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9571. Rethinking Liberalism: An Interview with Hernando de Soto

Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
Abstract:
The conventional wisdom that democracy and free market capitalism provide the best means available to achieve a high standard of living has come under attack. Many believe the current financial crisis is evidence that global capitalism has the potential to create a level of misery that is intolerable. Moreover, even before the crisis, sustained economic growth in certain countries seemed to contradict the widely held assertion that political liberalization inevitably accompanies its economic counterpart (as evidenced by the rise of China). Such challenges to the intellectual order behoove us to seek perspective on how and why these systems that underpin our economic and political interactions succeed or fail, and what their futures may be. In a recent interview with the Journal , Hernando de Soto helps us do exactly that.
Political Geography:
China

9572. In Defense of a Concert of Liberal Democracies

Author:
Robert Singh
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
Abstract:
Among the many areas of academic disagreement about US foreign policy at the end of the Bush years, one notable source of relative consensus exists—democracy promotion will assume a very modest part of the Obama Administration's approach to world affairs. Even during the comparatively benign years of the Clinton presidency, opinion surveys consistently demonstrated that democracy promotion was a very low priority among the American public, and only marginally more important to foreign policy elites. Now, amidst grave financial crisis and huge economic instability, liberal democracies are facing the imperatives of securing energy independence and combating climate change. Compounded by shifting changes in the global balance of power and challenges to Washington from both traditional state actors (Russia, Iran, and Venezuela) and continuing threats from militant Islam, institutional liberalism's least pressing task would seem to be the dogged pursuit of a more democratic world. Tarnished in particular by the mismanaged occupation of Iraq and the victory of Hamas in Gaza, serious doubts now remain over not only Washington's capacity to build democracies abroad, but also the very desirability of such efforts.
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Iraq, Iran, Washington, Gaza, and Venezuela

9573. Rethinking the Responsibility to Protect

Author:
Alan J. Kuperman
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
Abstract:
One of the most recent innovations of institutional liberalism in international politics is the so-called Responsibility to Protect. Defined in 2001 by an international commission established by Canada, this emerging norm challenges the Westphalian tradition by arguing that sovereignty is neither absolute nor an entitlement of statehood, but rather a privilege that states may earn only by protecting their people. Moreover, if a state refuses to protect its people, or intentionally harms some of them, the international community has not merely the right, but the responsibility, to violate that state's traditional sovereignty to protect the at-risk population—if necessary, through military intervention.
Political Geography:
Canada and Westphalia

9574. Liberalism and the Collapse of the Oslo Peace Process in the Middle East

Author:
Jonathan Rynhold
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
Abstract:
The end of the Cold War signaled the triumph of liberal democracy and thus 'the end of history,' according to Fukuyama. In Central and Eastern Europe, the iron curtain came down and was replaced by a peace grounded on liberal mechanisms for peace building: regional institutions, economic integration, democratization, mutual recognition of national rights, and the development of mutual trust. The end of the Cold War initiated the Middle East peace process with the 1991 Madrid Conference and the 1993 Oslo Accords signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Here, too, attempts were made to use liberal peace building mechanisms, albeit without democratization.
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, and Oslo

9575. Are Markets Good for Girls? The World Bank and Neoliberal Education Reforms in Developing Countries

Author:
Jane Arnold Lincove
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
Abstract:
As human capital plays an increasingly important role in global economies, the World Bank has given more attention to the education sector. The World Bank is now the self-proclaimed largest financier of international education, and debates about the legitimacy of World Bank policy and influence are ever present in the education sector. Academic literature on education policy highlights two key conflicts that reflect broader concerns about neoliberal ideology. First, there is a conflict between market-based policies and efforts to reduce inequality. Second, there is a conflict between the World Bank's generic approach to education policy and the need for local, context-specific policy adaptation. This article summarizes debates about the World Bank's role in the education sector and advances these discussions by examining how individual countries balance the competing demands of efficiency and gender equity in the context of World Bank-funded projects.

9576. Nuclear Iran is Not an Option: A New Negotiating Strategy to Prevent Iran from Developing Nuclear Weapons

Author:
Alon Ben-Meir
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
Abstract:
The relationship between the United States and Iran has increasingly been deteriorating, especially since Tehran began to flex its muscles following the Iraq war in 2003 and continues with its insistence on maintaining its uranium enrichment program. Both sides have grievances against each other that date back to the 1979 Iranian Revolution and beyond. The lack of understanding demonstrated by both sides—of the other's national psyche, history, religion, culture and strategic interests—has compounded the problems and hampered any tangible progress. The Bush Administration's refusal to negotiate directly with Tehran and its preoccupation with Iraq has played to the advantage of the clergy, allowing them time for nuclear advancement with impunity.
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, and Iran

9577. Free Riders, Side Payments, and International Environmental Agreements: Is Kyoto Failing Because Montreal Succeeded?

Author:
Nadra Hashim
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
Abstract:
Domestic laws concerning environmental pollution have always been divisive. When they are framed as international law, they become even more contentious. This is especially true in the current era where there has been notable recalcitrance on the part of India, China, and the United States to sign the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty which seeks to regulate world-wide carbon dioxide emissions. Yet, an examination of recent history suggests that there has been some success in at least one area of international law governing the regulation of environmental pollution. The Montreal Protocol, which induced its signatories to end the production and utilization of chloroflourocarbons (CFCs) is a testament to the notion that international law can sustain environmental protection.
Political Geography:
United States, China, and India

9578. Beyond Exceptionalists and Opportunists: A Proposition for an Unbiased Human Rights Diplomacy

Author:
Michele Acuto
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
Abstract:
The issue of human rights strikes at the heart of global socio-political discourse, and assumes crucial relevance for diplomacy when considered with contemporary tendencies such as globalization, homogenization of cultures, and the rise of nationalism. Arguably, the most important role of diplomats is to assure peaceful interactions between actors in the international system, and prevent conflict amongst these actors, rather than merely promoting one's national interests at the detriment of peace. If this is truly the case, then the survival of the core element that ultimately constitutes such a system—humankind—is a key concern of diplomacy. Hence, the living conditions of the 6.6 billion individuals that inhabit the Earth, and their fundamental rights, must be seriously considered in mediation agendas of the third millennium. For this reason, human rights and diplomacy can be described as deeply interconnected in current global trends.

9579. The African Growth and Opportunity Act and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author:
James S. Guseh and Emmanuel O. Oritsejafor
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
Abstract:
Since most sub-Saharan African countries gained independence from colonial rule in the 1960s and 1970s, achieving economic growth and development has been a central objective of governments in the region, as well as international donor organizations. The Organization of African Unity—now the African Union—was established (among other initiatives) to promote development at the economic, social, and cultural levels, and to foster the integration of African economies. In order to address specific regional concerns, organizations such as the Economic Community of West African States, East African Community, and Southern African Development Community, were also established. At the same time, several international organizations, including the United Nations, African Development Bank, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund, expressed their commitment to improving economic conditions in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) through billions of dollars worth of funding and various forms of policy consultation. In addition to the support from these international organizations, governments of many developed countries have also provided vast amounts of development assistance.
Topic:
United Nations
Political Geography:
Africa and East Africa

9580. After War. The Political Economy of Exporting Democracy

Author:
Jayne Du
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
Abstract:
Written in a prose of similar to that of Machiavelli's Prince and adapted to the political regime of the twenty-first century, Christopher Coyne's After War provides a policy outlook of framing risks and incentives of reconstruction, with engagement as a main tool used in United States foreign policy to export principles of Western liberalism. The exportation of values is usually concurrent with engagement in a war and as conditions of reconstruction become established, the main tenets of liberalism under democracy and free trade are hopefully sustained and supported by established institutions. This is the central thesis of Coyne's book: to understand how liberal political regimes are exported and developed, barring any reliance on excessive uses of force and military engagement. This story of reconstruction starts in the ashes of World War II and the Cold War, where early and more sanguine efforts in reconstruction evolved into the economic houses of Japan and Western Germany. Yet, Coyne seeks understanding not in the rosy images, but in the stories of contention that still rise from the ashes of US current involvements, namely in Somalia and Haiti; and more recently in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Japan, Iraq, Germany, Haiti, and Somalia