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Every page on the Web represents an international publication. A client machine in Germany can easily access a server in Michigan, but the copyright laws in the USA differ in a number of significant ways. This column looks at two specific examples, one where there is a difference in the length of protection, and another where German moral rights legislation gives privileges not found in the US law. Although the examples are German and American, similar differences exist between other legal systems. ; Peer Reviewed

There is no international bankruptcy law, but only the national bankruptcy laws of various states. The failure of a multinational firm therefore raises difficult questions of conflict and cooperation among national bankruptcy regimes. Theorists have proposed various reforms to the uncoordinated territorial approach that most states pursue when a multinational firm suffers financial distress. Among these reform proposals, universalism has long been the dominant idea. Under universalism, the bankruptcy regime of the debtor firm's home country would govern, and that regime would have extraterritorial reach to treat all of the debtor's assets and claimants worldwide. Despite its conceptual dominance, universalism has yet to find vindication in any concrete policy enactments. No universalist arrangements exist. While recent challenges to universalism have emerged, the current lively debate over universalism and rival proposals focuses almost exclusively on their comparative efficiencies. This article provides an entirely new perspective. Applying insights from elementary game theory and international relations theory, I show that universalism is politically implausible. Even for states interested in establishing universalist arrangements, they will be unable to do so. They will find themselves caught in a prisoners' dilemma with no ready solution. I conclude therefore that universalism holds only dubious promise as a prescription for international bankruptcy cooperation.

Internationale Politieke Economie (IPE) is een nieuw vakgebied dat een zekere integratie voorstaat van Internationale Betrekkingen, Internationale Economische Betrekkingen, Politicologie en Bestuurskunde. Het is een terrein dat zich goed leent om de wisselwerking van verschijnselen op subnationaal, nationaal en internationaal niveau te analyseren. Dit artikel geeft een oeverzicht van de recente ontwikkelingen op dit vakgebied en signaleert de mogelijkheden en beperkingen van IPE.

In general, attitudes towards nations have a fair amount of reciprocity: nations either like each other are relatively indifferent to each other or dislike each other Sometimes, however international attitudes are asymmetrical. In this study, we use social identity theory in order to explain asymmetrical attitudes. Parting from social identity theory, asymmetrical attitudes can be predicted to occur most likely between countries that are linguistically either similar or closely related, but differ in size. Europe, more than any other continent, offers a rich variety of nations which represent natural conditions for our study, such as size and degree of linguistic similarity. In order to test hypotheses derived from social identity theory, we asked respondents (N = 405) from (Dutch- and French-speaking) Belgium, France, Germany, and The Netherlands to fill out a questionnaire on three large nations (Germany, Great Britain, France) and three smaller ones (The Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark). Results strongly supported hypotheses and confirm that a social identity approach may help to better understand international attitudes. ; Peer reviewed

This paper examines whether trade relationships facilitate resolution of international environmental spillovers. Trade might promote cooperation by providing opportunities for implicit side payments, allowing linkage between nvironmental and trade concessions, providing direct leverage over other countries' production, or instilling a perception of shared goals. Using data from the UN's Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS) on water quality in international rivers, the paper examines the influence of bilateral trade on pollution in rivers that cross international borders. In equations with country fixed effects, the paper finds evidence of lower water pollution in rivers shared between countries with more extensive trade.

This issue of the International Political Science Review is devoted to new challenges and opportunities-as well as attendant problems-created by new information and communication technologies and applications in political science, with special attention to implications for international relations. The challenges are shaped in large part by the convergence of three trends: globalization, world-wide electronic connectivity, and emergent practices in knowledge networking. Increasingly, this convergence is reinforcing the role of knowledge in the global economy and in power politics. While each of these trends, individually, is having an impact on social discourse and modes of interaction, jointly they may be shaping powerful new parameters of politics, both nationally and internationally. They may also affect our ways of generating and managing knowledge, creating new knowledge, and even framing or re-framing the core concepts in political science. Central among these concepts, of course, are power, politics, representation, accountability, conflict, contention, and a host of others. In the context of the broader social sciences, these trends are also transforming traditional know- ledge practices, creating new research modes, and accelerating "new knowledge."

In this chapter, we trace the emergence of institutional approaches in IR theory, outline three important areas of research on international institutions, and suggest promising directions for future research. The review demonstrates that rational choice institutionalism, historical institutionalism, and normative institutionalism, as developed in the study of domestic institutions, have constituted sources of inspiration in IR theory. At the same time, the relative absence of formal institutions in the international realm has encouraged IR scholars to theorize more subtle institutional forms and influences, with general implications for institutional analysis in political science.

The rationales for comparative studies of guidance systems are outlined. The key differences between guidance systems in different countries can be related to stage of economic development, to the political system, to social and cultural factors, to the education and training system, and to professional and organisational structures. The competing pressures towards convergence and divergence between guidance systems are explored. ; This paper has been adapted from a chapter on "International Perspectives" in Watts, A. G., Law, B., Killeen, J., Kidd, J.M., and Hawthorn, R. (1996). Rethinking Careers Education and Guidance: Theory, Policy and Practice . London: Routledge. ; Departamento de Psicología

Following a brief historical introduction and a discussion of different types of commercial policy, this paper reviews the arguments for and against trade protection. In the bench-mark case of a competitive, small, open economy, free trade maximizes aggregate national welfare, although some individual groups will lose unless compensation is actually paid. Guidelines for policy include the uniform reduction and concertina rules for tariff cuts, and the principle of targeting: corrective measures should be applied as close to the source of the distortion as possible. Relaxing the bench-mark assumptions allows exceptions to the case for free trade: optimal tariffs to manipulate world prices; strategic tariffs or export subsidies when home firms engage in oligopolistic competition with foreign rivals; and infant industry protection to allow home firms benefit from learning by doing. Protection can also raise the growth rate, though it is less likely to raise welfare in a growing economy. Overall, with due allowance for some ambiguity, both theoretical arguments and empirical evidence suggest a pragmatic case for free trade. Finally, the paper notes the political pressures for and against protection, and the role of international institutions such as the GATT in underpinning moves towards freer trade.

Over the last twenty years social opposition to mineral excavation has increased to such an extent in the densely populated Netherlands, that it is getting extremely difficult to discover new sites for quarrying coarse sand for concrete. While the Dutch government has attempted for many years to shape more effective legislation covering mineral excavation, The Netherlands is importing ever growing quantities of building materials from abroad, especially from Germany and Belgium and from Scotland and Norway. It seems almost certain that in the future some restraints will be imposed on the import of minerals (unconsolidated deposits) from populous areas in Germany and Belgium along the Rhine and the Meuse to the Netherlands. Meanwhile it is extremely difficult for the provinces of The Netherlands to come to an agreement over the location of new extracting sites. The theoretical model is inadequate and requires practical improvement. The directives based on this model, therefore, must be broadened to include larger contextual aspects.

The relationship between trade and material flows is examined by viewing theglobal economy from the perspective of international material-product chains(MPC). The international MPC covers the complete lifecycle of a material or aproduct in two or more regions, including extraction, production, consumption,waste management and transport. Products, waste, and associated material flowsin the international MPC can run vertically or horizontally between segments.It is demonstrated how differences in factor requirements across segments ofthe international MPC in combination with factor productivity differencesacross developed and developing countries can cause specific trade patterns ofinter-industry and intra-industry flows of materials and products. Theimplications of considering various trade theories in the context of the ideaof an international MPC are examined. This interpretation of internationaltrade sheds a new light especially on the physical dimension of internationalspecialisation.

The rationales for comparative studies of guidance systems are outlined. The key differences between guidance systems in different countries can be related to stage of economic development, to the political system, to social and cultural factors, to the education and training system, and to professional and organisational structures. The competing pressures towards convergence and divergence between guidance systems are explored.

The rationales for comparative studies of guidance systems are outlined. The key differences between guidance systems in different countries can be related to stage of economic development, to the political system, to social and cultural factors, to the education and training system, and to professional and organisational structures. The competing pressures towards convergence and divergence between guidance systems are explored.

The rationales for comparative studies of guidance systems are outlined. The key differences between guidance systems in different countries can be related to stage of economic development, to the political system, to social and cultural factors, to the education and training system, and to professional and organisational structures. The competing pressures towards convergence and divergence between guidance systems are explored.

Cet article présente un modèle d'économie géographique permettant d'identifier les déterminants de la localisation des activités agricoles et agro-industrielles. Ces deux secteurs sont verticalement liés. Le modèle représente de manière stylisée la situation intra-communautaire puisque les consommateurs ont une préférence pour la variété, les produits agroalimentaires étant caractérisés par leur origine géographique de production, en opposition à la situation américaine où les consommateurs valorisent les produits de marques produits à grande échelle. Le modèle permet de présenter un équilibre asymétrique rural/urbain de localisation des activités agricoles et agro-industrielles.