Showing papers in "Foreign Affairs in 1994"

Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy

Abstract: Why do some democratic governments succeed and others fail? In a book that has received attention from policymakers and civic activists in America and around the world, Robert Putnam and his collaborators offer empirical evidence for the importance of "civic community" in developing successful institutions Their focus is on a unique experiment begun in 1970 when Italy created new governments for each of its regions After spending two decades analyzing the efficacy of these governments in such fields as agriculture, housing, and health services, they reveal patterns of associationism, trust, and cooperation that facilitate good governance and economic prosperity

The Myth of Asia's Miracle

Abstract: O N C E U P O N a t i m e, W es t er n o p i n i o n l ea d er s f o u n d t h em s el v es b o t h i m p r es s ed a n d f r i g h t en ed b y t h e ex t r a o r d i n a r y g r o w t h r a t es a c h i ev ed b y a s et o f E a s t er n ec o n o m i es . A l t h o u g h t h o s e ec o n o m i es w er e s t i l l s u b s t a n t i a l l y p o o r er a n d s m a l l er t h a n t h o s e o f t h e W es t , t h e s p eed w i t h w h i c h t h ey h a d t r a n s f o r m ed t h em s el v es f r o m p ea s a n t s o c i et i es i n t o i n d u s t r i a l p o w er h o u s es , t h ei r c o n t i n u i n g a b i l i t y t o a c h i ev e g r o w t h r a t es s ev er a l t i m es h i g h er t h a n t h e a d v a n c ed n a t i o n s , a n d t h ei r i n c r ea s i n g a b i l i t y t o c h a l l en g e o r ev en s u r p a s s A m er i c a n a n d E u r o p ea n t ec h n o l o g y i n c er t a i n a r ea s s eem ed t o c a l l i n t o q u es t i o n t h e d o m i n a n c e n o t o n l y o f W es t er n p o w er b u t o f W es t er n i d eo l o g y . T h e l ea d er s o f t h o s e n a t i o n s d i d n o t s h a r e o u r f a i t h i n f r ee m a r k et s o r u n l i m i t ed c i v i l l i b er t i es . T h ey a s s er t ed w i t h i n c r ea s i n g s el f c o n f i d en c e t h a t t h ei r s y s t em w a s s u p er i o r : s o c i et i es t h a t a c c ep t ed s t r o n g , ev en a u t h o r i t a r i a n g o v er n m en t s a n d w er e w i l l i n g t o l i m i t i n d i v i d u a l l i b er t i es i n t h e i n t er es t o f t h e c o m m o n g o o d , t a k e c h a r g e o f t h ei r ec o n o m i c s , a n d s a c r i f i c e s h o r t -r u n c o n s u m er i n t er es t s f o r t h e s a k e o f l o n g -r u n g r o w t h w o u l d ev en t u a l l y o u t p er f o r m t h e i n c r ea s i n g l y c h a o t i c s o c i et i es o f t h e W es t . A n d a g r o w i n g m i n o r i t y o f W es t er n i n t el l ec t u a l s a g r eed .

Competitiveness: A Dangerous Obsession

Abstract: IN J U N E 1993, Jacques Delors made a special presentation to the leaders of the nations of the European Community, meeting in Copenhagen, on the growing problem of European unemployment. Economists who study the European situation were curious to see what Delors, president of the EC Commission, would say. Most of them share more or less the same diagnosis of the European problem: the taxes and regulations imposed by Europe's elaborate welfare states have made employers reluctant to create new jobs, while the relatively generous level of unemployment benefits has made workers unwilling to accept the kinds of low-wage jobs that help keep unemployment comparatively low in the United States. The monetary difficulties associated with preserving the European Monetary System in the face of the costs of German reunification have reinforced this structural problem. It is a persuasive diagnosis, but a politically explosive one, and everyone wanted to see how Delors would handle it. Would he dare tell European leaders that their efforts to pursue economic justice have produced unemployment as an unintended by-product? Would he admit that the EMS could be sustained only at the cost of a recession and face the implications of that admission for European monetary union?

The Handbook of economic sociology

Abstract: During recent years social scientists have come to reaffirm that understanding almost any facet of social life requires a simultaneous understanding of how economic institutions work and how they are influenced by values and norms. Sociology, and especially economic sociology, is well equipped to be of assistance in this endeavor. Neil Smelser and Richard Swedberg bring together leading sociologists, economists, and political scientists in The Handbook of Economic Sociology, the first comprehensive view of this vital and growing field.During recent years social scientists have come to reaffirm that understanding almost any facet of social life requires a simultaneous understanding of how economic institutions work and how they are influenced by values and norms. Sociology, and especially economic sociology, is well equipped to be of assistance in this endeavor. Neil Smelser and Richard Swedberg bring together leading sociologists, economists, and political scientists in The Handbook of Economic Sociology, the first comprehensive view of this vital and growing field.

Ideas and Foreign Policy Beliefs, Institutions, and Political Change

Abstract: Do people's beliefs help to explain foreign policy decisions, or is political activity better understood as the self-interested behavior of key actors? The collaborative effort of a group of distinguished scholars, this volume breaks new ground in demonstrating how ideas can shape policy, even when actors are motivated by rational self-interest. After an introduction outlining a new framework for approaching the role of ideas in foreign policy making, well-crafted case studies test the approach. The function of ideas as "road maps" that reduce uncertainty is examined in chapters on human rights, decolonialization, the creation of socialist economies in China and Eastern Europe, and the postwar Anglo-American economic settlement. Discussions of parliamentary ideas in seventeenth-century England and of the Single European Act illustrate the role of ideas in resolving problems of coordination. The process by which ideas are institutionalized is further explored in chapters on the Peace of Westphalia and on German and Japanese efforts to cope with contemporary terrorism.

The Rise of the Nonprofit Sector

Abstract: A striking upsurge is under way around the globe in organized voluntary activity and the creation of private, nonprofit or non governmental organizations. From the developed countries of North America, Europe and Asia to the developing societies of Africa, Latin America and the former Soviet bloc, people are forming associations, foundations and similar institutions to deliver human services, pro mote grass-roots economic development, prevent environmental degradation, protect civil rights and pursue a thousand other objec tives formerly unattended or left to the state. The scope and scale of this phenomenon are immense. Indeed, we are in the midst of a global "associational revolution" that may prove to be as significant to the latter twentieth century as the rise of the nation state was to the latter nineteenth. The upshot is a global third sector: a massive array of self-governing private organizations, not dedicated to distributing profits to shareholders or directors, pursuing public purposes outside the formal apparatus of the state. The proliferation of these groups may be permanently altering the relationship between states and citizens, with an impact extending far beyond the material services they provide. Virtually all of America's major social move ments, for example, whether civil rights, environmental, consumer, women's or conservative, have had their roots in the nonprofit sector.

Culture Is Destiny: A Conversation with Lee Kuan Yew

Abstract: \" O N E OF T H E ASYMMETRIES ofhistory,\" wrote Henry Kissinger of Singapore's patriarch Lee Kuan Yew, \"is the lack of correspondence between the abilities of some leaders and the power of their countries.\" Kissingers one time boss, Richard Nixon, was even more flattering. He speculated that, had Lee lived in another time and another place, he might have \"attained the world stature of a Churchill, a Disraeli, or a Gladstone.\" This tag line of a big man on a small stage has been attached to Lee since the 1970s. Today, however, his stage does not look quite so small. Singapore's per capita GNP is now higher than that of its erstwhile colonizer. Great Britain. It has the world's busiest port, is the third-largest oil refiner and a major center of global manufacturing and service industries. And this move from poverty to plenty has taken place within one generation. In 1965 Singapore ranked economically with Chile, Argentina and Mexico; today its per capita GNP is four or five times theirs. Lee managed this miraculous transformation in Singapore's economy while maintaining tight political control over the country; Singapore's government can best be described as a \"soft\" authoritarian regime, and at times it has not been so soft. He was prime minister of Singapore from its independence in 1959 (it became part of a federation with Malaysia in 1963 but was expelled in 1965) until 1990,

Double-edged diplomacy : international bargaining and domestic politics

Abstract: This original look at the dynamics of international relations untangles the vigorous interaction of domestic and international politics on subjects as diverse as nuclear disarmament, human rights, and trade. An eminent group of political scientists demonstrates how international bargaining that reflects domestic political agendas can be undone when it ignores the influence of domestic constituencies. The eleven studies in Double-Edged Diplomacy provide a major step in furthering a more complete understanding of how politics between nations affects politics within nations and vice versa. The result is a striking new paradigm for comprehending world events at a time when the global and the domestic are becoming ever more linked.

Bosnia : a short history

Abstract: "Bosnia: A Short History" was celebrated on its first publication as a brilliant work of history which set the terrible war in the Balkans in its full historical and political context. This revised edition has been updated with a new chapter that covers the events of 1993-1995 and remains the definitive work on the complex history of Bosnia. 'A quite brilliant piece of historical record-straightening. Everyone who wishes to have an opinion about Bosnia must read this book.' - Niall Ferguson, "Daily Mail". 'Clear-sighted, authoritative and eloquent.' - Dimitri Obolensky, "Times Literary Supplement". 'A Triumph of clarity, learning and balance.' - Adrian Hastings, "New Statesman and Society". 'Excellent.' - Paddy Ashdown, "Sunday Times". 'This is a splendid work of synthesis on a very complex subject, written with insight and sympathy: the best, indeed the only, informed book on a history that has become both topical and tragic.' - Hugh Trevor-Roper, "Sunday Telegraph". 'A marvellous book, a work of great scholarship.' - Margaret Thatcher.

The Delusion of Impartial Intervention

Abstract: Physicians have a motto that peacemakers would do well to adopt: "First, do no harm." Neither the United States nor the United Nations have quite grasped this. Since the end of the Cold War unleashed them to intervene in civil conflicts around the world, they have done reasonably well in some cases, but in others they have un wittingly prolonged suffering where they meant to relieve it. How does this happen? By following a principle that sounds like common sense: that intervention should be both limited and impartial, because weighing in on one side of a local struggle un dermines the legitimacy and effectiveness of outside involvement. This Olympian presumption resonates with respect for law and international cooperation. It has the ring of prudence, fairness, and restraint. It makes sense in old-fashioned U.N. peacekeeping operations, where the outsiders' role is not to make peace, but to bless and monitor a cease-fire that all parties have decided to accept. But it becomes a destructive misconception when carried over to the messier realm of "peace enforcement," where the bel ligerents have yet to decide that they have nothing more to gain by fighting.

America's mission : the United States and the worldwide struggle for democracy in the twentieth century

Abstract: Foreword Pt. ILiberal Democratic Internationalism and American Foreign Policy, 1898-1921 Ch. 2Democracy in the Philippines Ch. 3Wilson and Democracy in Latin America Ch. 4Wilson and a World Safe for Democracy Pt. IILiberal Democratic Internationalism, 1933-1947 Ch. 5FDR and World Order: Globalizing the Monroe Doctrine Ch. 6Democratizing Japan and Germany Pt. IIILiberal Democratic Internationalism and the Cold War, 1947-1977 Ch. 7Eisenhower and His Legacy, 1953-1977 Ch. 8Kennedy's Alliance for Progress, 1961-1965 Pt. IVLiberal Democratic Internationalism and the Cold War, 1977-1989 Ch. 9Carter's Human Rights Campaign Ch. 10Reagan's Democratic Revolution Pt. VToward the Year 2000 Ch. 11After the Cold War: Wilsonianism Resurgent? Appendix: Notes on the Study of the International Origins of Democracy Notes Bibliography Index

Religion, the missing dimension of statecraft

Abstract: This is a collection of case studies and theoretical pieces which examines the importance of religion in international conflicts and diplomacy. It is co-published with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and includes a foreword by ex-President Jimmy Carter.

Ethnic conflict and international security

Abstract: During the Cold War, most international relations theorists and strategic studies analysts paid little attention to ethnic and other forms of communal conflict. Disregard for the importance of ethnic and nationality issues in world affairs, always misguided so far as the developing world was concerned, has been overtaken, in stunning fashion, by recent events from Abkhazia to Zaire. The essays in this volume advance our understanding of the causes of ethnic and communal conflict, the regional and international implications of such conflicts, and what the international community can do to minimize the potential for instability and violence. Drawn from recent issues of Survival, they are organized along thematic rather than regional lines, and will be required reading for scholars, students, and policymakers alike. The contributors to the volume include Michael Brown on the causes and implications of ethnic conflict, Anthony Smith on the ethnic sources of nationalism, David Welsh on domestic politics and ethnic conflict, Renee de Nevers on democratization and ethnic conflict, and Pierre Hassner on nationalism and internationalism. Jack Snyder writes on nationalism and the crisis of the post-Soviet state, Barry Posen on the security dilemma and ethnic conflict, Kathleen Newland on ethnic conflict and refugees, Jenonne Walker on international mediation of ethnic conflicts, and Robert Cooper and Mats Berdal on outside intervention in ethnic conflicts, Adam Roberts discusses the U.N. and international security, and John Chipman explores managing the politics of parochialism.

Democracy without democrats? The renewal of politics in the Muslim world

Abstract: Democracy without democrats? The potential for political liberalization in the Middle East / John Waterbury

Training and the Private Sector: International Comparisons

Abstract: How can today's workforce keep pace with an increasingly competitive global economy? As new technologies rapidly transform the workplace, employee requirements are changing and workers must adapt to different working conditions. This volume compares evidence on the returns from worker training in the United States, Germany, France, Britain, Japan, Norway and the Netherlands. The authors focus on Germany's widespread, formal apprenticeship programmes; the US system of learning-by-doing; Japan's low employee turnover and extensive company training; and Britain's government-led and school-based training schemes. The evidence shows that training in the workplace is more effective than training in schools. Moreover, even when US firms spend as much on training as other countries do, their employees may still be less skilled than workers in Europe or Japan. This text points to training programmes in Germany, Japan, and other developed countries as models for creating a workforce in the United States that can compete more successfully in the economy of the 20th century.

Polar politics : creating international environmental regimes

Abstract: Co-recipient of the 1994 Harold and Margaret Sprout Award, given by the Environmental Studies Section of the International Studies AssociationA region of critical environmental significance, the Arctic continues to be the focus of international conflicts of interest. How well have nations succeeded in creating regimes that establish international rights and responsibilities in the circumpolar North?

New French Thought: Political Philosophy

Abstract: Since the early 1980s France has seen a remarkable flourishing of new work in political philosophy. This anthology brings into English essays by some of the best young French political thinkers writing today, including Marcel Gauchet, Pierre Manent, Luc Ferry, and Alain Renaut. The central theme of these essays is liberal democracy: its nature, its development, its problems, its fundamental legitimacy. Although these themes are familiar to American and British readers, the French approach to them - which is profoundly historical and rooted in the tradition of continental philosophy - is quite different from other approaches. Included in this collection is a series of reconsiderations of French critics of liberal society (Levi-Strauss, Foucault, Bourdieu) and of classical European liberals (Kant, Constant, Tocqueville). The continuing controversies over the nature of the modern era and the place of religion within it play a central role throughout the collection. The book includes a debate on the foundations of human rights and on the nature of a liberal political order. The concluding section presents some of the new sociological writing on modern individualism, its pleasures and its discontents. An introduction by Mark Lilla provides the historical background to the revival of French political thought about liberalism, and offers an analysis of what American and English readers might learn from it.