Suchergebnisse

This article discusses the problematic aspects of Portuguese foreign policy towards Angola. Its basic tenets are assessed through a discussion of key moments in bilateral relations since 1975, particularly the period of reconfiguration following the end of the Cold War (1990-95). The article concludes, firstly, that in the last decade & a half, a series of factors has resulted in an Angola policy that scarcely contributes towards the prestige & national interest of Portugal; & secondly, that pragmatic interest groups from Portugal sustain their successful presence in the Angolan economy through this very policy, & actively seek to perpetuate it. The author suggests that the bilateral rapport as it stands should be thoroughly redefined. Adapted from the source document.

This article lays out the general economic principles of exchange rate policy and provides an overview of the four country cases that have been included in this special edition of the journal: Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela. Three main currency regimes are discussed: the fixed but adjustable regime, the firmly fixed rate, and the floating rate regime. At the same time, the article distinguishes between two main approaches to exchange rate policy: the nominal anchor approach and the real targets approach. The author identifies the costs and benefits of implementing these various exchange rate regimes through the different phases of macroeconomic stabilization and structural adjustment. (Rev Econ Pol/DÜI)

The author begins by asking why Brazilian policymakers opted to target the exchange rate to stabilize inflation when this strategy had already failed in Mexico. The answer: It was no longer possible to accomodate the country's high inflation rate through the pervasive use of price indexation and a competitive exchange rate policy. The anchoring of the exchange rate within the Real Plan was the quickest route toward price stability. Brazil's recovery under a flexible currency regime suggests that the macroeconomic fundamentals are back on track. The challenge now lies in the crafting of a viable coalition that can cut through the mumerous parochial interests that converged to provoke the 1999 devaluation. (Rev Econ Pol/DÜI)

This article traces the ways in which political, economic, domestic, and international factors converged to provoke a massive financial crisis in Mexico in 1994/5, as well as its consequences for future reform efforts. The author argues that the ruling PRI party and international investors were equally adamant in defending the anchored exchange rate. However, in attempting to appease both domestic and foreign interests, the Salinas administration lost control of the macroeconomic fundamentals. While the combination of a massive multilateral loan and the shift to a floating exchange rate paved the way for Mexico's rapid economic recovery, a main legacy of the crisis was the political demise of the PRI. (Rev Econ Pol/DÜI)

This paper is an account of the intellectual process that led, in the early 1980s, to the definition of the new economic theory of inertial inflation, which is identified as the consequence of phased or staggered price adjustments. Economic agents are involved in an endless process of balancing and unbalancing relative prices, as they keep up with the ongoing inflation. To fight inertial inflation, orthodox or conventional fiscal and monetary policies are insufficient. In addition it is necessary to adopt a heterodox mechanism that neutralizes inertia. This article is part of a book in preparation where the author reports his experience as minister of finance in Brazil in 1987. (Rev Econ Polit/DÜI)

Changes in the international financial markets implied new conditions for the financing of Latin American foreign debt. The dollarization of the economies acquired new importance, intensely affecting the monetary sovereignty of some countries. As a result, new economic policies were instituted in Argentina and Brazil aimed at reducing inflation by imposing a price freeze and a general de-indexation of the economy. The author takes into account the external context as well as both the economic structures and the accumulation of capital, as he analyzes the limitations of the measures used to slowdown the long-term dollarization and the main features of the Austral and Cruzado Plans

The present paper aims to show that, not only the concept of anarchy cannot be anchored in the author that traditionally has worked as its validator -- Hobbes -- it has no foundation whatsoever, except possibly a mythical one. International anarchy entails an ontological state, not a phenomenological one, of permanent war, of chaos incompatible with the presence of sovereign powers in the international scene. The concept of anarchy, despite the structural aporiae that thwart its sustainability, serves a particular status quo, pursues the preservation of the logic of power internationally and, for that reason alone, it remains an object of affection to those who dictate the rules, as an ideological apparatus that does not bind them. Adapted from the source document.

The author reviews the political forces in action from the time of the Cuban revolution, in search of the elements which reinforce the perpetuation of the embargo. Within these elements lies the wish of restoration of American hegemony in the island, for which the "sine qua non" is the ouster of Castro. The article sheds light on the historical background of this hegemony, from the days of the Spanish-American war to its dismantling by the revolutionaries. The strategic alliance between American political leaders and the community of Cuban exiles is analyzed as one of the most important factors in the recent toughening of anti-Castro policies, as exemplified by the Torricelli and Helms-Burton laws. (Polit Externa/DÜI)

Through an analysis of diplomatic relations between the two old allies in a critical period of the 20th century the author seeks to understand the resilience of the Portuguese Estado Novo in an Europe to which World War II had brought drastic change. Such changes were not sufficient to sway a regime that, having managed to remain removed from the conflict, now worked to appear as a lesser evil in a Europe in turmoil. The approach to the Allies made in the final phase of the war on the basis of the historical ties binding the country to Great Britain, paved the way for a new phase in the relations with the U.S.A., which would materialize with the invitation for Portugal to join the Atlantic Alliance. Adapted from the source document.

This article focuses on the contribution of the Council of Europe (CoE) to the promotion & safeguard of democracy, human rights & the rule of law in Western & Eastern Europe. It is divided in two sections. The first one is an account of how the Council developed a pattern of open & flexible inclusion of new & fragile democracies in the "European political mainstream," without ceasing to promote the development of civil society. The cases chosen here are the relations established with the Iberian states & those of Central & Eastern Europe. Section two highlights some of the legal & institutional innovations brought along with the existence of the CoE & the European Convention of Human Rights. In its conclusion, the author outlines a set of considerations for further reflection on the role of the Council of Europe in the post-9/11 world. Adapted from the source document.

This appreciation of the life & work of George Kennan begins with the author's personal recollections of the subject, then moves on to an overview of Kennan's career. Of particular note is the period he spent in Lisbon in 1943, when he was fleeing from Berlin on his way back to the US. Kennan's post-war years are also briefly surveyed, with a special focus on his strong opposition, at the age of 98, to the Bush administration's intervention in Iraq, which he viewed as a dubious distraction from the fight against Al Queda. In the final analysis, the author views Kennan as a man who considered himself a citizen of the eighteenth century, a man who understood that the world created by the French Revolution had very little to do with the world the French Revolution supplanted. R. Young

This article suggests that the attacks of September 11 & March 11 -- here viewed within the context of low-intensity conflicts -- represent a new pattern of transnational "barbarism," defined by the search for spectacular effects & by its especially repulsive character. The terrorists don't seem to want to have access to the statu quo. Therefore the terrorist activities constitute a form of limited war, a sort of ideology of barbarism. It is also suggested that September 11 represents the closing of the post-Cold War transition, which opens a new phase of international politics characterized by uncertainty, new vulnerabilities, & the emergence of new transnational actors which challenge the Westphalian states' model. Lastly, the author considers that the international system is fundamentally unipolar, which transforms the United States & their allies as the main targets of those who have the most to lose from globalization. References. Adapted from the source document.

Chico Mendes, aquele tiro não calou o movimento! Chico Mendes foi assassinado em 22 de dezembro de 1988, em sua casa, na cidade de Xapuri. Três anos antes, em outubro de 1985, Chico e seus companheiros fundaram o Conselho Nacional dos Seringueiros (CNS), durante o I Encontro Nacional dos Seringueiros, em Brasília. Esse importante passo em nossa luta aconteceu uma década depois dos primeiros Empates, que era uma estratégia local contra a expulsão dos extrativistas dos seringais e a devastação da floresta amazônica. Homens, mulheres e crianças ocupavam e defendiam, com suas próprias vidas, áreas a serem derrubadas, num enfrentamento organizado por sindicatos de Trabalhadores Rurais (STR), como o de Xapuri, que era presidido por Chico, e o de Brasiléia, cujo presidente, Wilson Pinheiro, foi assassinado em 1980. Atualmente, o Conselho Nacional de Populações Extrativistas (CNS), 30 anos depois do crime contra Chico, continua lutando pelos direitos desses povos que reúnem, além de seringueiros, castanheiros, coletores de açaí, quebradeiras de coco babaçu, balateiros, piaçabeiros, integrantes de projetos agroflorestais, extratores de óleo e plantas medicinais, entre outros. Um desses direitos de todos é o direito à informação. Lutamos sempre para incentivar que as pessoas conheçam a realidade da Amazônia como um todo. Não apenas aqueles 20% do território dedicados à agropecuária. Mas, infelizmente, durante muitos anos fomos povos invisíveis na Amazônia. Este livro de Nilo Diniz relata em detalhes como a informação restrita ou controlada, no período da ditadura no Brasil (1964 a 1985), e mesmo anos depois, prejudicou o movimento em defesa da floresta e das comunidades extrativistas, tornando o nosso líder, reconhecido e premiado fora do Brasil, um ilustre desconhecido no seu próprio país. Mostra também como "esconder" a nossa resistência e o seu líder corroborou com a sua eliminação. Mas o texto demonstra, além disso, como aquele crime contra o seringueiro significou, para a frustração de seus algozes, um verdadeiro "grito no ouvido do mundo". Este livro é, portanto, mais uma contribuição à reflexão e à ação que este momento politicamente adverso exige na luta dos povos da floresta, incluindo os povos indígenas, em defesa de seus territórios, da Amazônia, da democracia e do direito a uma vida digna. (Appris Editora)

The author proposes, in the six essays of this her brand-new book, a reflection on the status of image in the contemporary world. Since the emergence of photography, and after cinema, the universe of technical images did not know a process of transformation as radical as that of our time. Images have become the main interfaces of daily mediation, occupying communication, affective relationships, infrastructure, surveillance aesthetics and body scan systems in the city. Speaking of image policies, she argues that images are, in addition to the transmission of ideas and languages, the very field of political tensions and disputes of today. Beiguelman associates the invention and massive distribution of smartphones with a new surveillance regime, no longer instituted by the state, but the result of the systematic capture of personal data, deliberately offered by users to social media platforms the datasphere. The countless production of images in the feeds and stories of social networks, surveillance cameras and official records configure, according to her, a new aesthetic of surveillance. Digital image, selfies, memes, image aging apps, Waze and Google Maps, deep fakes videos, body scanning, the internet of things, facial recognition machines, artificial intelligence, gable protest projections in cities, digital censorship, all these novelties from the contemporary world are analyzed by Giselle Beiguelman to describe (and even guide the reader to recognize in the world around him/her) the role of the image in social relations today