North American countries. If they had to leave Iceland, however, the largest proportion of Icelandic adolescents would want to move to the United States. Girls are more likely to choose the Nordic countries, in particular Denmark, while boys are more likely to choose English-speaking countries with a reputation for economic and military power such as the United States and England. Adolescents are more likely to prefer migrating to Europe rather than North America if they are proud of their Icelandic nationality, live in cohesive communities, have more educated parents, and feel closer to Europe. Adolescents who want to move abroad are in contrast most likely to have North American destinations in mind. Recent geopolitical changes may however shift the attention of Icelandic adolescents eastward towards the European continent.This article has benefited greatly from extensive discussions with Atli Hafthorsson, Brynhildur Thorarinsdottir, Kjartan Olafsson and Michael S. Gibbons, and from the pioneering scholarship of Professor Thorbjorn Broddason. The data collection was in part made possible by a grant from the University of Akureyri Research Fund.Peer Reviewe

Slimhole well casing design for high-temperature geothermal exploration and reservoir assessment

It is anticipated that utilization of geothermal resources for renewable energy production will continue to grow globally. Since cost of drilling and well construction constitutes a considerable share of the total cost of the geothermal installations, development and evaluation of low-cost alternatives is crucial for expansion of this industry. This paper describes slimhole casing design for geothermal exploration wells, as an alternative for reduced cost and improved environmental performance. The main goal of the paper is to contribute to cost effective casing design program that satisfies severe reservoir conditions of geothermal wells. A case study is presented for casing design for a 2000 m deep vertical well with water level at 200 m, where the New Zealand Code of Practice has been applied. The “worst case scenario”, i.e. when temperature and pressure follow the boiling point depth curve (BPD), has been considered as base case for the casing design, when drilling in a high-temperature geothermal area. Alternative methods are also presented for determining the minimum casing setting depths and the results are compared. Pressure and temperature conditions inside the well were established using X-steam program, an Excel add-in, and the final results, establishing loading criteria that the casing has to withstand i.e.: burst, collapse and tension/compression are presented

Geothermal Field Developments in Iceland

The exploration and research carried out in conjunction with the exploitation of the various geothernal fields has vastly deepened our understanding of the hydrothermal systems in Inceland. They have proved to be more diverse with respect to physical state, chemical composition, hydrological properties, and geological control than previously thought. The purpose of the present paper is to review the present state of knowledge regarding the Icelandic geothermal systems, with emphasis on the production and reservoir engineering aspects

Resolving the structure of the E-1 state of Mo nitrogenase through Mo and Fe K-edge EXAFS and QM/MM calculations

Biological nitrogen fixation is predominately accomplished through Mo nitrogenase, which utilizes a complex MoFe7S9C catalytic cluster to reduce N-2 to NH3. This cluster requires the accumulation of three to four reducing equivalents prior to binding N-2; however, despite decades of research, the intermediate states formed prior to N-2 binding are still poorly understood. Herein, we use Mo and Fe K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy and QM/MM calculations to investigate the nature of the E-1 state, which is formed following the addition of the first reducing equivalent to Mo nitrogenase. By analyzing the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) region, we provide structural insight into the changes that occur in the metal clusters of the protein when forming the E-1 state, and use these metrics to assess a variety of possible models of the E-1 state. The combination of our experimental and theoretical results supports that formation of E-1 involves an Fe-centered reduction combined with the protonation of a belt-sulfide of the cluster. Hence, these results provide critical experiment and computational insight into the mechanism of this important enzyme

Metals in deep liquid of the Reykjanes geothermal system, southwest Iceland: Implications for the composition of seafloor black smoker fluids

Seafloor hydrothermal systems precipitate Cu, Zn, and Fe sulfides at and below black smoker vents on the seafloor; as a result, the metal concentrations in the vent fluids are minimum values. We sampled deep, unboiled liquids from the Reykjanes geothermal reservoir, Iceland, and measured the metal concentrations. This active, seawater-dominated system, situated on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, is the subaerial equivalent to mid-ocean-ridge hydro thermal systems. The liquids, collected at 1350–1500 m depth and 284–295 °C, contain 154–2431 μM Fe (9–140 ppm), 207–261 μM Cu (14–17 ppm), 79–393 μM Zn (5–27 ppm), 0.6–1.4 μM Pb (120–290 ppb), 6–31 nM Au (1–6 ppb), and 250–960 nM Ag (28–107 ppb). Fluids discharged at surface from the same wells have orders of magnitude lower metal concentrations due to precipitation caused by boiling and vapor loss during depressurization. The concentrations of Cu, Zn, and Pb in the high-temperature reservoir liquids at Reykjanes are similar to those in the highest-temperature black smoker discharges, whereas Au and Ag concentrations are one to two orders of magnitude higher at Reykjanes; lower-temperature seafloor fluids have lower metal contents, suggesting subseafloor deposition before discharge. The Reykjanes heat flux of 130 MW requires a liquid flux of ~100 kg/s; over 104 yr, the minimum life of the system, 0.5 Mt each of Cu and Zn may have precipitated at depth