The Organization of the Executive Branch in Latin America: What We Know and What We Need to Know

This article proposes a research agenda for the organization of the executive branch in Latin America by reviewing the literature on the U.S. and Latin American presidencies and outlining the research gap between them. The study finds that while strong, regionwide patterns have been established about cabinets in Latin America, research is lagging behind on the presidential center, presidential advisory networks, and their effects in policymaking. The article sets forth a series of research questions and suggests a combination of quantitative, social network, and case study strategies to address them.     

Asian currency turmoil: What the turmoil taught

Mitsuo Sato, President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), examines the causes of the East Asian financial crisis, and points out some lessons that can be learned from it. The ADB, he says, will have to accelerate its efforts to transform itself from a conventional project financier to a broad‐based development institution, in order to meet the changing needs of the Asian region. Policies related to the overall sustainability of the development process should be central to the Bank's operations, and it should focus on building up institutional capacities in its developing member countries. The ADB can use its credentials to catalyze resources for member countries, and should continue to promote sub‐regional cooperation.     

What was different about the German Democratic Republic?

For the last few years, I have been planning to write a book called Unwrapped Past and Empty Present: GDR Culture in Retrospect . The post-unification process has not been easy, and the other day I even came across a statement in the press that "other postcommunist countries did not seem to have faced the same difficulties as the former GDR". Although this is a highly questionable comment, ignoring the plight of large sections of the population under "successful" postcommunist governments and the far higher living standards of the GDR population, despite de-industrialisation and massive unemployment, it contains a grain of truth. The more I read about and discuss the East German situation before and after 1989, the more I become convinced that there were vital differences, not only in Soviet policy towards the GDR and other Warsaw Pact states, but perhaps more importantly, in the attitudes of the East German party, the intellectuals and the population at large to the idea of "nation", to the Soviet Union and even to "socialism as it existed in reality". After a stint in Potsdam cramming post-1989 memoirs, I should like to address these issues in a first try at a possible introduction to my planned book.     

新冷战,怎么办?

新冷战与其"原型"存在本质区别."新时代"的主要内容是试图维护既得利益或是收复失地的西方展开反攻,力图阻止刚刚开始的对世界的重新分割.这一正在展开的对抗,其实质正是为了遏制对老西方不利的历史进程.俄用自己的行动和姿态"助长"了新冷战的开端.既然冷战即将揭幕,只能遵从其逻辑.但在面对种种挑拨离间时,俄应当时刻想着更长远的事情、更可怕的未来.     

What harm? Kenyan and Ugandan perspectives on khat

What harm does khat actually do to users and the communitiesin which they live? In this article, the health-related, social,economic, and religious arguments of Kenyans and Ugandans forand against khat consumption are reported. The medical evidencefor harm from khat is far from compelling, and the East Africandebate on khat is informed by local political discourses thatoften are closely connected to issues of ethnicity and the controlof resources. As a result, the harm attributed to khat consumptionis contested. The objective of most local efforts to curb theuse of khat in East African towns is the reduction of socialand economic ills. Yet, eliminating khat consumption would notreverse the problems that it is identified as causing. ^1. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. ^2. See, for example, Roy Porter and Mikulas Teich, Drugs and Narcoticsin History (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995); JohnGoodman, Paul E. Lovejoy, and Andrew Sheratt, Consuming Habits:Drugs in history and anthropology (Routledge, London and NewYork, 1995). ^3. Daniel M. Varisco, ‘The elixir of life or the devil’scud? The debate over qat (Catha edulis) in Yemeni culture’,in Ross Coomber and Nigel South (eds), Drug Use and CulturalContexts: ‘Beyond the west’ (Free Association Books,London, 2004), pp. 101–118. ^4. Ezekiel Gebissa, Leaf of Allah: Khat and agricultural transformationin Harerge, Ethiopia 1875–1991 (James Currey, Oxford,2004). ^5. UNODCCP, The Drug Nexus in Africa (UN Office for Drug Control& Crime Prevention Monographs, Vienna, 1999); H.M. Adamand R. Ford (eds), Mending the Rips in the Sky: Options forSomali communities in the 21^st century (Red Sea Press, Lawrencevilleand Asmara, 1997). ^6. Neil Carrier, ‘Miraa is cool: the cultural importanceof miraa (khat) for Tigania and Igembe youth in Kenya’,Journal of African Cultural Studies, forthcoming. ^7. ESRC Award (RES-143-25-0046): ‘The Khat Nexus: trans-nationalconsumption in a global economy’. ^8. The British colonial authorities attempted to ban khat in Kenyabetween 1945 and 1956 but found regulation unworkable. ^9. Paul Goldsmith, Symbiosis and Transformation in Kenya’sMeru District (University of Florida, unpublished PhD thesis,1994). ^10. Neil Carrier, The Social Life of Miraa: Farming, trade and consumptionof a plant stimulant in Kenya (University of St Andrews, unpublishedPhD thesis, 2003). ^11. M. Ahmed and M. Garret, Proceedings of a Seminar on Khat andHealth (Tower Hamlets Health Strategy Group, London, 1994);H.A. Utteh, ‘The plight of Somali refugees in Europe,with particular reference to Germany (1993)’, in Adamand Ford, Mending Rips, pp. 449–59. ^12. Mark Horton and John Middleton, The Swahili: The social landscapeof a mercantile society (Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, 2000). ^13. Interview with Imam Mahmoud Abdulkadr of Lamu. ^14. Goldsmith, Symbiosis and Transformation. ^15. Interview with Imam Mahmoud Abdulkadr. ^16. Thanks to Imam Mahmoud Abdulkadr and committee members for providingcopies of campaign correspondence. Photocopies of correspondencein the possession of the author. ^17. Undated leaflet, issued by Nairobi office of UNODC, is entitledKHAT: (Catha edulis). ^18. UNODC, KHAT: (Catha edulis). ^19. See, for example, John Kennedy, The Flower of Paradise: Theinstitutionalized use of the drug qat in North Yemen (ReidelPublishing Company, Dordrecht, 1987). ^20. M. Dhadphale and O.E. Omolo, ‘Psychiatric morbidity amongkhat chewers’, East African Medical Journal 65, 6 (1988),pp. 355–9. ^21. M. Kithure, ‘Price of miraa. Your brain or the twig’.The Daily Nation, Nairobi, 17 May 2001. ^22. Goldsmith, Symbiosis and Transformation; Carrier, The SocialLife of Miraa. ^23. W.J. Eggling, The Indigenous Trees of the Uganda Protectorate(The Government of the Uganda Protectorate, London, 1951), p.79. ^24. Carrier, ‘Miraa is cool’. ^25. New Vision published articles on khat on 20 January 1994, 25May 1994, 26 May 1994, and 19 December 1994. Reviewed by SaidiFamau. ^26. 30 May 1998, New Vision. ^27. A.O. Ihunwo, F.I.B. Kayanja, and U.B. Amadi-Ihunwo, ‘Useand perception of the psychostimulant, khat (Catha edulis) amongthree occupational groups in south western Uganda’, EastAfrican Medical Journal 81, 9 (2004), pp. 468–73. ^28. The interviewers, Musa Almass and Mzee Hasan, were trained bySusan Beckerleg. The results were analysed using SPSS12. ^29. There is little research on the effects of khat on libido, potency,and fertility. However, Hakim found a weak association betweenkhat use and abnormal seminal fluid analysis profiles. See.L.Y. Hakim, ‘Influence of khat on seminal fluid amongpresumed infertile couples’, East African Medical Journal79, 1 (2002), pp. 22–28. ^30. Kennedy, The Flower of Paradise. ^31. See Gebissa for an account of the spread of Ethiopia khat linkedto the introduction of modern transportation in the Horn ofAfrica. See also Carrier, ‘The need for speed’,Africa, forthcoming. ^32. Kennedy, The Flower of Paradise, p. 237. ^33. Varisco, ‘The elixir of life’, p. 108. ^34. Kennedy, The Flower of Paradise, p. 194. ^35. Kennedy, The Flower of Paradise. ^36. See Goldsmith, Symbiosis and Transformation; Carrier, The SocialLife of Miraa. ^37. Kennedy, The Flower of Paradise, p. 193. ^38. Gebissa, Leaf of Allah, p. 18. ^39. Varisco, ‘The elixir of life’, p. 104. ^40. Kennedy, The Flower of Paradise, p. 232. ^41. Kennedy, The Flower of Paradise. ^42. Varisco, ‘The elixir of life’, pp. 111–12. ^43. Kennedy, The Flower of Paradise, p. 108. ^44. Gebissa, Leaf of Allah, p. 3. ^45. A. Almeddom and S. Abraham, ‘Women, moral virtue and Tchat-chewing’,in M. MacDonald (ed.), Gender, Drink and Drugs. (Berg, Oxford,1994), pp. 249–58. ^46. Gebissa, Leaf of Allah, p. 11. ^47. Almeddom and Abraham. ‘Women, moral virtue and Tchat-chewing’,pp. 249–50. ^48. Ihunwo, et al., ‘Use and perception of the psychostimulant,khat’, p. 472.     

What Drove Syria Back into the Arab Fold?

After more than a decade of brutal civil war, which is still not resolved and has left Syria divided in thirds, regional states welcomed President Bashar al-Assad back into the fold in May 2023. The Arab League's decision to reinstate Damascus's membership was the culmination of a slow and fitful process that accelerated when Saudi Arabia took the lead. Still, it is too soon to know whether and how Syrian normalization will evolve beyond its Arab core, especially due to the West's continued sanctions regime. This article analyzes how the evolution of the Syrian crisis, the changing calculus of Arab powers, and American inaction have contributed to Assad's rehabilitation. In conclusion, we consider four areas that will determine the next phase of the normalization process.     

China's Discourse on Regionalism: What it Means for India

China's approach towards regionalism and multilateralism is essentially driven by realpolitik paradigm. More specifically, China's tilt towards regionalism has been propelled by three reasons: one its own rise, two its domestic concerns and three change in the world-order in the aftermath of the collapse of bipolarism and the resultant emergence of new threats and insecurities. Regionalism in Chinese discourse is rooted primarily in the quest for building a China-led regional order, supporting China's peripheral diplomacy and grand strategy, than on mere rationale of economic gains. Therefore, in Chinese conceptualization realpolitik issues hold primacy over normative and liberal notions of interdependence. The web of regional security architecture, thus, evolved serves essentially China's security needs and grand strategy.