The general aim of this paper is to describe how the European Union can affect and transfer their conditionality politics to the Western Balkan countries. A specific purpose of this study is to describe and explain what we in this paper consider to be a specific additional membership criterion, regional cooperation that has been especially designed for this region. The point of departure for this paper is Europeanization theory that will be used to study the European Union’s impact on non EU-members in Europe. The theoretical Europeanization mechanisms are taken from Heather Grabbes “Europeanization model”. A descriptive case study method together with a theory consuming method will be used. After the wars in former Yugoslavia the now independent countries started in their own pace to move closer the European Union. The problems the individual countries faced in the beginning of the 21st century were much a consequence of the war. This lead the European Union to establish a special political and economical regional framework, where regional cooperation was emphasized. Regional cooperation developed into one of the most important elements in the EU´s relation with the countries and is made a specific requirement under the Stabilization- and association process. Implications this paper makes are that regional cooperation can be considered as a specific requirement the EU use in the Western Balkan countries membership process and that EU have a series of “influencing tools” which works to promote regional cooperation in the Western Balkans. <!--EndFragment-->

The aim of this paper is to examine Serbia’s democratic consolidation in the judiciary and public and state administration, as well as the  role of European Union and EU conditionality in this process. This paper discusses the democratic consolidation in the judiciary and public and state administration of Serbia between the years 2000 and 2010, the role of the EU in this process, and the effects of EU conditionality in these two areas. The theories applied are Linz’s theory of inter-relating arenas of consolidated democracies, and Whitehead’s international dimensions of democratisation. This paper is based on the method of qualitative study and through extensive reading and research, it has come to the conclusion that the judiciary and public and state administration between 2000 and 2010 have seen some improvement. However, democratic progress has been very slow due to remains from Slobodan Milosevic’s regime and communism. The EU, as one of the major actors in the region, has through various projects, agreements, cooperation, and conditionality, brought about improvements in the judiciary and public and state administration. Yet, EU involvement and conditionality have not had great democratic effects; they have been significantly slowed down by inefficiency, low professionalism and corruption.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. Carrie L. Manning, committee chair; Scott E. Graves, Charles R. Hankla, committee members. Electronic text (49 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Apr. 3, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 45-49).

This thesis deals with the discussions on the ‘Normative Power Europe’ thesis, EU enlargement, conditionality and compliance, and the extent to which rational and ideational forces are mutually exclusive in this context. Through a qualitative case study of Turkey, it will investigate to what extent the EU can be seen as possessing and exercising normative power through its enlargement policy. The findings, based on fieldwork conducted in Istanbul during April 2013, suggest that rather than being mutually exclusive, rational and normative processes occur simultaneously and independently, sometimes even reinforcing each other.

"The original meaning of imperialism was a simple one: 'imperial government,' that is, empire in the classical sense (such as existed in ancient Rome, China, and Greece). In more recent times, imperialism has become synonymous with western hegemony in Africa and Asia from the 18th through the 20th centuries and with the spreading cultural influence of the United States" (Webster 2021). The aim of this thesis is to explore whether imperialism can be applied to China's foreign policy agenda through the apparatus of infrastructure. Using Kenya as a case study, it will assess how development, aid conditionality and employment play key roles in China's foreign policy model in Africa. The thesis will assess the role that China has in Kenya's development and adds to a growing field of literature that analyses the role of the Belt and Road Initiative in tackling the infrastructure deficit prevalent in Africa. It will conclude by identifying that gap that exists in China's infrastructure model and that imperialism is not an accurate definition of China's foreign policy agenda. / Master of Arts / China is rising as one of the leading powers in the international system and therefore it is important to contextualise its role in the world. China is often viewed by western powers as an adversary and a state that should be recognised as a threat. Infrastructure is an important part of any states' economy and has a significant impact on economic development. This thesis intends to assess China's role in funding infrastructure and development projects in developing nations particularly across Africa, and specifically focus on Kenya as a case study to look at China's role and assess what kind of foreign policy is being pursued. By using the theory of imperialism, this thesis will analyse initiatives being pursued by China and why labelling it with the term imperial is not an accurate representation of its foreign policy agenda.

L‘Afrique subsaharienne connait des crises et conflits qui menacent aussi la sécurité de l’Europe, des Etats-Unis et du reste du monde.Elle cherche à se sécuriser par elle-même et sollicite l’aide extérieure notamment celle européenne dont on s’interroge quant aux atouts, réalités et perspectives de paix avec l’UE. L’Union Européenne est un partenaire dont l’efficacité garantie par son approche globale et permise par ses instruments multiformes, ACP/CEE-UE et PESD/PSDC, est prouvée au Togo de 1993 à 2005 ; en RDC avec « Artemis » et EUFOR-RDCONGO ; au Darfour avec EUFOR Tchad-RCA ainsi qu’au large des côtes Somaliennes avec EUNAVFOR, mais dont le besoin de renforcement des atouts et d’atténuation des faiblesses conduit à promouvoir les concepts de complémentarité et d’appropriation dans la construction de l’Architecture Africaine de Paix et de Sécurité. Ce qui se fait à travers les opérations et surtout les missions civiles EUPOL et EUSEC en RDC, EUTM « Somalia », EUAVSEC au Soudan du sud, EUCAP Sahel Niger et EUCAP Nestor pour la formation des forces nationales de lutte respectivement contre le terrorisme islamiste et la piraterie maritime. Mais quelles inflexions et améliorations à apporter au Droit européen, panafricain et international, pour notamment des financements innovants et une meilleure coordination et mutualisation des ressources africaines avec des apports multiformes extérieurs suscités par l’attractivité subsaharienne du 21ème siècle ? Un nouveau vaste champ de réflexion. / Sub-Saharan Africa is faced with crises and conflicts that also pose a threat to the security of Europe, the United States and the world at large.Africa seeks to ensure its own security and calls on the aid of foreign partners including Europe. But questions arise concerning the strengths and realities of that partnership and the prospects for peace it offers.The European Union is indeed a partner whose effectiveness - guaranteed by the comprehensive approach embodied in its multifaceted ACP/EEC-EU and ESDP/CSDP instruments - was demonstrated in Togo from 1993 to 2005, in the DRC with "Artemis" and EUFOR RD CONGO, in Darfur with EUFOR Chad-CAR and off the coast of Somalia with EUNAVFOR. Yet the need to highlight its strengths and play down its weaknesses leads it to promote the concepts of complementarity and ownership in the construction of the African Peace and Security Architecture through operations and civilian missions, in particular EUSEC and EUPOL in the DRC, EUTM "Somalia", EUAVSEC in Southern Sudan and Niger Sahel EUCAP and EUCAP Nestor for the training of national forces in the fight against Islamist terrorism and maritime piracy.What adjustments and improvements to European, pan-African and international law are required, with a view, in particular, to more innovative forms of funding and better coordination, as well as a pooling of African resources and the various forms of assistance from foreign contributors attracted by the resources and the economic opportunities of sub-Saharan Africa in the 21st century? This opens up a whole new and wide-ranging debate.

The present study uses a novel measure of over performance (percent deviation from career average) to analyze the contract year phenomenon in the NBA. Historically, the literature has pointed toward over performance across almost all statistical measures of performance. However, previous research has assumed that all players are universally affected by the presence of a contract year in the same manner. The present study finds significant results that contradict previous research by dividing the sample of players into subgroups by age, career PER and position. Furthermore, the results of this paper’s statistical analysis illustrate the first examples of systematic underperformance in a contract year. More specifically, this study finds that for certain subsets of players, shooting percentage, usage percentage and field goal attempts decrease in the presence of a contract year.

The International Monetary Fund was created to promote financial stability, global monetary cooperation, high employment, international trade and sustainable economic growth. Together with the World Bank, IMF has a "monopoly" on offering loan programs for countries in deep crises or for development projects. In this thesis, we examine the effect of IMF, i.e. loan size and quotas, on the economic growth and inflation rate, by applying a dynamic panel regression on our dataset. In addition, we look at how the IMF Quotas influence the size of the loans. Our empirical results display significant evidence that IMF loans influence the GDP growth in a positive manner, in the medium term. Both Control of Corruption and Voice & Accountability have a negative influence on the economic growth. In other words, less corruption and stronger civil rights will halt the growth level of the economy. We also determined that IMF Quotas is not a robust indicator of the loan size. It is only driven by the past loan levels. Regarding Inflation determinants, IMF loans are not affecting the Inflation in a significant manner, while FDI and Control of Corruption - do. FDI exercises a positive influence on the CPI, while perception of less corruption has a negative effect on Inflation rate. JEL Classification D73, E31, F12,...

Durante a crise asiática, ocorrida em 1997, Indonésia, Coreia e Tailândia enfrentaram uma intensa fuga de capitais que ocasionou sérios desequilíbrios em seus balanços de pagamentos. Diante das dificuldades, os países pediram socorro ao FMI e, em contrapartida aos empréstimos recebidos, se submeteram aos programas de ajuste da organização. O trabalho analisa os programas sob dois aspectos: o compliance das condicionalidades e o efeito sobre o desempenho econômico. O compliance é medido, por meio de um índice global, posteriormente separado em duas categorias: uma associada ao cumprimento de medidas macroeconômicas e outra vinculada às reformas estruturais. Os índices indicam o número de condições que foram cumpridas em relação ao número total de condições prescritas. Para os três países, os graus de compliance são altos. A partir dos resultados, é feita a verificação do efeito dos programas sobre as economias, mediante a análise da evolução de indicadores macroeconômicos selecionados. Conclui-se que o nível de compliance dos países está associado positivamente à recuperação da crise e à estabilidade econômica no longo-prazo, sendo mais forte a primeira relação. / During the Asian crisis, occurred in 1997, Indonesia, Korea and Thailand faced a severe capital flight which led to serious imbalances in their balance of payments. Given the difficulties, the countries requested the IMF\'s support and, as conditional to the loans, they submitted themselves to the adjustment programs. This research analyzes two aspects of the programs: compliance of Fund\'s conditionalities and the effects on economic performance. Compliance is measured by a global index that was, after, separated into two categories: one associated with the compliance of macroeconomic policies and other related to structural reforms. The indices indicate the number of conditions that were met as a proportion of the total number of conditions that were prescribed. For all countries, the levels of compliance are high. Taking into account the compliance results, the effects of the programs on the economies are verified by an analysis of the progress of selected macroeconomic indicators. The study presents evidences that the countries\' degrees of compliance are positively associated with the recovery from the crisis and the economic stability in the long run, being the first relationship stronger.

Durante a crise asiática, ocorrida em 1997, Indonésia, Coreia e Tailândia enfrentaram uma intensa fuga de capitais que ocasionou sérios desequilíbrios em seus balanços de pagamentos. Diante das dificuldades, os países pediram socorro ao FMI e, em contrapartida aos empréstimos recebidos, se submeteram aos programas de ajuste da organização. O trabalho analisa os programas sob dois aspectos: o compliance das condicionalidades e o efeito sobre o desempenho econômico. O compliance é medido, por meio de um índice global, posteriormente separado em duas categorias: uma associada ao cumprimento de medidas macroeconômicas e outra vinculada às reformas estruturais. Os índices indicam o número de condições que foram cumpridas em relação ao número total de condições prescritas. Para os três países, os graus de compliance são altos. A partir dos resultados, é feita a verificação do efeito dos programas sobre as economias, mediante a análise da evolução de indicadores macroeconômicos selecionados. Conclui-se que o nível de compliance dos países está associado positivamente à recuperação da crise e à estabilidade econômica no longo-prazo, sendo mais forte a primeira relação. / During the Asian crisis, occurred in 1997, Indonesia, Korea and Thailand faced a severe capital flight which led to serious imbalances in their balance of payments. Given the difficulties, the countries requested the IMF\'s support and, as conditional to the loans, they submitted themselves to the adjustment programs. This research analyzes two aspects of the programs: compliance of Fund\'s conditionalities and the effects on economic performance. Compliance is measured by a global index that was, after, separated into two categories: one associated with the compliance of macroeconomic policies and other related to structural reforms. The indices indicate the number of conditions that were met as a proportion of the total number of conditions that were prescribed. For all countries, the levels of compliance are high. Taking into account the compliance results, the effects of the programs on the economies are verified by an analysis of the progress of selected macroeconomic indicators. The study presents evidences that the countries\' degrees of compliance are positively associated with the recovery from the crisis and the economic stability in the long run, being the first relationship stronger.