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11. Counter-Terrorism: A Game Theoretic Analysis

Author:
Daniel G. Arce M. and Todd Sandler
Publication Date:
02-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International Studies, University of Southern California
Abstract:
This paper establishes the prevalence of deterrence over preemption when targeted governments can choose between either policy or employ both. There is a similar proclivity to favor defensive counterterrorist measures over proactive policies. Unfortunately, this predisposition results in an equilibrium with socially inferior payoffs when compared with proactive responses. Proactive policies tend to provide purely public benefits to all potential targets and are usually undersupplied, whereas defensive policies tend to yield a strong share of provider-specific benefits and are often oversupplied. When terrorists direct a disproportionate number of attacks at one government, its reliance on defensive measures can disappear. Ironically, terrorists' can assist governments in addressing coordination dilemmas associated with some antiterrorist policies by targeting some countries more often than others.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Government, and Terrorism

12. The Meaning of Monetary Power

Author:
Benjamin J. Cohen
Publication Date:
02-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International Studies, University of Southern California
Abstract:
What is the meaning of monetary power? No one doubts that money is inherently political, an integral part of global “high politics.” Yet remarkably few scholars of international relations have attempted to explore the notion of monetary power in formal analytical terms. As Jonathan Kirshner has accurately noted, the topic is “a neglected area of study” (1995:3).
Topic:
International Relations, Economics, Government, and International Trade and Finance

13. An Arendtian Critique of Deliberative Global Sphere Theory: 'Humanitarian' Violence and the Paradox of Founding

Author:
Patricia Owens
Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International Studies, University of Southern California
Abstract:
The language of the 'public sphere' is foundational to democratic theory and practice and most of our activity is oriented toward some form of public. As subject and object of democracy, the notion of a 'public' is a discursive weapon second only to the 'people' as the political honorific par excellence. Definitions of the public sphere vary, however, not least because different topographical locations and fields of activity are public in different times and places; publics are constituted through a variety of media (face-to-face, print, and electronic encounters); and there are various modes in which one can participate in public discourse and action (liberal, deliberative, agonistic). Most straightforwardly, 'public spheres' organise relations among strangers. They are the places in which people talk or read about their common affairs.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Government, and International Law

14. Justice and Order

Author:
Richard Ned Lebow
Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International Studies, University of Southern California
Abstract:
Order is the proper starting point of the study of politics. Social order sustains political activity and makes it necessary. It provides the cement that binds people together in a community, but the very social proximity this allows breeds conflicts that require authoritative resolution. It is with good reason that Aristotle opens his Politics with the assertion that “Every state is a community of some kind.”
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Government, and International Law

15. International Law for an Uncertain Environment

Author:
Barbara Koremenos
Publication Date:
11-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International Studies, University of Southern California
Abstract:
For the past twenty years, the theoretical literature on international cooperation has focused on overarching questions about whether cooperation is possible and how important it is. The seminal contributions of the 1980s increased our theoretical understanding of the possibility of cooperation. Yet we know empirically that cooperation is pervasive. Hundreds of multilateral agreements are signed each year. If we count bilateral agreements as well, the number jumps to thousands. This is not to say that cooperation is easy. In fact, given the challenges of successful cooperation, it is time for the theoretical literature to focus not on whether cooperation can occur at all, but on more focused questions regarding how the actual institutions of cooperation work and through what means they have their impact on state behavior.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Government, International Cooperation, and International Law

16. The Preventive Use of Force: A Cosmopolitan Institutional Proposal

Author:
Allen Buchanan and Robert Keohane
Publication Date:
11-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International Studies, University of Southern California
Abstract:
Since 9/11/2001 fears of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction have fueled a vigorous world-wide debate about the use of preventive force. “Preventive force” may be defined as the initiation of military action in anticipation of harmful actions that are neither presently occurring nor imminent.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Government, and Politics

17. Democratic Politics in Latin America: New Debates and Research Frontiers

Author:
Gerardo Munck
Publication Date:
10-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International Studies, University of Southern California
Abstract:
This assessment of research on contemporary democratic politics in Latin America is organized around the distinction between institutional and alternative approaches. Initially it considers institutionalism on its own terms and, through an assessment of the debate about the institutional causes of gridlock, draws attention to key strengths of this literature. Thereafter, some of the limitations of an institutional approach are addressed and the possibility of combining insights developed from institutional and alternative theoretical perspectives is emphasized. The suggested terms of integration, however, are not symmetric. With regard to causal theorizing, the need for institutionalists to borrow ideas, especially from the broader literature on political regimes, is underlined. With regard to theorizing outcomes, in contrast, the need for students of the quality of democracy to incorporate contributions made by institutionalists is highlighted. Throughout, various pointed suggestions to advance research are offered.
Topic:
Democratization and Government
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, and North America

18. Picking Up the Pieces: Comparing the Social Impact of Finacial Crisis in Mexico and Argentina

Author:
Manuel Pastor and Carol Wise
Publication Date:
10-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International Studies, University of Southern California
Abstract:
After a committed process of macroeconomic stabilization that began during the mid-1980s in most of Latin America, many observers began to speak of the need for a “second generation” of reforms that could more firmly establish the bases for economic growth and correct for longstanding distributional inequities. By the mid-1990s serious reformers like Argentina and Mexico seemed to be on the cusp of tackling this distributional backlog by launching so-called second phase market reforms meant to correct for earlier shortcomings in the social realm (Naím 1995; Pastor and Wise 1999). However, in both cases, financial crises erupted: Mexico's crash of December 1994, which saw a forty percent devaluation of the peso and a massive outflow of portfolio capital; and, more recently, Argentina's 2002 meltdown, which while simmering since the Brazilian devaluation of 1999, finally caused the country's commitment to a fixed exchange rate to be abandoned.
Topic:
Economics and Government
Political Geography:
Brazil, Argentina, South America, Latin America, North America, and Mexico

19. International Financial Markets as Sources of Crises or Discipline

Author:
Thomas D. Willett
Publication Date:
07-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International Studies, University of Southern California
Abstract:
Two major views dominate policy discussions of the role of international capital flows in the global political economy. While both believe that high capital mobility is eroding national sovereignty, one sees this as a positive step, that constrains governments' tendencies to follow overexpansionary macroeconomic policies for domestic political gain and promotes convergence toward low rates of inflation. Advocates of this viewpoint would typically agree with Haggard and Maxfield (1996) that “Increased financial integration holds governments hostage to foreign exchange and capital markets, forcing greater fiscal and monetary discipline than they might otherwise choose” (p. 36). This view is implied by most of the currently most popular economic models. The second viewpoint sees international capital markets as capricious followers of fads and fashions that pose serious challenges to domestic financial stability. The statements of Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia are typical of this view.
Topic:
Economics, Government, International Political Economy, and International Trade and Finance