The European Union Perception of Cuba: From Frustation to Irritation

On Friday May 16, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba summoned the newly-appointed charged’affairs of the European Commission in Havana and announced the withdrawal of the application procedure for membership in the Cotonou Agreement of the Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries, and in fact renouncing to benefit from European development aid.1 In a blistering note published in the Granma official newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party, the government blamed the EU Commission for exerting undue pressure, its alleged alignment with the policies of the United States, and censure for the measures taken by Cuba during the previous weeks.2 In reality, Cuba avoided an embarrasin flat rejection for its application. This was the anti-climatic ending for a long process that can be traced back to the end of the Cold War, in a context where Cuba has been testing alternative grounds to substitute for the overwhelming protection of the Soviet Union

An Instrumental analysis of the European Union´s capability to act in conflict response

Since its origins, the European Union has striven to be an actor on the International scene and a place in conflict Management. Yet the EU’s lack of activity cannot be justified by a mere lack of capacities. The EU counts with numerous political, economic, and, since 2003, civil and military instruments that should allow it to precede a comprehensive conflict response. This publication consists of a description of these instruments and an analysis of the final use that the Union makes of them in the different stages of a conflict. Examples will show us the EU’s main weakness in providing a comprehensive and timely response when a conflict breaks out.

Peacetime Violence in El Salvador and Honduras: A tale of two countries

The end of the Cold War did not bring about an end to violence in Central America. Today, so-called non-political violence continues to worsen. Academics and public policymakers are frequently influenced by the assumption that there is a causal relationship between the political violence of the 1980s and the non-political violence of today. By looking at the cases of El Salvador and Honduras, this working paper seeks to systematize existing claims about the causal relationship between past and present violence into two approaches. Our research shows that high levels of prolonged political violence, along with an abundance of firearms, can lead to high levels of prolonged non-political violence but not in the ways most often cited in existing literature. We propose a new model to better understand the connection between past and present violence and recommend indicators that can be used to measure variations in violence over time in contexts of protracted non-political violence.

State capacity and military conflict

In 1500, Europe was composed of hundreds of statelets and principalities, with weak central authority,no monopoly over the legitimate use of violence, and overlapping jurisdictions. By 1800, only ahandful of powerful, centralized nation states remained. We build a model that explains both the emergenceof capable states and growing divergence between European powers. We argue that the impactof war was crucial for state building, and depended on: i) the financial cost of war, and ii) a country sinitial level of domestic political fragmentation. We emphasize the role of the "Military Revolution",which raised the cost of war. Initially, this caused more cohesive states to invest in state capacity, whilemore divided states rationally dropped out of the competition, causing divergence between Europeanstates. As the cost of war escalated further, all states engaged in a "race to the top" towards greater statebuilding.

Review of the literature on reference pricing

This paper reviews the literature on reference pricing (RP) in pharmaceutical markets. The RP strategy for cost containment of expenditure on drugs is analyzed as part of the procurement mechanism. We review the existing literature and the state-of-the-art regarding RP by focusing on its economic effects. In particular, we consider: (1) the institutional context and problem-related factors which appear to underline the need to implement an RP strategy; i.e., its nature, characteristics and the sort of health care problems commonly addressed; (2) how RP operates in practice; that is, how third party-payers (the insurers/buyers) have established the RP systems existing on the international scene (i.e., information methods, monitoring procedures and legislative provisions); (3)the range of effects resulting from particular RP strategies (including effects on choice of appropriate pharmaceuticals, insurer savings, total drug expenditures, prices of referenced and non-referenced products and dynamic efficiency; (4) the market failures which an RP policy is supposed to address and the main advantages and drawbacks which emerge from an analysis of its effects. Results suggest that RP systems achieve better their postulated goals (1) if cost inflation in pharmaceuticals is due to high prices rather than to the excess of prescription rates, (2) when the larger is the existing difference in prices among equivalent drugs, and (3) more important is the actual market for generics.

Rising to Greatness An Imperative for Improving Iowa’s Schools, 2011

In the early 1990s, the Cold War ended, Back to the Future III was in theaters, and Iowa led the nation in reading and mathematics. Times have changed. A decade into the 21st century, Iowa has conceded its place at the top. During the past 20 years, achievement trends illustrate Iowa’s slide from a national leader in PK-12 education to a national average―sometimes below average―performer as other states (and nations) have accelerated past the state. Iowa students’ futures are at risk. Collectively, Iowa students are not hitting the mark in mathematics and reading competency. Sure, Iowa has its share of super-achievers. But the mass of Iowa students—not just underprivileged or minority students, but many of the majority white, relatively affluent students as well—are falling short of what is needed to attain quality jobs, growing incomes, and secure livelihoods in today’s globally competitive world. The world has moved beyond the industrial age and information age and is now in the innovation age. Students must be armed not only with knowledge, but also with skills and insights needed to critically analyze and innovate. The pressing problems and grand opportunities the world faces require that many more people contribute as innovators and problem solvers, not order takers and implementers. Innovators will prosper. Order takers will stagnate. The days of an abundance of low-skill jobs have come to an end.

Kylmän sodan tarinat

English summary: Cold War stories

Russian transition in the early 21st century

Tässä tutkimuksessa käsitellään Venäjän talouden kehitystä uudella vuosituhannella. Kylmän sodan aikaan Neuvostoliitto oli suurvalta, jonka asema perustui sotilasmahtiin. Sotateollisuuden konversio palvelemaan nykytarpeita ei ole ollut helppo tehtävä. Vuoden 1998 talouskriisin jälkeen elintaso on toipunut verraten nopeasti, mikä on nähtävissä tarkastellessa kotitalouksien kulutusrakenteita, joita käsitellään tarkemmin luvussa 2. Siirtymätalouksissa vaihtotaseen vajeet ovat yleisiä, mutta luonnonrikkauksiensa ansiosta Venäjän vaihtotaseet ovat olleet huomattavan ylijäämäisiä, mitä pohditaan luvussa 3. Vaihtotaseen ylijäämien heijatusvaikutus on ollut Venäjän rooli pääomien nettoviejänä. Venäjän investointikertymä onedelleen erittäin vaatimaton suhteutettuna maan kehitysvaiheeseen. Jokaisessa menestyksekkäässä taloudessa investoinnit ovat pitkän aikavälintaloudellisen menestyksen avaintekijä. Venäjän erityispiirteitä tähän liittyen on kuvattu luvussa 4. Raportti päättyy talouden nykytilanteen analyysiin (luvut 5 ja 6).

Pätevää kylmän sodan tutkimusta

Kirjallisuusarvostelu

Assinatura da deposição atmosférica de testes nucleares em sedimentos da costa brasileira (240+239Pu e 137Cs)

The aim of this review is to take a look at Cold War era nuclear tests signatures found in Brazilian coastal sediments. Both137Cs and 240+239Pu signatures have been documented in mangrove, coastal mudflats and continental shelf sediments, associated with above ground nuclear tests beginning in the 1950's. The dates associated to the anthropogenic radionuclide signatures 137Cs and 240+239Pu along sediment columns are confirmed by 210Pb geochronology in many of the studies highlighted in this review. The results outlined in this review characterize the extent to which nuclear fallout products reach the Brazilian coast in quantities sufficient for detection, allowing the use of these radioisotopes as geochronometers.

Hrus̆ts̆ovin kylmä rauha

Kirjallisuusarvostelu