Internationalization Path Research Articles

Canada as a Rogue State: Its Shameful Performance on Climate Change

ANYONE WHO USES A DELIBERATELY INFLAMMATORY TITLE must offer a justification for it. Canada has, after all, a solid international reputation, and to call a middle-sized, eager-to-please state a rogue seems to border on the sacrilegious. Certainly many Canadians assume that Canada's performance at international environmental conferences will be progressive and undertaken in a spirit of international co-operation.The concept of rogue states has been used since the end of the cold war, usually by Americans seeking to justify enormous military expenditure in the absence of a pronounced or obvious threat to their national security. Although never official, the term was commonly used to describe states that seemed determined to pose a threat to their neighbours and that are either outside international norms and treaties or in them but presumed to be cheating. In the final months of President Bill Clinton's administration, the State Department tried to move away from the term (in part because of the slipperiness of the definition and in part because of improved relations with one of the main 'rogues,' North Korea) and declared its preference for the more muted (but similarly vague) 'state of concern.' The administration of President George Bush, Jr, re-introduced rogue state as a valuable concept. In my view, the sentiment behind this politically charged term can serve us well in considering the actions of a small group of states that has in recent years undermined international efforts to give substance to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC).To apply the word 'rogue' with credibility in this context, which is far removed from the use to which the Bush administration would like to see it put, it is crucial that the idea of an international community be placed uppermost in the discussion. At a time of profound environmental deterioration as a result of actions that cannot be contained within borders, the notion of community takes on increased importance. Although it is clear that an international community does not exist in any manner akin to the domestic community overseen by state legislation, nonetheless the actions of those states that undermine (and in some cases dismantle) international efforts to deal with the shared consequences of industrial pollution become a threat to their neighbours. Any state that, for the purposes of gaining competitive advantage, actively blocks, stalls, or otherwise subverts an international process designed in the interests of all becomes a threat to others by virtue of the destructive environmental consequences that are a result of such intransigence.The concept of rogue state is, therefore, used here to demonstrate how the language of multilateral bargaining can be used not only to mask threats to the international community, but also to turn the tables on those who would paint a picture of 'good guys' and 'bad guys' solely in terms of ideological or territorial struggle. Fear of tanks rolling across the border has, for many countries, been replaced by new threats of pollution and disaster drifting across all borders.The issue under discussion here is Canada's membership in a coalition of states, the actions of which have been successful in watering down an international convention designed to deal with the causes and consequences of climate change. The coalition was led by the United States, assisted throughout by Japan, Australia, and, at times, New Zealand. Although Canada has, in the past, been celebrated for its action on international atmospheric policies, notably for its prominent role in the diplomatic arrangements for stratospheric ozone depletion, recently it has demonstrated a diversion from a responsible international path. The coalition to which Canada belonged in the climate change negotiations was greeted with disrespect and even dismay by the broader international community. And while many Canadians are increasingly aware of Canada's diminishing international reputation,(1) the government's effort to present itself as a measured and reasonable bridge between the European and American positions continues to garner media attention and public credibility - possibly because it accords so soundly with the widespread assumptions Canadians hold about the importance of international action. …

Globalization, Four Paths of Internationalization and Domestic Policy Change: The Case of EcoForestry in British Columbia, Canada

Governments appear increasingly constrained in their ability to make independent policy choices in an era of global economic finance and communication. As a result, scholars are more closely examining how actors, institutions and economic forces that extend beyond state borders can influence domestic public policies and politics. This scholarship on “globalization” and “transnational relations” serves as a corrective to a comparative public policy literature that has tended to treat external pressures as either exogenous shocks, or as simply other interests to which the state must respond.

Modelling firms propensity to continue service exporting: a cross-country analysis

The pivotal role of services in international business is now receiving widespread recognition. Furthermore, the global marketplace is being increasingly characterised by the speed and ease with which such services cross national boundaries. This exploratory study of Australian and Dutch service exporters provides, for the first time, an understanding of the factors that stimulate such exporters to continue on the internationalisation path. Our results confirm that the level of satisfaction/dissatisfaction with recent past export efforts, export revenue as a percentage of total sales (a measure of export commitment), as well as other more traditional motives for exporting, do explain a reasonable proportion of the variance in propensity to continue exporting. However, some interesting variations emerged between Australian and Dutch firms in their motives to continue exporting.

The strategies pursued by Mexican firms in their efforts to become global players

Almost 60% of the biggest non-financial groups in Mexico carry on at least two types of activities in transnational markets. This article describes and analyses the various internationalization paths and strategies of Mexican firms. This drive for internationalization is taking place against the background of an open export-oriented economy and growing integration with the United States and Canada. There are various national and international factors, as well as others specific to the firms themselves, which influence the strategies chosen and their results. This article consists of an introduction (section I);, followed by six sections analysing the various paths followed by Mexican firms in order to become players. Section II identifies the firms which have set up subsidiaries in developed countries. Section III reviews the firms which have resorted to strategic alliances that could convert them into transnational corporations, and some outstanding examples of this are cited. Section IV describes the presence of Mexican firms on the international securities markets and the interaction that this involves with world financial institutions. Section V looks at the strategies followed by some Mexican firms in order to establish global marketing networks. Section VI examines the rapid expansion of the solutions and strategies applied by firms to gain a world-level position, and finally section VII offers some conclusions evaluating the paths and preferences of Mexican firms seeking to become transnationals, the obstacles they have had to overcome, and the consequences of their international activities.