Suchergebnisse

All countries with significant coastlines and groups of islands inevitably produce seafarers at some time or other in the course of their economic development, and the two countries which are the subject of this paper are no exceptions. Chinese ships and seafarers were famously exploring the Indian Ocean more than a century before the arrival of the Portuguese and once the Spanish Pacific empire was established in the sixteenth century, the ships linking Mexico to Manila were mainly crewed by Filipinos. And it need hardly be said that Chinese and Filipinos have both been employed by foreign ship-owners throughout the twentieth century. What is unquestionably new is the magnitude of Filipino seafarers' employment in the world's merchant ships and the extraordinary growth of China as a nation with a major stake in the shipping industry, both as ship-owner and as a source of seafarers.

The effort to unite the economies of the western hemisphere into a single free trade agreement was initiated at the Summit of the Americas in Miami in 1994. The timetable established was for completion of the agreement by 2005. This article analyzes the efforts that have arisen over the last six years in opposition to the proposed Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA). Opposition coming from both governments in Latin America and civil society throughout the hemisphere have threatened to derail the whole process. This article details the political arguments that have been mounted against the FTAA and also provides an analysis of the myriad tactics employed by the anti-FTAA movement.

Enormous financial crises that result in the devaluation of currency, rapid accumulation of external debt, bank failure, and rapid increase of unemployment and poverty were observed in the 1980s as a result of the high interest policies of the US that lead to an era of "structural adaptation" in which the IMF pushed reforms in the economies and societies of indebted developing nations. A new cycle of financial crises began in the mid 1990s. Systematic comparison of these crises periods using the examples of Argentina and South Korea seeks to establish a global political economic explanation of financial crises in growing nations and determine whether there is a systematic association between neoliberal reforms, financial crises, and the pressure of foreign concerns in the markets of these nations. While the liberalization of capital traffic in both nations led to accumulation of short term payment obligations, a decisive contributor to the crises, these nations were not initially forced to deregulate, though the Wall Street Treasury-IMF Complex utilized these opportunities to require neoliberal reforms that favored primarily US and EU concerns. Yet this deregulation itself spurs the active search for alternatives to neoliberal political concepts. L. Reed

Ausgangspunkt des Beitrags sind die beiden Pole der Migration, die (verhinderte) Autonomie von Migranten einerseits und die (misslungene) staatliche Kontrolle andererseits. Diese Dichotomie wird herausgearbeitet, und es wird eine Alternative gesucht, die diese problematische Gegenüberstellung vermeidet. Mit Bezug auf das Konzept zur vergeschlechtlichten globalen Restrukturierung von Chang und Ling und konkreten Beispielen stellen die Autorinnen dar, warum sie den Begriff der Eigensinnigkeit dem der Autonomie vorziehen. Dieses Konzept ist von Kluge und Negt entlehnt und bezieht sich auf die Entstehung von Strukturen durch die Aggregation individueller Handlungen: 'In einer zerstörten Stadt sind nach kurzer Frist über die Trümmer Trampelpfade gelegt, die in gewisser Weise die alten Wegeverhältnisse, besonders der Zeit vor der Zerstörung wiederherstellen, zugleich aber Abkürzungen und Umwege beschreiben, die offensichtlich neu sind.' (IAB)

Stabilization and reconstruction operations are necessary to secure and maintain the peace in the aftermath of conflict. The complexities of nation-building involve many different but interrelated systems and institutions. The basic structure of a country may or may not remain; its political, economic, and judicial systems, cultural, educational, medical, and military institutions, and critical infrastructure all vitally contribute to the overall progression of stability and prosperity. Understanding the significance of the dynamic relationships between the forces in play during stability and reconstruction operations is paramount to the successful conclusion of such missions. The system dynamics model proposed in this research functions as a support tool allowing decision makers and analysts to investigate different sets of decision approaches at a sub-national, regional level. Concentration on the regional level allows for specific identification and investigation of potentially troublesome regions, providing the model-user with more detailed information concerning the internal dynamics prevalent within the area of operations. Construction of two different measures via logistic regression, a probability of stabilization success and a probability of stabilization failure, provide indication as to the successful execution of stabilization and reconstruction operations. The proposed model is a general construct, widely adaptable to a variety of post-conflict nation-building scenarios. The model is notionally demonstrated using Operation Iraqi Freedom as a test case.

Examines the role of psychoactive substances in war over the past half millennium, grounding discussion in four key geopolitical locales/events: Columbus' arrival in the New World (Oct 1492); Waterloo (June 1815); the Sino-British opium wars (1830s-1840s); Sarajevo (June 1914); & the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The dynamics of the "war on drugs" waged by various US administrations are explored & links to the "war on terrorism" are investigated, offering the recent histories of Afghanistan & Colombia as case studies of the relationship between drugs, war, & US foreign policy. Historical parallels are found in Southeast Asia & Latin America, demonstrating how US policies have "both directly & indirectly aided & abetted drug plant production," which have, in turn, helped fuel armed conflicts. A cultural-political ecology perspective is offered on drug plant production, the marginalization of peasant farmers, & drug wars. References. K. Hyatt Stewart

Nicht zuletzt wegen der Zweiteilung in Atomwaffen- und Nicht-Atomwaffenstaaten hat sich die EU lange Zeit auf eine eher passive Rüstungskontroll- und Abrüstungspolitik beschränkt, die nur geringe Wirkung entfalten konnte. Der Beitrag zeigt, wie sich die EU seit den 1980er Jahren zu einem Rüstungskontrollakteur entwickelt hat und welche Kontrollpolitik die EU auf dem Gebiet der Proliferation von Massenvernichtungswaffen, vor allem nuklearen und biologischen Waffen, verfolgt. Im Vordergrund steht hier die Strategie eines "effektiven Multilateralismus". Seit dem Inkrafttreten des Maastrichter Vertrags hat die EU beachtliche Fortschritte auf dem Gebiet der Rüstungskontrolle gemacht. Militärische Gewalt wird jetzt als ultima ratio der Abrüstungspolitik ausdrücklich gebilligt. Die Union sollte aber - neben der Kooperation mit den USA auf diesem Gebiet - auch eigenständige Rüstungskontrollinitiativen entwickeln. (ICE2)