Strengthening Cooperative Threat Reduction with Russia : The Norwegian Experience
Many nuclear safety and security challenges remain in Northwest Russia. Years of international cooperation – and substantial funding – are required to deal with the legacy of the extensive nuclear activities of the Cold War. Among the more urgent projects that call for international attention are the safe dismantling of nuclear attack submarines and clean-up at naval storage facilities, e.g. at Andreeva Bay. For nearly a decade, Norway and other countries have been working cooperatively with Russia to improve the situation. While important progress has been made, much of the foreign support has come with some hard-learned experiences. However, the dialog established, the cooperative framework institutionalized, and today’s understanding of the respective concerns, priorities, and practices of the actors involved should create a sound basis for new rounds of cooperative and concerted efforts to limit the persistent nuclear security and safety risks in the region. In this report, past and ongoing activities for remedial actions in Northwest Russia are assessed, and suggestions for continued and improved cooperation are presented. The survey has been conducted as part of the Norwegian contribution to the international research consortium on «Strengthening the Global Partnership: Protecting Against the Spread of Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons».
From Apparatchik to President – From Businessman to Khan: Regime Transition and Consolidation in the Russian Republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia
Learning, Networks and Sunk Costs in International trade: Evidence form Norwegian Seafood Exports
Based on new survey data for 81 Norwegian seafood exporters, the report examines the composition and magnitude of different types of trade costs, ranging from tariffs and transport costs to other sales costs. The results suggest that there are economies of scale in the exporting activity, due to fixed costs of market entry, learning through experience, and externalities between firms so that one exporter benefits from the others via learning or joint marketing effects. Seafood exports strongly rely on personal networks, and firms incur costs in order to establish these networks. On the whole, however, fixed sales costs for seafood exports are small, due to these products being relatively homogeneous. In spite of this, such costs matter for the choice of markets and the magnitude of trade. The report analyses how costs vary across products, firms and markets. For seafood exports, traditional trade barriers such as tariffs and transport costs are more important than the sunk costs. Transport costs do not increase proportionally with geographical distance, mainly since this is not the case for sea transports.
Political Priorities and Economic Interests in Russian-Latvian Relations
The paper focuses on interaction of political and economic aspects in Russian-Latvian relations. During the most of the 1990´s, the relationship was dominated by the «conflict manifestation,» which could be witnessed during the protracted Russian troop withdrawal and mutually irreconcilable positioning over NATO expansion and status of Russian-speaking population. However, in the context of EU enlargement and «economisation» of Russian foreign policy, economic factors may play an increasingly important role in Russian-Latvian relations. It is possible to discover a complex web of links and economic interdependence between economic actors in both Russia and Latvia. This especially refers to transit as Latvian ports remain among the major routes of Russian exports, primarily oil, to Western Europe. Yet, certain interests of particular economic groups in Russia as well as economic and political priorities of Russian government generally, in the region and domestically will have influence, not necessarily favourable, on further development of this economic interdependence.
Elite perceptions of ethical problems facing the Western oil industry in Iran
The hybrid of democratic and theocratic institutions of revolutionary Iran is now over twenty years old, and is undergoing challenge. An elected president with popular legitimacy but no control of the means of coercion is endeavouring to open up and liberalise, but is being opposed by the conservatives with theocratic vetoes, newspaper closures and street violence. Part One of this report looks at the diarchy of President Khatami and Supreme Leader Khamenei, their legitimacies, their ‘minimalist’ strategies, and their common interest in restraining their wilder supporters from provoking chaos or civil war. The report then considers the elements of ‘civil society’ resulting from deep structural change in Iran: demography and education, the role of women and the free press. Finally, this part considers the journalistic comparison of Khatami with Gorbachev, and finds that although both are/were attempting limited reform of a faltering system of which they were themselves a part, no Iranian Yeltsin has yet emerged. Part Two of the report is the results of in-depth interviews with 14 prominent reformers. They are optimistic about the prospects for long-term change; all the conservatives can do is postpone change or perpetrate a bloodbath, they cannot put the clock back. Our sample tended to consider the oil companies a bad influence. However, they made a sharp distinction between American companies, which they thought more ethical and transparent, and the secretive European, Arab and Japanese companies. Asked what the oil companies should do to promote democratic developement, the interviewees emphasised transparency above all.
Keeping the peace together? Joint Russian-Western peace operations in the Commonwealth of Independent States
The purpose of this report is to discuss the conditions for future multinational peace operations in the Commonwealth of Independent States, including both Russian and Western forces. The aim and scope of this study are based on a positive attitude to challenges in general, in other words, a will to see opportunities and solutions instead of obstacles and insolvable problems. Problem: What are the possible options for multinational peace operations including Russian and Western forces in the Commonwealth of Independent States? I will focus on investigating possibilities for CPOs in the CIS area. Content: The report will consist of an initial discussion focusing on various Russian approaches that influence thinking on combined peace operations. The focus on Russia is an inevitable consequence of my West/NATO origin, but in order to give a more balanced view of the problem it will also be necessary to look at some other factors influencing this potential co-operation. Further, I will discuss three generic options for combined peace operations in the Commonwealth of Independent States. The main goal of this study is a detailed discussion of various possible scenarios for future Russian-Western co-operation in the field of peace-keeping on the territory of the former Soviet Union. In order to place the topic in a proper context the author takes a closer look at various political, mental, historical and not least purely technical determinants limiting the potential scope of the joint peace-keeping. The study contains a detailed analysis of international (UN), Western (NATO, Canada) and Russian peace-keeping terminology. It also discusses the importance and relevance of various international frameworks determining the field, the scope and the geographical dimension of the potential Russian-Western co-operation, as well as the practical experience from the joint peace-keeping missions in the former Yugoslavia. The study gives a good insight in the history and practice of joint Russian-Western peacekeeping efforts. It also outlines and analyses various practical and political challenges linked with development of this relatively new and still challenging field of co-operation between Russia and the West. As such, it is relevant for both theoreticians of peace-keeping and for those who work with peace-keeping in the field.
Selvforståelse og rolleforventning under ulike regimer : en studie av den russiske intelligentsiaens før og etter kommunismens fall sett i lys av...
Denne studien undersøker rollemønstre og selvforståelse som intellektuelle utvikler under henholdsvis et totalitært og et demokratisk regime. Mer bestemt rettes søkelyset mot den intellektuelle forstått som en samfunnskritiker, en som bidrar til dannelsen av en kritisk og våken offentlig sfære. Sentralt for studien er videre hvordan en gradvis overgang fra et totalitært til et demokratisk regime stiller de intellektuelle overfor nye og ukjente problemer med hensyn til å bli hørt og kunne delta i den offentlige debatt. Dette forholdet har berørt mange av de intellektuelle som var underlagt et kommunistisk system i Sovjetunionen og Øst-Europa. Her drøftes og analyseres hvordan den russiske intelligentsiaen har blitt konfrontert med demokratiets inntreden etter over 70 år med en sterk undertrykking av det frie ord og det sivile samfunn. Studien av intelligentsiaens skjebne gjøres med utgangspunkt i Zygmunt Baumans og Pierre Bourdieus kultursosiologi. Baumans bidrag er konsentrert om hans forståelse av det han definerer som en moderne (Sovjetunionen) og postmoderne (Russland etter 1991) samfunnstilstand og på hvilken måte disse tilstandene definerer intellektuelles roller og selvforståelse. Fra Bourdieu anvendes hans innsikter om intellektuelle som besittere av kulturell kapital og deres posisjon innenfor det han definerer som det sosiale rom. En av studiens hovedkonklusjoner er at sovjetregimet formet en selvforståelse og rolleforventning hos intelligentsiaen som la grunnlag for dens identitetskrise etter 1991.
Supermaktens akilleshæl? Politisk polarisering og beslutningsproblemer ved amerikanske internasjonale militære engasjement