THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD

Despite heavy use of the concept of the "best interests" of the child, there is little consensus about what criteria constitute a child's best interests or how these criteria should be applied. This article explores some of the problems of the best interest concept, from the developmental and psychological perspective, and suggests that the concept is a worthwhile one if decision makers are able to go beyond cliches and superficial definitions.     

Barriers to the strategic adoption of revolutionary manufacturing processes

This research examines the role of strategic barriers to the adoption of revolutionary new manufacturing processes in two American industries—primary textiles and steel. Based on the experiences of these sectors, two general conclusions are reached. First, the factors influencing strategic adoption of revolutionary processes can be classified into three categories: scale, vertical scope, and horizontal scope. Second, different strategic groups experience and encounter different barriers in the adoption of revolutionary technological processes.     

Reviews

Joseph M. van Brabant, Remaking Eastern Europe—On the Political Economy of Transition. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1990, xiv+223 pp., £57.00 h/b.

Ronald J. Hill, Communist Politics under the Knife: Surgery or Autopsy? London and New York: Pinter Publishers, 1990, 224 pp., £30.00 h/b; £9.95 p/b.

Andrei Akatovich Belykh, Istoriya sovetskikh ekonomiko‐matematicheskikh issledovanii. Leningrad University Press, 1990, 141 pp., 2 rubles.

Gregory Gleason, Federalism and Nationalism: The Struggle for Republican Rights in the USSR. Foreword by John N. Hazard. Boulder, CO: Westview Press: Westview Special Studies on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, 1990, xiv+170 pp., £17.50 p/b.

James Hughes, Stalin, Siberia and the Crisis of the New Economic Policy. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1991, xiii+260 pp., £30.00

Joan Sokolovsky, Peasants and Power: State Autonomy and the Collectivization of Agriculture in Eastern Europe. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1990, 181 pp., £18.95.

Louis Guy Michael, More Corn for Bessarabia: Russian Experience, 1910–1917. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 1983, 245 pp., $18.95.

P. Pomper, Lenin, Trostsky and Stalin: The Intelligentsia and Power. New York: Columbia University Press, 1990, xiii+446 pp., $19.00 p/b.

Tony Cliff, Trotsky, 1923–27. Fighting the Rising Stalinist Bureaucracy. London: Bookmarks, 1991, 306 pp., £6.95 p/b.     

Reviews

Pekka Sutela, Economic Thought and Economic Reform in the Soviet Union. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991, 197 pp., £30.00 h/b, £10.95 p/b.

Stephen White, Gorbachev and After. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991, ix+310 pp., £27.95 h/b, £8.95 p/b.

Catherine Merridale & Chris Ward, eds, Perestroika. The Historical Perspective. London, New York, Melbourne, Auckland: Edward Arnold, 1991, xiii+253 pp., £12.95 p/b.

Guy Standing, ed., The New Soviet Labour Market. In Search of Flexibility. Geneva: ILO, 1991, xiv+440 pp., SF45.00.

Leonard Geron, Soviet Foreign Economic Policy under Perestroika. London: Chatham House Papers, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Pinter Publishers, 1990, 126 pp., £19.50, h/b, £7.95 p/b.

Malcolm R. Hill, Soviet Advanced Manufacturing Technology and Western Export Controls. Aldershot: Avebury, 1991, xv+256 pp., £35.00.

Gerhard Simon, Nationalism and Policy toward the Nationalities in the Soviet Union: From Totalitarian Dictatorship to Post‐Stalinist Society, translated by K. and O. Forster. Boulder, CO, and Oxford: Westview Press, 1991, xvii+483 pp., £22.50 p/b.

A. Kemp‐Welch, Stalin and the Literary Intelligentsia 1928–39. London: Macmillan, 1991, vi + 338 pp., £45.00.

Jelena Milojkovic‐Djuric, Aspects of Soviet Culture: Voices of glasnosf, 1960–1990. New York: East European Monographs, Columbia University Press, 1991, iv+190 pp., $29.00.

Landon Pearson, Children of Glasnost. Growing up Soviet. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1991, xv+505 pp., $16.95, p/b.

Robert Rand, Comrade Lawyer. Inside Soviet Justice in an Era of Reform. Oxford: Westview Press, 1991, x+166 pp., £9.50 p/b.

Sheila Fitzpatrick, Alexander Rabinowitch & Richard Stites, eds, Russia in the Era of NEP: Explorations in Soviet Society and Culture. Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press, 1991, viii+344 pp., £22.50 h/b, £9.50 p/b.

Efraim Karsh, Soviet Policy towards Syria since 1970. Basingstoke and London: Macmillan, 1991, 229 pp.+index, £35.00.

Ronald D. Bachman, ed., Romania: A Country Study, 2nd edition. Washington, DC: US Library of Congress Federal Research Division, 1991, xxxvi+356 pp.     

Book reviews

John P. Willerton, Patronage and Politics in the USSR. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, xv+305 pp., $59.95, £40.00.

Michael Ellman & Vladimir Kontorovich, eds, The Disintegration of the Soviet Economic System. London and New York: Routledge, 1992, xv+281 pp., h/b £45.00., p/b £14.99.

Paul R. Josephson, Physics and Politics in Revolutionary Russia. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1991, xix+423 pp., $39.95.

Hélène Carrère D'Encausse, The Great Challenge: Nationalities and the Bolshevik State 1917–1930. Nancy Festinger, Trans., Richard Pipes, Foreword. New York: Holmes & Meier Publishers, 1991, xviii+262 pp., $39.95.

Niels Erik Rosenfeldt, Stalin's Secret Chancellery and the Comintern. University of Copenhagen, Institute of Slavonic and East European Studies, 1991. 116 pp.

Christoph Bluth, Soviet Strategic Arms Policy Before SALT. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, 317 pp., £40.00.

Roger E. Kanet, Deborah Nutter Miner & Tamara J. Resler, Soviet Foreign Policy in Transition. Cambridge University Press, 1992, xvi+308 pp., £40.00, $59.95.

M. A. Babkina, ed., New Political Parties and Movements in the Soviet Union. Commack, NY: Nova Science Publishers, Inc., 1991, 156 pp., $35.00.

S. Berglund & J. A. Dellenbrandt, eds., The New Democracies in Eastern Europe: Party Systems and Political Cleavages. Aldershot: Edward Elgar, 1991, xii + 237 pp., £39.95.

Gyorgy Csepeli & Antal Örkény, Ideology and Political Beliefs in Hungary: The Twilight of State Socialism. Trans., Brian McLean & Julianna Parti, London: Pinter, 1992, viii+148 pp., £35.00.     

Discordant Allies: Trans-Tasman Relations in the Aftermath of the ANZUS Treaty, 1951–1955

Contrary to popular belief, the conclusion of the 1951 ANZUS Treaty did little to encourage an immediate closer political relationship between Australia and New Zealand. The Tasman powers disagreed on major strategic issues and cooperation was minimal (and in some cases entirely absent). Focusing on the development of trans-Tasman relations between 1951 and 1955, this article examines Australian and New Zealand views pertaining to the scope and implementation of the ANZUS Treaty, proposals for the Five Power Staff Agency in Southeast Asia, the “United Action” proposal during the 1954 Indochina Crisis and the “Operation Oracle” project during the 1954–1955 Quemoy–Matsu Crisis. This article advances the conclusion that Australia and New Zealand mainly disagreed on these issues due to competing views about their respective political relationships with the United States and Britain. In other words, in the immediate post-treaty period, closer trans-Tasman political relations were ultimately hindered by strong divisions over accepting the United States instead of Britain as the cornerstone of their respective foreign policies.     

Collaboration and Integrated Services in the NSW Public Sector

The paper discusses some of the findings of a review of whole-of-government activities in the NSW public sector conducted for the NSW Premier's Department. Some major sources of the difficulties people encounter in whole-of-government initiatives are identified, together with some factors essential for success. Since there is no one 'right' model for whole-of-government activity, criteria are proposed for identifying the most appropriate whole-of-government response to different types of problem. In conclusion the paper summarises some key benefits and achievements of a growing whole-of-government ethos in the NSW public sector, and some possible strategies for further strengthening whole-of-government approaches.