Examines the role of globalization & fragmentation in the 1990s on proposed changes in the UN. Critics skeptical of the UN's relevance in interventions in international crises indicate the body's lack of planning for unexpected political events. It is argued that while essential to the UN's charter, the input & integration of transnational actors into decisions & debates remain unequal & unsystematic. Structural reform proposals to rationalize & renovate the UN, & conceptual reforms aimed at reinforcing its role in promoting sustainable development & "peaceable culture,' as well as preventing crisis, are discussed. J. Sadler
Administrative Modernization in Germany : Old Wine in New Bottles. The issue of public sector modernization appeared on the scene in Germany in 1991. Before that, Germany had undergone two major reform programs, between 1965 and 1975, and after reunification. Three major objectives were attributed to the modernization program : to limit the scope of public activity, to reduce personnel costs, and to proceed with structural reforms. The main goal essentially being to reduce spending, questions relative to public service ethics are therefore not addressed. This tends to demonstrate that long-term effects of this type of modernization have not been taken into consideration, hence the necessity to improve these reforms might arise in the coming years.
According to the author, the introduction of the euro has created the second largest economic space in the world. However, this economic space is not without its quandaries. For example, the author predicts that the exchange rate for the euro is going to increase only after the conditions for investments within the euro space have improved. All the EU governments must work on structural reforms of the labor market & the social policy. This will be facilitated once the euro has become an international currency equal to the dollar. For this to occur, a political union in Europe must be created since a successful currency needs political clout as a back-up. Adapted from the source document.
Privatization in Morocco. The 1989 Privatization Act transfers an appreciable part of Moroccan public enterprise to the private sector. It demonstrates a desire to promote the domestic economic actors, to readjust the regional economies, to improve public finances, to direct savings towards industrial employment Conditions for applying it raise numerous questions, due, in particular, to the very substantial powers granted the minister in charge of privatisation. Moreover, implementing these transfers implies parallel structural reforms (stock exchange, accounting standards, financial engineering, a policy for State borrowing) which condition the success of the operation.
A round table discussion held in Paris in Dec 2002 (participants included Christian de Boissieu, Pierre Moscivici, Eric Bussiere, Charles Zorgbibe, & Henri Menudier) examined political, economic, & social issues & constraints involved in building a constitution for Europe. Topics include the existence of treaties as a constitutional framework, the advantage of holding a constitutional convention after accomplishing the anticipated expansion to the European Union (EU) membership, the importance of eliminating the unanimity requirement for some decisions before expanding, troubles & progress in Franco-German relations, the effects of the Nice conference & Treaty, the magnitude of the EU's vision, structural reforms to EU government, & economic & political weaknesses. E. Taylor
The Asian Crisis and (Lack of) Reform of the State in the People's Republic of China
Since the death of Mao Zedong, a reform of the State has been undertaken in the People's Republic of China. Even though the System remained founded upon the dictatorship of a single party, the Communist Party, this party withdrew somewhat from the economic sphere leaving a space for important economic and political reforms and a certain liberalisation of society. It is within this context of the failure to fully complete State reform that the People's Republic of China has been faced with the effects of the Asian crisis, progressively freezing the reforms undertaken, to the extent that the Asian crisis has, first and foremost, revealed the fragility inherent within the System. While no political System founded upon a single party has managed to put in place a System fully implementing the rule of law, one can wonder about the future stability of the People's Republic of China where, for the moment, the structural reforms which are indispensable to its development have not been undertaken.
At the Center of the European Decision making Process : the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) Formally, the role of COREPER is to prepare Council decisions. In practice, however, COREPER is responsible for attempting to resolve problems and not only to prepare discussions. COREPER members, thus, hold community and national responsibilities. The permanent representatives also play the role of mediators between government and members of parliament, in particular to explain to MEPs the positions of governments that they represent. The increasing divergence in political and administrative cultures, the language problem, difficult to resolve with the progressive enlargement of the EC could lead to the asphyxiation of community procedures unless the EC untertakes substantial structural reforms.
Economies and Geopolitics in Eastern Europe, by Ewa Kulesza-Mietkowski and Piotr Mietkowski The very different ways in which Central and East European countries have developed make it increasingly difficult to evaluate their respective chances of achieving the present « great transformation ». They certainly have in common a shared experience of communism and the new challenges brought about by the period of transition. However, it is highly important to take into account that the situation of each country is affected by such specifie factors as national history, recent choices in economie policy or geographical location. This article recognizes that there is no satisfactory System of « classifying » post-communist countries. Hence, it aims to present the way in which structural reforms have been implemented so far and to assess the economie results of 1993. At the same time, the link between economie change and the new geopolitical configurations emerging in the region has been analyzed.
The Soviet Union and its East European glacis are experiencing their second major wave of crisis since the death of Stalin. But unlike the "de-stalinization" crisis of the second half of the 1950s, which was largely political and was overcome through a combination of repression and reform that left the system basically intact, the present crisis cannot be weathered so easily and threatens to usher in a period of political upheaval, as it has already in Poland and, to some extent, in Romania. On the most obvious level, the crisis manifests itself in the constant decline of the economic growth rate since the late 1950s, which has put an end to the slow but steady rise in living standards, the basis upon which the tacit post-Stalin accord between the bureaucracy and society was founded. The roots of this crisis are deeply structural, but structural reforms, in particular the introduction of the « regulated market mechanism », which appears to be the nly viable alternative open to the bureaucracy, will meet with strong opposition from important sectors of that elite, especially the provincial party bosses, and threaten to create a split in its ranks. At the same time, such a reform is politically unfeasible without important concessions to the working class in the direction of democratization or, at the least, the right to organize into independent trade unions to protect itself against management, whose powers would be greatly enhanced by the reform. But such concessions to the working class, as Poland shows, are perceived by the bureaucracy as a threat to its very existence. At the same time, the working class today is potentially a much more formidable political force than at any time since the civil war. The leadership is, therefore, in a dilemma. The 1980s are likely to see the explosive combination of a simultaneous crisis "as the top" and "at the bottom".
National audience The political, economic and social situation in developing countries is difficult when almost all, for over 20 years, have implemented very important reforms based on structural adjustment plans initiated by the IMF and financed by projects supported by major international donors (multilateral or bilateral). Of these, 50 have been identified by the World Bank as having such a low level of development, coupled with such a high debt ratio, that they are likely to benefit from the so-called HIPC initiative. The priority objective of the HIPC initiative is poverty reduction. In this context, the school appears to be instrumentalised from a perspective which may seem to be very much utilitarianistic, since the aim is primarily focused on its external effectiveness. However, in the four chapters of this text, we will try to understand the margins of freedom available to existing governments in relation to the demands of major donors. Are these public policies under influence? Is there a limitation of initiatives, de-accountability of single thinking export policy from the most industrialised countries? ; National audience La situation politique, économique et sociale des pays en développement est difficile alors que pratiquement tous, depuis maintenant plus de vingt ans, ont mis en oeuvre des réformes très importantes élaborées en fonction des plans d'ajustement structurel initiés par le FMI, et financées par des projets soutenus par les grands bailleurs de fonds internationaux (multilatéraux ou bilatéraux). Parmi ces pays, cinquante et un ont été identifiés par la Banque mondiale comme présentant un niveau de développement tellement faible, associé à un taux d'endettement tellement élevé, qu'ils sont susceptibles de bénéficier de l'initiative dite PPTE (Pays Pauvres Très Endettés). L'objectif prioritaire de l'initiative PPTE concerne la réduction de la pauvreté. Dans ce cadre l'école paraît instrumentalisée dans une perspective qui peut sembler étroitement utilitariste, car la finalité est d'abord ...
This article is about the problem of the debt incurred by countries of Latin America, preference being given to the notion of net transfer of currency as being the main element which can explain relations between debtors and creditors. It shows that the recent evolution in the attitude of the debtor states, as has been apparent since the meeting at Quito, in January 1984, up to that at Mar del Plata in September 1984, is accounted for by the inversion of the flow of the net transfer of money. Latin America today has become a net exporter of currency. Similarly, the future evolution between the pursuance of the monetary adjustment and the cessation of payment will be determined, in a large measure, by the scope and the meaning lying behind the net transfer of borrowed money. The economical, social and political consequences deriving from the actual reimbursement of the debt are such that they may promote the advent of regimes which will be compelled to implement deep structural reforms. Whether this comes about or not will depend a lot on the creditors.
Japan: the Lost Decade, by Sahoko Kaji In just 10 years, from the beginning of the 1990s, Japan moved from being a universally admired economie model to emerge as the problem child of the G7. There are many indicators of crisis: negative growth in GDP, rising unemployment, bankruptcy of financial institutions and excessive public borrowing. Up to 2001 successive governments preferred to manage the crisis with short term measures without addressing the core issues. But the new Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, has, since his élection, piled on the structural reforms: recasting the financial intermediation System, privatisation and dereglementation, modernising the taxation system, resolution of the doubtful debts issue, reinforcing the social security system, and emphasising the role of the individual. The objective is to turn Japan into a country more open to the rest of the world, and more competitive with other countries. But Japan can only undertake this metamorphosis, which would be comparable with the Meiji era, if public opinion stays on Koizumi and the reformers' side accepting painful decisions in exchange for a better future.
