Lessons learnt in global biodiversity governance

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics - INEA has featured many articles covering the dilemmas, puzzles, and tensions related to global biodiversity governance; this...     

Myanmar in EU–ASEAN relations

The aim of this paper is to discuss and examine the regional projects of institutionalism in Europe and Southeast Asia. The main focus is on Myanmar, a regional ‘outcast’ whose membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 1997 has helped it to gain international legitimacy and be able to stand relatively strong against Western sanctions. The military regime is riding on the wave of ASEAN norms and a communitarian culture. The question remains as to how long the country can continue to do so. A rather skeptical view is emphasized on the ‘ASEAN Way’ in dealing with the military regime, and for the overall political dialogue with the European Union. Many ambitious objectives such as sovereign equality in institutionalism are widely questioned, and the European Union has gone against many of its treaties in order to keep its relationship with Southeast Asia. The paper puts prominence on the political and security relationship rather than on the economic aspect, which has been far more successful. The role of values and the human rights debate will be highlighted and described as the greatest obstacle for any future political cooperation.

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Vulnerability Factors among Women Victimized by Intimate Partner Violence and the Presence of Children

This study aimed to a) examine the presence of children in relation to victim vulnerability factors and assessed risk for intimate partner violence (IPV) re-victimization, and b) examine the police response, in terms of risk management, in IPV cases with and without children, respectively. Data from a sample of 1407 women who had reported IPV victimization to the Swedish police was analyzed. The material consisted of risk assessments conducted by the police using the Swedish version of the Brief Spousal Assault Form for the Evaluation of Risk (B-SAFER) checklist, as well as the recommended risk management strategies. A series of chi-square tests of independence revealed that women with and without children, respectively, displayed different vulnerability factors to different extents. Women with children expressed more extreme fear of the perpetrator and were more likely to have an unsafe living situation, whereas women without children displayed more inconsistent attitudes or behaviors and health problems. However, binary logistic regression analyses showed that the victim vulnerability factors that were most strongly associated with an elevated risk rating for IPV re-victimization were generally the same for both groups of victims. Finally, the presence of children was related to a higher risk rating for imminent IPV re-victimization and to recommendations of more than standard levels of risk management strategies. The results indicate that the Swedish police consider the presence of children in relation to a victim’s risk for re-victimization as well as in terms of recommended risk management strategies.