The European-ness of Estonia's Ethnic Integration Policy: Nation, culture, and security in an applicant state
This article argues that the process of European Union accession prioritises the linguistic and cultural hegemony of the ethnic Estonian majority as a necessary condition of securing post-Soviet Estonia in an enlarged European Union. This occurs through a conceptualisation of security used by 'e´lites of statecraft' that binds together 'nation', 'culture', and 'state' as cornerstones of a stable interstate system. Evidence is gathered from extensive interviews with Estonian and western European officials as well as analyses of international agreements on minority rights and Estonia's main ethnic integration document, State Programme: Integration in Estonian Society 2000-2007. Estonia's ethnic integration policy should not be understood as a peculiar, eastern European case of cultural protectionism. Rather, it is a logical expression of broader European patterns of political organisation. The research was funded by a 1999-2000 Fulbright-IIE fellowship to Estonia and 2000-01 David L. Boren Fellowship. I would like to thank the staff of the Integration Foundation and the United Nations Development Program: Estonia for their invaluable assistance during my ethnographic fieldwork. Numerous diplomats, administrators, officials, and minority leaders also provided indispensable help. I would also like to thank Merje Kuus and two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments.
Organization of Security and Co-operation in Europe
Vienna on ’Organization of security and cooperation in Europe’. The conference was organized by the International Institute for Peace, Vienna, and the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo; and was supported by the Institute for Peace Research at the Theological Faculty of the University of Vienna. Participating in the conference were 45 social scientists from 17 countries in Europe and from the USA. Debates were held in two sections: I. Promotion of European co-operation, and II. Reduction of military confrontation. The following is a summary of the proceedings.
Judicial politics in Britain: Patrolling the boundaries
This study considers judicial policy‐making in Great Britain by noting the peculiarly British institutional restraints on judicial action of parliamentary sovereignty, the resulting subordination of all courts to the legislative branch and the absence of a codified charter of rights or constitution. Though there is no judicial power to annul legislative or executive actions, British courts and judges still play a small, but significant, role in policy‐making through the common law and, in particular, through judicial review of adminstrative actions. A written bill of rights would likely draw courts further into the the political arena and politicise the appointment of judges.