Modelling the impact of world bank policy‐based lending: The case of Malawi's agricultural sector

This article uses a multi‐market agricultural pricing model to analyse the impact of the World Bank's three structural adjustment loans (SALs) to Malawi on the smallholder agricultural sector. Three price policy scenarios are simulated on the model representing zero, partial and full compliance with the Bank's SAL price policy conditionality. These scenarios are analysed in terms of their impact on: the government budget; smallholder real incomes; maize production; exportable cash crop production; and the balance of payments. Critiques of the Bank's programme and the government and Bank bargaining strategies are assessed in the light of the modelling results.     

Local initiatives for working women: Feminism,economics, or both?

This article examines a public/private sector initiative instigated by Leeds City Council to redress gender inequality in employment. It uses this independent initiative, Opp2k, to assess the business case for equality of opportunity in a ‘post‐feminist’ context. It considers whether or not intended outcomes will make a coherent attempt to redress structural inequality, or whether this is a response to demographic and economic trends indicating increased demand for female labour, finally it addresses the potential impact of public/private partnerships in implementing equal opportunities.     

Approaches to Defining "Empire" and Characterizing United States Influence in the Contemporary World

The militant unilateralism of the George W. Bush administration has revived interest in such closely related and contested terms as "superpower,""hegemon,""empire," and "imperialism." This article identifies four different but somewhat overlapping approaches to defining "empire": ideal type, self-consciously empirical, constructivist, and overtly normative. The author's personal view is that any notion of American Empire or indeed U.S. hegemony or even superpower is profoundly misleading. Although the United States still ranks high on the scale of most traditional realist power factors, United States capabilities appear to be gravely waning today and its exercise of both hard and soft power has recently been so inept as to limit its current influence and possibly future role in global politics.     

Securing reliable information in investigative interviews: coercive and noncoercive strategies preceding turning points

ABSTRACT

Investigative interviewers apply a range of physical, cognitive, social or legalistic strategies to secure information from suspects. The perceived effectiveness of coercive and noncoercive strategies on turning points was examined by interviewing 34 practitioners and 30 high value detainees in East Asian and Western jurisdictions. Each recounted an interview with an initially uncooperative detainee who became cooperative, or an initially cooperative detainee who became resistant or silent. Analyses of interview narratives identified perceived turning points in the practitioner-suspect relationship associated with clear outcomes. Independent of jurisdiction, 56% of the noncoercive strategies were associated with cooperation, yielding reliable information in 49.4% and true admissions in 20.0% of the cases. In contrast, coercive strategies were perceived as more ineffective (58.9%) than effective (14.6%) in securing information. Physical coercion, intimidation and deception were most frequently acknowledged to yield false information. These findings suggested prioritisation of noncoercive social and physical interview strategies and international consensus on best practices.