Suchergebnisse

A review essay covering books by 1) Alan S. Alexandroff & Andrew F. Cooper, Rising States, Rising Institutions: Challenges for Global Governance (2010), 2) Alexander T. J. Lennon & Amanda Kozlowski, Global Powers in the 21st Century: Strategies and Relations (2008), 3) Geir Lundestad, The Rise and Decline of the American 'Empire': Power and its Limits in Comparative Perspective (2012), 4) Fareed Zakaria, The Post-American World and the Rise of the Rest (2009), 5) Amrita Narlikar, New Powers: How to Become One and How to Manage Them (2010) and 6) Michael T. Klare, Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy (2008).

Ten experts representing universities, newspapers and institutions provide their short comments on the Norwegian Parliament's address (2008-2009) regarding current and future foreign policy developments. Some of the given comments are general in nature whereas others target a particular part of the document such as immigration and Nordic co-operation. The general comments describe the address as predictable, status conforming and stable, but criticisms are given for downplaying the importance of the European Union. However, a commentator points out that this document still remains the most important source for understanding Norwegian foreign policy since it explains Norway's security policy, foreign policy goals and role in international organizations. L. Pitkaniemi

Hedge strategies became famous after the strange year of 2008 when Lehman Brothers went bankrupt and the Norwegian stock market crashed by 55%. Countries could benefit from the hedging strategies known from the financial world during an era when the American hegemony is about to end. In a polar or bipolar world where stakes are well known hedging is unnecessary, but in a multipolar world dominated from two to ten states the importance of hedging increases. A successful foreign policy hedging strategy aims at finding a low delta by reducing and managing risk, pushing decision making into the future, keeping options open and developing insurance mechanisms. L. Pitkaniemi

Discusses what problems were present in the world economy on a macro and a micro level, how it resulted in the financial crisis and how the authorities were trying to intervene in order to stabilize the situation. On the macroeconomic level Americans bought cheep Asian goods while printing a lot of money, but inflation was kept at bay since the money was sent to Asia. The circle was complete when Americans lent the money back from Asia and speculated with it. On the microeconomic level structured investment vehicles (SIVs) and asset backed commercial paper (ABCP) created problems especially when they were combined with collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) and mortgage-backed securities (MBS). The boom turned into bust after 2006 when there were not enough house buyers left. L. Pitkaniemi