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Perestroika, unlike previous attempts at economic reform, represents the beginning of a new era in post-war Soviet politics. If one were to categorize the major Soviet leaders since Stalin it would be more accurate to term Khrushchev a liberal Stalinist, Brezhnev a conservative Stalinist, and Gorbachev, may be properly classified as an anti-Stalinist. Gorbachev's accession to power represents the beginning of what might be termed post-post-Stalin reform. To illustrate the uniqueness of perestroika, this thesis is structured around a comparison of Gorbachev's economic, political, and social reforms with those of Nikita Khrushchev. A contrast with Khrushchev is necessary because it is impossible to determine the uniqueness of perestroika and to draw informed conclusions about Gorbachev unless the record of the first-post Stalin reformer is examined. Because Gorbachev and Khrushchev are both reformers, it is to be expected that they should share certain common objectives. But the similarities are far less significant than the differences. The differences between Gorbachev's and Khrushchev's approaches to reform are a function both of substantive policy differences and historical circumstance. Historical Context Khrushchev came to power at a time when the Soviet Union was weak relative to the United States. Externally, the most pressing need was for the Soviet Union to achieve military parity with the United States. Internally, Khrushchev's first years were ones of struggle for absolute leadership with other Politburo figures who had differing notions of reform. The world that Brezhnev and his successors bequeathed to Gorbachev bore little resemblance to the one which Stalin left to Khrushchev. By the time of Gorbachev's accession to power, the Soviet Union had become the military equal of the United States. Political Reform Khrushchev's main objective was to weaken the power of the bureaucracy largely in order to enhance his own personal power. Gorbachev's focus is less Stalin than it is the Stalinist system. The lack of subordination of political and economic reform to the pursuit of personal one-man rule marks perestzoika as a distinct improvement over de-Stalinization. Economic Reform In economic policy, Khrushchev followed Stalin's practice of meeting economic problems with administrative measures. Although Khrushchev made his reputation by denouncing Stalin's leadership, he did nothing to address the root of the Soviet Union's troubles—the Stalinist economic system. Perestroika is theoretically superior to de-Stalinization because Gorbachev eschews administrative tinkering in favour of economic change. Gorbachev has rediscovered the co-operative socialism and limited tolerance for free-enterprise of the 1920s. The implication of this return to 'Leninism' is an admission that the Stalinist system is a failure. CONCLUSION The essence of Khrushchev's reforms, and their subsequent failure, can be traced to his fixation with appearance over substance. For all of his 'liberal' reforms, Khrushchev is essentially a 'Stalinist' politician. Perestzoika is superior to de-Stalinization both because of historical circumstance and substantive philosophical differences. Gorbachev's return to Leninist principles effectively ends the period of reformed Stalinism. But the objective need for reform does imply its necessary success. There are many obstacles to effecting deep change in the Soviet Union, obstacles which cannot be surmounted soon. It cannot be expected that a people will cast off the habits of a lifetime. Nonetheless, Gorbachev's reforms are rigorous and potentially longlasting, as opposed to Khrushchev's 'administrative' changes which did not really address the flaws of the Soviet system. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

The Council of Ministers is arguably the most powerful of the EC's institutions, yet its operation still awaits an authoritative analysis. To date, research into the operation of the Council has tended only to deal with aspects of its structure, rather than analysing it as a complete body. Furthermore, there has been little theoretical appreciation of its internal operation, as research has tended to rely on existing methods of analysing EC policy-making. Therefore, a new methodological approach seems to be required which will address this lacuna in EC literature. Whilst the Council of Ministers legislates, it also negotiates. It would seem appropriate then to design a new approach that draws on both policy analysis and negotiation theory. The analytical framework used material drawn from interviews, and both primary and secondary written sources, to evaluate the day-to-day workings of a number of technical councils that constitute the Council of Ministers. Although there is an information deficit on the work of the Council, the flexible design of the framework allowed valuable insights into its operation. The findings gave some indication of the dynamics of the interactions between member states, which provides a better understanding of EC policymaking. The Council of Minister's character is influenced by member states. Their attitudes seem to have a strong effect upon the operational mechanisms of the various technical councils The Council may be an EC institution, but it is also the forum in which member states negotiate, preferring the diplomatic, consensus approach to prescriptive voting methods.

This study focuses on the protection and promotion of human rights in the context of the external relations of the European Union (EU). It sets out to examine, in particular, the position of human rights within the framework of EU foreign policy. While questions of human rights sparked a wide-ranging academic debate and resulted in enhanced levels of public scrutiny over the last decade, the research presented in this dissertation attempts to fill a significant gap in scholarly attention. It does so by offering a critique of the theoretical approaches towards, and the practical manifestations of human rights promotion initiatives in the context of EU policy interaction with countries in Asia. Evidence from previous work, included as part of this dissertation, suggests that the incremental growth of human rights competencies and agendas within the EU's legal and political systems was reflected in a number of areas of concrete EU external activity, such as the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), Development Policy, relations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries and the EU's New Asia Strategy. This dissertation attempts to demonstrate how, in the context of a Constructivist perspective within International Relations Theory in general, and EU-Asia relations in particular, the EU can be conceptualised as a value-guided, 'ethical' polity, grounded in a constitutional framework of Treaties. As a result of this, the Union introdued a more pronounced human rights dimension to its dialogue with Asia. The evidence indicates that, in respect of its Asian partners, the EU implemented human rights strategies in a number or formats and with varying degrees of success. The study scrutinises, in particular, the Commission's 'strategy papers' on Asia and the Asia-Europe Meetings (ASEM). In addition to findings analysed in previous work, this study demonstrates that the resulting debates about 'rights' and 'values' can be related to wider discourses derived from normative theory and surrounding issues of culture and identity. In the Asia-EU dialogue, arguments over human rights contain the potential to be both an enabling dynamic for, and an inhibiting agent of, a more intensive EU-Asia political and cultural dialogue. The study places a particular emphasis on EU human rights promotion policies towards the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Indonesia and Burma (The Union of Myanmar). It identifies and appraises three distinct EU policy approaches ranging from incentives based and coordinated measures to a more coercive and punitive diplomatic arsenal.

This thesis examines the role of the European Community in the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. From their first dealings up until 1968 – when official relations were established – and beyond, the Community and Yugoslavia never achieved a stable relationship that would have come into its own with the outbreak of the Yugoslav crisis in the early 1990s. In this respect, economic, political and social dimensions characterizing cooperation between the EC and the SFRY are analyzed to illustrate the developments between the two parties. The outbreak of the Yugoslav crisis was a completely new phenomenon for Brussels. Although admittedly unprepared, EC officials stated that ‘the hour for Europe has come’. This eleventh-hour intervention, however, opened the door to certain non-state actors who became involved and, more importantly, affected the decision-making at EC level leading to the policy of recognition of Slovenia and Croatia as independent states, and thus the demise of the Yugoslav federation. The thesis focuses on the activism of diaspora communities, the media and the Catholic Church. As far as the diaspora communities are concerned, their activism was most significant in Austria, a country that enjoyed an outstanding reputation within the European Community at the time. The Carinthian Slovenes used their position within Austrian politics to promote the independence of Slovenia and Croatia. As to the Western media, their reporting of the Yugoslav crisis, with its sympathy for the independence of the two republics, was accepted as a reliable source of information, a view confirmed by statements from Brussels. Finally, the Catholic Church also expressed sympathy for Slovenia and Croatia: the fact that the two SFRY republics were Catholic was reason enough for the Vatican to campaign for their independence at EC level.

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O trabalho analisa o processo de oposição ao governo Vargas, com enfoque sobre as relações entre Estado e classe trabalhadora no período 1943/45. Destaca os aspectos específicos da política social e sindical, definidos pelo trabalhismo, e a forma como estarão situados na conjuntura de crise ao fim do Estado Novo. Tendo por objeto primordial da análise o discurso antigovernamental, situa a imprensa como locus estratégico para o desenvolvimento dessa oposição que levaria ao fim o primeiro governo Vargas. / The work analyses the process of opposition against Vargas\' government, focusing on the relationship between the State and the working-class in the years between 1943 and 1945. It emphasises the specific aspects of the social and the Union politics defined by the labour movement and the way in which they will be situated in the crisis circumstances at the end of the \"Estado Novo\". As the main purpose of the analysis is the anti-governmental speech, the press is placed as the strategic locus for the development of this opposition which would put an end to the first Vargas\' government.

O trabalho analisa o processo de oposição ao governo Vargas, com enfoque sobre as relações entre Estado e classe trabalhadora no período 1943/45. Destaca os aspectos específicos da política social e sindical, definidos pelo trabalhismo, e a forma como estarão situados na conjuntura de crise ao fim do Estado Novo. Tendo por objeto primordial da análise o discurso antigovernamental, situa a imprensa como locus estratégico para o desenvolvimento dessa oposição que levaria ao fim o primeiro governo Vargas. / The work analyses the process of opposition against Vargas\' government, focusing on the relationship between the State and the working-class in the years between 1943 and 1945. It emphasises the specific aspects of the social and the Union politics defined by the labour movement and the way in which they will be situated in the crisis circumstances at the end of the \"Estado Novo\". As the main purpose of the analysis is the anti-governmental speech, the press is placed as the strategic locus for the development of this opposition which would put an end to the first Vargas\' government.

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