Suchergebnisse

1 Introduction -- 2 Retreat of State as Economic Actor? -- 3 Achieving the Required Surge in Investment and Growth? -- 4 Political implications of socio-economic changes -- 5 The evolving international arena – fitting into a new context -- 6 More Pluralism; or Continued Authoritarianism? -- 7 Evolution of Party and State Relations -- 8 Towards the End of Gerontocracy -- 9 Into the Critical Juncture: Principal Dilemmas and Possible Scenarios -- 10 Conclusions

Cuba is rapidly approaching a critical juncture, where a complete and generational change of leadership is unavoidable (between 2018 and 2021). The country and its Revolution is up against some unavoidable and complicated choices in the coming four years. With the rapidly approaching end of the Castro era, without any clear new leadership structure in sight, and with an apparently unsolvable economic crisis and rapidly shrinking confidence in the political power bloc particularly among the younger generations, a deep legitimacy crisis is looming. What are the principal challenges ahead, and how can and will they be solved?

The article explores the development in Brazil after Luis Inazio da Silva, Lula, gained power a year ago. This vast & resourceful country, with its 182 million inhabitants, has experienced an immense growth over the last century. The welfare gap is however equally large. The richest percent of the population has an income equal to that of the poorest half. Brazil now puts her faith in President Lula, who vows to redistribute the country's wealth through a national compromise & a new corporate community contract: He wants support from all sectors & classes. Lula's "new rhythm" the bossa nova -- represents a Latin American third way, reflecting considerable knowledge of the post-war "Nordic model.". 19 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author concentrates on the development of Norway's relations with Central America. From virtually non-existing connections, the 1980s have seen the establishment of a Norwegian embassy in Costa Rica, and a substantial growth in aid to Sandinist Nicaragua. The political debate in Norway over Nicaragua is outlined, as is the anger provoked in the US government by the Central American policy of its NATO ally

Venezuela has been one of the leading proponents of a new international economic order. As a major oil producer it was instrumental in the creation of OPEC. It has also realized a basic element of a NIEO — the nationalization of basic economic resources. The oil industry was nationalized on January 1, 1976, while the second-ranking export industry, iron and steel, had been expropriated one year earlier. In this paper the effects of oil nationalization in Venezuela are studied to establish whether the previous structure of foreign dominance has been fundamentally altered. A set of dominance indicators is defined and applied to Venezuela before and after nationalization. The main conclusion is that dominance structures persisted, but with some differences between indicators. The expected long-term effect of increased oil prices, oil nationalization and the new development strategy, is that the degree of mono-production will be reduced, whereas economic and technological penetration as well as dependence on foreign trade will actually increase. This points to the need for more fundamental changes in power relation ships inside the country. Nationalization alone does not guarantee a development in the interests of the majority.