Die Grünen and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

This paper discusses the German Greens' recent policy on Israel and Palestine, from the beginning of the first red-green federal government to the present. It looks at Green Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer's diplomatic role in the Middle East, and the Greens' current very "mild" policy with regards to Israel, especially when compared to earlier Green attitudes to the region. This is explained with reference to both the continuing relevance of German history to German foreign policy, and the constraints that participation in the federal coalition — and supplying Germany's Foreign Minister — place on the Greens. The influence of history and power on the German Greens is further illustrated by a comparison of German Green attitudes to Israel with the US Greens' much more critical position.     

An evaluation of the quality of impact assessment in the European Union with lessons for the US and the EU

Governments throughout the world are requiring greater use of economic analysis as a way of informing policy decisions. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the use of impact assessment in the European Union, using US assessments as a benchmark. We find that recent EU impact assessments include more economic information than they did in the past, although important items are still missing. We also provide evidence that the quality of EU impact assessment increases with the expected cost of a proposal. Furthermore, we find that the quality of EU assessments that report high total costs is similar to that of US assessments.     

Public vs. Private in Hospital Efficiency: Exploring Determinants in a Competitive Environment

This study investigates the determinants of efficiency in an Italian regional health system and estimates the effect exerted by ownership on hospitals’ performance. To achieve this aim, the Veneto region was considered as a case study and a full dataset (2011–2012) containing nonpublicly available technical data and cost and income items was analyzed. Efficiencies are measured applying a three-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA). Our results suggest that private hospitals perform better than public hospitals in productivity and cost saving, not considering the effect of other environmental and operational variables such as length of stay and beds per capita.     

Vedāntic Analogies Expressing Oneness and Multiplicity and their Bearing on the History of the Śaiva Corpus. Part I: Pariṇāmavāda

Journal of Indian Philosophy - This article, divided into two parts, traces and discusses two pairs of analogies invoked in Sanskrit(ic) literature to articulate the paradox of God’s oneness...     

Vedāntic Analogies Expressing Oneness and Multiplicity and Their Bearing on the History of the Śaiva Corpus. Part II: Vivartavāda

Journal of Indian Philosophy - This article, divided into two parts, traces and discusses two pairs of analogies invoked in Sanskrit(ic) literature to articulate the paradox of God’s oneness...     

European companies between globalization and localization: a comparison of internationalization strategies of British and German MNCs

This paper assesses the extent of which British and German multinational companies have moved on a continuum between nationally embedded MNCs and globally oriented TNCs. Degree of national embeddedness and implantation into national economic and policy networks is held to influence the internationalization strategy of companies - the degree of FDI undertaken, the kind of competitive advantage they seek to derive from it and the way in which they combine nationally based and globally focused activities. It is shown that the different national business systems of Britain and Germany influence the responses of MNCs in their management of the tensions between pressures for globalization and established, nationally shaped business strategies and patterns of activities. In both cases, however, exaggerated claims about globalization of company activities and assets are shown to be misguided. But the paper also recognizes that some more globalized structures and strategies have begun to emerge in the second half of the 1990s. The study is based on a small number of case studies of British and German companies, complemented by official statistics and secondary data.     

The Projected Convention on Chemical Weapons and its Application in Time of Armed Conflict

As the US prepares to pull out of Iraq, the ‘national reconciliation’ process that was launched in the Summer of 2006 remains stalled. The March 2010 legislative elections, which were expected to consecrate the rebuilding of a national pact between Iraqis, have led to even greater fragmentation of Iraq's socio-political landscape. The power sharing agreement ultimately presages more tensions to come. With the essence and reality of the Iraqi ‘nation’ long debated and subjected to continued deconstruction under the combined effects of authoritarianism, military conflagrations and economic sanctions, it will likely take decades before a genuine reconciliation can come about.