Suchergebnisse

AbstractThe conceptual, and more recently empirical, study of compliance has become a central preoccupation, and perhaps the fastest growing subfield, in international legal scholarship. The authors seek to question this trend. They argue that looking at the aspirations of international law through the lens of rule compliance leads to inadequate scrutiny and understanding of the diverse complex purposes and projects that multiple actors impose and transpose on international legality, and especially a tendency to oversimplify if not distort the relation of inter‐national law to politics. Citing a range of examples from different areas of international law – ranging widely from international trade and investment to international criminal and humanitarian law – the authors seek to show how the concept of compliance (especially viewed as rule observance) is inadequate for understanding how international law has normative effects. A fundamental flaw of compliance studies is that they abstract from the problem of interpretation: interpretation is pervasively deter‐minative of what happens to legal rules when they are out in the world, yet 'compliance' studies begin with the notion that there is a stable and agreed meaning to a rule, and we need merely to observe whether it is obeyed.Policy Implications

Looking at the aspirations of international law through the lens of rule compliance leads to inadequate scrutiny and understanding of the diverse complex purposes and projects that multiple actors impose and transpose on international legality, and especially a tendency to oversimplify if not distort the relation of international law to politics.
States, as well as other actors – corporations for example – instead of simply 'complying' with international legal rules may bargain in light of them, and around them. Given that there are transaction costs of negotiating, the rules will have an effect on the bargain, but one that will not be observed if what one is focused on is rule compliance.
In altering the focus and agenda of states and nonstate actors in dealing with conflict and post‐conflict transitions, international law may have raised expectations too high that where politics and economics, and for that matter moral idealism, have failed to solve enduring human problems, law will succeed.
International law may create benchmarks for a wide range of private decision making, and this even when in the first instance the rules in question have not been explicitly addressed, at least not traditionally to nonstate actors. Such benchmarks may affect to whom firms lend, with whom they deal as suppliers or subcontractors, design specifications for products such as ships and aircraft, the terms of such diverse transactions as the adoption of children, the transportation of hazardous products and the transfer of high technology. Private actors may simply adopt these benchmarks as common terms of commerce regardless of the extent to which they have been 'implemented' by states.
International law (norms and/or institutions such as courts and tribunals) may shift in whole or in part decision‐making, interpretative and/or legitimating power from one set of elite actors to another (for example from diplomats, foreign policy analysts and military planners to legal professionals such as judges, lawyers and law professors).

The purpose of the article is to clarify the features of Soviet foreign trade in the Mediterranean basin in the 1920s. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that the Mediterranean Soviet foreign trade of the period of the new economic policy has never actually been a separate scientific and historical problem. Methods of research: chronological, historical-comparative, descriptive. The main results: established a list of Mediterranean countries with which the Soviet state maintained trade relations during the period of the new economic policy; clarified the commodity and raw materials nomenclature of export-import operations in the Mediterranean zone; it was established that one of the main reasons for the establishment by Western countries of trade relations with the Bolshevik state was the economic crisis of 1920-1921, which swept the West; At the end of the study period, the Soviet government used the Great Depression to exert economic pressure on Western countries; disclosed the dynamics of Soviet trade at that time in the southern direction; revealed the dependence of Soviet foreign trade on the political environment; analyzed the Ukrainian component of the Soviet Mediterranean trade of the 1920s, using the example of the southern direction of Soviet foreign trade, it is shown how Moscow gradually limited the economic independence of the Ukrainian SSR until its complete leveling. Practical significance: the results of the study can be recommended for use in synthetic works on the history of Ukraine, the USSR, foreign trade and international relations of the 1920s, the development of relevant academic disciplines and special courses. These materials can also be used to promote historical knowledge. Originality: the article is, in general, original, it was made taking into account the developments of domestic and foreign researchers, with the involvement of a significant array of documents from a number of Ukrainian and Russian archives. Scientific novelty: for the first time in domestic historiography the peculiarities of the Soviet foreign trade of the 1920s in the Mediterranean basin are characterized, and also the role in the corresponding processes of the Ukrainian SSR is. The scientific novelty of the work is also due to the introduction into scientific circulation of a significant complex of archival materials, primarily documents of various services and structures of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Trade of the RSFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and the USSR. Type of article: overview. ; Цель статьи - выяснить особенности советской внешней торговли в бассейне Средиземного моря в 1920-х годах. Актуальность исследования обусловлена тем фактом, что средиземноморская советская внешняя торговля периода новой экономической политики фактически никогда не была отдельной научно-исторической проблемой. Методы исследования: хронологический, историко-сравнительный, описательный. Основные результаты: установлен перечень стран Средиземноморья, с которыми советское государство поддерживало торговые отношения в течение суток новой экономической политики; выяснено зависимость советской внешней торговли от политической конъюнктуры; проанализированы украинскую составляющую советской средиземноморской торговли; на примере южного направления советской внешней торговли показано, как Москва постепенно ограничивала экономической самостоятельности Украинской Социалистической Советской Республики в полной ее нивелирования. Практическое значение: результаты исследования можно рекомендовать для использования в синтетических трудах по истории Украины, СССР, внешней торговли и международных отношений периода 1920-х гг., Разработки соответствующих учебных дисциплин и спецкурсов. Оригинальность: статья есть в целом оригинальной, она выполнена с учетом наработок отечественных и зарубежных исследователей, с привлечением значительного массива документов ряда украинских и российских архивохранилищ. Научная новизна: впервые в отечественной историографии охарактеризованы особенности советской внешней торговли 1920-х гг. В бассейне Средиземного моря, а также освещена роль в соответствующих процессах УССР. Тип статьи: обзорная. ; Мета статті – з'ясувати особливості радянської зовнішньої торгівлі в басейні Середземного моря у 1920-х роках. Актуальність дослідження зумовлюється тим фактом, що середземноморська радянська зовнішня торгівля періоду нової економічної політики фактично ніколи не була окремою науково-історичною проблемою. Методи дослідження: хронологічний, історико-порівняльний, описовий. Основні результати: встановлено перелік країн Середземномор'я, з якими радянська держава підтримувала торговельні відносини протягом доби нової економічної політики; з'ясовано залежність радянської зовнішньої торгівлі від політичної кон'юнктури; проаналізовано українську складову радянської середземноморської торгівлі; на прикладі південного напряму радянської зовнішньої торгівлі показано, як Москва поступово обмежувала економічну самостійність Української Соціалістичної Радянської Республіки до повної її нівеляції. Практичне значення: результати дослідження можна рекомендувати для використання у синтетичних працях з історії України, СРСР, зовнішньої торгівлі та міжнародних відносин періоди 1920-х рр., розробки відповідних навчальних дисциплін та спецкурсів. Оригінальність: стаття є в цілому оригінальною, вона виконана з урахуванням напрацювань вітчизняних та зарубіжних дослідників, із залученням значного масиву документів низки українських і російських архівосховищ. Наукова новизна: вперше у вітчизняній історіографії охарактеризовано особливості радянської зовнішньої торгівлі 1920-х рр. у басейні Середземного моря, а також висвітлено роль у відповідних процесах УСРР. Тип статті: оглядова.

"In recent years, international actors have taken significant strides in attempting to develop strategies and instruments that effectively address the problem of weak and failing states. On the one hand, the intensified focus on state failure has to do with general, fundamental shifts in the international security environment since the end of the Cold War. On the other hand, however, the sharpened concern with fragile states arises from the specific challenges, experiences, and interests of key international actors - particularly the United Nations, the United States, and the European Union. This paper provides a brief overview of current efforts to improve and expand the 'toolbox' of state-building instruments and strategies. These include (a) the refinement of existing instruments through greater policy coherence in the fields of conflict prevention, post-conflict reconstruction, and development assistance, as well as (b) theoretical elaborations and practical advances regarding a set of more innovative, targeted, and sometimes controversial strategies, including 'shared' or 'conditional' sovereignty, 'security first' approaches, the potential recognition of new states, and regional solutions. While constructive steps have been taken to improve strategies and policies directed toward fragile states, it is not clear how long the international community and its publics will be willing to bear the material and human costs of long-term, comprehensive post-conflict reconstruction projects and 'big pushes' in foreign aid. As a result, more targeted instruments deserve closer consideration from policymakers seeking to make good policy decisions with scarce resources. Regardless of whether the selected instruments are comprehensive or targeted in nature, the way forward must be characterized by enhanced coordination and coherence among national, regional, and international actors." (author's abstract)

At the request of the government of Kenya and under its guidance, a team of national and international experts conducted an appraisal of different agricultural insurance options for Kenya.This appraisal, as set out in this document and the accompanying technical analysis, lays out the costs and benefits of developing large-scale agricultural insurance that involves both the public and private spheres.The analysis considers potential structures for large-scale agricultural insurance in Kenya, the fiscal cost to the government of Kenya, and the economic benefits for farmers and pastoralists. In order for it to partner with the private sector to prepare and implement a large scale agricultural insurance program, the government should consider taking the following next steps.The government of Kenya may build on there commendations by the Program Steering Committee to take the lead in formulating a national policy on agriculture insurance, in cooperation with county administrations and private insurance companies. The government of Kenya may develop a road map for establishing the institutions required for large-scale agricultural insurance programs, with the goal of covering at least a fifth of Kenya's agricultural producers. As next steps for establishing livestock insurance, the government of Kenya may decide how to integrate the proposed insurance product with other existing protection mechanisms. As next steps for crop insurance, the government of Kenya may seek consultations with agricultural banks and work with private sector insurers to develop a data audit system acceptable to international reinsurers.

"Russia inspires fear. For decades, American presidents viewed the Soviet Union as an "evil empire," and now, the Ukrainian crisis has added a new chapter to this narrative inherited from the Cold War. Russia's behavior is regarded with distrust and its "nuisance power" arouses frustration. The country's image has not been so negative since the collapse of the Soviet Union. But at the same time--and this is a key point of this book--Russia is fearful, too. Thirty years after the end of the Soviet Union, multiple ghosts haunt the country, its elites, and its society, from concern over demographic and economic decline to worry about the country's vulnerability to external intervention, reviving the old notion of Russia as a "besieged fortress." Opened up practically overnight under President Boris Yeltsin, the country had to deal with a rapid and violent globalization. Faced with both a West that emerged victorious from the Cold War and a shockingly dynamic China, Russia constantly questions its identity and the notion that its fate is to bridge East and West. Vacillating between reformist aspirations and a fear of liberal society, which is often portrayed as amoral and perverse, the country, and certainly its leader Vladamir Putin, sometimes seems tempted to take refuge in a new isolation. This book is more than timely: no other book offers a comprehensive overview of Russia's fears and challenges that could help the American public to understand how the country deals with its own issues and how this influences Russia's foreign policy, including the ongoing war in Ukraine. This in-out aspect is critical to understand the country's international stance and therefore directly U.S. policy and security"--