Suchergebnisse

pt. 1. Introduction -- pt. 2. Multilateral organizations and the G8 : academic analyses -- pt. 3. Multilateral organizations and the G8 : practitioners' perspectives -- pt. 4. The St. Petersburg priorities : energy, education, information and health -- pt. 5. The G8's St. Petersburg summit and beyond.

The legitimacy of international institutions is a contested issue both in terms of concept formation and empirical evidence and attracts attention from across the political sciences. The present contribution posits a relational concept of legitimacy that includes self-justification of rulers on the one hand, and legitimacy beliefs of the ruled on the other hand. By taking a top-down perspective, our conceptual section explores an underdeveloped aspect in the field of legitimacy research. We posit that the analysis of political elites' self-legitimations can considerably contribute to our understanding of governing activities and provide a more thorough picture of legitimation processes. These practices play a key role in transforming mere power into popularly accepted, stable authority and have an essentially communicative nature. Hence, self-legitimations are amenable to discourse analysis. In this conjunction, the paper assumes that the media functions as a discursive battleground creating a space for positive or negative evaluations of political orders, including affirmative contributions of the representatives of challenged organizations themselves. The conceptual and theoretical link between legitimacy, self-legitimizing practices, and discourse analysis is further developed in the first section of the paper. Subsequently, our conceptualization of self-legitimizing practices is empirically exemplified. Our explorative study of self-legitimating statements of representatives of three major international institutions (EU, G8, and UN) in media discourses is based on a large qualitative data-set which analyzes legitimacy discourses in two high-quality newspapers in four Western democracies (GB, US, DE, and CH) over a period of ten years (1998-2007). Our empirical findings demonstrate that international institutions' formal representatives and member states actively take part in the process of legitimation. Hence, global governance arrangements are not only objects of legitimacy demands, but at the same time cultivators of their own legitimacy.

Examines global governance priorities for developing countries, focusing on the best way to enhance international cooperation. Discussion begins by pointing out the need for an international framework for dialogue & cooperation where independence fosters collaboration rather than unilateralism & moves on to the issue of developing country resistance to international cooperation in response to Western-driven agendas. Lessons from Latin America include the development of rule of international law & democracy. The UN is criticized for doing little to confront the unilateralism of the US & for inadequacies of the Millennium Development Goals, & it is asserted that UN efforts at change do not amount to a push for major reform. Attention is given to the rise of coalitions of like-minded countries & the fostering of broad-based institutionalized "coalitions of the willing" around key reform issues in the form of an "axis of good"; EU support for Brazil's international ascent & the EU's action on the global security front; & the G-8 Outreach Summits. Adapted from the source document.

Selected official statements and documents from G-8 sources. Includes text of the final communiqué, May 17, 1998.

Examines Afghanistan's judicial system's need to reform in areas ranging from corruption to substandard prisons. This report analyses efforts of the Afghan government and the international community to addresses reforms -- shown by the work of the government as well as NATO's ISAF (International Security and Assistance Force) mission, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), the G8 countries' and international organizations' financial pledges, and the participation of hundreds of non-governmental organizations. Figures. Adapted from the source document.

Discusses the substance of the St. Petersburg, Russia, G8 Summit Declaration on Counter-Terrorism & the Joint Statement by US President George Bush & Russian Federation President V. V. Putin, announcing the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. Attention is also given to the Paris Process, which is centered on countering drug trafficking originating in Central Asia.

Describes discussions at the Group of Eight (G-8) summit meeting, held in Birmingham, England, May 1998, regarding economic globalization, debt relief for the poorest countries, and response to nuclear testing by India; some focus on similarities with summits of the Commonwealth Heads of Government, of which the most recent met in 1997. Members of G-8: Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Russia, and US.

The Eight Technologies of Otherness is a bold and provocative re-thinking of identities, politics, philosophy, ethics, and cultural practices. In this groundbreaking text, old essentialism and binary divides collapse under the weight of a new and impatient necessity. Consider Sue Golding's eight technologies: curiosity, noise, cruelty, appetite, skin, nomadism, contamination, and dwelling. But why only eight technologies? And why these eight, in particular? Included are thirty-three artists, philosophers, filmmakers, writers, photographers, political militants, and 'p