The Privatization of Expendable Launch Vehicles: Reconciliation of Conflicting Policy Objectives

This paper documents the decision process pursued by the President and key federal agencies addressing the issue of privatization of routine commercial space satellite launches via expendable launch vehicles. It is a case study of incremental decision making in the extreme, characterized by the formulation of conflicting policy goals in response to contingencies which ultimately paralyzed the policy process, even as government was confronted with issues of considerable gravity and urgency. The decision process unfolded in a highly dynamic environment, including the development of a internationally competitive space launch market and the Challenger accident. A key issue is the role of the chief executive in managing the policy implementation process, once conflicting goals have been formulated. The case illustrates how strategic miscalculation by the agencies involved, and a laissez-faire management style by the chief executive, exacerbate the ordinarily expected difficulties.     

Peace agreements in a near-permanent civil war: Learning from Sudan and South Sudan

The conflicts in the formerly united Sudan have led to millions of deaths since the country's independence. The Naivasha Agreement was meant to end these wars. The January 2005 agreement foresaw a future where the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement and the Sudanese government would coexist within the framework of a united country. Subsequently, in 2011, however, the country was partitioned and the conflicts in Sudan and South Sudan have continued unabated. Interrogating the treaty texts and employing a case study approach and analysis of the economic and power dynamics within the region, this paper addresses the reason behind the failure of the comprehensive peace agreement and subsequent agreements intended to bring peace after partition. It becomes evident that the same dynamics that fed the partition of the country have helped bring conflict within its two successor states. In short, agreements are not sufficient to build peace.     

Reviews

Seweryn Bialer, The Soviet Paradox: External Expansion, Internal Decline. London: I. B. Tauris, November, 1986, xx + 396 pp. £16.50.

Frank Füredi, The Soviet Union Demystified: A Materialist Analysis. London: Junius Publications, 1986, 271 pp. £12.50 h/b, £5.95 p/b.

R. Furtak, The Political Systems of the Socialist States: an Introduction to Marxist‐Leninist Regimes, Wheatsheaf Books Ltd., Brighton, 1986, xi + 308 pp. £32–50.

Peter Jones and Sian Kevill (Compilers) China and the Soviet Union 1949–84, Keesing's International Studies; Longman, London: 1986, 202 pp. £20.00.

Roy Medvedev, China and the Superpowers, Basil Blackwell, Oxford; 1986, 234 pp. £17.50.

Gail Schlachter (ed.) Sino‐Soviet Conflict: A Historical Bibliography, ABC‐Clio Distribution Services, Clio Press, Oxford; 1985, xii + 190 pp. £30.50.

Károly Attila Soós, Terv, Kampany, Penz. Szabalyozas es Konjunkturaciklusok Magyarorszagon es Jugoszlaviaban, Közgazdasagi es Jogi Könyvkiado‐Kossuth Könyvkiado, Budapest, 1986, 533 pp. 142 Ft.

William V. Wallace and Roger A. Clarke, Comecon, Trade and the West, Frances Pinter (Publishers), London, 1986, xi + 176 pp. £18.50.

Alec Nove, Socialism, economics and development, Allen & Unwin, London, 1986, 243 pp. £25.00 US $29.95.

Klaus Fritsche, Blockfreiheit aus sowjetischer Sicht, Deutsches Übersee‐Institut, Munich, Cologne, London, Weltforum Verlag, 1986, 299 pp.

Winrich Kühne, Sowjetische Afrikapolitik in der ‘Ara Gorbatschow’. Eine Analyse ihrer grundlegenden Probleme Mitte der 80er Jahre, ausgehend von den Entwicklungen in Mozambique, Angola und Äthiopien. Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Ebenhausen, 1986, 146 pp.     

Reviews

Joseph L. Nogee and Robert H. Donaldson, Soviel Foreign Policy Since World War II. New York: Pergamon Press, 1981. viii + 320 pp. Flexicover, £5.45.

Robert H. Donaldson (ed.), The Soviet Union in the Third World: Successes and Failures. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press / London: Croom Helm, 1981. xiv + 458 pp. Hardcover, $25.00.

Karen Dawisha and Philip Hanson (eds.), Soviet—East European Dilemmas: Coercion, Competition, and Consent. London: Heinemann for the Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1981. xiv + 226 pp. Paper, £5.95.

Jerry F. Hough, Soviet Leadership in Transition. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 1980. viii + 175 pp. $11.95 and $4.95.

Sheila Fitzpatrick, Education and Social Mobility in the Soviet Union 1921–1934. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979. x + 355 pp. £15.50.

Jan Ake Dellenbrant, Soviet Regional Policy: A Quantitative Inquiry into the Social and Political Development of the Soviet Republics. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1980. 192 pp. Sw. kr. 105.—

Maria Hirszowicz, The Bureaucratic Leviathan: A Study in the Sociology of Communism. Oxford: Martin Robertson, 1980. x + 208 pp. £12.50.

Theodore H. Friedgut, Political Participation in the USSR. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1979. xvi + 353 pp. £11.70.

Ronald J. Hill, Soviet Politics, Political Science and Reform. Oxford: Martin Robertson, 1980. x + 221 pp. Hardcover. £12.00.

Daniel N. Nelson, Democratic Centralism in Romania: A Study of Local Communist Politics. Boulder: East European Monographs, distributed by Columbia University Press, New York 1980. xii + 186 pp. $19.50.

Timothy Dunmore, The Stalinist Command Economy: The Soviet State Apparatus and Economic Policy 1945–53. London: Macmillan, 1980. xii + 176 pp. £20.00.

Paul Marrer and John Michael Montias (eds.), East European Integration and East‐West Trade. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1980. vi+432 pp. US, Canada $32.50, UK £19.50, Elsewhere $40.63.

Christoph Bertram (ed.), Prospects of Soviet Power in the 1980s. London: Macmillan in association with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1980. 126 pp. £15.00.

Jiri Valenta, Soviet Intervention in Czechoslovakia, 1968: Anatomy of a Decision. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979. xii + 208 pp. £7.75.

R. Selucky, Marx, socialism and freedom. London: Macmillan, 1979. 237 pp. £12.00.

Mihaly Vajda, The State and Socialism. London: Allison and Busby, 1981. 150 pp. £9.95 and £4.50.

Elizabeth Pond, Russia Perceived. A Trans‐Siberian Journey. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1981. 296 pp. £9.95.

Philip T. Grier, Marxist Ethical Theory in the Soviet Union. Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1978. xvii + 276 pp. No price.

Edward M. Swiderski, The Philosophical Foundations of Soviet Aesthetics: Theories and Controversies in the Post‐War Years. Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1979. xviii + 225 pp. DM.65, US $34.00.

Edward Braun, The Theatre of Meyerhold: Revolution on the Modern Stage. London: Eyre Methuen, 1979. 299 pp. £9.95.     

How Strong Is Public Support for the Death Penalty in Singapore?

Singapore is well known internationally for its uncompromising stance towards law and order and its use of the death penalty in particular for murder and drug trafficking. Until 2012, it was one of the few countries in the world where the death penalty was mandatory for persons convicted of these two crimes. The law was amended in 2012 to give a judge the choice to impose the death penalty or life imprisonment (with caning) for non-intentional murder and drug trafficking in some situations. What do Singaporeans think of the use of the death penalty in their own country? This article reports on some findings of a survey conducted in 2016 on 1500 Singaporeans to assess their knowledge and support of the death penalty.