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111. Toward a Universal Cinema

Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
Steven Soderbergh burst on the international film scene more than two decades ago with his extraordinary indie success, “sex, lies, and video-tape,” which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival—at 26, the youngest director ever to receive the festival's top honor. There followed a succession of Oscar nominations and big budget Hollywood successes, including “Erin Brockovich,” “Traffic,” “Ocean's Eleven” and its sequels, followed by the four-hour, two-part epic, “Che,” chronicling the life of the Argentine revolutionary. Soderbergh talked in his Manhattan production studio with World Policy Journal Editor David A. Andelman and World Policy Institute senior fellow Silvana Paternostro, who also served as associate producer of “Che.”
Political Geography:
Argentina

112. (Re) Covering the Past, Remembering the Trauma: The Politics of Commemoration at Sites of Atrocity.

Author:
Lisa M. Moore
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Woodrow Wilson School Journal of Public and International Affairs
Institution:
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract:
A recent survey of victims of violence reported that memorialization was prioritized as the second most valuable form of state reparations following monetary compensation (Brett, et al 2008, 2). In part, it is perhaps this impetus to bear witness to the suffering of victims that has given rise to a proliferation of memorials in recent decades, including those marking genocide in Rwanda, Cambodia, and Bosnia, violent repression in Argentina and Chile, wars of liberation in Bangladesh and Palestine, nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, and terrorism in Madrid and New York. As a form of transitional justice, memorials have too often been relegated to the domain of artists and architects whereas they represent a strategic resource in conflict and peace.
Topic:
Genocide, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:
Bangladesh, New York, Bosnia, Argentina, Palestine, Cambodia, Rwanda, and Chile

113. Is Greece heading for default?

Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxford Economics
Abstract:
Greece has slid into a serious fiscal crisis over the last few months. A ballooning budget deficit and high levels of government debt have raised questions in the minds of investors about the sustainability of the country's public finances. The level of concern among investors can be seen from developments in Greek borrowing costs relative to those in Germany. At the beginning of 2008, the yield on Greek 10-year bonds was only around 0.3% higher than on equivalent German securities, but this gap has now risen to over 3%. This yield spread is at its widest for more than a decade and is by far the largest within the Eurozone. The root cause of Greece's problems is a long period of fiscal indiscipline. In 2009, after years of heavy spending, the budget deficit rose to almost 13% of GDP and the public debt to GDP ratio is set to reach 125% this year. The deteriorating fiscal position has led to a slew of ratings downgrades, and outside the Eurozone Greece's credit rating would probably be in 'junk' territory. On top of the fiscal problems, Greece also suffers from weak external competitiveness. The real exchange rate has appreciated substantially since Greece joined the Eurozone, contributing to a sharp widening in the current account deficit to around 12% of GDP last year. On some estimates, the real effective exchange rate is now around 20% overvalued. As a result Greece now faces a series of policy choices all of which look unpalatable. Within the Eurozone, the only realistic orthodox option is a combination of massive fiscal retrenchment and 'internal devaluation' – forcing down costs relative to those of Greece's competitors. But fiscal cutbacks and cost deflation on the scale required could plunge the country into a deep and prolonged recession and might prove politically and socially unsustainable. The Greek economy is already showing signs of serious stress, with GDP down 2.6% on the year in 2009Q4. The extreme alternatives are default and/or leaving the Eurozone and enacting devaluation. But the political barriers to such moves are immense, and while default and devaluation could ease budgetary and external imbalance problems, they would also cause massive economic and financial disruption and probably a deeper recession in the near-term. Default and devaluation would also risk huge negative contagion effects on the Eurozone and the wider global economy. With Greece's debt approaching €300 billion a default would be the largest sovereign collapse since WWII, dwarfing those in Russia and Argentina. Eurozone banks could face losses of up to €100 billion on top of the heavy writedowns already suffered, risking a renewed Europe-wide credit squeeze. There could also be collapses in demand for the debt of other weaker Eurozone members such as Spain, Portugal and Ireland. World markets for equities, corporate bonds and emerging market debt would also likely be badly affected. There could also be pressure for the major economies to accelerate their fiscal adjustment efforts, given the impact on investor confidence and the scale of their budget deficits. Our estimation results suggest that a Greek default could be a real threat to the progress of the global recovery, cutting growth in the major economies by around 1% per annum compared to our baseline forecast and world growth by 0.6%. Given the potential massive consequences of a Greek default, the pressure for a bailout has been growing. Although there are questions about the legality of such a move, we believe it is possible if the political will exists. Estimation results using the Oxford Model suggest a bailout would be likely to be less economically damaging than a default, even assuming some negative impact from higher bond yields in the core Eurozone countries. The costs of a bailout could rise rapidly, however, if it extended beyond Greece to other troubled countries. A bailout would create a big risk of moral hazard, perhaps inducing fiscal misbehaviour among other Eurozone members or being used by Greece to sidestep the necessary adjustment. To avoid this, any bailout would have to incorporate strict conditionality, perhaps raising serious questions about fiscal sovereignty within the Eurozone. Over the last two weeks, the other EU countries have taken a relatively hard line with Greece, stopping short of announcing explicit financial support and pushing for strong fiscal adjustment measures. Although a bailout remains the most likely outcome if Greece struggles to refinance its debts, there are some signs that political resistance to such a move is growing. The key risk period could be April-May, when a large volume of Greek debt matures.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe, Greece, and Argentina

114. Child Budget Initiatives in Latin America

Author:
Alberto Minujin, Louise Moreira Daniels, and Javier Curcio
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs
Abstract:
Children in Latin American (LA) countries were among the most vulnerable groups that suffered from the adjustment policies promoted by the “Washington Consensus” in the 1980s and 1990s. In that context, several organizations started initiatives to ensure and promote resources allocated by public budgets to children and women. This paper describes and analyzes the characteristics and main activities of such initiatives in a dozen LA countries, with in-depth analysis provided for three countries: Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador. A number of lessons are enumerated, which can serve as orientation for other regions, in particular for Africa.
Topic:
Development and Labor Issues
Political Geography:
Africa, Washington, Brazil, Argentina, Latin America, and Ecuador

115. Discurso y narración en las dinámicas de cons-titución identitaria. La experiencia kirchnerista en Argentina

Author:
María Mercedes Patrouilleau
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
The presidencial discourse has regained interest since the current theory of populism, and in Agentina spe-cially from discursive interpellation of its main leaders in last years, Néstor Kirchner y Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. This work examines discoursive interpellation of both leaders emphasizing the narrative dimension of discourse. Kirchnerismo as political subject proposes a new meaning of traditional elements of the national and popular (and peronism in particular), by the promotion of an “historic citizenship” for argentines and the arti-culation of a political history along a path marked by institutional disruption.
Topic:
Communications and Political Theory
Political Geography:
Argentina and South America

116. Silhouettes of the Disappeared: Memory, Justice and Human Rights in Post- Authoritarian Argentina

Author:
Vincent Druliolle
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Human Rights and Human Welfare - Review Essays
Institution:
Josef Korbel Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver
Abstract:
Soon after taking office in 2003, Argentine President Néstor Kirchner announced that the Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada (Navy School of Mechanics, or ESMA) in Buenos Aires, one of the most infamous torture centers of the last military dictatorship, the so-called “Proceso de Reorganización Nacional” (National Reorganization Process, 1976-1983), would be transformed into a museum of memory. On the occasion of the twenty-eighth anniversary of the military takeover, March 24, 2004, President Kirchner led a highly symbolic public event during which he and a range of social actors entered the premises of the ESMA where thousands of Argentines were taken clandestinely under the dictatorship and most of whom have since then been missing, thereby marking the re-appropriation of the past by the state and Argentine society. He was accompanied by the Commander of the Army, the representatives of the city of Buenos Aires, major human rights organizations, and associations of the relatives of the victims of the repression. In his speech, President Kirchner apologized to Argentine society for the failure to pursue justice and for preserving the memory of the last dictatorship. After signing the documents devolving ESMA to the city of Buenos Aires, the event culminated in the removal of the portrait of General Jorge Rafael Videla, the architect of the military takeover and first leader of the Junta, and of Reynaldo Bignone, its last leader, from the walls of the Colegio Militar by the President. Some days before this event, which may already be called a defining moment in Argentine history, human-sized silhouetted representations of the disappeared had been placed on the bars of the entrance of ESMA by the relatives of the disappeared, human rights organizations, and some artists as well as invited guests. The silhouettes have remained there since then. At the turn of the twenty-first century, the disappeared had returned to Argentine society, no longer as invisible traces haunting daily life, but as acknowledged absences. They have found a place and a role as the guardians of memory and as a source of the ethical commitment to the defense of human rights in post-authoritarian Argentina.
Political Geography:
Argentina

117. Government and Opposition in the Argentine Congress, 1989-2007: Understanding Inter-Party Dynamics through Roll Call Vote Analysis

Author:
Mark P. Jones, Wonjae Hwang, and Juan Pablo Micozzi
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This article employs roll call vote data and Bayesian ideal point estimation to examine inter-party dynamics in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies between 1989 and 2007. It highlights the presence in the Argentine Congress of a strong government vs. opposition dimension as well as identifies the relative position on this dimension, vis-à-vis the governing party, of the most prominent non-governing parties. Special attention is paid to the evolution of inter-party legislative dynamics during Argentina\'s brief experience with coalition government (1999-2001) and to party behavior in the Chamber during the final two years of President Néstor Kirchner\'s term in office (2005-07).
Topic:
Political Economy
Political Geography:
Argentina

118. Toward Effective Multilateralism: Why Bigger May Not Be Better

Author:
Thomas Wright
Publication Date:
07-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Washington Quarterly
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
The past eight years have been a period of retreat and revival for multilateralism. Retreat in the face of the most concerted unilateralist strategy undertaken by a U.S. administration in half a century, and revival because, during the Bush administration's second term, there was an emerging political consensus that multilateralism was a critical element of U.S. power. Revival, however, promised not simply restoring multilateral institutions in U.S. strategy, but reforming or even replacing those institutions themselves. The ongoing financial crisis_with the Group of 20 (G-20), including leaders from Argentina, China, India, and South Africa, among others, taking on a leading role_has merely been the latest sign that greater multilateral cooperation is both necessary and difficult.
Political Geography:
United States, China, India, South Africa, and Argentina

119. Who Gets Bought? Vote Buying, Turnout Buying, and Other Strategies

Author:
Jordan Gans-Morse, Sebastian Mazzuca, and Simeon Nichter
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
During elections in many countries, political parties distribute particularistic benefits to individuals. The existing literature reveals that parties choose from at least five distinct strategies when distributing benefits, but fails to explain how parties allocate resources across these strategies. Our formal model provides insight into this key question. Most studies focus exclusively on "vote buying," a strategy by which parties reward voters for switching their votes. Our model first shows how parties trade off between "vote buying" and "turnout buying," a strategy by which parties reward supporters for showing up at the polls (Nichter 2008). We then show how parties combine these and other commonly observed strategies.
Topic:
Corruption and Democratization
Political Geography:
United States and Argentina

120. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina

Author:
Cristina Fernández
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Columbia University World Leaders Forum
Abstract:
This World Leaders Forum program features a keynote address by Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President of Argentina, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
Topic:
International Trade and Finance, International Affairs, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
Argentina and Latin America