Suchergebnisse

CEAUSESCU'S SHADOW AND THE DILEMMA OF MODERN ROMANIA ARE EXPLORED IN THIS ARTICLE. IT ARGUES THAT EVEN UNDER THE MOST DEDICATED OF REFORMERS, ROMANIA IS CURRENTLY TOO ENFEEBLED TO JOIN NATO. INSTEAD OF ASKING ROMANIA TO FULFILL IMPOSSIBLY DEMANDING TARGETS IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR NATO MEMBERSHIP, THE ATLANTIC DEMOCRACIES SHOULD INSTEAD CONSIDER OFFERING TO REBUILD ROMANIA'S PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS AND PROVIDE SUBSTANTIAL AID FOR ITS TRANSITION TO A FREE-MARKET AND DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM.

Nach dem Sturz des Ceausescu-Regimes im Dezember 1989 entwickelte sich in Rumänien ein politisches Zwittersystem, das neben einigen demokratischen Elementen weiterhin autoritäre Züge und Tendenzen aufweist. Präsident Ion Iliescu und die Führung der Nationalen Rettungsfront von 1989 haben sich als ein wesentlicher Hemmschuh für eine demokratische Entwicklung erwiesen. Politiker aus der kommunistischen Ära stehen wieder im Vordergrund und eine radikal- nationalistische, anti-ungarische und antisemitische Rhetorik ist ein prägendes Merkmal der politischen Szene in Rumänien geworden. Die Anerkennung des Westens für den formalen Übergang Rumäniens zur Demokratie darf die Existenz weitverbreiteter antidemokratischer Praktiken nicht vergessen machen. (BIOst-Wpt)

THE POST-COMMUNIST STATES OF THE BALKANS FACE DAUNTING CHALLENGES AS THEY EXPERIMENT WITH PLURALISM. THE ABSENCE OF A STRONG DEMOCRATIC TRADITION, NATIONAL RIVALRIES WITHIN AND BETWEEN STATES, WEAK CIVIL SOCIETY, AND THE IMPACT OF COMMUNISM ON POLITICAL CULTURE, COMPLICATE THE EMERGENCE OF OPEN POLITICS. THERE IS A LACK OF AGREEMENT ABOUT THE MANAGEMENT OF POLITICAL COMPETITION AND AN ABSENCE OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS ABLE TO INTEGRATE CONFLICTING FORCES. COMPARED WITH DEMOCRATIZING SOUTHERN EUROPE, THE BALKANS FACES NUMEROUS HANDICAPS, AND SUPPORT FORM HEARTLAND DEMOCRACIES HAS BEEN MEAGRE. THE FATE OF DEMOCRACY MAY WELL BE DETERMINED BY EVENTS OUTSIDE LOCAL CONTROL, NAMELY THE ECONOMIC SITUATION AND THE OUTCOME OF THE WAR IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA.

THE OFT-TOUTED "MASSACHUSETTS MIRACLE" OF MICHAEL DUKAKIS HAS CRUMBLED INTO ECONOMIC DECLINE AND DECAY. THIS ARTICLE SEEKS TO DETERMINE THE UNDERLYING CAUSES. THEY ARE: THE FACT THAT THERE ARE NO MIRACLES IN ECONOMICS, ONLY IN NEWSPAPERS AND IN BUSINESS AND POLITICAL PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL; AN INEVITABLE ECONOMIC DOWNSWING SNOWBALLED INTO FISCAL WIPEOUT DUE TO THE REPUBLICANIZATION OF THE MASSACHUSETTS DEMOCRATIC PARTY; AND MICHAEL DUKAKIS DOES SHARE IN THE BLAME FOR THE STATE'S CURRENT ECONOMIC PLIGHT, ALTHOUGH NOT IN THE WAY HE IS ACCUSED OF, FOR THE COURSE HE TOOK DID NOT VEER SIGNIFICANTLY FROM THE MAINSTREAM OF THE NATIONAL PARTY WHOSE STANDARD HE BORE IN 1988.

THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES THE 1989 EUROPEAN ELECTIONS IN PORTUGAL, WHICH HAS BEEN A MEMBER OF THE EC FOR A SHORT TIME ONLY. IT PROVIDES A CRITIQUE OF PUBLIC REPRESENTATIVES AND THE MEDIA WITH THEIR PREFERENCE TO BOMBARD VOTERS WITH SLOGANS, RATHER THAN ENCOURAGE AN INTELLIGENT DEBATE ABOUT THE IMPLICATIONS OF EC MEMBERSHIP FOR A FRAGILE PROTECTED ECONOMY, THE ARTICLE EXPLORES ELECTORAL ALLIANCES AND LOW TURNOUT.

Examines the elections in Portugal in 1987. The Social Democratic Party became the first party to gain an overall majority of votes and seats in an open contest. (DCL)

The Global Slavery Index (GSI), which has been produced by the Walk Free Foundation in 2013, 2014 and 2016, seeks to calculate the number of victims of human trafficking (or 'modern slavery') in each country and to assess and rank government responses. Using the latest iteration of the Index, this article examines each of the three elements (vulnerability measurement; prevalence measurement and response measurement), making some preliminary findings about the quality of the methodology and its application under each heading. It concludes with a consideration of two broader issues: (i) the conspicuous lack of critical engagement with the Index; and (ii) what the Index reveals about the changing face of anti-trafficking/anti-slavery work—most particularly, the growing involvement of metrics-focused strategic philanthropy in defining the 'problem' and directing responses.

The Global Slavery Index (GSI), which has been produced by the Walk Free Foundation in 2013, 2014 and 2016, seeks to calculate the number of victims of human trafficking (or 'modern slavery') in each country and to assess and rank government responses. Using the latest iteration of the Index, this article examines each of the three elements (vulnerability measurement; prevalence measurement and response measurement), making some preliminary findings about the quality of the methodology and its application under each heading. It concludes with a consideration of two broader issues: (i) the conspicuous lack of critical engagement with the Index; and (ii) what the Index reveals about the changing face of anti-trafficking/anti-slavery work—most particularly, the growing involvement of metrics-focused strategic philanthropy in defining the 'problem' and directing responses.

Having been guest editor of the very first issue of the Anti-Trafficking Review, it was with great pleasure that I accepted the invitation of the editorial board to oversee the production of its sixth issue. Back in 2012 I identified the emergence of the Anti-Trafficking Review, thefirst specialist journal on human trafficking, as a watershed moment, signalling the transformation of'trafficking' from a niche (perhaps even a fringe) academic sub-discipline into a legitimate, substantial and discrete area of study. The past four years since its launch have vindicated that assessment. New specialist journals on trafficking and its variants have been launched, and the range and depth of research being undertaken in this field has significantly expanded. While law, sociology and human rights continue to be the dominant lenses through which trafficking is studied, analysed and explained, there is no denying the expanding and enriching influence of other disciplines: from geography to anthropology; from health sciences to migration studies. These changes in research and writing around trafficking have brought tangible benefits: helping improve our understanding of what is happening and why, as well as strengthening the evidence base on which credible, effective responses can be built.