International Thinking Research Articles

Back to the future? The limits of neo-Wilsonian ideals of exporting democracy

International state-building has become central to international policy concerns and has marked a clear neo-Wilsonian shift in international thinking, spurred by the leadership of the United States and the European Union. Today’s approaches insist on the regulatory role of international institutions and downplay the importance of locally-derived political solutions. This privileging of ‘governance’ over ‘government’ is based on the assumption that the political process can be externally influenced through the promotion of institutional changes introduced at the state level and pays less attention to how societal pressures and demands are constitutive of stable and legitimate institutional mechanisms. This article questions this approach and analyses the transformation in the assessment of the importance of the societal sphere. It considers how this shift has been shaped by current understandings of war and conflict, and how the prioritisation of governance has fitted with critical and post-positivist trends in academic thinking in international relations and security studies. The discussion is illustrated with examples drawn largely from the Balkans and the international regime in Bosnia–Herzegovina in particular.

Eurocentrism and International Thinking - a brief introduction

International thinking – a nice expression, widely used by political and economical leaders and easily found on all major newspapers nowadays. But has it been always like that? Globalisation is considered to be a rather new development in history. On the contrary, the term eurocentrism is not spread so widely in the common language (not taking into consideration the so-called scientific community). However, eurocentrism has been an important phenomenon during the development of Europe in the world. Eurocentrism, as a variant of ethnocentrism, describes the way of emphasising European values and culture (often also described as the Western culture, contrasting with the Islamic culture – which actually compares a geographical character with a religious one and therefore, a priori, leads to confusion and unfair comparisons!) i compared to other cultures.

Building connections between kangaroos, commerce and conservation in the rangelands

The role of landholders in kangaroo harvesting is an issue that has been revisited often over time as circumstances continue to change within the kangaroo industry, within rural communities and within national and international conservation frameworks. It is again time to assess the state of play. The kangaroo industry has, after more than 30 years of operation, a legitimate claim to being sustainable. But where does it stand in relation to current international thinking on sustainable use and in relation to the broader conservation goals for Australia's rangeland environments?This paper presents strategies for linking the kangaroo harvest with conservation in the sheep rangelands through models that can provide economic returns and a greater management role for landholders in the kangaroo industry. According to the principles of conservation through sustainable use (CSU), when local people receive direct economic returns from the sustainable use of wildlife, they can gain incentives to undertake species ...

Why are population and development issues not given priority?

From the time of Adam Smith onward, economists have recognized important linkages between population trends and economic development. Yet, the attention given to these linkages in international conferences and other venues where policy is debated has varied enormously over time, and also according to the issues being discussed: women, environment, poverty and sustainable development, for example. Looking back over recent decades, it is hard to escape two conclusions: (a) politics sometimes plays a more important role than dispassionate academic discourse at such meetings, and this greatly influences the attention given to population matters; and (b) fads are almost as ubiquitous in international thinking on development issues as they are in matters of dress, eating habits and youth culture.

Policy and institutional dimensions of small-holder farmer innovations in the Thukela River Basin of South Africa and the Pangani River Basin of Tanzania: A comparative perspective

Over the last decade, prompted by shifts in international thinking about natural resources management, by donor conditionalities, and by fiscal crises, many developing countries have instituted sweeping reforms of their water management regimes. Most of the reforms generally focus on management of blue water while excluding green water. On the other hand, agricultural policy is generally focused on modernization of agriculture through extension services at the farm level. Small-holder system innovations (SSIs) and the interactions between water for food and ecosystem services are not properly addressed in terms of their policy and institutional dimensions. Using case studies from the Thukela and Pangani river basins, this paper demonstrates the importance of SSIs in improving food production. It traces the history of the SSIs and the institutional configurations arising therefrom. Preliminary evidence from the research being carried out in the two basins indicates that when rainfall is inadequate or unreliable and water shortages limit crop production, the uptake of resource conserving technologies can bring about sustainable agriculture for local communities. The challenge is to find ways in which these can spread beyond their small localities and reach other communities. The paper focuses on institutional arrangements, support systems and policy requirements at different scales that can enhance adoption of SSIs. The SSIs include rainwater harvesting and conservation farming.

American Literature Internationale

"Drunken Strikers, Ga'InlmUlni,sts, Carleton, 1878), 269. "From Allan Pinkerton, and Detectives (New York: Anleriean Literature Internationale RUSS CASTRONOVO Borders, sovereignty, and war are exacting in their location of the nation along spatial dimensions. Origins, remembrance, and amnesia are equally exacting in establishing the nation along a temporal axis. So, too, international issues are spatial questions , involving the flow of commodities, people, and culture across borders in ways that can be perceived as threatening to sovereignty. But the analogy between national and international contexts breaks down when it comes to temporality. Origins, for instance, do not readily flow from nation to nation, and memory often remains partial and particular. as nations do not exchange founders (Romulus and Relmus can only be suckled by one she-wolf and George Washington can only be born on one Virginia plantation), they rarely coincide in their visions of the future. While the idea of Manifest Destiny found impetus enough from the Louisiana Purchase to the MexicanAmerican War of1846-48 and onward, the prospect of a hemispheric United States never belonged to the voluntary present or future of those peoples incorporated into or conquered by the march of this history. It is thus difficult to think about international time in the same way that one might speak about international issues in terms of geography. This difficulty notwithstanding, the temporal aspect of international thinking is crucial to the language of political possibility . This essay searches for temporal forms of internationalism by reconstructing the time ofAmerican literature. Luckily , we all know the literary history. By the efforts of Herman ESQ I v. 50 11ST-3RD QUARTERS I2004 59 RUSS CASTRONOVO Melville, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau, American literature between 1850 and 1855 flourished into a renaissance. And we are equally familiar with updated versions ofthis story: the work of Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, William Wells Brown, and Susan Warner, to name just a few writers who successfully adopted popular genres, allows us to speak of that renaissance in much broader and more representative terms. Rationales for lists such as this one always exceed chronology, bleeding into ideology, perhaps beginning with F. O. Matthiessen 's pronouncement that the form and content of these works deeply involve "the possibilities of democracy. "I Although not included in Matthiessen's original list, Douglass, Stowe, and others surely engage democracy as well, whether as an internal project or as an issue of national memory. I begin rnodestly enough, suggesting that we turn our attention to a text that fits squarely in this half decade of literary achievement but falls outside any sense of either "American" or "renaissance." I will reluctantly discard this modesty to argue that this text provides a pivotal methodology for assessing categories of form and content in terms of democratic possibility -that is, for evaluating the political-aesthetic stakes of American literature. Entry into aesthetic discourse necessarily repositions American literature on an international axis given the transatlantic pull of Gennan romanticism and the "sweetness and light" ofAnglophilic taste.'2 But the idea of an international American literature resonates on another plane to evoke "the Internationale," the social project, first imagined in the 1860s, in which the worldwide interests of the working classes would, theoretically, trump the provincialisms of language , ethnicity, and nation. International American literature after this fashion suggests a conversation where the analysis of fOrIn and content would entail critical attention to the political effects, both revolutionary and counterrevolutionary, of aesthetie discourse in an era of mass meetings and anarchist threat. In other words, international Alnerican literature helps us to think about the connections between mass subjectivity, language, and terror. The same year that witnessed the publication of Melville's 60 AMERICAN UTERATURE INTERNATIONALE Pierre and Hawthorne's Blithedale Romance, a Gerlman immigrant named Joseph Weydemeyer living in New l:ork laid out forty dollars to print a lengthy pamphlet analyzing the aesthetic dimensions of the revolutionary and counterrevolutionary aftermath of the r848 socialist uprising in France. Its author, Karl Marx, urged quick publication since the events were fleeting , but he seemed pleased when one thousand copies of The Eighteenth Brumaire ofLouis Bonaparte were eventually printed in r852. As Marx...

Beyond 'the Mogadishu Line': Some Australian Lessons for Managing Intra-State Conflicts

The controversial humanitarian intervention in Somalia was a foretaste of a continuing international failure to come to terms with the post-Cold War security environment. For much of the 1990s, the wrong lessons, drawn almost entirely from the unsuccessful US experience in Mogadishu, shackled international thinking about international conflicts like Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Bosnia. Yet if the international communities going to develop a more effective response to the new pattern of intra-state violence, it should learn from the successes as well as the failures of humanitarian intervention in Somalia. In Baidoa, the Australians demonstrated it is possible to develop what might be termed a peace-enhancement strategy in a collapsed state situation. By striking a balance between political reconstruction and a measure willingness to use force to obtain compliance with UN demands the Australians indicated that the dire prophesies of Robert Kaplan's 'The Coming Anarchy' can be averted.

Chinese Perceptions of U.S. Power and Strategy

C hinese writings on U.S. foreign policy and Sino-American relations are characterized by a strikingly frequent use of the term strategy. Such an intense focus on strategic analysis reflects the dominance of the realist paradigm in Chinese international thinking. From this approach, the state (here, the United States) is viewed as a unitary actor rationally calculating every move under a master plan to ensure security and maximize power. In the true spirit of structural realism, only great powers matter in international relations. The United States is the sole hegemon and exercises the greatest power over China. U.S. global strategy guides both its foreign policy and its dealings with China. Thus, Chinese interpretations of U.S. global strategy ultimately motivate Beijing's external behavior and reactions to the United States.

History of the International Society of Surgery/Société International de Chirurgie (ISS/SIC). I. Short story of Theodor Kocher's life and relationship to the International Society of Surgery.

With the aim of promoting progress in surgery through the friendly exchange of views and experience, the International Society of Surgery was founded in Brussels in 1902, thereby helping to overcome the narrow boundaries of that time's nationalism. At its first congress, the International Society of Surgery (ISS), otherwise known by its French name, Société Internationale de Chirurgie (SIC), already numbered 638 members, among them the most important surgeons from all over the world. Theodor Kocher (1841-1917) was the president of the first congress, held in Brussels in 1905, and was also responsible for the choice of topics. His presidential address clearly reflected the high aims the Society set for itself. Kocher's personal and professional authority, his surgical skill, which he liked so much to communicate to his colleagues, and his international thinking shaped the young Society. He remained on the international committee of the ISS until his death. Renowned surgeons from all over the globe traveled to Bern to see Kocher at work, among whom were many distinguished leaders of U.S. surgery. Thus Kocher's contribution had a great impact on the developing surgery, in particular in the United States. A short curriculum outlines the personality of this outstanding surgeon.

Care/Case Management at the Crossroads

The International Conference on Long‐Term Care/Case Management took place in December. Following a review of MCC's articles on care management in England and Wales in the last issue, here the author records impressions from the conference of some current international thinking about care management and quality.

Italian Fascist War Crimes in Ethiopia: A History of Their Discussion, from the League of Nations to the United Nations (1936-1949)

The 1935–36 Italian fascist invasion and subsequent occupation of Ethiopia were accompanied by numerous atrocities: the use of mustard gas, the bombing of Red Cross hospitals and ambulances, the execution of captured prisoners without trial, the Graziani massacre, the killings at Dabra Libanos monastery, and the shooting of “witch-doctors” accused of prophesying the end of fascist rule. These acts are historically interesting, not only in themselves, but also in that they were brought to the international community’s attention on two separate occasions: to the League of Nations, when they were committed, and later, to the United Nations. Fascist atrocities, though widely condemned by individuals and organizations, passed officially unnoticed by the League of Nations and were the subject of judicial consideration only after Italy’s entry into the European World War in 1940. The question of these crimes was then reopened, in the newly established UN War Crimes Commission. Though based on power politics and political opportunism, the founding of this body reflected a shift in international thinking and re-shaping of international law. The present article, which throws incidental light on changing international attitudes to Ethiopia, attempts to trace the tortuous history of these war-crimes discussions, and to examine why the efforts of the Ethiopian government to have war-criminals tried were less successful than those of other Allies.

Justifications for, and Priorities of, Development Assistance to Education‐‐Finnish development cooperation in an international perspective

The article presents findings of a research project which analysed statements pertaining to education's contribution to development as justifications for external assistance to education in developing countries, both at a general level and for particular priorities within the education sector. Material used in the study includes (i) publications of UNESCO and the World Bank from the late 1960s to the mid‐1990s, representing international thinking about education and development, and (ii) diverse materials produced during this period for discussing and planning Finnish development cooperation (both bilateral and non‐governmental). The focus is on the parallels and differences found between the international discourse and the Finnish materials.

Belgium: A Colonial Power Becomes a Federal State

Although I studied, among other things like linguistics and anthropology, the history of Africa, I cannot be called ‘a real historian’. My view on decolonization, literally throwing away colonization – be it a very slow and sometimes painful process – has been initiated especially by a long experience in different fields. I am one of the rare, still surviving specimen who have lived (Congo 1952-1958) and worked (Railway BCK, Société Générale) in the colonial world, and later participated modestly in the Round Table Conference of 1960 which led to the independence of the Belgian Congo. On the other hand I have undergone, due to my African studies (Ghent 1958-1962), a complete change in knowledge and mentality. Having been involved in the birth of a ‘Vlaamse Vriendenkring’ (Kolwezi, former Katanga) and later in the open and sometimes heated discussions about ‘cultural autonomy’ in Belgium (1962-1965), I finally became in the seventies a fervent defender of international thinking, global education based upon interdisciplinarity and interculturality.

The Ogies‐Phola development forum as an example for South African communities?

This article shows the influence that development forums can have on the communities they serve. It analyses the modus operandi and structure of the Ogies development forum, which was established to serve the Ogies‐Phola community in Mpumalanga. The forum's structure reflects the coming together of all stakeholders, working groups and a participating community. The article suggests that development forums, operating with specific objectives in mind and based on international development thinking and national development policy, can be a force behind societal change in South African communities. All participants, especially the people themselves, influence the delivery of facilities to improve general living conditions. The development forum coordinates the operation of working groups whose efforts in the fields of job creation, health and welfare, education and housing have led to an improved quality of life. To continue in this vein will enhance community well‐being and promote effective development.

Aetiologies of Autism: Psychodynamic, Pharmacological and Behavioural, Related to Kuwait

Autism is a severe form of childhood psychopathology which has enormous impact on the child, his/her family, and the wider community. It challenges the expertise of doctors, teachers and therapists. In Kuwait, recognition of the disorder is still in its infancy. However, the government has established a new Centre for Autism, the first of its kind in the country, to provide up‐to‐date medical care and education for autistic children. This article will assess Kuwait's progress in catering for autism, in the light of current international thinking. Discussion of the roles of the main governmental and non‐governmental bodies concerned with provision for autistic children in Kuwait, with an account of the only two special schools which are currently known to cater specifically for this disorder, is given. It was found that, in Kuwait, provision is limited and fragmented compared with that of the UK and the USA. Moreover, there is, as yet, relatively little information available to researchers, parents, or the...

From pistols to ploughshares: The Ira's farewell to arms

One of the worst political injustices of the twentieth century may be ending: the armed struggle in Northern Ireland. We explore the stereotypes of terror and counterterror that have affected international thinking about the problem. In the Irish case, the argument is that both terror and nationalism are narrations: that the notion of terror is an ‘'essentialization,’’ a dehistoricized and decontextualized phenomenon upon which counter‐terrorism depends. Consequently, analyses dependent upon the concept of terror are most often bogus. Conflict over the implications of nationalism, which is the larger theme of the struggle, inscribe and re‐inscribe the motives and causes of protagonists. The paper considers some perspectives uncontaminated by past rhetorical privileging of one position or another that allows for a more comprehensive picture of the problem.

International Society

In a recent issue of Cooperation and Conflict, Ole Waever argued that `theoretical progress is hard to find in the work on international society'. This article seeks to challenge this verdict by reasserting the continued relevance of the international society tradition to contemporary international relations thinking. In the first instance, an analysis of the evolution of the tradition demonstrates the movement of the English School from realism to a more normative view of international relations grounded in the vindication of the idea of international society. The second part of the article examines the contribution of international society thinking to academic international relations in the 1990s. Here we see the bifurcation of the English School into classical international society theorists who exhibit a high degree of continuity with the British Committee era, and critical international society theorists who take the work of Wight and Bull as their point of departure but who see their task as deepening the notion of community in the society of states and extend it beyond the society of states. Finally, the article concludes by suggesting that the English School's use of theory is implicitly constructivist, thereby aligning the School with progressive developments in social and political theory.

Human Rights and Governance in Africa

volume stands out both in its timeliness and in the originality of its 'new thinking' about human rights on the continent. . . . The editors offer excellent intellectual leadership to this project.--Crawford Young, University of Wisconsin, MadisonThe often oppressive existence endured by ordinary Africans means that human rights issues, along with political and economic ones, are central to Africa's progress. The 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, signed by African leaders, takes the stance that human rights in Africa must honor the traditional African concern for the collective over the sanctity and integrity of the individual. The editors and authors of this book argue against that consensus, defending the position that human rights are universal. The contributors ask whether the idea of universal human rights tenable theoretically and practically, coming at the issue from bases of social and political theory, history, and law. They conclude that the views on human rights in Africa need to move in the direction of international thinking on the issue, a posture not merely Western but quintessentially human. The book has much to offer students of African and international studies, human rights specialists, and others concerned with human rights issues.ContentsPart I. Theoretical PerspectivesEndless Teardrops: Prolegomena to the Study of Human Rights in Africa, by Ronald CohenHuman Rights and Precolonial Africa, by Timothy FernyhoughHuman and Peoples' Rights: What Point Is Africa Trying to Make? by H. W. O. Okoth-OgendoThe African Human Rights Process: A Contextual Policy-Oriented Approach, by Winston P. NaganPart II. Substantive Issues Women's Rights and the Right to Development, by Rhoda E. HowardAfrican Refugees: Defining and Defending Their Human Rights, by Art HansenLife Is War Human Rights, Political Violence, and Struggles for Power in Lesotho, by Robert ShanafeltThe National Language Question and Minority Language Rights in Africa: A Nigerian Case Study, by F. Niyi AkinnasoEducation and Rights in Nigeria, by Ajuji Ahmed and Ronald CohenAcademic Freedom in Africa: A Right Long Overlooked, by Goran HydenThe Challenges of Domesticating Rights in Africa, by Goran HydenRonald Cohen professor of anthropology and African studies at the University of Florida; among his many books and articles on Africa is Satisfying Africa's Food Needs (1988). Goran Hyden professor of political science at the University of Florida; his books on African politics and development include No Shortcuts to Progress (1983). Winston Nagan, professor of law and affiliate professor of anthropology at the University of Florida, chaired the board of Amnesty International (USA) from 1989 to 1991.

The Internationalisation of Management at Fiat

Three years ago the top management in Fiat realised that their managers must not only cross physical national boundaries to operate successfully in the global marketplace, but must also think and plan across and within all the diverse cultures of the globe. From this vision, a comprehensive and dynamic programme was launched that did not accept ready‐made solutions, but sought out a unique Fiat approach to creating intercultural competence within the company. It began with extensive research and thinking, and then the findings were translated into a wide range of initiatives that are now operative throughout the multinational organisation. Now, three years later, the benefits of reframing the company′s international thinking while maintaining its strong Italian origins are being felt and they form a backdrop for the even more radical changes currently taking place.

Indonesia´s Economy: Performance and Policy Options in a Post-OPEC World

For several years, students of the Indonesian economy, both Indonesian and foreign, have been debadng the impact on the country's development prospects of declining world oil prices. From the late 1960s to 1981, receipts from exports of crude petroleum, refined products and natural gas rose steadily until in 1981 they amounted to over USS20 billion. In 1982 they fell by over USS2 billion; in that year there was also a dramatic slump in economic growth with real gross domestic product (GDP) rising by only 2 per cent, the lowest annual growth rate since 1967. There was widespread concern that the high growth rates of the 1970s were past history and could not be sustained in the much harsher international environment of the 1980s1. When Repelita IV (the Fourth Five-Year Plan which began in April 1984 and runs to March 1989) announced an annual GDP growth target of 5.0 per cent, many considered that this would be difficult to achieve, even though the average annual rate of GDP growth in the 1970s had been close to 8 per cent. In particular, scepticism was expressed about the ambitious annual growth target for the industrial sector of 9.5 per cent, given the slow growth in that sector since 1981. Not surprisingly, the faltering pace of economic progress in Indonesia since 1981, combined with the more uncertain international environment, has given rise to considerable debate over economic policy. Both the younger generation of university academics and veterans such as former Finance and Trade Minister Professor Sumitro Djojohadikusumo have had much to say over the past two years on the appropriate role of government in the economy, especially in such crucial areas as industrial regulation and the foreign trade regime. Many of the arguments they have been putting forward have in turn been much influenced by international thinking on development issues, especially in the international development agencies such as the World Bank. But before looking at these policy debates in greater detail, it will be useful to highlight the nature of the economic transition which took place in Indonesia in the momentous years from the late 1960s to the early 1980s.