Deadly foreign terrorism and the rank-ordered tournament for foreign press attention: implications for counterterrorism

Limiting the attention countries receive from the foreign press is thought to reduce the incidence of deadly foreign attacks, but by how much? We show that the incidence of deadly foreign terrorism increases as a nonlinear function of the level of foreign press attention states receive. As a result, the benefits of reducing foreign press attention to prevent deadly foreign terrorist attacks are uneven: some states stand to benefit more than others. Nevertheless, we also show that reducing press attention produces, at best, only minor reductions in the number of deadly foreign terrorist attacks states experience. These results suggest that reducing foreign press attention may not provide as much security as governments expect.     

The global system and the implications of interactions

The author points out that increased interaction between nations is characterized as inherently beneficial; little or no attention has been paid to the costs of interaction. The exponential growth of interaction between nations has vastly exceeded man's capacity to govern the international system. Using a cybernatic model, Scott describes the exponential growth in interaction as the positive feedback loop in the global system which generates an increasing rate of new problems; the negative feedback loop is the source of solutions to these problems. Complexity has given rise to unpredictability in an era in which inability to foresee the consequences of actions has serious, perhaps lethal, implications. By virtue of increased interaction, a crisis in one part of the globe has ramifications throughout the system. We must concentrate our efforts on developing adequate means of management and control of the international system or face ultimate systemic breakdown.     

The levels of analysis problems and the study of foreign international,and global affairs: A review critique,and another final solution

Discussions about the “levels of analysis problem” have proliferated the field for almost two decades. In 1961, J. David Singer began the discussion in a now classic article. In response to Singer, analysts like Robert Isaak have attacked the Singer interpretation while many others have carelessly or obliviously skirted the issues surrounding the levels of analysis problem. Much of the confusion can be traced to a failure to view the importance of analytical levels in the aggregate analytical process and a failure to differentiate between causal and effectual levels of analysis. Causal levels of analysis are those whose variables or factors are antecedent to a particular behavior; effectual levels are those on which the behavior or phenomena in question actually occur, that is, on which the effect or result of the causal variables manifests itself. With reference to the aggregate analytical process, whenever scholars engage in inquiry they necessarily employ at least one causal and one effectual level of analysis. When properly conceptualized, levels of analysis considerations can lead to more structured and more productive foreign policy, international, and global analyses. Some of these analyses can be strengthened even more via the use of analytical frameworks constructed from conceptualizations of dual levels of analysis.     

Democratic theory,the courts and the press

Powerful social forces block the transition from authoritarianism to democracy. Economic, political and social stability has not yet been achieved. The corporatist political and social structures have not been transformed to allow the vast majority to enjoy the basic necessities that ensure a life of dignity. Institutional structures of government, such as an independent judiciary, must be developed and stabilized. The rule of law and the guarantees of due process have to be consolidated and become an accepted, basic requirement of social interaction. Creating a specific kind of deliberative democracy based on the epistemic value of democratic decision making and discussion is the only way forward. This justificatory theory is more likely to allow for equal participation and rational discourse among all segments of the population. Objective information on important societal issues is a necessary prerequisite for such participation. This requires an independent press that adequately performs its democratic functions. Moreover, an independent judiciary has an indispensable role to play in this process, particularly in protecting the free flow of information to the people so that they can make informed choices on issues crucial to a democracy.     

Privacy,the news media,and the courts

Abstract

This article is concerned with the conflict between the news media's position that the public has a ‘'right to know'’ under the free press provision of the First Amendment and the right to privacy under the tort law. The constitutional issue is raised whenever the media print or broadcast accurate, but often embarrassing, facts about a person, or whenever personal information is publicized which an individual prefers not to share with the general public.

In unwanted publicity and public disclosure cases, the courts have accorded greater weight to the defendant defenses of consent, news‐worthiness, and media privilege than to the plaintiff's invasion of privacy claim. To remedy this inequity, a two‐tier judicial model is proposed that would have courts balance the two competing interests in such a manner as to enhance individual privacy without diminishing the informational function of the news media.     

Disputing the geopolitics of the states system and global capitalism

Alex Callinicos's intervention in the debate on the geopolitics of the states system and capitalist modernity provides a crucial wake-up call to International Relations theory and practice. Yet, within the contending positions he outlines disputing the political economy of geopolitical conflict, inter-state rivalry and capitalist imperialism, the insights of Antonio Gramsci are notably absent. This article contributes to the debate by elaborating how the theory of passive revolution reveals the political rule of capital, thereby internally relating the states system to capitalist modernity within a focus on uneven development. This concern is evident in Gramsci's analysis of the labour process of Anglo-Saxon capitalism and the geopolitics of the states system contained within his survey of 'Americanism and Fordism'. Theorization on the passive revolution of capital might then provide a fruitful basis from which an empirical research agenda on social development could be advanced with reference to post-colonial state formation processes.

The Italian bourgeoisie succeeded in organizing its state not so much through its own intrinsic strength, as through being favoured in its victory over the feudal and semi-feudal classes by a whole series of circumstances of an international character (Napoleon III's policy in 1852-60; the Austro-Prussian War of 1866; France's defeat at Sedan and the development of the German Empire after this event). – Antonio Gramsci, `Origins of the Mussolini Cabinet', Letter to the Fourth World Congress of the IIIrd International (20 November 1922).     

The WTO and foreign investment

The European Commission and other OECD countries would like a foreign-investment treaty (or 'multilateral investment agreement') within the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This would allow foreign companies to establish themselves with 100 per cent equity in all sectors (except security) in any WTO country; and receive 'national treatment' on a par with local firms. National policies favouring local enterprises or facilities would be deemed discriminatory, and thus illegal under WTO rules. The penalties for non-compliance with WTO agreements are extensive. This article explores the grave implications of such a treaty for developing countries, and suggests alternatives that are available to them.     

The international news about governability: A comparison of the New York Times and six news wires

This paper examines the international news coverage of governability offered by several news sources. Governability is defined as actual or potential challenges to the domestic political order or stability of a nation, manifested by oppositional violence, leadership crises or institutional change. The New York Times, AP, UPI, Reuters, Northern Reuters, Kyodo and Xinshua are examined for one week. We evaluate how well these sources cover governability issues with respect to four criteria: relative emphasis on the topic, volume of coverage, depth of coverage and extensiveness of country coverage (on both a global and a regional basis). Our results indicate that the global coverage of governability concentrates on certain regions and countries of the world, and that large gaps appear for Africa and for much of the Third World. The New York Times offers the most in‐depth coverage of governability issues, but UPI, AP, Reuters and Northern Reuters offer much wider country coverage. We also found that two non‐Western news wires (Kyodo and Xinshua) concentrate more on governability issues but offer less extensive country coverage than Western sources.     

Immigration,refugees, and foreign policy

The author first notes that mass movements of people across international boundaries, whether voluntary or forced, are increasingly becoming topics for international concern. In particular, the late 1970s and early 1980s have seen a series of migration crises with powerful foreign policy implications. The policy consequences of these international migration movements are considered, with particular reference to U.S. policy.     

The press and political controversy: The case for narrative analysis

This paper introduces narrative analysis, a method for press criticism that relies on concepts drawn from nondeconstructionist literary criticism, to study questions about the political power of the media. Narrative analysis seeks to specify the range of compositional options available to journalists covering a particular topic and the conventional meanings associated with each option. In the case at hand, the paper identifies choices made by profilers of James A. Baker III, to affiliate their news stories with six genres of American political journalism. The genres are called celebrity, contest, image, passage, investigation, and crusade stories. Classifying news stories by genre shows, in this case, that media portrayals of authority figures are not as uniformly supportive or adversarial as, respectively, left‐liberal and neoconservative theorists of media power have contended.     

Fusing the international system: Notes on regional and global integration processes

The relationship between regional integration and global integration is rarely attempted by scholars perhaps because the former appears to have had little impact upon the latter. Those who do examine the theoretical aspects of the relationship are inclined to argue that regional integration is dysfunctional for global integration because it may lead to interregional conflict. There is also the argument that the more unified regions become the more likely will there arise a lack of interest in global collaboration. On the other hand it is possible that in the next twenty‐five to fifty years an array of regionally unified blocs could function cooperatively on the basis of a system of regional coexistence supported by inter‐regional nuclear deterrence. This may not promote global integration but it could contribute to a semblance of order in a future global system.