Helga Haftendorn

Water and international conflict

This article deals with the origins of international conflicts over the use of rivers, lakes, or ground water aquifers. I ask what makes for a high conflict potential and whether there are significant differences between resource conflicts and conflicts arising from the degradation and pollution of fresh water resources. Another set of questions relates to the relationship of conflicts over water resources to other conflicts. Are conflicts over scarce water resources the source of international conflict, or do they contribute to intensifying conflicts which have arisen from other sources, (such as ethnic conflicts)? Does this matter for their solution? In the last part of the paper I draft a taxonomy of various water conflicts, their chances for regulation and/or solution and the role of international institutions therein. I further ask what prospects for the solution of water conflicts exist on a global or regional scale.

NATO and the Arctic: is the Atlantic alliance a cold war relic in a peaceful region now faced with non-military challenges?

Abstract This article analyzes which role the Atlantic Alliance plays in the Arctic and whether it can contribute to the security and territorial integrity of its members in the region. In a dramatic change from the cold war era, the Arctic is no longer at the center of a conflict between two hostile superpowers. But what can a basically military organization such as NATO – though with proven political functions – contribute to stabilizing the Arctic region if its major challenges are non-military? With regional challenges resulting mostly from globalization and climate change, it is open to question whether a military alliance such as NATO has the will and the capability to cope with them. We might thus need to look also at individual members’ interests and abilities besides searching for joint alliance action. If we find NATO not up to the challenges, which alternative institutions offer themselves for coping with the political conflicts and controversies in the Polar region?

America and Europe in an Era of Change

What will the new world order look like? Will Europe and the United States continue in their tradition of interdependence and admiration or emerge as economic rivals, political strangers, and cultural antipodes as the rest of the world - notably Japan - moves forward? These are just some of the questions explored within this volume. No matter how the questions may be resolved, the transatlantic relationship is in flux, and new roles, responsibilities, and capacities are being defined. Here, leading scholars converge on the prospects for change in US-European relations and offer new insights into the theory and practice of international relations in a reconfigured world. Each essay addresses a set of common themes central to the study of the new global order: causes and consequences of change; balance versus currencies of power; international institutions; conflict versus co-operation; winners versus losers; foreign versus domestic priorities; new roles and policy options. At the same time, each essay is distinguished by the particular theoretical perspective of its author, and all themes and theories are drawn together in an introduction by the international editorial team. Appropriate for general readers and students as well as for specialists, this volume offers a glimpse into some of the most prominent and sophisticated analyses of a key dynamic in world politics today.

Zur Theorie außenpolitischer Entscheidungsprozesse

In dem Beitrag wird eine Bestandsaufnahme der verschiedenen theoretischen Konzepte zur Analyse ausenpolitischer Entscheidungen vorgenommen. Dabei wird unterschieden zwischen, erstens, solchen Ansatzen, die von einem rationalen, ziel- und zweckgerichteten Verhalten individueller oder kollektiver Akteure ausgehen (z. B. „Realistische Schule“, Neorealismus und Spieltheorie); zweitens, solchen Ansatzen, die zur Erklarung des Entscheidungsverhaltens das operative Umfeld, d. h. soziale und organisatorische Strukturen (z. B. funktionale System theorie, Politische Kybernetik, Organisations- und Burokratietheorie) heranziehen; und schlieslich, drittens, solchen Ansatzen, die Entscheidungen mit dem psychologischen Umfeld, d. h. mit individuellen oder kollektiven Wahrnehmungs-, Einstellungs- oder Verhaltensvariablen (z. B. Politische Psychologie und Sozialpsychologie) erklaren. Die Verfasserin kommt zu dem Schlus, das diejenigen Ansatze, die sich in besonderer Weise als Forschungsprogramm oder Methode eignen, nur einen geringen theoretischen Erklarungswert besitzen. Generalisierende, kausale Aussagen seien erst dann zu erwarten, wenn eine grosere Anzahl von vergleichbaren und vergleichenden Fallstudien zu ausenpolitischen Entschei-dungsprozessen vorliegt.

Theorie der internationalen Beziehungen

Theoriebegriff und Theoriefunktion — Das internationale System der Gegenwart ist gekennzeichnet durch eine verwirrende Vielfalt von Akteuren, Prozessen und Strukturen. Neben die alten Nationalstaaten und ihre Regierungen sind als Handlungstrager gesellschaftliche Gruppen und wirtschaftliche Verbande getreten. Die politische Interaktionsebene ist eng verschrankt mit der wirtschaftlichen und gesellschaftlichen. Die internationalen Beziehungen bilden dabei auserst komplexe Interaktionsmuster, deren Strukturen und Bedingungsfaktoren nicht offen zutage treten.

The Changing European Security Context and the Nordic Region: A View from Germany

The situation in Europe is changing so fast that any statement, however carefully made, is bound to be overtaken by events. This is especially true for the structures of European security and for the evolving process of German unification. Europe might enter a period of military stability and political change. The peaceful revolution in East Germany and the call by its people for speedy reunification have forced the question of the future of the two German states back on the international agenda. The long-term prospect is for an expansion of a somewhat more loosely knit Western system of collective security to which a unified Germany would belong. The impact on the Nordic region would be significant: instead of providing a Northern support for the Atlantic Alliance, the Nordic region would become a halfway house between East and West or a building block for an all-European security structure in which it could find a congenial home.

101 The Politics of German Unification: “History Will Punish Those Who Arrive Too Late”

Deutschlandpolitik in Helmut Kohls Kanzlerschaft. Regievungsstil und Ent-scheidungen 1982–1989, (Germanys Policies in the Helmut Kohl Chancellorship: Government Style and Decisions). Karl-Rudolf Korte (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1998). Geschichte der deutschen Einheit Series, vol. 1. 720 pp. and 42 illustrated pp. (ISBN: 3-4210-5090-2).

German Foreign Policy in a Strategic Triangle

128. Das Wagnis der Whtschafts- und Wahrungsunion. Politische Zwangeim Konflikt wit okonomischen Regeln (The Challenge of Economic and Monetary Union: Political Forces in Conflict with Economic Rules), Dieter Grosser (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. 1998). Geschichte der deutschen Einheit Series. vol. 2. 584 pp. and 20 illustrated pp. (ISBN: 3-4210-5091-0),

Imperfect unions : security institutions over time and space

128. Die Uberwindung der Teilung. Der innerdeutsche ProzeB der Vereinigung 1989/90 (Overcoming the Division: The Inter-German Reunification Process). Wolfgang Jager (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1998). Geschichte der deutschen Einheit Series, vol. 3. 752 pp. (ISBN: 3-4210-5092-9),

The Security Puzzle: Theory-Building and Discipline-Building in International Security

128. Au Benpolitik fiti die Deutsche Einheit. Die Entscheidungsjahre 1989/90 (Foreign Policy for German Unity: The Decisive Years 1989–90), Werner Weiden-feld (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1998). Geschichte der deutschen Einheit Series, vol. 4. 952 pp. and 16 illustrated pp. (ISBN: 3-4210-5093-7),