Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Many arguments have been made that the situation in Kosovo and the subsequent declaration of independence and recognition of Kosovo by a substantial fraction of the world’s states was and is a unique situation. It is argued here that although each situation involving ethnonational aspirations for independence is unique, the consequences and patterns of interaction between states, restive ethnic regions within states, and IGO actors are not unique. Kosovo has started a process that will challenge the European Union and the UN for the next few decades as other nascent nations begin to demand, if not outright independence, more and more autonomy. This process will change the course of European Union evolution and the nature of how sovereignty is understood and defined within the international system of states.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper is an analysis of ?velvet revolutions?: The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 occurred in consort with and following a waive of what some have described as the culmination of efforts by anti-communist, nationalist, and democratic movements in the former Iron Curtain or East European countries. The breaking of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the fall of communist regime of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), and later those of Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania, among others, were a prelude to the end for regimes in a large segment of the communist world. The regimes came down as ?dominos? and the implosion of the USSR led to similar domino effects and collapses of the ?anciennes regimes? among the Soviet communist republics, what soon became the 15 Newly Independent States (NIS) and later the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Contrary to dominant Western thought and predictions, however, the fall of communism did not translate into democratic rule for each and every former communist state. A new waive of political change ?in the form of ?velvet revolutions?? among the former communist states was thus not surprising in the new century, starting with the 2003 ?rose revolution? of Georgian, the 2004 ?orange revolution? of Ukraine, and the 2005 (colorless) revolution of Kyrgyzstan leading to the fall of the Akaev regime. The questions which this research will answer with regards to the continuing post-communist regime changes are: Is there a ?democratic domino? in effect? Are the post-communist regime changes among the CIS moves towards greater freedom? What have been the instigators for such political change? Are Western-funded ?democratic initiative? projects of significant assistance towards such political changes? What recommendations can be given to the economically advanced states and international organizations when dealing with similar likely upcoming velvet revolutions among the post-communist world? What lessons can the developing societies under authoritarian systems gain from the 'new velvet revolutions'?

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Reactive proliferation plays a central role in scholarly and policy analyses of nuclear proliferation. For example, contemporary analyses of the consequences if Iran acquires nuclear weapons or North Korea fails to disarm rely heavily on reactive prolifer