The United States and South Pacific regionalism: Participation or subversion?

Abstract

Increasing political awareness in the Pacific island nations during the 1970s led them to adopt foreign and domestic policies that the metropolitan nations considered detrimental to their interests in the Pacific. The South Pacific Forum (SPF) stood at the center of much of the decision making. For the United States in particular it became imperative that it check the SPF's decision-making process. This led the United States to seek avenues through which it could effectively influence the decisions of the South Pacific's regional organizations. Such attempts were intended primarily to undermine the sovereignty and independence of the South Pacific Forum and affiliated regional organizations. This article discusses the rationale for and processes through which the United States has been trying to manipulate South Pacific regional institutions into serving its interests in the region.     

Judging the Judiciary: Understanding Public Confidence in Latin American Courts

Although there is a substantial literature examining public confidence in the judiciary in developed nations, scholars have paid scant attention to analyzing judicial confidence in developing countries. Building on extant work regarding developed nations and introducing original hypotheses in the context of developing nations, this research explains influences on public confidence in Latin American judiciaries by developing a theory that focuses on the potential influences of institutional quality, experiences, and individual attitudes. The hypotheses are empirically tested with the rich individual‐level data compiled by the Latin American Public Opinion Project 2006 survey. The results indicate that a variety of factors influence public confidence in Latin American courts; the role of context explains points of consistency and divergence with research on developed nations.     

Philippine “normalization”: The politics of form

Abstract

Third World nations, on the whole, have amply demonstrated that they cannot produce the ambiance for the democratic institutions they inherited from their former imperial rulers. In such poor nations, class cleavages are widening as a result of structurally conservative development policies adopted by the ruling elite s in collusion with the First World. Elite attempts to limit “politics” to the symbolic level, safely played out in institutions largely insulated from any popular sharing in power, have been frequently repudiated. Popular demands for structural change in these countries have induced national elites to dismantle representative institutions and to turn to more coercive methods of control.     

The Baltic Sea region in international relations of the twentieth century: The seminal nature of the interwar period

Abstract

The article addresses the idea and problems of political cooperation and integration of the Baltic Sea countries in the twentieth century from the point of view of a small nation. In the interwar period such cooperation between both old and new nations was virtually non-existent. Still, the second half of the 1920s became a sort of prediction of the direction in which the relationships between the small nations on the Baltic might develop when the region was not dominated by imperialist great power policies. The end of the twentieth century in this region differs radically from the first half of the century in both the former and the latter. Yet the developments of today signify the realization of the visions of that period.     

China in Pacific Regional Politics

Abstract

Foreign aid from China to the island countries of the Pacific has grown rapidly over the last few decades and an expanding body of literature has examined various aspects of what this means for politics in the region generally. This article focuses on China’s impact on Pacific regional politics partly from the perspective of identity politics. It suggests that China has substantially increased its engagement with the Pacific island states by making use of its own identity as a South–South development partner in contrast to traditional (mainly Western) donors in the region. Unlike most traditional donors, however, China’s diplomacy and engagement are based largely on bilateralism, and this is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. This approach could continue to limit its impact on Pacific regionalism, regardless of how it projects its image.     

The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan: International Reactions,Military Intelligence and British Diplomacy

From the outset the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was strongly condemned by Britain and all the other NATO member states, by the non-aligned group and by key countries in Asia and the Middle East. During the first days following the invasion, London worked for the speedy build-up of a diplomatic consensus, while the Carter administration was still in a state of surprise and some confusion. It is evident that the single factor that led many countries to join forces diplomatically was the fear of further Soviet adventurism in Asia and the Middle East; uninformed, alarmist assessments of Soviet intentions played a major part in cementing a diplomatic coalition, which led to the condemnation of Moscow in the UN General Assembly – predictably, the Soviets had vetoed a Security Council resolution. Simply put, the fear of war led to something of a panic among non-aligned nations, which in turn convinced them to back western diplomacy.     

Global reporting from the Third World: the Afro-Asian Journalists’ Association, 1963–1974

ABSTRACT

Originating from the 1955 Bandung Conference, the Afro-Asian Journalists’ Association (AAJA) promoted international collaboration among journalists in newly independent countries. Built on an inclusive foundation of peaceful co-existence, the AAJA contributed to the development of expansive global information networks, lively intellectual traffic, and rich visual arts among Afro-Asian nations. However, the cosmopolitanism of its early years was later undermined by the decline of constitutional democracy in Indonesia and a lack of cohesion among Afro-Asian nations. After the September Thirtieth Movement in Indonesia in 1965, the AAJA relocated to Beijing and was mobilized by the Chinese state to promote the P.R.C. as the leader of an embittered Third World’s battle against American imperialism and Soviet revisionism. In the early 1970s, ideological fervor began abating in China. During this time, Mao’s reframing of the three worlds, which was based on developmental measurements, redirected the AAJA’s Third World discourse to issues of modernization until its quiet dissolution in 1974. The history of the AAJA demonstrates the complex and often conflicted ways in which two important post-colonial states – Indonesia and China – conceptualized “the Third World” and formulated media representations during the Cold War.     

Climate change: Double-edged sword for African trade and development

Abstract

African governments face increasing pressure from major export destinations, primarily former colonial and slave-owning countries, to be climate change compliant. This will certainly be on display at the upcoming December 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, which will seek to strengthen climate change rules agreed on in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, and adopt new protocols on global climate change regulation. Climate change is a double-edged sword: on one side it is hitting Africa's agricultural sector with increased droughts, floods, extreme frost and wildfires; and on the other, African governments are being forced to respond to stringent regulatory regimes imposed by international export destinations. Currently, the per capita greenhouse gas emissions from the highly industrialised nations – the North – is estimated to be four times that of Africa and the rest of the developing world. Twin research questions were investigated in this article: (1) to what extent does climate change impact on African trade and development, and (2) how can African governments stay on a path of sustained trade and development in this era of climate change? The article argues that Africa's survival in these times of climate change compliance rests on a shift to greater intra-African trade, as individual nations move towards cleaner and more organic technologies to become full-fledged partners in the international climate change regulatory regime.     

From the Claw to the Lion: A Critical Look at Capitalist Globalization

ABSTRACT

This article argues that capitalist globalization is largely responsible for creating or intensifying many of our most serious economic and social problems. It first describes the forces that drove core country transnational corporations to create a complex system of cross-border production networks. It then maps the resulting new international division of labor, in which Asian countries, especially China, import primary commodities from Latin American and sub-Saharan African countries to produce exports for core countries, especially the United States. In core countries, globalization has led to the destruction of higher paying jobs, financialization of economic activity, and stagnation. While the new international division of labor has boosted third world rates of growth, especially in Asia, it has also left the third world with unbalanced and inequitable economies. Moreover, contradictions in the globalization process point to the spread of core country stagnation to the third world. Capitalist globalization has increased third world dependence on core country consumption while simultaneously undermining core country purchasing power. The article ends by discussing a process and program of transformation that highlights the feasibility of an alternative to global capitalism as well as the organizational capacities and institutional arrangements that must be developed if we are to realize it.     

African research and development surveys: Highlights from the South African success story

ABSTRACT

Science and technology have a major role to play in current and future developments on the African continent as a whole. With the vast array of developmental challenges, current thinking needs to be expanded, so that technologies provide increased and enhanced solutions, such that African scientists produce an African response to the very many shared challenges affecting Africa – both as individual nations and as regards African people collectively. Key to developing an integrated science and technology network, within and across nations, is firstly to understand the extent of research and development (R&D) currently undertaken within individual territories and on the continent as a whole. In light of this, the article examines the value and importance of national surveys of research and experimental development undertaken in Africa. Within the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), many member states now have dedicated departments overseeing state science and technology (S&T) development initiatives. South Africa has the most developed science and technology system on the continent. In recent years, other SADC countries like Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia have initiated projects to measure R&D activities within their territories. Despite this, further North, R&D measurement on the continent is uncommon, both as a result and as a cause of underdevelopment.

The article explores the limited data from selected African R&D surveys in an attempt to understand measurement issues that exist and to detail the value and importance of mapping S&T systems and their applications to developmental issues in Africa. In countries like Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, where S&T systems exist, effective means of measurement need to be established, so that the power of these systems can be harnessed, shared and exploited to benefit the African people. To this end, the African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (ASTII) initiative was set up at a meeting in Addis Ababa with the aim of delivering a survey of these countries’ R&D output and potential. This is eagerly awaited by the African S&T community.

At the forefront of African R&D measurement is the South African national R&D survey, administered by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). Being an established survey, the South African team is often called upon by other African nations to support the setting up of surveys. The HSRC also trains visiting African scientists in the delivery of accurate and reliable R&D survey data. This article will, for the first time, present detailed results of the most recent South African national R&D survey (2008/2009), together with a trend analysis of historic South African R&D surveys.     

Review Essay

Abstract

So far in modern world history, social revolutions, though they have entailed elements of class conflict, have plainly not conformed to Marx's theoretical expectations or moral vision. They have occurred in agrarian countries caught behind foreign competitors, not in the most advanced capitalist industrial nations. And even those revolutions that have expropriated domestic capitalist classes in the name of socialist ideals have hardly resulted to date in the prosperous, democratic communist societies envisaged by Marx. (Skocpol, p. 292)     

An Historical and Political View of the Reserve and Guard Forces of the Baltic States at the Beginning of the Twenty-first Century

Abstract

The changes that have occurred in Europe since the end of the Cold War might be the most significant since the middle of the medieval period. With Poland and other nations of Central Europe, including the three Baltic states, joining the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) the political and cultural shape of Europe is rapidly changing. For the first time since the death of Charlemagne over 1,000 years ago, all of Central and Western Europe has a genuine chance of uniting. Even though this integrated Europe will be under the flag of the EU, the key that is making this possible is the military and economic power of the United States. The organization that brings the protective umbrella of the US is NATO. For nations to be taken seriously as members of NATO, they must have credible military forces. For all countries this includes the reserve and guard forces, but for small countries with conservative budgets the reserve and Home/National Guard become the most important forces. Since the Baltic states are three small countries building their militaries from zero since the end of the Cold War, the importance of the reserve and guard cannot be overemphasized. This article examines the reserve and Guard forces of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the end of the Cold War to the beginning of the twenty-first century.     

The Al Saud family and the future of Saudi Arabia

Summary

We have started by asking the question: why are there international income inequalities? We have ascribed them to differences in applied productive knowledge. This raised the question: why can productive knowledge be communicated and diffused within an advanced nation, but not between nations or within underdeveloped nations? What are the obstacles to the international diffusion of benefits ?

We have found these in two areas: obstacles to communication and absence of suitable technologies. The obstacles to communication can again be divided into those due to costs of transfer and those due to intentional restrictions or the exercise of monopoly power. But even perfect communication would not meet the need for quite different technologies from those developed in high‐income countries.

Measures that reduce the Communications Gap might make the Suitability Gap wider and vice versa, but a set of integrated actions attacking both gaps has a chance of success. Technical knowledge cannot be marketed like other products or factors because it possesses peculiar features: (i) indivisibility, (ii) inappropriability, (iii) embodiment in other factors, (iv) uncertainty and (v) impossibility to know its full value until bought. Policies for closing the two gaps are interdependent, so that the pursuit of any one in isolation might make matters worse. What is needed is a set of integrated actions, attacking both the Communications Gap and the Suitability Gap. Transfer must be supplemented by indigenous capability; adaptation by invention and innovation.     

The Regulatory State in Developing Countries: Can It Exist and Do We Want It? The Case of the Indonesian Power Sector

Abstract

In the rush for development, the regulatory state has assumed the mantle of a new panacea: the instruments and mechanisms necessary for better government, better governance, and better lives. This paper poses two basic questions in response to the rise of the regulatory state and its increasing diffusion into developing countries. First, can regulatory states exist in developing societies or, more accurately, can effective regulatory states emerge and hope to function in a manner similar to their counterparts in developed countries and deliver the types of benefits and outcomes they promise? And second, do regulatory states offer the most effective modalities for delivering enhanced social well-being? By unpacking the concept of the regulatory state and addressing its underlying assumptions and implicit normative values, it is suggested that the modalities of governance entailed in the regulatory state model may not be well suited to developing countries, hurting rather than enhancing governance outcomes. These issues are explored in relation to the Indonesian energy sector, specifically the upstream electricity generation, transmission and distribution sectors, and the machinations involved in governing the sector.     

Cooking the Goose: Fiji's Coup Culture Contextualised

Abstract

In the 40 years since Fiji became independent, there has been no shortage of perspectives from which to frame its development: its colonial past, its dual status as a Third World and Pacific island state, and, most pervasively perhaps, race conflict. This article focuses on another perspective: the failure of ethnic Fijian leaders to democratise their community politically and economically. Its consequences for the country have been long-standing and lie behind Fiji's developing coup culture     

A Divided Family: Race,the Commonwealth and Brexit

Abstract

The Commonwealth has long been conceptualised as ‘a family of nations’ in a reflection of the size, diversity and shared values of the organisation. As the discussion in post-Brexit Britain engages with questions of race and immigration, it is important to consider the role the Commonwealth played in the referendum campaigns. The combination of the Leave campaign’s promises to reinforce ties with ‘kith and kin’ in Commonwealth countries with the xenophobia that defined the campaign prompts the question what exactly does the Commonwealth mean in modern Britain? The EU referendum revealed two Commonwealths—one reflecting the backgrounds of Britain’s ethnic minorities, and one centred on the three majority white nations of Australia, New Zealand and Canada. This article will offer an investigation of these conflicting visions of the Commonwealth in the referendum, as well as the voting motivations of Commonwealth nationals and British citizens of Commonwealth descent.     

Bennu: Africa innovating itself out of underdevelopment

ABSTRACT

This article is a direct challenge to the established view reflected in the World Bank's Berg report, that structural adjustment programmes and the markets alone will resolve Africa's underdevelopment challenges. This article completely accepts that science and technology lead to products and services that create efficiency, productivity and wealth. It accepts different dynasties of industrialisation from land use (agriculture and mining), labour-intensive activities, heavy machinery, assembly lines, branding, information technology and intellectual property, but shows how – in the current global paradigm – this has led to an anomaly: while development aid flows from more industrialised to less industrialised countries, larger sums of global investment capital leave poorer countries for richer countries in search of higher returns. Having accepted the ‘returns-seeking’ nature of capital, a strategy is proposed for Africa to engage with this reality. In contrast with the Berg view, it is argued that the public sector is a key stakeholder in the developmental process. As has been put forward by Thabo Mbeki, several African countries exhibit ‘two nations’ characteristics. If this is true, all seven dynasties of industrialisation can be simultaneously developed through interventionist government, which could not happen though markets alone. A direct policy and strategy positioning in technology-related sectors that support increasing returns should be developed. Economic development bodies should have scientific and technological people to ensure technological focus in development strategies.The article demonstrates that a different value paradigm is needed. Large numbers of poor people can provide markets for goods that can yield returns for capital that are similar to markets of small numbers of rich people. A shift in the development model from Public Private Partnerships (PPP) to Public Entrepreneur Private Partnerships (PEPP) is suggested to maximise employment through sustainable entrepreneurship. Through spearheaded emerging technologies such as information convergence technologies, cellular technologies such as mobile banking, resource management and alternate energy, Africans can create output that attracts global investment capital – and not only aid. This article explores how, through investment in activities that generate increasing rather than decreasing returns, Africa will innovate its way out of what appears to be a stubborn history of underdevelopment.     

From sustainable development through green growth to sustainable development plus

Abstract

From sustainable development (SD) through green growth to sustainable development plus (SD+)! Does the ‘+’ really matter? This is the question that brings life to this article and the answer is: YES, it does. The ‘+’ makes a huge difference especially for developing countries such as those from Africa that for a long time have not been fully brought on board in shaping global discourses and the preferred future global development agenda. This article argues that the time has come for globally privileged countries of the North to realise that operationalising ‘The Future We Want’ after Rio+20 demands that developing countries be accorded unpolluted space to contribute to providing answers to difficult and elusive questions on the unsustainable ways of the past development paradigms. Among such questions are: When will the issue of resource intensive development and overconsumption be finally answered? Can green growth transition be part of the solution? How will a post 2015 framework best address the needs of developing countries? The conclusion is that SD+ signals a deeper, wider and knowledge-based understanding of global (un) sustainable perspectives that result in global citizens understanding The Future We Do Not Want.     

On The Possibility and Desirability of a Theory of Modernisation

Abstract

The verb “modernize” has a valuable use for which it is not easy to find a substitute. The political leaders and intellectuals of most developing countries desire to transform their country. They wish to see transformations in their economy, usually in their political system and educational system; often, also, in family life and in religious and cultural matters. Usually, the model for their reforming efforts is some other country more economically developed than their own; not necessarily a single country, but possibly a number of countries, each of which offers certain features to be imitated. British leaders, for instance, have recently become aware of a need to modernize many aspects of British life. Most commonly the model is America, but sometimes Scandinavian or other European countries.     

博弈类型与国际机制--APEC方式的博弈论分析

博弈论对具体的国际合作机制的形成具有很强的解释力.具体利益博弈的类型不同,它所要求的国际合作机制也不同.亚太经合组织内发达经济体与发展中经济体的利益博弈是一种特殊的非合作型博弈,这决定了A距C合作方式的特殊性.