Evolution of subnational foreign economic relations in Nigeria

ABSTRACT

In the current dispensation of civilian rule in Nigeria (1999–present), her subnational governments (SNGs) have increasingly been engaging in economic activities which impact on how Nigeria conducts her international economic interactions. This emerging trend is at variance with the existing legal provisions under the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, which preclude SNGs from this policy space. This article examines the evolution of the constitutional framework for SNG involvement in Nigeria’s foreign economic relations since independence. It is the argument in this article that the exclusion of SNGs from foreign affairs under the 1999 Constitution is a departure from the original configuration at independence. It is further argued that the recent episodes of SNG involvement in international economic activities are occurring despite the constitutional restrictions owing to external factors such as globalisation and internal factors such the growing need among SNGs to find alternative ways to fund their economic development objectives.     

Book reviews

Canache, Damarys and Kulisheck, Michael (eds.) (1998), Reinventing Legitimacy: Democracy and Political Change in Venezuela. Mauceri, Philip (1998), State under Siege: Development and Policy Making in Peru. Ruth Berins Collier (1999), Paths Toward Democracy: The Working Class and Elites in Western Europe and Soth America. Sommer, Doris (ed.) (1999), The Places of History: Regionalism Revisited in Latin America. Rodr1Hguez‐Luis, Julio (ed.) (1999), Re‐Reading JoseHMartiH: One Hundred Years Later. Taylor, William B. (1996), Magistrates of the Sacred: Priests and Parishioners in Eighteenth‐Century Mexico. Purnell, Jennie. (1999), Popular Movements and State Formation in Revolutionary Mexico: The Agraristas and Cristeros of Michoacan. Evans, Sterling (1999), The Green Republic: A Conservation History of Costa Rica. Arthur, Charles and Dash, Michael (eds.) (1999), A Haiti Anthology: Libete. Sheahan, John (1999), Searching for a Better Society: The Peruvian Economy from 1950. Lesser, Je4rey (1999), Negotiating National Identity: Immigrants, Minorities, and the Struggle for Ethnicity in Brazil. Hanchard, Michael (ed.) (1999), Racial Politics in Contemporary Brazil. Brooke, Larson (1998), Cochabamba, 1550–1900: Colonialism and Agrarian Transformation in Bolivia. Gilderhus, Mark T. (2000), The Second Century: U.S.+Latin American Relations Since 1889. Palermo, Vicente and Novaro, Marcos (1996), Pol1Htica y poder en el gobierno de Menem. Tedesco, Laura (1999), Democracy in Argentina: Hope and Disillusion. Owensby, Brian P. (1999), Intimate Ironies: Modernity and The Making of Middle‐Class Lives in Brazil. Field, Les W. (1999), The Grimace of Macho Raton Artisans, Identity and Nation in Late 20th Century Western Nicaragua. Pichon, Francisco, Uquillas, Jorje and Frechione, John (eds.) (1999), Traditional and Modern Natural Resource Management in Latin America. Wilson, Fiona (ed.) (1999), Violencia y Espacio Social: Estudios Sobre Conflicto y Recuperacion. Koonings, Kees and Kruijt, Dirk (eds.) (1999), Societies of Fear. The Legacy of Civil War, Violence and Terror in Latin America.     

Tokyo conference on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament 4–5 November 1999

The Institute for International Policy Studies (IIPS) of Japan, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation of Germany, and the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (BCSIA) of Harvard University, USA, held a joint meeting on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament in Tokyo on 4–5 March 1999 and agreed on a Joint Proposal. This Proposal was then distributed to leading research institutes around the world and their viewpoints were solicited. Twenty representatives from 15 countries gathered for a conference to discuss the Proposal on 4–5 November 1999. The following report is a summary of the discussion that took place at the November conference. The Joint Proposal was published in Asia-Pacific Review, Vol. 6, No. 1, May 1999.     

Australian Reporting from East Timor 1975–1999: Journalists as Agents of Change

This article examines Australian reporting in East Timor from 1975 to 1999, and the changing professional practice of Australian journalists who reported from the region during this time. Research conducted for this article includes testimony from the journalists, and a collating of 3,456 newspaper articles published in the mainstream Australian press on the East Timor situation between 1998 and 1999. It will show that in addition to new regulations over access to the region, new mobile media technologies pushed journalism in new directions, adding to the ability of the journalist to facilitate instantaneous delivery of news to Australia. These reports filed by Australian journalists from East Timor were crucial in fostering the Australian government's decision to send troops to the region.     

Book reviews

Adelman, Jeremy (1999), Republic of Capital: Buenos Aires and the Legal Transformation of the Atlantic World .
Walker, Charles F. (1999), Smoldering Ashes: Cuzco and the Creation of Republican Peru, 1780–1840 .
Schmidt-Nowara, Christopher (1999), Empire and Antislavery: Spain, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, 1833+1874 .
Lauria-Santiago, Aldo (1999), An Agrarian Republic: Commercial Agriculture and the Politics of Peasant Communities in El Salvador, 1823–1914 .
Austin-Broos Diane J. (1997), Jamaica Genesis: Religion and The Politics of Moral Orders .
V. Montecinos (Ed.) (1998), Economists, Politics and the State: Chile 1958–1994, vol. viii .
A. Hira (ed.) (1998); Ideas and Economic Policy in Latin America: Regional, National and Organizational Case Studies .
Cullather, Nick (1999), Secret History: The CIA's Classified Account Of Its Operations in Guatemala 1952+1954 .
Wilson Samuel (ed.) (1999), The Indigenous People of the Caribbean .
Gary H. Gossen (1999), Telling Maya Tales. Tzotzil Identities in Modern Mexico .
Lievesley, Geraldine, Democracy in Latin America: Mobilisation, Power and the search for a New Politics .
Gould Jeffrey (1998), To Die in This Way. Nicaraguan Indians and the Myth of Mestizaje, 1880–1965 .
Torres, Carlos Alberto and Puiggrós, Adriana (1998), Latin American Education. Comparative Perspectives .
Archetti, Edwardo (1999), Masculinities, Football, Polo and the Tango in Argentina .
Outtes Joel (ed.) (1997), O Recife: gênese do urbanismo, 1927+1943 .     

Book reviews

Gutiérrez, Natividad (2000), Nationalist Myths and Ethnic Identities. Indigenous Intellectuals and the Mexican State .
Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld (1999), The Native Leisure Class: Consumption and Cultural Creativity in the Andes .
Buxton, Julia and Phillips, Nicola (eds.) (1999), Developments in Latin American political economy - States, Markets and Actors .
Mignolo, Walter D (2000), Local Histories/Global Designs. Coloniality, Subaltern Knowledges, and Border Thinking .
José Sánchez-H. (1999), The Art and Politics of Bolivian Cinema .
Rosaleen Howard-Malverde (ed.) (1997), Creating Context in Andean Cultures. Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics .
Clastres, Pierre (1998), Chronicle of the Guayaki Indians .
Rebhun, L.A. (1999), The Heart is Unknown Country: Love in the Changing Economy of Northeast Brazil .
Molloy, S. and Irwin, Robert McKee (eds.) (1998), Hispanisms and Homo-sexualities .     

Russian-Speakers in Ukraine and Kazakhstan: “Nationality,” “Population,” or Neither?

A political scientist examines the level of attachment to the “Russian-speaker” label among Russians and Russian-speakers who live outside of Russia within the former Soviet Union. Also examined is the proposition that this label is the main alternative to assimilation and that those who accept it think differently from those who do not about issues such as the independence of their state of residence. Survey and focus-group data collected in 1998 and 1999 in Ukraine and Kazakhstan are examined to analyze whether “Russian-speaker” is a more important identity marker than citizenship and ethnic group.     

Sandler, Freedman and Telhami: Religion in Israeli Politics The Religious-Secular Divide in Israeli Politics

The following is the edited text of a Sadat Forum held at the Brookings Institution on February 23, 1999. The cosponsors are the Brookings Foreign Policy Program and the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland.     

Reflections on Economic Sovietology: A Comment

A specialist on Russian politics and society examines the apparent success of economic and political liberalism in Novgorod oblast' in the 1990s. The article is based on published and unpublished documentary sources from the region, as well as in-depth, repeated interviews with local officials during 1997-1999. Focus is on progress in economic reform, finance, and foreign investment, forms of political decentralization and representation, the growth civic associations, and styles of political leadership. Several explanations for these outcomes are proposed and discussed.     

The Impact of Lower Oil Prices on The Economies of Gulf States

The following is the edited text of his remarks to a Brookings Sadat Forum on April 21, 1999, at the Brookings Institution. The cosponsors are the Brookings Foreign Policy Program and the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland.     

Presidentas Rise: Consequences for Women in Cabinets?

Since 1999, women have democratically won the presidency eight times in Latin America and have named hundreds of ministers. This study argues that under certain conditions, presidentas are more likely than male presidents to improve women's cabinet representation. Two mechanisms, presidenta mandates and gendered networks, appear to drive the relationship. Furthermore, because the pool of ministerial candidates is shallower for women than for men, presidentas are most likely to advance women's representation in cabinets at the beginning of their term and for “feminine” ministries. A case study of Michelle Bachelet's 2006 ministerial appointments reveals initial evidence for the argument. Empirical implications are then tested with an original dataset of 1,908 ministers of all democratically elected Latin American presidents since 1999. Model results are consistent with the theory that presidentas are most likely to “make a difference” when they are least constrained by the supply of female ministerial candidates.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: DEVILLE, Anne et Olivier PAYE (éds.) (1999). Les femmes et le droit. Constructions idéologiques et pratiques sociales. EPPLE, Ruedi (1998). Bewegung im Übergang. Zur Geschichte der Politik im Kanton Basel‐Landschaft, 1890–1990. FREITAG, Markus (1999). Politik und Währung. Ein internationaler Vergleich. ISMAYR, Wolfgang (Hrsg.) (1997). Die politischen Systeme Westeuropas. JOST, Hans Ulrich (1999). Europa und die Schweiz, 1945–1950: Europarat, Supranationalität und schweizerische Supranationalität und schweizerische. LINDER, Wolf (1999). Schweizerische Demokratie: Institutionen ‐ Prozesse ‐ Perspektiven. MEYER, Martin und Georg KOHLER (Hrsg.) (1998). Die Schweiz ‐ für Europa? Über Kultur und Politik. SCHWARZ, Klaus‐Dieter (1999). Weltmacht USA. Zum Verhältnis von Macht und Strategie nach dem Kalten Krieg.     

The Russian Bailiffs Service and the Enforcement of Civil Judgments

A lawyer and economist examines the Russian Bailiffs Service. Results of a 1999 survey of bailiffs, interviews with Bailiffs Service officials, and recent news articles are analyzed to evaluate the administrative and incentive structures of the agency. Attention is focused on the government's relationship with bailiffs and specific policy suggestions to improve the agency's effectiveness are made.     

The Decline and Fall of Democracy in Venezuela: Ten Theses

This paper presents an argument about the causes of the decline and fall of the 1958–1999 system of democratic politics, commonly known in Spanish as puntofijista , in Venezuela. Competing explanations of this process are evaluated, and an interim assessment of President Hugo Chávez and his political project is offered.     

THE RENAISSANCE FACTOR IN SOUTH AFRICA AND THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF AFRICAN REGIONAL GOVERNANCE (1999-2008)

ABSTRACT

This article examines a likely South African hegemony in Africa between 1999 and 2008. Hegemony is admittedly difficult to define in African regionalism studies, as it is counter intuitive to Pan-Africanism discourse. However, this article aims to show that hegemony can be a credible argument in explaining the South African driven changes that occurred in African regionalism between 1999 and 2008. The article locates key characteristics which underpin arguments of South African hegemony during the study timeline. It argues that Thabo Mbeki's governance philosophy of African renaissance was the central piece of South African Africa foreign policy that distinguishes this period from any other before or after it. By establishing hegemonic credibility in South Africa's interaction with Africa in this period, the article demonstrates how South Africa was able to contribute to transformational governance changes in Africa. This also holds lessons for South African regional ascendancy in the future.     

Book reviews

Datenhandbuch zur Geschichte des Deutschen Bundestages 1949 bis 1999. Edited by Peter Schindler. 3 Volumes. Baden‐Baden: Nomos, 1999. DM 98.

Finanzverfassung und Föderalismus in Deutschland und Europa. Edited by Thiess Buttner. Baden‐Baden: Nomos, 2000. DM 48 pb.

Krise und Reform des Föderalismus. Edited by Reinhard C. Meier‐Walser and Gerhard Hirscher. Munich: Olzog, 1999. DM 24.80.

Hinter den Kulissen von Regierungsbündnissen. Koalitionspolilik in Bund, Ländern und Gemeinden. Edited by Roland Sturm and Sabine Kropp. Baden‐Baden: Nomos, 1999. DM 74.

Austria — Out of the Shadow of the Past. By Anton Pelinka. Oxford: Westview Press, 1998.

Austria. World Bibliographical Series. Revised edition. Volume 66. By Michael Mitchell. Oxford: Clio Press, 1999.

The Official Concept of the Nation in the Former GDR. By Joanna McKay. Hants/Vermont: Ashgate, 1998.

NATO and the Future of European Security. By Sean Kay. Rowman and Littlefield, 1998.

Linguistics and the Third Reich: Mother‐Tongue Fascism and the Science of Language. By Christopher M. Hutton. Routledge Studies in the History of Linguistics. London and New York: Routledge, 1999.

The Language of the Third Reich. LTI ‐ Lingua Tertii Imperii. A Philologist's Notebook. By Victor Klemperer. Translated by Martin Brady. London and New Brunswick: The Athlone Press, 2000.

German Studies. Old and New Challenges. Undergraduate Programmes in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Edited by Peter Rolf Lutzeier. Berne: Peter Lang, 1998 (German Linguistic and Cultural Studies, vol. 1).

EU Enlargement and its Macroeconomic Effects in Eastern Europe. Currencies, Prices, Investment and Competitiveness. By Hubert Gabrisch and Rüdiger Pohl. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1999.

Welfare States in Transition. East and West. By Irwin Collier, Herwig Roggemann, Oliver Scholz and Horst Tomann. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1999.

Economic Transition in Hungary and East Germany. Gradualism and Shock Therapy in Catch‐up Development. By Johannes Stephan. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1999.

Doing Business with Germany. Edited by Jonathan Reuvid and Roderick Millar (consultant eds.). In association with German‐British Chamber of Industry and Commerce, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Eversheds. Business Lawyers in Europe. London: Kogan Page, 2nd edn. 1999. Reprinted 2000.

The German Skills Machine: Sustaining Comparative Advantage in a Global Economy. Edited by Pepper D. Culpepper and David Finegold. Berghahn Books, 1999.

Reconstructing Education. By Rosalind M.O. Pritchard. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books, 1999.

In a Cold Crater: Cultural and Intellectual Life in Berlin, 1945–1948. By Wolfgang Schivelbusch. Translated by Kelly Barry. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.

The Longman Companion to Germany Since 1945. By Adrian Webb. London: Longman, 1998.

Ausgewcihlte Aspekte des Transformationsprozesses im Cesundheitswesen der neuen Bundeslander. Edited by Viola Schubert‐Lehnhardt, Christel Gibas and Birgit Möbest. Berlin: Trafo Verlag, 1998.

Lebensbedingungen, Lebensgestaltung und Lebensinn von älteren Frauen in Deutschland und Europa. Edited by Viola Schubert‐Lehnhardt. Berlin: Trafo Verlag, 2000.     

Irrigating the famished fields: The impact of labour-led struggle on policy and action in Nigeria (1999–2007)

Between 1999 and 2007, a broad-based labour-led movement which focused most of its energies on its struggle against unpopular fuel price hikes in Nigeria was able to exert considerable, though limited, influence on an Obasanjo-led executive arm of government that was at best quasidemocratic in its orientation. This article argues that, despite the very important roles played by other factors (notably the presence of more democratic space in Nigeria post-1999), the movement's adoption of a mass social movement approach facilitated its ability to exert such influence.     

Book reviews

Ackerman B &; A Alstott, The Stakeholder Society. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999. 296pp. ISBN: 0–300–07826. US$26.00. http://www.yale.edu/yup

Adedeji A (ed.), Comprehending and Mastering African Conflicts: The Search for Sustainable Peace and Good Governance. London: Zed Books, in association with the African Centre for Development and Strategic Studies, Ijebu‐Ode, 1999. 377pp. ISBN: 1–85649–763–1. US$27:50. http://www.zedbooks.demon.co.uk

Berkovitch N, From Motherhood to Citizenship: Women's Rights and International Organisations. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999. 207pp. ISBN: 0–8018–6028–8. US$34.95. http://www.press.jhu.edu/ press/index.html

Bourgia R &; SG Miller (eds), In the Shadow of the Sultan: Culture, Power and Politics in Morocco. Massachussets: Harvard University Press, 1999. 310pp. ISBN 0–932885–20–9. £12.50. http://www.hup.harvard.edu

Cohen R &; Westbrook R (eds.), Armana Diplomacy . Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2000. 307pp. ISBN: 0–8018–6199–3. US$57.00. http://www.press.jhu.edu

Cullather N, Secret History: The CIA's Classified Account of its Operations in Guatemala. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999. 142pp. ISBN: 0–8047–3311–2. US$39.50. http://www.sup.org

De Cerreno ALC &; A Keynan, Scientific Co‐operation, State Conflict: The Roles of Scientists in Mitigating International Discord. Edited conference papers published as Volume 866 of Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. New York, 1999, 281 pp, ISBN: 1 57331 203 7, US$27,00. Http://www.press.jhu.edu

Donoso BP, Across the Footsteps of Africa: The Experiences of an Ecuadorian Doctor in Malawi and Mozambique. Trenton: Africa World Press, 1999, 242pp. ISBN: 0–86543–640–1. US$19.95. http.//www.africanword.com

Drèze J, The Economics of Famine, An Elgar Reference Collection, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 1999. pp. 524. ISBN: 1–85898–689–3. £130. http://www.e‐elgar.co.uk

Emmett T, ‘A study of the development of a movement of national liberation in Namibia, between 1915 and 1966’, in Popular Resistance and the Roots of Nationalism in Namibia, 1915–1966. Basel, Switzerland: P Schlettwein Publishing, 1999. 420pp. ISBN: 3–908193–03–6. Swiss F55. http://www.baslerafrika.ch/bns.htm

Gaubatz K T, Elections and War: The Electoral Incentive in the Democratic Politics of War and Peace. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1999. 208pp. ISBN: 08047–3566–2. US$45.00. http://www.sup.org

Hawken P, Lovins AB &; LH Lovins, Natural Capitalism: The Next Industrial Revolution. London: Earthscan Publications Ltd, 1999. 396pp. ISBN: 1–85383–461–0. £18.99. http://www.earthscan.co.uk

Herbst J, States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000, 280pp. ISBN: 069–10–10285. US$17.95. http://www.pupress.princeton.edu

Jett DC, Why Peacekeeping Fails. New York: St Martin's Press, 2000, 236pp. ISBN: 031–22269–85. US$49.95. http://www.stmartins.com

Hodgson G, Evolution and Institutions: On Evolutionary Economics and the Evolutions of Economics . Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 1999. 345pp. ISBN: 1–85898–813–6. £55.00. http://www.e‐elgar.co.uk

Guha S, Environment and Ethnicity in India: 1200–1991. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. 217pp. ISBN: 0–521–64078–4. £35.00. http://www.cup.cam.ac.uk

Iheduru OM, The Politics of Economic Restructuring and Democracy in Africa. London: Greenwood Press,1999. 169 pp. ISBN: 0–313–30833–0. £37.50. http://www.greenwood.com

Jain PC, Indians in South Africa: Political Economy of Race Relations. Delhi: Kalinga Publications, 1999. 175 pp. ISBN: 81–85163–102‐X. US$80.00.

Kathadra A, Letters from Robben Island: A Selection of his Prison Correspondence, 1964–1989. Bellville and East Lansing: Mayibuye Books and Michigan State University Press, 1999. 263pp. ISBN: 087–01352–79 R120.00. http://www.msu.edu/unit/msupress/index.htm

Middleton N &; D Thomas (eds), World Atlas of Desertification. United Nations Environment Programme, 2^nd edition. London: Arnold, 1997.182pp. ISBN: 0–340–69166–2. http://www.unep.org     

The Indonesian crisis and beyond

The crisis in Indonesia is first and foremost a political crisis that has been exposed and complicated by the financial crisis, says Jusuf Wanandi, Chairman of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta. The riots of 14 and 15 May 1998 forced President Soeharto to transfer power to his vice‐president, B. J. Habibie. However, because Habibie lacks credibility and legitimacy as a leader, he has been considered from the outset a transition figure. There is great hope that the general elections in June 1999 will solve the questions about the legitimacy of the government, and restore stability, security, and economic development throughout Indonesia, but there are still many obstacles to overcome if the elections are to be held on schedule. Furthermore, if the election results are not deemed fair, a political upheaval will likely occur. Indonesia, Wanandi says, cannot afford any further mistakes.