Britain and Cambodia, September 1945-November 1946: A Reappraisal

Using archival evidence from Britain and France, and published primary and secondary literature, this article offers a reassessment of Britain's role in Cambodia during liberation duties following World War II. Britain's actions in the removal of the Son Ngoc Thanh nationalist government and the Cambodian-Siamese border dispute are analysed, revealing both a more complex and detailed British involvement in Cambodian affairs than has previously been stated.     

Regulations as Arbiters of Risk: Great Britain, Germany, and the Hazardous Waste Trade in Western Europe

This article seeks to explain why Great Britain is one of the world's largest importers of hazardous wastes, while Germany, in contrast, is a waste exporter. Why one country exhibits such risk-acceptance behavior, while another is so risk averse, I argue, depends on differences between their national systems of environmental regulation. The style and structure of Britain's regulatory system, unlike that of Germany and its other partners in Western Europe, gives a high degree of leeway to private firms, filtering out the preferences of environmental groups and public opinion, thus enabling and facilitating the importation of hazardous wastes by waste disposal companies. The empirical section tests this argument against two alternative explanations: a state-centric explanation based on individual government's calculations of the relevant costs and benefits associated with the waste trade, and second, a "comparative advantage" explanation, based on the technological superiority of Britain's waste disposal facilities. The conclusion draws out the implication for international environmental regulation and for domestic-level regulatory change.     

Britain,France, and America's Year of Europe, 1973

Britain's entry into the European Community in 1973 coincided with an American initiative aimed at redefining relations between the United States and Western Europe. This confronted British diplomats with a serious dilemma. They wished to maintain close collaboration with Washington and, for the sake of European unity, to expand on their recently achieved reconciliation with France, a country whose Gaullist elite rejected any further institutionalization of transatlantic relations. French reluctance to engage in a constructive dialogue with the Americans resulted in a fractious debate over the drafting of two seemingly innocuous declarations, and this was exacerbated by the mixed response of the Europeans to the outbreak of the fourth Arab–Israeli war and the ensuing energy crisis. Finally, at the Washington energy conference of February 1974, the British chose to work with the Americans, rather than the French, in seeking to mitigate the economic impact of OPEC's oil policies.     

Britain, France, and America's Year of Europe, 1973

Britain's entry into the European Community in 1973 coincided with an American initiative aimed at redefining relations between the United States and Western Europe. This confronted British diplomats with a serious dilemma. They wished to maintain close collaboration with Washington and, for the sake of European unity, to expand on their recently achieved reconciliation with France, a country whose Gaullist elite rejected any further institutionalization of transatlantic relations. French reluctance to engage in a constructive dialogue with the Americans resulted in a fractious debate over the drafting of two seemingly innocuous declarations, and this was exacerbated by the mixed response of the Europeans to the outbreak of the fourth Arab-Israeli war and the ensuing energy crisis. Finally, at the Washington energy conference of February 1974, the British chose to work with the Americans, rather than the French, in seeking to mitigate the economic impact of OPEC's oil policies.     

The new brain drain from Eastern to Western Europe

"The purpose of this article is to review major issues associated with the flow of expertise from Eastern to Western Europe.... Four interrelated areas are explored: (i) the levels and factors of current East-West skilled migration; (ii) the needs for future policy-oriented research on labour market trends in the countries of origin, and on the skill profile of recent East European migrants; (iii) the organization of the voluntary return of selected expatriate professionals, including the reintegration with capital of potential investors and entrepreneurs; [and] (iv) measures, in the field of training and economic cooperation/international trade, to prevent future significant levels of skilled migration."     

美、日、欧现代物流发展的比较与启示

现代物流是系统管理的思想、理念和技术,集成系统化是现代物流发展的一个重要特征。美国、日本和欧洲现代物流发展各具特点,但对我国构建现代物流体系都具有启示作用。我国物流正处于由传统物流向现代物流转型的阶段,应当吸收西方发达国家现代物流发展的经验,建设与经济发展相适应、与人口资源环境相协调的现代物流网络体系,构建现代物流发展政策措施体系,加速物流现代化的我国现代物流的发展。     

Bogus Refugees? The Determinants of Asylum Migration to Western Europe

This article analyzes the determinants of asylum migration to Western Europe. Potential asylum seekers balance the costs of staying versus the costs of migrating. Estimation results confirm that economic hardship and economic discrimination against ethnic minorities lead to higher flows of asylum seekers. However, political oppression, human rights abuse, violent conflict, and state failure are also important determinants. Migration networks and geographical proximity are important facilitators of asylum flows as predicted by theory and colonial experience, religious similarity, and casual contact with the developed world (aid, trade, and tourism) are not. Natural disasters and famines are also not statistically significant determinants. These events are typically short term and unexpected, whereas asylum migration to Western Europe requires preparatory planning. If Western European countries want to tackle the root causes of asylum migration, then they need to undertake policy measures that promote economic development, democracy, respect for human rights, and peaceful conflict resolution in countries of origin.     

Maize diversity,poverty, and market access: lessons from Mexico

Crop genetic diversity and poverty are linked: first, resource-poor farmers often maintain genetic diversity; and second, crop diversity, when properly valued by the market, has the potential to alleviate poverty. This article examines this supposition by drawing on three case studies of the intersection of the market with poverty and maize diversity in Mexico. These suggest that the bulk market for maize offers little room for maize landraces (local maize varieties known as criollo maize), in that it does not reward qualitative variation in maize grain and instead presents incentives that make planting ‘improved’ maize germplasm the rational economic choice for small-scale farmers. Meanwhile, attempts to add value to maize landraces via market differentiation have had varying success. Although there is potential for differentiated markets to contribute to successful business models and poverty alleviation, these cases exhibit trade-offs between product consistency, investment of labour and resources, and genetic-diversity conservation.     

The GATS and internet-based services: between market access and domestic regulation

The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) has attracted much attention in public and academic debate. The aim of this article is to analyse the application of the GATS to internet-based services, thus providing a lens through which important issues concerning the GATS can be highlighted. This article reviews the far-reaching implications of the recent US—Gambling dispute for the regulation of (internet-based) services. It argues that World Trade Organization Members need to make a greater effort to delineate the key GATS obligations (market access, national treatment, and disciplines on domestic regulation) in order to provide national law- and policy-makers and trade negotiators with more legal certainty and predictability in the application of the GATS.     

'Unfortunate Arabia': The United States, Great Britain and Yemen, 1955-63

As it emerged from a long, self-imposed diplomatic isolation after 1955 and then plunged into revolution and civil war in 1962, Yemen confronted its Arab neighbours, the United States, and Great Britain with difficult political challenges. This study of Anglo-American diplomacy concerning Yemen in the late 1950s and early 1960s reveals the very different British and American interests and priorities in Arabia at the height of the Cold War and underscores the different tactics employed by each nation in pursuit of its regional goals. It also points out the strikingly different attitudes of officials in Washington and London to the phenomenon of Arab nationalism. Further, it highlights the importance of stability in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula to US and British strategies for ensuring the uninterrupted flow of Persian Gulf petroleum to the West. Finally, this examination of events in southwest Arabia demonstrates how traditional rivalries and animosities in the region shaped the conditions under which the United States and Britain attempted to pursue their interests there.     

The Catholic contribution to democratization's ‘third wave’: altruism,hegemony or self-interest?

This article examines the contribution of the Roman Catholic Church to democratization's ‘third wave’. Whilst making no substantive claims about the centrality of religion to political transitions, it indicates several ways in which national Catholic hierarchies and the wider Catholic Church contributed to democratization. Of more interest, however, is the question of why the Catholic Church shifted from its traditional position of hostility to democracy. Three primary explanations are offered for the Catholic contribution: theological change, the pursuit of hegemony and the attempt to maintain market share. All three offer useful insights, though this article ultimately suggests that a combination of internal change and contingency is key to understanding this phenomenon.