Suchergebnisse

This article is hinged on literature as a paradigm of international politics from a Nigerian perspective. It shows the strong connections between how literature as a shaper of perceptions about people and nations ultimately influences international relations. Zeroing in on the works of Nigerian writers, it analyses the ways in which their plays, novels, poems and critical essays portray and project Nigeria to the world, especially in political terms. In conclusion, it is posited that the relationship between writers, the nation, the state and politics is indispensable for a co-ordinated paradigm of Nigeria's foreign policy. (NJIA - Nigerian Inst Int Aff/DÜI)

What role does trade play in international technology transfer? Do technologies introduced by multinational firms diffuse to local firms? What kinds of policies have proved successful in encouraging technology absorption from abroad and why? Using these questions as motivation, this article surveys the recent trade literature on international technology transfer, paying particular attention to the role of foreign direct investment. The literature argues that trade necessarily encourages growth only if knowledge spillovers are international in scope. Empirical evidence on the scope of knowledge spillovers (national versus international) is ambiguous. Several recent empirical plant-level studies have questioned earlier studies that argued that foreign direct investment has a positive impact on the productivity of local firms. Yet at the aggregate level, evidence supports the view that foreign direct investment has a positive effect on economic growth in the host country.

Maren Katharina Bode untersucht das Handeln des Internationalen Währungsfonds im Lichte vergangener, aktueller und zukünftiger Finanz- und Währungskrisen aus rechtlicher und wirtschaftlicher Sicht. Die Besonderheit liegt in einer weitreichenden Aufarbeitung seines Verhaltens bei der Krisenbewältigung und einer strukturierten Einordnung dieses Verhaltens in verschiedene Rollen. Dabei werden nicht nur seine Handlungsweisen, sondern auch die ihm hierzu entgegengebrachte Kritik systematisch analysiert und bewertet. Im Anschluss werden Lösungswege struktureller und inhaltlicher Art aufgezeigt, wie sich der IWF zukünftig ausrichten sollte. Um auf künftige Krisen angemessen und aufgabengerecht reagieren zu können, empfiehlt die Autorin die 'Rückkehr zu einem neuen System'.

This article goes against the grain of traditional approaches in international relations by claiming that a leader's biological age is a factor in this individual's execution of foreign policy. The traditional logic of political science that has generally been diminishing the impact of a leader's individual features on policy for the sake of institutional procedures needs to be reassessed. A common assumption is that an aging king or president, especially those entering the eighth or ninth decade of their lives, are likely to make prudent, balanced, and wise political decisions due to their rich experience. However, this notion lacks sufficient empirical support from history. The physical "wear and tear" of the aging leader, along with their declining psychological functions, are likely to negatively impact their foreign-policy decisions that may fall under the influence of the leader's information overload, cognitive narcissism, profound stubbornness, as well as their irrational sense of urgency, and their tendency to overcompensate. In democracies, the political tenure of top politicians is limited by constitutional terms or scheduled elections. In authoritarian systems, only the top figure's death or incapacitation become actual "schedulers" of their political tenure. Although a person's advanced age should not disqualify him or her from public office, without institutional checks on the leader's judgements and behavior as well as the critical power of public opinion and the press, the aging authoritarian leader can become unpredictably risky.

Translated from the Russian from Mirovaja Èkonomika i Me�&zdunarodnye Otno�&senija, nos. 4-5, 1979.