West will urge parties to form Kosovo government

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Living Standards ◽  
Popular Vote ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Civil Unrest ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
The Future ◽  
The One

Significance In the lead is the three-party PAN coalition, comprising the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and Initiative for Kosovo (Nisma), all parties with their origins in the one-time Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK). However, with just one-third of the popular vote and a projected 39 seats in Kosovo’s 120-seat parliament, the coalition’s tally has fallen well short of the working majority needed to form a government. Waiting to take power is the populist, anti-establishment Vetevendosje movement, offering the prospect of radical change in Kosovo’s politics. Impacts The chance of market-based reforms has fallen; a Vetevendosje-led government would try to reverse such policies as privatisation. Vetevendosje’s potential exclusion from government risks further civil unrest, amid poor living standards and anger with the establishment. The near-inevitability of hardline nationalists entering government implies worse relations with Serbia and possibly a serious incident. EU integration will remain stuck since there is little chance of the new parliament ratifying the border agreement with Montenegro.

Migrants help keep Central European populists in power

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Migration Policy ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Central European ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Eu

Subject Populists' exploitation of the refugee crisis in Central Europe. Significance Support for populist parties has risen after last year's refugee crisis across the EU, but nowhere have they been as successful as in Central Europe (CE). Peddling migrant fears has secured the re-election of Robert Fico's Smer (Slovakia) and the revival of Viktor Orban's Fidesz (Hungary) from a post-election popularity slump. On the back of the migration tide, populists are transforming CE's political trajectory. Impacts A united CE front will gain prominence at the EU, stoking tensions with Berlin on migration policy and the future of EU integration. The strengthened legitimacy of illiberal positions on migration will foster the emergence of imitators elsewhere in Europe. The chance of an EU-level, long-term solution to the refugee crisis will remain slim in the medium term.

Opposition boycott tactics are destabilising Albania

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Socialist Party ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Eu Integration

Significance The governing Socialist Party (PSSh) under Prime Minister Edi Rama is expected to win again. This implies policy continuity by what has hitherto been a successful reformist government. However, the decision by the opposition Democratic Party (PDSh) to boycott the elections creates significant uncertainty about the process and aftermath. Impacts PDSh’s boycott of parliament is blocking the completion of judicial reforms that require approval by a two-thirds majority of deputies. A PDSh boycott of elections would constitute a failure of political institutions and halt Albania’s progress towards EU integration. Disenfranchising a large constituency would escalate the political crisis and could lead PDSh supporters to resort to violence.

Opposition split may mean more violence for Kosovo

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Future ◽  
United Front ◽  
The Government ◽  
The One ◽  
The Eu

Subject Kosovo's violent and fragmenting opposition. Significance Three parties which had formed a united front against the government have split into two camps. Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) is on the one side; the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and the Initiative for Kosovo (Nisma), which have formed a formal coalition, are on the other. The split strengthens the government's position. Impacts Further unrest will have damaging consequences for the economy, implementing the Brussels Agreement and Kosovo's passage towards the EU. The governing parties will gain from opposition disunity in any electoral contest, increasing the prospect of early elections. Kosovo's Serbs may implement the devolution aspects of the Brussels Agreement unilaterally, further exacerbating tensions.

Further EU integration will be uneven and incremental

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
European Integration ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Member States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Eu

Significance The celebration came just days before the United Kingdom is set to begin the withdrawal process. Precisely what path the EU will take over the next decade remains uncertain and the European Commission has kicked off a process of dialogue on various scenarios for its future. Impacts Debates about the future of the EU will occur simultaneously with Brexit negotiations and be coloured by them. EU leaders will be keen to continue to demonstrate their commitment to press forward with European integration despite Brexit. Brexit will not lead to an unravelling of the EU and thus far has served to enhance support for the Union in other member states. Yet Brexit will not lead to any sudden deepening of integration.

Radical opposition could form next Kosovo government

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
The Political ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Future ◽  
Persistent Poverty

Subject New coalition government. Significance Three months on from early elections, Kosovo has a new coalition government comprising the incumbent Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), the Initiative for Kosovo (Nisma), the New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) and Srpska List, headed by Prime Minister and AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj. Its prospects for survival are not good. Impacts Excluding Vetevendosje from government may bring further unrest, motivated by persistent poverty and anger with the political establishment. Serbia has charged Haradinaj with war crimes; his appointment will therefore complicate relations between Prishtina and Belgrade. Kosovo’s dynamics will have read-across in Macedonia, where the second-largest party has also gained power with ethnic minority support.

EU integration will deepen incrementally post-Brexit

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
The Future ◽  
One Year ◽  
European Parliament Elections ◽  
The Eu

Subject The EU's post-Brexit architecture. Significance Just over one year ago, leaders of the remaining 27 EU member states met in Rome to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the EU's forerunner and launched a debate on the future of their Union. They set out a roadmap for dialogue, with the aim of agreeing a plan for future development of the EU before the European Parliament elections in May 2019. Impacts Public debates about the future of the EU may give voters a sense of ownership and dissuade them from supporting Eurosceptics. As the Commission becomes more politicised, some governments may claim that Commission law enforcement actions are politically motivated. Debate over the 2021-27 budget may lead to fresh conflicts as some governments want to link EU subsidies to respect for the rule of law.

Canada’s re-elected Trudeau will vie for allies

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Party Leader ◽  
Popular Vote ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Leadership Challenges ◽  
Voting System ◽  
New Democratic Party

Significance Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives increased their number of seats and won the popular vote, but the non-proportional voting system prevents them winning government. Jagmeet Singh’s New Democratic Party (NDP) performed reasonably but lost seats in Quebec to Bloc Quebecois, this election’s most unambiguous victors. Negotiations are underway to determine with whose support the Liberals will now govern. Impacts Western provinces’ alienation could escalate into demands for separation from Canada or new constitutional arrangements. Quebec will likely demand and gain more rights and autonomy in the federation, but not call for another independence referendum. Scheer will face Conservative leadership challenges but will likely remain party leader. The Trans Mountain pipeline will retain Liberal backing and be constructed.

Distributed imagining processes in organizational change sensemaking

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 1368-1382
Author(s):  
Hongxia Peng
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cognitive Constraints ◽  
Organizational Sensemaking ◽  
Collective Processes ◽  
The Future ◽  
Sensemaking Process ◽  
Collective Sensemaking ◽  
The One

Purpose The role of imagination (Gioia et al., 2002; Weick, 1995, 2005, 2006) and the potential of distributed sensemaking (Weick et al., 2005) are highlighted in existing sensemaking studies in a distinct manner. The purpose of this paper is to articulate these two perspectives by observing a specific sensemaking process defined as “distributed imagining process (DIP)” in this paper. Design/methodology/approach From an observation conducted in 2016 within a French public organization regarding an operation that invited all organizational actors to imagine the future of their work life, this study analyzed 777 collected texts, through an inductive and qualitative approach, for understanding DIP’s functioning and results. Findings This study identified that what actors imagine about the future is a self-contextualized observation and an interpretation of the present incorporated into an imagined future. With a distributed modality, individual imagining processes might interact with collective processes for contributing organizational change sensemaking. Originality/value Adopting a temporality that positions the future as an imagined interpretative prolongation of the present and the past (Gioia et al., 2002), this study suggests that the combination of self-contextualized imagining process and distributed modality might be inspiring for exploring more inductive and enriched organizational sensemaking through, on the one hand, the reduction of cognitive constraints implicitly imposed by organizational and temporal contexts and, on the other hand, the incitation of interactions in and between individual and collective sensemaking processes.

Activists will push reforms at US party conventions

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Party Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Future ◽  
Independent Voters

Significance Unlike in most previous presidential election years, many of the protests against the current nomination process for both parties have assumed an existential quality, with many left-leaning Democrats wanting to alter the power of party leadership, and many Republicans seeking to prevent another Donald Trump-like insurgent campaign in the future. Impacts This year's record number of unaffiliated 'independent' voters nevertheless are likely to vote along partisan lines. Left-leaning activists will seek to diminish the official powers of the Democratic Party leadership. The US electoral system will continue to advantage both major parties, though lesser parties may increase their vote totals this cycle.

EU may lack will to upgrade Berlin Process for Balkans

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Living Standards ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Infrastructure Projects ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
New Infrastructure

Subject The 2017 Western Balkan summit. Significance The recent crisis in Macedonia was the climax of multiple worrying developments for the Western Balkans, a region now in an ominous state of flux. The Berlin Process, whose fourth and penultimate summit was held in Trieste on July 12, is the most prominent initiative to assist regional states prepare for EU membership, a goal that remains uncertain. Impacts Improving economic conditions and living standards could ‘make or break’ any new EU initiative. Thanks to Brexit, the last summit in London in 2018 will probably focus more on security and issues other than EU integration. Those countries involved in the process will probably profit more from business generated by new infrastructure projects.

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