Białostockie Studia Prawnicze Zeszyt 25 nr 3
Artykuły:
Gábor Csizmazia
The Current State of Transatlantic Relations: Déjà vu All Over Again?
DOI: 10.15290/bsp.2020.25.03.01
Abstrakt: While the United States and Europe share a set of basic values and interests, debates across the Atlantic do repeatedly occur, particularly since the end of the Cold War. Transatlantic relations under the Trump Administration have experienced noticeable political tensions that were last witnessed under the Bush Administration in the early years of the millennium. There is a sense of déjà vu in Europe, given that despite Donald J. Trump’s unusual rhetoric, the issues in hand are not necessarily new. Washington’s take on the international order and transatlantic relations is best described by the concept of conservative internationalism, which differs from other U.S. foreign policy approaches yet continues to be in contrast with the more liberal views in Europe.
Keywords: conservative internationalism, Trump, West, geopolitics
Zakres stron: 9-26
Rett R. Ludwikowski
Overview of the Trade Relations Between the European Community/Union and the United States at the Threshold of Globalization and Post-globalization Era
DOI: 10.15290/bsp.2020.25.03.02
Abstrakt: The main goal of this article is to present to the European reader the implications of the unstable relationships between the United States and an integrated Europe. The article focuses on the trade relations between the US and Europe in the globalization era. It explains the meaning of some basic terms used by trade experts, such as globalization regionalization, glocalization, and strategic trade. The author also tries to explore the reasons for the recent crisis of global trade. The main part of the paper reviews the major disputes between these two regions which resulted in postponing of the negotiations of the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement. As we have observed in the introduction of the article, the relationships between the European Union and the United States have always been complicated and the article presents the main reasons for these disagreements. In a time of renewed Trans-Atlantic negotiations, pro-American sentiments in Europe grew stronger, and European experts on trade and politics emphasized that the US significantly increased support for the European Deterrence Initiative (EDI). Still, with comments repeated by President Trump many times that “Europe needs its own army”, the European media began warning the readers that the crisis in US-EU relations may soon return.
Keywords: American unilateralism, European Community/Union, the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, globalization, regionalization, strategic trade, the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT), the World Trade Organization (WTO), The Chicken War, Banana War, principle of parallelism, Byrd’s Amendment, Carousel Procedure, zeroing.
Zakres stron: 27-42
Judit Glavanits
Dispute Resolution That Divides: The EU-USA Confl ict on Investment-State Dispute Resolution
DOI: 10.15290/bsp.2020.25.03.03
Abstrakt: Investment-state dispute resolution has been a hot topic recently, as we can observe a shift in the international trade agreements – both on the side of politics and economics. The European Union has started to negotiate several new trade agreements – some succeeded, some failed, and among the latter we find the TTIP with the USA. This article focuses on the neuralgic point of ISDS in the trade policy of the EU and the USA and summarizes the arguments for and against the ISDS mechanism reflecting also on the latest scientific literature and statistics.
Keywords: investor-state dispute resolution, ISDS, TTIP, CETA
Zakres stron: 43-53
Christopher Kulander
Political and Economic Feasibility of Contracted American Liquefied Natural Gas for Energy Security in Poland and the Baltic States – Can the American Government Help?
DOI: 10.15290/bsp.2020.25.03.04
Abstrakt: At the heart of the European Union (“EU”) energy policy is energy security. Energy security is maintained, in part, by a diversification of supply. Despite the fact that the EU has prioritized diversification, its dependency on Russian natural gas has increased in recent years. Contemporaneously, the political relationship between the EU and Russia has worsened. Construction of Nord Stream 2(“NS2”) will further establish Russia as the dominant supplier of natural gas to the EU while lessening the diversification of its energy supply. To further the EU’s stated goals of energy diversification and security, another steady source of natural gas imports for the countries along the Baltic Sea is needed. LNG importation assets in Poland and the Baltic states exist for this purpose. Unlike other EU members, these countries have demonstrated the economic and political will to curb the coercive influence of Russian natural gas imports. America is awash in natural gas, with plenty for export and can send increasing volumes of LNG worldwide. In contrast to other sources, America is well located to supply Europe with secure LNG, and its importation should be a shared goal of the EU and America. Despite the desire of some American statesmen to use the “shale gas revolution” to further U.S. geopolitical goals; however, the U.S. hydrocarbon industry (unlike in Russia) is overwhelmingly controlled by private landowners and industry. The goal of the American, Polish, and the Baltic states should therefore be narrowly focused on establishing free trade agreements and the encouragement of longer-term contractual relationships between America and Poland and the Baltic states.
Keywords: energy, LNG, natural gas, Russia, Poland, Lithuania
Zakres stron: 55-67
Anna M. Ludwikowski
The Influence of Populistic and Protectionist Policy of the Trump Administration on the Treatment of Foreign Nationals Applying for Immigration Benefits
DOI: 10.15290/bsp.2020.25.03.05
Abstrakt: The article focuses on the obstacles to legal immigration imposed by the Trump administration against those who are already in the US pursuant to their valid non-immigrant classification and those who are abroad and trying to reunite with family members in the US or seeking entry having a legitimate job offer from a US employer. Recent changes in US immigration policy have been achieved through restrictive interpretation and enforcement of existing law by the USCIS which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, and by the State Department (DOS) rather than by substantive legislative changes done in Congress. The article provides an overview of the most recent governmental restrictions affecting so called “business immigration” and family-based immigrant processing, and also restrictions on suspension of entry to the US due to Covid-19, introduced through presidential proclamations. Although the federal courts blocked several of these administrative initiatives, the anti-immigrant atmosphere is having a big negative impact on many groups of foreign nationals. Nationalistic notions of “making America great again” that should be accomplished through “buy American and hire American” principle, and legal uncertainty causing ongoing federal lawsuits will undoubtedly lead to America’s further isolationism if President Trump wins the November 2020 election.
Keywords: Immigration law, immigration policy, Congress, President, Supreme Court, federal lawsuits, visas, presidential proclamations, executive orders, international students, foreign workers
Zakres stron: 69-86
Anna Fiodorova
Independence of the Prosecution Service: European Approaches
DOI: 10.15290/bsp.2020.25.03.06
Abstrakt: Nowadays, a modern state without the institution of prosecution could rarely be found. It is considered one of the crucial elements for the proper functioning of the system of justice and for the application of the rule of law through such functions as carrying out of pre-trial investigation and / or the prosecution in criminal matters, safeguarding social interests, and judicial independence. The objective of this article is to provide a brief reflection on the necessity and the content of the independence of the modern prosecutor’s office. The article is based on the policy tendencies used in the Council of Europe and the European Union and with the more profound analysis of the legal regulation of the Spanish prosecutor’s office and its conformity with these tendencies.
Keywords: Prosecutor, prosecution office, principle of independence, independence of prosecutors, impartiality of prosecutors, system of justice
Zakres stron: 87-97
Fabio Ratto Trabucco
The COVID-19 Post-lockdown Italian Scenario from an Eco-Socio-Legal Perspective
DOI: 10.15290/bsp.2020.25.03.07
Abstrakt: This paper offers an analysis of the possible COVID-19 post-lockdown effects on the powerful factors that constitute the Italian national interest. The interdisciplinary perspective, being at the base of this study, considers a scenario characterized by three factors: time, budgetary policy, and communication. Since the social post-lockdown crisis began, Italy has been facing a problem of social justice in terms of participation, which is absent for now, especially in the political framework. The policy proposals should take account of unpopular decisions, whereas from a legal and geopolitical perspective it is necessary to have a more defined foreign policy, a clearer Italian positioning concerning international alliances with national interest as a reference point.
Keywords: Italy, EU, COVID-19, post-lockdown, budgetary policy
Zakres stron: 99-116
Paweł von Chamier Cieminski
A Look at the Evolution of the Right to Self-determination in International Law
DOI: 10.15290/bsp.2020.25.03.08
Abstrakt: The article takes stock of the historical development of the notion of the right of a people to self-determination in international law. It provides a coherent review of the main international treaties, customary rules, and legal rulings that shaped the evolution of the term over the course of the twentieth century. In doing so, it focuses on the main historical and political events, which had an impact on that process as well as the preconditions that have to be met in order for a people to have the legal capacity to execute the right to self-determination. Three main processes, which it focuses on are: decolonization, the establishment of a number of new countries following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the recent developments following ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo. It also delineates the subject of the legal definition of a “people” as opposed to a “minority”, describes the legal tension between the right to self-determination and the principle of territorial continuity in international law, and discusses potential further development of the term.
Key words: self-determination, minorities, territorial continuity, International Court of Justice, Kosovo, secession
Zakres stron: 117-132
Recenzje:
DOI: 10.15290/bsp.2020.25.03.09