Discusses adjustment, restructuring, and recovery in trade and industry after the financial crisis in the second half of 1997, and remaining challenges.
Clear communication is generally viewed as requisite to the peaceful resolution of international crises. The success of bargaining, deterrent, & compelling strategies hinges on the credibility afforded by unambiguous signals exchanged between opponents. Here, theoretical & comparative case analysis reveals a substantial difference between the efficacy of traditional diplomatic negotiation & tacit measures, eg, the deployment &/or exercise of military forces near the scene of crisis as communication modes. Where negotiation alone often fails, backing, preceding, or, at times, replacing diplomacy with tacit measures afford the greatest chances for success. Policy implications are explored, particularly as they apply to US regional extended deterrent strategies for protecting geographically distant friends & interests. 3 Tables.
The 3 traditional models of Middle Eastern conflict are analysed and rejected. Presents an historical study of the evolution of the Near East from the times of Ottoman domination. Argues that the technical and military superiority of Europe was the instrument of a revolution in thinking which destabilised the Middle Eastern feeling of identity and has been eating away at its roots for over a century. (SJK)
Explores E.N. Chernykh's Great Migration (C-wave) model for explaining long-term changes in world-system behavior across seven periods of crisis/transformation that occurred between 3500 B.C. & 1300 A.D. to argue that he was wrong to claim there was only one pan-Eurasian crisis in the first millennium B.C. Two such crises are described. It is maintained that it is possible to connect actors widely separated in Eurasian space. However, evidence of indirect linkages between Mediterranean & Chinese security problems does not imply that all actors were involved in exactly the same processes at the same time. Attention is given to both the element of continuity that is found when first millennium crises are compared to last second millennium crises & the impact of the two crises of the first millennium B.C. on the later reorientation of trade patterns in the Near East. Although Chernykh's model is useful for analyzing the onset of Eurasian interdependence, his interpretation & crisis dating need to be revised. Tables, Figures, References. J. Lindroth
Explores E.N. Chernykh's Great Migration (C-wave) model for explaining long-term changes in world-system behavior across seven periods of crisis/transformation that occurred between 3500 B.C. & 1300 A.D. to argue that he was wrong to claim there was only one pan-Eurasian crisis in the first millennium B.C. Two such crises are described. It is maintained that it is possible to connect actors widely separated in Eurasian space. However, evidence of indirect linkages between Mediterranean & Chinese security problems does not imply that all actors were involved in exactly the same processes at the same time. Attention is given to both the element of continuity that is found when first millennium crises are compared to last second millennium crises & the impact of the two crises of the first millennium B.C. on the later reorientation of trade patterns in the Near East. Although Chernykh's model is useful for analyzing the onset of Eurasian interdependence, his interpretation & crisis dating need to be revised. Tables, Figures, References. J. Lindroth
During the 1970s, the media headlined one housing crisis after another. Concern about these alleged crises diminished as more dispassionate though less well-publicized follow-up studies demonstrated that the claims had been exaggerated. Nearly all comprehensive government & academic evaluations of housing problems & policies during the decade reached the same conclusions & offered identical recommendations about desirable changes in housing policy. All found that housing conditions improved steadily in the postwar period, the improvement was largely due to rapid income growth, government programs made a minor contribution at best, & housing programs & policies were both inequitable & inefficient. As the fraction of households living in substandard housing declined, the housing problems of poor persons were considered a function of their poverty. All evaluations argued to reduce housing subsidies for middle- & low-income households, to shift away from production programs, & to assist low-income households in acquiring standard housing through cash grants. In spite of the near unanimity of these findings & policy recommendations, the nation's housing policy has consistently followed a different course. Modified HA.
The framing strategies used by political actors to redirect blame for critical incidents that become highly politicized are examined. Military actions involving the failure of the Swedish Navy's submarine detection system in 1994 & the Dutch military's inability to prevent the massacre of thousands of Bosnian Muslims near the Srebrenica region in 1995 are analyzed to determine which strategies European political actors used to deflect accountability for these incidents. Informed by crisis management theory, the extent to which these events were portrayed as violations of core values, products of endemic problems, or results of poor decision making by networks or certain powerful individuals is determined. A framework using multiple decision trees is subsequently presented to illustrate the various paths available to political actors who attempt to redirect blame for politicized incidents. Future research is urged to perform additional studies to demonstrate the strength of connection between political framing & accountability processes. 1 Figure. J. W. Parker
Social confidence in the Argentinean government is low: the independence of the Supreme Court has been shattered; and the rule of law continues to be eroded, as the government tramples on the property rights of private firms and public debt-holders. Because it seems unlikely that Argentina can overcome its political deficiencies in the near future, its prospects for full economic recovery are limited, regardless of which economic reforms it implements. (InWent/GIGA)
15,000 Years of Climate Change in MENA : Big History, Big Questions -- Climate Change from the Younger Dryas to the Little Ice Age -- The Origins of Agriculture, Drought, and Ancient Empires -- Drought and Political-Economic Transformations in the Ancient Near East -- Cooling, Water Scarcity, and Societal Crises in Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt -- Environmental Fragility in MENA from Late Antiquity to Early Modern Eras -- Global Warming in MENA Today and In the Coming Decades -- Climate Wars -- Canaries in the Coal Mine? -- Water, Food, and Adaptation -- The End of MENA?