Publications – Page 5

Nov 06

ENC Analysis: Will Deliberation Save Our Democracies? A domestic and foreign policy analysis

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The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) released its new analysis entitled “Will Deliberation Save Our Democracies? A domestic and foreign policy analysis”

The ENC Analysis of November 2020 is written by Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, ENC Managing Director and expert in Turkey and the Middle East and Pepijn Kennis, ENC External Advisor and Member of the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region.

The 21st century democracies have witnessed lower voter turnouts in elections, declining trust in public institutions and widening polarisation, both politically and socially. Samuel Doveri Vesterbye and Kennis Pepijn provide an analysis of the ineffectiveness of our current electoral governance systems with regards to polarisation, information consumption and new technologies, including disinformation. The authors draw on literature and academia to explain how information is being consumed and how societies are increasingly divided. They explain how online algorithms and digital echo chambers are increasingly polarising voters while enhancing levels of disinformation, which pose both a problem in domestic and foreign policy. The analysis paper examines how deliberative democratic governance based on sortition can help curtail these issues. It is recommended that new and effective citizens-based democratic models should be used more and institutionalised within the EU domestic and foreign policy context, particularly through local-to-local (municipal; civil society) cooperation and democracy instruments in EU foreign policy to fight disinformation.

The full analysis is available in the PDF version below.

Will Deliberation Save Our Democracies? A domestic and foreign policy analysis

Sep 23

ENC Analysis: “Keep your friends close and Turkey closer: EU-Turkey relations in the midst of global and regional crisis.”

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ENC Analysis: “Keep your friends close and Turkey closer: EU-Turkey relations in the midst of global and regional crisis.”

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) released its new analysis titled “Keep your friends close and Turkey closer: EU-Turkey relations in the midst of global and regional crisis“.

This article is written by Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, ENC Managing Director and expert in Turkey and the Middle East. The paper focuses on the discovery of five gas fields of natural gas reserves located in Cypriot, Egyptian and Israeli maritime exclusive economic zones (EEZ). A proposed underwater Eastmed Pipeline (e.g. From Cyprus through Crete to Italy) could transport future gas discoveries to Europe. An alternative option also suggests the expansion of existing (or new) regasification plants along the littoral state(s) in the region. The author argues that both solutions will pose ecological and economical challenges and will interfere with non-delineated waters, which are disputed by Turkey. In addition, Ankara continues to engage in seismic and drilling activities off the coast of Cyprus and Greek islands, which has convinced littoral states that Turkey won’t accept international law if a pipeline were to be built. As European countries gear up for the Special European Council on the 24th and 25th of September, relations between the European Union (EU) and Turkey have hit rock bottom. Ankara’s decision to pull back the Oruç Reis for “maintenance” is positive, but the risk of further punitive measures against Turkey now depends on internal EU negotiations.

The full analysis is available here.

Jun 24

ENC Analysis – Russia’s disinformation campaigns in the occupied territories of Georgia

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ENC Analysis – Russia’s disinformation campaigns in the occupied territories of Georgia

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) released its new analysis entitled “Russia’s disinformation campaigns in the occupied territories of Georgia: a brief analysis of speeches and historical documentation”.

The ENC Analysis of June 2020 is written by Dr. Nika Chitadze, ENC’s External Advisor, Professor of the International Black Sea University and Director of the Center for International Studies.

Dr. Nika Chitadze analyses the new tactics of destabilisation perpetrated by Vladimir Putin in the Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region (the former South Ossetian Autonomous District). The author argues that the Kremlin’s current policy of spreading misinformation about Georgia has distorted the views of its past and undermined its appeals within the international community. The article aims at countering this narrative by presenting a detailed and fact-based analysis of the historical chronology of the country while exposing Russian myths and propaganda.

The full analysis is available in the PDF version below.
pdf4 Russia’s disinformation campaigns in the occupied territories of Georgia: a brief analysis of speeches and historical documentation

Apr 07

Socio-economic Impact of COVID-19 and Media Consumption among Vulnerable Communities in Central Asia

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Socio-economic Impact of COVID-19 and Media Consumption among Vulnerable Communities in Central Asia

The authors, Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, ENC Managing Director, Andreas Marazis, ENC Head of Research for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Shairbek Dzhuraev, co-founder and president of Crossroads Central Asia, examined the way vulnerable communities use different kinds of media in Central Asia, with a specific focus on social media. The research aimed at determining the information needs of labour migrants and their families, refugees, stateless people and ethnic minorities, as well as rural populations, youth, minorities and marginalised groups affected by the COVID-19 pandemic across Central Asia.

Apr 07

ENC Analysis – The Eastern Neighbourhood between Shifting Logics of Power

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ENC Analysis – The Eastern Neighbourhood between Shifting Logics of Power

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) released its new analysis entitled “The Eastern Neighbourhood between Shifting Logics of Power”.

The ENC Analysis is written by Dr. Kevork Oskanian, ENC Academic Council Member and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, UK. This paper describes the recent evolution of the relations of power between the EU and its ‘Eastern neighbourhood’. The author argues that the european normative power has diminished in the region as it is facing severe challenges. The current crisis of liberalism has put the coherence of EU foreign policy under unprecedented threat, especially in relation to the Eastern partners, who he points out should prepare for a “worst-case” outcome of disengagement and increased incoherence.

The full analysis is available in the PDF version below.
pdf4 The Eastern Neighbourhood between Shifting Logics of Power

Feb 24

ENC Analysis – Renewable Energy Development in Uzbekistan

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ENC Analysis – Renewable Energy Development in Uzbekistan

The European Neighbourhood Council releases its new analysis entitled “Renewable Energy Development in Uzbekistan”.

This ENC analysis is written by Andreas Marazis, ENC Head of Research for Eastern Europe and Central Asia and Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, ENC Managing Director and expert in Turkey and the Middle East. This paper reports the findings which were gathered from ENC’s in-depth field interviews during Uzbekistan’s December 2019 parliamentary elections. The purpose of this study is twofold. First, to examine the renewable energy development (including Nuclear energy) in Uzbekistan following the latest reforms in the energy sector under President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Second, to provide recommendations and support to EU/EEAS experts and policy-makers, based on ENC’s field observations and findings, for future analysis and upcoming political and security dialogue meeting(s) with Uzbekistan, focusing on the momentum gained by the latter’s openness and the new EU-Central Asia Strategy.

June ENC analysis Vesterbye

The full analysis is available in the PDF version below.
pdf4 Renewable Energy Development in Uzbekistan

Feb 04

ENC Analysis: “Uzbekistan: Examining the Parliamentary Elections and Mirziyoyev’s Move Towards Controlled Transition”

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ENC Analysis: “Uzbekistan: Examining the Parliamentary Elections and Mirziyoyev’s Move Towards Controlled Transition”

This ENC analysis is written by Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, ENC Managing Director and expert in Turkey and the Middle East and Andreas Marazis, ENC Head of Research for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. This paper reports the findings which were gathered from ENC’s electoral observation and in-depth field-interviews during Uzbekistan’s December 2019 parliamentary elections. The purpose of this study is twofold. First, to examine the first elections held under the leadership of President Mirziyoyev. Second, to provide a complimentary analysis about Uzbekistan’s controlled governance transition under President Mirziyoyev, focusing on the momentum gained by the death of long-time President Islam Karimov in 2016 and the new European Union (E.U.) Central Asia Strategy released in 2019;

Jul 04

ENC Analysis – One Step Forward and Two Steps Back: Legal Arguments on the Visa-Travel of Turkish Citizens to the EU

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ENC Analysis – One Step Forward and Two Steps Back: Legal Arguments on the Visa-Travel of Turkish Citizens to the EU

The European Neighbourhood Council releases its new analysis entitled “One Step Forward and Two Steps Back: Legal Arguments on the Visa-Travel of Turkish Citizens to the EU”.

This ENC analysis was written by Dr. A. Asli Bilgin (Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law in Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey) and Dr. Pierluigi Simone (lawyer and Adjunct Professor of International and European Union Law at the Department of Law, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”). In this paper, they examine whether visa-free travel for Turkish citizens is an already-acquired right stemming from the EU-Turkey Association Law or would be a favor given by the EU in exchange for signing the Readmission Agreement, via the interpretation of Article 41 (1) of the AP and Article 13 of ACD 1/80, in light of the case-law of the CJEU.

enc analysis july

The full analysis is available in the PDF version below.

Legal Arguments on the Visa-Travel of Turkish Citizens to the EU

Jun 27

ENC Analysis – The New EU Strategy on Central Asia Putting Renewable Energy on the Map

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ENC Analysis – The New EU Strategy on Central Asia Putting Renewable Energy on the Map

The European Neighbourhood Council releases its new analysis entitled “The New EU Strategy on Central Asia: Putting Renewable Energy on the Map”.

The ENC Analysis is co-authored by Andreas Marazis (ENC Head of Research for Eastern Europe and Central Asia) and Federico Ohle (ENC Research Assistant).

The study highlights a significant shift in focus towards sustainability and development of the renewable energy sector from the 2007 to the 2019 EU Central Asia Strategy. It provides an explanation of why this might be the case and recommends future courses of action for the EU and Central Asian states towards sustainable development, clean energy and climate change.

ENC analysis

The full analysis is available in the PDF version below

The New EU Strategy on Central Asia: Putting Renewable Energy on the map

Jun 13

ENC Analysis: “Kazakhstan’s Presidential elections: field observation from the industrial heartland on the Caspian”

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ENC Analysis: “Kazakhstan’s Presidential elections: field observation from the industrial heartland on the Caspian”

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) released its new analysis titled “Kazakhstan’s Presidential elections: field observation from the industrial heartland on the Caspian”.

This article is written by Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, ENC Managing Director and expert in Turkey and the Middle East. He oversees ENC research projects across the neighbourhood and Central Asia. Within the context of the recent elections, Mr. Doveri Vesterbye reports on the findings from the electoral observation and field-interviews conducted at 7 out of 35 polling stations in Zhanaozen, a small de-industrialised oil-town close to the Caspian coast. In addition, a complimentary analysis about Kazakhstan’s current socio-economic situation is given, focusing particularly on the momentum gained from the signing of the EU-Kazakhstan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) and the new EU-Central Asia Strategy, which was released in 2019.

The full analysis is available here.