Pork, Peace and Principles: the Relations between the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union

Over the last decade the EU faced numerous calls to engage with the Customs Union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan set up in 2010 and its successor, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), found in 2015. While proponents differ in terms of their justification and desired scope of cooperation, they share the view that it should take place on a region-to-region basis, thus representing an important departure from the EU's approach to the post-Soviet countries. The EU's reluctance to embark on such a course so far has been attributed to the political crisis of EU-Russia relations, especially in the aftermath of the annexation of Crimea and the war in Eastern Ukraine. In this context, for some, a mega-deal contains not just the promise of economic cooperation and connectivity, but also represents the means to improve relations with Russia and restore peace and stability in Europe. This paper argues that while these are worthy objectives, the utility of a region-to-region engagement with the EAEU should be premised on a realistic assessment of the nature of Eurasian integration as well as informed by the priorities in EU's external economic relations following its 2006 Global Europe strategy, more generally. To this end, the paper examines the EAEU against three particular dimensions: the extent to which it represents a unified regional actor, its trade liberalisation credentials and its ability to meet the EU's values conditionality. It concludes that the EAEU's institutional set up and practice exhibits fundamental problems in all of them. This means that the expected benefits of a regional mega-deal with the EAEU are highly uncertain, but also that moving away from a bilateral mode of engagement will entail significant departures from EU's principles and approach to external relations more generally

Trade and geopolitics: should the EU engage with the Eurasian Economic Union? EPC Policy Brief, 2 April 2015

In an effort to find a solution to the deteriorating relationship between the EU and Russia, various commentators, policy-makers and experts have suggested that the EU should seriously consider engaging with the Eurasian Economic Union, as part of a new ‘grand bargain’ between Russia and the EU. If Ukraine will no longer be forced to choose between two integrating regimes, so the argument goes, Russian sensibilities can be pacified, which will in turn, hopefully, lead to peace in eastern Ukraine. However, according to Rilka Dragneva and Kataryna Wolczuk, these arguments are based on a number of problematic assumptions about integration dynamics in the eastern neighbourhood. In this Policy Brief, they recommend the EU better think twice before further engaging with the EEU

Between dependence and integration:Ukraine’s relations with Russia

Abstract: Ukraine’s policy towards Russia since independence in 1991 has been characterised by a predicament: how to preserve its statehood in the context of its heavy economic dependence on Russia, which was intent on Ukraine’s participation in Russian-led integration projects. In this essay we argue that only by understanding the complexities and seeming contradictions in Ukraine’s positioning vis-à-vis Russia can a full understanding of Ukraine’s commitment to Russia’s integration projects be attained. This essay systematically examines Ukraine’s responses to Russia’s initiatives and illuminates the strategy of the Ukrainian elites to extract economic benefits while minimising commitments.</p

Research notes: A possible cytoplasmic mutant

A chimera plant (A75-1165-117) was observed in 1975 in the F2 of a cross of Ames ms1 x \u27Clark\u27 homozygous translocation (Table 1). Reciprocal crosses were made with \u27Clark 63\u27, using branches from the chimera plant that contained a high percentage of yellow trifoliolates. Selfed seed of the chimera plant (A75-1165-117) and F1 seed from reciprocal crosses were planted in the field in 1976 (Table 2)

And What Comes after Time Travel? An Empirical Analysis of ‹Emerging› from History-Related Virtual Reality

Viele Virtual Reality-Anwendungen (VR), die sich historischen Themen widmen, eint ein Ziel: Zeitreisen wirklich werden lassen. Über die Technologie soll es den Rezipierenden möglich gemacht werden, in Simulationen vergangener Zeiten und Orte einzutauchen und diese zu erleben. Aber was passiert nach diesem «Zeitreiseerlebnis»? Da auf das vermeintliche «Eintauchen» in die Vergangenheit ein «Auftauchen» in der Gegenwart folgt, wird in diesem Beitrag die Frage untersucht, wie das «Auftauchen» aus einer virtuellen Umgebung didaktisch begleitet werden kann. Basierend auf medienpsychologischer und geschichtsdidaktischer Forschung wurden Materialien für die Begleitung des «Auftauchens» aus der VR entwickelt und in einer Laborstudie (N = 70) eingesetzt. Genutzt wurde ein 2x2 Between-Subjects-Design, in dessen Rahmen die Auswirkungen der Materialien und des emotionalen Inhalts der VR auf Präsenzerleben, Emotionen und Geschichtsbewusstsein qualitativ untersucht wurden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die didaktische Begleitung des «Auftauchens» durch die Rezeption weniger emotionalisierender Inhalte und Materialien positive Effekte auf die Äusserungen von Geschichtsbewusstsein hat.Many virtual reality applications (VR) dedicated to historical topics share one goal: making time travel real. The VR-technology is meant to give users the possibility to immerse themselves into past times and places and experience them. But what happens after this «time travel experience»? Since the supposed «immersion» in the past is followed by an «emergence» in the present, this paper examines the question of how the «emergence» from a virtual environment can be supported didactically. Based on research in media psychology and history didactics, we developed material for accompanying the «emergence» from VR and applied it in a laboratory study (N = 70). A 2x2 between-subjects design was used to examine qualitatively the effects of the material as well as the emotional content of the VR on presence, emotions and historical consciousness. Results showed that the didactic support of «emergence» through a reception of less emotionalizing content and additional material has positive impacts on expressions of historical consciousness

Developing expressed sequence tag libraries and the discovery of simple sequence repeat markers for two species of raspberry (\u3cem\u3eRubus\u3c/em\u3e L.)

Background Due to a relatively high level of codominant inheritance and transferability within and among taxonomic groups, simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers are important elements in comparative mapping and delineation of genomic regions associated with traits of economic importance. Expressed sequence tags (ESTs) are a source of SSRs that can be used to develop markers to facilitate plant breeding and for more basic research across genera and higher plant orders. Methods Leaf and meristem tissue from ‘Heritage’ red raspberry (Rubus idaeus) and ‘Bristol’ black raspberry (R. occidentalis) were utilized for RNA extraction. After conversion to cDNA and library construction, ESTs were sequenced, quality verified, assembled and scanned for SSRs. Primers flanking the SSRs were designed and a subset tested for amplification, polymorphism and transferability across species. ESTs containing SSRs were functionally annotated using the GenBank non-redundant (nr) database and further classified using the gene ontology database. Results To accelerate development of EST-SSRs in the genus Rubus (Rosaceae), 1149 and 2358 cDNA sequences were generated from red raspberry and black raspberry, respectively. The cDNA sequences were screened using rigorous filtering criteria which resulted in the identification of 121 and 257 SSR loci for red and black raspberry, respectively. Primers were designed from the surrounding sequences resulting in 131 and 288 primer pairs, respectively, as some sequences contained more than one SSR locus. Sequence analysis revealed that the SSR-containing genes span a diversity of functions and share more sequence identity with strawberry genes than with other Rosaceous species. Conclusion This resource of Rubus-specific, gene-derived markers will facilitate the construction of linkage maps composed of transferable markers for studying and manipulating important traits in this economically important genus

performance based design approach for tailored acoustic surfaces

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