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Yildiz Technical University - ICOMOS ICORP International Conference Proceedings, Istanbul, Turkey, 15-17 November, 2012 ; This paper aims at identifying the main problems regarding the impact of the exception of military necessity on the framework for the protection of cultural property in armed conflicts. It explains where the idea of military necessity stems from and what different functions it is nowadays thought to fulfil in that context. It also seeks to elucidate the circumstances under which it became a factor relevant to the treaty framework for the protection of cultural property and answers the question whether in the light of the brisk development of conventional and customary protections for cultural heritage, this exception would be inserted again if the travaux préparatoires of the 1954 Hague Convention were taking place these days. Finally, the paper attempts to discern patterns to avoid and the ones to follow in thinking about military necessity in the context of protection of cultural heritage.

Résumé Le Mali est en 2005-2006 le premier producteur africain de coton fibre, qui plus est de qualité. Le coton s'inscrit dans le riche patrimoine culturel qui s'est constitué autour du textile. La filière coton reflète les conflits de partage de la valeur ajoutée entre les différents acteurs qui la constituent. Elle témoigne des relations asymétriques internationales non seulement entre les pays producteurs et les pays industriels mais également entre la coopération bilatérale et les institutions financières multilatérales comme la Banque mondiale. Il est également un enjeu géopolitique. Le Mali est un des quatre États ayant porté plainte à l'OMC contre les subventions des États-Unis et le dossier coton, a été très conflictuel à Hong-Kong (décembre 2005) comme il le fut à Cancún. Analyser l'évolution de la filière coton et les principales réformes est ainsi éclairant des liens entre l'économie et le politique. L'écheveau très complexe du coton doit être démêlé.

This article presents the findings of a study exploring the consequences and impacts upon a group of employees who worked for an organisation in which white‐collar violations took place. Former employees of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) were interviewed, and the financial, emotional, and psychological effects of the closure of this bank upon their lives documented. Results reveal that the issue of 'secondary victimisation' is of particular importance in this case study, since former BCCI employees considered the detrimental effects upon their lives as a result of the closure of BCCI to be linked to regulatory and media responses to the bank rather than to any crimes which had been committed. This case study illustrates the importance of considering the actions of regulatory authorities and the media in cases of 'white‐collar crime' and their impact upon the individuals whose lives are caught up in 'white‐collar scandal'.

Die Arbeit analysiert die Relevanz einer Ökonomischen Theorie der politischen Medienwirkung mit Beispielen aus der Energie- und Klimapolitik. Das Ziel ist zu zeigen, dass die These: 'der Public Choice Theorie fehlt eine Teiltheorie des politischen Medieneinflusses' nicht verworfen werden kann. Dies geschieht in fünf Schritten (Kapiteln). Die Analyse der Public Choice Literatur im ersten Kapitel ergibt, dass die dazu bestehende Literatur keine eigene Teiltheorie begründet. Im zweiten Schritt wird durch Plausibilitätsüberlegungen gezeigt, dass eine 'Ökonomische Theorie der Politischen Medienwirkung' aufgrund ökonomischer Wechselbeziehungen begründbar ist. Die Auswertung der Publizistik-Literatur belegt diese Überlegungen mit Fakten und zeigt, dass das Berücksichtigen von Kandidatenmerkmalen für entsprechende Modelle wichtig ist. Im vierten Kapitel werden drei Modelle entwickelt. Dabei handelt es sich erstens um ein vierstufiges spieltheoretisches Modell für Wahlen bei dem die Parteien ihre Wahlprogramme unabhängig vom Medientenor formulieren. Ein weiteres Modell für die Legislatur setzt die Idee der Schweigespirale von Noelle-Neumann um. In einem dritten, graphischen Modell wird der Medieneinfluss bei mehrdimensionalen nicht separablen Issues diskutiert. Schließlich werden diese Grundlagen für eine Ökonomische Theorie der Politischen Medienwirkung durch Presseinhaltsanalysen der Energiekonsensgespräche und der deutschen Klimapolitik gestützt. Die Auswertung der Konsensgespräche zeigt, dass die SPD ihre Positionen von der Medienberichterstattung abhängig machte. Die Untersuchung der deutschen Klimapolitik ergab, dass die Bundesregierung sich bei ihrer internationalen Selbstverpflichtung (CO2-Ziel) einerseits und der Regulierungsstrenge nationaler Klimapolitik andererseits opportunistisch zur Berichterstattung über die Konsistenz dieser Politiken verhalten hat. Damit wird insgesamt die Relevanz einer Erweiterung der Public Choice Theorie bestätigt.

This article examines some of the ambiguities of efforts to protect Syrian civilians by problematizing the agency of civilians in armed conflict. Based on an analysis of existing discourses of intervention, it underlines the extent to which civilians have been portrayed as largely defenseless victims, when at least anecdotal evidence suggests that civilian resilience has been significant. The article emphasizes the degree to which civilians themselves may strive for other things in the conflict than their sole 'protection,' thus complicating efforts at protecting them. In this context, one of the most pressing and difficult issues is conceptualizing the relationship of civilians to the rebellion and vice versa, as well as the possible means of intervention of the international community in assisting civilians' efforts. The article finishes by returning to civilian voices and analyzing how some civilian and grass roots organizations have propounded their own vision of what appropriate protection in the circumstances would entail. In the end, it may be that it is this form of political agency about the needs and vision of civilians that most needs to be heard.

This paper focuses on open maritime polities and their competitive advantages in multipolar international systems. Firstly, the paper explores the various understandings of seapower and its possible impact in international relations, while also drawing attention to its non-military dimensions. Secondly, the paper considers the factors which affect the emergence of open maritime polities and the sustainability of their seapower. It argues that the origins of such polities can be found in their overall weakness and the opportunities provided by the sea in a multipolar international system, which, in turn, strengthens the autonomous groups that can make sustainable seapower possible to begin with. Thirdly, the dynamism and advantages of such polities in multipolar international systems are portrayed. The text focuses on medieval and early modern Venice and Genoa, including their varied strategies in using seapower in order to survive and add competitive advantages to their participation in Mediterranean-centric, multipolar international systems. The weakness which made possible the emergence of these polities fundamentally encouraged or enabled their open nature, adaptability and their agency within multipolarity. This represents a step in future research on what is arguably a mutually reinforcing connection between seapower, open societies and competitive advantages in multipolar systems.

The article examines the concept of government transparency and its impact on public administration and international relations. The authors, including D. Thornton, discuss transparency not as an end in itself, but as a tool to improve the effectiveness of public administration, which is demonstrated by the example of monetary and monetary policy. The article also highlights the problems of double standards in international politics and their relationship with the level of transparency of public administration, considering double standards as an instrument of information warfare and an expression of the dominance of some political actors over others. In general, the article emphasizes the importance of transparency for the sustainability and effectiveness of both domestic governance and in the context of global international relations within the framework of minimizing the use of various deviant political instruments such as double standards, calling for a more consistent and equitable approach in international politics.

A recent publication in Nature reports that public R&D funding is only weakly correlated with the citation impact of a nation's articles as measured by the field‐weighted citation index (FWCI; defined by Scopus). On the basis of the supplementary data, we up‐scaled the design using Web of Science data for the decade 2003–2013 and OECD funding data for the corresponding decade assuming a 2‐year delay (2001‐2011). Using negative binomial regression analysis, we found very small coefficients, but the effects of international collaboration are positive and statistically significant, whereas the effects of government funding are negative, an order of magnitude smaller, and statistically nonsignificant (in two of three analyses). In other words, international collaboration improves the impact of research articles, whereas more government funding tends to have a small adverse effect when comparing OECD countries.