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AbstractThe so-called practice turn in International Relations (IR) has established a new paradigm that puts practitioners' quotidian doings front and centre of IR theorizing. It is proving to be an influential development also for area studies (AS) that share much of IR's scholarship and objects of study. This is certainly the case for European studies (ES) where the works of International Practice Theory (IPT) scholars has greatly contributed to raise attention to situated, mundane, and everyday practices of EU institutions. This article reviews the contribution of IPT scholars to ES to assess the added value of this research agenda and its potential to become a 'trading zone' where IR and ES/AS scholars can advance understanding of how the local and the global connect. It also identifies two challenges that have not been adequately addressed in the extant literature: (1) finding ways to theorize and empirically observe the transition from the level of situated practices to EU-wide doings (generalization challenge); and (2) assessing the exact role of interaction in structuring and transforming both the global and the local (challenge of relationism). The article ends by calling for a global practice theory as a way to tackle these two challenges.

This study covers the coverage of the People's Republic of China as a politically and economically active entity in the international arena. The question of the criteria of the superpower and the steps of the People's Republic of China to achieve compliance with them is revealed. Attention is paid to the ideological foundations of the functioning of China's political mechanism and ways of expressing the stated ideological course. The role of the status of a great power and superpower in the political discourse of China and the corresponding vision of China's place in international relations is outlined. The spheres of influence in the PRC in which it is carried out by combining instruments of sharp and soft power are determined. ; У даному дослідженні викладено висвітлення Китайської Народної Республіки як політично та економічно активного суб'єкта на міжнародній арені. Розкривається питання критеріїв наддержави та кроків КНР на досягнення відповідності до них. Увага приділяється ідеологічним засадам функціонування політичного механізму Китаю та способів вираження заявленого ідеологією курсу. Окреслено роль статусу великої держави та наддержави в політичному дискурсі КНР та відповідного бачення Китаєм свого місця в міжнародних відносинах. Визначено сфери вплив у КНР у яких здійснюється шляхом поєднання інструментів гострої та м'якої сили.

Despite a growing emphasis in education policy on 'what works for whom and in what circumstances', there is still considerable attention to decontextualised 'best practices' that emerge from cross-country comparisons of student achievement. Also, while operational and even political aspects of context are increasingly incorporated into policy research, there is relatively little attention to the relationship between sociocultural context and education policy. In this paper, I explore the extent to which national sociocultural context influences the relationship between one aspect of policy – teacher accountability – and student outcomes. I do so by using multilevel modelling to analyse international survey data on education (from PISA 2012, PISA 2015, and TIMSS 2015) matched at the country level with survey data on culture (from the World Values Survey and Hofstede's IBM study). I find that one of the sociocultural constructs significantly and consistently moderates the relationship between teacher accountability and student outcomes, suggesting that some teacher accountability approaches may be beneficial in certain sociocultural contexts but detrimental in others. This finding implies a need for caution in generating universal policy prescriptions from international assessments such as PISA and TIMSS. It also strengthens the case for viewing teacher accountability as a socioculturally embedded process.

Drawing on a rich source of urban labour market data, the Mexican National Urban Employment Survey of 1998, this article addresses the question of how dissimilar export‐oriented industries shape urban labour markets, particularly with respect to women workers. It compares Ciudad Juárez, which has an economy based on global assembly production, and Cancún, whose economy is based on international tourism. Employing economic base theory and location quotients, the analysis isolates the impact of the export sectors on the local labour markets.Results show that global assembly and international tourism encourage a mix of occupational and income prospects for both men and women in each of these Mexican cities. Female employment tends to be concentrated in the export‐oriented sector in both cases, but the types of occupational and income opportunities therein vary. Overall, the analysis challenges common exploitation arguments that tend to stress the universally shared deleterious working conditions and low wages that result from global integration and export‐led industrialisation in contemporary Latin America. It suggests that we pay closer attention to the diverse nature of outward oriented industries, which will tend to differentiate the labour market implications of increasing economic globalisation.

China's special economic zones have been hailed as a flagship of her policy on 'opening up' to the outside world, as well as the China-led global Belt and Road Initiative. In this paper, we conceptualize the internationalization of Chinese SEZs, and frame the genealogy and underpinning dynamics of China's international SEZs, both domestically and overseas. The paper critically probes the underlying logics of three parallel international developments of Chinese SEZs: (1) capital-oriented land expansion in the form of international SEZs combining both 'bring in' and 'going out', especially since BRI; (2) different industrial landscapes at various timelines and sites; (3) variegated transnational SEZs governance, bilateral central governments governance, marketized state or entrepreneurship state, or private ventures. We contribute to the SEZ land literature by delivering a novel framework which encompasses variegated internationalization trends among China's vast domestic and overseas SEZs. These internationalization trajectories in turn contour and entrench global variegated capitalism.

AbstractInternational Terrorism happens since old ages, when it was classified as acts against the monarch. Only in modern age, it was classified as political crime committed against the State. However, despite the occurrence since ancient times, the topic gained practice importance in the International Agenda only after the international repercussion of September 11th. At this time, many researches described the political aspect of it, disregarding the economic scenario, especially considering the State interventionism that is taken to avoid economic chaos. Indeed, the State function is also discussed in order to understand how it may keep Social Welfare. This practice instils in collective perspective the association of terrorism with specific ethnic and religious groups, indirectly supporting a nationalist mentality that tends to be exploited by populist governments. This creates a bad view over resistant movements, in which are included the Third World Countries Movements, such as TWAIL, that contests the international balance of power.

En conflit sur l'exécution d'un contrat, deux grandes entreprises prennent souvent la voie de l'arbitrage commercial international, plutôt que celle d'un tribunal officiel. Cette justice privée, volontaire et confidentielle, a été développée à partir de 1923 à la Chambre de commerce internationale, à Paris, en suivant deux directions : l'accumulation interne d'un savoir-faire pratique, issu de la résolution des litiges ; puis une série de négociations avec les États, notamment à la SDN et à l'ONU. Cette juridiction privée bénéficie aussi du soutien direct des États : depuis 1958, les actifs d'une entreprise qui perd un arbitrage peuvent très vite être saisis par la force publique. Ce régime d'arbitrage a évolué vers une forme d'extra-territorialité juridique. Néanmoins les seuls intérêts privés n'ont pas suffi à le faire naître. En effet, les acteurs centraux de son institutionnalisation ne sont pas de grandes entreprises, et celle-ci n'a eu lieu qu'avec l'assentiment, et même le soutien, des autorités publiques.

AbstractThis article examines the impact of international sanctions on the economic development of sanctioned countries in the Latin American and Caribbean regions over seven decades (1950–2019). The estimates arise from a two‐way fixed effects model that combines data from the Global Sanctions Database and the World Development Indicators Database to examine outcomes in terms of economic growth, income inequality, and the incidence and gap of poverty. The findings confirm a significant worsening of development in sanctioned countries. This includes lower growth (−0.6 percentage points) and higher inequality (+1.5 Gini coefficient points). Reduced investment as well as reduced access to credit in the private sector are the mechanisms through which the above effects take place. The results are robust to multiple specifications and have important implications for international sanctions policies. If the sanctioning country seeks to minimise the consequences for the poorest in the sanctioned country, military sanctions appear to be the most appropriate, while if the objective is to maximise these consequences, sanctions on mobility are optimal.

The international armed conflict in Yemen have occurred since 2010 until now involving the Houthis and the Yemeni Government and their coalition. This conflict has claimed many lives, many of whom are civilians. Meanwhile based on the distinction principle as stated in Article 48, Article 51 number 2, and Article 52 number 2 of Additional Protocol I 1977 states that parties to an armed conflict must distinguish between civilians and combatants and are prohibited from targeting civilians as attacks. This study aims to analyze and formulate what actions taken by the Houthis and the Yemeni Government in armed conflict in Yemen violate the distinction principle based on International Humanitarian Law. This research is a normative study using a statutory and conceptual approach and using descriptive analysis techniques. The results of the study and discussion stated that the Houthi Group and the Yemeni Government and their Coalition had violated the dictinction principle by conducting indiscriminate attacks through attacks on places that were filled with civilians, such as housing, markets and airports.

In this article we rely on the concept of "international new ventures" (INV), and concentrate on the analysis of two research propositions in the case of selected Hungarian INVs, based on company interviews in two selected industries, biotechnology and information technology. First, we analyse the criteria of the selection of foreign markets in the internationalisation of these firms and second, the role of networks in the internationalisation process of selected Hungarian INVs. Our results highlight the typical internationalisation pattern of targeting the largest developed foreign markets globally. In terms of the role of networks in internationalisation, we found evidence of the decisive role of networks in all cases examined. The personal network of the founder(s) was emphasised, especially in winning early clients. The scalability of the personal network-based business model was, however, questioned. The management implications of our findings suggest Hungarian INVs need to intensify their involvement in international communities supporting the growth of such companies. Areas for potential future research include comparing our findings with empirical results from other countries in Central-Eastern Europe.

AbstractTo tackle transboundary air pollution in East Asia, international schemes for environmental cooperation have been introduced, including the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET), Long‐Range Transboundary Pollution of China, Japan and Korea (LTP), and the North‐East Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC). These programs, however, have not been successful in establishing robust regimes for effectively reducing transboundary air pollution in the region. This paper aims to examine the process of forming epistemic communities through these programs in East Asia. A bibliometric data on the scientific articles and reports produced were analyzed to examine the network structure of the scientific activities through EANET. The fragmentation of expert groups within EANET and among the major international schemes on air pollution in East Asia contributed to discouraging solid formation of an epistemic community covering air pollution comprehensively in the region. That makes it difficult to reach a consensus based on the current state of scientific knowledge on air pollution for providing effective advice and recommendations for the development of policies and regulations.

From academic years 2011–2012 until 2015–2016 (inclusive), the authors developed an innovative formative peer review assessment strategy to build undergraduate students' academic writing skills within the framework of a second year introductory International Politics module. This involved students anonymously reviewing assigned fellow students' draft essay introductions and indicative bibliographies, supported by a bespoke rubric delivered via Turnitin Peermark. This article recounts the educational research-driven rationale underpinning the peer review educational design and implementation in the International Politics module, before qualitatively exploring its perception and reception by learners through key "student voice" data, complemented by commentary from learner focus groups. Following the best traditions of learning and teaching articles in this journal, we conclude by sharing the challenges and benefits of implementing such a formative assessment strategy. We also offer practice-based advice, drawn from our experiences, for colleagues who may want to emulate our approach, and we acknowledge the limitations of our qualitative practice-based study alongside a potential avenue for expanding on this study.

AbstractThis article provides a detailed examination of the dynamics of the international negotiations on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), adopted 2 April 2013, focusing on the role played by civil society. Control Arms – the primary international coalition of civil society organisations on this issue – entered the negotiating process with a comprehensive 'vision' of a robust ATT. In a detailed case study of the key areas of civil society engagement during the diplomatic conferences of July 2012 and March 2013, this article examines the coalition's ability to shape the debate on priority campaign issues and impact important aspects of the final treaty text. Its success depended on the development of close collaboration with 'like‐minded states' and intergovernmental organizations, careful management of information flows and the strategic use of global advocacy networks. As such, the ATT experience offers many potential lessons for civil society campaigners seeking to influence and shape United Nations diplomatic processes.