Toward Olympics 2008: China's development in the reform period

Owen Bennett-Jones presents ‘Newshour’ and ‘The Interview’ for BBC World Service Radio. He has reported from all over the world and was the BBC Correspondent in Islamabad between 1998 and 2001. He is currently preparing a second edition of his book Pakistan: Eye of the Storm.     

Europe: Past,present, future

Jean Monnet: The First Statesman of Interdependence. By FRANÇOIS DUCHÊNE. New York, Norton, 1994. Pp.458, notes, sources, publications, index. £22 (cloth), £10.95 (paper) ISBN 0–393–03497–6 and ‐393–31490–1.

Elusive Union: The Process of Economic and Monetary Union in Europe. By KENNETH DYSON. London, Longman, 1994. Pp.xiii + 361, index. £40 (cloth), £17.99 (paper). ISBN 0–582–225132‐X and 0–582–25131–1.

The Road to Monetary Union in Europe: The Emperor, the Kings, and the Genies. By TOMMASO PADOA‐SCHIOPPA, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1994. Pp.286, index. £30 (cloth). ISBN 0–19–828843–3.

The Rotten Heart of Europe, The Dirty War for Europe's Money. By BERNARD CONNALLY. London: Faber, 1995. Pp.xvii + 427, references, index. £17.50 (cloth). ISBN 0–571–17520–1.

Europe: The Strange Superpower. By DAVID BUCHAN. Aldershot: Dartmouth, 1993. Pp.181 index. £35 (cloth); £17.50 (paper). ISBN 1–85521–441–5 and ‐439–3.

The European Sisyphus: Essays on Europe, 1964–1994. By STANLEY HOFFMANN, Boulder, Westview Press, 1995. Pp.x + 313, index. £58.50 (cloth); £13.50 (paper). ISBN 0–81–332–3200 and ‐2381–9.

Redefining Europe, New Patterns of Conflict and Cooperation. Edited by HUGH MIALL. London: Pinter. The Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1994. Pp.293. Index. £45 (cloth); £14.99 (paper). ISBN 1–85567–257‐X and ‐258–8.

Governing the New Europe. Edited by JACKHAYWARD and EDWARD C. PAGE. Oxford: Polity, 1995. Pp.418, index. £45 (cloth); £14.99 (paper). ISBN 0–7456–1219–9 and ‐1220–2.     

The Integration of the European Union and the Changing Cultural Space of Europe: Xenophobia and Webs of Significance

The dialogic relationship between individuals and the cultural space of Europe embodies cultural definitions, political definitions and individual definitions. As individuals draw from Europe as a cultural space and strive to identify and define themselves, definitions are created against an ??other,?? leading to Europe being defined against the ??other.?? Identity is established through difference, and in this, the relationship between the EU??a force of integration??and Europe as a cultural space is strained. As boundaries change through the European Union, transforming the cultural space of Europe, the ??other?? against whom individuals have traditionally defined themselves is also transforming. This article asks if the integration of Europe through the European Union is resulting in the political mobilization of xenophobia and thereby transforming the cultural space of Europe into a xenophobic space. As many academics and professionals have argued that xenophobia in Europe has been on the rise since the 1990s, this paper will question how the relationship between the European Union??as a force of European integration??and Europe??as a cultural space??is contributing to the construction of xenophobia.     

Are we interested? a trend analysis of sex offender internet registries

Traditional research on community awareness and use of sex offender registries relies upon random digit dialing and other survey instruments. While important sources of data, these sources have limitations and attempts to improve on these measures are bound to funding limitations impeding the collection of larger samples. Analyzing internet search query data associated with interest in sex offender registries from 2006–2016, we explore regional and temporal trends associated with interest in sex offender registries. Results substantiate prior research using mail and telephone surveys, and that of other similar methodologies, showing that interest in sex offender registries display low to moderate interest, which are relatively stable overtime and declining in interest.     

The Launching of the EMS: An Analysis of Change in Foreign Economic Policy

Foreign exchange markets are subject to changing international regimes. When and why regimes change is a legitimate focus of political study. This is particularly so as shifts in foreign exchange markets modify relative prices in and between national economies. Authorities presiding over foreign exchange markets are answerable to their national policy communities and to their national electorates. They also operate within an international state system. Applying John S. Odell's framework to an analysis of the launch of the European Monetary System (EMS) in April 1978 by Chancellor Schmidt and President Giscard d'Estaing, it is argued that a market perspective alone would have failed to predict the establishment of the EMS. An analysis of the principal actors and their ideas; of the power political constellation; and of the domestic context in the Federal Republic and in France, contributes most to explaining ex post the shift towards a European managed exchange rate regime. In this case, the neoclassical M arket perspective provided erroneous, inadequate and subsidiary explanations. The article suggests that foreign exchange policy and therefore global financial markets belong firmly in the realm of international and comparative political studies. They are too important to be left to economists alone.