Power,politics and business

The study of business and politics is attracting new interest, perhaps due to changing configurations of power in Western societies undergoing rapid but uneven structural and cultural change. Previous debates have demonstrated the inadequacy of the pressure group model, primarily because of its insensitivity to the socio‐economic foundations of power and the significance of the cultural context. This paper reviews the approach proposed by Charles E. Lindblom's Politics and Markets, examines some attempts to refine that approach and advances some criticisms of a general methodological nature. It is suggested that neo‐marxist perspectives are more likely than post‐pluralist ones to be able to comprehend the articulation of agency and context, or behaviour and structure. A concluding section points to the relative paucity of Australian work on business and politics, notes the contributions of Connell and Irving and Tsokhas, and suggests that the increasingly important and volatile field of banking and finance has been especially neglected.     

Western Australia's Royalties for Regions program: a policy response to growth,regional neglect,and perceived disempowerment

Under the right conditions, compounding socio‐political and economic change can dramatically alter government policy. From 2000, Western Australia, a resource‐rich jurisdiction, experienced significant change owing to a once‐in‐a‐generation resources boom, which forced a break with earlier development approaches. In 2008, regional interventionism returned to the State via the State Government's Royalties for Regions program. Departing from the neo‐liberal tradition, the program allocated 25 per cent of the State's royalty income to non‐metropolitan regions, over and above existing regional allocations, and its success remains disputed. While it is easy to question the program retrospectively, the socio‐economic and political circumstances from 2000 to 2008 reveal a “perfect storm” of conditions enabling the transition from neo‐liberalism to interventionism in regional development. This paper sets out to understand the multi‐faceted conditions that enabled the dramatic paradigm shift embodied by the program. To this end, it examines the State's rural–urban settlement dichotomy, its staples economy, and the policy context leading up to the program. Following that, the paper proposes a causal framework mapping out the factors driving and rationalising the program. These factors are then examined in detail and include perceived rural voter disenchantment, ineffectual regional development policy, the State's mining boom, inadequate regional development funding, the contrasting fortunes of two regions (illustrative of the impact of growth, and the lack thereof), and the political manoeuvring during the 2008 election. Finally, the paper concludes by considering how the conversion of these conditions resulted in the State's most significant regional policy redirection in decades.     

The Problem that Had a Name: French High‐Rise Developments and the Fantasy of a Suburban Homemaker Pathology, 1954–73

Within Western Europe, France had the largest and longest postwar commitment to private social‐market housing inside dense residential suburbs called grands ensembles d'habitation (GEs). Social‐Catholic activists and planners viewed the GEs as facilitating women's maternal mission within egalitarian communities, but others across the political spectrum saw them as pathological spaces, especially for women who supposedly contracted a psychological disease dubbed ‘sarcellite’, after France's flagship GE of Sarcelles. This article analyses how a phantasmatic gendered discourse of housing disaster, first circulated by the media, strategically influenced gendered actors’ residential desires and legitimised policy shifts toward single‐family housing. The discourse of sarcellite reveals how housing realities and imaginaries shaped gendered claims to housing as an evolving aspect of social citizenship. The article considers both suburban women's demands for subsidised childcare and other services and the nuances and contradictions of the evolving discourse of sarcellite.     

The Economic Geography of Australia and Its Analysis: From Industrial to Post‐Industrial Regions

The Australian economy has experienced profound change over the last five decades, moving from an industrial to a post‐industrial structure. This transformation has had far‐reaching implications for the nature of economic activity in Australia and has provided the backdrop for the evolving analysis of the nation's space economy. The paper argues that three interrelated themes underpin much of the work of economic geographers in Australia: the impacts of globalisation on Australia's space economy; neoliberalism and the governance of regions; and policy‐focused analysis of regions, their history and prospects. The paper concludes that economic geography will continue to make important intellectual and practical contributions to Australia in the near future as the reshaping of the Australian economy continues and as new challenges reshape the nation's regions.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed: Paul, Wapner and Lester Edwin J., Ruiz (eds) Principled world politics: the challenge of normative international relations Kimberly, Hutchings International political theory: rethinking ethics in a global era Daniel, Philpott Revolutions in sovereignty: how ideas shaped modern international relations Harald, Kleinschmidt The nemesis of power: a history of international relations theories Christine, Gray International law and the use of force Christine, Bell Peace agreements and human rights Asbjørn, Eide; Helge Ole, Bergesen and Pia Rudolfson, Goyer (eds) Human rights and the oil industry Dinah, Shelton (ed.) Commitment and compliance: the role of non‐binding norms in the international legal system Fred, Halliday The world at 2000 James P., Sewell (ed.) Multilateralism in multinational perspective: viewpoints from different languages and literatures Rosemary, Foot Rights beyond borders: the global community and the struggle over human rights in China Ivo H., Daalder Getting to Dayton: the making of America's Bosnia policy Robert G., Sutter Chinese policy priorities and their implications for the United States Paul, Rogers Losing control: global security in the twenty‐first century David, Mutimer The weapons state: proliferation and the framing of security T. V., Paul Power versus prudence: why nations forgo nuclear weapons Jerome M., Conley Indo‐Russian military and nuclear cooperation: lessons and options for US policy in South Asia Raju G. C., Thomas and Amit, Gupta (eds) India's nuclear security Marianne, van Leeuwen Crying wolf? Assessing unconventional terrorism Patrick, Mileham and Lee, Willett (eds) Military ethics for the expeditionary era Malcolm, Chalmers Sharing security: the political economy of burdensharing R. E., Utley The French defence debate: consensus and continuity in the Mitterrand era Shaun, Gregory French defence policy into the twenty‐first century Gwyn, Prins and Hylke, Tromp (eds) The future of war Richard, Holmes (ed.) The Oxford companion to military history Marina, Ottaway and Thomas, Carothers (eds) Funding virtue: civil society aid and democracy promotion Ann M., Florini (ed.) The third force: the rise of transnational civil society Robin, Cohen and Shirin M., Rai (eds). Global social movements T. Alexander, Aleinikoff and Douglas, Klusmeyer (eds) From migrants to citizens: membership in a changing world Kjell, Goldmann; Ulf, Hannerz and Charles, Westin (eds) Nationalism and internationalism in the post‐Cold War era L. R., Melvern A people betrayed: the role of the West in Rwanda's genocide Howard, Adelman and Astri, Suhrke (eds) The path of a genocide: the Rwanda crisis from Uganda to Zaire Adamantia, Pollis and Peter, Schwab (eds) Human rights: new perspectives, new realities W. Lance, Bennett and Robert M., Entman (eds) Mediated politics: communication in the future of democracy Thomas C., Lawton; James N., Rosenau and Amy C., Verdun (eds) Strange power: shaping the parameters of international relations and international political economy Kenichi, Ohmae The invisible continent: four strategic imperatives of the new economy Joseph S., Nye and John D., Donahue (eds) Governance in a globalizing world Nancy, Birdsall and Carol, Graham (eds) New markets, new opportunities? Economic and social mobility in a changing world Albert, Fishlow and Karen, Parker (eds) Growing apart: the causes and consequences of global wage inequality Linsu, Kim and Richard R., Nelson (eds) Technology, learning, and innovation: experiences of newly industrializing countries Tim, O'Riordan (ed.) Globalism, localism and identity: fresh perspectives on the transition to sustainability Tim, Jackson; Katie, Begg and Stuart, Parkinson Flexibility in climate policy: making the Kyoto mechanisms work Suke, Wolton Lord Hailey, the Colonial Office and the politics of race and empire in the Second World War: the loss of white prestige Michael E., Latham Modernization as ideology: American social science and ‘nation building’ in the Kennedy era Frédéric, Bozo (transl. by Susan Emanuel.) Two strategies for Europe: de Gaulle, the United States and the Atlantic Alliance Adrian, Hyde‐Price Germany and European order: enlarging NATO and the EU Lisbeth, Aggestam and Adrian, Hyde‐Price (eds) Security and identity in Europe: exploring the new agenda Christoph, Bluth Germany and the future of European security Robin, Niblett and William, Wallace (eds) Rethinking European order: West European responses, 1989–97 Ann L., Phillips Power and influence after the Cold War: Germany in east‐central Europe Simon, Bulmer; Charlie, Jeffery and William E., Paterson Germany's European diplomacy: shaping the regional milieu Philippe, Schmitter How to democratize the European Union and why bother? Alasdair R., Young and Helen, Wallace Regulatory politics in the enlarging European Union: weighing civic and producer interests C. Randall, Henning and Pier Carlo, Padoan Transatlantic perspectives on the euro Bodo, Hombach The politics of the new centre Christer, Jönsson; Sven, Tägil and Gunnar, Törnqvist Organizing European space Volker, Bornschier (ed.) State‐building in Europe: the revitalization of Western European integration Joanne, van Selm (ed.) Kosovo's refugees in the European Union Michael, Kraus and Allison, Stanger (eds) Irreconcilable differences? Explaining Czechoslovakia's dissolution Andrew C., Janos East‐central Europe in the modern world: the politics of the borderlands from pre‐ to post‐communism Jan Herman, Brinks Children of a new fatherland: Germany's post‐war right‐wing politics Regional surveys of the world: Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia Regional surveys of the world: Central and South‐Eastern Europe Roy, Medvedev (ed. and transl. by George Shriver) Post‐Soviet Russia: a journey through the Yeltsin era Pål, Kølsto Political construction sites: nation‐building in Russia and the post‐Soviet states Marcia A., Weigle Russia's liberal project: state–society relations in the transition from communism Sally N., Cummings Kazakhstan: centre–periphery relations Eugene L., Rogan and Avi, Shlaim (eds) The war for Palestine: rewriting the history of 1948 Bernard, Wasserstein Divided Jerusalem: the struggle for the holy city Jerome M., Segal; Shlomit, Levy; Nadar, Izzat Sa'id and Elihu, Katz Negotiating Jerusalem Shaul, Mishal and Avraham, Sela The Palestinian Hamas: vision, violence and coexistence Nur, Masalha Imperial Israel and the Palestinians: the politics of expansion Suad, Joseph (ed.) Gender and citizenship in the Middle East Rita, Abrahamsen Disciplining democracy: development discourse and good governance in Africa Hussein, Solomon and Ian, Liebenberg (eds) Consolidation of democracy in Africa: a view from the South Alex, Boraine A country unmasked: inside South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission Tony, Hodges Angola from Afro‐Stalinism to petro‐diamond capitalism Tekeste, Negash and Kjetil, Tronvoll Brothers at war: making sense of the Eritrean–Ethiopian war Xiaobo, LüCadres and corruption: the organizational involution of the Chinese Communist Party Solomon M., Karmel China and the People's Liberation Army: great power or struggling developing state? Han, Sung‐Joo (ed.) Changing values in Asia: their impact on governance and development Kenneth, Christie and Denny, Roy The politics of human rights in East Asia Tat Yan, Kong The politics of economic reform in South Korea: a fragile miracle Larry, Diamond and Byung‐Kook, Kim (eds) Consolidating democracy in South Korea Sunhyuk, Kim The politics of democratization in Korea: the role of civil society Hasan‐Askari, Rizvi Military, state and society in Pakistan Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, Frontline diplomacy: the US foreign affairs oral history collection Paul G., Harris (ed.) Climate change and American foreign policy Joaquín, Roy Cuba, the United States, and the Helms‐Burton doctrine: international reactions Leigh A., Payne Uncivil movements: the armed right wing and democracy in Latin America Kevin J., Middlebrook (ed.) Conservative parties, the right, and democracy in Latin America Roger, Burbach Globalization and postmodern politics: from Zapatistas to high‐tech robber barons Sidney, Weintraub Development and democracy in the Southern Cone: imperatives for US policy in South America Clint E., Smith Inevitable partnership: understanding Mexico–US relations     

New and old in the southern question

The southern question has been posed at the key moments in the history of the Italian state. Today we face a moment of comparable importance which urges that the southern question be re‐thought. It is not an unchanging question, yet it concerns issues fundamental to the state and has been treated by the country's greatest intellectuals as a national issue. The meridionalisti have been Italy's critical conscience yet, at the same time, stereotypes of a uniformly backward South have taken hold. The post‐war intervention in the Mezzogiorno should not be seen through such stereotypes as a wholly negative experience. Its successes and failures fit into an Italian pattern of state‐led modernization and it cannot be understood in isolation from the Italian state's weaknesses. Today, a new pact between the weakest and strongest sectors is essential. The South's economic and political leadership will be a central object of study if intellectuals are to help inform new policy.     

Jihadism au rebours: Orientalism and Occidentalism for a Counter‐Hegemonic Liberation Theology

Following its colonial project, Western Europe imposed a political and cultural understanding of state nationalism and religious homogeneity on the entire world in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In parallel with this twofold process, “Religious Nationalism” emerged during the Cold War, affecting the Middle East and framing an updated Abrahamic version of religious supremacism: Wahhabi Islam, the Iranian Revolution, and Israeli Orthodox Judaism were politically backed, becoming the frontrunners of a new Global‐Religious narrative of conflict. This article aims to critically analyse the Western‐Islamic manipulation of “Jihadism” as an artificial and fabricated product, starting from the “deconstruction” of Jihad–Jihadism as an anti‐hegemonic narrative. The anti‐colonial “Islamic” framework of resistance to the Empire (United States) has effectively adopted the same colonial methodology: using violence and sectarianism in trying to reach its goals. Is the Islamic Supremacist “narrative” more influenced by Western thought than by a real understanding of Islam? At the same time, this article aims to stress the historical reasons why the Arab world has been artificially affected by a peculiar form of “Religious Revanchism” which can be understood only if O. Roy's Holy Ignorance dialogues with Steve Biko's Consciousness in emphasising the need for an updated Islamic Liberation Theology.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed: Bruce Russett and John R. Oneal, Triangulating peace: democracy, interdependence, and international organizations Robert M. A. Crawford and Darryl S. L. Jarvis, (eds.) International Relations: still an American social science? Toward diversity in international Thought Charlotte Hooper, Manly states: masculinities, International Relations, and gender politics Richard A. Falk, Human rights horizons: the pursuit of justice in a globalizing world Simon Caney and Peter Jones, (eds.) Human rights and global diversity Jean‐Marc Coicaud and Daniel Warner, (eds.) Ethics and international affairs: extent and limits Elazar Barkan, The guilt of nations: restitution and negotiating historical injustices Richard Little and Mark Wickham‐Jones, (eds.) New Labour's foreign policy: a new moral crusade? Robert L. Maddex, International encyclopedia of human rights: freedoms, abuses, and reform W. Andy Knight, (ed.) Adapting the United Nations to a post‐modern era: lessons learned Malcolm Dando, The new biological weapons: threat, proliferation, and control J. Cirincione, (ed.) Repairing the regime: preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction Avery Goldstein, Deterrence and security in the twenty‐first century: China, Britain, France and the enduring legacy of the nuclear revolution I. William Zartman, (ed.) Preventive negotiation: avoiding conflict escalation Leon V. Sigal, Hang separately: cooperative security between the United States and Russia 1985‐1994 Cecilia Albin, Justice and fairness in international negotiation G. R. Berridge and Alan James, A dictionary of diplomacy Neal Lawson and Neil Sherlock, (eds.) The progressive century: the future of the centre‐left in Britain John Rentoul, Tony Blair: Prime Minister Bertrand Badie, The imported state: the Westernization of the political order Justin Lewis, Constructing public opinion: how political elites do what they like and why we seem to go along with it Catherine Eschle, Global democracy, social movements and feminism Catharin E. Dalpino, Deferring democracy: promoting openness in authoritarian regimes James G. McGann and R. Kent Weaver, Think‐tanks and civil societies Jim MacLaughlin, Reimagining the nation‐state: the contested terrains of nation‐building Justin Rosenberg, The follies of globalisation theory: polemical essays Allen J. Scott, Global city‐regions: trends, theory, policy Robert Gilpin, Global political economy: understanding the international economic order Rorden Wilkinson, Multilateralism and the World Trade Organization: the architecture and extension of international trade regulation Edward M. Graham., Fighting the wrong enemy: antiglobal activists and multinational enterprises John J. Kirton, Joseph P. Daniels and Andreas Freytag., (eds.) Guiding global order: Ggovernance in the twenty‐first century Mauro F. Guillén, The limits of convergence: globalization and organizational change in Argentina, South Korea, and Spain Neil Middleton and Phil O'Keefe, Redefining sustainable development Adrian Leftwich, States of development: on the primacy of politics in development Alex Danchev and Daniel Todman, (eds.) War diaries 1939‐1945: Field Marshall Lord Alanbrooke Herbert P. Bix, Hirohito and the making of modern Japan Lawrence Freedman, Kennedy's wars: Berlin, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam Rolf Steininger, Der Mauberbau: die Westmåchte und Adenauer in der Berlinkrise 1958‐1963 Peter L. Hahn and Mary Ann Heiss, Empire and revolution: the United States and the Third World since 1945 Bo Stråth, (ed.) Europe and the other and Europe as the other Paul Gillespie, (ed.) Blair's Britain, England's Europe: a view from Ireland Rory O'Donnell, Europe: the Irish experience Gerald Schneider and Mark Aspinwall, (eds.) The rules of integration: institutionalist approaches to the study of Europe Marcus Höreth, Die Europäische Union im Legitimationstrilemma: Zur Rechtfertigung des Regierensjenseits der Staatlichkeit Robert J. Guttman, (ed.) Europe in the new century: visions of an emerging superpower Hans Arnold, Europa neu Denken:Warum und Wie Weiter Einigung? Miron Rezun, Europe's nightmare: the struggle for Kosovo Archie Brown, (ed.) Contemporary Russian politics: a reader Alena Ledeneva, Unwritten rules: how Russia really works Charles King, The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the politics of culture Roy Allison and Lena Jonson, (eds.) Central Asian security: the new international context Asher Cohen and Bernard Susser, Israel and the politics of Jewish identity: the secular‐religious impasse Eyal Zisser, Asad's legacy: Syria in transition Ali M.Ansari, Iran, Islam and democracy: the politics of managing change David Menashri, Post‐revolutionary politics in Iran: religion, society and power Tim Niblock, ‘Pariah states’ and sanctions in the Middle East: Iraq, Libya and Sudan Carl Brown, (ed.) Diplomacy in the Middle East: the international relations of regional and outside Powers Volker Perthes, Vom Krieg zur Konkurrenz: regionale Politik und die Suche nach einer neuen arabisch‐nahöstlichen Ordnung Jeffrey Herbst, States and power in Africa: comparative lessons in authority and control Nana Poku, (ed.) Security and development in Southern Africa Achille Mbembe, De la postcolonie: essai sur l'imagination politique dans l'Afrique contemporaine Michael Leifer, (ed.) Asian nationalism Marcus Noland, Avoiding the apocalypse: the future of the two Koreas Carl E.Walter and Fraser J. T. Howie, ‘To get rich is glorious!’ China's stock markets in the 1980s and 1990s Mayumi Itoh, Globalization of Japan: Japanese sakoku mentality and US efforts to open Japan Mya Than and Carolyn L. Gates, (eds.) ASEAN enlargement: impacts and implications Siobhán McEvoy‐Levy, American exceptionalism and US foreign policy: public diplomacy at the end of the Cold War H. Michael Erisman, Cuba's foreign relations in a post‐Soviet world Merilee S. Grindle, Audacious reforms: institutional invention and democracy in Latin Americ Gary H. Gossen, Telling Maya tales: Tzotzil identities in modern Mexico Howard J. Wiarda, The soul of Latin America: political and cultural tradition     

Can a preservationist ideology halt the process of creative destruction? Evidence from Salt Spring Island,British Columbia

For more than 50 years, rural municipalities across the developed world have struggled to redefine themselves in the face of declining primary sector employment. In some places, this struggle has led to the creation of landscapes that provide heritage‐seekers with tangible commodities and intangible experiences reflecting a by‐gone past. Recent research suggests that these post‐productivist heritage‐scapes may evolve into leisure‐scapes of mass consumption, if profit or economic growth are the key motives underlying development ( Mitchell and Vanderwerf 2010 ). This article questions whether a dominant ideology of preservation can prevent this scenario. We studied Salt Spring Island, British Columbia: (i) to determine if the island displays the characteristics of a heritage‐scape, (ii) to discover if a preservationist ideology has contributed to its current state, and (iii) to ponder if this state can be maintained, in light of recent regional and provincial discourse. Our analysis reveals that the creation, and maintenance, of this heritage‐scape has been guided largely by public discourse underlain by a preservationist ideology. This prolonged state, however, may be drawing to an end. Recent provincial directives to double tourist revenues suggest that local (and regional) discourse soon may be overshadowed by the province's mandate to promote economic growth. The response of local stakeholders will ultimately dictate the Island's ability to maintain its present state as a post‐productivist heritage‐scape.     

‘Many Nice People’: the nation‐state,post‐Fordism,and the policy norm of flexible ethnic relations in Estonia

This article uses historical research and ethnographic fieldwork to ask how policymakers interpret historical, political, and economic factors to construct inter‐ethnic communities that would bring security and economic growth to an enlarged European Union (EU). Focusing on post‐Soviet Estonia's ethnic integration policy, the article argues that ‘flexibility’ applies not only to post‐Fordist, individualized subjects, but also to relations between subjects of different nationalities that policymakers want to form organically in service sector employment. The article explains how this policy construction emerged in light of Estonia's historical trajectory from 1991 to 2001 and demonstrates how it conceptually resolved the fundamental tension between the territorialized nation‐state and deterritorialized global capitalism. A visual media campaign entitled ‘Many Nice People: Integrating Estonia’ captured the essence of this construction, which obscured how the Estonian nation‐state marginalized minorities while integrating into the EU.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed: G. John Ikenberry and Michael Mastanduno, International Relations theory and the Asia‐Pacific Mark B. Salter, Barbarians and civilisation in international relations Philip Allott, The health of nations: society and law beyond the state Morten Bøås and Desmond McNeill, Multilateral institutions: a critical introduction Vassilis K. Fouskas, Zones of conflict: US foreign policy in the Balkans and the greater Middle East Thomas L. Friedman, Longitudes and attitudes: exploring the world after September 11 John Pinder and Yuri Shishkov, The EU and Russia: the promise of partnership Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson and Pamela Aall, Turbulent peace: the challenges of managing international conflict Tobias Debiel with Axel Klein, Fragile peace: state failure, violence and development in crisis regions Jolyon Howorth and John T.S. Keeler, Defending Europe: the EU, NATO and the quest for European autonomy Paul K. Huth and Todd L. Allee, The democratic peace and territorial conflict in the twentieth century Patrick M. Morgan, Deterrence now P. W. Singer, Corporate warriors: the rise of the privatized military industry Eytan Gilboa, Media and conflict: framing issues, making policy, shaping opinion Walter Lacqueur, No end to war: terrorism in the twenty‐first century Fareed Zakaria, The future of freedom: illiberal democracy at home and abroad Elizabeth Sleeman, International who's who 2004 Akbar S. Ahmed, Islam under siege: living dangerously in a post‐honor world Richard D. Lewis, The cultural imperative: global trends in the 21st century Amin Saikal, Islam and the West: conflict or cooperation? Sami Zubaida, Law and power in the Islamic world By. Graham Bird, The IMF and the future: issues and options facing the Fund Barry Eichengreen, Financial crises and what to do about them United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, World investment report 2002: transnational corporations and export competitiveness Elizabeth R. DeSombre, The global environment and world politics: International Relations for the 21^st century Paul F. Steinberg, Environmental leadership in developing countries: transnational relations and biodiversity policy in Costa Rica and Bolivia Carolyn L. Deere and Daniel C. Esty, Greening the Americas: NAFTA's lessons for hemispheric trade Csaba Békés, Malcolm Byrne and János Rainer, The 1956 Hungarian revolution: a history in documents Christoph Bluth, The two Germanies and military security in Europe Philip E. Catton, Diem's final failure: prelude to America's war in Vietnam Tibor Frank, Discussing Hitler. Advisers of US diplomacy in Central Europe, 1934–1941 Anthony Glees, The Stasi files: East Germany's secret operations against Britain Keith Kyle, Suez: Britain's end of empire in the Middle East Julian Lewis, Changing direction: British military planning for post‐war strategic defence, 1942–1947 Richard Mayne, In victory, magnanimity: in peace, goodwill: a history of Wilton Park Robert McNamara, Britain, Nasser and the balance of power in the Middle East 1952–1967 Steven Merritt Miner, Stalin's holy war: religion, nationalism, and alliance politics, 1941–1945 Sophie Quinn‐Judge, Ho Chi Minh: the missing years (1911–1941) Gary Sheffield and Geoffrey Till, The challenges of high command: the British experience Florian Bieber and Zidas Daskalovski, Understanding the war in Kosovo Ali Çarko?lu and Barry Rubin, Turkey and the European Union: domestic politics, economic integration and international dynamics Alan J. Day, Roger East and Richard Thomas, A political and economic dictionary of Eastern Europe Tom Gallagher, The Balkans after the Cold War: from tyranny to tragedy Kemal Kurspahic, Prime time crime: Balkan media in war and peace David Bruce MacDonald, Balkan holocausts? Serbian and Croatian victim‐centred propaganda and the war in Yugoslavia Sandra Lavenex and Emek M. Uçarer, Migration and the externalities of European integration Marko Lehti and David Smith, Post‐Cold War identity politics: northern and Baltic experiences Pami Aalto, Constructing post‐Soviet geopolitics in Estonia Anatol Lieven and Dmitri Trenin, Ambivalent neighbors: the EU, NATO and the price of membership J. H. H. Weiler, Iain Begg and John Peterson, Integration in an expanding European Union: reassessing the fundamentals Dale R. Herspring, Putin's Russia: past imperfect, future uncertain Ted Hopf, Social construction of international politics: identities and foreign policies, Moscow, 1955 and 1999 Necati Polat, Boundary issues in Central Asia Mark Downes, Iran's unresolved revolution Alan George, Syria. Neither bread nor freedom Tami Amanda Jacoby and Brent E. Sasley, Redefining security in the Middle East Owen Bennett Jones, Pakistan: eye of the storm Christophe Jaffrelot, Pakistan: nationalism without nation Rajat Ganguly and Ian MacDuff, Ethnic conflict and secessionism in South and Southeast Asia E. J. Dionne Jr. and William Kristol, Bush v. Gore. The court cases and the commentary Bruce Ackerman, Bush v. Gore. The question of legitimacy Ido Oren, Our enemies and US: America's rivalries and the making of political science Monica Herz and João Pontes Nogueira, Ecuador vs. Peru: peacemaking amid rivalry Frank Safford and Marco Palacios, Colombia: fragmented land, divided society     

Where East meets West: The German—polish border region in transformation

There is growing interest in the German‐Polish border area's future status in the changing regional structure of Europe—contrasting scenarios contain, on the one hand, a vision of the region as a new ‘tiger’ region, and are seen at the other extreme as a ‘drainage area’ on the outskirts of the EU. In this article, border areas are treated from a point of view that pays more attention to the regions’ system of production and regulation. The first part deals with some general characteristics of border areas; the second part outlines in more detail the specific developmental conditions of the German‐Polish border area, especially the region between Berlin and Poznan along the middle part of the River Oder (comprising the Euro Region Pro Europa Viadrina). Three aspects of the border region's developmental conditions are emphasized: the region's quality of location within Europe and the respective national territories; the permeability of the border; and the economic structure in the border area, whereby forms of trans‐border economic linkage and cooperation are of particular interest. The last section discusses new challenges for European border areas as posed by economic change and the restructuring of the European spatial fabric.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed: John J. Mearsheimer The tragedy of great power politics. Fred Halliday Two hours that shook the world. Tarak Barkawi and Mark Laffey Democracy, liberalism, and war: rethinking the democratic peace debate. Morten Kelstrup and Michael C. Williams International relations theory and the politics of European integration: power, security and community. Ward Thomas The ethics of destruction: norms and force in international relations. Ken Booth The Kosovo tragedy: the human rights dimensions. Europa The international who's who 2002 book and cd‐rom. Mark Duffield Global governance and the new wars: the merging of development and security. Andrew Duncan and Michel Opatowski Trouble spots: the world atlas of strategic information. H. W. Brands The use of force after the Cold War. Victor S. Papacosma, Sean Kay and Mark R. Rubin NATO after fifty years. Ted Galen Carpenter NATO enters the twenty‐first century. Benjamin S. Lambeth NATO's air war over Kosovo: a strategic and operational assessment. Michael E. O'Hanlon Defense policy options for the Bush administration 2001–5. Sudipta Kaviraj and Sunil Khilnani Civil society: history and possibilities. Joel Migdal State in society: studying how states and societies transform and constitute one another. James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer Globalization unmasked: imperialism in the twenty‐first century. Will Kymlicka and Wayne Norman Citizenship in diverse societies. Will Kymlicka Politics in the vernacular: nationalism, multiculturalism, and citizenship. Montserrat Guiberneau and John Hutchinson Understanding nationalism. Peter Andreas and Timothy Snyder The wall around the West: state borders and immigration controls in North America and Europe. David Butler and Dennis Kavanagh The British general election of 2001. Lynda S. Bell, Andrew J. Nathan and IIan Peleg Negotiating culture and human rights. Peter Wilkin The political economy of global communication: an introduction. Spyros Economides and Peter Wilson The economic factor in international relations: a brief introduction. Manfred B. Steger Globalism: the new market ideology. Steven Weber Globalization and the European political economy. John J. Kirton and George M. von Furstenberg New directions in global economic governance: managing globalisation in the twenty‐first century. Leslie Elliott Armijo Financial globalization and democracy in emerging markets. Heikki Patomäki Democratising globalisation: the leverage of the Tobin tax. Roger Charlton and Roddy McKinnon Pensions in development. David Henderson Misguided virtue: false notions of corporate social responsibility. Dag Harald Claes The politics of oil‐producer cooperation. Eileen Claussen Climate change: science, strategies, and solutions. Paul G. Harris The environment, international relations and US foreign policy. William Chandler Energy and environment in the transition economies. Helen Wallace Interlocking dimensions of European integration. Neil Winn and Christopher Lord EU foreign policy beyond the nation‐state: joint actions and institutional analysis of the Common and Foreign Security Policy. Christopher Brewin The European Union and Cyprus. Stephen Saxonberg The fall: a comparative study of the end of communism in Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary and Poland. Alan Smith The return to Europe: the reintegration of eastern Europe into the European economy. Elizabeth De Boer‐Ashworth The global political economy and post‐1989 change: the place of the Central European transition. Alex Pravda and Jan Zielonka Democratic consolidation in eastern Europe volume 2: international and transnational factors. Mitchell A. Orenstein Out of the red: building capitalism and democracy in postcommunist Europe. Michael McFaul Russia's unfinished revolution: political change from Gorbachev to Putin. Jerry F. Hough The logic of economic reform in Russia. Robert Ebel and Rajan Menon Energy and conflict in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Gary K. Bertsch, Cassady Craft, Scott A. Jones, and Michael Beck Crossroads and conflict: security and foreign policy in the Caucasus and Central Asia. Anthony Shadid Legacy of the prophet: despots, democrats, and the new politics of Islam. Charles E. Butterworth and I. William Zartman Between the state and Islam. As'ad Ghanem The Palestinian regime: a ‘partial democracy’. Clement M. Henry and Robert Springborg Globalization and the politics of development in the Middle East. Joel S. Migdal. Through the lens of Israel: explorations in state and society. Dilip Hiro Neighbors, not friends: Iraq and Iran after the Gulf Wars. Vanessa Martin Creating an Islamic state: Khomeini and the making of a new Iran. Ali Mirsepassi Intellectual discourse and the politics of modernization: negotiating modernity in Iran. Eliz Sanasarian Religious minorities in Iran. Roland Jacquard Au nom d'Oussama ben Laden. Nicolas van de Walle African economies and the politics of permanent crisis, 1979–1999. Paul J. Magnarella Justice in Africa: Rwanda's genocide, its courts, and the UN criminal tribunal. Eric S. Margolis War at the top of the world: the struggle for Afghanistan, Kashmir and Tibet. Kyung‐Ae Park and Dalchoong Kim Korean security dynamics in transition. Samuel S. Kim Korea's globalization. Joseph Fewsmith China since Tiananmen: the politics of transition. Ming Wan Human rights in Chinese foreign relations: defining and defending national interests. Roland Challis Shadow of a revolution: Indonesia and the generals. Gregory F. Treverton Reshaping national intelligence for an age of information. Wilson Dizard, Jr. Westport Digital diplomacy: US foreign policy in the information age. Richard Sobel The impact of public opinion on US foreign policy since Vietnam: constraining the colossus. David Pion‐Berlin Civil—military relations in Latin America: new analytical perspectives.     

Russia's European policy under Medvedev: how sustainable is a new compromise?

This article argues that Dmitry Medvedev's term in office, despite the continuity in Russia's foreign policy objectives, brought about a certain change in Russia's relations with the European Union and the countries of the Common Neighbourhood. The western perceptions of Russia as a resurgent power able to use energy as leverage vis‐à‐vis the EU were challenged by the global economic crisis, the emergence of a buyer's market in Europe's gas trade, Russia's inability to start internal reforms, and the growing gap in the development of Russia on the one hand and China on the other. As a result, the balance of self‐confidence shifted in the still essentially stagnant EU–Russian relationship. As before, Moscow is ready to use all available opportunities to tighten its grip on the post‐Soviet space, but it is less keen to go into an open conflict when important interests of EU member states may be affected. The realization is slowly emerging also inside Russia that it is less able either to intimidate or attract European actors, even though it can still appeal to their so‐called ‘pragmatic interests’, both transparent and non‐transparent. At the same time, whereas the new modus operandi may be suboptimal from the point of view of those in the country who would want Russia's policy to be aimed at the restoration of global power status, it is the one that the Kremlin can live with—also after the expected return of Vladimir Putin as Russia's president. Under the current scheme, the West—and the EU in particular—does little to challenge Russia's internal order and leaves it enough space to conduct its chosen course in the former Soviet Union.     

Building détente in Europe? East–West trade and the beginnings of Romania's nuclear programme, 1964–70

This article examines the connection between détente in Europe and East–West nuclear technology transfers through the lens of Romania's co-operation policy in the field of atomic energy in the 1960s. It argues that until 1967 the bourgeoning relations between Western Europe and Romania did not stem from a desire to overcome the artificial division of Europe, but rather from the pursuit of unilateral economic benefits. This situation worked to the advantage of the Romanians, who acquired an important nuclear research reactor from the British by playing West European countries against one another. Afterwards, in order to boost their competitiveness, the West Europeans started pooling their nuclear industries together, although traditional rivalries such as the Anglo-French competition endured. Despite these efforts to achieve closer integration, the West Europeans failed to sell a nuclear power plant to Romania because of internal problems within their nuclear–industrial complexes, and because of Soviet meddling in the internal affairs of its satellites. This research adds to our understanding of Romania's détente policy during the 1960s, while also shedding light on the development of East–West relations in the field of atomic energy.     

The ‘Cultural Turn’ in Australian Regional Economic Development Discourse: Neoliberalising Creativity?

Regional economic policy‐makers are increasingly interested in the contribution of creativity to the economic performance of regions and, more generally, in its power to transform the images and identities of places. This has constituted a ‘cultural turn’, of sorts, away from an emphasis on macro‐scale projects and employment schemes, towards an interest in the creative industries, entrepreneurial culture and innovation. This paper discusses how recent discourses of the role of ‘creativity’ in regions have drawn upon, and contributed to, particular forms of neoliberalisation. Its focus is the recent application of a statistical measure — Richard Florida's (2002) ‘creativity index’— to quantify spatial variations in creativity between Australia's regions. Our critique is not of the creativity index per se, but of its role in subsuming creativity within a neoliberal regional economic development discourse. In this discourse, creativity is linked to the primacy of global markets, and is a factor in place competition, attracting footloose capital and ‘creative class’ migrants to struggling regions. Creativity is positioned as a central determinant of regional ‘success’ and forms a remedy for those places, and subjects, that currently ‘lack’ innovation. Our paper critiques these interpretations, and concludes by suggesting that neoliberal discourses ignore the varied ways in which ‘alternative creativities’ might underpin other articulations of the future of Australia's regions.     

Acknowledging economic realities. The CMEA policy change vis-à-vis the European Community, 1970–3

In the early 1970s, the economic consequences of European Community (EC) policies forced the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) to devise its trade policy vis-à-vis the outside world. With the implementation of its Common Commercial Policy, the EC was about to change the rules and conduct of its foreign trade. The East–West trade boom that took off in the 1960s had created significant commercial links, and substantial dependencies, across the Iron Curtain. The smaller members of the CMEA began to advocate an opening up towards the EC due to their fears of worsening trade prospects caused by the new EC policies. After reconsideration of its allies' commercial needs, the Soviet leadership was pressured to change its mind in favour of a common approach vis-à-vis the EC. This article follows the debate within the CMEA Executive Committee on the socialist countries' dependency on the Western market and on the advisability of opening up to the global market. It relies on official CMEA documents as well as Soviet and German Democratic Republic (GDR) policy-making documents. This article analyses the process of socialist integration in connection with the simultaneous developments taking place in their Western European counterparts, and thereby fills a gap in the historiography of Europe in the Cold War.     

Swift and Erie: The Trials of an Ephemeral Landmark Case

Like jazz improvisation, the meaning of Swift v. Tyson was elusive. ¹ Justice Joseph Story's 1842 opinion concerning an important commercial‐law issue arose from a jury trial. ² When the creditor plaintiff appealed, counsel for the winning debtor raised as a defense Section 34 of the 1789 Judiciary Act. The federal circuit court disagreed about the standing of commercial law under Section 34. Although profound conflicts otherwise divided nationalist and states'‐rights proponents, the Supreme Court endorsed Story's commercial‐law opinion unanimously. ³ New members of the Court and the increasing number of federal lower‐court judges steadily transformed the Swift doctrine; after the Civil War it agitated the federal judiciary, elite lawyers, and Congress. ⁴ Asserting contrary tenets of American constitutionalism, the Supreme Court overturned the ninety‐six‐year‐old precedent in Erie Railroad v. Tompkins (1938). ⁵ The Swift doctrine's resonance with changing times was forgotten. The Court and the legal profession established, transformed, and abandoned the doctrine though an adversarial process and judicial instrumentalism. Although the policy of each decision reflected its time, Story's opinion was more consistent with the federalism of the early Constitution than was Erie. ⁶     

Jewel of the Pacific and planter's paradise

A 10‐week series with 60 photographs on the Solomon Islands was not unusual in illustrated newspapers and magazines in the early 20th century, and The Queenslander was maintaining a pattern of photographic imaging of sub‐empire going back to the 1890s, concentrating on possible post‐war colonial realignments, appropriateness of British policy and the economic and political roles Australians would adopt if a formal relationship existed with the Solomon Islands. In calling for a greater presence in 1917–18, The Queenslander was supported by expansionists, missions and traders, shipping companies and readers with personal links through work, investment, friends or missions. This essay acknowledges the role of photography in Australian relations with the Pacific, its role in shaping public opinion, and the access it offers to the history of Australia's diverse regional links and particularly its thwarted claims for a closer relationship with the Solomons, depicted optimistically as a planter's paradise and a potential addition to an Australian sub‐empire.