Suchergebnisse

The issue of State aids (or subsidies) in an international perspective is a permanent source of conflicts because it is at the junction of three opposite views — the mercantilist attitude, the pure trade theory and the political economy approach. First, in a mercantilist perspective focusing on exports and domestic producers (to the detriment of imports and domestic consumers), that subsidies increase imports or reduce exports of the trading partners of the subsidising country is 'unfair' competition. Firms under foreign subsidy pressures feel that they cannot 'compete with foreign governments' and they lobby for 'countervailing' those foreign subsidies. Second, the pure trade theory has two stands. It underlines the fact that subsidised imports from trading partners are a benefit for the consumers of the importing country. And it shows that subsidies are among the least distorting instruments for solving a long list of problems. In particular, they are less distorting than tariffs or non-tariff barriers (NTBs). If public action favouring a particular activity is desired or if there is a need to compensate for economic distortions, then subsidised production funded by general taxation is likely to be the best instrument to be used. Lastly, the third view based on a political economy approach stresses the fact that State aids are easily captured by vested interests for their own agenda — hence becoming a source of waste of scarce economic resources. This approach explains the wide reluctance among economists to support subsidies and their perception that State aids should be constrained for domestic reasons — in sharp contrast with the first view which focuses on disciplines to be imposed on foreign subsidies and with the second view suggesting the use of subsidies for many purposes (.).

The issue of State aids (or subsidies) in an international perspective is a permanent source of conflicts because it is at the junction of three opposite views — the mercantilist attitude, the pure trade theory and the political economy approach. First, in a mercantilist perspective focusing on exports and domestic producers (to the detriment of imports and domestic consumers), that subsidies increase imports or reduce exports of the trading partners of the subsidising country is 'unfair' competition. Firms under foreign subsidy pressures feel that they cannot 'compete with foreign governments' and they lobby for 'countervailing' those foreign subsidies. Second, the pure trade theory has two stands. It underlines the fact that subsidised imports from trading partners are a benefit for the consumers of the importing country. And it shows that subsidies are among the least distorting instruments for solving a long list of problems. In particular, they are less distorting than tariffs or non-tariff barriers (NTBs). If public action favouring a particular activity is desired or if there is a need to compensate for economic distortions, then subsidised production funded by general taxation is likely to be the best instrument to be used. Lastly, the third view based on a political economy approach stresses the fact that State aids are easily captured by vested interests for their own agenda — hence becoming a source of waste of scarce economic resources. This approach explains the wide reluctance among economists to support subsidies and their perception that State aids should be constrained for domestic reasons — in sharp contrast with the first view which focuses on disciplines to be imposed on foreign subsidies and with the second view suggesting the use of subsidies for many purposes (.).

AbstractThe literature on Normative Power Europe (NPE) largely omits the question of why the EU chooses to focus on particular norms in the first place. This paper goes beyond the assumption that the EU simply externalizes its internal norms, because such a perspective does not sufficiently explain why the EU prioritizes certain norms over others, particularly in the case of contested norms. Using LGBTI rights and Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) in the EU's external human rights policy as two cases, I demonstrate how norm entrepreneurs – both external and internal – have been essential for bringing these norms to the EU's attention. Only after initial internal resistances had been overcome, were these norms able to reach the EU's external agenda. The two cases illustrate the internal political struggles that precede norm selection, supporting recent calls for a more politics‐oriented perspective on Normative Power Europe.

FOR THE NATIONS OF THE CARIBBEAN, EVEN OF LATIN AMERICA, ECONOMIC INTEGRATION IS BUT A WAY STATION ON THE ROUTE TO SHAPING A WORKABLE MODEL OF EXTERNAL INSERTION. THE ARTICLE SHOWS THE PLATFORM WHICH DEFINED THE CARIBBEAN ECONOMIC SPACE OVER THE PAST FORTY YEARS. OUT OF THIS FRAMEWORK CAME THE THEORIES OF EXPLOITATION, NEO-COLONIALISM AND ECONOMIC MARGINALIZATION, AND THE PERSISTENT CALL, WITH HEAVY AND POLITICAL OVERTURES, FOR PROTECTION PREFERENCE, SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS, AID, TRADE AND INVESTMENT SUPPORT. THE ARTICLE FOCUSES ON FOUR PILLARS OF AN INTEGRATED ECONOMY. FIRST, THE SEARCH FOR EXTERNAL ECONOMIES OF SCALE AS OPPOSED TO INTERNAL ECONOMIES OF SCALE. SECOND, THE SHAPING OF GEOGRAPHICALLY COMPACT ECONOMIES. THIRD, THE ADOPTION OF FORWARD-LOOKING ADJUSTMENT STRATEGIES. FOURTH, THE MEASURE OF THE RANGE OF THE CARIBBEAN ECONOMY.

The EU Commissioner for Competition Policy discusses some of its international antitrust efforts in the context of the increasing globalization of markets. The importance of cooperation with US authorities, including the Dept of Justice & Federal Trade Commission, in matters regarding multijurisdictional mergers & the globalization of hardcore cartels is highlighted. The key role of EU-US cooperation in the management of antitrust efforts & law enforcement in an integrating world economy is discussed, emphasizing the need for a multilateral approach. The inclusion of competition policy in the development agenda for the World Trade Organization, outlined during the 2002 Ministerial at Doha, Qatar, is reviewed, & plans for future negotiations are noted. The ongoing development of a multilateral initiative regarding international cooperation in the enforcement of competition policy -- the International Competition Network -- is also described. K. Hyatt Stewart

Museums are participating in the capturing of global data for the perceived benefit of improved relationships with the public. This article proposes a framework for critically analyzing the ratification of museum visitors and visitor engagement, combining a critical lens from data studies with a social view of datafication as practice—a set of practices within a sociotechnical assemblage that is continuously reproduced by the choices made within and outside the museum. Museums are situated at the intersection of PierreBourdieu's economic, cultural, and political fields; thus, I highlight some of the external social and technological pressures driving datafication in museums. Relying on public accounts and previous case studies, I argue that datafication of visitor engagement is made to work through data loops: circular processes between institutional practices of museums and social practices of audiences where data are collected, processed, and decided upon.

Nota a la edición en español / Silvia Núñez García; Prefacio / Fen Osler Hampson y Paul Heinbecker; Mensaje de la secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores de México / Patricia Espinosa Cantellano; Mensaje del ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Canadá / John Baird; 1. INTRODUCCIÓN; Vivan Canadá y México / Bill Graham y Rosario Green; Perspectiva general / Olga Abizaid y Graeme Douglas; 2. LA RELACIÓN BILATERAL; Relaciones gubernamentales entre Canadá y México / Julián Ventura y Jon Allen; Relaciones Comerciales; La relación entre Canadá y México: una perspectiva empresarial / Carlos E. Represas y Oscar Vera; Negocios en México: algunas historias de éxito; Canadá y México: relaciones académicas; Alianza para abordar los retos mundiales y de desarrollo / Jennifer Jeffs; Una agenda de investigación común / Isabel Studer; Canadá y México: relaciones con los medios de comunicación; Más que margaritas y mariachis / Marina Jiménez; El enigma de la imagen de Canadá: ni "Dudley de la Montaña" ni "Joe el canadiense" / José Carreño Figueras; Relacionales subnacionales Nuevos polos de poder e influencia / David Parks; Todo es local: el aumento en las relaciones a través de redes de contacto locales / José Natividad González Parás; 3. LA RELACIÓN TRILATERAL; El TLCAN a veinte años; Perspectivas del TLCAN / Luis de la Calle Pardo; Reforzar la cooperación norteamericana mediante del TLCAN / John M / Weekes; Nuevos rumbos del TLCAN: nodo y corredor de transporte / Stephen Blank; Energía: el potencial desaprovechado; Puentes para expandir la cooperación en materia energética / Lourdes Melgar; Energía: el puente continental / Joseph M. Dukert; América del Norte en 2020: dos visiones / Robert A. Pastor; 4. RELACIONES REGIONALES CONSTRUCTIVAS; Cooperación regional; La relación Canadá-México en una configuración latinoamericana y transpacífica / Carlos A. Heredia; Canadá y México: intereses compartidos en una agenda regional común / Alex Bugailiskis y Ed Dosman; Seguridad regional; Seguridad hemisférica: el dilema Canadá-México / Reid ...

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are undergoing an alleged crisis of trustworthiness. The past decades have seen an increase in both academic and practitioner scepticism, particularly given the transformations many NGOs have undergone in size, professionalism, and political importance. The accountability agenda, which stresses transparency and external oversight, has gained a significant amount of traction as a means to solve this crisis. But the causal link between the implementation of these recommendations and increased trustworthiness among donors has never been considered. This article bridges this gap by drawing on theoretical innovations in trust research to put forward three arguments. First, the proponents of the accountability agenda are implicitly working with a rational model of trust. Second, this model does not reflect important social characteristics of trust between donors and NGOs. Third, this mismatch means that the accountability agenda might do more to harm trust in NGOs than to help it.

Political entities use culture to support their soft power potential, to generate goodwill, to frame international agenda in particular ways, to erect and re-enact boundaries and/or to create societal linkages across them. While the importance of culture has been on the rise in the realm of foreign affairs, its role in this field remains one of the most under-studied aspects of state policy. In this book, a range of international experts take an unprecedented look at what role external cultural policy plays in foreign affairs. The book features historical case studies ranging from European 'civilizing' engagement with nineteenth-century China to uses of Abstract Expressionism as an instrument in the ideological struggles of the Cold War. Conceptual issues ranging from the dynamics of the 'Anglosphere' to the effects of what some term the 'culture of liberal democracy' are addressed. Current trends in the uses of culture in the EU's external relations both from the perspective of institutional developments, policies and practices in the EU and from the perspective of countries engaged by the EU's cultural policies are also discussed in greater detail. The systematic, theoretically informed and empirically supported analyses make this book an indispensable read for scholars and policy makers wishing to gain a new understanding of the role that culture plays in foreign affairs.

Cover -- Contents -- List of Figures and Tables -- Notes on Contributors -- Acknowledgements -- List of Abbreviations -- 1 New Theory of External Dimension of Transition: Introduction -- 2 Modern External Influences and the Multilevel Regime Transition: Theory-Building -- Part I Democratic External Influences - Overlooked Dimensions -- 3 Supranational Organizations: The EU and Post-Soviet Civil Society Network -- 4 Non-Governmental Actors: Think Tanks and Rock Music in Belarus -- Part II Autocratic External Influences - Testing a Multilevel Approach -- 5 National Level: How the EU and Russia Manage Their Unintended Impact on Their Common Neighbours -- 6 Subnational Level: Russian Support for Secessionism and Pockets of Autocracy -- 7 Supranational Organizations: Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union -- 8 Non-Governmental Actors: Public Diplomacy and Russian Policy in the Post-Soviet States -- 9 Summarizing Theory-Testing and Future Research Agenda -- Index.