Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'MOLDOVA, UCRAINA E GEORGIA'

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2006.
Title from electronic title page (viewed Oct. 10, 2007). "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies." Discipline: Russian and East European Studies; Department/School: Russian and East European Studies.

There is a growing disconnect between Europeanization and democratization in the immediate neighborhood of the European Union. Often overlooked by euro-centric academic research, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine are a litmus test for the challenges facing democratic consolidation in a geopolitically contested region. The study dissects the relationship between Europeanization and Democratization processes in the three countries; scrutinizes the internal and external challenges to democratic consolidation and critically assesses the effectiveness of EU’s normative power projection in the region. In the process, the author challenges Huntington’s concept of ‘snowballing’, disconfirming his one directional democratic cascade theory in the specific condition of the countries comprising the case study. The unique condition of these countries is epitomized by the European Union’s facilitation of democracy, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, Russia’s facilitation of the status quo, while also encouraging undemocratic practices. This challenges the neofunctionalist democratic spillover expectation and accredits a path-dependent neo-institutionalist account of democratization in the region. Moreover, the author finds robust evidence in support of the modernization theory of democracy, while also confirming the negative effects of active geopolitical competition on the battleground countries. The study questions the efficacy of EU’s democracy promotion efforts and argues in favor of anchoring the three countries on the European integration track as an imperative mechanism for boosting the chances of democratic consolidation.

The recent enlargements of the European Union brought about a strategic shift in the EU’s approach to conflict management and security in the eastern neighbourhood. The Partnership and Co-operation Agreements between the EU and Moldova contained no mention of the Transnistrian dispute, while the agreement between the EU and Geor gia included a vague phrase regarding political dialogue which may include the issue of conflict resolution. The addition of new members to the Union, however, expanded the EU into its neighbourhood and brought closer the unresolved territorial disputes. Concerns that were once further away are now right next door. While the former accession states might have served as buffers to these concerns, they can no longer, as members of the Union, be seen as such. Therefore, there is a greater need to address security issues, such as the ‘frozen conflicts’ bordering the EU. This thesis will examine the evolution of the EU’s responses to security chal lenges in the Eastern neighbourhood, and assess the role the EU plays in addressing these ‘frozen conflicts’ through the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy. Fur ther, this thesis will argue that the EU has thus far exerted limited direct pressure towards direct resolution of these conflicts and has instead approached regional stability through a variety of other indirect and long term means, such as the pursuit of economic growth and political stability. In particular, the research will look at the security sector reform (SSR) and will focus on the EU’s impact, or Europeanization, in the rule of law and border management sectors of Moldova and Georgia. It will be shown that these two sectors are related to promoting political stability and economic growth, which is in line with the EU’s effort to support development in Moldova and Georgia, and thus indirectly address ‘frozen conflict’ resolution by. altering the incentive structures. This thesis will conclude that the EU does have an impact on the rule of law and border management sectors and subsequently some impact on the ‘frozen conflict’ in Moldova but less so on the conflicts in Georgia.

La Unió Europea (UE) va presentar la Política Europea de Veïnatge (PEV) el 2004 per tal d'enfortir la cooperació en àrees como ara la immigració. La dimensió exterior de la política d'immigració de la UE a Europa Oriental (Associació Oriental i Rússia) ha estat molt activa i objecte de nombrosos treballs acadèmics, en gran part centrats en afirmar que la UE exporta les seves pròpies normes. Tanmateix, la teoria d'europeïtzació no té en compte els interessos i capacitats dels països d'Europa Oriental, així com les seves percepcions de legitimitat. Una dècada després de la posada en marxa de la PEV, la tesi respon a la qüestió sobre quines normes la UE i Europa Oriental adopten en la convergència normativa en matèria d'immigració. S'identifiquen tres models de convergència (envers normes de la UE, normes internacionals i normes acordades bilateralment), en funció fonamentalment de l'estructura de poder i de les percepcions de legitimitat a Europa Oriental. La convergència normativa en política d'immigració s'aplica als casos de (I) readmissió, (II) visats, (III) gestió de fronteres i (IV) immigració laboral. La tesi doctoral conclou que la cooperació en política d'immigració entre la UE i Europa Oriental no consisteix en l'adopció sistemàtica de normes de la UE. Argumenta que la UE ha promogut fonamentalment normes de la UE en l'àmbit de seguritat (acords de readmissió i Gestió Integrada de Fronteres). Malgrat tot, a causa de la manca de poder suficient de la UE i a baixes percepcions de legitimitat de la UE entre els veïns d’Europa Oriental, la UE ha ofert incentius en l'àmbit de la mobilitat (política de visats i associacions per a la mobilitat). L'evidència empírica mostra debilitats en la convergència normativa envers normes de la UE, que consisteixen en gran part en mesures de socialització (intercanvi d'informació i formació). Uns dels resultats més significatius de la tesi és que la UE promou activament, en el marc de la liberalizació de visats, la convergència normativa cap a normes internacionals en matèria d'estat de dret. Les normes que emanen del Consell d'Europa i de Nacions Unides són de fet percebudes com a més legítimes que les normes de la UE. No obstant, aquest rol de la UE como a transmissora de normes cal matitzar-lo pel fet que la UE ha jugat ara com ara un rol limitat en promoure normes internacionals de drets dels immigrants. Finalment, la convergència envers normes acordades bilateralment ha estat el model menys predominant. La comparativa entre els països d'Europa Oriental mostra que els instruments adoptats són similars per l'objectiu de la UE de ser coherent. Tanmateix, el poder de negociació de cada país amb la UE ha donat peu a condicions més o menys favorables pel país. A més a més, les percepcions de legitimitat i la voluntat de cada país d'apropament a la UE són elements clau. En conjunt, Ucraïna, Moldàvia i Geòrgia són països favorables a l'apropament a la UE mentre que Rússia ha construït una cooperació pragmàtica en matèria d'immigració amb la UE, influint en la institucionalització de l'agenda d'immigració amb Europa Oriental. Finalment, la tesi contribueix globalment al debat sobre el soft power de la UE al veïnatge, concluent que els instruments d'immigració adoptats estan molt més orientats a promoure la seguretat que la mobilitat.
La Unión Europea (UE) presentó la Política Europea de Vecindad (PEV) en 2004 para fortalecer la cooperación en áreas como la inmigración. La dimensión exterior de la política de inmigración de la UE hacia Europa Oriental (Asociación Oriental y Rusia) ha sido muy activa y objeto de numerosos trabajos académicos, en gran parte centrados en afirmar que la UE exporta sus propias normas. Sin embargo, la teoría de europeización no tiene en cuenta los intereses y capacidades de los países de Europa Oriental, así como sus percepciones de legitimidad. Una década después de la puesta en marcha de la PEV, la tesis responde a la cuestión sobre qué normas la UE y Europa Oriental adoptan en la convergencia normativa en materia de inmigración. Se identifican tres modelos de convergencia (hacia normas de la UE, normas internacionales y normas acordadas bilateralmente), en función fundamentalmente de la estructura de poder y de las percepciones de legitimidad en Europa Oriental. La convergencia normativa en política de inmigración se aplica a los casos de (I) readmisión, (II) visados, (III) gestión de fronteras e (IV) inmigración laboral. La tesis doctoral concluye que la cooperación en política de inmigración entre la UE y Europa Oriental no consiste en la adopción sistemática de normas de la UE. Argumenta que la UE ha promovido fundamentalmente normas de la UE en el ámbito de seguridad (acuerdos de readmisión y Gestión Integrada de Fronteras). Aun así, debido a la falta de poder suficiente de la Unión y a bajas percepciones de legitimidad de la Unión entre los vecinos de Europa Oriental, la UE ha ofrecido incentivos en el ámbito de la movilidad (política de visados y asociaciones para la movilidad). La evidencia empírica muestra debilidades en la convergencia normativa hacia normas de la UE, que consisten en gran parte en medidas de socialización (intercambio de información y formación). Uno de los resultados más significativos de la tesis es que la UE promueve activamente, en el marco de la liberalización de visados, la convergencia normativa hacia normas internacionales en materia de estado de derecho. Las normas que emanan del Consejo de Europa y de Naciones Unidas son de hecho percibidas como más legítimas que las normas de la UE. No obstante, este rol de la UE como transmisora de normas hay que matizarlo por el hecho de que la UE ha jugado hasta la fecha un rol limitado en promover normas internacionales de derechos de los inmigrantes. Finalmente, la convergencia hacia normas acordadas bilateralmente ha sido el modelo menos predominante. La comparativa entre los países de Europa Oriental muestra que los instrumentos adoptados son similares por el objetivo de la UE de ser coherente. Sin embargo, el poder de negociación de cada país con la UE ha dado pie a condiciones más o menos favorables para el país. Además, las percepciones de legitimidad y la voluntad de cada país de acercamiento a la UE son elementos clave. En conjunto, Ucrania, Moldavia y Georgia son países favorables al acercamiento a la UE mientras que Rusia ha construido una cooperación pragmática en materia de inmigración con la UE, influyendo en la institucionalización de la agenda de inmigración con Europa Oriental. Finalmente, la tesis contribuye globalmente al debate sobre el soft power de la UE en la vecindad, concluyendo que los instrumentos de inmigración adoptados están mucho más orientados a promover la seguridad que la movilidad.
In 2004, the European Union (EU) launched the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) to strengthen cooperation in areas such as migration. In particular, the external dimension of the EU migration policy in Eastern Europe (the Eastern Partnership countries and Russia) has been very active and under huge academic scrutiny, mostly with studies claiming that the EU exports its own norms. Yet, this Europeanisation approach does not take into account the interests and capacities of Eastern European countries, as well as their perceptions of legitimacy. A decade after the launch of the ENP, this thesis addresses the question of what norms are actually adopted in the EU-Eastern Europe migration policy convergence. Three models of policy convergence (towards EU norms, towards international norms and towards bilaterally-agreed norms) are identified, depending mainly on the structure of power and perceptions of legitimacy in Eastern Europe. Migration policy convergence is applied to the cases of (I) readmission, (II) visa, (III) border management and (IV) labour migration. The doctoral dissertation concludes that the EU-Eastern Europe migration cooperation has not consisted in the systematic adoption of EU norms. It argues that the EU primarily has promoted security-related EU norms (readmission agreements and Integrated Border Management). However, due to lack of enough EU leverage and low perceptions of EU legitimacy among the Eastern neighbours, the EU has offered incentives in the field of mobility (visa policy and mobility partnerships). Empirical evidence shows weaknesses in policy convergence to EU norms, consisting mainly in socialisation measures (information exchange and capacity-building). One of the main findings of the thesis is that the EU is actively promoting, in the framework of visa liberalisation, policy convergence towards international norms in the area of rule of law. In fact, norms emanating from the Council of Europe and the United Nations are perceived as more legitimate than EU norms. However, this EU role as norm-transmitter has to be nuanced by the fact that to date the EU has played a relatively limited role in promoting international norms in the area of migrants' rights. Finally, convergence to bilaterally-agreed norms has been the least predominant. A comparison across Eastern European countries shows that the policy instruments adopted are by and large similar for the sake of consistency. Nonetheless, the leverage of each country vis-à-vis the EU has usually shaped more or less favourable conditions for the country. In addition, the perceptions of legitimacy and willingness of each country to come closer with the EU are essential. Overall, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia are willing countries whereas Russia has built a pragmatic cooperation on migration with the EU, playing a role in the institutionalisation of the migration agenda to Eastern Europe. Finally, the thesis contributes overall to debate on the EU soft power in the Neighbourhood, concluding that the adopted migration policy instruments are much more oriented at promoting security than mobility.

The most serious foreign policy challenge that the Russian Federation faced from 1991 to 1996 was whether and how to respond to outbreaks of conflict within its neighbouring states. Unlike under the Soviet Union, there were open, diverse and complex debates about whether Russia should react to these conflicts, and if so, by what means. These foreign policy debates among the political elite and the ensuing policies form the subject of this thesis. The thesis asks what the dominant ideas expressed in these debates about foreign policy were, and whether they were reflected in Russia's policies towards specific military conflicts in the CIS States. To answer these questions, the thesis first derives insights about the role of ideas and debates within international relations literature which are helpful for the subsequent analysis of Russian foreign policy debates. It then identifies the dominant foreign policy ideas and foreign policy orientations, traces the major stages in the debates and the policies, and compares Russia's political debates, policies and actions towards the Moldova- Transdniestria, Georgia-Abkhazia and Tajikistan conflicts. Using interviews and both primary and secondary sources, the general finding of the thesis is that broad foreign policy ideas and orientations provided the backdrop against which debates occurred and policies were formulated or pursued. Ideas and debates were crucial factors in developing and defining an official pragmatic nationalist foreign policy orientation that crystallised in the later period. On the whole, there was congruence between the dominant ideas within the debates and the foreign policies enacted towards specific conflicts. Specific foreign policies towards the conflicts developed in response to the general debate (clash of ideas), which in turn responded to the domestic conditions and particular events in the near abroad. Military actions tended to start independently as local initiatives, and then fall in line with government policy.

This thesis provides an empirical contribution to the existing literature regarding Russian foreign policy and its application in Russia's near abroad. The primary case study is Russian foreign policy instruments applied to the Eastern European country of Moldova. This thesis directly cites the Russian National Security Concept (RNSC) documents from 2000 and 2016 as the foundation for analysis of Russian foreign policy actions applied to both Eastern Europe and Moldova. A summation of the type of instruments used within Moldova, either "soft power" or "hard power" resources, citing specific examples of each, is included. The result of this thesis is a foundation for future research of Russian foreign policy based on Russian foreign policy documents, as it pertains to the former republics of the Soviet Union.
Master of Arts

When the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) was launched in 2004 expectations of its potential were low because it lacks the ability to offer EU membership as an incentive, which was found to be pivotal for the EU to have influence in the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs). Nevertheless, progress reports have demonstrated that some convergence toward the EU standards has taken place in the neighbouring countries. This research seeks to understand under which conditions compliance takes place, what explains the variation in (non)compliance with the EU standards in the area of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) and what influence does the EU have. It examines formal and behavioural compliance with the EU action plan recommendations in the area of border guard reform, readmission agreement, asylum and refugee protection, and criminalisation of human trafficking in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The three states have all expressed interest in EU membership, but they vary in their potential to be considered as candidates and in their identification with the EU. Rather than assuming that the EU’s influence is low in the neighbourhood because it cannot offer a certain membership incentive, this research studies the problem by focusing on a combination of explanatory factors drawn from rational choice and sociological/constructivist institutionalism both at the macro level (strength of membership prospect and identification with the EU) and at the issue-specific levels. The research demonstrates that the EU’s influence is differential and dependent on domestic, external and issue-specific conditions. The results indicate that the EU is capable of eliciting influence in the JHA area without a certain EU membership prospect. However, when the country perceives that there is a possibility to accede to the EU, compliance with the EU standards has been more even across the four issue areas and at the formal and behavioural levels.

This research explains how does the interaction between foreign and domestic policy domains take place and how it influences domestic political change. For this purpose, the cases of Armenia, Georgia and Moldova are analysed with specific focus on the external influence of Russia and the European Union. Consequently, this study traces the interaction between domestic and international actors at the light of the broader regional context, including the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union. The research uses the analytical tool defined by Morlino (2011), with theoretical contributions from social constructivism and historical institutionalism in order to emphasize the need to contextualise the actions, preferences and identities of domestic actors in a broader historical perspective, which acknowledges the relevance of past legacies. Following the analytical tool, suggested by Morlino (2011), the research focuses on institutional reforms in Rule of Law, Inter-Institutional and Electoral Accountability, in addition to Participation and Competition as horizontal dimensions. A combination of process- tracing and network analysis provides insight on the strategies of domestic and international actors intervening in the reform processes.The research argues that the increased competition between the European Union and Russia is used by different domestic elite groups to strengthen their power positions and as an opportunity to diversify the foreign policy relations in the case of relatively small economic partners as Armenia, Georgia and Moldova. Such strategy is pursued through the development of focused relations with each international partner, while avoiding an exclusive geopolitical choice. Therefore, the EU is a preferred partner in democracy support, development of institutional capacities and trade; while Russia’s collaboration is sought in fields as trade, energy, etc). In addition, the EU and Russia have developed more flexible approaches in the relations with their neighbours. The EU seeks a more pragmatic geopolitically-informed approach in addition to its traditional normative role. On the other hand, Russia adopts a mimicking strategy of Western normative policies in support of its identity-based approach towards Russian-speaking communities in addition to its traditional geopolitical use of regional interdependencies for influencing the choices of the its neighbours.
Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This thesis comparatively analyses dilemmas arising from the unresolved Georgian-Abkhazian and Moldovan-Transnistrian conflicts. The many existing differences in the nature and dynamics of each conflict point to a sui generis situation, yet, many similarities also exist, including Soviet era legacies. The research premise is based on very considerable resourcing being dedicated to the resolution of these conflicts since their inception, yet no significant conflict transformation (Abkhazia has Russian recognition) has occurred, let alone peace. Given the mandate from the OSCE, EU and UN, the purpose of the thesis is to analyse their involvement. While evidence – local vested interests and strategic interests – illustrates the obvious obstructions, the thesis focuses on the IOs and asks why no tangible successes were achieved. This is done by critically analysing their performance, by assuming that success is often overlooked and by identifying a range of misperceptions. Therefore, by considering conflict transformation and engaging in analysis of many sources, including documents and about five-dozen interviews, the thesis reappraises the ethno-national origins, the geopolitical dimension and the entrenched conflicting party positions in the context of pan-European actors' responses. The analyses of the comparative peace processes illuminate the IOs' own challenges in reaching consensus as well as on the conflicting parties' competing narratives. Answering the question of what to produce first – a political solution to improve societal conditions, or the pursuing exercise of confidence-building measures (CBMs) to settle the status question – is part of the objective. I argue that a typology of success and failure more comprehensively explains IO performance between 1992 and the EU's Vilnius Summit in 2013.

This study is devoted to the in-depth investigation and comparison of election monitoring organisations in post-Soviet states. Election observation has become one of the core activities of civil society throughout the world, while in the post-Soviet region it became an indispensable part of the political process since the early 1990s. Particularly relevance for this task appears to be found in hybrid regimes: on the one hand, there exist grievances related to the quality of elections; on the other hand, political context is more open than in autocracies, allowing for certain activities of civil society. Relying on the versatile social movement and civil society scholarship, this project investigates monitoring organisations in three states that are often labelled hybrid regimes, namely Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Careful investigation of election monitoring organizations suggests that they predominantly rely on transactional activism, emphasising cooperation with different actors rather than contention. In turn, very little is known about how this type of activism develops in the post-Soviet region, which resources and strategies it encompasses and how different contextual factors lead to the devel- opment of transactional activism. Hence, the project contributes to the development of the transactional activism concept by presenting evidence from new case studies. In so doing it focuses on the different paths that the most visible political NGOs take in adopting transactional activism. The study attempts to explain how similar modes of activism developed and which factors or combination of factors have led to the adop- tion of certain strategies. This careful investigation shows how transactional activism is shaped in three countries by the number of external and internal factors, particu- larly, by the political contexts and resources. Furthermore, the interactional approach adopted in this study considers outcomes of the election monitoring as conditions for the further development of the monitoring organisations. This project relies on the activists’ own understanding of these contextual factors and limitations in resource; it voices activists’ views on strategies and discusses their motivations behind certain strategic choices. Methodologically, the study predominantly relies on a qualitative research design in which three case studies are complemented by the comparative investigation. The project draws its conclusions from a variety of data sources and presents rich empirical evidence on the internal development of organisations that have not yet been investigated. The study concludes that, while internal features of election monitoring NGOs closely resemble each other, differences in external political context account for the diverse paths of transactional activism development. In general, this project contributes to a further expansion of our knowledge of post-Soviet civil society.

Il presente elaborato di ricerca studia il diritto alla libertà di espressione nel settore audiovisivo allo scopo di individuare la forma di Stato in Moldova, Ucraina e Georgia. Il corretto svolgimento della ricerca richiede l’impiego di nozioni di diritto comparato e utilizzo della metodologia della comparazione giuridica. In merito a questa osservazione, nel primo capitolo sono presentate alcune riflessioni sulla comparazione giuridica con lo scopo di informare il lettore sull’importanza del metodo e della classificazione giuridica, nonché allo scopo di individuare l’approccio più adatto per lo specifico oggetto di studio scelto. Inoltre, data la classificazione degli Stati oggetto della presente ricerca come paesi in via di transizione, nella seconda parte del primo capitolo viene studiato il concetto di transizione. Infine, visto che il presente studio si propone di determinare la forma di Stato attraverso il parametro della libertà di espressione nel settore audiovisivo, il primo capitolo conclude con una sezione ove analizza tale parametro. Il secondo capitolo è dedicato allo studio delle forme di organizzazione del potere politico e sociale nelle tradizioni dei suindicati paesi prima dell’adesione alla forma di Stato socialista. Mentre al terzo capitolo viene analizzata quest’ultima forma di Stato, compresa la precedente forma di Stato zarista. Nel quarto capitolo viene analizzata la transizione politica e costituzionale in Moldova, Ucraina e Georgia. Mentre il quinto capitolo studia la libertà di espressione nel settore audiovisivo durante il processo di transizione nei citati paesi. Infine, la ricerca chiude con la presentazione dei risultati e delle considerazioni conclusive.

碩士
淡江大學
國際事務與戰略研究所碩士班
107
Many studies with respect to the field of international politics focus more on the natural gas of Russia and EU rather than neighboring countries. Therefore, the main purpose of this thesis is to explore the distinct roles of Belarus, Georgia, and Moldova at the international level. In 1991, after the break up of Soviet Union, their governments suffer domestic problems. Since they are highly dependent on natural gas, they have to negotiate with Russia. Although they are independent countries, they still abide with Russia’s policy. Fortunately, they are gas transit countries of Russia and EU. Accordingly, they can develop either pro-Russia, pro-EU or in-Between policy. On this sense, they present on different bargaining power with Russia and EU. Thus, taking these three countries as case study, we compare their bargaining power.