Environmental issues and questions of global change are now firmly established on the international political agenda. This book provides a wide-ranging survey of the current treatment of environmental issues in international relations. This book begins by looking at the relevance of the different theoretical approaches current in international relations to the study of the environment. It analyzses a wide range of approaches from the debate between neo-realism and liberal institutionalism to the significant connections between gender and global environmental change. The book goes on to consider a range of key international processes, discussing the monitoring and implementation of environmental agreements, the place of ideology in negotiations and the role of international organisations.
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.
I have explored spaces, where negotiations of border transgressions take place and where issues of technology and politics mingle. We meet a diversity of actors in the world of information technology (IT): political texts, people and technology participating in numerous sociomaterial relations. Time is the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the new millennium, 2000. Years, when IT occupied the western world and created its own fuzzy discourse. Years, when IT stole the biggest newspaper headlines and years, when IT became a mundane everyday part of our work practices. Years, when we learned to live in heterogeneous worlds. Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Actor-Network Theory and After (ANTa) provide analytical and methodological perspectives when working with the empirical material. I present a chronological exposé of some of the key concepts of ANT and ANTa. I also discuss how the classical ANT perspective has changed during the last few years from being a theory of networks to become a methodological and analytical approach to other kinds of spaces such as fluid and fire. The heart of the thesis consists of six empirical cases. My aim of writing stories of information technology has been to investigate the black box of information technology. Investigating includes also efforts of opening. Concepts that are taken for granted, such as the very notion of information technology in my case, can be explored, questioned, transgressed, blurred and opened up. Each of the diffracted stories is specific and unique, with its own actors, context, location and situatedness. But the stories are also connected through ANT, and feminist technology and technoscience studies. Case number one, 'Discourses and Cracks – A Case Study of Information Technology and Writing Women in a Regional Context ', is about a project, where questions concerning discourses of information society with a special focus on citizenship are discussed and where global and national politics are translated to local and situated practices. Case number two, 'Translating and Negotiating Information Technology ', consists of two main parts. The fi rst one is about a regional library project. The analysis of the project is based on the classical Actor Network Theory (ANT) approach that invites the study of the heterogeneous and negotiable shaping of IT. The second part is about librarians developing web-based services. The analysis is inspired by the later development of ANT (called ANTa in the thesis) in order to include more invisible actors, relations and negotiations. Case number three, 'Negotiating Information Technology: Politics and Practices of The Public Sector Web Production', is about work practices of a municipal web developer, through which creation of sociotechnical relations of everyday information technology practices is analysed and also mirrored to national and local IT politics. Case number four, 'Making e-Government Happen – Everyday Co-Development of Services, Citizenship and Technology', is presenting the same web developer as in the third case, but now his everyday practices are connected with an expanded and wider circuit of co-constructors of information technology. The text is a co-production of a multidisciplinary research group aiming to describe, analyse and problematise connections when creating practices, where technology and society collaborate. Case number fi ve, 'Citizenship at the Crossroads of Multiple Layers of Sociotechnical Relations', enrols technology as an active actor in the construction of citizenship in an IT context in Sweden. The perspective emphasising the active agency of non-humans both enhances and challenges the Scandinavian approach of systems development by suggesting a direction towards a cyborgian approach towards technology design. Case number six, 'Between Stability and Instability – a Project about e-Democracy ', takes its point of departure from a small-scale project having as its goal the development of e-democracy in a municipal context. In the text the focus is on the stabilisation processes in shaping the technology ('e') and democracy parts of the project. I also discuss what kinds of spaces exist in between (the hyphen in e-democracy) and ask if integration between technology and democracy is possible as a whole. Finally, my intention is to step further into stories and practices not yet existing. Inspired by the French philosopher Michel Serres, I introduce the fi guration of an angel as a cartographer, intermediator and (co-) constructor of sociomaterial relations. Angels are needed to sew the separate fi elds of technology, politics and everyday practices to a rich seamless tapestry. They are the 'artful integrators' (Suchman).
The purpose of this study is to examine municipal involvement in international relations in the United States. This municipal phenomenon is occurring concurrently with both a shift away from the traditional nation-centric structure of international relations under the influence of globalism as well as a sharp decline in intergovernmental aid. The research questions were: (1) What are the indicators that define municipal involvement in international relations? and (2) What is the extent of that involvement? Extensive qualitative and research was conducted in the form of an exploratory literature survey which was set forth in narrative analysis to overcome the paucity of specific research in this area. The qualitative research developed 121 indicators of municipal international involvement. The 121 indicators were analytically grouped into economic, technological, sociocultural, political, and intergovernmental relations indicator groups. The qualitative research concluded that municipal involvement in international relations was a spreading phenomenon and that many American municipalities are substantially involved in international activities. In support of the qualitative results, 32 of the 121 indicators were validated through analysis of an independent random sample quantitative cross-sectional survey of American municipalities. The survey indicated substantial but varied involvement in international activities by municipalities. Exploratory quantitative analysis indicated that 12 of the 34 indicator variables, split between the economic, sociocultural, and political constructs, contributed significantly to municipal strength as an indicator of municipal international involvement. Exploratory quantitative analysis also indicated that the 32 indicators grouped into three composite constructs; i.e., economic, sociocultural, and political activities. Analysis of the composite constructs determined that only sociocultural activities made a significant contribution to municipal strength as an indicator of the degree of international involvement. The results of this study indicated that many municipalities in the United States are involved in international relations and assisted in the definition of variables indicating the nature and extent of that involvement. Many avenues of future research are warranted.
A number of recent developments have prompted a revival of interest in liberal theories of international relations, among them the spread of democratic institutions, economic liberalisation and the increasing significance of international institutions in many aspects of life. This paper argues that liberal international relations theory, overimpressed by developments such as these, risks becoming an apologia for a narrow version of liberalism currently promoted by Western governments. The challenge of rethinking the meaning of liberalism in a 'globalising' world characterised by extreme economic inequality, social upheavals and the reassertion of cultural differences—and the questions whether and how liberal values can at all be realised in such a world—have been left to political theorists, whose struggles with these issues attract little interest in an international relations discipline still largely committed to the idea of a purely empirical social science. The paper suggests that a different, 'critical' conception of liberalism offers a way of relating pressing liberal normative concerns to empirical research, instead of seeking to keep the two entirely separate. It presents a critique of current liberal international relations theory and outlines an alternative approach.
A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the U.S. government's international science and technology (S&T) agreements that support and encourage international cooperation in research and development, focusing on the: (1) number of international S&T agreements active during fiscal year (FY) 1997; and (2) number of these agreements that resulted in research projects or other activities."
Includes bibliographical references (275-298) and index. ; Forms of methodology in political psychology -- Theoretical concepts in political psychology -- Cognitions and attitudes : what we think we know and why -- Behavior : do actions speak louder than words? -- Emotion : why we love to hate -- Psychobiography -- Leadership -- Group processes. ; Mode of access: Internet.
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.
This book of ten original essays provides a showcase of currently diverse theoretical agendas in the field of international relations. Contributors address the theoretical analysis that their perspective brings to the issue of change in global politics. Written for readers with a general interest in and knowledge of world affairs, New Thinking in International Relations Theory can also be assigned in international relations theory courses.The volume begins with an essay on the classical tradition at the end of the Cold War. Essays explore work outside the mainstream, such as Jean Bethke Elshtain on feminist theory and James Der Derian on postmodern theory as well as those developing theoretical advances within traditional realms from James DeNardo's formal modeling to the more descriptive analyses of Miles Kahler and Steve Weber. Other essays include Matthew Evangelista on domestics structure, Daniel Deudney on naturalist and geopolitical theory, and Joseph Grieco on international structuralist theory. ; https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/books/1241/thumbnail.jpg
A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) implementation of federal export control regulations for International Space Station technology transfers, focusing on: (1) the licenses granted to NASA to export space station-related technology and commodities and plans to export encryption technology; (2) the results of internal and external assessments of NASA's export control program; and (3) NASA's actions to implement audit recommendations."
What role does trade play in international technology transfer? Do technologies introduced by multinational firms diffuse to local firms? What kinds of policies have proved successful in encouraging technology absorption from abroad and why? Using these questions as motivation, this article surveys the recent trade literature on international technology transfer, paying particular attention to the role of foreign direct investment. The literature argues that trade necessarily encourages growth only if knowledge spillovers are international in scope. Empirical evidence on the scope of knowledge spillovers (national versus international) is ambiguous. Several recent empirical plant-level studies have questioned earlier studies that argued that foreign direct investment has a positive impact on the productivity of local firms. Yet at the aggregate level, evidence supports the view that foreign direct investment has a positive effect on economic growth in the host country.
Nine years ago, Kenneth Abbott published an article exhorting international lawyers to read and master regime theory, arguing that it had multiple uses for the study of international law.1 He went as far as to call for a 'joint discipline" that would bridge the gap between international relations theory (IR) and international law (IL). Several years later, one of us followed suit with an article mapping the history of the two fields and setting forth an agenda for joint research. 2 Since then, political scientists and international lawyers have been reading and drawing on one another's work with increasing frequency and for a wide range of purposes.3 Explicitly interdisciplinary articles have won the Francis Deak Prize, awarded for the best work by a younger scholar in this Journal, for the past two years running;4 the publication of an interdisciplinary analysis of treaty law in the Harvard International Law journal prompted a lively exchange on the need to pay attention to legal as well as political details;5 and the Hague Academy of International Law has scheduled a short course on international law and international relations for its millennial lectures in the year 2000. Further, the American Society of International Law and the Academic Council on the United Nations System sponsor joint summer workshops explicitly designed to bring young IR and IL scholars together to explore the overlap between their disciplines.
Declining R&D intensities at the national level coincide with growing international technological links. Deviations of individual OECD countries from the average R&D intensity reflect differences in industry structure as well as in sectoral R&D intensity. At the same time, the sectoral distribution of R&D expenditure varies substantially less across countries than do the respective growth rates. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is the most important vehicle for the exploitation of ?home-grown? technology abroad. FDI frequently also entails the generation of knowledge abroad in own R&D facilities the nature of which increasingly shifts from adaptation to innovation development and knowledge-seeking. In addition, international technological collaboration via in- and outsourcing and inter-company alliances is gaining growing significance. The policy challenges posed by technological internationalisation include the provision of better market access, more effective patent protection and competitive regimes, as well as the promotion of clustering and networking and international cooperation. ; Sinkende FuE-Intensitäten auf der nationalen Ebene gehen mit einer wachsenden internationalen Technologieverflechtung einher. In den Abweichungen einzelner OECDLänder von der durchschnittlichen FuE-Intensität spiegeln sich Unterschiede in der Industriestruktur und in der sektoralen FuE-Intensität wider. Gleichzeitig unterscheiden sich die Länder weniger in der sektoralen Verteilung der FuE-Ausgaben als in den Zuwachsraten. Direktinvestitionen sind das bedeutendste Vehikel der Verwertung inländischer Technologie im Ausland. Sie führen häufig auch zur Erzeugung neuen Wissens in ausländischen FuE-Einrichtungen, die verstärkt eigene FuE statt reiner Anpassungsentwicklung betreiben und ausländisches Wissen suchen. Neben Verwertung und Erzeugung gewinnt die internationale technologische Kooperation via In- und Outsourcing und Allianzen zwischen Unternehmen wachsende Bedeutung. Die politischen Herausforderungen der technologischen Internationalisierung schließen einen verbesserten Marktzugang, effizienteren Patent- und Wettbewerbsschutz sowie die Förderung der Cluster- und Netzwerkbildung und internationalen Kooperation ein.
