The Hidden Ingredient: Female Labour in Chilean Fruit Exports

Abstract — The Chilean fruit export sector has expanded rapidly over the past decade. A large army of female temporary workers is recruited annually to work in the fruit export sector, playing a key role in the preparation of high quality off-season fruit for northern markets. Despite their annual employment in a modern export sector, these temporary workers remain a marginalised force in Chile, reflected in the significant underestimation of the female agricultural labour force. This paper examines the reasons for their marginalisation. the gender segmentation of the temporary fruit labour market, and considers the potential effect of increased international competition on the employment of female temporary labour.     

Policies,priorities, and event‐interactions: The need for distinctions in foreign policy research

The author argues that insufficient attention has been paid to clarifying the distinction between policy and events. Without such clarification the research cannot effectively measure and evaluate the results of specific foreign policies, nor provide policy makers with sufficient information on which to base future decisions. The author makes the point: “Researchers can monitor foreign policy actions and events, but policies themselves cannot be inferred from those actions.” The solution to this nexus of problems lies in a broader, more thorough application of event data analysis.     

Selling to Both Sides: The Effects of Major Conventional Weapons Transfers on Civil War Severity and Duration

Civil wars are primarily fought with small and light arms, but the availability of major conventional weapons to states and rebels can alter the nature of the war being fought. This study explores the impact of major conventional weapons transfers on civil war severity and duration. By using a recipient based approach to arms transfers, I find rebel acquisition of major conventional weapons from international sources leads to conflict escalation and deadlier conflicts. State importation of major conventional weapons is associated with longer conflicts. These findings provide researchers a means to account for rebel capabilities in civil war research and policy makers insight to limit the destructiveness of civil wars.     

Arms Transfers beyond the State-to-State Realm

Arms transfers beyond the state-to-state realm can have harmful effects for international security dramatically affecting the relations and behavior of states. This article examines why an emerging international norm on "prohibiting states to transfer arms to nonstate groups" has failed to diffuse at the international level. It discusses the already available international law framework existing at the regional and international levels upon which the potential norm could be built. The failure of the norm to diffuse at the international level can be primarily explained by the existence of a long-consolidated norm: the customary practice of states to transfer weapons to nonstate actors, that is, groups they deem legitimate to, without any interference or constraint. ¹ The unrestrained transfer of weapons is an established foreign-policy practice. It is the way states form, uphold alliances, extend friendships, and build spheres of influence ( Sorokin 1994 ). Clearly, no state willingly wants to give this up. Therefore, the multilateral agreement on a norm barring most or all transfers of weapons to nonstate actors would curtail the freedom of action to build spheres of influence as states please. There are genuine ethical and moral dilemmas in this discussion, a nonstate actor may be a freedom fighter or a terrorist depending on different perspectives. The distinction between the categories "state" and "nonstate" actors may risk classifying actors in two camps: the good and the bad, respectively. This is problematic as a few states are known to be the most brutal perpetrators of egregious violations against their own citizens, whereas certain nonstate actors are legitimately fighting for the protection of vulnerable populations.     

试析菲律宾出口导向型工业化发展战略

自 8 0年代中期起 ,菲律宾政府对经济发展模式进行调整 ,通过推行出口导向型工业化发展战略 ,经济运行环境从过去那种高封闭、高干预的状态向着一种较为开放、宽松的环境过渡 ,增长方式发生了显著变化 ,经济发展速度明显加快 ,摆脱了此前发展中存在的“增长 -衰退”不良循环状态 ,整体经济呈现出了较好的发展前景。     

Illicit arms trafficking and the limits of rational choice theory: the case of the Balkans

Organized crime is often conceptualized as a business enterprise formed by actors motivated by profits. The Balkans represents an ideal case for testing the extent to which assumptions about the image of actors involved in illegal arms trading can be extrapolated to the macro-level of analysis. Focusing mainly on public discourse, this paper points to several thematic categories of illicit arms trafficking: i) profit-oriented arms trafficking involving organized crime groups ii) trafficking of arms for the purpose of arming criminal-terrorist formations and iii) state-sponsored illegal arms trafficking. Although economic incentives appear strong in many cases, other cultural, social and political issues also frame the illicit arms market in the region. We argue that both understanding and policing organized crime should also embrace the non-economic nature of this type of criminal behavior.

Is Politics Behind Trade? The Impact of International Trends and Diplomatic Action on Brazil's Exports during Globalisation

Although it is well known that domestic and international factors converge to affect a nation's foreign policy orientation and trade, their actual weights vary. Brazil's situation during globalisation sheds light on this issue. Through statistical and qualitative analysis, this article shows how structural factors, rather than diplomatic action, influenced the direction of Brazil's exports as the country became more integrated into the world economy. It was only under Cardoso's presidency that trade had an impact on bilateral diplomacy. The findings contradict conventional wisdom, which emphasises the state's role in driving Brazilian integration into the global economy.     

美国对台湾军售分析

进入新世纪,中美关系已发展成为重要的双边关系,但是美国实施的对台军售政策却阻碍着这种关系的健康发展。文章回顾了美国对台军售的历史,按各个时期军售的特点将其分为初始萌芽、稳步推进和大幅膨胀三个阶段,并从战略、经济、意识形态角度分析了美对台军售的动因。以此为基础对今后美国对台军售的趋势性特征进行了判断。     

监督与钳制：国会监督权与美台军售决策——以美国国会对《与台湾关系法》的监督为例

对国会立法的实施进行监督是国会最重要的宪政职能之一.在<与台湾关系法>出台之后,美国国会以监督行政部门"切实"、"全面"实施该法的有关规定为名,通过推动美台军售升级、取消对台军售限制、参与军售决策过程、钳制总统军售决策权等方式,对美台军售决策施加了强大的影响,并屡屡导致中美关系因军售问题而出现波折起伏.