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422. Networks and Citizenship: Using Technology for Civic Innovation
- Author:
- Jeffrey Abramson
- Publication Date:
- 04-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- In any robust understanding of democracy, citizenship is a crucial component of self-government. In turn, the free flow of information, the accuracy of that information, opportunities to participate in the affairs of government and a sense of civic engagement with others are crucial components of citizenship. In evaluating these components, participants in the 2011 Aspen Institute Forum on Communications and Society (FOCAS) explored how best to take citizenship digital. Participants gathered to take stock of innovative ways that citizens can use information and communication technologies (ICTs) to better practice the core—but often unrealized—ideals of citizen participation and empowerment.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Globalization, Science and Technology, Communications, and Governance
423. Valuing Study Abroad: The Global Mandate for Higher Education
- Author:
- Scott J. Freidheim
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Institute of International Education (IIE)
- Abstract:
- Scott Freidheim spoke at the British Academy's International Conference in London in March 2012, presenting U.S. perspectives on study abroad as part of an international panel. At the conference, the British Academy and the University Council of Modern Languages (UCML) released a joint position statement, Valuing the Year Abroad, that advocated support for funding a third year abroad for British undergraduate students and that drew on case studies from a survey they conducted among study abroad alumni. With representatives from the United States, China, and Germany, the international panel was invited to discuss British government and higher education policy on study abroad, and other countries' policies and best practices in study abroad.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Education, and Globalization
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, London, and Germany
424. India and Europe in a Multipolar World
- Author:
- Bernd von Muenchow-Pohl
- Publication Date:
- 05-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- The image of India as an emerging power is widely held, but there is equal reason to see the European Union as an emerging power, too, even at the risk of raising eyebrows. Like India, the EU seeks to become a global political player on top of being a great economic power. As the global power dynamic shifts, both are trying to define their roles in an emerging multipolar world. The question arises whether closer cooperation can help the EU and India to achieve their ambitions. Though they have committed to a strategic partnership, in its present state the EU-India relationship has been likened to a “loveless arranged marriage.” With each increasingly absorbed by domestic problems, the prospects for closer ties are fading, notwithstanding the opportunities that would be lost.
- Topic:
- Globalization, International Trade and Finance, Political Economy, Power Politics, and Bilateral Relations
- Political Geography:
- Europe, India, and Asia
425. Emerging powers, North–South relations and global climate politics
- Author:
- Andrew Hurrell and Sandeep Sengupta
- Publication Date:
- 05-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Chatham House
- Abstract:
- There is a widespread perception that power is shifting in global politics and that emerging powers are assuming a more prominent, active and important role. On this account the global system is increasingly characterized by a diffusion of power, to countries including emerging and regional powers; by a diffusion of preferences, with many more voices demanding to be heard both globally and within states as a result of globalization and democratization; and by a diffusion of ideas and values, with a reopening of the big questions of social, economic and political organization that were supposedly resolved with the end of the Cold War and the liberal ascendancy. There is a strong argument that we are witnessing the most powerful set of challenges yet to the global order that the United States sought to construct within its own camp during the Cold War and to globalize in the post-Cold War period. Many of these challenges also raise questions about the longer-term position of the Anglo-American and European global order that rose to dominance in the middle of the nineteenth century and around which so many conceptions and practices of power-political order, of the international legal system and of global economic governance have since been constructed.
- Topic:
- Globalization
- Political Geography:
- United States, America, and Europe
426. America's Voluntary Standards System—A "Best Practice" Model for Innovation Policy?
- Author:
- Dieter Ernst
- Publication Date:
- 02-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- For its proponents, America's voluntary standards system is a "best practice" model for innovation policy. Foreign observers however are concerned about possible drawbacks of a standards system that is largely driven by the private sector. There are doubts, especially in Europe and China, whether the American system can balance public and private interests in times of extraordinary national and global challenges to innovation.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Economics, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, and Europe
427. International Patenting
- Author:
- Per Botolf Maurseth and Roger Svensson
- Publication Date:
- 04-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- International patenting is increasing in importance. Patents protection is sought in the inventors' homeland but increasingly also in other countries. Globalization, high growth rates in high-tech industries, growing emerging markets and harmonization of patent institutions across countries have stimulated increased international patenting. We use a simple model of international patenting developed by Eaton and Kortum(1996) where the decision to patent in a country depends on country characteristics and the quality of the patented invention. With access to a unique database on Swedish firms' patents and patent behavior we are able to estimate some of these relations and test their validity. Our results indicate that the propensity to apply for international patent protection increases with indicators of the value of the invention and indictors of technological rivalry and market size in the markets where patent applications are submitted.
- Topic:
- Globalization, International Law, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Intellectual Property/Copyright
428. The ABC of the Arms Trade Treaty: Why it's important–“ How will it work?
- Publication Date:
- 06-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- The Arms Trade Treaty is a potential ground-breaking humanitarian treaty that would regulate the international trade in conventional weapons. The Treaty will be negotiated at a United Nations conference in New York Between July 2-27. There is currently no effective international legislation on the global arms trade. While there are treaties on nuclear, chemical and biological weapons there is nothing on the weapons that kill people every day. Patchy, diverse and often completely absent, national regulations are inadequate with the increasingly globalized nature of the arms trade. Arms companies, operating from an increasing number of locations, now source components from across the world. Their products are often assembled in countries with lax controls on where they end up, hence the need for truly global rules which reflect the nature of the trade.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Globalization, Markets, Nuclear Weapons, United Nations, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- New York
429. Stop a Bullet, Stop a War: Why ammunition must be included in the Arms Trade Treaty
- Author:
- Ben Murphy and Deepayan BasuRay
- Publication Date:
- 05-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Guns are useless without bullets. An Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) that does not control ammunition will not achieve its purposes. Ammunition is bigger business than weapons, with twelve billion bullets produced each year – nearly two bullets for every person in the world. The global trade in ammunition for small arms and light weapons is worth more than the trade in firearms and light weapons themselves: an estimated $4.3bn a year. An ATT that does not cover ammunition will fail to achieve what it has set out to do – that is, to help prevent human suffering, armed conflict, and serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights. Several countries are arguing that ammunition should be excluded from the ATT. Some of these countries say the sheer volume of trade makes it too difficult to monitor. This would be a colossal mistake. There are already several ways to track ammunition transfers. Inclusion in the ATT would significantly strengthen these mechanisms and the resolve to implement them. Failure would undermine what best practice already exists.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Globalization, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
430. Piecing It All Together: Why the Arms Trade Treaty must regulate parts and components for weapons and military equipment
- Author:
- Deepayan BasuRay and Martin Butcher
- Publication Date:
- 06-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Modern weapons and military equipment cannot be made or maintained without parts and components that are sourced and traded around the world. Without regulating this trade alongside the trade in complete weapons, it will be impossible to reduce the impact of irresponsible arms transfers on human rights, security, and development. Between 2008 and 2011, the global trade in parts and components was worth at least $9.7bn. This vast stockpile of weapons parts ranged from high-end components for aircraft to parts for small arms and light weapons. Weapons are assembled from components sourced from all corners of the world–frequently from countries without any effective arms transfer controls. Without global regulation of the trade in parts and components, it will be impossible to effectively regulate any part of the arms trade, as companies will be able to circumvent the rules by shipping weapons in pieces from multiple countries around the globe. The Arms Trade Treaty represents a unique opportunity to regulate the specialised parts and components used in the arms trade and, indeed, will be fatally flawed if it does not do so.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, Treaties and Agreements, and Weapons of Mass Destruction