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CIAO DATE: 07/01
Journal of International Relations and Development
Vol. 3, No 4 (December 2000)
Articles
Austrian Intra-firm Trade with Central and Eastern Europe
by Wilfried Altzinger
The article discusses theoretical considerations of the implications of foreign direct investment (FDI) on intra-firm trade and formulates several propositions which are then tested empirically. It is shown that Austria achieved high intra-firm trade surpluses with its Central and Eastern Europe affiliates between 1989 and 1997. However, there are large differences in terms of types of industries, firms and countries.
The Conundrum of the Chinese-United States Relationship
by Xing Li
This article aims to analyse the relations between China and the United States, with a focus on their disharmonious post-Cold War development. The underlying methodology is based on a critical approach in the problem-oriented analysis of contradictory elements and tendencies in this relationship. Using an interdisciplinary combination of historical, geopolitical and economic perspectives, it intends to help readers conceptualise the respective sources of disputes and conflicts between China and the United States, to understand their transformations in the post-Cold War era as well as to explore their future evolution. The conclusion is that the Chinese-American conundrum should be understood as a dialectical process of waxing and waning, of declining and rising without any purposeful forward or backward movements. In the future evolution of their bilateral relations, both sides will have to find a regional and global role that the other will accept and support. To do so, both will have to undergo a considerable period of struggle, adjustment and tension.
Democratic Politics and Russian Foreign Policy: Russia's Domestic Debate and the Conflict in Kosovo
by Michael E. Aleprete Jr.
This article reviews Mansfield and Snyder's "danger of democratisation" thesis, comparing the expectations they derive about the behaviour of political actors operating in post-transition democracies to the expectations of democratic peace theory. The author draws comparisons between Mansfield and Snyder's argument and democratic peace theory regarding the nature of political bargaining, the transparency of information, and the use of norms and ideological appeals. The second part of the article examines the domestic debate that occurred within the Russian Federation in the wake of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's air campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the spring and summer of 1999. Using a case study method, the author evaluates how closely the Russian political system and its principal actors have conformed to Mansfield and Snyder's expectations, concluding that here those expectations are not actually satisfied. In fact, despite the weaknesses in Russia's democratic institutions, standard democratic peace theory seems to do a better job of explaining Russia's response to the war in Kosovo.
Globalisation: Neither Hell nor Paradise
by Marian Svetlièiè
The article reviews affirmative and critical discussions about globalisation, noting that it is neither always clear what exactly the term itself means, nor are its consequences understood properly. Resembling previous globalisation tendencies generated by international trade, the current processes of globalisation are led by foreign (direct) investment. Globalisation is not policy-free and not merely the result of spontaneous processes, but is also a man-made phenomenon. So, the article does not ignore negative trends of globalisation, yet it argues that the positive, welfare-enhancing effects prevail, especially when an appropriate economic policy is in place. Globalisation is therefore a combination of bottom-up and ex ante market-driven phenomena, a result of market forces in operation with firms as the essential players, and top-down conditions regulated by states and/or international institutions, usually ex post. It is essential to maximise the positive impacts of globalisation that generate welfare and, at the same time, minimise its social polarisation effects in a way that does not impede those positive impacts. This dichotomy between globalisation as a welfare generator and a creator of market failures on one hand, and the issue of reconciling its inequitable effects with social justice on the other, are the two essential globalisation paradoxes to be addressed by policy-makers.
Book Reviews
Reviewed by Denis Krivoshhev
Reviewed by Andreja Jakliã
Reviewed by Primoï terbenc
Reviewed by Glen Segell