Suchergebnisse

IN 1945, THE US EMERGED FROM WWII PREPARED TO HELP SHAPE A NEW WORLD ORDER. A SMALL GROUP OF POLICYMAKERS GATHERED TO CREATE A STRATEGY THAT WOULD HELP GUIDE THE NEW SUPERPOWER. WHAT DEVELOPED, NSC-68, WAS A COMPREHENSIVE DOCUMENT THAT ENCOMPASSED THE ROOTS OF AMERICA'S CONTAINMENT POLICY AND WOULD PROVE TO BE THE BACKBONE OF US FOREIGN POLICY FOR DECADES TO COME. THE AUTHOR OF THIS ARTICLE EMPHASIZES THAT NSC-68 RESPONDED TO SPECIFIC CONDITIONS (THOSE OF 1950) AND THAT THE POSITION WE FIND OURSELVES IN TODAY IS QUITE DIFFERENT. HE ASSERTS THAT THE BEST STRATEGY FOR THE US NOW IS SELECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF WORLD CRISES.

THIS ARTICLE CONTENDS THAT IT WAS NOT SIMPLY ABSTRACT IDEAS THAT CAUSED THE UNRAVELING OF COMMUNISM IN 1989. INSTEAD, MUCH MORE CONCRETE ASPECTS OF COLLECTIVE HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS WERE AT WORK. LIKEWISE, THE ARTICLE ARGUES THAT COUNTRIES WITH MORE COHERENT AND LONGSTANDING TRADITIONS OF CIVIL SOCIETY APPEAR TO BE MAKING MUCH MORE HEADWAY TODAY THAN THOSE WITHOUT THEM. THE ARTICLE CONCLUDES, THEREFORE, THAT ONE LESSON OF 1989 IS THE NEED TO RESPECT AND HAVE SOME HUMILITY IN FRONT OF PARTICULARITY AND TO BE CAUTIOUS ABOUT IMPOSING SIMPLISTICALLY UNIVERSAL IDEAS. AS THE WORLD STRUGGLES WITH THE AFTERMATH OF THE KOSOVO WAR, THIS AUTHOR WISHES THAT THE POST-1989 TRIUMPHALISTS HAD LISTENED A LITTLE MORE TO THE INDIVIDUALIST VOICES OF THE FORMERLY COMMUNIST COUNTRIES.

THIS DISCUSSION FOCUSES ON BREAKDOWN AND DEADLOCK IN THE RUSSIAN DUMA'S LEGISLATIVE BUDGET PROCESS. IT ELABORATES THE PECULIARITIES OF THE DUMA'S DESIGN WHICH HAS PUT ITS BUDGET PROCESS IN COMPLETE CHAOS. IT THEN DEMONSTRATES HOW THIS DESIGN HINDERS CONSENSUS BUILDING AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN THE DUMA'S LEGISLATIVE PROCESS.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMMITTEES IN THE POLISH SEJM ILLUSTRATES THE PROCESS OF INSTITUTIONALIZATION IN NEWLY DEMOCRATIZED LEGISLATURES. THE POLISH COMMITTEE SYSTEM IS REVIEWED THROUGH DOCUMENTARY SOURCES AND THREE SETS OF MEMBER INTERVIEWS. THE NEWLY DEMOCRATIZED PARLIAMENTS OF CENTRAL EUROPE ARE ADAPTING THEIR COMMITTEES TO THE CONDITIONS OF THE DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION, THEREBY ILLUSTRATING INSTITUTIONALIZATION AS AN ONGOING DYNAMIC PROCESS.

CORRUPTION AND BRIBERY IN THE SOVIET UNION HAS LONG BEEN AN ISSUE OF DEBATE. RATHER THAN DISAPPEARING, HIGH-LEVEL CORRUPTION HAS BECOME, IF NOT MORE WIDESPREAD, THAN AT LEAST MORE VISIBLE IN THE POST-SOVIET YEARS. TO INVESTIGATE THE INTERACTION BETWEEN POST-COMMUNIST OFFICIALS AND CITIZENS, THE AUTHORS COMMISSIONED A SERIES OF IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS IN UKRAINE, THE CZECH REPUBLIC, SLOVAKIA AND BULGARIA. THE RESPONDENTS WERE QUESTIONED ABOUT THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, STRATEGIES FOR INTERACTION WITH OFFICIALS, THE TYPES OF BRIBES USED, THE USE OF CONNECTIONS AND CONTACTS, AND THE POSSIBILITIES OF IMPROVEMENT IN THE BEHAVIOR OF OFFICIALS.

Provides an introduction to a collection of articles that present Third World perspectives on peace. The convoluted & often contradictory nature of these perspectives, which emerge from diverse concerns such as development, race, ethnicity, gender, power, colonialism, postcolonialism, knowledge, discourse, & epistemology, is discussed. A brief history of peace studies in the First & Third Worlds is given. Major themes addressed by the articles are described, eg, reconceptualizing peace from various viewpoints, regional perspectives on peace, & the future of humanity. How each article deals with various questions arising from these themes is discussed, & conventional concepts of peace & human rights are challenged. It is concluded that incorporating the perspectives of marginalized individuals & groups into current discourse will likely come from the periphery, not the centers of power. T. Arnold