Suchergebnisse

The illegal wildlife trade has come to the forefront of global politics, driven by concerns about biodiversity loss, illicit markets, and animal-borne infectious diseases. Yet, poaching remains common in many countries. The persistence of illegal hunting is attributable to (among other factors) poverty and poor labor market opportunities, which leave individuals in some communities with few viable alternatives to wildlife crime. Foreign aid that alleviates poverty and unemployment may, therefore, lead to a reduction in illegal hunting. However, cross-national research on aid and economic development offers mixed findings, suggesting a conditional effect. Against this backdrop, I theorize that aid reduces the economic pressures that contribute to poaching, but only in countries with representative political institutions. I test a corresponding hypothesis using data on elephant poaching in African and Asian countries. My findings show that aid is accompanied by a reduction in elephant poaching in democracies, but not in authoritarian countries.

This study explores the relationship between China's rise and media censorship around the world, in light of recent suggestions in the Western press and among China experts that Beijing is advancing a global censorship agenda. I argue that the Chinese government occasionally promotes censorship in foreign countries, because it wishes to reduce negative media coverage of China or to silence certain groups abroad (e.g. Falun Gong). More often, China's relative apathy about speech and press freedoms in foreign countries facilitates censorship in countries that can rely on trade with Beijing. Countries that cannot rely on China are less willing to risk alienating Western powers by violating press freedoms at home. Regime type is an important determinant as to whether censorship is facilitated through intensive economic integration with China, as democracies may respond to China's rise differently than authoritarian countries. Analysis of country-level panel data shows higher rates of media censorship in democratic countries that trade intensively with China.

China has been a major market for elephant ivory for centuries. However, the Chinese government recently enacted bans on imports and exports of ivory (2015) and on the domestic ivory trade (2017). These bans appear to have come in response to intensive influence campaigns and public shaming from domestic and foreign activists, who cited declining elephant populations and highlighted China's role. However, this shaming-narrative is at odds with conventional wisdom regarding Chinese policy-making: China typically resists international pressures and its authoritarian government is thought to be largely insulated from domestic efforts by civil society groups. This article reconciles Beijing's ivory policy with these conventional beliefs about policy-making in China. I argue that the Chinese government saw unique benefits to banning the ivory trade, under growing international scrutiny, as doing so enhanced Chinese soft power while having very little impact on its sovereignty or development. Non-government organizations (NGOs) operating both inside and outside of China played a role as well: NGOs in China helped to shift Chinese public opinion towards favouring the bans, while those operating abroad led public relations efforts to publicize Chinese demand for ivory to foreign audiences. Efforts by the latter group of NGOs intensified pressure on the Chinese government to rein in the ivory market, while increasing the soft power benefits that banning ivory would bring to Beijing.

A large scholarship surrounds the relationship between trade and the environment, with much of it centering on whether trade produces a race to the bottom or a race to the top in the environments of developing countries. While the effects of trade on key pollutants and on specific environmental policies have been widely attended to, scholars have not yet considered if and how trade impacts developing nations' environmental performance, broadly speaking. This is a critical matter, as the effects of trade on the environment can only be appreciated fully through holistic assessment of the environment and environmental protection. The study that follows helps to fill this void through analysis of an all-inclusive measure of environmental performance that encompasses indicators of policy and practice. Findings demonstrate that exporting to the United States and the European Union improves environmental performance in developing countries; however, no such effect accompanies trade with other countries.

After decades of being primarily dependent upon the United States, Ecuador appears to be experiencing a diversification of dependency as alternative sources for trade and investment have emerged to challenge Washington. This diversification is in turn increasing Ecuador's political autonomy, as demonstrated by the Correa administration's policy shift away from the Washington Consensus. Diversified dependency is framing Ecuador's policy options and may frame those of other peripheral states in the context of an increasingly multipolar global economy. Peripheral states will find themselves under pressure from multiple, often competing core states to enact certain policies; at the same time, diversification should provide them leverage in bilateral relations with each of the core states upon which they depend. Después de décadas de depender principalmente de los Estados Unidos, el Ecuador parece estar experimentando una diversificación de su dependencia a medida que surgen fuentes alternativas para el comercio y la inversión que son un desafío a Washington. Esta diversificación a su vez aumenta la autonomía política del Ecuador como lo demuestran los cambios en la política del gobierno de Correa que se sigue apartando del Consenso de Washington. Esta dependencia diversificada está enmarcando las opciones políticas del Ecuador y podría enmarcar las de otros estados periféricos en el contexto de una economía mundial más multipolar. Los estados periféricos recibirán la presión de múltiples estados del centro, con frecuencia rivales, para que aprueben determinadas políticas; a la vez, esta diversificación debería proveerles una ventaja en las relaciones bilaterales con cada uno de los estados del centro de los que dependen.