Hosted by University of Aberdeen, Department of Politics and International Relations
Top-Down or Bottom-Up: Is Security and Defence Policy in the EU a Question of Political Will or Military Capability?
Abstract:
Much of the debate since the formation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy has focused on the political will, or lack thereof, as the principle obstacle to a successful European security policy. However, that even if a cohesive will to develop a clear and operational foreign and security policy exists, the lack of military capabilities within the EU would make the implementation of that policy difficult if not impossible for the foreseeable future. The emerging political will to develop a CFSP needs to be paralleled by significant improvements in the force projection capabilities of the EU member states in order for a CFSP and future Common Defence Policy to be credible.
Author: Robert Grant
Unsettling the Colonial Imaginary: Possibilities for a Post-colonial Constitution in Australia
Abstract:
Under the unifying gaze of eurocentrism, the pre-modern world of the eighteenth century Australia was seen from the vantagepoint of the colonist. The colonist, comfortable in his superiority, projected the idea of modernity; of rationalism, capitalism and enlightenment. This was to be the fate of humanity. Those not belonging to the civilised part of mankind were to be subjected to extermination or assimilation. For aborigines experiencing the profoundly devastating effects of colonialism through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, their claims against colonialism have presented and continue to present themselves through reference to the 'colonial encounter' between themselves and the colonists. This paper argues that the 'colonial encounter' problematises contemporary aboriginal demands for recognition and representation. In addition it is argued, the settlers' attempts to cleanse the state of its hierarchical traditions are problematised by the persistence of colonial contradictions which at the same time 'essentialise' and 'de-essentialise' aboriginal identity. This it is suggested has a crucial effect on the identity of the aborigines themselves. The following paper aims to address the question; how is it possible for a new constitutional order to institutionalise a specifically 'postcolonial' relationship between people whose lives have been shaped by a colonial relationship? It is argued that only by overcoming the colonial imaginary of the last century, can a constitution that recognises aboriginal customs and traditions be established.
Author: Patricia A. Wyszogrodzka
International Regional Co-operation in Europe: Institutions, Programmes and the Reform of Polish Regions Prior to the Membership in the European Union.
Abstract:
Globalisation generally refers to a process whereby the politics, economics, and culture of one state or nation penetrate other states or nations. Globalisation is also seen as a force that can unite economic and political forces in the first instance at a regional level, as in regional blocs like the Single Market and EMU of the European Union, which may, in time lead to full globalisation by blocks such as EU, NAFTA and ASEAN act jointly. According to that view, expansion of the European Union by Central and Eastern European states is a step in the process of globalisation. The interaction, which is taking place between the European Union Member States and the applicant states, is an example and a part of a larger scale process of globalisation.
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