Revisionism in the economics of backwardness

This article introduces the concept of structural competitiveness to explain the rapid development of South Korean steel industry. Three elements of structural competitiveness are: state autonomy, sound economic policy and indigenous technological capability. These elements have a significant bearing on the bargaining capacity of the state, autonomous investment decisions, labour control, the acquisition and absorption of modern technology, and ultimately international competitiveness. Global competitiveness of South Korea does not refute the technological dependence of developing countries. Rather it suggests the kind of socio‐institutional and economic policy contexts that are often necessary to foster competitive industries.     

Using Blogs as a Teaching Tool in Negotiation

This article reports on the experimental use of blogs as a teaching tool in a course on negotiation and mediation. The blogs were of two kinds: individual "journal" blogs accessible only by the student author and the course instructor, and a class or collective blog, accessible by all members of the course. The use of blogs builds on the familiar use of journals as a tool for reflection and personal review and adopts the technology of online communication with which the student body is increasingly familiar and comfortable. The article reports on the student response to this development and the perceived impact on extended peer-to-peer communication, cooperation, and skills development. This note also briefly places this experiment in the wider context of the widespread use of blogging, online social networking, and — more ambitiously — the promotion of critical and deliberative skills through the use of information communications technology.     

Sowing Dragon's Teeth: Public Support for Political Violence and Paramilitarism in Northern Ireland

While much attention has been devoted to political efforts to solve the Northern Ireland problem, less attention has been given to the role of political violence in sustaining the conflict. We argue that one of the reasons for the intractability of the conflict is widespread exposure to political violence among the civil population. By 1998, thirty years after the conflict started, one in seven of the population reported being a victim of violence; one in five had a family member killed or injured; and one in four had been caught up in an explosion. Such widespread exposure to violence exists alongside latent support for paramilitarism among a significant minority of both communities. Using 1998 survey data, we show that exposure to violence serves to enhance public support for paramilitary groups, as well as to reduce support for the decommissioning of para-military weapons. Overall, the results suggest that only a lengthy period without political violence will undermine support for paramilitarism and result in the decommissioning of weapons.     

The early use of radio for political communication in Australia and Canada: John Henry Austral, Mr Sage and the Man from Mars

The comparative study of electioneering is an emerging field. One of its driving concerns has been to chart the "Americanisation" or convergence of campaigning methods employed in very different settings. Sometimes the assumption is made that this convergence began with the recognition - first in the USA - that winning elections demands the skilful use of television. A comparison of the early use of radio in election campaigns in Australia and Canada demonstrates that the "Americanisation" of campaigning pre-dates the advent of television. There are clearly gaps in what is known about the early use of the wireless for political broadcasting in Australia. However in 1923-24 E.R. Voigt visited the US and, on his return, urged the NSW Trades Hall to establish 2KY for propaganda purposes. In the 1930s the NSW Labor leader Jack Lang was quick to adopt the "fire-side chat" formula devised for Franklin Roosevelt. In the 1940s R.G. Menzies, the founder of the Liberal Party, also came to see radio as a powerful weapon after observing its political use in USA. Not surprisingly the 1949 Liberal campaign which returned Menzies to power made extensive use of radio. It is often remembered for its "John Henry Austral" radio ads which are claimed as a breakthrough, but which appear to imitate earlier US and Canadian election campaigns - notably the Canadian Tories "Mr Sage" broadcasts of 1935.     

Anxieties without borders: The United States,Europe and their southern neighbours

In recent years, there has been a lively debate on “the end of the West” with the rise of authoritarian capitalist powers and the challenge they pose to the values and institutions of the West. The debate has to be qualified in two important respects. First, China and Russia have – albeit for different reasons – major stakes in the preservation of the current world order, thus making it unlikely that they will be able or willing to launch a sustained assault on it. Second, and perhaps more importantly, despite certain current similarities in their international outlook, China and Russia are in fact far from natural and permanent partners in the creation of a new anti-liberal world order. Therefore, instead of galvanising a strong resistance against the rise of China and, to a lesser extent, Russia, the future challenge for the West is to find ways to deal constructively with these countries so as to reinforce the liberal and multilateral elements of the present world order. This will necessarily require a moderate and constructive stance from China and Russia, one that can plausibly be expected in the natural course of events, provided they are given a chance to voice their legitimate concerns.