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761. The global financial crisis: will state emergency measures trigger international investment disputes?

Author:
Anne Van Aaken and Jürgen Kurtz
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Several developed countries have introduced emergency measures to mitigate the effects of the Global Financial Crisis, including Australia, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Although the measures taken are still undergoing changes by the executive branch and are thus a “moving target”, our survey reveals early evidence of differentiation between foreign and domestic actors in the emergency plans adopted by this sample grouping. It is this differentiation that may give rise to liability as breaching guarantees against discrimination of foreign investors under international investment law.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, International Affairs, Foreign Direct Investment, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Ireland

762. German Companies Engaging in China: Decision-Making Processes at Home and Management Practices in Chinese Subsidiaries

Author:
Geny Piotti
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
This paper attempts to explain why internationalization processes to China are growing despite the significant difficulties that foreign direct investments into China encounter. The answer to this question can be found in the processes of decision-making on internationalization at the company level and how these affect management practices in Chinese subsidiaries. The argument I put forward in this paper is that for the small and medium-sized enterprises the study focuses on, the decisions concerning investment in China are mainly the product of structural and legitimation pressure. Structural pressure can encourage cognitive mechanisms and behavioral consequences similar to those occurring when individuals (and organizations) cope with threat. Legitimation pressure can foster wishful thinking, which pushes actors to believe that desired options are good despite evidence to the contrary. These pressures have an impact on how well companies are prepared when they internationalize and can particularly affect some crucial management practices, leading to inefficiencies and problems in subsidiaries.
Topic:
Economics and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
China, Europe, Asia, and Germany

763. After War. The Political Economy of Exporting Democracy

Author:
Jayne Du
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
Abstract:
Written in a prose of similar to that of Machiavelli's Prince and adapted to the political regime of the twenty-first century, Christopher Coyne's After War provides a policy outlook of framing risks and incentives of reconstruction, with engagement as a main tool used in United States foreign policy to export principles of Western liberalism. The exportation of values is usually concurrent with engagement in a war and as conditions of reconstruction become established, the main tenets of liberalism under democracy and free trade are hopefully sustained and supported by established institutions. This is the central thesis of Coyne's book: to understand how liberal political regimes are exported and developed, barring any reliance on excessive uses of force and military engagement. This story of reconstruction starts in the ashes of World War II and the Cold War, where early and more sanguine efforts in reconstruction evolved into the economic houses of Japan and Western Germany. Yet, Coyne seeks understanding not in the rosy images, but in the stories of contention that still rise from the ashes of US current involvements, namely in Somalia and Haiti; and more recently in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Japan, Iraq, Germany, Haiti, and Somalia

764. The Coming Conflict With Russia

Author:
George Friedman
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of International Security Affairs
Institution:
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
Abstract:
No abstract is available.
Topic:
Cold War
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, France, Poland, and Germany

765. "Priorities for Engagement": An Interview with Ambassador Meera Shankar

Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of International Security Affairs
Institution:
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
Abstract:
Meera Shankar is India's ambassador to the United States. She is the first serving Indian Foreign Service Officer to be ambassador to Washington in more than two decades. Prior to assuming her post in April 2009, she was India's ambassador to Germany.
Political Geography:
United States, India, and Germany

766. Sorry States: Apologies in International Politics

Author:
Yuichi Morii
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
It is rather commonplace to compare Japan and Germany in daily life. Both the countries are economic powers and had similar historical developments in the twentieth century. However, it is rather difficult to draw successful academic comparisons between Japan and Germany. Sorry States is certainly one of the rare comparative analyses of the two countries. This book highlights the remembrance and reconciliation in modern international relations. Japan's unapologetic remembrance of its history and the Korean distrust of Japan are in contrast to (West) Germany's often-praised contrition and reconciliation with France.
Political Geography:
Japan, France, Germany, and Korea

767. The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region: A Catalyst for What?

Author:
Pertti Joenniemi
Publication Date:
08-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
In order to generate momentum, the European Commission has recently prepared a strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, this being the first of its kind with regard to the various European macro-regional formations. The strategy stands out as a goal-oriented and visionary document and clearly exceeds the scope of the Union's traditional policies vis-à-vis regional formations. But does it really stand for a strategy in the proper sense of the word in aspiring for a fresh start, choosing between different priorities and providing guidance in a programmatic manner for the Baltic Sea Region to gain the status of a 'model' and a forerunner among the various macro-regions in the EU? In probing the issue, the brief suggests a conditional 'yes'. It argues that there are many indications that the document should indeed be regarded a strategy. In addition to providing insight into the aspirations of the EU with regard to the Baltic Sea Region, the brief also argues that regionalization is enjoying increased legitimacy and standing in EU policies in general.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe and Germany

768. Improving U.S.-China Relations: The Next Steps

Author:
Richard N. Rosecrance
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
A higher Renminbi will have two advantages: for the United States, it will help to equilibrate the past trade imbalance; for China, it will stimulate consumption (and enhance imports). It will therefore help China switch from a purely exporting strategy to one that maintains domestic growth through internal consumption. The goods that were to be sent abroad can now be consumed by an increasingly middle class nation at home. These steps will bring China and the United States closer economically and increase international stability. However, unless the military-security relations of the two countries improve, this will not be a sufficient remedy for the two nations' long term problems.
Topic:
International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
United States, China, and Germany

769. How Do We Know This is Not Another Great Depression? Lessons for Policymakers from the 1930s

Author:
Jeffrey Frankel
Publication Date:
07-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
The current economic crisis is fundamentally different from those we have experienced in recent past. The proximate causes of previous recessions (1980-2 and 1990-91) were increases in interest rates in response to inflation. This time around, however, low interest rates and loose monetary policy during the period 2003-2005 had contributed to a bubble in asset prices, rather than to inflation. This-coupled with an underestimation of risk in our financial system, failures of corporate governance, and excessive debt by both households and government-caused the crisis of 2007-09.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Monetary Policy, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, and Germany

770. The Effect of the Financial Crisis on Systemic Trust

Author:
Felix Roth
Publication Date:
07-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
The financial crisis had a significant impact on the levels of trust that citizens place in the system and its institutions. Recent data from Eurobarometer show a significant fall in confidence on the part of European citizens in the EU's institutions. For the first time since its creation, a majority of European citizens no longer trust the European Central Bank. However, confidence levels in national governments have actually risen, supporting a contrasting trend between confidence levels in European and national institutions. This decrease in confidence towards the ECB is flanked in the case of Germany by strong anti-capitalist sentiments and a sharp decline in support for the social market economy.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany