Suchergebnisse

Negotiation can be seen as a dynamic social process. Perspectives emphasizing the social context and dynamics of negotiations have been largely neglected in the negotiation literature. This article addresses the question of why social relations have received such scant attention, reviews the existing literature on negotiation as a social process, and spells out some ingredients of a social contextual approach. Finally, by way of illustration, such an approach is applied to international negotiations. Whereas ideas about social dynamics emanate from a focus on individuals, international negotiations take place at a level of aggregation and representation most remote from the individual level. Yet, even at this macro level, social context matters in negotiations. Adapted from the source document.

The post-World War II era has seen the rise of international organizations such as the UN, NATO, and the World Bank. Coinciding with this, there has been accompanying trend toward global governance -- i.e., the coordination of multiple interdependent actors, minus a central authority, in the formulation, implementation, monitoring, enforcement and review of rules and regulatory institutions. While global governance proponents defend such arrangements as necessary to address problems and produce for states and societies benefits that would not come about through other means, concern has been voiced regarding the fact that decisions previously made at the national level have shifted to the international level. Decision-makers involved in global governance frequently consist of state officials and international bureaucrats, with limited participation by civil society actors. The authors attempt to address the question of whether global governances can or should be democratized. Citing protests held during meetings of the World Trade Organization, G7, and the European Union, they take up the matter of how to balance the concerns of civil society elements who feel excluded from the global governance decision process with concerns over the effectiveness of global governance in achieving its purported goals. Democratization processes (or their absence) are analyzed for five key organizations that, between them, represent such fields as health, economic development, and the environment. Adapted from the source document.

International Politics has been characterized as an American social science. This article traces the early development of the discipline in Sweden in the shadow of US hegemony. The advantages & disadvantages of the Swedish decision to keep International Relations (IR) within the broader discipline of Political Science are discussed. Recalling the early tensions between International Politics & Peace & Conflict Research, the author identifies some prominent traits in the development of Swedish IR in recent decades. Finally, broader developments in IR research generally are outlined in terms of consecutive debates, continuously broadening research themes, fashions, reaction to dramatic events in the world, & dialectics between paradigms emphasizing anarchy or order. References. Adapted from the source document.

From the outset in the mid-1980s the international response to HIV/AIDS has been characterised by an emphasis on the human rights aspects of the pandemic, and on recognition of the pivotal role of civil society actors (CSOs). But how the rights-based conception of HIV/AIDS and the international legitimation of CSOs play out at the local level depends not only on the vertical coordination between global and local levels but also on government-CSO relations and the understanding of the pandemic in individual countries. South Africa and Cambodia provide comparative examples of 'glocalised' responses to HIV/AIDS. Both countries were among the hardest hit in their respective regions. But, while the South African government was slow to acknowledge the severity of epidemic, the Cambodian leadership quickly initiated a comprehensive response to it. The two cases illustrate how opportunity structures at the international and national levels created different local responses to HIV/AIDS, with significant consequences for the epidemic over time. Adapted from the source document.

Communication is generally regarded as an essential aspect of diplomacy. Proceeding from an understanding of diplomacy as a transhistorical phenomenon, this article distinguishes a number of pertinent dimensions of the communicative aspects of diplomacy & proffers examples taken from different eras & geographic regions. With a focus on continuity & change, the article analyzes the basic aspects of diplomatic communication & the gathering & transmission of information, as well as two important options in the diplomatic repertoire: verbal vs nonverbal & public vs private communication. Two processes of continuity & change -- the ritualization of diplomatic communication & technological development -- are discussed. The article concludes that today's diplomatic communication cannot be seen as the result of any unilinear process. Variations within the distinguished dimensions do not follow an evolutionary pattern but reflect historical contingency. 72 References. Adapted from the source document.

EU negotiations are characterized by the coexistence of a bargaining & a problem-solving approach. The permanence of EU negotiations discourages tough bargaining behavior, as does the prevalence of strong consensus norms. On the other hand, evidence exists of very confrontational behavior that often leads to lowest common denominator solutions. We argue that the mode of negotiation to be found in the EU decision-making processes is contextually determined. Empirically it is demonstrated that day-to-day negotiations in the EU are to a large extent problem-solving exercises. Under certain circumstances, however, conflictual bargaining occurs. The pattern varies with, therefore, level of politicization & type of policy, & according to the stage in the decision-making process. We also suggest that processes of learning have resulted in changes in the EU's negotiation style: problem-solving has become increasingly institutionalized within the EU machinery. 1 Table, 49 References. Adapted from the source document.