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This paper develops a theoretical framework to study the interaction between globalization and political structure. We show that political structure adapts in a non-monotonic way to declining transport costs. Borders hamper trade. At an earlier stage, the political response to expanding trade opportunities consists of removing borders by increasing country size. At a later stage, instead, it consists of removing the cost of borders by creating international unions. This leads to a reduction in country size. Moreover, diplomacy replaces conquest as a tool to ensure market access. These predictions are consistent with historical evidence on trade, territorial changes and membership of international unions.

This paper discusses the political structures and leadership required in Australia in facing the challenges of the 21st century. It argues that the substance of good policy for the way forward is actually quite clear. It involves better investment in knowledge and innovation to underpin sustainable and fair growth. But four attitudinal conditions are identified as restricting implementation of good policy in Australia. These are: short-termism, divided responsibility, risk aversion and lack of trust. Changes needed in political settings and structures to address these barriers and to facilitate exercise of constructive public leadership are defined. A reform agenda that ranges from a New Deal in federalism to opening up party pre-selection is provided. The paper was commissioned for a "Futures Summit" held in Melbourne in May 2005, convened by the Australian Davos Connection, the Australian affiliate of the World Economic Forum.

The correlation of ethnographic with ethnohistoric and Mission Register data has clarified the analysis of Kumeyaay political structure by confirming the fact that the Kwaaypaay was not a "born" member of his band. He was not the head of the largest shiimull in a band, but was normally the only adult male of that sib in the band. This structure contrasts with that of the Cahuilla and the San Luiseno where the "Captains" were the heads of the largest lineages. The crosscutting of the shiimull organization by the territorial band organization increased the tribal or national level of Kumeyaay integration. Ethnohistoric data noting rapid communication of information between the Colorado River and the coast supports the ethnographic description of a nationally organized relay runner or courier system. This national organization of the shiimull/hands, with alliance leaders or Kuuchult kwataay, facilitated the shifting of population under erratic climatic conditions that were almost constantly affecting local resource availability. Furthermore, this complex structure integrated movement between ecological zones which required a variety of food-resource acquisition techniques. This included movement from the coast to the desert by way of foothills and mountains, and subsistence-related pursuits ranging from fishing to hunting, to desert riverine plant husbandry including irrigation farming (Shipek 1977, 1981, 1982, n.d.b).

The first wave of globalization (1830-1914) witnessed a decline in the number of countries from 125 to 54. Political consolidation was often achieved through war and conquest. The second wave of globalization (1950-present) has led instead to an increase in the number of countries to a record high of more than 190. Political fragmentation has been accompanied by the creation of peaceful structures of supranational governance. This paper develops a theoretical model of the interaction between globalization and political structure that accounts for these trends and their reversal. We show that political structure adapts to steadily expanding trade opportunities in a non-monotonic way. Borders hamper trade. In its early stages, the political response to globalization consists of removing borders by increasing country size. War is then an appealing way of conquering markets. In its later stages, however, the political response to globalization is to remove the cost of borders by creating international economic unions. As a result, country size declines and negotiation replaces war as a tool to ensure market access.

Twenty-one years of Baath government in Syria have changed the political system almost totally from what it had been in the two decades following independence; the study examines this change, which is evident in the formal structure of government, in the people who run government, party and army, in the nature of contests for influence and of attempts to overthrow the regime, as well as in the people who participate in those struggles