Suchergebnisse

This article is about Canadian investments in Brazil in the 70's and the 80's. It attempts to explain the relative decline of Canada's position on the Brazilian market. Canada was the 3rd largest investor in Brazil in the 60's. By the middle of the 80's, it ranked 6th. This paper argues that this situation is mainly due to the insufficient development of R-D in Canada and the consequent low level of technological innovation in this country. One significant effect of that is the inability of Canadian enterprises to compete successfully with those of other countries. This is supported by the massive concentration of investments in Brazil by Canadian-owned firms in the more traditional industries (mining, smelting, etc.), the dominant position of Canadian-based affiliates of foreign firms in that process (Canadian investments in Brazil) and their concentration in the most technologically-advanced industries, the over-all technological dependence of the Canadian economy and the low level of funding of R-D activities.

This article explores the relationship between environmental changes and the reform process at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The basic question it seeks to answer is : how does an organization self-produce in conditions of intense environmental change ? International organizations, while carrying out their mission, are constantly called upon to take notice of changes in their environment and to make accordingly whatever adjustment is required. This adaptive process serves two main purposes : first, to facilitate the pursuit and attainment of the objectives of the organization and, second, to help the organization self-produce, for international organizations like any other social System self-produce through the action it exercises on it self. The reform process undertaken at UNIDO beginning in the late 80s clearly bears out that contention. It sheds light on the conditions and difficulties that surround the undergoing reform process at the United nations.

When on July 16th war broke out between Honduras and El Salvador, their comparative strengths were such that El Salvador quickly assumed the upper hand. Its troops routed the adversary and occupied large sections of Honduran territory. The advantage gained by El Salvador from its victory was of short duration however. The intervention of the OAS forced an end to the hostilities and obtained from El Salvador the evacuation of the conquered geographical space. This war nevertheless constituted only a moment of a conflict that has already lasted a very long time. Migratory questions are at the heart of the outstanding differences between the two countries. El Salvador refused to accept that its national domiciled in Honduras should have heir possessions seized and be returned to their country of origin while Honduras, alarmed and fearing the consequences of a clandestine occupation of its territory, intended to put an end to that situation. The two adversaries' determination was such that negotiations and bargaining were powerless to bring their positions closer together. Confronted with this impasse, the Honduran authorities decided to proceed unilaterally and war ensued. The calculation was not unfounded since El Salvador did not succeed in gaining the fruits of its victory. Its objectives — protection of human resources and systemic relations — were far from achieved. It was therefore Honduras that appeared to be in a better position. The expulsion and dispossession of Salvadoran nationals continued after the cessation of hostilities. The hoped for restructuration of systemic relations between the two countries is progressing despite the threats and protests of the Salvadoran government.

This article is about the international relations of Latin America between 1950-1980. No systematic account of such history is attempted here. Rather attention is paid above all to the main thrust of such history. In this study it is argued that most dominated countries have very little capacity to affect the general and most fundamental structures of the World System. These countries tend to be mere object of history. There foreign policies to a very large extent contribute to the reproduction of the World System. Indeed it is one of the functions they must assume as far as the development of the system is concerned. But given the fact that underdeveloped countries are also subject of history, they do not submit passively to such a general law of social system. Their foreign policies are sometimes designed to modify the International Division of Labor "or their place within it" and with it the distribution of power without however drastically changing or upsetting the inner logic of the World System. It is within such an approach that one must study the international role of dominated countries in general and of the Latin American states in particular.

Relative decline of Canadian investments in Brazil; 1970s-80s. Summary in English.

Summary in English. Analyzes process by which the UNESCO program is formed and adopted, focusing on power of the Secretariat and relatively small influence exercised by the Executive Board and the General Conference.

Available data on the activities of the multinationals and other aspects of international economic relations have rendered traditional approaches to the study of international politics, international organizations and the international system obsolete. The political and economic facts of international life are so intertwined that it has become compulsory to resort to the findings of political economy to discuss the international system and its functions and to assess properly the role and functions of the United Nations within it.