Suchergebnisse

The approaches of Jurgen Habermas & Jean-Francois Lyotard are compared with respect to issues in ethics & the philosophy of law. Though both consider language to be both the pivot of & the means to sociopolitical action & events, they differ in their diagnoses about the pathology of politics & society. Their opinions about language, law, morality, & the role of philosophy, politics, & science are compared, & sketched against the background of their general philosophy. While Habermas is a strong defender of the Enlightenment project & maintains that it is possible to apply philosophical ideas in the interest of democratization & the nonviolent settlement of conflicts, Lyotard's postmodern philosophy is more skeptical, asserting that no metadiscourse can exist in the social world that would allow real mediation & conflict settlement. The paradoxes in Lyotard's "language-ontology" philosophy, of which he is well aware, are explored. 6 References. Modified HA

The present article was part of the conference Belgium and its foreign policy of November 2006, organized by the University of Gent and Catholic University Leuven. It presents an evaluation of the Belgian 2006 Presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). A main objective has been to play an active role regarding the institutional reforms. Achieved were: increased efficacy of the organization, and a renewed confidence in communication between eastern- and western-member states (dividing line, Vienna); strengthening of the economic and ecological dimension, with as focus transport (achieved: increased cooperation between member states, special attention for land-locked countries, and transport-related security issues such ash illegal migration, human traffic, drug traffic, and terrorism); fight against international crime and promotion of the rule of law as central topic of the chairmanship (achieved: increased cooperation between member states); a constructive contribution to solving frozen conflicts (achieved: theoretical improvements). Concerning the human dimension of the OSCE: activities concerning access to legal advice, democratization, mediums freedom, trafficking of human beings, tolerance (the Danish cartoon crisis), and increased access of NGOs to OCSE meetings. References. O. van Zijl

A thorough overview of the foreign policy conducted by the government of Flanders which was granted the status of autonomous region in the 1993 reform of the Belgian state. Discussed are: (1) the principles of equality in domestic & foreign policy promulgation & the parity of federal & regional governments encoded in the 1993 law, (2) the strategic objectives of the Flemish foreign policy, (3) the continuity/discontinuity in the Flemish foreign policy of the 1990s, (4) the basic components of the Flemish foreign policy, & (6) the description & evaluation of bilateral & multilateral policies carried out by the Flemish government since 1993. The nine criteria applied in deciding toward which countries & regions of the world should the Flemish foreign policy be oriented are listed, & representation offices abroad & bilateral agreements & contracts are tabulated to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Flemish government on the international arena. Multilateral policies pursued within international organizations are discussed & evaluated for their relevance & impact on the region of Flanders, the Belgian federation, & the organizations within which such policies are carried out. An assessment of the Flemish government's accomplishments in its foreign policies identifies both pioneering initiatives & missed opportunities. Foreign policy challenges in the near future for both the regional & federal governments are identified. 42 References. Z. Dubiel