Moldovan armed forces will need continued NATO support

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Military Reform ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Military Presence ◽  
Defence Spending ◽  
Political Scene

Subject Moldova's armed forces. Significance Russia's military build-up in Crimea and other parts of the continent, combined with its intervention in Syria, continue to alarm nations in Eastern Europe. With Moscow maintaining a military contingent in Transnistria and its growing military presence regionally, Moldova's armed forces and their relations with NATO will come under greater focus. However, Moldova's financial plight will make military reform and boosting defence spending difficult. Impacts The banking scandal that has rocked the political scene will push defence reform lower down the political agenda. A more militarily capable Moldova would be a useful partner for Ukraine in the future. Moldova may be invited to participate in more NATO exercises to enhance capacity-building measures.

Economic role of politics and corporate governance: reforms captured in Malaysia’s setting

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 839-853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurul Nazlia Jamil
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Role ◽  
Corporate Governance Reforms ◽  
Governance Reforms

Purpose This study aims to examine the economic role of politics on corporate governance reforms in one of emerging market, namely, Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based upon a literature review analysis. Findings The Malaysian economic, political and social settings have resulted in undue state and detrimental political influence on business, and yet the corporate governance reforms undertaken seemed not be able to resolve the matter. It is suggesting that it would be beneficial for Malaysia to have more independent regulatory bodies representing a wide variety of stakeholders to improve the transparency and accountability to ensure that the reforms are effectively enforced without conflicting with the political agenda. Legal institutional reforms also may be needed to improve the structure, capacity and performance of judicial system, as it is capable to capture reliance of economic role of politics and promoting accountability in Malaysia. Research limitations/implications The economic role of politics on corporate governance reforms is merely to broaden the political strategy in the corporate sector as the change in politics can improve the effectiveness of corporate governance reforms. Moreover, the economic role of politics raises the tone of the corporate governance reforms, and it implies that policymakers need to have effective corporate governance strategy in dealing with the reforms initiatives in areas that have strong political interventions. Originality/value Regulatory and judicial implications are offered as a means to improve corporate governance in Malaysia.

scholarly journals Women’s political representation in the local governance of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tasmia Matloob ◽  
Malik Shahzad Shabbir ◽  
Noreen Saher
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Jammu And Kashmir ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Processes

Purpose The purpose of this study to identify the role of women in political agenda at Azad Jammu Kashmir. The political parties are always considered main gatekeepers to women’s political representation. Existing scholarship highlights the significance of centralized political institutions (parties) with structured set up for the effective representation of women at different levels. However, the functioning of these institutions is greatly influenced by the social and cultural context of a country in which they operate. Design methodology/approach This paper mainly analyzes social and cultural practices and those informal ways that operate within the exited democratic government setup and creates serious obstacles for women’s effective political representation at the party level. For this purpose, a qualitative research methodology is used to get the full insight of the issue at hand. The authors conducted 25 in-depth interviews with women members of three different political parties. Findings The results revealed that both (social context and political structure) have a significant impact on women’s nature and level of participation in the political processes in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Originality value Prevailing social and political context of Pakistan does not support a truly democratic and centralized political system. Parties are weak entities with the less democratic organizational structure, which ultimately have a negative impact on women’s political representation.

Sliding Towards EC Membership: Norway in Scandinavian Perspective

1992 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 330-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Svåsand ◽  
Ulf Lindström
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Abrupt Change ◽  
Internal Market ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
European Continent ◽  
Single European Act ◽  
East West

THIS ARTICLE ADDRESSES THE PROBLEM OF NORWEGIAN membership in the EC. Why is it so difficult for Norway to follow in the tracks of Sweden and Finland, and for that matter the rest of Western Europe?The changes on the European continent since the collapse of the East-West divide have also altered the political agenda in the Scandinavian countries. The ambitions of the EC-internal market as well as the Single European Act speeded up a discussion of how Finland, Norway and Sweden should position themselves in order not to lose out economically and become marginalized politically. In Norway, the traumatic EC debate in 1972 had split the country, and the parties, into two camps, resulting in the rejection of EC membership by 53 per cent of the electorate. Since then, the issue has been absent from political debate. In Finland and Sweden the official rationale for not discussing the issue disappeared simultaneously with the regimes in Eastern Europe, suddenly pushing the topic onto the political agenda, causing an abrupt change in Swedish EC policy.

Tehran and Muscat could deepen economic ties

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Diversification ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Military Alliance ◽  
Gcc Countries ◽  
Financial Benefits ◽  
Economic Ties

Significance Oman has historically maintained strong business and diplomatic links with Iran, cutting across the anti-Iranian political agenda pressed by Saudi Arabia on the other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Economic relations are now more important for Muscat than Tehran, while the political ties are most useful for Iranian foreign policy. However, Oman in January 2017 joined the Saudi-led Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism, comprising 40 countries excluding Iran and Iraq. Impacts Oman’s urgent need for economic diversification will broaden its search for economic partners. If the Iran-Saudi Arabia regional confrontation worsens, Oman’s midway stance could be tilted by financial benefits from either side. In case of a serious Washington-Tehran showdown, Muscat would maintain quiet links with Iran, but ultimately prioritise US relations.

Turkey's army reform could turn into power grab

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Armed Forces ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Constitutional Reforms ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Turkish Society

Subject The impact of the failed July coup on civilian-military relations. Significance The psychological impacts of the attempted coup across political life cannot be understated; it has far-reaching implications for the political, bureaucratic and even ideological structures of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). In the aftermath of the attempted putsch, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is more determined than ever to alter the civilian-military machinery of government in Turkey radically. Impacts The purge and radical reforms will bring into question the TSK's operational and strategic reliability for Western partners. A permanently weakened TSK would ease the way for constitutional reforms strengthening Erdogan's grip on the state. It will take years to rebuild the confidence and prestige the military has lost among broad swathes of Turkish society. Any criticism of the TSK reforms, domestically or from abroad, will meet the authorities' fierce condemnation.

Iraq’s elections point to broad-based unity cabinet

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
National Government ◽  
The Political ◽  
Security Risks ◽  
Government Formation ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fiscal Reforms ◽  
Political Scene

Significance Iraq is struggling to finalise the results of national elections on May 12. However, the probable broad outlines of the next parliament are already visible, with the political scene still deeply fractured. Impacts Postponement of the 2019 budget will put off much-needed fiscal reforms. Sub-national elections due later in 2018 may be disrupted by national government formation. Any attempt to exclude militia factions from government could drive up security risks.

Moderate Czech Euroscepticism will cause no EU rupture

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Wide Margin ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
The Right ◽  
Political Right ◽  
Visegrad Group

Subject Czech Euroscepticism. Significance The right-liberal ANO 2011 party led by Andrej Babis won legislative elections last month. Its wide margin of victory owed something to its Eurosceptic discourse. Czech Euroscepticism is the product of populist mobilisation on the political right and the centre’s failure to make a positive case for EU membership. With the hard Eurosceptic Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party joining the Europhobic Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) in parliament, leaving the EU is guaranteed a prominent place on the political agenda. Impacts Moderate Czech (and Austrian) enthusiasm for deeper integration will mean that inner and outer ‘circles’ of EU membership will solidify. A deepening split within the Visegrad Group will make opposition to EU reform difficult to sustain for Poland and Hungary. The president has added his weight to a referendum on ‘Czexit’.

Mauritania opposition crackdown aims at 2019 election

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Gold Mine ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
Political Scene

Significance Journalists say the move is part of a wider crackdown that includes a judicial campaign against senate members who dispute the government’s right to abolish the upper house after winning a constitutional referendum on August 5. Officially, the focus of the crackdown is concern that an exiled businessman, Mohamed Bouamatou, may be financing opponents of the regime. However, the strategy also has a wider intimidatory effect on opponents and independent voices that might scrutinise the government. Mohamed Ould Ghadda, one of the most prominent critics, is already in jail, journalists and trade unionists have been subjected to questioning and the state prosecutor is pursuing other senators. Impacts The senate’s abolition removes a key institutional channel through which opponents can try to hold the government to account. Abdelaziz will become even more dominant on the political scene now that the senate has been shut down. The start of gas exports from the Tortue field in 2021 and expansion of the Tasiast gold mine will boost the government’s confidence.

Likely Israeli coalition will quickly step up spending

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Religious Right ◽  
The Political ◽  
Equal Division ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
Political Scene

Subject Composition and agenda of a likely unity government. Significance De facto opposition leader Benny Gantz on March 26 agreed to enter a coalition with incumbent Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The government, terms for which have yet to be finalised, would end the political deadlock that three back-to-back elections failed to break. Although the prospective coalition will enjoy a Knesset majority of at least 75 seats, it will also cover a wide and awkward ideological spectrum. Impacts Netanyahu will remain the dominant figure on the political scene for another 18 months, if not beyond. Equal division of portfolios between Blue and White and religious-right parties will mean a more moderate government than the previous one. Gantz’s decision has split his party and leaves the centre-left weaker and more divided than ever. The new coalition will address issues that have been put on hold during the extended interregnum and restore normal government functioning.

Croatian president and premier unlikely to agree

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Limited Capacity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Turmoil ◽  
Political Scene ◽  
The Eu

Significance Centre-left candidate Zoran Milanovic won the second round with 53% of the vote. Grabar-Kitarovic’s embarrassing campaign performance only partly explains her humiliating second-round defeat; more significant is the growing split in the ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), which backed her. The political scene may see major changes, but not necessarily a move to the left. Impacts Political turmoil will hamper Croatia’s already limited capacity to handle its rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. A change of president may improve Croatia's poor relations with neighbours Bosnia and Serbia. Milanovic is a known quantity whose personal, political and diplomatic capacity will be an improvement on Grabar-Kitarovic’s. Milanovic has frosty relations with Serbia’s Aleksandar Vucic, and Bosniaks remember him saying privately that Bosnia was not a country. Plenkovic’s weakened position will affect the Bosnian HDZ's leader, Dragan Covic, seen as neglecting Bosnian Croat interests.

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