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"In the second half of the nineteenth century, states across the Muslim World developed new criminal codes and reshaped their legal landscapes, laying the foundations of the systems that continue to inform the application of justice today. Influenced by colonialism and the rise of the modern state's desire to control their populations, many have seen the introduction of these codes as a pivotal shift and divergence from the Shari'a, the dominant paradigm in premodern Muslim jurisdictions. In A Continuity of Shari'a, Brian Wright challenges this view, comparing between the Egyptian, Ottoman, and Indian contexts. By examining the environment in which the new codes were created, highlighting the work of local scholars and legal actors, and examining the content of the codes themselves, Wright argues that the criminal systems of the late nineteenth century have more connections to their past than previously understood. Colonial influence was adapted to local circumstances and synthesized with premodern understandings in an eclectic legal environment to create solutions to local problems while maintaining a continuity with the Shari'a."--

In the long view, recent volatility of prices of the major grains is not anomalous. Wheat, rice, and maize are highly substitutable in the global market for calories, and when aggregate stocks decline to minimal feasible levels, prices become highly sensitive to small shocks, consistent with the economics of storage behavior. In this decade, stocks declined due to high global income growth and biofuels mandates, making markets unusually sensitive to subsequent unanticipated shocks, including biofuels demand boosts in reaction to high petroleum prices, the Australian drought, and other regional grain production problems. To protect their own vulnerable and politically influential consumers, key exporters restricted supplies in 2007, exacerbating the price rise. Understandably, vulnerable importers are now building strategic reserves. To reduce costs and disincentive effects, reserves should have quantitative goals related to targeted distribution to the most vulnerable in severe emergencies. For countries with significant animal feeding or biofuels industries, options contracts to protect the consumption of the most vulnerable from harvest shocks are likely to be more cost-effective than emergency reserves.

AbstractRecent volatility of prices of major grains has generated a wide array of analyses and policy prescriptions that reveal the inability of economists to approach a consensus on the nature of the phenomenon and its implications for policy. This review of market events and their economic interpretations finds that recent price spikes are not as unusual as many discussions imply. Further, the balance between consumption, available supply, and stocks seems to be as relevant for our understanding of these markets as it was decades ago. Though there is much to be learned about commodity markets, the tools at hand are capable of explaining the main forces at work, and of giving good guidance to policymakers confronted with a bewildering variety of expensive policy prescriptions.

The dolphin-tuna case involves environmental NGOs (ENGOs) promoting sound environmental practices by US & international tuna fishing fleets in the Eastern Topical Pacific Ocean (ETPO). An analysis of this case is critical because it demonstrates the political complexity of a high seas environmental issue as well as how ENGOs were able to insert themselves into domestic & international policy processes. Working together in coalition, ENGOs defined the issue, convinced policymakers & the public that the problems of the ETPO needed to be solved, & promoted solutions. The case demonstrates that the actions of the ENGOs were instrumental in shaping US legislation, policies of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, & the international agreement between fishing states. 79 References. Adapted from the source document.