The global information infrastructure: Empowerment or imperialism?

The hope has arisen that the internet will ultimately evolve into a Global Information Infrastructure (GII). The GII will create a global information marketplace and in the process narrow the poverty gap and eliminate many of the geographic obstacles to prosperity and equality. However commerce-primarily US commerce-is driving the development of the internet. As a result investors will want a return on their money in the form of access to new markets. Many countries will have to accept privatisation and competition wholeheartedly. Also, sooner or later local resources will have to replace external funding and external technical expertise. Many countries lack the regional, social and economic integration found in the USA and in addition have deep political, linguistic and cultural divisions that do not exist in the USA. This article examines issues of connectivity, language and content and concludes that in reality the internet concentrates economic activity and power more narrowly in one group. As a result there is a real risk that we are moving towards a two-tier technology society that perpetuates the old distinctions between North and South.     

I: The wars of the Yugoslavian succession: Murder or suicide?

Lenard J. Cohen, Broken Bonds: Yugoslavia's Disintegration and Balkan Politics in Transition, 2nd edn. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995, xvi, 375 pp. + illustrations, maps, index.

Sabrina P. Ramet, Balkan Babel: The Disintegration of Yugoslavia from the Death of Tito to Ethnic War, 2nd edn. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996.

Sabrina P. Ramet and Ljubi?a S. Adamovich, eds, Beyond Yugoslavia: Politics, Economics and Culture in a Shattered Community. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995.

Susan L. Woodward, Balkan Tragedy: Chaos and Dissolution after the Cold War. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1995.     

The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Six,One, or None?

Aggregate indexes of the quality of governance, covering large samples of countries, have become popular in comparative political analysis. Few studies examine the validity or reliability of these indexes. To partially fill this gap, this study uses factor, confirmatory factor and path analysis to test both measurement and causal models of the six Worldwide Governance indicators. They purportedly measure distinct concepts of control of corruption, rule of law, government effectiveness, rule quality, political stability, and voice and accountability. Rather than distinguishing among aspects of the quality of governance, we find that they appear to be measuring the same broad concept.     

The west European left today: Crisis,decline or renewal?

Perry Anderson and Patrick Camiller (eds), Mapping the West European Left, (Verso, London 1994). 276pp. ISBN 086091–213–2, 0–8609–927–7 (pb).

David S. Bell and Eric Shaw, Conflict and Cohesion in Western European Social Democratic Parties, (Pinter, London 1994). 202pp. ISBN 1–85567–127–1.

Carl Boggs, The Socialist Tradition: From Crisis to Decline, (Routledge, London 1995). 287pp. ISBN 0–415–90669–5, 0–415–90670–9 (pb).

Ralph Milliband, Socialism for a Sceptical Age, (Polity Press, 1994). 211pp. ISBN 0–7456–1426–4, 0–7456–1427–2 (pb).     

Managing for Results in an Impossible Job: Solution or Symbol? Abstract

Abstract

Recent years have been characterized by widespread adoption of reforms that called for governments to manage for results. This article tackles the question: what is the impact of results-based reforms in functions that the public management literature has defined as “impossible jobs?” The implementation of strategic planning and performance measurement in the Alabama Department of Corrections provides a case study of such a scenario. The explicit goals of results-based reforms suggest a solution to “impossible jobs” by achieving improved allocation, effectiveness, and efficiency. However, the case evidence suggests that their main use is as a symbol of rational governance, to be used by beleaguered agencies and governments in a bid to increase resources. Beyond this, the public manager in an impossible job finds little benefit from results-based reform, and seeks to devote as few resources as is necessary to comply with reform requirements.     

The EU's Relations with Moldova: Governance,Partnership or Ignorance?

This article examines recent EU–Moldova relations under the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and the Eastern Partnership (EaP) in order to assess the EU's policies and their (limited) effectiveness over the past decade. I draw on the ‘external governance approach’ and develop the ‘partnership as cooperation perspective’ to examine which approach prevails in the theory and in the political practice of EU–Moldova relations. Whereas the external governance approach focuses on the expansion of EU rules to assess the effectiveness of the EU's external relations, the partnership perspective draws attention to effective cooperation based on mutual concessions in areas of converging preferences.     

The Initiation of Local Authority Referendums: Participatory Momentum or Political Tactics? The UK Case

Local authority-initiated referendums have been a cornerstone of the UK Government's drive to improve citizen participation at the local level. Authorities have increasingly made use of local referendums since the 1990s, but little research has been carried out to explain and qualify this surge. Focusing on a case study of a recent referendum in Greater Manchester, and comparing it to other significant local referendums, this article analyses their initiation according to Morel's (2007) functional model. Findings reveal that referendums were most often held to smooth over divisions within local parties or assemblies, to legitimate a controversial decision or to weaken political adversaries. Local authorities therefore never employed referendums as genuine participatory tools, but rather as a pragmatic and tactical solution to a given political problem. Consequently, the long-term impact of local referendums on citizen participation remains questionable.     

The Russian Radical Right Movement and Immigration Policy: Do They Just Make Noise or Have an Impact as Well?

This article examines how, if at all, the mobilisation of the Russian Movement Against Illegal Immigration has had an impact on changes in Russian policies. Little is known about the outcomes of radical right movements in general or the Russian radical right in particular. The Movement Against Illegal Immigration has arguably played a role in shaping negative public attitudes towards immigration. On the other hand, the Russian government has not adopted any clear nationalistic anti-immigration policy frame. We show that disruptive events of Movement Against Illegal Immigration's mobilisation have caused reactions in terms of the elite discourse on immigration and restrictive immigration legislation.     

Dhiren Barot: Was He an Al Qaeda Mastermind or Merely a Hapless Plotter?

This article profiles Dhiren Barot, a convert to Islam who was convicted in Britain in October 2006 on charges of conspiracy to commit murder for planning terrorist attacks in the United States and the United Kingdom. Upon his conviction, much of the British press, and many other observers, claimed Barot was a high-level Al Qaeda figure whose plans were on the verge of execution. Other observers, and Barot's defense attorneys, however, argued that these allegations were exaggerated. Barot, they claimed, had done nothing more than sketch vague plans for which he had no funding and was merely being used by the British government as an example in the War on Terror. This article details Barot's life and terrorist activity. It argues that he was a committed jihadi, was likely an Al Qaeda member, and did indeed represent a security threat. Nonetheless, the lack of public information available on his life suggests that certain allegations about his status within Al Qaeda and the immanency of his plans should be treated skeptically. It concludes by considering to what extent Barot fits the profile of other Islamic terrorists.     

Population: malady or symptom?

The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) opened the dawn of a new era in discourse over population. A newfound consensus was reached between North and South which was not there during the two previous world population conferences in Bucharest and Mexico. While consensus was reached at the 1994 ICPD on the need for action, however, debate over population is far from settled. Causes of population growth, the links between population growth and economic development, and environmental degradation remain controversial topics. The authors analyze the basis of the ICPD consensus at the local, national, and global levels. They also compare the development discourse to the political discourse over population. Both discourses emphasize different aspects of a far more complex reality. The question is which discourse to choose as a basis for drawing policy recommendations. The emerging view on the way to Cairo was that consensus would be achieved on the basis of development discourse. Success on the action plan rests upon the belief that more contraceptives, more health services, and more schools will be enough to reduce fertility rates. The political discourse, however, is better than the development discourse as a basis for policy making because it stresses the need for integration rather than running the risk of exclusion. The political discourse is also more demanding.     

The United Nations convention against the taking of hostages: Realistic or rhetoric?

Abstract

In an effort to circumvent the lack of international agreement on needed measures against political terrorism and impelled by the siege of their embassy in Stockholm in 1975, the West German government decided to propose a convention banning a more specific manifestation of terrorism: the taking of hostages. The author reviews the central political issues that have pervaded the debates on this item within the United Nations until its final adoption in 1979. The most crucial issue was whether the scope of the proposed convention should include actions undertaken by those movements engaged in a recognized struggle for national liberation. The resulting compromise required to ensure its adoption by the General Assembly has left the Convention with an inherent tautology which will undoubtedly hinder and may prevent its general ratification and subsequent entry into force.     

The Middle East: A region without regionalism or the end of exceptionalism?

In terms of regionalisation the Middle East appears to exemplify the region's status of being the 'exceptional' case, eternally out of step with history and immune to the trends affecting other parts of the world. This article will analyse whether recent trends of economic liberalisation might give an impulse to regionalisation. This is done by focusing on the 'double assignment' of the bourgeoisie: curbing state autonomy and acting as the 'championing social class' whose specific interests coincide with the prospect of a larger unified market. The article concludes that we can not expect Arab regional economic integration to be spurred on.