Suchergebnisse

THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES BUSINESS LOBBYING AN CONTEMPORARY RUSSIA WITHIN THE WIDER CONTEXT OF LOBBYING IN THE DECISION-MAKING SYSTEM OVERALL. IT IS ARGUED THAT, ALTHOUGH LOBBIES WERE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE OLD SOVIET SYSTEM, THE DEFENCE OF CORPORATE INTERESTS WAS HELD WITHIN "NATURAL" LIMITS B AN OVERRIDING CONCERN TO MAINTAIN THE ESTABLISHED CONSENSUS - IN THE FORM OF A BUREAUCRATIC CORPORATIST ECONOMY. IN THE "PERESTROIKA" AND "POST-PERESTROIKA" YEARS, HOWEVER, LOBBIES THEMSELVES TOOK FRONT STATE BECOMING THE DECISIVE ELEMENT IN THE ECONOMY. EASILY THE MOST IMPORTANT, IN TERMS OF ECONOMIC STRENGTH AND POLITICAL INFLUENCE, WERE THE VARIOUS BUSINESS INTERESTS GROUPS, WHICH THE AUTHORS HAVE ATTEMPTED TO CLASSIFY ACCORDING TO THEIR LOBBYING POTENTIAL AND THE CHANNELS OF INFLUENCE AVAILABLE TO THEM. THE PECULIARITIES OF BUSINESS INTEREST LOBBYING ARE ALSO CONSIDERED, INCLUDING THE AS YET UNSATISFIED QUEST FOR POLITICAL REPRESENTATION, THE TENDENCY FOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES TO "ROW TOGETHER", THE HUGH POTENTIAL OF UNCONTROLLABLE LOBBYING "ROM BELOW" IN THE FACE OF GROWING SOCIAL TENSION AND, FINALLY, THE DISPARITY BETWEEN LOBBYING AND OTHER FORMS OF STATE-SOCIETY RELATIONS.

Over the last decade, the Arctic region has become the site of new forms of great power interest. While the US has changed its hegemonic presence, other powers, in particular China and Russia, have been perceived to actively pursue Arctic strategies, perhaps seeking to undermine the western hegemony in the area. One of the most talkedabout features of this new interest, has been the alleged Chinese desire to get engaged in Greenlandic mining. While there is certainly a desire among some in Greenland for alternative sources of revenue, direct Chinese involvement runs into a number of political and logistical challenges. To close observers, the narrative of heavy Chinese interest and involvement in Greenland probably says less about China and Chinese interests, than about dynamics in the relationship between Greenland and Denmark. Even with Greenlandic independence a possibility in the intermediate future, there seems to be no obvious hegemon to take the place of the already existing ones.