This blog went silent again for a few months and I’m very sorry about that. I taught International Security this term and spent a lot of time thinking about the war in Afghanistan and the prospects of Iranian proliferation. And not much time thinking about climate change politics.
Wæver claims that security is indivisible, that security on the European level equates to security on the state level. Therefore the state-level definition of security must be similar, if not the same, as the European-level definition. This mitigates the validity of his concepts. Europe may not yet be a true, or complete, referent object because state interests have to be satisfied to keep Spaceship Europe in orbit
There are several actors within the Union that have a hand in processing policies and legislation, all of them demonstrating elements of leadership. However, there is no one individual or group whose powers extend above the rest to lead and have final say on both design and execution of a particular policy. The Union works in the form of both supranational institutions, and through liberal intergovernmentalism in the form of cooperation and teamwork from the member states
Today we know China as the new form of communism which came about after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976 and the further solidification of Deng Xiaoping as paramount leader of the Chinese communist party. China has come a long way since 1978, growing at more than 20% a year. However, it is still relatively young power in the international arena, lacking the maturity and reputation of America
At Copenhagen in December 2009, during the much-hyped leaders’ summit to negotiate a climate change deal, American hypocrisy met Chinese obstructionism. Americans demanded emissions reductions without a credible plan at home. According to most reports, the Chinese stripped the Copenhagen Accord of much of its early ambition, including seemingly distant commitments to 2050. The West plans carbon conditionality. The rest expect reciprocity, and some countries will be in a position to demand it.
Callaghan cannot take the blame for the economic instability he inherited. Callaghan held successes throughout his term in office, inflation fell from 16% and 24% the two previous years before he took office, down to nearly 8% in 1978. Whilst he was successful to an extent, there were clear failings; his premiership is tainted by the decision not to go to the polls in the autumn of 1978, and the IMF crisis which is seen to be a blot on his economic record
It is now widely recognised that climate change is affecting the earth’s atmosphere and that governments must act quickly and efficiently in order to halt this. The EU Emissions Trading Scheme has been held up as the centrepiece of EU legislation, allowing the EU to perform a leadership role globally by initiating the world’s largest multi-country, multi-sector greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme ever seen.
The Guardian website has a portal that allows users to search the Wikileaks database for particular US embassy cables regarding issue areas or specific countries. A search for “climate change” turns up 14 cables — and 4 recent Guardian stories about those particular cables.
The ethno-national, colonial and paramilitary conflicts of the extremists within Northern Ireland are the key issues for development and the Northern Ireland Peace Process. Until their full decommissioning on both sides of the divide, Northern Irish politics struggles to find resolution, in spite of the framework of power-sharing being in place.
The ‘give war a chance’ argument is one which argues against disinterested and frivolous motives. Whereas most would likely agree that disinterested interventions are undesirable, Luttwak’s extension of this to include all interventions is inappropriate. The key assumptions of his argument simply do not stand up to logical analysis
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