Publications
Dimensions of statehood: A study of public goods in Bukavu, the Democratic Republic of Congo
Corporate Social Responsibility
This issue of the RAD features three articles that focus on corporate social responsibility (CSR), particularly as it applies to the petroleum and gas industries in Russia. The first article describes the attitudes towards CSR by MBA students currently sponsored by the main oil and gas companies in the country. (Their views are seemingly shaped by a mixture of “Soviet” thinking, the tax evasion practiced in the 1990s, the current socio-political situation in Russia, and Western attitudes towards CSR.) The second article then compares the perception of petroleum-related CSR in Murmansk Oblast, where a large gas project was put on indefinite hold in 2012, with those of Nenets Autonomous Okrug, which has many decades of experience with petroleum initiatives. The last article uses economic research findings and ethnographic field results to determine how the people in the Komi Republic view the economic, environmental and social effects of local oil and gas projects.
Корпоративная социальная ответственность (CSR) и арктическая нефтегазодобыча: оп...
Competing inequalities? On the intersection of gender and ethnicity in candidate nominations in Indian elections
Quotas for women and ethnic minorities are implemented to increase diversity in political institutions, but, as they usually target only one group at a time, they may end up increasing the inclusion of one under-represented group at the cost of another. Recent work has emphasized the institutional underpinnings of the variation in such outcomes. In this article I show how the intersectional effects of quotas may also vary within the same institutional context, as changes in the pressure to include excluded groups interact with the informal opportunity structures within political parties. Looking at the nomination of female candidates across India over time, I show that, as the efforts to include more women in politics intensified, much of the increase in female candidates occurred in constituencies reserved for ethnic minorities. This pattern may in part be the result of parties resisting changes to existing power hierarchies by nominating women at the cost of the least powerful male politicians, but can also be seen as evidence that minority quotas have created a political space that is more accessible to women.
China’s Political Priorities in the Nordic Countries: from technology to core interests
Chinese policymakers have identified a number of priorities that motivate them to observe and interact with the Nordic countries. While one can assume that the Nordic countries appear far from frequently on China’s foreign policy agenda, they have unique competences and are open to increased engagement with China. Moreover, they are perceived as being easy to deal with and have become important partners in Beijing’s effort to forge closer ties with governments across the globe. This Policy Brief is based on the author’s report, China’s political priorities in the Nordic countries, published by FOI in 2014. The report focuses on China’s political priorities in the five Nordic countries during 2007-2013. It is based on an analysis of official statements, academic papers and reports from think-tanks, as well as interviews conducted with Chinese diplomats and Nordic officials and scholars in the Nordic capitals during the autumn of 2013. The author draws the conclusion that China’s overarching Nordicwide priorities include four main areas: to utilise the Nordic region as a sounding board and door opener; to acquire technology and know-how; to promote China’s core interests; and to improve perceptions of China.
Holding the borders, holding the centre: the EU and the refugee crisis
What has come to be called the ‘refugee crisis’ is the latest in a series of crises bedevilling the European Union – the four-fold monetary,budgetary, economic and financial ‘Euro-crisis’; a geopolitical security challenge posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,the war in Syria and incursions into NATO airspace, and a looming Brexit, combined with the possible fragmentation of old EU member states like the United Kingdom and Spain. The ‘refugee crisis’ is the most serious of all. It encapsulates the EU’s failings and failures that other crises laid bare: the lack of long-term prevision and strategy, an overburdened decision-making system, and an outmoded conception of sovereignty. It goes to the very heart of the EU, for three reasons: Firstly, the cleavages it creates between member states add to those that have been dividing the EU since the early days of the Euro-crisis; secondly, the massive displacement of populations gives rise to complex problems, sparking controversies that weaken the social and political fabric of individual member states and feed into populism and enophobia; and, thirdly, the German Chancellor, who has played a crucial role in alleviating, if not solving, other crises, is facing domestic and European rebellions for her handling of the refugee issue. Will the agreement that the EU and Turkey concluded on 18 March 2016 manage to limit the influx of refugees, patch up differences, and re-establish Angela Merkel’s authority in Germany and in the Union?
How to govern cyber security? The limits of the multi-stakeholder approach and the need to rethink public-private cooperation