Stanford University

Institutions and Organizations

The Transatlantic Link: Repairing EU-USA Relations

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As President 1999-2007, Dr. Vike-Freiberga has been instrumental in achieving Latvia's membership in the European Union and NATO. She is active in international politics, was named Special Envoy to the Secretary General on United Nations reform and was official candidate for UN Secretary General in 2006.

Born 1937 in Riga, Latvia, Vaira Vike and her family fled the country in 1945 to escape the Soviet occupation and became refugees in Germany and Morocco. After arriving in Canada in 1954, she obtained a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Toronto and her Ph.D. in experimental psychology in 1965 from McGill University in Montreal. She speaks Latvian, English, French, German and Spanish.

Dr. Vike-Freiberga has been Professor of psychology at the University of Montreal, president of various Canadian professional and scholarly associations, incl. Académie I of the Royal Society of Canada, Vice-Chairman, Science Council of Canada, Chair, Human Factors Panel, NATO Science Program. She is member of the Council of Women World Leaders.

She has published ten books and numerous articles, essays and book chapters in addition to her extensive speaking engagements. Dr. Vike-Freiberga has received many highest Orders of Merit, medals and awards including the 2005 Hannah Arendt Prize for political thought for her advocacy of social issues, moral values, European historical dialogue and democracy, and the 2006 Walter-Hallstein Prize for discourse on the identity and future of the EU.

Since July 1960, Dr. Vike-Freiberga has been married to Imants Freibergs, Professor of Informatics at the University of Quebec in Montreal and since 2001 President of the Latvian Information and Communication Technologies Association.

This seminar is jointly sponsored by the Forum on Contemporary Europe and the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.

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CISAC Conference Room

Dr. Vaira Vike-Freiberga President (former), Latvia Speaker
Seminars

Implementation of European Law in the New Member States of the EU

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Adoption of European law was a central part of the accession process of new member states of the EU but turned out to be much more difficult than implementation of European Law in the old member states. Problems included not only the amount of European legislation, its dynamic nature and language problems. Literal implementation resulted in diminishing the coherence of national legal rules and structures. In addition, legislation did not take account of national specifics and differences in legal culture. Built-up of working institutions and procedures takes time and efforts and deficiencies add to hampering implementation and application of European law.

Many problems of new member states in the accession process are present in the old member states as well. They may lead to a review of the European legislative process and structural reforms. The pace of legislation should slow down, it should be more reflexive and “re-connect” to the national and local level. Care should also be taken by national legislators in better integrating European law into national law. Structural reform would include strengthening of democratic institutions on a European level including the European court system. This should be accompanied by practical cooperation and mutual exchange.

Prof. Dr. Wiebe studied law at the University of Hannover, Germany, and at the University of Virginia (U.S.A.) where he received the LL.M. degree in 1988. In 2001 he completed his habilitation. Since Sept. 2002 he is a professor on the newly established Chair for Information Law and Intellectual Property Law at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration (www.infolaw.at). Prof. Dr. Wiebe is a member of various academic associations and Vice President of the German Computer Law Association (DGRI e.V.).

Stanford Law School
Room 182

Andreas Wiebe

Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration
Department of Information Technology Law and Intellectual Property Law
Althanstrasse 39-45
1090 Wien

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Distinguished Visiting Austrian Chair Professor, 2007-2008
Visiting Professor, Stanford Law School
Head of the Deparment of Information Technology and Intellectual Property Law, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration
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Andreas Wiebe, LL.M., is Head of the Deparment of Information Technology and Intellectual Property Law at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. From January through June 2008, Professor Wiebe served as Distinguished Visiting Austrian Chair Professor at the Forum on Contemporary Europe, during which time he taught courses in e-commerce law and intellectual property law at the Stanford Law School. Professor Wiebe co-organized the June 14 "Transatlantic Information Law Symposium," held at the Stanford Law School and presented by the Transatlantic Technology Law Forum and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

Andreas Wiebe Chair for Information Law and Intellectual Property Law Speaker Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration
Seminars

The End of Belgium?

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While the EU is continuing on its path toward more integration, various regions in several of its member states are demanding more autonomy. This evolution seems most pronounced in Belgium, which is going through a political crisis that may eventually lead to its break-up. This seminar will provide background for the current crisis, and will analyze its causes and the consequences for Belgium and the rest of the EU.

Christophe Crombez is a specialist of EU politics and business-government relations in Europe. His research focuses on EU institutions, the institutions' impact on EU policies under alternative procedural arrangements, EU institutional reform, lobbying in the EU, and electoral laws and their consequences for voter representation, party politics and government formation. Crombez has been visiting professor at the Forum on Contemporary Europe since 1999. Furthermore, he is professor of political economy and strategy at the University of Leuven in Belgium. He has been teaching in Leuven's economics department since 1994. Crombez obtained a B.A. (Licentiaat) in Applied Economics from the University of Leuven in 1989, and a Ph.D. in Business, Political Economics, from Stanford University in 1994.

Philippines Conference Room

Christophe Crombez

Encina Hall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305

(650) 723-0249 (650) 723-0089
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Senior Research Scholar at The Europe Center
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Christophe Crombez is a political economist who specializes in European Union (EU) politics and business-government relations in Europe. His research focuses on EU institutions and their impact on policies, EU institutional reform, lobbying, party politics, and parliamentary government.

Crombez is Senior Research Scholar at The Europe Center at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University (since 1999). He teaches Introduction to European Studies and The Future of the EU in Stanford’s International Relations Program, and is responsible for the Minor in European Studies and the Undergraduate Internship Program in Europe.

Furthermore, Crombez is Professor of Political Economy at the Faculty of Economics and Business at KU Leuven in Belgium (since 1994). His teaching responsibilities in Leuven include Political Business Strategy and Applied Game Theory. He is Vice-Chair for Research at the Department for Managerial Economics, Strategy and Innovation.

Crombez has also held visiting positions at the following universities and research institutes: the Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane, in Florence, Italy, in Spring 2008; the Department of Political Science at the University of Florence, Italy, in Spring 2004; the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan, in Winter 2003; the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, Illinois, in Spring 1998; the Department of Political Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Summer 1998; the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, in Spring 1997; the University of Antwerp, Belgium, in Spring 1996; and Leti University in St. Petersburg, Russia, in Fall 1995.

Crombez obtained a B.A. in Applied Economics, Finance, from KU Leuven in 1989, and a Ph.D. in Business, Political Economics, from Stanford University in 1994.

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Christophe Crombez Visiting Professor, Stanford University Speaker
Seminars

The New Cold War: Putin, Medvedev, and the Threat to the West

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A resurgent Russia is shaking Europe to its core. At the NATO summit in Bucharest, Russia in effect exercised a veto for the first time on the alliance' decision-making, by blocking expansion to Ukraine and Georgia. Too much attention has gone on the intricacies of internal politics at the top in Russia, and not enough to the big-picture story of how Russia is achieving its foreign policy goals: buying back its former empire with a mixture of bribes and gas, and Finlandising western Europe.

The "New Cold War" is about exactly this: the use of cash, clever diplomacy and energy to succeed where the Soviet Union failed. Russia has built a special relationship with Germany which is now the dominant security axis in the continent of Europe. The countries of eastern Europe now realise that their security is decided in secret deals between Moscow and Berlin--just as 70 years ago.

It is time for the west to wake up and do something about this while it still can.

Edward Lucas is the Central and Eastern Europe correspondent for The Economist. He has been covering the region for more than 20 years, witnessing the final years of the last Cold War, the fall of the Iron Curtain and the collapse of the Soviet empire, Boris Yeltsin's downfall and Vladimir Putin's rise to power. From 1992 to 1994, he was the managing editor of The Baltic Independent, a weekly English-language newspaper published in Tallinn. He holds a BSc from the London School of Economics, and studied Polish at the Jagiellonian University, Cracow. The New Cold War is his first book.

Co-sponsored by the Forum on Contemporary Europe, Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.

CISAC Conference Room

Edward Lucas Central and Eastern Europe correspondent for The Economist Speaker
Seminars

Regional Challenges: A Romanian Perspective

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Prince Radu is visiting the Bay Area as special representative of the Romanian government, part of a program entitled the "Friendship Tour" covering several countries. The prince has played a major role in organizing the worldwide official visits of His Majesty King Michael I of Romania, in 1997 and 2002, marking Romania's accession into NATO. Prince Radu is colonel in the Romanian Army and holds a Ph.D. in military sciences.

His speech will address the new challenges facing Southeastern Europe and the ways in which Romania will contribute to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Jointly sponsored by the Hoover Institution, the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, and the Forum on Contemporary Europe at Stanford University.

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Lou Henry Hoover Building
Room 100
Stanford University

Prince Radu of Romania Speaker
Seminars

Victor and Yuliya: Repeating 2005?

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The renewed cohabitation between Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Tymoshenko has quickly begun to show stress. Will they repeat the 2005 experience, when Tymoshenko was sacked, and how do these tensions complicate Ukraine's current domestic and foreign policy challenges?

Synopsis

Ambassador Pifer begins his talk by recapping the past relationship between President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Tymoshenko. Mr. Pifer then proceeds to analyze the general political situation between the two at this early stage in their coalition. He explains that Yushchenko’s camp is seriously worried about the votes Tymoshenko could take away from him in the 2009 presidential election. Mr. Pifer also reveals that many businesses that work closely with Yushchenko’s administration are more politically aligned with the opposing Party of Regions rather than Tymoshenko’s bloc. In addition, Mr. Pifer discusses the concerns with the maneuvers of the head of the presidential administration who is perhaps working for his own agenda in links with the opposing Party of Regions.

Mr. Pifer briefly analyzes the political situations for the nation’s major party leaders as well. He explains that Yushchenko is losing support as he seems more focused on the 2009 elections and has failed to advance on forming and implementing a policy agenda. Similarly, Viktor Yanukovych, head of the opposing Party of Regions, is also losing support primarily due to poor political tactics such as physically blocking the speaker of Ukraine’s parliament from entering the parliament to speak. Mr. Pifer explains that there are also rumors of internal divisions within the party. However, Mr. Pifer argues Tymoshenko seems to be staying on top and maintaining support. This is arguably due to the achievements she already has to her name with her new cabinet.

Although, it seems that this coalition arrangement is detrimental to Yushchenko politically, Mr Pifer argues that there is little alternative. He explains that it is very difficult to break a coalition and such a move could split Yushchenko’s party. At the same time, Mr. Pifer believes it is clear that Yushchenko and Tymoskenko’s relationship is costing Ukraine. Mr. Pifer feels there is too much infighting and not enough governance, and this is illustrated by the lack of much shared domestic policy. Mr. Pifer also cites the two’s competing trips to negotiate with Gazprom and disputes over the NATO membership action plan as evidence for their disagreements and inefficiency.

Mr. Pifer concludes by arguing that while this coalition is fragile, he feels it may last longer than many believe as there is very little alternative. However, although this coalition will probably not be effective in policy-making, the fact that the economy is sound and both candidates are playing by democratic rules should be taken as a good sign.

about the speaker

Steven Pifer is a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A retired Foreign Service officer, his more than 25 years with the State Department focused on U.S. relations with the former Soviet Union and Europe, as well as on arms control and security issues. His assignments included deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (2001-2004), ambassador to Ukraine (1998-2000), and special assistant to the president and National Security Council senior director for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia (1996-1997). He also served at the U.S. embassies in Warsaw, Moscow and London, as well as with the U.S. delegation to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces negotiations in Geneva. He holds a B.A. in economics from Stanford University, where he later spent a year as a visiting scholar at Stanford's Institute for International Studies. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Encina Ground Floor Conference Room

Steven Pifer Senior Advisor, Center for Strategic and International Studies Speaker
Seminars

A Status Report from the Software Decompilation Battle

A source of sores for software copyright owners in the European Union and the United States?

For traditional media, such as novels, copyright represents a “bargain” between the individual author and the general public: the author has an exclusive right to make and sell copies, but anyone can look at the novel, learn from its ideas, and use those ideas as a stimulus for the creation and a reward for the publication of new works.

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