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3642. Economic Size Trumps All Else? Lessons from BRICSAM
- Author:
- Timothy Shaw, Andrew F. Cooper, and Agata Antkiewicz
- Publication Date:
- 12-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
- Abstract:
- Continuing CIGI's BRICSAM research, this paper questions whether size (economic or population) of emerging economies alone is enough to warrant accommodation in the rules and structures of the international system. The global realignment of states following the resulting power vacuum brought on by the end of the Cold War is finally materializing, as a new triangular formation has taken shape: the 'first world' club of the OECD; the 'second world' of emerging economies; and, a heterogeneous 'third world' of the rest. The interplay between and mobility among these groups of states deserves in-depth analysis. The core of this paper observes the economic and social trends of countries in the second tier, and their upwards aspirations towards the top-tier of the global architecture. Traced through a variety of indices, the growth of the BRICSAM group of countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, ASEAN-4 and Mexico) is demonstrated to be a powerful force in international economics and political economy. For the inclusion of these states, a change in the key aspects of global economic governance, the international architecture and geopolitics seems inevitable, and with it, new challenges arise for decision-makers and scholars alike.
- Topic:
- Cold War, Development, Economics, and Globalization
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, India, South Africa, Brazil, and Mexico
3643. A Fresh Approach to US Energy Security and Alternative Fuels: The Western Hemisphere and the Ethanol Option
- Author:
- Annette Hester
- Publication Date:
- 10-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
- Abstract:
- Spurred by world events, energy security has vaulted to the top of the US political agenda. Concerns about supply interruptions and rising prices sped approval of an energy bill which Congress had in the works for nearly five years. Moreover, the growing prominence of the nation's energy challenges, drew special attention from President Bush in his 2006 State of the Union Address, sparking a renewed search for viable alternative fuels. Of those, ethanol is receiving the lion's share of attention. This paper will argue that the new US focus on energy alternatives will undoubtedly impact the ethanol and agriculture markets. However, this discussion will also advance the notion that a key element of an effective ethanol strategy from both cost and environmental perspectives lies in forging technological and open trading relationships in the Western Hemisphere, particularly with Brazil and Canada.
- Topic:
- Security, Development, Energy Policy, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States, Canada, and Brazil
3644. Recent Regional Agreements: Why so many, so fast, so different and where are they headed?
- Author:
- John Whalley
- Publication Date:
- 09-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
- Abstract:
- Recent years have witnessed a sharp increase in the number of regional trade agreements (RTAs) both concluded and under negotiation. This paper attempts to document and discuss this growth focusing on the United States (US), the European Union (EU), China, India and the agreements of other countries. The form, coverage, and content of these agreements vary considerably from case to case. This paper poses the following questions: why so many, why the variation, and why the recent increase in RTAs? Implications for the trading system are discussed in a final section.
- Topic:
- Development, International Trade and Finance, Regional Cooperation, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, and India
3645. Developing Countries and the WTO Agriculture Negotiations
- Author:
- Jennifer Clapp
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
- Abstract:
- The Doha 'Development' Round of trade negotiations at the WTO has featured agricultural trade liberalization as one of its key aims. But developing countries were frustrated with both the process and the content of the agricultural agreement negotiations early on in the Round. This prompted these countries, through a number of developing country groupings such as the G-20 and others, to call for changes in the talks to ensure that developing country voices and concerns were heard. Though developing countries were in many ways successful in registering their concerns in the latter half of the negotiations and have maintained a fairly high degree of cohesion across the Global South, it remains unclear whether this cohesion will last as the uneven impacts of agricultural trade liberalization become apparent.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Development, International Trade and Finance, and Third World
- Political Geography:
- Uruguay
3646. Trade, Development and the Doha Round: A Sure Bet or a Train Wreck?
- Author:
- Daniel Drache
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
- Abstract:
- This paper explores the strategy and assumptions that are pushing the Doha Round into dangerously troubled waters, and it assesses the different agendas on the table. It summarizes how we reached the current deadlock, and examines the state of the WTO's legal dispute mechanism. It then critically assesses how divergences play out in the key policy areas of water exports, generic drugs, textile quotas, service-sector liberalization, and agricultural subsidies. Lastly, it will try to answer the question of whether Doha is 'a sure bet, or a train wreck' by looking at several of the prospects and possible scenarios that face the WTO post-Hong Kong. What is now evident is that a target deal seems more distant than ever. It would appear that evolution is not going to be kind to the WTO. The Doha Round is too complex which increases the possibility of failure; too intrusive to assuage many of global civil society's concerns and too anti-development for numerous countries in the Global South to come on board. Paradoxically, many countries are proving to be resilient and innovative when faced with the negotiating impasse and are not pushing the panic button. The global economy is not drifting towards protectionism and the core trading nations seem ready to accept a less dynamic WTO.
- Topic:
- Development, International Trade and Finance, and Third World
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
3647. What if different and opposing views of sociology were complementary to each other?: Reflections on the development of the knowledge of collective life
- Author:
- Pierre Tripier
- Publication Date:
- 09-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
- Abstract:
- Sociology was born at a time when the Newtonian paradigm was introduced as the hegemonic scientific model. However, this model was not sufficient to understand complex and unstable situations. The model was a unitary explanatory system that not only considered time and space as absolute, but is also drew sociology away from medicine, history, geography and the art of governing. With sociology, these disciplines could have been better understood. That is, when the Newtonian paradigm was discussed from the point of view of thermodynamics, quantum physics, and restricted relativity, other perspectives –dialogic and interactionists- could have conquered legitimate positions in the social sciences so as to compete with these deterministic points of view. Today, a third phase of evolution in physics and biology has allowed for non-contradictory stands in their different perspectives primarily because of the division of work and the awareness of their complementary elements. This question is could this also occuir in sociology?
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Development, and Science and Technology
3648. The Narratives of the Detained-Disappeared (Or the Problems of Representation Facing Social Catastrophes)
- Author:
- Gabriel Gatti
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
- Abstract:
- The text proposes the concept of the detained-disappeared as the point from which to analyze social management strategies of a high-caliber theoretical problem in the context of contemporary social sciences, the crisis of representation. To analyze these strategies, this work starts by narrowly defining the concept of the detained-disappeared, thereby suggesting that this is a catastrophe for identity and for language. After considering the social and historical context of the the Latin-American southern hemisphere, the author explains and examines the two forms of narrative that explain how the concept and its consequences have been managed. These forms of narrative are the transitional narrative of the invisible and the highly complex narrative of the void.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Development, and Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- Latin America and Central America
3649. Constitutional Article 59 and 20th Century Mexican Authoritarianism: An Explanatory Explicative Synthesis
- Author:
- José Ramón López Rubí Calderón
- Publication Date:
- 06-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
- Abstract:
- If the principal components of Mexico's 20th century authoritarianism were a strong president and a hegemonic party loyal.to it, we need to ask: What were the causes of the creation of the binomial system that was in fact successfully supported and articulated. From the perspective of neoinstitutionalism, this text explores not only the causal connections between the implementation and the workings of no-reelection in the federal Congress, but also the creation and persistence of the authoritarian regime. In fact, such an institution (institutional rule) contributed to the concentration of power in one single party that then contributed to the concentration of power in one single figure, the president.
- Topic:
- Development, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Mexico
3650. Legislative Performance and party difference in Mexico: the Chamber of Deputies, 2000-2003
- Author:
- Everado Rodrigo Daz Gmez
- Publication Date:
- 05-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
- Abstract:
- El artículo muestra los resultados de una investigación sobre el desempeño legislativo y la disciplina partidista en la Cámara de Diputados mexicana, durante la 58 Legislatura (2000-2003). El trabajo pone a prueba cuatro hipótesis provenientes de la bibliografía sobre gobierno sin mayoría en el caso mexicano. En particular, busca mostrar que, contrario a lo que se piensa comúnmente, las instituciones políticas mexicanas, y en especial el Congreso, no están en un estado de “parálisis” o crisis.
- Topic:
- Development, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Central America and Mexico