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THE SOVIET UNION HAS BEEN ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THE HORN FOR JUST OVER TWENTY YEARS. DURING THAT PERIOD THE TWO LARGEST COUNTRIES IN THE REGION HAVE EACH EXPERIENCED A MAJOR CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT AND A 'SOCIALIST REVOLUTION', THERE HAS BEEN A WAR BETWEEN THE TWO, AND THEIR INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCES ARE NOW THE REVERSE OF WHAT THEY WERE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PERIOD. TO WHAT EXTENT ARE THESE DRAMATIC CHANGES DUE TO SOVIET INFLUENCE?

Aus US-amerikanischer Sicht

In brute-force struggles for survival, such as the two World Wars, disorganization and divisions within an enemy alliance are to one's own advantage. However, most international security politics involve coercive diplomacy and negotiations short of all-out war. Worse Than a Monolith demonstrates that when states are engaged in coercive diplomacy--combining threats and assurances to influence the behavior of real or potential adversaries--divisions, rivalries, and lack of coordination within the opposing camp often make it more difficult to prevent the onset of conflict, to prevent existing con

Collective contests are examined permitting heterogeneity of stakes within every competing group. Our first concern is whether unequal distribution of stakes in a group can enhance its win probability. Our second concern is whether a large stake in a group can be individually disadvantageous. We find that if a contest is sufficiently hard for a group, the answers to these questions are positive under plausible conditions. In such situations, monopoly of the private stake is most effective in enhancing the group's performance. Ironically, in the same cases, the welfare of many group members would be negatively related to the size of their individual stake.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, China-Russia relations have demonstrated a significant and consistent progress on a number of issues advancing to the strategic alliance. However, the existing explanations of such progress have rarely gone beyond simple recognition of the continuous deterioration of relations between these countries and the West, particularly the United States. However, such explanations seem insufficient since they do not reveal the key determinants of the Russian-Chinese alignment and cannot help assess the sustainability of this trend. In order to provide a comprehensive and methodologically consistent assessment of the main drivers of the China-Russia relations within the framework of the post-Cold War international system evolution, this paper draws on the latest findings in the theory of international alliances. To this end, the author harnesses the epistemological potential of the three main approaches to the root causes of interstate strategic alliances, namely the 'balance of power', the 'balance of threat' and the 'balance of interests'. The paper examines the Russian-Chinese cooperation both within the framework of each of these three balances separately and in their interrelatedness and interdependence. The author shows that trend towards a closer strategic cooperation between China and Russia in the post-Cold War period stemmed from the inner dynamics of all of these balances. This strategic alignment is based on a complex of shared views on the United States as the main source of threats for national security and the commitment of both states to the idea of a multipolar world. The author concludes that not only will the trend towards strengthening Russian-Chinese cooperation continue, at least in the medium term, but it can receive a new impetus to evolve into a full-fledged alliance.

La Chine développe une stratégie étudiée vers les pays de la rive Nord de la Méditerranée avec des alliances commerciales et des participations renforçant son commerce. Habilement, Pékin joue sur des relations bilatérales plus faciles à établir, au risque d'affaiblir l'Union européenne désormais plus vigilante.

Les interventions analogiques mobilisent directement les enjeux inconscients dans la relation thérapeutique. Elles s'appuient sur la capacité du thérapeute à faire alliance avec ses patients en entrant en résonance émotionnelle, afin de leur offrir d'autres vécus possibles dans le « moment présent » de la thérapie.

Describes political obstacles which will prevent it from rejoining the Australia, New Zealand, US alliance in the near future, including the Left's anti-Americanism, nationalism, and a growing unease about American power in the aftermath of the Iraq War; argues in favor of normalizing relations with the US.

This dissertation studies the political economy of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) from two angles, namely, compatibility of national security interests and political uncertainty around national elections. Using the presence of military alliance as a proxy for the compatibility of security interests between countries, this study finds that the presence of military alliance between two countries is positively associated with the intensity of cross-border M&A activity. This result is robust to different measures of M&A volume and using colonial contiguity before World War II to instrument for the presence of alliance. The positive effect of military alliance on cross-border M&As is greater when the alliance includes a defense commitment, the allied acquirer country is a major power nation, and the legal environment of the target country is weaker. What's more, the presence of military alliance reduces the premium offered and increases the probability of a bidder obtaining full control of the target firm. These findings suggest that compatible security interests act as a facilitator in the international market of control by reducing transaction costs associated with cross-border deals. This study also examines the effect of political uncertainty around national elections on outbound cross-border M&As in 47 countries between 2001 and 2010. The results show that the year before a national election is associated with greater volume of outbound cross-border M&As. An acquisition deal is more likely to be cross-border and increase acquirer's announcement returns in the year before a national election. Across countries, this relation is stronger in countries with lower checks and balances and lower level of shareholder protection. Within countries, this relation is weaker when elections with high likelihood to reappoint incumbent leader and stronger when a new leader is more likely to win. In addition, firms doing outbound cross-border acquisitions in the year before national election tend to choose targets from different industries with them. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that firms strategically time cross-border acquisitions and diversify political uncertainty abroad before national elections. ; published_or_final_version ; Economics and Finance ; Doctoral ; Doctor of Philosophy

ABSTRACT Purpose: In this study, the notion of absorptive capacity (AC) and its configurations were adopted as a reference with the general goal of understanding the development stage of processes and routines of the acquisition, transformation and application of knowledge in the context of a public research company. Originality/value: One of the mobilizing factors in the agricultural sector in Brazil is the generation of new products and processes. In this case, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Agency (Embrapa) has played a role, especially in the absorption, internalization and generation of agricultural knowledge and innovations. In its processes, it involves its decentralized units and scientific and technological partners through research and development (R&D) processes. Identifying and systematizing the most effective forms and configurations in processes and routines associated with the dynamic of knowledge appropriation in a diverse and dynamic environment such as Embrapa constitutes a major challenge for scholars. However, recent studies have highlighted the growing diffusion of the debate on the AC construct. Design/methodology/approach: For this purpose, a case study was conducted involving Embrapa and three of its R&D projects. The study found evidence of intra-organizational and interorganizational alliances, as well as resulting important innovations. Findings: The principal contribution was identifying, in a public research company, the presence of routines and processes similar to those observed in the configurations of AC analyzed in the literature and the consolidation of routines and processes of knowledge absorption at the intra-organizational and interorganizational levels.