New Regionalism and Planning for Water Quality Improvement in the Great Barrier Reef,Australia

New regionalism encompasses a diversity of approaches to address regional planning problems. Within Australia, the Great Barrier Reef Water Quality Protection Plan was developed to enhance water quality within the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef, and the plan gave responsibility to regional, natural resource management bodies to undertake several actions. This paper evaluates these initiatives in the light of the emerging theory of new regionalism and highlights six main lessons: up-scaling of the catchment approach to a reef-wide approach is essential in order to improve water quality, but must be complemented by cross-regional collaboration; new governance and institutional arrangements and strengthened partnerships must be effectively integrated; culture and history are important in determining the most effective management approaches; pilot projects must move to comprehensive and strategic implementation; science is important but needs to incorporate other branches of knowledge; and economic incentives are important in encouraging the implementation of best practices, but delivery needs to be flexible. We conclude that the new regional approach is appropriate for addressing complex, multi-scale problems such as water quality, and has incorporated several key principles of new regionalism, but that the process must move quickly to a higher level of commitment and application.     

Transatlantic triage? European and UK ‘grand strategy’ after the US rebalance to Asia

Transition in the Middle East, the ongoing effects of the global financial crisis and the United States' rebalance to Asia are key trends that will have an impact on transatlantic relations and European defence. As US priorities shift, a common European ‘grand strategy’ could encourage the development of a shared vision to help Europe order its priorities and begin to respond to the new, post‐austerity context of world politics and shrinking defence budgets. Will these changes be enough to quicken Europe's currently shrivelled strategic thinking? In any scenario, given its relative weight and role as an interlocutor with the US, the United Kingdom will remain vital to any developing European security and strategy agenda, although its broader relations with the European Union will complicate this relationship. How it proceeds will also help to define the boundaries of this nascent European security order. This article charts these key global trends, relates them to current debates in European security and strategy and maps opportunities and constraints faced by Europe and the UK in developing a grand strategy in an increasingly ‘American‐lite’ European neighbourhood.     

FIELDWALKING WITHOUT FLINTS: WORKED QUARTZ AS A CLUE TO THE CHARACTER OF PREHISTORIC SETTLEMENT

Although the collection and analysis of lithic artefacts plays an increasing role in studies of prehistoric settlement in the British Isles, almost all this work has been conducted in regions with local sources of flint. This is not the case over large parts of highland Britain. This paper outlines a methodology for investigating the character of prehistoric activity using the evidence of worked quartz and illustrates these procedures with a case study from the Scottish Highlands     

Philosophy and International Relations

In recent years, International Relations theorists have turned to philosophy in search of new ontological and epistemological foundations or to clarify their existing commitments. Scientific Realism and International Relations, edited by Jonathan Joseph and Colin Wight, is a good example of the former: editors and contributors make the case for Scientific Realism—a leading philosophy of science—in International Relations. Patrick Thaddeus Jackson, author of The conduct of inquiry in International Relations, is motivated by the latter concern, and devises a typology based on two key fissures among social scientists: the relationships between the knower and the known, and between knowledge and observation. The Joseph and Wight volume, while containing some thoughtful essays, does not convince the reviewer that assumptions that might apply in the physical world are relevant to its social counterpart. The Jackson book is an intellectual tour de force and a compelling plea for pluralism.     

International reactions to the Scottish referendum

The referendum on whether Scotland should become an independent country will be held on 18 September 2014. This article reflects on the evolution of foreign governments' attitudes towards the referendum since its confirmation in October 2012, and on their expectations should a ‘yes’ vote result. With few exceptions, they have adopted a policy of non‐intervention, treating the referendum as the UK's domestic affair. President Obama's expression on 5 June 2014 of his desire for the UK to remain ‘a strong, robust, united and effective partner’ may, however, be seen as a sign of increasing apprehension abroad. Concerns of foreign governments aroused by the referendum include the diminution of the UK's power and role in international affairs, the possible encouragement of other secessionist movements, and disturbance to international organizations and alliances. It is commonly assumed that Scotland would become a reasonably prosperous and reliable small state. But how would the rest of the UK (rUK), a much more powerful and populous country, respond to ‘the loss of Scotland’? How would it affect the UK's already unsettled relations with the EU, including the prospect of a referendum on EU membership? Despite many uncertainties and a febrile political atmosphere, it is widely expected abroad that Scotland and rUK would settle into a cooperative relationship after a difficult transitional period, and that an independent Scotland would be accepted into the EU and NATO if it displayed flexibility on important issues.