In Matters of war and socialism,Anthony Barnett would shame and honor Kampuchea too much

Abstract

In an article on “Inter-Communist Conflicts and Vietnam” published in the current issue of Marxism Today, Anthony Barnett attempts to put the wars in Southeast Asia into historical and socialist perspective. He begins by stressing the already existing pattern of conflict in the socialist world. He notes in particular, the history of differences between neighboring communist states, the division of Marxist-Leninist movements resulting from the Sino-Soviet split and the sustained efforts of imperialist powers to exploit and to deepen these conflicts. The same conflicts, he argues, now find expression in Southeast Asia. In fact, the recent successful completion of the Vietnamese revolutionary war and the rise of other communist governments in China's hinterland might be promoting a trilateral conflict situation of a type already observed elsewhere. After the second World War, the indigenous, self-sustaining communist revolution in Yugoslavia successfully resisted efforts made by the older, larger communist power, the USSR, to force it to join its Eastern European bloc. Part of the Soviet pressure took the form of aggravating difficult bilateral relations between Yugoslavia and its neighbor Albania. The pattern of aspirations and hostilities in today's Southeast Asia is not, Anthony asserts, appreciably different:     

Toxic waste and public procurement: The defense sector as a disproportionate contributor to pollution from public–private partnerships

Public procurement is a large sector of the economy with most procurement going to the defense sector. Procurement by the defense sector includes purchases made through contracts to private businesses that manufacture durable goods. Manufacturing of these goods results in pollution production with toxic wastes being among the most dangerous pollutants for public health. Despite green purchasing policy goals, most transactions in the United States through defense contracts result in disproportionately high-toxic pollution releases by manufacturers. We find that persistent exemptions granted defense agencies from following green purchasing policy result in a landscape where contractor environmental performance is unchanging with defense contractors persistently polluting in high amounts. Further, we find that defense contractors are linked to most toxic releases from procurement meaning that exemptions may be hindering potential advancements from green purchasing policy. Results can inform the design of new guidance about procurement and expand understanding of environmental inequality.     

Constitutional courts as veto players: Divorce and decrees in Italy

Abstract. This article argues that constitutional courts in Western European parliamentary systems should be integrated into discussions of how public policies are changed, rather than being viewed as an external veto point. It attempts to bridge a gap between a judicial politics literature that focuses on the micro–level of individual judges' votes and comparative scholarship that operates at the macro–level. A model for viewing constitutional courts as veto players, as a third institutional actor, is proposed and is then illustrated using the cases of legalizing divorce and blocking the executive reissuing decree laws in Italy. The model considers both the indirect and direct influences that constitutional courts can exert on the policy–making process. It also facilitates understanding and explaining the role of courts, as well as legislatures and executives, in conducting the interactions and bargaining that result in policy change.