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Begin New Search Political Geography Global Focus Publication Year within 10 Years

481. Union Cold Storage and the Birth of Multinational Tax Planning, 1897-1922

Author:
James Hollis and Christopher McKenna
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Oxford Centre for Global History
Abstract:
Today’s corporate managers know that while tax planning may improve the bottom line, it also carries a downside in terms of reputational risk. The past decade has seen the rise of a phenomenon dubbed “tax shaming,” with legislators, activists and the popular press condemning multinationals for participating in “aggressive” or “unethical” tax avoidance. This campaign has occasionally been associated with dramatic changes in corporate policy. In 2012, for example, the global coffee chain Starbucks announced that it was voluntarily increasing its tax payments in the United Kingdom. And the following year, one of Britain’s leading banks, Barclays, closed down its profitable tax structuring division, citing the hostile political climate. Advocates of corporate social responsibility (CSR) promote the idea of a moral dimension to tax compliance, although it remains to be seen whether firms that consciously adopt an ethical approach to tax obligations will outperform their rivals. Some skeptics dismiss the CSR agenda as a public relations exercise; others regard it as a potential threat to legal certainty or economic competitiveness. A few practitioners even claim that “tax shaming” is a dangerous step towards “taxation by mob rule.”
Topic:
History, Capitalism, Ethics, Business, Multinational Corporations, and Risk
Political Geography:
Global Focus

482. TWO DIMENSIONS OF INTERPERSONAL TOLERANCE: THEIR PREVALENCE AND ETIOLOGY IN WORLD CIVILIZATIONS

Author:
Murat İNAN
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternative Politics
Institution:
Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
Abstract:
This research provides three additional insights into the concept of tolerance. First, it provides empirical insights to the previous research, distinguishing between two dimensions of tolerance; political tolerance and social tolerance. Second, it investigates the extent these two dimensions of tolerance prevail in different civilizations in the world. Third, it shows how etiology of tolerance differs across civilizations. In short, this research shows that tolerance of national and religious groups differs from tolerance of social groups in both kind and degree and investigates to what extent the prevalence and etiology of these two dimensions of tolerance differ across civilizations. In this research time series evidence from subsequent rounds of the World Values Survey (WVS) for over seventy countries are analysed using Ordered Probit models.
Topic:
Nationalism, Religion, Social Movement, and Tolerance
Political Geography:
Global Focus

483. Food security and land use in the 21st century: the return of Malthusianism

Author:
Timothy M. Swanson
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
Abstract:
The coming century is set to pose many important problems regarding population, food requirements and land use. In many ways, the problem facing us is a stark reminder of Malthus’ predictions regarding the importance of resource constraints in the face of population growth. Despite questions concerning the core of the problems to be solved, there is little issue concerning the manifestations of these problems. First, we are seeing the culmination of a long-term process of human population growth, which commenced in earnest about 250 years previously (about the time of Malthus) and escalated thereafter, continuing to this day. A global population that was only about a million individuals in 1750, escalated to about two billion individuals in 1950, and has since increased to approximately seven billion.
Topic:
Agriculture, Food, Population, Food Security, Land Rights, and Population Growth
Political Geography:
United Nations and Global Focus

484. Horror or Hype: The Challenge of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Terrorism

Author:
Lasha Giorgidze and James K. Wither
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies
Abstract:
Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) materials attract the attention of terrorists motivated to inflict mass casualties and create mass panic. CBRN includes a wide array of materials, some of them very difficult to acquire, although others are of a dual-use nature. Dualuse materials can be used to construct CBRN weapons, but also have licit civilian applications. Though not all CBRN weapons are weapons of mass destruction, they can still cause massive disruption and fear in a targeted society. The goal of this paper is to evaluate the potential threat from terrorists’ use of CBRN weapons. It discusses the technical opportunities and constraints of each type of weapon and presents relevant historical and contemporary examples and case studies involving terrorist use of CBRN. The paper also assesses the contemporary threat. It examines how CBRN-related information is shared via terrorist propaganda on the internet and messaging applications, why terrorists might be motivated to use CBRN materials, and the constraints on their ambitions.
Topic:
Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism, Internet, Biological Weapons, Chemical Weapons, and Radiological Weapons
Political Geography:
Global Focus

485. Human Rights from the International Relations

Author:
Alejandro Anaya Muñoz
Publication Date:
05-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL)
Abstract:
Human rights are a very important area in contemporary international relations. The doctrine of human rights was concretized after a process of development of more than three centuries after the end of the Second World War and has changed the institutional panorama and the relations between actors at the international level. On the other hand, regardless of its «lack of teeth», the international regime on the subject has transformed the way states relate to international bodies, transnational civil society organizations and other governments.
Topic:
International Relations, Civil Society, Human Rights, International Political Economy, International Affairs, and Norms
Political Geography:
Global Focus

486. Indigenous Elder Societies as Leaders for Global Protected Areas Governance

Author:
Melanie Zurba and Eli Enns
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
Many models for parks and protected areas have been created globally to preserve biodiversity and natural heritage and to provide visitors with “wild places” to experience. This establishment of conventional parks and protected areas has typically been done through governance processes that do not acknowledge Indigenous peoples, including their connections to and their governance systems for such areas. Area-based conservation through parks and protected areas has, therefore, displaced and systematically oppressed Indigenous Peoples, disenfranchising them from their custodial roles and responsibilities within their traditional territories. In addition to oppression, conventional governance systems have also produced intrusive infrastructure and circulated tourists, creating human-wildlife conflict that often results in wildlife mortality. Through disenfranchising Indigenous peoples of their traditional territories, parks and protected areas in colonized regions of the world have separated nature from the societies that have the most deeply embedded place-based knowledge systems and governance structures.
Topic:
Environment, Governance, Land Rights, Indigenous, and Land
Political Geography:
Canada and Global Focus

487. A Gendered Perspective on Changing Demographics: Implications for Labour, Financial and Digital Equity

Author:
Florencia Caro Sachetti, Gala Díaz Langou, and Fernando Filgueira
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for the Implementation of Public Policies for Equity and Growth (CIPPEC)
Abstract:
The demographic transition has been one of the greatest phenomena affecting development worldwide and its effects on gender equity are undeniable. Lower fertility and ageing populations create both challenges and opportunities for gender equity, while women still face obstacles towards labour, financial and digital inclusion. G20 countries are at very different stages of the process, yet most have birth rates below replacement levels and population is ageing. Adopting a comprehensive and intersectional approach to women’s economic empowerment that contemplates age – and gender – specific rights, priorities and needs is crucial to both fulfilling women’s rights and facing the challenges associated with demographic change.
Topic:
Demographics, Gender Issues, Labor Issues, Inequality, Finance, Digital Economy, and Economic Development
Political Geography:
Global Focus

488. China’s Quest for Gas Supply Security: The Global Implications

Author:
Sylvie Cornot-Gandolphe
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institut français des relations internationales (IFRI)
Abstract:
The major transformations that are occurring on the Chinese gas market have profound repercussions on the global gas and LNG markets, especially on trade, investment and prices. In just two years, China has become the world’s first gas importer and is on track to become the largest importer of Liquefied natural gas (LNG). China alone explained 63% of the net global LNG demand growth in 2018 and now accounts for 17% of global LNG imports. The pace and scale of China’s LNG imports have reshaped the global LNG market. Over the past two years, fears of an LNG supply glut have largely been replaced by warnings that the lack of investments in new LNG capacity would lead to a supply shortage in the mid-2020s unless more LNG production project commitments are made soon. There is now a bullish outlook for future global LNG demand which has encouraged companies to sanction additional LNG projects, based on the anticipated supply shortage. China’s gas imports can be expected to continue to grow strongly, from 120 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2018 to up to 300 bcm by 2030.
Topic:
Security, Energy Policy, International Trade and Finance, and Gas
Political Geography:
China, Europe, Asia, Global Focus, and United States of America

489. The Regime for Protecting Cultural Property during Armed Conflicts: An Analysis of the Historical Development

Author:
Elvan Çokişler
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:
This research deals with the historical development of the regime for protecting cultural properties during armed conflicts. The historical development is addressed in three sections: The first section explains the process from antiquity through the 18th century in light of the views that form the philosophical background of the regime. The second section discusses the initial tangible efforts which appeared in the 19th century with regard to the establishment of customary law, while the third section handles the 20th century endeavors in terms of the codification of the regime. The research has shown that, throughout history cultural property has been open for strategic use, efforts for protecting it accelerated particularly after great wars and codification efforts improved as a reaction to big damages stemming from changing nature of armed conflicts. These findings may be interpreted as indicating that today’s protection efforts are bound to be insufficient for the future strategic uses of cultural property that are unpredictable from today’s vantage point.
Topic:
International Law, Treaties and Agreements, Culture, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Global Focus

490. Scrutinizing Possible Procedures by which States Withdraw from the United Nations

Author:
Mehmet Halil Mustafa Bektaş
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:
A state rarely considers leaving an international organization when negotiating the conditions of its entry. Among such organizations is the United Nations (UN), an institution of obvious global importance. The issue of withdrawal, neglected though it often is (whether deliberately or unintentionally), could however be equally as significant as that of entry. By contrast with the Covenant of the League of Nations, the UN Charter makes no provision for withdrawal. The procedure to be followed should a state request to withdraw is therefore left uncertain. The current study therefore examines three primary instruments: the proposal of the Committee of the San Francisco Conference, the Indonesian example and the inclusion of the relevant provisions of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. The study aims to determine whether these instruments provide an explicit procedure for withdrawal from the UN. The current study contributes to the Turkish literature by providing insight into this largely ignored topic.
Topic:
International Law, Treaties and Agreements, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Global Focus