Civilizations Out of Sync

Efforts by the Bush Administration to launch an international public relations campaign — under the guidance of the marketing guru behind the Uncle ben' rice advertisements — is a bit naive. "If the Muslim world only understood our good intentions, all would be ok," seems to be the idea. And Hollywood has been enlisted to tell the world, "This is not a war against Muslims."     

普京接班人初现端倪

11月14日,普京总统在内阁会议上宣布,任命俄总统办公厅主任梅德韦杰夫为联邦政府第一副总理,国防部长伊万诺夫为副总理兼任国防部长,秋明州州长索比亚宁接任总统办公厅主任,巴什基尔共和国检察长科诺瓦洛夫任总统驻伏尔加河沿岸联邦区全权代表,喀山市市长伊斯哈科夫任总统驻俄远东联邦区全权代表.普京任总统以来进行的第二次大规模人事调整立刻引起了俄各方的关注.     

Globalization Is Running Out of Fuel

Globalization may not be coming apart at the seams—yet—but the seams are ever more apparent. Rising fuel prices challenge a model of global transportation based on cheap energy, reinforcing the possibility of decoupling through great regionaliza‐tion of trade. Already, 50 percent of trade among ASEAN plus China and Japan is among each other. The Wall Street meltdown has spread a lack of confidence in the American financial system and the model of deregulation which stimulated rapid globalization of capital flows. Along with other developments, all this raises the question of whether the United States is prepared to operate successfully in a world it no longer dominates. An anti‐globalization leader, a former US labor secretary, a top American intellectual and a Nobel laureate address these issues.     

Out with a whimper: the final days of Hungarian socialism

The objective of this article is to provide a snapshot of Hungary's political, social, and to a lesser extent, economic conditions on the eve of the transition. The paper examines the desperate attempts of the socialist political elites to regain their legitimacy through half-hearted political and economic reform proposals, and briefly surveys the country's profound economic difficulties and its pervasive social malaise.     

Contracting Out: Dutch Municipalities Reject the Solution for the VAT Distortion

In 2003, the Dutch government introduced a VAT-compensation fund in order to create a level playing field for local governments with respect to Value Added Tax (VAT). This fund eliminates the effect of the tax difference between local governments that supply services themselves and local governments that contract out services to the private sector. However, as this article shows, according to most municipalities, differences in their treatment in terms of VAT did not hinder the contracting out of public services. Therefore, the VAT compensation fund lacks legitimacy. It appears to have had little effect so far, as the number of contracted-out public services has hardly increased since its introduction. In general, municipalities have a negative opinion of the fund. They state that non-budgetary effects and institutional considerations, such as the quality of services, the vulnerability of municipal activities and concern for employment in the municipality itself, are more relevant to decision making on outsourcing.     

The Way Out of Russian Deadlock: Shift Power to the Regions

Aleksandr Lebed, the populist former general, is a leading candidate in the 2000 election for president of Russia. He is currently the governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory (Siberia), one of Russia's richest regions. His remarks are adapted from an exclusive interview he granted to Genrikh Borovik for NPQ in Moscow during the August crisis.     

International Sanitation Management and Performance Measurement: Taking Out the Trash

Internationally, sanitation management has been a critical area of contention, especially in recent years with tightening budgets and resource reductions to public services. Our article reviews the management strategies, actions, and developments that have led to sanitation incidents of piling trash and public health concerns. These incidents will be reviewed from a public management perspective underscoring the role of performance measurement and management. The key influences associated with the varying cases are discussed. Both the negative and positive factors of international cases of sanitation management are reviewed.